Wine Diaries

Remember that time when we went to the Grape Escape and won lots of wine? Well, the stores in the wine cupboard are slowly depleting - here's what we've drunk so far:

Like Father Like Son (Bon Courage) Chenin Blanc 2013.
Loved the sand-blasted-type bottle that the wine came in
and found the wine very refreshing and drinkable!

My friend, Sos, invited us to dinner one night, so we
took this bottle of wine and a yummy Aubergine and Pomegranate
dip along to keep our tummies full while dinner was cooking 

Ashton Kelder Chenin Blanc 2013. Another easy drinking wine,
perfect for a summers evening after work!

Frosty's photographic skills are improving too!

Another Bon Courage wine, this time the Chardonnay Prestige Cuvee.
I can't remember what this wine tasted like, but I haven't actively disliked
any of the wines we've won so far, so I think I'll need to get
another bottle to try it again!

Another wine that we took along as a gift to another dinner and I think we
have another one in the cupboard that we'll taste at a later stage - I'll let
you know! Bon Courage Cabernet Sauvignon 2011. 

Sumsare Chardonnay 2012. I can never know if I like chardonnay or not,
but I definitely enjoyed this Sumsare Chardonnay!

Three Rivers 2013 (Bon Courage) Andre's Fame.
This time it was my turn to cook when Sos and Marek came
around for dinner. Made from the Colombard grape, it's had a
great combination of slight sweetness and dryness.

This poor Bon Courage bottle jumped out of our fridge and saw it's demise on the
kitchen floor before we had a chance to sample it. I debated briefly about sticking my fingers into the spilt wine to test it, but the thought of splinters in my throat was enough
to deter me from the act. As such, this is another wine that I will try and find
so that I can feed back to you at a later stage!
(Hillside Red, Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz, 2012)

Stonedale Chenin Blanc 2013 - none of that sharpness at the back of
your throat that you get with some other types of white wines, I could
definitely drink a lot of this wine in one sitting!

What Do I Do? Factory Job

My dad asked me a question recently. 

"Chick, what is it, exactly, that you do?". 

This was in reference to my new job, which I'm still settling in to and figuring out, so I couldn't give him a proper answer right then and there. But it did get me thinking about what I did in my previous job...

When I was in varsity, my folks asked me a similar question:

"Chick, your degree is a very good degree, but once you're

finished studying, what, exactly, will you be able to do with it?"

There is pretty much no straight answer to these questions. As students we were told by our unforgettable Maths lecturer that as engineers, we are taught to think and solve problems.* I think that sums up pretty well, what engineers do. But it's also incredibly broad and still leaves you with no idea of what I would do on a daily basis. 

So, in a nutshell, here are some of the things I did in my previous job:

• Learnt something new most every day
• Helped to look after and maintain the software that controlled our factory operations
• Debugged code (and either fixed it myself or got others to fix it for me) when it was causing issues in factory operations, for example when:
• Valves stayed open/closed and tanks overfilled/didn't fill up - incorrect mass set points in the code
• A software sequence was stuck on a step - it was waiting for another sequence to end so it could use the same device
• Helped process engineers to optimise code by testing and monitoring proposed sequence changes with them and noting if it was physically possible or not
• Co-ordinated weekly maintenance planning meetings and followed up on planned maintenance activities carried out by the artisans
• Tracked breakdowns that occurred in the plant and put together action plans to improve the ICE (instrumentation, control and electrical) issues
• Attended project meetings
• Got called out a lot, in the middle of the night, when my team were battling to solve a software related issue or troubleshoot on the code (definitely the worst part of the job!)
• Worked on stabilising our control systems by facilitating the upgrading of our servers, sorting out licences and ensuring future projects took the control systems into account
• Helped to co-ordinate a supply chain graduate induction program in my second year (not exactly engineering, but such fun!)
• Maintained and kept track of any software change requests that needed to be sent to our 3rd party software guys
• Helped to commission some projects

This device is one of many that I had to learn to troubleshoot
on at the factory

The key is learning how to interpret the
error messages (and knowing when it's
time to replace the entire unit!)

It was a pretty stressful job, but I learnt so much from it and got to work with the most incredible team. This is just one of many types of jobs that engineers end up in. My current job will be very different from this and once I get my teeth into some proper work, I'll update you on what else an engineer does!

So, now, I hope that you have a better understanding on possible jobs that an engineer can be involved in. 

And, if you're an engineer, what does your day-to-day job involve?

*He also told us that the only three things you need to remember in life are:

1. Your wife's name. 

2. Your wife's phone number. 

3. Where you left your car keys.

And the rest of the things can be worked out if you think about them carefully enough. 

(This is difficult if you're a straight female...but I think it illustrated his point quite well:) ) 

Karoo Wedding

Nestled away in the Karoo is a place that takes you by surprise at it's beauty. I once spent the night there on a road trip with a friend, from KZN to Cape Town and didn't have much of a chance to see very much of the city, other than the beautiful NG Kerk, which dominates much of the town. Named for the Cape Town Governor at the time, as well as his wife; Graaf-Reinet is definitely worth a visit if you haven't been there before.

A few weeks ago, I had occasion to go back and spend a bit more time in this lovely town for a friends wedding. It was such an honour to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter with them - and getting to see a few faces that I hadn't seen for a while was a great bonus!

Over the weekend we also tried to fit in and see as much of the town as possible. We stayed at a great place called Villa Reinet, and were extremely grateful for the small plunge pool that we were able to use to cool down after a long day of driving. We were advised by our host to visit The Valley Of Desolation for sundowners, which we did and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who visits this historical town! Contrary to it's name, the views are magnificent and if you're a rock climber, you will probably spend your time being distracted by all the beautiful rocks in the area!

Nqweba Dam (I think) which is situated just above the town, on the way
to the Valley of Desolation

Kim, Steve and Frosty, admiring the view

Beautiful greenery

Our first lookout point in the Camdeboo National Park

Camdeboo National Park

Camdeboo National Park

Steve and Kim - Camdeboo National Park

Camdeboo National Park - Remember those rocks I was talking about? ...

This picture reminds me of our travels in the USA when we decided to see sunset and sunrise in the new places we visited. 

Steve enjoying his sundowners

Kim and her delicious plums that saved us from starvation

Guess who's the rock-climber of the bunch?

Camdeboo National Park - Sunset

Camdeboo National Park

Camdeboo National Park
We're so lucky to live in a country of such contrasts and beauty!

Camdeboo National Park

The NG Kerk in Graaf-Reinet Town

NG Kerk (Church, for those who don't understand Afrikaans)

Kim and Frosty

Me and Frosty

I loved this repeated pattern that the fence outside the church made, as you looked
down the length of it!

We felt the heat of this sun as we spent the morning trying to find the largest Cactus Nursery in the World 
(or so they say)...unfortunately we were unsuccessful, but we did get to see pretty much the whole town! 

Steve giving the Organ at St James Anglican Church a bash

Music in action at St James Anglican Church

Steve at St James Anglican Church

Flowers ready for the wedding service

Jess (proof that you were indeed at the wedding ;) )
Unfortunately I didn't get any good pics of the other bridesmaids :(

Lou and her mum - even though this pic is a
bit fuzzy, don't they both look beautiful!

Glen and Lou - what a privilege to be at your wedding and share your special day with you both. Seeing your relationship develop and grow has been incredible to watch and I hope that the years make it stronger and richer!

Bride and Groom

First Dance

And the dance floor is open!

Recipe for Pineapple Chicken

Do you ever have leftover tinned pineapple (you know, from making epic pizzas) and for the hundredth time in a row you find yourself eating the leftover pineapple straight from the tin and slurping surreptitiously from the can when no one is looking...

The other day I was searching for a recipe that I could use in conjunction with chicken pieces, and I came across this one. The only problem was that I didn't have any soy sauce and I wanted to make it a bit creamy. So I improvised and this is my take on the recipe I found.

Ingredients:
8 chicken pieces (I used thighs and drumsticks)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon butter/marge
1 x 400g tin of pineapple in juice
2 tablespoons grape vinegar (instead of the soy sauce)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Mrs Balls Chutney
Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Put you oven on to about 160 degrees C.
2. Cover your chicken pieces in flour (you can add some nutmeg to the flour as well).
3. Heat up the pan to hot and brown your chicken pieces (especially if you're keeping the skin on!).
4. If you have got pineapple rings, chop them into pieces.
5. Mix your pineapple (and pineapple juice) with the vinegar/soy sauce, sugar, nutmeg, garlic, mayo and chutney.
6. Put your sauce in a casserole dish, then add the browned chicken.
7. Cover you dish (either with a lid or you can use tin foil).
8. Leave to cook for about 1.5 hours.
9. At the very end, take the cover off and put the grill on to brown the top of your dish a bit more.

I served this dish with rice and peas, but you can do whatever floats your boat! Enjoy!

A Walk in Kommetjie and a Ship Wreck

A few weeks ago we walked to the Kakapo shipwreck, about half way between Kommetjie and Noordhoek. Frosty got given a book called Mike Lundy's Best Walks of the Cape Peninsula as a gift and we've decided to do some of these walks over weekends to keep us fit and healthy. He provides a bit of the history of the area along with notes for interesting things to look out for during your walk.

This was the first walk we decided to do, it was one of the walks with the easiest rating and an ideal walk for a Sunday afternoon! We started from Kommetjie, walked to the shipwreck and then walked back. You can also start from Noordhoek. And if you're really sneaky, take two cars, park one at your intended end destination and drive the other one to the start destination - then you only have to walk one way and can drive to collect the other car once you have finished!