I currently have 2 blog posts sitting in my drafts folder that I have I undertaken to write since the end of summer. (Actually, make it 3, given I never got round to telling you my thoughts on our northern lands holiday.) However, they seem so so sadly pointless and lacking in guts and momentum, … More [please insert some random clichéd title in here as you see fit]
Dear Readers (she writes, imagining she’s a 1980’s Agony Aunt/Domestic Goddess column writer, punching fruitlessly onto a click-clack old computer keyboard while trying to solve the culinary disasters of her loyal fan base.) I’m hanging out on my most awesome terrace this morning, because its really the first time I can do it for this … More Summer 2017
Earlier today at the pub, I mentioned to my colleague that when we arrived here, I started a blog, about our lives were, and what was happening. Â I regaled this in order to lead onto a conversation about Urbex photography, and how 2 years ago, a girl emailed me asking me if I knew of … More Spring 2017
Tuesday morning:  I’ve been pottering about the apartment this morning, taking in the music playing in the background (Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift- thanks girls for the new playlist to my life), cooking for dinner tonight and going through the washing motions, while trying to come up with a inviting opening line to a new wintery … More Winter 2017
Here’s a bit of advice I can give you for free. Marriage is hard. If I think back to my childhood, I think I imagined marriage to be great big white wedding dresses and awesome rock star parties that lasted forever. Marriage clearly equaled a wedding, for me, at some random age growing up. Â Naturally, … More 10 Years
Thursday morning, winter in South Africa and here I am reclining on a chair on the sunny veranda of my in-laws. My feet are propped up on the ‘balustrade’ and I have bottle of water at my elbow. It’s too early for wine and too hot for coffee or tea, would you believe? A short … More Summer/Winter holiday, South Africa 2016
Helloooooo, and a Happy Friday to you all out there today! I hope that all is well with you- I am sorry if it has been a while since I was in touch with you personally, I feel like I should know what you’ve been up to, what’s making you smile, and what is giving … More June 2016
Where, oh where has my Spring gone? Last week was absolutely brilliant-overnight rain, chilly but clear mornings, followed by the sun shining brightly and warming up everything from the tulips, to the squirrels and bees, and us lovely mommies all gathered at pick-up time. We conveniently forgot the homework that lay in wait, and the … More And Chapter 77
I’ve just dragged a lonesome sweet-potato out of my veggie-bin; scrutinised it with a suspicion normally set aside for delinquent children, and with an indignant ‘hurumph’ peeled it and chopped it for dinner tonight. It has been 15 years since I first came across an orange sweet potato. Back home, sweet potatoes have that purple-y … More Potato v Potato
Gone are the days of me thinking that the start of the year was the opportunity for fresh beginnings and habits. The same can be said of resolutions- resolutions in itself has become very untrendy, and a hashtag line by how not to approach the New Year. Given that I am really not prepared … More Gaenor and the Beginning of 2016
Hello my dear lovely friends. This is well and truly similar to my letters to you in the ‘old days’, when you wouldn’t hear from me for ages, and then out of the blue, I would pop 16 pages of assorted thoughts, random scribblings, and way more idiotic frustrations than any 20-ish should have to listen to! I am looking … More No news is good news.Â
This is the tribute my brave sister spoke at yesterdays service.  She spoke so beautifully. If the last thing I can do for you Mum is stand here and be brave for just long enough to share with everyone here what made you such a special mum and person to all of us – I … More Dear Mom, Love Pandy
All the words in the English language, the thousands of Afrikaans and the hundred of French that I know will not make writing this tribute any easier. Where to begin remains impossible to determine. How it will end, I know, will be something like this: “I will love you forever Mom” The very last journey … More Dear Mom
Day 5 of our <<vacances de printemps>> â‘ and we have woken to rain. I’ve been listening to it falling on the corrugated roof outside our bedroom since 6am, and have had the luxury of drifting in and out of sleep. Anton’s in Kuwait this week, and I have been very lazy, as you can … More Can we become tri-lingual?
5 months have passed since we found out about Mom’s uterine cancer. I know there is evil and tragedy across the world, but nothing is more close to home than cancer and one of your own. We were lucky- as far as luck and cancer goes. From what they medical people could see, the yuck … More Happy Birthday Mom
Mon Chères, Last week was a flurry of birthday party activities in my rather simple life- heading to shops to buy sweets and serviettes; making goodies for the infernal party bags; printing pictures and baking cakes. It could have been so much more stressful if it wasn’t for the talent of one of my ‘lovelies’, … More It feels like it’s been ages…
Indeed, a fortnight has passed since I started regaling the niceties of South Africa on holiday, and I worry that I have mostly buried some events in the depths of my soul. Do you really want to know about how my children adapted to life on the farm like ducks to water? Do you really … More En vacance, part deux
Hello again, from a very grey, wet, morbidly oppressive European January. I’m tucked away in my kitchen- it has the most amount of natural light in our apartment, but I still need the overhead light on. On the other side of the door, the girls have spread their toys as far as I allow … More En Vacance
First and foremost, I would like to apologise for my absence in the last month. I had great expectations of being able to blog while I was in SA, but when you’re surrounded by your best people in the whole world, stuff just gets sidelined. That being said, I did manage to see most of you- … More Cheers to 2015
Life. Take a moment to stop, and spare a thought for the heart that pumps in your chest. At the same time, think about where your loved ones are. Can you climb in a car, and be at their side at a moments notice? Sadly, in this era of globalisation, (and difficult politics,) we do … More Father Time and The Grim Reaper
Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals 