Monday, December 1, 2008

O(h) - live!

I have always found that when I hit a troublesome spot in life (e.g. the Proofreading Fiasco), something good almost always happens to balance it out.
A few weeks ago I won a prize - jointly sponsored by the House & Leisure lifestyle magazine and an olive farm (Buffet Olives) - an al fresco lunch for ten friends, and yesterday was the day! We were picked up by a coach and driven to a beautiful spot outside Paarl, about an hour from Cape Town.
Almost there!
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the coach dropped us off in Greece ... Walking through the olive grove to the lunch spot ... some of the party are lagging behind, getting quite happy on martinis with olives!Arrival at the stunning spot chosen for our lunch - next to a waterfall!Our table set beautifully with sparkling glasses and cutlery, linen and olive branches!Our charming wine waiter, who kindly refilled and refilled (!) our glasses. The four courses were all brought up from the main building by golf carts - I should've taken a picture!
Friends and family, good food (and lots of olives!), wine, a fantastic spot (next to a cascading waterfall) - what more could one want from life?
(2nd picture from top taken by Lana May Davis, the rest by moi)

9 comments:

Linda Sue said...

SCORE! WOW! A glimmer of happiness after having been shat upon! Don't you just love it!THAT looks like a fabulous day indeed, Thank you for taking pictures. I really like the napkin thing and am going to use that on our christmas eve table. Wonderful!

kendalee said...

Oh, how fabulous Anairam!!! It looks like a it was a heavenly day and SO good to see the balance of the universe restored, in favour of the light side... Take THAT lousy proofreader bods!!

Even seeing all that blue sky, exquisite setting, and good cheer from a distance has made me happier. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Anonymous said...

So there be angels after all, and not only dragons!
Looks like a fantastic occasion! Couldn't have happened to a nicer kid.
I LOVE olives and have just started a small grove. One of the trees was a gift from a dear sister, one from friends, two from the love of my life, and the rest from me to me.

My Castle in Spain said...

oh ...i'm glad you had such a beautiful day to forget a bit about the proofreading nightmare job!

this place is truly gorgeous, so divine with the waterfall...

love the olive branches
:-)

Anairam said...

Linda Sue - Oh, on the balance I live a pretty good life and am a pretty happy bunny! Yes, the napkin thingie with a branch and ribbon is very simple yet elegant, isn't it? Might do something like that myself!

kendalee - You would have loved the setting my dear!

anonymous - Yippee - so you think I am a nice kid! BTW I have an open invitation from the marketing manager to be shown around the farm (which is not open to the public) and was thinking to invite two olive-loving girls I know along - early next year!

mcis - Glad you enjoyed it! I am pretty jealous of you living in a fantastic place such as Andalusia, but I shouldn't complain - I live in a pretty gorgeous place myself!

Denise Kiggan said...

What a fantastic treat. And great that it included 10 of you too!

evencleveland said...

Yay! I'm glad you won - it sounds like some much needed festivity after the emotional grind of the past few weeks.

Anairam said...

Freshly Found - That was the best for me - to share it with ten friends!

stephanie - You are so right! But I usually bob back (is that the term?) quite quickly after a little disappointment like the Proofreading Fiasco anyway - must have something to do with all those Buddhist classes I used to go to!

Esti said...

Wow!!