In the early 1990's, after living in Johannesburg for eight years, I moved to Queenstown, a small farming town the Eastern Cape. It's probably best known for its schools (my ex-husband-to-be was a teacher), and sheep. Mostly for wool. I had no job and although I'd trained to teach, hadn't. I didn't want to. The … Continue reading Living alone, gigs and working from home: lessons for lock down
Category: Fabulous Fabric of Life
Stories that don’t fit elsewhere and add to the rich fabric of life….
Humming with Hummus
May 2016 was an interesting and busy month. Not just in what was then my day job, but also doing something that was a first for me. During March, one Saturday morning, minding my stall, as is my wont, Treasurer of a local committee passed by and made small talk with The Husband. Probably about … Continue reading Humming with Hummus
Gigs, Headlines and Sound Bites – in the time of Covid-19
Where to begin? That I've been working in the gig economy since before it was a "thing"? Or that I have been self-employed for nearly thirty years, effectively selling my time expertise to clients that are prepared to pay for it? Notice I didn't say value? Because often it wasn't valued. Particularly in the last … Continue reading Gigs, Headlines and Sound Bites – in the time of Covid-19
Leeky vegetables with a Steem(y) virus rant on the side
February left in a flurry. So much so, that when I potted my bits for the market on Friday, I set the sell by date for March, not April. I only realised as I was getting myself together on Saturday morning - after having posted this photo to Instagram! Oops! Sell by date can't be … Continue reading Leeky vegetables with a Steem(y) virus rant on the side
Hung out to dry, or did @gmuxx just duck?
Yes, I know that at best, I'm employing too many cliches and, at worst, mixing metaphors, and I warn you, if you read on, it'll not get any better. It's not in my nature to air dirty laundry in public. I don't like confrontation, either. However, there are two other things I loathe more: oblique … Continue reading Hung out to dry, or did @gmuxx just duck?
Fusion Flat Breads
I loathe coleslaw. It's a long and irrelevant story, summed up in two words: institutional food. In my case, that was boarding school, followed by university. By the time I reached university, I just simply didn't eat what I didn't like. At school, that was less possible. However, more than forty years later, coleslaw remains … Continue reading Fusion Flat Breads
When Cape Town Burned*
Fire is devastating: we had a fire in the mountains above our village in spring (September) 2014. It burned for what seemed like a month and because, to start with, it was in inaccessible parts of the mountain, it could not be effectively fought. So it spread and threatened prime agricultural land and vineyards. So … Continue reading When Cape Town Burned*
When the dog barked
Gale force winds are not unusual in South Africa, especially the Western Cape coastline, and into the Eastern Cape. These winds are a feature of summer and winter, with the winter storms accounting for the Cape's original appellation as the Cape of Storms. We've had more than our fair share this year and wind, in … Continue reading When the dog barked
Tremendous Trees – II
The colours of the dripping Acacia gum are beautiful. It forms the most magnificent stalactites that deposit resin onto mounds of wannabe stalagmites on the ground below. Unless you are looking for them, though, gummy the piles are well camouflaged and easy to miss.
From drab, dull and mostly grey to astonishing colour
It often amazes me how out of things seemingly unsightly, dull and ugly, beauty emerges.