The Latest
Going Corporate - Portraiture
Wisdom to know what to do with what I know was what I had to do with this commission. The client has the law behind them, the gift of the gab and the confidence to enforce all three! This is what I did: Sent a missive by email to all members of the staff regarding their...
Backing Basics On A Tuesday
Every time I download my photographs for this “project” I get a nasty knot in my stomach, it’s very much like waiting to write an examination. Today is an ordinary Tuesday. A back to reality day, the weekend’s a thing of the past. It’s back to doing the laundry, watering the plants and the...
Challenging Creativity
There can be no other word but CHALLENGE for a project like this. The last time I felt as challenged was when I stopped smoking, day 3 almost had me lighting up again. What this weekend has taught me is that one must pack for every eventuality, because who can tell what catches the eye on...
Shell We?
“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” Ansel Adams. When is a photograph “good”, not necessarily Ansel Adams good, but good by your standards, when it gets a million clicks on Instagram? When it’s liked 2K times on FaceBook or Twitter or when Pixolo says...
Fern Funny First
It’s a sloshy Saturday and a Mission Impossible. Abort! A voice screams. But, procrastination is the thief of time. That’s a fact. Mondays are a good day to start: dieting, fasting, a new project or a new leaf. That’s if you toe the line, not when you zig when everyone else zags. ...
Beach Bunnies Make Waves
The sparkling wine on tap which has just been installed in Breë Street is the one I like best. For some reason I don’t fall for it but, this year I fell hook, line and sinker for a few April Fools jokes. Imagine the genius who could put DSTV out of business with his R99 subscriptions and...
R is For Rhino Rob Restaurants and Red Wine
Animals, Beer/Braai, Creation Dinner, Elephant, Fishing, Giraffe, Hermanus, Impala, Jâgermeister, Knights, Long Street, Mama, Newton-Johnson, Open Bus, Precious, Quiet, Rhino, Sunshine, Tortoise, Unique, Vineyards, Watches, X-factor, Yellow African Sun, Zebra – this was the brief, we had to...
It's The Final Countdown
My throat closes, my pulse quickens, there’s a hand gripping my heart and nausea is creeping up on me, I’m not pregnant. Only one sleepie left. Their visits are always too short. Women used to shave their heads, wail and keen for their children, I could too. The pillow we shared this...
Shark Cage Diving in Kleinbaai
Being charged by a Rhino or stormed by an Elephant is exciting but nothing is as chilling or as exhilarating as being in a cage out at sea observing a Great White Shark in Shark Alley. He went from the very North of South Africa where he saw a very rare sighting, two Rhinos being hunted by a...
Road Tripping, Rondawels and Rhinos
Elephants! That was the brief. We did the groundwork, puffed South Africa up without sounding too arrogant or full of ourselves, now it had to prove itself. Not that we have any doubts on that score, but expectations had to be met. Fortunately the Kruger National Park does speak for itself. ...
Stay a while Crocodile
Make haste while the sun shines! Time waits for no man as we trundle along. It's true, we can see our lives flash past us when we have fun. When those glass doors at the Johannesburg International airport swooshed open I became one happy Mama, my girl was safely back on African soil. I...
Halving The Panties Gets You Nowhere
That’s what He-Who-Will-Be-Obeyed Says As I Pack. “Whether one packs for one week or one month the quantities stay the same” I mutter under my breath. This time I’m not up for the argument as I’m simply too excited. So I’ll take half the undies. I’ve already cut down the shorts, nighties and...
Marching Orders
“A woman, a dog, and a walnut tree, The more you beat them the better they be.” A Calendar of Gardeners’ Lore Revealing the Secrets of The Walled Kitchen Garden. 1875. Fortunately men came to their senses! In 1975 platform shoes, miniskirts, being anorexic and the Bob was all the rage....
Running Circles Around Life
Today you’ll close this gate; you’ve gone full circle with your journey here. You arrived as a beautiful, sexy, vivacious Englishwoman 38 years ago. Choices have never been yours to make, circumstances dictated your every move. “She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she...
My Funny Valentine
Like minced beef I forced myself into my new contouring spandex figure-hugging petticoat and sexy, lacy, red bra, a birthday gift from Precious when I was a size smaller but had no need of support, as we were camping in a rooftop tent in Xai-Xai, Mozambique, a decade ago! On Saturday evening my...
Morning After The Valentine Night Before
I have carpet burns on both knees and my forehead is blood red and burning. On Sunday morning I had: lower backache, a blinding headache, swollen ankles and my pedicured toes had blistered, I throbbed! I have no regrets and I'm not complaining. I am “just” over the 50 year mark so “regret”...
Seeing Red With A Broken Heart
It’s all petals, pouting and perfumed perfection on the eve of Valentine’s Day. Commercial exploitation it might be, but give a girl a weekend away, wine her, dine her, lavish gifts from the heart upon her and believe me you’ll star in her good books! We’ve all had our fair share...
Move Mundane to Make Magic
Easier said than done you may say. It takes a mind shift and will power to move something from mundane to magic, but it’s not impossible, look at the guy on stage, he uses a plain white handkerchief to produce a beautiful white dove. It's all in the magic we hold in our hands. Just read...
Missive From Glam'ma
“Grandchildren now don't write a thank you for the Christmas presents. They are walking on their pants with their cap on backward, listening to the Enema Man and Snoopy, Snoopy Poop Dog.” ― Alan Simpson Dearest Nunu, You’re not a twinkle in your Fathers’ eye anymore you’re a reality, I saw you...
Spit or Swallow
That is the question. Not on an empty stomach. Well I don’t know about that. At the time of this dilemma choices were limited; there was no place to hide. A mad dash to the kitchen I made, it was a shambles. “Manners maketh man” was ringing in my ears while I heaved and clamped my jaw. I was...
Friday My Day
The clock ticks, January draws to a close, not a day too soon either. It’s been a long month. A fortnight ago my bank balance passed zero. My tan’s faded and I’m not as diligent about counting calories anymore. Thank goodness its Friday my favourite day. To celebrate we’ll have dessert....
Scintillating Sunny Salads
It’s a mellow-yellow Saffron day, it’s hot, sticky and slightly sultry. I awoke with melons, songs and nasturtiums on my mind a Yellow song and it was Coldplay! A good theme for Thursday. This is a pedicure and cafe day. Provence is yellow, reminding me of Les Girls, pottery and...
Tuesdays are for no ordinary fish
“I love the way the color lavender smells, and the way the color salmon tastes. And if there were a color called “fur”, I’d like the way it feels”!–Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE Painting of Fishmonger at Fishmarket: Bartolomeo Passarotti - The fish stall If you’re a fisherman and...
Miserably Morose on a Monday
It’s no use, no-one can dodge this bullet any longer, it’s back to the Spinning Class this afternoon, the scales don’t lie, we can count calories until the cows come home, nope, it’s time to add some strenuous exercises to the game plan! I wonder if jaw wiring is still an option? I still...
The Other Woman, a Letter From My Heart
"Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you." On Children – Kahlil Kibran An open letter Dear Mum and Dad of The Other Woman, When I...
Between The Covers it's Man up or Clam up
We need confidence and courage to grab an opportunity and run with it, to persevere and not lose faith takes guts.“A ship is always safe at the shore; but that is NOT what it is built for. Right ― Albert Einstein. People are fascinating and if you’re a little more aware and have an...
A Photographic Walk
Today was a walk in the park. A delightful day of taking photogaphs of some the people I encounter in my daily life. As Bruce Gilden says "I love the people I photograph. I mean, they're my friends. I've never met most of them or I don't know them at all, yet through my images I live...
Sea Horses and Mermaids
For a while now we’ve been hearing rumours about snorkelling with Sea Horses,"Right!" I thought "and I’m talking to Faeries!" they’re almost extinct and live in the Tropics somewhere. Exactly, in Inhambane in the tropical waters there! So one day we investigated, of course it’s easier said...
Moon On The Water - Where a Simple Life Comes Together
As soon as the furniture is arranged on the veranda and the long table is placed against the railing I sit down and feel my shoulders drop, my neck becomes looser and the tension flows like blood through my veins out through my toes. I can breathe again, long slow inhalations,...
Good, Better, Mozambique
It’s a long and winding road getting to Lua No Mar, a cottage on the beach in Tofo, a pinprick on the map of Mozambique in the Province of Inhambane. This is the place of long white beaches, mosquitoes, sand flees, balmy days, and the friendliest most accommodating people in Africa. Vasco...
Rhubarbs reign here, Miss Figgy and Aubergine
People very rarely change and our nearly neighbours moved after a lifetime on the corner, quietly without making a fuss, not the slightest ripple on the pond, the only sign of their departure is their absence and the sense of loss the stately old homestead has taken on! No one is doing Thai-Chi...
At a Loss
“Before the war Sofya Levinton had once said to Yevgenia Nikolaevna Shaposhnikova, “If one man is fated to be killed by another, it would be interesting to trace the gradual convergence of their paths. At the start they might be miles away from one another – I might be in Pamir picking alpine...
Figs, Frogs and Red Onions
The countdown has begun only seven sleepies to go! If the dining room is anything to go by we’re going to need a pantechnican to get us to Tofo. There's no doubt we're all fatigued at this time of the year, although it’s gone like a flash, and the year is just a memory we’ve all had our...
Ta-Ta-Ra-Ta Tarte Tartin
“A party without cake is just a meeting” ― Julia Child. Tarte Tatin - a type of upside-down apple tart consisting of pastry baked over slices of fruit arranged in caramelised sugar, served fruit side up after cooking. Every cook should go to a cooking class at least once a year. Besides...
The Melting Pot
Chocolate Melting Jar an innovative find by Kitchen Inspire by ANZO. Often the best buys are the ones I do on the trot while my eyes are searching shelves for the thingy on the list. My blue eye spotted this gem while scouring the shelves for the 6th colander for our summer cottage...
Open Secrets Closed Books and Fishy Tales
Speckled eggs, peanuts and raisins with Mustard leaves and ginger are my new addictions; if I didn’t know better I’d think something fishy was going on! I juggle the three in no particular order while I make a salad and think about Village life on a Saturday morning. I love the bunch of...
Of Crowning glories Queen of Tarts and Family Jewels
are none of the things I can boast of. You could say I'm always the second runner-up or the Burntoutactress being a drama Queen, the reigning Queen says the family jewels are for the aging Queen. Such is life. But sit me down to Pudding and I'm in clover! The real Queen of Tarts is...
Hydrangeas Hot Chicks and Old Favourites
The hydrangeas are blooming, all cotton-candy pink and lacy blue. My Pecan nut tree is throwing off its flowers and my garden is swarming with bees, dragonflies and frogs. It’s old summer magic and there’s no time to waste experimenting with new menu’s, which suits me just fine. Last night...
Chocolate Champagne and Caviar
the star attractions leading all the wise men to your festive table. “Happiness, Simple as a glass of chocolate or tortuous as the heart, Bitter. Sweet. Alive.” - Joanne Harris, Chocolat. Don't invite the usual suspects, be brave and invite someone new; who'll breath new life into...
