Living in the fairest Cape

Changing Continents

2011-05-10T23:21:00.000+02:00

It is now mid May and we have been back in the US for six months - the time has truly flown by as we have been acclimating ourselves to a new/old life.

Fortunately we returned to a mild early winter followed by a traditional White Christmas and lots of good times with our families in Montreal, New York and Florida.

I'm going to shift over from this blog to a new one to report on our lives in Vermont - so if you were following us here, please check out the new look: Pen Arts in Vermont www.penartsinvermont.blogspot.com

Check in with us regularly and we'll try to give you a feel for life in the chilly North.

Fond Farewells and Return to the Chilly North

2010-12-11T20:02:00.003+02:00

This should really be a last entry on this blog as we are no longer living in the Fairest Cape, sniff, sniff.

I thought I"d share just a few highlights of our last few weeks and leave myself the option to report on other adventures in the future.

So, parties, feasting, and feting were the name of the game. As well as crazy packing, squabbling and fretting over what to ship, what to take, what to store and what to plant! Having done this a few times now I can attest that moving is one of life's most stressful experiences.

We took pictures with friends and had many farewell meals, all delicious.
and we were sad to go but promised ourselves we shall return within the year.

and perhaps I'll start a new blog for our Cape town friends to keep abreast of our Vermont life!

Two weeks to go and a Book Club Farewell

2010-10-23T19:03:00.002+02:00

It is now just over two weeks until Michael and I return to live in Vermont. We are sad to be leaving this amazing city and the good friends we have made here but know we will come back. It is not a place to leave behind.

On the other hand we are happy to be returning to our families and friends in the US and Canada. The distances between these two places is too far and not many have been able to make that journey. But for those that have, we thank you for coming to see us and for being a part of our adventure here in South Africa.

Rather than try to catch up on everything we've been doing since June! I'll just start here-

I give many thanks to the Book Club women who welcomed me into their long standing group. Over the past two years they have provided stimulating conversations and discussions over the many novels and non-fictions books they read. I have become a more consistent reader here under the influence of these thoughtful and passionate women. And fortunately they have told me I will always remain a honourary member!

Michael's 2010 Birthday Festivities - day one

2010-05-28T11:30:00.000+02:00

There will be at least seven events in the celebrating of this significant birthday but it all started with a walk in the park. Well, one of our local walking spots, a field called Bel Ombre Meadow. Michael had the first treat of this new year - discovering where the edible mushrooms grow. He is always hunting for them on walks and normally finds none or old, unappetizing ones. Today was different. I donated my sweater for the collection of these 'shrooms which Michael found under some poplar trees and pine trees. He calls them boletus or poplar cepe, which his mom called butterpils and pappelpils. We sliced and dried some of them and they are waiting to be added to the next Mushroom Risotto.

Kicking Polio out of Africa

2010-05-24T19:32:00.010+02:00

That is the name of the Rotary International campaign to fight polio locally and in the build up to the World Cup, there has been a push to give free polio immunizations across Africa.

Here in the Western Cape this week has been identified for doing immunizations and Rotary clubs have been asked for volunteers to help. Michael and I plus 3 other Constantia Rotary volunteers, including Toni our Ambassadorial scholar, met at the Wynberg Clinic to travel out to different communities here in the Southern Suburbs.

Our team went to six pre-school and primary schools centers in Mowbray and Rondebosch. The three nursing sisters had been doing these immunizations for weeks in and in some places were seeing hundreds of children at a time.
One of the preschools had mostly immigrant children many of whom spoke French which was an excellent opportunity for Michael and I to speak with the children and reassure them in French. the little girl who hopped on my lap was at that school. the little boy hogging the photo was a jumping bean who actually was too old to receive the drops.

We were giving drops of polio vaccine and a dose of Vitamin A to each child between 1 and 5. altogether I figure we did about 140 vaccinations. the children were very sweet at all the places but occasionally one would be super afraid and start crying, which often effected others... I sometimes helped one of the nurses with giving Vitamin A capsules but mostly just helped with directing the children and reassuring shy ones. Michael had the job of marking their little fingers which is done to be sure a child is not given an extra dose and to show they have received the drops.

In Mowbray at the Gingerbread Hause they had lovely signs painted on the walls- one of my favorite things!

The pre-schools have very different facilities but one thing in common was obvious- the care and attentiveness of the people running the centers.The teachers and class heads welcomed our visit and the children were adorable. It was a good way to spend the morning. Between our three teams, we were able to help immunize about 500 children - a good morning's effort!

For more information on the Rotary International effort visit: kickpoliooutofafrica.wordpress.com

A Dinner for Danielle

2010-05-18T22:00:00.003+02:00

Americans in Cape Town - Toni, me, Danielle
We were fortunate on Sunday evening to host Danielle and other Rotary friends and family at our home. Danielle is leaving Cape Town this week and we all wanted a chance to share and celebrate her time here in South Africa.

Our guests were Danielle, of course, her friend David, a fellow Masters student at UCT who is studying solid state physics - hard! and Toni, fellow American and Rotary scholar, plus Willy and Frauke, who was Danielle's counselor at our Club. Jeremy came with Debbie and her children Rebecca and Keenan which was delightful. Rebecca is almost 17 and Keenan is just five. He gamely stayed awake until after 9 pm.

The cooks: Debbie, Frauke, Michael, Toni & me

Frauke's salad & Michael's fish
As usual, everyone contributed to making the meal easy and delicious. Debbie brought snacks, Frauke salad and Toni dessert. Toni made an apple crisp, a real American dish, at least we thought it was typically American. Oddly though, Danielle was not too sure what is was - how funny and easy it is to make assumptions - a good reminder not to do so. Michael was in charge of the main dish making red snapper, green beans and rice - he really knows how to cook fish - yum :) It is fabulous to live near the ocean and be able to buy freshly caught fish!

Sitting down to dinner

hanging in front of the cozy fire

Not much to report except that we had fun - Keenan and Toni were taken with one another - she played ball with him in front of the fire. Keenan also wanted to play with the dogs but Tara was aloof and Emma just plain avoided him - too bad because he was being very sweet with them. We chatted, sipped, ate and chatted some more.

Rebecca took control of the camera and took some wonderful pictures for us. Her still life of the protea bouquet is really stunning - an obviously artistic young woman. It was a nice break for me to have someone else take over the camera and help record the evening.

We know we shall see Danielle again, whether it is here or, for Michael and me, more likely, in the US.

Best wishes Danielle!

Sunny Sunday Walk

2010-05-16T12:52:00.007+02:00

This morning is lovely and sunny after almost a week of grey rainy days. We (Michael, Emma, Tara, me) headed out to Hout Bay with our friend Lea and her little puppy Mabel to enjoy a walk on Hout Bay Beach. It was delightful - one of the nicest things about Cape Town is that the fall and winter are still sprinkled with lovely warmish days! The beach was much flattened by recent winds and tides and there were huge pieces of kelp thrown up on the shore.

Michael went off to buy fish while we walked all 3 dogs (Tara is our house guest while Jeni is traveling in Morocco and Europe.) They romped and played. When he returned to the beach Emma was thrilled. But funniest of all is when Emma makes us play with her, as you can see. She was happy to have a proper run after a couple of days of very shortened walks!

This evening we are hosting a casual farewell dinner for Danielle, a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar our club sponsored since last February. She is heading home to the States on Tuesday. More on that once its happened!

A Passage and Spices from India

2010-05-06T19:42:00.013+02:00

Rotary GSE Team from Coimbatore India

Our last week was occupied with hosting a lovely young woman from Southeastern India named Pooja. Pooja is one of five visitors who have come to our Western Cape as part of a Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) program. She is the second person from the right in the team photo.

In this Rotary program two Districts in different parts of the world agree to exchange visits. The teams consist of a Rotary leader and four young professionals. Each club arranges hosts for the visitors and we were lucky enough to have Pooja stay with us. The group arrived on Saturday May 1 and will be here in South Africa for just over one month. Our club, Constantia Rotary was the first to receive and introduce them to Cape Town. Our team to India went there this past February.
Airport reception with visiting team and Cape Town hosts
We all arrived to greet the group at the airport Saturday afternoon and then took our guests home. We gave Pooja a brief driving tour thru the city over Kloof Nek, to Signal Hill and back home via Hout Bay. The timing was perfect for seeing sunset on Chapman's Peak Drive overlooking Sentinel Rock and Hout Bay.
Sunset over Hout Bay

While most of the team have traveled before, this was Pooja's first trip out of India leaving behind her husband and two young boys. Knowing this, we wanted to be certain that Pooja felt at home. I can imagine how overwhelming it could feel to be traveling this far on your first trip away from familiar things. It was obvious that Pooja would have loved to be able to share this experience with her family and was missing them.

Once Pooja settled in, she insisted upon giving us many gifts from India - a few items she had made herself including two lovely pencil drawings to traditional items from the region of her home and by request some curry spices! She is from the town of Coimbatore which is in Tamil Nadu, not far from Chennai. We spent a quiet evening and we made fast friends. Pooja showed us many photos of her husband and children and her wedding. She also introduced us to some new Indian foods which we are now eating up!
Evening at Lloyd and Penny's
On Sunday the group was taken to Robben Island and then the V&A waterfront followed by a welcome dinner at our club President Lloyd and his wife Penny's home. The majority of the team is vegetarian so it gave some of us the opportunity to make vegetarian dishes. It was easy for me because I made salad. The evening was a success and we were able to give Pooja a small gift from our club.

The next two and a half days were chockfull of activities. Monday was a vocational day. We introduced Pooja to two jewelers we know and then took her to Simonstown and the Boulders to see penguins. Pooja climbed over boulders to get close to these awkward on land but amazing in water seabirds that have adopted a little stretch of the South African coast as home. We returned home via Kalk Bay and Boyes Drive giving Pooja the classic view of Muizenberg Beach from on high.

rock hyrax which thrives in the penguin reserve lone penguin
a breeding pair grooming each other Sunrise Beach, Muizenberg
On Monday evening we made a dinner dish to share with another host family- Wendy and Richard and their team member, Niru. Pooja and I chopped away in the kitchen and she made Pav Bhaji which is basically a yummy spicy vegetarian stew served with toasted buns.

It was definitely a highlight for us to be cooking together and learning about each other's culture and habits. Niru also made a dish typical of her home town, Kerala as well as a classic Indian rice pudding dessert. We all enjoyed quite a feast at Wendy and Richard's home. Wendy and Richard's daughter and fiance joined us allowing Pooja and Niru to meet some other young South Africans.

On Tuesday, there was more sightseeing for the group. I loaned Pooja my rain jacket as the weather did not cooperate for their outing to Cape Point. Pooja arrived home a little soggy but still her happy self. Pooja at Cape Point Niru at Cape Point

Pooja's lively performance at our Rotary meeting
That evening the GSE visitors made their first presentation at our Rotary Meeting. Guests included our District Governor and his wife, members of other host clubs and our young ambassadorial scholar Toni. They presented quite a lot of information on India and themselves which was fun to hear. The professions of the members are artist, tax accountant, film maker, advertising manager and jeweler. They make for an interesting group. It was well received and the highlight of the evening was a traditional dance performed by Pooja for the meeting. She wore a traditional costume with lots of bangles and dangly jewelry, even a temporary nose ring.

Many masalas to make!

After returning home from the dinner Pooja sat with me and gave me a recipe for each of the spice mixtures she brought with her. Through Pooja's good tutelage I have learned that every Indian dish, no matter which masala mix you use also includes turmeric, chili powder and usually jeera (cumin). I look forward to making one of the dishes for Michael this week.

Sadly, Pooja has moved on to her next hosts at Sea Point Rotary but we know she will be well- cared for and received. She has a gentle, loving nature that is infectiously joyful to be around. Even Emma (our dog) who normally growls at anyone who comes into our bedroom "sanctuary" was completely welcoming to Pooja. She sensed Pooja's peaceful and giving nature - and wanted to be close to her.

Fortunately, we will be seeing Pooja and the group again at The Rotary District Conference in Somerset West in mid-May. She was such a delightful guest and we know we have made a friend for life.

Reading at the Shine Centre

2010-04-28T12:17:00.000+02:00

Last week I started a new term as a 'learning partner" volunteer with two students as part of The Shine Centre educational program. Shine has a fabulous program for teaching second language learners English in grades 2 and 3. I learned about them last year because of a request they made to our Constantia Rotary Club for help with purchasing glasses for the children. After meeting the dynamic team leading the organization and reading about how effective they have been in improving the reading levels of over 700 children who come very disadvantaged backgrounds I wanted to get involved. Our club partnered with my old club from South Burlington Vermont to provide funds for the Shine Centre to get glasses for children with vision problems.

And now, I have the privilege of trying to help two sweet little African children whose first language is Xhosa to learn and understand our strange, confusing and inconsistent English language at the Zonnebloem primary school. Zonnebloem is a neighborhood between Woodstock and Observatory on one of the hillsides just outside the Cape Town city bowl. The children generally come by train and then walk up the big hill to the school. I am pictured here with Liphelo who is a lively and bright little girl who needs help with her reading and writing. The boys and girls are taught separately so there are two sessions for the children with girls in one and boys in the other. this year, Shine has needed to take many more boys into the program because many did not get the material from 1st grade. The little boy also struggles but he is working hard and I am sure we will make progress.

Have a look at the Shine website at www.theshinecentre.com or blog www.shinecentrecapetown.blogspot.com to learn more about this wonderful organization - you can even adopt a student if you want to help!

The Rubbish Bin Cello

2010-04-25T09:07:00.007+02:00

On Saturday we enjoyed an evening of baroque music. We attended a concert at Welgemeend which is a private home that was donated to the Jan Van Riebeeck High School many years ago and is now used for private functions. The building is in a beautiful setting in central Cape Town with a lovely garden. Inside the house has an impressive collection of South African art, gorgeous old furniture and rooms that can be prepared for many uses.

Our friend Jeni who loves classical music and often knows about intimate performances around town asked us to join her. I am so glad that we took her up on this invitation. Not surprisingly, it turns out that she knew one of the musicians, a cellist named Angela. Angela was playing a cello that has been restored as a Baroque cello which means that it has real gut strings, not stainless steel.

The star instrument, if you will, was a violoncello piccolo, a five stringed smallish cello, which was rescued from a rubbish bin (thus the nickname) in Paarl, a town just 30 minutes outside Cape Town. After some research and checking, it was determined that the wood pieces of this cello were authentic and really old, dated 1707 - its likely origin traced to Bach's area of Germany -astonishing. It was obviously an honour for Hans Huyssen, the leader of the ensemble, to be playing this instrument. He adapted Bach sonatas written for the 6- stringed viola da gamba for the performance. However and whenever it arrived in South Africa, this violoncello was lovingly restored by a man who is the only one who could have done it. He was in the audience and gratefully acknowledged by Hans.Hans was a multi-talented composer, conductor and performer. For more information about him, you can check out his web site: http://www.huyssen.de/Biography.html

The real test is the sound of the music played which was incredibly rich and delicious. The trio consisted of the violoncello, a double board harpsichord and Baroque cello. The musicians performed 3 Bach sonatas and one Bach Toccata for solo harpsichord. The music was beautiful, varied and excellently played. I often note how much I enjoy live music and wonder why we do not attend more concerts. We shall correct that over the next six months in this city where concerts are plentiful, accessible and affordable.

One lingering memory of the evening is the brief conversation I shared with the harpsichordist. We spoke about the master who made his instrument and the gift it presents for him to be playing this technically amazing, beautiful harpsichord, owned by a private individual. It is an accurate reproduction of a Dutch harpsichord. The skill and delight of the musician was obvious, especially in the Toccata he performed.

So, should you have the opportunity to attend live music in Cape Town, you must take it - and savor the experience.

Aubergines, Franck and the Food Barn

2010-04-24T23:16:00.010+02:00

This past Wednesday we went along with some friends to a restaurant called the Food Barn in Noordhoek, about 20 minutes from here near the ocean. The chef at the Food Barn is Franck Dangereux, I kid you not, and he does a wintry thing of weekly cooking demonstrations that one is welcome to attend if you are dining there. Michael and I attended one last winter: it was such fun that I've been waiting for the cool weather to return with Franck behind the cooking arena.

Franck is an award winning French chef who used to lead the kitchen at a restaurant called La Colombe, one of the best French restaurants in Cape Town. (Actually La Colombe is around the corner from us at Constantia Uitsig, an old established wine farm in Constantia and one of Michael's boyhood haunts.) A few years ago, he left there and then started up this little Bistro and deli with less formal but equally delicious food.

When I saw that Franck was demonstrating all things with eggplant I immediately thought of our new young American friend and Rotary Ambassadorial scholar Toni who is a vegetarian and loves to cook. So off we went, Toni, Michael and I as well as Lloyd and Penny (yes another one)- friends we have made in Rotary. I knew we would all enjoy watching Franck cook and learning a few tips.

Franck makes it all look so easy. He made seared tuna served on a bed of baba ganoush, an eggplant tartlet and grilled aubergine slices as part of a salad with Haloumi cheese. He even showed us how to make a basic mayonnaise which is pretty funny for we Americans who have Hellmann's. Here, all my foodie friends know how and, with some regularity, make their own mayonnaise - so far I've resisted but with Franck's helpful hints I'm now going to give it a try.

The food picture is a rather poor shot of the finished dishes taken in the mirror which hangs over the cooking area. One of the most interesting discoveries of the night were a cinnamon oil that Franck makes for drizzling on the tuna and the other was a simple balsamic syrup which he uses for many things. Franck moves quickly but fortunately Toni was there with her iPhone and took notes on her little screen which she has already sent to us.

When we sat down for dinner after the demonstration, we all ordered the exact dishes we had seen him make - they were so yummy! We left well fed and amused. We shall definitely return and we shall try out some of the recipes ourselves!

Lessons from a Lively Dog

2010-04-23T17:56:00.003+02:00

I've realized recently that the only way to approach this blog is to simply take a few minutes frequently to note our happenings.

Today's observation is about what I learned from two dogs. On this evening's walk with Emma at one of our regular haunts she was doing the usual - standing near the cars waiting to meet other dogs and hoping one might befriend her. While this is usually not a successful endeavor for her she does not give up hope - lesson one.

While she was standing around (like a lost f_ _ t, as Michael might say) a car arrived and out of it came a couple and four assorted dogs. I use the term assorted intentionally as they were all mixed breeds and two of them were missing a limb. I noticed this immediately on the mini-dog who looked like a long haired chihuahua cross because she waddled just slightly. Nevertheless, she was swift and capable. The other dog was a sleek short haired yellow mix of perhaps a boxer and something bigger with a white blaze on her head and neck. She sped across the field so quickly and with such agility that you would never know she was missing a limb - she obviously doesn't see herself as missing anything- and had such joy to be running and chasing animals in the field - that was my second dog lesson for the day. We continued to cross paths with this lovely pack of dogs as we walked and I took heart from their joy, particularly of the speedy yellow dog.

So, that's my observation for today - let us see what tomorrow will bring!

Kruger National Park

2010-01-18T13:34:00.002+02:00

Just a quick entry to make note of our fabulous vacation last September taking the trip to Johannesburg (by overnight train) and then driving to Kruger National Park for a 9 day journey driving from the Southern end (Phabeni Gate) to the Northern end (Punda Maria gate) of the park. We took hundreds of photos of which I am only posting a handful cause it takes too long... it was filled with lovely sightings of the animals and birds doing both the things we did expect and some we did not- I did keep notes so perhaps I'll write it up.

Living here has given us such wonderful opportunities to see the country. We enjoyed every minute of this trip - well, except for a few of the sweltering afternoons when, unlike the smart animals, we were driving along the dusty roads and baking in the sun. there is a reason these animals take an afternoon siesta!

don't want to say more - enjoy the photos! and come to South Africa!

Spring Flowers Trip

2009-10-04T10:15:00.015+02:00

On September 2nd we headed out on a trip to Kamieskroon and then Nieuwoudtville in the Namamqualand region, up the western coast of South Africa from Cape Town and then a bit inland. To get there one drives through beautiful country side.

Our first stop was to the floral display in Clan William, a town that marks the official beginning of an area known for its Spring flower display. In the main town we visited an old assembly hall which gets fitted out with the season's beauties - sort of like Burlington's spring flower show. From there we continued on to Kamieskroon a further north outreach with its own speciality of flowers. What was striking were the small regions in which only certain plants were found. We needed flower and plant books to identify many of the species.

I’ve shown here a smattering of what we saw and a few photos of the friends with whom we traveled - Jeni and Dudley for the first few days and then a larger group over the weekend. We traveled from Kamieskroon to a farm house at a place called Severfontein which means seven springs. It was a big old house with lots of rooms and we catered for ourselves having yummy meals and great company in addition to the excellent flower viewing.

One of the best people memories was when our friend Moriah showed us the male and female restio plants in the field and explain how one can identify them in the veldt. She has an amazing depth of knowledge about South african plants. Actually many in our group were very knowledgeable so it was wonderful to be touring the veldt with them.

We were also treated to the time and expertise of Tim and Judy's local artist friend Willem - he is a master of detail and showed us some rarely seen blooms- specifically a white sparaxis with purple center (in the middle of the photos.)

Visit to Rock Haven

2009-08-29T09:00:00.013+02:00

Since our return from the states we have been doing more travel to see new areas outside Cape Town. One of these was a trip to the Winterhoek mountain area to our friend Grant's country farm called Rock Haven.

Rock Haven is shared by Grant's family and his brother in-law's family. They are farming it for growing lavender, bucchu and pelargonium from which essential oils are extracted. It is not far from a place called Porterville and you drive through a lovely small pass to get there. Jeni invited us to join her on this trip where Nik, Grant and she were going to look for rocks to use for Hyme and Percy's headstones which will be put up next February. The farm is in an area near the foot of the Cedarberg range which is one of the places Percy, Hyme and others hiked all over to find rock paintings. In fact a well-documented one called the Galleon is on the property and we hiked to see it. photo left
Of course no weekend in the country can be had without a braai (barbeque to us Americans) and we had a great one on Saturday night. We cooked up chops, boerwors and chicken - yum!

Since we went in mid August, evidence of Spring arriving was all around us during the weekend. We had a wonderful time hiking and seeing new things in bloom. The small blossom is called a babiana and the bright yellow flower with its companion beetle is a gazania, I think. On Sunday morning the farm manager led us on a short walk during which he named and told us the practical uses on many plants - seeds, flowers, leaves and such. It was such an amazingly beautiful space far away from everything and we could see so many stars. In fact, we are booking their on farm cottages to stay on next Easter.

The rock formation were so cool; these are just a few of them. I've chosen one of the scenes as my new blog post headliner, so to speak. and in 2 weeks time, we'll be heading up the West coast to Namaqualand to see the Spring flowers - where the flowers should be stupendous. Look for pics.

Walk on Noordhoek Beach

2009-08-13T19:39:00.009+02:00

It has been a few months since my last post. I found that writing out to the universe without feedback was not so fun so I simply gave myself a break. We also spent 5 weeks back in the Canada and US having a wonderful visit with family and friends.

We have been back in Cape Town for a month and are once again doing a lot in the garden. Winter is a good time to move trees, and do other plantings, not to mention all the pruning. But we are thrilled to see the progress in the garden. Everyday reveals a new green shoot.

Last Sunday we took a long (more than 4 miles) walk along Noordhoek beach. It was the most beautiful setting - a long beach that runs from Noordhoek to Kommetjkie (do not even ask about the pronunciation - you would not believe it.) the photos are of a shipwreck on the beach which sits high up on the beach. I love that there are so many places for us to walk and explore. We have favorite walks but can always find a new one to experience.
Noordhoek Beach is a great one but next time we shall approach the same beach form the other side of Kommetjie - yes the Afrikaans names are hard to spell and sometimes even harder to pronounce!

Chestnuts

2009-04-18T12:34:00.005+02:00

So Greek Easter can wait. These are honest to goodness chestnuts collected by Jeni, michael, Tessa and me at a few unnamed locations - cannot reveal our source.

Michael was so funny as the season approached, telling me we must remember to collect them before the squirrels ate them all. He was right of course - we missed the window by a week or two which meant that we mostly found empty casings. But check out the exterior casing to a chestnut - not funny to be pricked by those thorny pods. I marvel at how the critters must deal with them.

It was fun to collect them and then do the "shelling" which involved stomping on them in sneakers and gloves, as you can see.

Emma enjoyed the walk and the swim after the collection was done.

now though we have two boxes of chestnuts and I've never cooked them before.

Fortunately there is an Etel recipe we can try for a rather rich sweet dish which has a funny name like "a man in his bow tie - in other words a black and white dish. If we make it, I will chronicle it here.

April was busy

2009-04-14T12:00:00.020+02:00

We have been planting but it is not where we started - we started with a clean slate. Yes I know April is past – and it seems like most entries begin at the end of the month. Have been finding it difficult to find time for entries but there is lots to report. I will start at the beginning and catch up by some time in May… and I may post date a few entries until I catch up to current happenings.

The landscaper arrived April 1, no fooling, with seven men to work on clearing our garden. Mick was recommended by our friend Magrit and they worked very hard to help us get the most out of their one day here. The pictures show the before, during and after, although it begins with the after since I cannot figure out how to move the images around the way I want.

It was great to see the cleared beds. Of course it turned out, as it always does, that this step was really just the beginning. We still needed to clear out old roots, level the ground, add mulch – you get the picture. It seems to be taking a long time to actually plant all 90 items we bought at the Kirstenbosch sale - and every move or idea seems to have ramifications - like planting the crocosmia aurea involved moving some dietes. Nonetheless, here are a few photos of the cleared land and the plan for one of the big beds. They removed about 8 stumps,6 shrubs and trees. They trimmed a huge broken branch off of a willow and both dug up and replanted a banana tree. It was a pretty wild day!

And then, FLU – yup I got sick. Definitely a drag except for the fact that our good friend Jeni came and made me real chicken broth. I ate/drank it for 3 days straight. Got some antibiotics and rested, at least partially so I would be better for our long Easter weekend break.

And then it was off to De Hoop Nature Reserve with Michael, Jeni, Myrtle and me. De Hoop is a beautiful reserve located in the Western Cape bordering the Indian Ocean. It is huge and one can simply walk around in the bush among the wild animals. We stayed in a self-catering cottage and ate the best foods that we cooked ourselves! They revamped the accommodations here last year - the space was very comfortable and well appointed - much better than average.

We spent our days walking, reading and playing boule and Scrabble. (Thank you Frosty’s for giving us the travel set.) The primary animals we saw were bontebok, Cape Mountain Zebras and eland (one of the largest antelopes). We did see a beautiful yellow mongoose the first evening we arrived as well. We saw a large troop of baboons while walking one afternoon but went in the other direction as they are unpredictable creatures and not always friendly. Walking beside the vlei (meaning a place by water) we saw these hymaenthus blossoms - it's a very small flower that sends up its flower first to be followed by its leaves (I think.) We were treated by loads of them in a place where Jeni was surprised to see them. One thing we could not capture was the light and colors of some of the scrub and bushes. There were so many greens and one very vibrant somewhat yellowy green shrub which we all wished we could identify!

It was kind of funny as I was the only Christian in the bunch and I normally choose to celebrate Greek Easter, which did not coincide this Spring (oops Fall here, must remember). We still did have a small Easter bunny hunt on Sunday morning, hiding chocolate around our cottage. Prizes were thoroughly enjoyed, thanks to Jeni.
There were many terrific birds of course, one of them, the black oystercatcher, is Michael’s favorite and he took the most fantastic photos of a few pairs. It is now past their breeding period so they are pretty nonchalant about human presence on their beaches.

Another fun discovery was of a small bird that none of us had seen before called a capped wheatear, which is related to something called a chat. Apparently it is a common bird across the country so we were all surprised to never have seen it before. We watched it hopping about in an open field as dusk approached one evening for quite a long while. Of course we did not have the camera but we did capture the crowned plover who was foraging around one morning in front of our cottage.

One of our days we went down to the coast to a place called Koppie Aileen, a wild beach and very cold water - I dipped while Michael kind of swam. Myrtle and Jeni declined such madness. That is where Michael photographed the Oyster Catchers.
As we returned late that afternoon, we saw zebras feeding just beyond the field in front of our cottage. Michael dropped me off and I walked within 50 yards to take these photographs - they are such gorgeous animals with really distinct markings. Seeing them so closely I realized how brown their muzzles are on the top half becoming dark on the underside. Undoubtably it has something to do with camouflage or sun protection or something a zoologist could explain. But for my part, it was simply beautiful. The Cape Mountain Zebra is endangered and De Hoop is one of the nature reserves where they live protected and undisturbed by predators.

On the way home we stopped in Swellendam to visit a potter couple friends of Jeni and Hyme's. It was a most relaxing afternoon unfortunately punctuated by horrendous traffic on our return trip to Cape town - 4 hours for a 2.5 hour trip - yuck! The saving item for me was being able to look at the beautiful mountains while crawling through the traffic.

Next report on Greek Easter and the planting fanatics.

March-ing On

2009-03-31T22:00:00.003+02:00

With the beginning of March, it seemed like we were finally ready to just get moving.

For me, that means back to the gym, driving more than 5 minutes away from the house, driving on the highway! starting new volunteer projects. It feels good to be putting more structure into our time here. We also learned recently how expensive it will be to insure ourselves medically. I guess things are not so different here than at home in the US.

The biggest occupier of our time for the next few weeks is tackling the garden reshaping on the grand scale. Big changes are afoot and we are thrilled with getting into this project. Michael has borrowed a chain saw and I am just thankful that he does actually use the protective helmet and gloves. He has been cutting down smaller trees and pruning in preparation for the landscaping crew we have hired for ONE day this week. We are really looking forward to planting the (90) wonderful plants and trees we purchased at the Kirstenbosch Gardens benefit plant sale.

I'm including just a few garden shots, particularly the one of the strelitzia that lives by the fish pond which got a new opportunity to flourish today when its old growth was removed along with most of the bamboo like grass that has been strangling it. The other is of our cleaner opened up front walk onto the street. We also will plant something called nandina there which is a lovely frond-y bamboo/grass plant/tree.

Otherwise it is bugs, bugs and creatures. Michael found a second chameleon -yea! and we saw our first leopard toad. Plus there was the bright green praying mantis who laid its egg sac on a leash today -go figure - I can't.
Glad to know you are all beginning to enjoy spring. For my part I'm getting ready for the coolth!

Is it already March?

2009-03-06T17:00:00.003+02:00

February was full of many things - some happy and a few not.

Hyme Rabinowitz, 88, a great cherished friend of Michael's died on February 15th, succumbing finally to heart failure from which he suffered for many years. Hyme was a very singular kind of person, a potter, (he would frown at the use of artist) who embodied gentleness, kindness and a passion for pottery which he found in the middle of his life. Michael and his ex-wife Sally became close friends with him when they all lived at a place called Eagle's Nest here in Constantia some 45 years ago. Hyme both lived and had his pottery on Eagle's Nest. When Jeni and he married 33 years ago, she joined him there and it is where lucky Nik was raised. We are consoled and grateful to have been here these last few months so that we could spend time with Hyme, enjoying New Year's together and many a meal at home with him, Jeni and friends. We miss him tremendously.

As the first week of February arrived, we prepared for Wendy's visit and after allowing her a few days of light activity while she acclimated to the time zone we began touring with her to our local favorites and the must see hit list of every first time visitor to Cape Town. One evening we all went on a full moon hike at sunset up Kloof Nek on Table Mountain. We brought a picnic and enjoyed the views. Another highlight was swimming at the Boulders Beach with the South African penguins. It is an amazing treat to be able to walk along the rocks and have penguins popping up everywhere. They are so sleek to watch in the water.

We joined the local Constantia Rotary Club this month. We have met some great folks and have already helped out on one event, a book stall at the Wynberg Community Chest carnival. For those of you involved with our Vermont United Way, you will know that Community Chest is basically the South African United Way. Our club raises money to donate to the Community Chest that then goes to local programs- sound familiar? Even funnier for those of you who know about KidSafe's Yard Sale event, the book stall is a sales of donated books, which are painstakingly categorized and sold by weight- we spent 2 hours the other evening sorting books - no kidding! Wendy even helped.

We actually had many wonderful adventures including a 5 day drive out into the Little Karoo and Karoo showing Wendy the incredible changing landscapes of the wide open Eastern Cape and seeing some wild game in National parks. I'll save some of those photos for another entry.

And on the garden home front, we have been keeping an eye on our chameleon who is quite happy on the lavender. We had been worried when we did not see him for a few weeks but now I check on him/her everyday. I even have hopes of someone giving us another one to keep ours company... and the Lemon Verbena has continued to thrive with lots of constant new growth.

Holiday Festivities

2009-02-01T17:00:00.001+02:00

So, what did we do for Christmas?

First of all we started with joining our German friends Chris and Klaus at a Christmas Eve dinner and celebration. It is part of their culture to have a fish meal, light the candles on the Xmas tree and do story readings either about the holiday or just observations on life.

Michael and I contributed to the dinner by making his famous fish with tomatoes and capers and I made Etel's plum cake.

Christmas Day was quiet with dinner at the home of Michael's cousin Claude's step daughter and family - Tracey and Petri. Fortunately our hosts have twin 7 year-old daughters who made the day feel more like Christmas. We had a lovely meal and a few jumps on the new trampoline. and Emma got a lamb bone!

Of course my birthday and New Year's were soon to follow but we can catch up on that another time.

Moving slowly into the New Year

2009-01-28T12:20:00.003+02:00

Last Friday marked 3 months into our time living in South Africa.

We continue to have interesting animal experiences. The most recent was finding an injured juvenile wood owl lying in a heap by our sauna. Michael rescued it and I called a raptor centre in Stellenbosch to find out how we could try to help it. It could not lift its head and seemed extremely weak. Jeni and Hyme's son Nik helped me feed it. It survived overnight but it died the next morning. It had some kind of severe spinal injury and it simply could not survive. We were quite distressed but hope we made it more comfortable. Owls are amazing birds and we had naive hopes that we could save this wild creature.

We are still searching for a used car but have been fortunate that friends have loaned us vehicles thus far. We have found that even in the one year we have been away the general prices for goods has increased. We expect to figure it out by the end of the month so we have something to take friends around in when they arrive for visits.

On a more positive note, I can report that the chameleon continues to live on the lavender and tolerates my occasional visits.

Garden Surprise

2009-01-13T16:15:00.004+02:00

All the time I spend in the garden is reaping some unexpected surprises -

like spying a little chameleon on the lavender plant next to the swimming pool Sunday morning. He has been much photographed and watched since then. Michael realized this morning that he is molting -wow.
While the photos make him look large - it is about 1 1/2 inches in body length with an equal length of skinny tail. He moves very slowly and deliberately and today I held a branch for him to move onto with those amazing prehensile feet -note close-up of same! I hope he stays for awhile.

Otherwise life continues much the same - lots of gardening, dog walks, swimming and enjoying life. We are attending another Rotary meeting this evening and hope soon to get involved in one of their on-going community projects. It is the first meeting of the year.

We are dog sitting for our friends the Scheids - their sweet old dog Buster is a lovely little companion. Buster is 14 and a bit deaf but a very happy fella who is not bothered by Emma's non-sociability because he simply cannot hear her give him a growl!

New Year and Plant Miracles

2009-01-05T16:00:00.000+02:00

Happy New Year all - there are so many possible updates but today is devoted to the miracle of the recovering Lemon verbena plant.

About a month ago as part of the garden improvements Michael headed out in the heat of the morning and dug up a lemon verbena tree that had been pruned badly and was growing on a corner edge of a bed where it looked odd. We had discussed ideas about what should happen with it that morning and to my surprise Michael dug it out. This was great but perhaps not the best thing as the poor plant sat out for a bit in the sun while its new garden home was cleared and prepared.

The following few days pronounced a very disturbed plant - branches of leaves withered, browned and just plain died all over. Being anxious about the plant's ability to cope - I responded with some heavy pruning. Not sure that was such a great idea either but I did it and as every gardener knows, once it's gone it's gone. Michael cautioned me to stop and just wait so I did. We watched it anxiously for at least two weeks and then realized that there was nothing to do but wait and see. Fortunately that time coincided with the holiday weeks so we were often distracted. The occasional check of the tree's status showed no change, just more withered and browning leaves. A few bends of the branches and a light tug at the trunk suggested it was solidly in the ground but, again, no visible external change.

Meanwhile the newer lemon verbena planted (below it in the longer shot photo) from last January was also looking a bit sad but fortunately for it, we had not tried to move it. And the third plant looking very green and full in is the newest Lemon verbena to join the garden.

So December came to a close with a sad looking almost dead plant. Now some of you may be wondering why the big deal but you would not should you ever smell this lovely shrub with its yellowy-green leaves and amazing gentle scent. The leaves can be used for teas and I'm sure lots of other wonderful things which I shall need to research.

The end of this story is obvious but thrilling nonetheless. Yesterday morning when I went out to the patio to sit and drink my coffee I saw to my amazement baby green leaves are sprouting all over the lemon verbena. I could not believe it. Every dead node has come to life. There must be over 100 new leaves all working to provide food for the plant. It is a New Year and this tree has decided to grow and thrive. I think it is a miracle and I think it is a foretelling of a prosperous year for all.

Watching this plant survive despite a rude uprooting and replanting is also a great metaphor for my own experience developing a new life in South Africa. Admittedly my uprooting was far from rude but it has been more change than I realized and the adjustments are big. But like the lemon verbena, I am committed to thrive.

The garden is a great learning place - watching how the sun moves through one's property so one can determine the best locations for plants - mulling over the myriad possibilities and then choosing a direction to go - finding out who's eating what (bugs I mean) -creating spaces for growing different things -noticing how the plants respond. There are many lessons if you pay attention and I learned one from the lemon verbena. Take hold, hold on and things will improve!

Now that I've got you all interested in this tree/shrub I'll take photos regularly so that we can enjoy its blossoming.

Open Day Weekend

2008-12-29T11:00:00.005+02:00

December is fast coming to a close and we have been busy.

On the weekend of December 13-14 we helped out at Hyme Rabinowitz' Open Day weekend - the 17th of these occasions - this time at Hyme and Jeni's home on Eagle's Nest. Hyme sold pots and some other artists sold their creations as has become the tradition over the past 5 or more years. It was well attended and good weather prevailed which was important since most things were set out on the lawn. Snacks were sold to benefit a local charity called Abalimi which focuses on teaching people how to grow vegetables and food for themselves and provides the materials for making that happen.

Hyme sat in a chair and was busy talking with both old friends and making new ones from 10 am till 5 pm. Between the beautiful setting and people thinking that this could well be Hyme's last open day - he is 88 now and quite frail -many friends and other artists came. He seems to remain alive primarily by his goodwill and gentle spirit.

We also could not resist adding to our own Hyme collection and we are already using the pieces regularly. Through Hyme's work and Michael's example I have come to appreciate that beautiful pots are to be used not just put on a shelf. (although they look wonderful there when not in use.)

While Michael helped at the sales table with a friend named Lee, I was lucky enough to help two of the craft artists there- a woman potter who makes amazing porcelains with delicate designs through which light shines called Lisa Ferier and a young woman called Saskia who makes necklaces using an array of interesting and often antique African beads collected from many different countries. There was also a mother daughter jewelry team and our friend Margrit selling the last of the Thula Thula clothing that she and Jeni had made a few years ago.

The first photo shows Jeni sitting with an Italian woman here on a two year stint with her husband and the fabulous jeweler some of you know from pieces she has made for us - the woman known to all here simply as "Jane the jeweler". Jeni is showing off one of Saskia's more elaborate pieces to both of them. Paula is on the left, Jeni in the middle, Jane on the right.

One of the other treats that weekend was walking on Eagle's nest and seeing three Cape Eagle owls that roost in an old wood pile there. One of these days we hope to get them on film but meanwhile we enjoy visiting them.

Wow it's December

2008-12-07T20:10:00.009+02:00

It is hard to imagine that we have been here now for more than a month. We are so thankful for every day that we wake up and look out of our doors to see the amazing Table Mountain which is so green this year because of the particularly wet winter. It is quite simply spectacular! Summer has truly arrived and the deep blue skies and brilliant sun are welcome.

So far it has been a time of rediscovery, learning, reconnecting and getting used to living here full time. It is kind of weird because we keep reminding ourselves that we are not on vacation - at least not in the true sense. In addition to trying to arrange normal things like health insurance and buying a car we are redoing this large garden, and hoping to make connections to find some freelance work.

Currently there is a debate going on about the type of vehicle we should buy - one of us wants a small vehicle, big enough for trips but not for tough off-road safari stuff and the other is leaning towards the bigger engine 4x4 type vehicle. See if you can guess which one holds which opinion. But the good news is that I am really getting used to driving on the other side of the road. I actually get more confused when walking to look in the correct direction to avoid traffic running Emma and me over.

Our Thanksgiving celebration last Sunday was a hit - 19 people and a big, well cooked turkey - which ultimately did come from Minnesota. The Brazilian bird is still in the freezer! I went to the ever reliable Epicurious site and found a recipe for an apple cider brined turkey that worked out beautifully. We had lots of cooks helping and the meal was very yummy - actually this week felt more aimless without needing to plan for a big feast. Of course we forgot to photograph the turkey but I've included a few pics of a friend who brought soup and one of the tables of guests.

But what has been most fun lately are the discoveries of wildlife and gardening. We have had marvelous walks on the beach finding loads of shells, seeing a pair of oyster catchers, the bird below, and a number of visitors to our garden.

The hadeda bird is a kind of ibis and they like to hang around to find bugs in the lawn. Emma likes to chase them out of the garden but this guy was not about to leave so easily so he simply took up a spot on the top of the little cottage. I also found the most incredibly beautiful ladybug on the lawn yesterday - a soft rose color with big black spots some of which were shaped like little hearts - an amazing little creature. We finally managed to get some good photos of the bullfrog who lives in our pond and a spider that Michael disturbed from her nest in the shrubs ( I am happy to report that she did return to the nest the next day - I checked)

Our next challenge is to get a photo of the orange breasted sunbird who comes to feed regularly at the large hibiscus just next to the patio - stay tuned!

PS - just like at home, the holiday shopping season has started here. We are enjoying seeing how the decorations are since it is a summer holiday here- quite fun to observe.

Amazing Beach

2008-11-20T10:04:00.004+02:00

Hout Bay, old fishing harbour, chill-some Atlantic Ocean side

We had a lovely walk yesterday morning - it was sunny and windless since we were out relatively early. We picked up our friend Jeni's dog to join us and returned to the scene of the lost wallet. All cards have been replaced and Michael is going to apply for a South African Driver's License while he waits for a new one to come from Vermont.

Yesterday was a good garden day - with me planting stuff and working on weed clearing - not exciting but feels good to be making some kind of progress against some of the bigger projects of putting up artwork and arranging an art space for myself.

We are looking forward to a number of social things for the weekend which includes visits to a local farmer's market at the Tokai Forest and the Potter's market in a nearby town called Rondebosch. Not that we need any more pottery but as this is the place where Michael first developed his love for pottery and he is keenly interested in getting to know many of the local artists we may just come home with something new.

One of my projects for today is to check out printing photos from the digital camera disk directly at the store. The other plan since it is truly going to be a warm summer day of 25 centigrade (over 80 farenheit) is our first beach for swimming outing at Michael's favorite beach called Fish Hoek. It's the Indian Ocean side so the water is just barely warmer and possibly warm enough even for me to get in it. We shall see.

Working in the Garden

2008-11-18T14:32:00.005+02:00

This past weekend we started to work in earnest on parts of the garden. I planted some lettuce and herbs in a patio box just off the kitchen. There's lots of basil so Michael can be the mad pesto maker. I am trying an experiment by planting in multiple locations to see which areas the plants do best in - midday sun or late afternoon sun.

We are creating a vegetable patch near the one small lemon tree and yesterday I spent a few hours with Nomfus clearing out weeds. Nomfus is the 4 year old daughter of the woman who cleans for us once a week. She is very curious and likes to follow me around and help me with things. Of course she speaks Xhosa and I speak English so it can be quite funny. Yesterday she was trying to teach me some Xhosa - like the word for mole, of which I found a dead one while clearing. Actually that is a current problem in our lawn - lots of mole hills. Apparently they like bulbs but I certainly have no idea where we have bulbs. I have noticed though a bunch of loose little onion like mini bulbs floating around so there must be something. I will have to learn about humane ways to discourage them from hanging around here.

There are some trees here called Eugenia which were brought from another country to be used as hedge plants but they are ruthless self-seeders so one must control them carefully if you want to have them in your garden. In South Africa there is a lot of discussion of alien versus native vegetation and trees - and we seem to have quite a few of the alien, and invasive, trees and shrubs. At first I was like, so what? But I am beginning to see the light and now of course it means there will be much more to do in recreating our large garden. Today we had the very satisfying experience of pulling out one of the small trees which has grown up around the fish pond. It was not planted and blocks much light from the little pond. We are hoping that opening up the pond to the light will minimize the duck weed and allow the water lilies to thrive.

There are lots of similarities in the summer plants except that here I suspect they have longer blooming times and some of the plants that are annual for us are perennial here and vice versa. I am hoping to get plants from friends' gardens. Tim in particular has a very big and complex garden with lots of thriving native plants so he'll be a good resource.

Anyway, it is time for me to return to the garden to do some clear-up of our earlier activities.

Oh, one thing we should adopt that happens here is the big "L" which appears in some car back windows which means the person is a "learner driver" - very smart. It is big enough to be seen from afar and you are forewarned. I'm thinking of getting one for myself as I get used to driving on the other side of the road.

Differences to Note

2008-11-12T16:41:00.003+02:00

Moving to a new place always includes learning the new ways and customs - here are just a few one learns quickly:

Mail is delivered but not picked up. You must take it to a post box. Unusually sized cards require a cost premium, like at home, but instead of a small up charge, it is 3 times more so; therefore all cards and letters sent will be standard sized.

Movie DVD rentals are due the day after you rent them by Noon! even if you rent them at 9:00 pm. We were so shocked that the manager at the rental shop gave us the extra night just this once.

People are very serious about security and burglary prevention such that every home has an alarm system and they sleep with it turned on! We just learned how to turn ours on at night so that we can have the additional security too!

A lot of the English language used here is just that - English, not American so I am changing over my usage of words like yard and garden, trunk and boot.

We just ordered a turkey to make for our Thanksgiving celebration and it will come from Brazil - can you imagine? There is plenty of poultry here but not big fat turkeys like in North America.

Pedestrian crossings are called zebra crossings because of the white stripes but they are not nearly as well observed as in Vermont so be careful crossing the road.

Everyone is very polite, saying thank you all the time and people are helpful if you have a problem. Today a woman let me borrow her cell phone to call Michael when I could not figure something out - she even offered to give me a lift home.

It is rather chilly today - in the 50's and dreary so I asked Michael to make us a fire in the fireplace - of course since it has been raining most of the night and day we have no dry firewood - but he has some ideas so we shall try.

Catching Up and Moving Forward

2008-11-11T10:27:00.000+02:00

Please excuse the craziness of the photos - I put too many for this post. The first group are of Emma on the journey beginning in Frankfurt. She is there being turned over to PetAir the very expensive freight cargo service. They took her to the "Animal Lounge". Her passage cost more than one of ours round trip! Ah but she seems pretty happy now.

There is a mixture of photos including the sweet little Cape Batis bird that sat on our patio door the other day. The delicate pink flower is a native gladiolus that grows wild on the hillside of our friend Jeni's home on Eagle's Nest.

The bouganvillea grows on a wall in our courtyard garden and there's a picture of Emma walking on Eagle's Nest with a view of Table Mountain in the background.

One of the first things I have learned about living here is that to become an official recognized person you must show proof of residence and proof of your credit worthiness. It is a real pain when you are the non-South African but we are slowly taking the steps necessary to get my name on some contract or other paying items so that I become "real" as I like to say. The other aspect that one observes quickly as an American is the much slower pace with which things are done. Initially, this is frustrating but I'm sure I shall get used to it and it does help one to stay in the present.

One nice thing we have been experiencing lately as Americans, is the ability to hold one's head high for our history making election. I show off my Obama purse regularly as I shop in the stores.

As we start our second week here all the suitcases are unpacked so we are almost ready to get the 5 boxes of things we left with a friend this past January. I am eager to get everything put away so it feels more like a home than a way station. We are also planning to have our own Thanksgiving celebration with friends here but will have to make a slight modification to hold it on a weekend since, obviously, no one here gets the Thursday as a vacation day!

The English guests who were staying with us and visiting South Africa for the first time left on Sunday. It was really a wonderful distraction from having to focus entirely on our chores. It allowed us to show off some of our favorite things - like walking on Muizenberg Beach and going to the Olympia Deli in Kalk (pronounced like caulk) Bay. We also benefitted from their excursions to learn about a lively local bar/restaurant at one of the beautiful Constantia wineries where we went for dinner last Friday night. We took along one of my niece Sophia''s friend's who has been studying here in Cape Town at UCT. Even with all we need to do, they were such easy guests that we were sorry to see them leave.

The best stories thus far are about our experiences with friends, nature, and the dog's reaction to the creatures here. We have been very warmly welcomed by our good friend Jeni who is like a sister to Michael and our friend Tim who returned from a long visit to England just recently. They both live here in Constantia and are great about giving us ideas for where to get things, have invited us over for a meal and such. We have walked at Silvermine Nature Reserve and gone to a local farmer's market. We even went to a Saturday night movie and have plans fora chamber concert this weekend. Our friends here are very social and go out together more frequently. We shall have to figure that into the budget! It is a much easier transition to already have so many contacts here.

On to the creatures: the first day we came to the house I was excited to see a lizard popping its head out of a yucca tree stump in a garden bed on the patio. His tree stump home is surrounded by the lavender we planted just before leaving that thrived since its planting. We were fortunate that the plants had a very wet winter so got well established during our absence. Everything we planted has grown and it has been good to see improvements in the garden overall. The gardener has been slowly but surely clearing out some seriously invasive plants that had grown up over the past 7 years. There are various flowers in bloom including a very showy bougainvillea pictured below.

the second morning here I came into the living room and saw a huge brown bug which was hoping about like a cricket - I still have no idea what it was but it was funny to watch Emma chasing it around the living room. Fortunately she has no killer instinct so we simply hopped it out the big sliding door.

Will sign off now as this is more news than even I could absorb! Please continue to send me your comments.

Arrival and settling In

2008-11-05T14:20:00.000+02:00

Congratulations to all of us - we have a new President elect - Yea!

We were quite eager to get information on the election last night when it was still just your morning; it was odd to be so far from home with such an important and momentous election taking place there. I woke up early just in time to learn that McCain had conceded and Obama had won! Yippee. We met a woman while walking Emma this morning who recognized my accent as an American and asked whether we were glad to hear the results. Of course we said yes indeed and she was pleased on behalf of the world too. It was marvelous. Now we just need to find some Americans with whom to celebrate. I'm thinking that we might have an inauguration party on January 20, 2009!

As for us, we are settling in - and just today succeeded in getting the new mini mac computer hooked up with an internet connection. One thing I've learned quickly is that things take time here. I've also learned that to be "in the system" you must prove all kinds of things about where you live and whether you have money, etc. So we are getting those things going for me - the invisible one.

We have emptied all the suitcases but have not yet figured out where to put it all. The house is as lovely as we remembered it. The tenant moved out on Saturday after telling us how much he and his children enjoyed the house. Emma is trying to figure out what is going on but we keep telling her that this is her new home.

We had our first minor calamity on Saturday when I lost Michael's wallet with all his identifying information and credit cards at the Hout Bay Beach parking lot. It was truly a stupid thing but we are back in business with new bank cards so we continue along.

Pictures of the house and surrounds will have to wait for a next post when we get the camera photo uploading worked out with the new computer.

and for those who are interested it turns out that Emma is a true world traveler - she got out of her crate at Cape Town airport, had a long pee, a good shake of her head and has been just fine since then - amazing!

Less than 5 days left on Northern soil

2008-10-25T00:04:00.000+02:00

Well, it has been a very crazy time. We are now half way through our journey. We are in Frankfurt Germany having the day to rest and refresh before the long flight to South Africa this evening. Michael, Emma and I are fine.

Of course, the final week had more surprises and worries than we expected. It began last Wednesday with the fact that Emma's blood work tests were done too soon so we had to worry about whether she would be allowed to arrive in CapeTown and be accepted! We also had to change our travel plan to fly straight through Frankfurt with Emma getting a day to recover, arriving in Cape Town on Friday.

Now that we are in Frankfurt Emma's passage will be taken over by a company named Pet Air, which is reassuring at one level because we know they have done it before. She is traveling as rather fancy cargo. And the best part, her travel one way is more expensive than our round trip airfare - ah well. We kind of expected it and of course would not have it any other way!

the next post will be from Cape Town. till then wish us safe travels.

Packing up stuff

2008-09-12T13:45:00.000+02:00

It is kind of amazing to begin to see all the things one collects. Moving is a very effective way to realize that you do not use many of the things that surround you. While the process can be stultifying, it is very freeing to give things away and keep only essentials. I am challenged everyday by objects for which I must answer the questions - do I use it? will I use it? or am I just pretending it is vital. Frequently I find myself thinking, I know just who I should give this to who will really enjoy having it and so I create another small space for something new to appear.

Here is a photo of our little fish pond a the house in Constantia. Grandsons Sam and Ewan were searching for the new goldfish we had put into the pond. Gerry is in the background and the small artist's cottage can be seen there too. I'm looking for the photo with the lovely view we have of the back of Table Mountain to post. I've posted one at the office to keep me inspired as I move through the last few weeks at work.

Welcome to my site

2008-09-03T19:04:00.001+02:00

Well, here goes.

I promised myself I would start this before leaving and with two months before the trip this is pretty good!

This photo is of our home garden last fall - a bee caught in the morning dew, too cold to fly away quickly.

Not sure what kind of things will live here but I can use the next two months to learn as I go.

Please ask me questions.