A train speeds through the French countryside. Through the window, a lone traveller watches. Her eyes burn a little after shedding tears, and her reflection peers back at her: puffy cheeks, the outline of a second chin, and even her eyes are absent of life. The train slows down to pass through a half derelict … More Strangers
My dearest friend, It’s confession time: I appeared to have picked up an annoying habit of reading some WhatsApp messages- those kind from caring friends, checking in with us, and after realising that it’s important to spend time on a focussed response which is somethings that is not fluid at the moment, I subsequently decide … More Novembers Notes
The media says that October 10th was Mental Health Day. Did your socials buzz? … More October.
How do real disabled people do this travel thing, because after spending 72 hours in Cape Town, trying to ‘tourist’ I have come home feeling pretty much unaccomplished and laden with concerns if we’re ever going to really enjoy family travel again. Well, okay. Yes. That statement comes across as overdramatic, but for real- I … More Notes from behind the wheelchair in Cape Town, and Much More.
This is the year my baby sister came to visit. I say baby sister because she continues to remind me how my brother and I used to bully her on account of being 5 years younger. The reality is, I often feel like she’s wiser and older and alot of the time, I’m in awe … More Christmas and the joy of shared memories
7am on a Tuesday morning. Solo parenting sees me up and out of bed doing hubby morning routine including opening all the shutters. It’s still pitch dark outside – and as I peer into the intruding black gloom, I find myself surprised because wasn’t it just yesterday we changed the clocks to give us a … More November Newsletter.
I have just emerged from 3 week nightmare of a mind-exhausting, body-exhausting period at work. My boss was on leave and we were on the short side of staff (what’s new) and I had to push the hours on both sides of the day- a collective 27 hours extra over the period. While I get … More Turning Forty-Six
I wish a whistle had blasted through the quiet morning train platform as Beth and I embarked on a trip down south on Monday- it would have lifted the sleep and cobwebs in my slighty hungover head, but also been a fitting (albeit weirdly Victorian) send off as we headed on our way. Unfortunately the … More Springbok Fever, and Rugby in France.
Today dawned unceremoniously at 6am- alone in my bed because the family are away, the dog barking from her slovenly position at my feet and my head a little denser than other mornings due to the drinks I enjoyed last night with a friend. Thandi was annoyed by something outside and I figured an early … More A Decade of French Living.
I had lunch with a South African friend last week and we somehow alighted on the topic of the lure of a certain shopping emporium in South Africa- let’s call them ‘W’. There was that social media post that they put out a couple of months back, nudging the expats and immigrants across the world, … More Discovering Foraging On My Back Door.
The first time I tried for a driving license I failed the parking test. It was after 6 weeks of training with a retired traffic officer, (because the reality of learning to drive with either of my parents was never going to be the best idea when I was 18), on the day in question … More The Decade I Did Not Drive A Car
It’s a Chefs Life Backbreaking and relentless, this chefs life is not a glamorous life. You’re in early, thinking that somehow you’ll be able stay on top of the workload, but somehow that quiet cup of coffee turns cold while the delivery trucks line up at the back door and soon your pristine fresh jacket … More It’s a Chefs Life
One of the downsides to being home on medical recoup is that my ability to tumble down social media rabbit holes has increased. Up until this week, I have been somewhat cautious with the mundane day-to-day chores I perform. My claim to not be able to wield a vacuum cleaner lasted a week, but I … More February
Sunday morning Chez du Plessis, and we are post-breakfast chilling at various stations a round home. Alex is studying. Beth is annoying her. Anton is preparing his lunch for the week. It’s been snowing outside. I love the early mornings on snow days, when it’s dark and quiet and crisp with fresh snow, and families … More January is a good month for sick leave.
Do you know what’s better than Christmas in a warm, sun drenched, blue skied, endless-horizoned space, one with swims to cool down in, listless insects hovering over icy glasses of Chenin Blanc, braai fires and garlicky prawns, rolling highveld thunderstorms, and a setting sun with golden fingertips reaching over the west coast ocean, tumbling down … More A Christmas Carol, Version Y2K22
She She chased the crescent sliver of the waxing moon, her breath ragged and gasping, arriving at the old fisherman’s wharf with tingling fingertips. The long hours at work has reduced her wrists and fingertips to a mass of pins and needles, ineffective for long moments every day. A week had passed since the dawn … More She
There is a sombre atmosphere pervading my home this week, almost as thick as the humidity that hovers over these thick summer days, windless but for the fans blowing relentlessly. A deep seated longing for those orange South African sunsets and warm almost-sisterly embraces have embedded themselves into our hearts, and there is no escaping … More A Tale of Two Countries
March 12th A gentle hand, a generous thought, a moment from your day spent on caring for others, for the fragility of our overexposed hearts. Sometimes it’s not the physical act of giving that counts in making a difference. Mostly, it’s the little acts of kindness that make the biggest difference. Greet the old lady … More Some scribbles on the ‘gram that you might have missed
Nobody seems to read anymore. We glance at eye-catching newspaper headlines and take it for granted that the news that follows is true and properly reported on, aware that we can never know for certain how true the reporting is, how unbiased it is. We seek out affirmations in neat square blocks, with a wordcount … More Personal Writings: January 2022
I’m not certain whether it’s a sign of laziness or simply just how life ebbs and flows, but over the last few years I’ve tended more towards a quicker form of writing, one that I can tap off with relative ease from my phone, while I ponder a scene in front of me, make my … More Bringing in 2022
Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals 