Hot Chick Spicing Up The Kitchen
Winter food to spice up your life, add heat to your menu with colourful spices, bring out the tartness of Citrus with a saucy pudding, go tropical with a pod of Vanilla and pick up an exotic thread of Saffron. Wrap up snugly in rice paper and fry up some Spring Rolls. These multinational...
Autumn Days
Sometimes I miss the woods for the trees, that’s how I felt this morning when I took the drive along the banks of the Breë River from Worcester to Rawsonville. For me, Rawsonville has never appealed aesthetically, it’s a cliquey, conservative, one horse town with a shady past and a bleak...
Just Souping It Up
There’s something to be said for being busy in the kitchen. It’s the heart of a home after all. My neighbour walked past my window this morning and made a statement about the gorgeous aromas wafting on the airwaves from my stove. He was salivating! I said it’s just a normal day, but it...
Odds And Sods In Macro
Our annual winter visitor is back, like last year only the one, a huge grasshopper. I’m always caught unawares by this monstrous critter as he lurks around and in the most unlikely places, this time he was there glaring at me when I opened the patio door, eyeball to eyeball we were,...
Sundays Springfontein And Stanford
On a clear day we can see forever, today is such a day. How lovely to be able to lie in bed with a perfectly brewed cup of Vietnamese coffee and a book. We decide to venture out to Stanford for lunch, a 20 minute drive along the coast, the mountains on our left and miles of water on our...
Turning A Weekend Into A Holiday
An extra day in Hermanus turns a weekend into a short holiday. Thank goodness I pulled myself up by my winter bootstraps, put the windbreaker on and flung my camera around my neck. I took off to do a walk along the Cliff path. It’s a weekend of art in Hermanus and what a delightful surprise...
Mountain Birds Have Voices
My best friend, a wonderful woman, accomplished, clever, creative, funny and very intelligent sometimes loses her mojo, she’s not into pitty partying so it’s a flash in the pan sort of occurrence, but it happens when she least expects it. Her adorable husband folds his arms, stands with...
Bookclubs Are Bookish
I’m not a songwriter nor a lyricist, but I’ve got Anne, Sandra, Jocelyn, Valery, Yvonne, Jeanette, Marthie, Esther, Lindsay, Carina, Allison, Barbara, Emma, Jurie, Marie, Jenny, Pam, Helene, Debbie, Denise, Ann, Alma, Cherry, Maureen, Lorette, Aletta, Will, Elsabe, Riette and Gerda on...
Putting A Colourful Foot Forward
Moody, Mundane; it’s Monday! Blue is the colour of this day, and it’s not for nothing. To cheer ourselves up we gave it a colour. I need colour today. Bright and vibrant colour to give this misty, wet day a lift. Life really is very boring when it’s all wet and grey. For me it’s a...
A Sunday Drive
I'm always spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting my favourite photographs for the day. I am a happy snapper and have an abundance of clicks on my card. Not today. Although my eyes were open and I was constantly aware of my surroundings I just didn't get anything "original". So today...
Wending Ways Through Baines Kloof
It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring. Well not really, it is drizzling, it’s not pouring yet but, the accumulated misty drops on the mountain tops are pouring down the valleys and streams into the rivers which are starting to broil. The cat sitting in the doorway was haughty as...
Frustrating Friday
When there’s a knock on the door at 6h45 in the morning you can be sure the day isn’t going to turn out the way you thought. I was still in my pyjamas when our neighbour banged on the back door. One of two things, someone’s popped his clogs or, yes, it was no 2, someone had broken into...
Hip-Hopping
The days of tutus and pirouettes are long gone, little girls don't stand on pointe and think Margot Fontaine is cool, they're into baggy pants, loose long sleeves and their pumps are Nike, they stomp and jump, jiggle and gyrate and they shake their tiny shoulders to the beat of Reggae as...
Being Contemporary At Dance
It always surprises me how accommodating people are, especially when they’re passionate about what they do. Today was a first for me. Photographing Contemporary Dance. Exhilarating. Energetic. I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a class of Grade 12 pupils. ‘Never try to paint...
Just Horsing About
I doubt my English teacher would believe that I still remember the famous poem Horses of the Camargue, strangely every autumn when the wind blows cold I think of the poem and in my minds’ eye I can see those white horses. The early morning pink clouds were the first sign of the weather turning,...
Changing Seasons
Not much to report today, it’s Sunday. A reflective day. Coffee filtering through a beard is what I saw, one was ginger and the other nicotine stained, both looked impressive and give the wearer a certain air and character which is out of the ordinary. “I have a beard of fog that I wear...
Sports Days Bringing Back Memories
We had cravings for fresh produce from the morning market. En route we noticed a more than usual sighting of Worcester motor cars, one and one made two and we realised it was the annual Inter-School winter sports day at the Hermanus High school. Worcester Gymnasium was in town For 22...
Inter-School Sports Day Worcester Gymnasium vs Hermanus High School
A continuation of just photographs of the U19A Rugby game held on Saturday in Hermanus ...
Hex River Valley Celebrating Autumn
“Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.” ― Ansel Adams. Today God was on my side. Continuing with a family tradition the South African flag was raised on another perfect day. It’s only when I stand surrounded by the ever present mountains that...
If Not Cabbages Then It's A Landscape
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky.” ― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds. Our blue mountains are ringing out tonight. Of cabbages and kings I know nothing but I have pored over black and white photographs made by...
Light Shining On White
“Women think of all colours except the absence of colour. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.” ― Coco Chanel, Chanel Today is a WHITE day. I know I have the right theme for a day when I get butterflies in my tummy. That’s...
Complimenting Colour
“I am always hoping to make a discovery here, to express the feelings of two lovers by a marriage of two complementary colours, their minglings and their oppositions, the mysterious vibrations of kindred tones.” (Vincent van Gogh) Minimalism. Complementary and primary colours. Cool colours...
Having Bedroom Eyes
90 Minutes, that’s the time it takes for a make-up artist to do Kim Kardashian’s make-up! EVERY DAY! Preposterous you might think, it takes us, mere mortals, one minute? Two? That’s what it takes to get my face out of the drawer each morning. What do they do? Not much, one would think,...
Lemons Lavender and Limoncello
Lemons are abundant now. Juicy, tart and full of goodness only knows how many Vitamins (I know C) to ward off winter coughs and colds. I’ll squeeze them, cut them, peel them, store them, preserve them and our house will be filled with that fresh, lemony sweetness. No garden should be without...
Soothing Saturdays
We slept in. And it’s only someone as depressed as Edgar Allan Poe who dare say ““Sleep, those little slices of death — how I loathe them." I love my Saturday morning sleep in. During all the excitement I too sympathised with Dr Seuss who says when you’re in love sleeping is a waste as reality...
Rainy Days In A Kitchen
If you’re given lemons make lemonade, that’s what some clever person said. I’ve got 60 lemons and I’m going to make lemonade and Limoncello and a whole lot more. With that in mind I reckon it could be another fabulous Friday in my kitchen. My story today is twofold, one to produce products...
Pimping Up Pumpkins
We love food in this country, and not surprisingly as we produce such a diverse range of products, not to mention the most delicious too. On most highways or byways one’s sure to find a roadside stall selling local produce. We have many in our district, and today I showcase one of the very...
Neighing In Nuy
I decided to return to the Nuy Valley today, yesterday it was the mountain today it’s life at the foot of the mountain. Families have been living here for centuries, if you’re born here there’s really no reason to leave, so it’s more or less from the cradle to the grave! Once again the...
Announcing The Birth Of A Grandbaby - From Glama
FIRST OFF THE BAT: You look like me! We’re two peas in a pod and don’t let anyone tell you differently! That sweet button nose, those clear, big eyes and those pianists fingers, exactly. I know someone will try to mention liver spots, crow's feet, laughter lines, fallen arches and grey hair...
Our Majestic Mountains
Some people live their lives in a fishbowl. We live in a basin, a beautiful valley surrounded by majestic mountains. No matter which window we look out of we can see a mountain, albeit it’s tip or the cloud covering. When we travel to foreign places or upcountry the first thing I notice is...
Afterglow
I have important business to attend to tonight so it’s vital that I stay awake and alert. After a busy Monday mopping, dusting and polishing furniture my time is limited so I set up my camera during the blue hour (1 hour after sunset). The only cluster of lights in sleepy hollow is across...
Celebrating Mothers' Day
“When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.” Erma Bombeck. Tell me about it! I’m a Mother too so I took the day off to enjoy all the phone calls, messages and chats with...
Mothers' Day Musings
Now let’s be honest not everyone is in a celebratory mood. Not all women can be honoured and there are many who aren’t fit to be called Mother. Biblically Eve is “Mother” and she is revered, she’s honourable, above reproach, a person called by God to build a nation. Many African...
Just Freezing Moments
It’s the day before Mother’s day and the shops are abuzz with last minute shoppers buying gifts and cards. I had my first cuppa at about 9h45 this morning, it was a chill-out day for us as we only had to make an appearance at 12h30 for a luncheon appointment. Yesterday I devoured my new...
Autumn De Doorns
At eight o’clock this morning I was on the road to De Doorns, the weekend traffic on the N1 was already hectic with huge trucks from the North making haste to get to Cape Town before the weekend. At first I thought the valley was under a blanket of mist, which would make interesting pictures...
Autumn Happens In April
“Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring.” ― Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's I wish there were 36 hours in a day, then I might go to bed at night with a sigh and know I’ve done everything I had on my list. Someone’s untitled photograph...
Pooling Resources Right On Cue
Today was a highlight, who would’ve thought the South African Pool Championships is being held here, of all places, and has been so for a number of years. I almost lost my nerve, but I manned up, grabbed my camera and headed for the Pietman Hugo Hall at the Showgrounds. I was going cold...
Autumn Afternoon On Lorraine
Multi-tasking isn’t all it makes out to be. To concentrate on a single task should always be the order of the day, ask anyone with ADD. Like a faded rose of days gone by my Menopause makes me forgetful. No! I do believe it’s an over stimulated brain on the run that allows one to do more than...
First Milestone
Whoop-Whoop it’s a milestone, it’s a milestone, 30 continuous days of taking photographs! One 12th done and dusted! That deserves a Noddy badge. With only myself to blame for this I’ll have to pat my own shoulder! Now this is exactly where the problem starts. I have guests who are...
Fernkloof Farmers Market
One would think weekends would be ideal for a project such as mine, loads of time, relaxed, good photographic opportunities etc,. Today it's not for me, we’re just too busy and I’m in the mood for a lazy morning lolling around in my PJ's, a fragrant steamy coffee in bed with my book. Lifting...