Blood, Sweat and Tears

Ok, well, there weren't any tears, but it makes for a good title. But it was hot, so plenty sweat. (overshare)
Friday was a good day. It marked the last day of work until the day after Boxing Day, so a chance to recharge the batteries.

Also, the world didn't end but, based on all the poor Apocalypse jokes, maybe it should have.
On the way to work Gareth Cliff played this awesome mash up of the hits of 2012 by DJ Earworm (An Annual event).

I had forgotten that we were hosting the Western Province Blood Transfusion Service in a blood donation drive. After Management Meeting, the management team decided that we would do our bit and go down and donate. So fueled by a cup of coffee, a cupcake and three biscuits pilfered from the pastry kitchen (hardly a breakfast of champions, mind you), I went to give the gift of life.

Donating Blood.

Being a first timer (I know..I know), I was surprised at how easy and painless it was. That was until after. That plaster hurts like a mofo and I now have an awesome bruise that makes me look like a junkie.
I did start to feel a tad light headed later in the day, drained even. I'm glad I did it though.

After I got home I had to start prepping my Christmas Ice Cream. Since last year's Ice Cream was a hit, the pressure is on. I've decided to be a bit more experimental this year. I'm going to make a Cherry Brandy Ice Cream for the adults and a Vanilla Ice Cream with blocks of Jelly (Cream Soda, Bubblegum and Candy Floss) for the kids. More to follow in a future post.

After watching our boys annihilate the Kiwis in the 1st T20 Cricket match (If NZ Cricket wants to be taken seriously, they should get Piri Weepu to teach the Haka to them. At least then we're guaranteed a show of sorts) I decided to head off to the Willowbridge Festive Night Market.

Festive lights at the Festive Market

 There was a much smaller selection of stalls than I had expected, but I was assured by one of the stall holders that tonight (Saturday 22nd December) will be a lot busier due to the regular Saturday Stalls being up during the day and then being joined by the Festive traders later in the afternoon. They had the usual suspects: handful of food stalls, clothing, jewellery, crafts and healing crystals..(this is Cape Town after all). They even had a Tupperware stall.

One of the keys to effective marketing is making use of catchy signage. I saw the sign below and immediately had the urge to buy some cookies for my two nieces to put out for Santa (I believe he favours Johnnie Walker Black in lieu of milk). The stall holder told me that they own a bakery and had completed delivery of around 6000 of these hand piped cookies. Wow. Imagine how much that hand must have cramped..

Santa likes a good cookie

I did a slow circuit of the market to see if anything else grabbed my attention and spotted a live band playing on the one side. They were playing laid back, background music but it was quite a nice touch. The folks sitting outside at Hussar Grill were enjoying the extra entertainment.

Live Band

I came across these wire crafts which I thought were pretty cool, although I'm not sure if I would buy one. Nowhere to put it.

Cute Bunnies

Wire Tree

I came across the Cape Mountain Charcuterie stall and tried some of their chorizo and saucisson samples. The chorizo is nice and spicy and the saucisson (french style dried sausage) is pretty tasty. Of course, I bought a piece of each. :D

Chorizo and Saucisson

They also had some oak smoked bacon, which I am about to try out. (now that's a breakfast of champions!) They are based in Porterville with offices in the City Bowl, so delivery to the City Bowl and Southern Suburbs is free.. I'm sure once they get their foot in the door in the Northern Suburbs, they will include free delivery for us too..

Finally, I walked past a T-Shirt stall with some nice designs. I have a weakness for t-shirts (I am getting better though) and I decided to have a look through their wares. The company is called May Bru (my broer) and is Cape Town based. They guy selling the t-shirts was a bru. A real fun oke who I, like, had a chat to.

May Bru

I tried on a green t-shirt, but there were no change rooms. It was the first time that I have taken my shirt off in the middle of Willowbridge mall. Luckily there were no small children to scare.

Authentic Cape Town

May Bru

All in all a good day. Now, let the weekend begin.
N.