The Shack Bistro and Sports Bar

There was nothing more exciting to me when I was teaching in NY than to wake up on a cold, blustery winter morning and find out that school was cancelled for the day due to outrageous amounts of snow that had fallen overnight.  An unexpected day off.....woohoo!!!  That same feeling of elation swept over me when I arrived at The Shack on Thursday for the Coffee Crawl.  Upon meeting The Shack's owner, Ingrid Saunders, she informed me that since Friday was a public holiday (making for a long weekend) things would be quite hectic at the shop on Thursday.  WHAT??? ...a public hiloday???... an unexpected day off???... a long weekend???? WOOHOO!!!!!  Well, that set the tone for this week's Crawl.

The Crawlers met Thursday morning at The Shack Bistro and Sports Bar.  As the name implies, The Shack is a coffee shop/bistro by day and a sports bar (to go to watch your favorite rugby/soccer/cricket teams) by night.  The bar side has been under the present management for about six months while the coffee shop side has been open for only six weeks.  The Shack is situated in the Lorraine Plaza (Gardens Shopping Centre) on Circular Drive in Lorraine.  I frequent the plaza (and drive past the new coffee shop) as it is where the Virgin Active gym is located.

The Shack has a relaxed atmosphere with a sublte African decor.  There is seating for approximately 50 people inside the shop where patrons are totally removed from the hectic pace of the plaza/parking lot.  There is also outside "sidewalk" seating for about 20 customers who enjoy people-watching.  The Shack features a daily breakfast special which includes a full English breakfast with free coffee.  The shop has a full lunch menu as well. 

Meet the Barista
Patience

LavAzza brand coffee beverages are prepared by barista Patience.  She certainly needed all that and then some as she filled orders of tea and coffee from Thursday's Crawlers, Margaret Zoetmulder, Colleen LeRoux, Fran de Beer, June Nash, Leanne Waller, Beth Vieira, Nomusa Nkomo, and Stella and Beryl Dawson, and Gail Darne.  My cappuccinos were excellent... I think I had three!  And Patience is a real sweetheart... she made us all feel like she was entertaining guests in her own home.  Thank you, Patience, you're awesome!   Camera-shy owner, Ingrid, stopped by the table a few times to make sure all was well and that we were enjoying ourselves.  Needless to say, considering the hospitality shown to us by the staff, The Shack is a definite return-to spot for me!




This Week's Crawlers
Gail, Fran, June, Stella, Nomusa, Beryl, Leanne,
Margaret, Beth, Colleen



So, as for the National Holiday.... Friday, Dec 16 was the Day of Reconciliation, and the "unofficial" start of the summer season in SA.  The Crawlers discussed the background of this holiday which is way too complicated to get involved in here, but if you're interested, google it.... fascinating stuff!  As the Il Divo Christmas CD played in the background we then got to talking about old age and being old.  With Thursday's Crawlers ages ranging from 20s to 80s there were certainly differing perspectives on the subject.  In the end we all agreed that we liked the quote stuck to Elaine's (my sis) fridge, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

Speaking of age, I'd like to take this opportunity to send Happy Birthday wishes to my sisters, Carol in Millersville, PA (Dec 16) and Mary in Edinboro, PA (Dec 17).  Hope you both had fun on your special days.  A huge Happy Birthday #1 on Dec 19 to my beautiful granddaughter, Mia, in Cleveland, TN.  Can't wait to see you, your parents and brother next week!

So, what did Lou and I do on our unexpected day off?  We wasted the day away... which reminds me of another quote stuck to Elaine's fridge, "Time spent wasting is not wasted time."  That quote has become my mantra!

~Thank you to Ingrid and Patience for making the Crawlers feel quite at home.  Great coffee, too!

~MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!!!!

Until next week,

Ellen                                                                

Dessie's Mad Hatter Tea Garden

I was grocery shopping one day last week and enjoying the Christmas tunes playing in the background.  I had to laugh when I heard those familiar lyrics, "Oh, the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful, And since we've no place to go, Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"  I happened to have a tee shirt, shorts, and flip flops on at the time.

 

 

 With PE having some beautiful summer weather recently, I've been struggling to get into the Christmas spirit.  Thursday's Crawl site was just what I needed to remind me that Christmas is just around the corner.  Dessie's Mad Hatter Tea Garden is located within The Christmas House, a temporary, seasonal shop that opened for business on Oct 8 and runs through Christmas Eve.  The Christmas House is situated inside the Moffett on Main Lifestyle Centre in Walmer, and has just about anything you need to decorate for the holiday season.

Meet the Barista
Patricia

 Thursday's Crawlers, Margaret Zoetmulder, Beth Vieira, Leanne Waller and her son, Daniel, Nomusa Nkomo, Gail Darne, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Fran de Beer, and June Nash, spent some time perusing the nativity sets and the decorated trees then headed to the back of the store where the Mad Hatter Tea Garden staff greeted us and pushed some tables together to accommodate our group.

This Week's Crawlers
Nomusa, Gail, Beryl, Fran, Leanne, June, Daniel,
Stella, Beth, Margaret



Zimbabweans Nomusa and Gail having tea at the
Coffee Crawl



The Tea Garden serves Ciro brand coffee and has a full breakfast/lunch menu along with a variety of cakes and cookies.  My cappuccino and Americano prepped by barista, Patricia, were very good but the small cups were only half full when served.... a bit disappointing, but the festive ambience, complete with snow-related background music, more made up for it.  Everything considered, the Mad Hatter Tea Garden certainly put me in a holiday mood and I'll definitely head over to the shop should I feel the need for a Christmas booster over the next week and a half.

Talk of Christmas preparations abounded at the table.... real vs artificial trees, e-cards vs snail mail cards, and turkey vs ham.  The next topic of conversation centered around baby African animals... giraffes, ellies, zebra, and PE's version of Santa's 8 tiny reindeer.... 7 tiny impala babies!  The community where I live in PE has a herd of impala on the premises, and within the past few weeks there have been 7 new additions to the herd.  The babies a so cute prancing about!  As I was busy prancing about snapping pics for the blog, the subject of mergers came up.... not the corporate variety, but photographic mergers.  Mergers happen when separate items in our 3-dimensional world merge into one item through the 1-dimensional perspective of a camera lens.  A couple of examples... two animals standing close to each other may look like one animal with two heads in a pic, or it may look like a background plant is growing out of someone's head in a pic.  I've seen numerous intentional merger pics of people holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa!  Check out the merger of Daniel with a Santa hat!

As I write this I know that where many of my fam/friends live in the U.S. the "weather outside is frightful."  Here's to wishing you all a "White Christmas!"  Enjoy!!!

~Thank you to The Mad Hatter staff for putting me in the Christmas spirit!

~Thank you to my son, Jeff, for posting all our U.S. bound snail mail Christmas cards from Atlanta!

Until next week,

Ellen

                                                                             

                                                                        

Catwalk Caffe

I happened to stumble upon this past Thursday's Crawl site a few months ago while doing some errands on Westbourne Rd.  The Catwalk Caffe was added to my ever-growing list of PE coffee shops.  As the name implies, a dress/accessory/fashion boutique is the premise for the shop.  Needless to say, none of the gentlemen Crawlers joined us for the Dec 1st Crawl!

My twofold plan for Thursday was 1) to enjoy some great coffee and 2) to find something to wear to Lou's Dec 3rd company Christmas party.  Well, I managed to accomplish No. 1 as the PuroFairtrade cappuccinos prepared by barista Jenny was very good and really hit the spot on a blustery, rainy day.  As for No. 2 of the plan, I had no luck finding a dress for the party, though doing the whole "catwalk" thing for my brutally honest SA friends was a good time.  I learned one thing from my brief modeling experience... keep my day job!  Oh right, I already quit my day job when I moved to SA!

Meet the Barista
Jenny

The Catwalk Caffe is presently located at 37 Westbourne Rd. in Central.  However, after almost two years at this address, owner, Johan Blom is planning to relocate the shop to 3rd Ave. in Newton Park at the end of December.  The Crawlers will have to make a visit to his new digs when he gets settled.  All aspects of the Westbourne Rd. shop, including light meals, main meals, the boutique, special events catering, and Wednesday pensioners' specials, will carry over to the Newton Park site.  Catwalk Caffe's hours are M-F, 8-5 and Sat, 8-2, and will be open for business on Westbourne Rd. for the next few weeks.  Ladies, if you're looking for something glitzy to wear for that special New Year's Eve party, check out the Caffe's sale on evening wear and cocktail dresses.

This Week's Crawlers
Leanne, June, Gail, Stella, Nomusa, Beryl, Fran

So, I wasn't the only one who modeled some of Catwalk's fashions on Thursday.  Leanne Waller and Nomusa Nkomo also braved the critical eyes (and comments) of fellow Crawlers, Stella and Beryl Dawson, June Nash, Fran de Beer, and Gail Darne.  Both ladies were successful in finding something that met the approval of the Crawlers.

"TIA - This is Africa," a frequently quoted phrase made popular by the movie, Blood Diamond, dominated the conversation at the table on Thursday.  In response to my comments about a two and a half hour oil change last week and the numerous power outages at my house recently, the Crawlers replied, "This is Africa, Ellen!"  I then told everyone about a book (SA author) I read a while back where two pages are dedicated to "TIA."    Funny stuff......   I've been told many times here that anything and everything that goes awry or is confusing can be explained away by "TIA."  So, the next time I'm behind a donkey cart at a traffic light (robot) or am following a herd of cattle down the road to my house, I'll remind myself, "TIA!"

~Thank you to Johan and Jenny--we'll be checking out your new shop in 2012.
~Thank you to this week's Crawlers for braving the weather to join me at Catwalk Caffe!

Until next week,

Ellen