Crystal-Lee Young

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Crystal-Lee Young

Author | Content Creator | Blogger
www.crystalyoung.co.za

15/06/2026

Following the silver lining.

This is what I love about small town living on the Garden Route. The magic is not always in the big tourist spots... it is in these quiet streets on cold wintery mornings when the light is just right and you are lucky enough to be there to see it.

There is something special about these everyday moments, in places like Hartenbos. Where simple beauty around you is a reminder to slow down and feel grateful.

📍Hartenbos, Garden Route, South Africa
📸 Phone shot on a beautiful morning

13/06/2026

Scroll past.

Images never look the same, once you look at it twice.

ATKV Hartenbos Mossel Bay Advertiser

11/06/2026

These last few weeks have been rough, and I know I’m not the only one feeling it.

But then the sky showed up loud this morning. 🌅

Bold.
Unmissable.
Painted in colours no photo could ever do justice.

It felt like heaven was reminding me: even when life feels heavy, beauty can still break through.

Today, I’m grateful for new mornings.
New possibilities.
New strength.
And those breathtaking moments that stop us in our tracks and remind us we’re going to be okay. 🤍

Have you had a moment lately that made you stop and breathe?

01/06/2026

WE ESCAPED FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY… KIND OF

There is a very specific kind of romance that happens when your children are writing exams.

It sounds less like, “Let’s go away for the weekend,” and more like, “We have about 2 to 3 hours before someone needs a calculator, a snack, or emotional support.”

So Gavin and I did what responsible, slightly tired, anniversary-celebrating parents do.

We drove to Leeukloof, about 40 minutes from Hartenbos.

Not far enough to count as running away.
Just far enough to pretend we had. 😂

We found the sweetest little spot called Lions Creek Valley Boutique Distillery.

There was gin tasting.
There was thin-based pizza.
There was mampoer...🤪

And then we sat outside.

Rolling hills, aloes, lavender, butterflies, fresh air, and that beautiful quiet where nobody asks what is for supper.

The hosts were lovely, the setting was peaceful, and for a few hours, life felt wonderfully simple.

Just us.
A view.
A pizza.
And our phones nearby, because parenting does not come with an off switch. ❤️

For an anniversary tucked between exam season, real life, and parenting.

A little hideaway. A little laughter. And just enough time to feel like we had been away. 😌

29/05/2026

A brand new day!

28/05/2026

Your brain is lying to you before your body even starts.

(And yes, that is a person on the very far side of this photo, running on the beach.) 😜 Just incase you were wondering...

To continue: The hardest part of getting back into fitness is not the workout.

It’s the dramatic board meeting happening in your head before it.

“I’ll go tomorrow.”
“I’m too tired.”
“I’ve already messed up the routine.”
“What’s the point now?”
“Also, the couch has accepted me as one of its own.” 🤭

I know that voice well.

Lately, I’ve been in a mental combat, struggling to keep rhythm with the habits that usually keep me steady. Running. Moving. Training more. The stuff that clears my head and keeps me from plonking nearby humans when life gets a little too loud.

And sometimes, life does get loud. 📢

The frustration builds. The routine slips. The thing that helps you cope becomes the very thing you start avoiding.

But I heard something recently that stuck with me:

Even athletes are not motivated all the time.

They just stop asking themselves if they feel like it.

That’s the shift.

Because the more you debate the thing, the heavier it becomes. And honestly, my brain can turn “put your shoes on” into a three-part Netflix documentary.

So today, don’t wait for motivation to arrive like some grand emotional rescue mission.

Put the shoes on.
Step outside.
Move for ten minutes.
Let autopilot do what motivation won’t.

You don’t need to feel ready.
You don’t need to start perfectly.
You don’t need to become a motivational poster with abs by Friday.

You just need to move.

One step today is still a vote for the person you’re becoming. 🫶🏼

25/05/2026

Guardians

23/05/2026

There are people the world sees… and then there are people you get the gift of loving.

Today is his birthday ❤️

The man in this photo has make-up on because of a music video, which is funny and perfect, because that’s him willing, playful, up for almost anything, and somehow still completely himself in the middle of it all.

One of the things I love most about him is not just that he is funny.

It is the way he is funny.

Straight face. Perfect timing. No warning at all.
Then he waits, so patiently, while your brain slowly arrives at the joke. 🤣🫶🏼

Gentle, steady, deeply present. He does not need to be the loudest person in the room to fill it with joy. He brings light in a way that feels easy, safe, and real.

He is my person. My favourite human in this whole world. The best daddy. The one who makes ordinary days softer, funnier, and more full of love.

Today I celebrate his life, but also the parts of him that cannot always fit into a photo.

His heart.
His humour.
His kindness.
The way he loves us.

Happy birthday, my love.

21/05/2026

A Post Box Full of Plot Twists

This cheerful turquoise book box in Hartenbos is not waiting for letters — it’s waiting for readers.

You’ll find it opposite the old train tracks, quietly holding a few books and a very lovely idea:

Take one if you need a story.
Leave one if you have a story to share.

There are a few of these little book-swap spots around Hartenbos, and every time you see one, it feels like the town is giving you a friendly wave.

Bring a book.
Take a book.
Pass it on.

Maybe someone leaves a favourite novel.
Maybe a child finds a new bedtime story.
Maybe a holiday reader discovers their next beach companion.

And maybe, without even knowing it, someone makes a stranger’s day a little lighter.

That’s the charm of it.

A book goes in.
A smile comes out. 📚💙

Share this with someone who loves a good little community find.

20/05/2026

Watching the sun rise, stretching through cloud & mist.

We have early mornings. School runs, that in the winter time begins way before the ball of fire, lights up our skies. So we get the privilege of seeing this dance of colour cast across the landscape.

Perfectly different every day. 🌅

Share your morning sun rise 📷🌞

Address

Hartenbos

Website

https://crystalyoung.co.za/

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