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
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 am drawn, by some bizarre inclination, to the allure of midsummer. I have been, ever since high school English syllabus and Shakespeare’s titled comedy appeared on our reading list around the age of 14, I think. It would have been way too easy a study for the Matric English Lit Shakespeare, at which point … More Another Midsummer.
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
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
(I started writing this newsletter in early March so it’s a little disjointed given the weeks that have passed.) Cryptic title isn’t it? The truest answer would be a vague ‘it depends how significant a change you’re referring to’, because changing linen and toilet rolls happens to everyone every day. Changing schools, jobs, countries, diets… … More Everyone’s life is a cycle of changes, right?
It’s Week 48 since the French government sent me home after they realised Covid-19 wasn’t going away on its own. Right now, my house is quiet and still, barre the dripping of defrosting ice on the kitchen terrace and the hum of my oven as it dries out yet another batch of rusks for the … More The Year That COVID-19 and The French Government Gave Me An Unexpected Sabbatical (and allowed me to realise that I will never be able to write a recipe book.)
Autumn. Fall. Both words have been rolling off my tongue all week. Which do you revert to normally? It’s Tuesday, week 2 after the schools reopened, and life is almost back to normal, barre the lingering signs of Covid barrier precautions. I crossed into the city this morning after school drop off and found myself … More Fall, 2020
July 12th, here it is. 5 years ago we were having lunch at a little pizzeria in Eckblosheim, France, with Anton’s new boss and HR lady. His boss isn’t the same person, the HR lady has moved on. Just as much as life is known to do I guess. In trying to find a focus … More Looking back at 5 years in France.
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
Since our return to Strasbourg after our rather long holiday, I have had a to-do list stuck on my fridge. It covers a selection of random goals that need to be achieved- some short term and easy to achieve (meet NvM for coffee at Brant on Tuesday), some short term but require more will power … More I HAVE A JOB
Thursday morning, and I have just finished a cup of tea and breakfast. Breakfast was an exciting South African Feurte avocado on toasted baguette. I know I shouldn’t be buying fruit and vegetables that costs the atmosphere gazillions of a carbon footprint, but the idea of a perfectly ripened Feurte avocado from home was just hard to resist. I’m … More The Work Blog
Hello to all my awesome friends! How are you all doing? It’s February already, and I can convincingly say that yet another month has passed me by in relative randomness. Yes, it’s been coldish enough to say that it’s winter, but truthfully, it hasn’t been unbearable, barre 10 days mid- January, when I actually wore more … More Gaenor and Chapter 76
Earlier last week, I took a ‘me’ day- I had intended to spend my morning helping a friend make cake pops, and the girls have been asking to take a cantine meal, so I decided on the ‘me’ day. It helped me even more that Tuesday is Alex’s long school day- she finishes at … More Merry Christmas to you all
Week 3 of the school year, and it has at last rained for 3 consecutive days (with a splatter of brilliant blue skies in between the drenching rain), but here I am, sitting in my office with a cup of steaming grapefruit water and a box of tissues at my wrist, and a pot of … More The Summer That Was
This weekend marks our two year anniversary of living in Strasbourg. Yes, somehow we managed to tie it close enough to Bastille Day, and the hottest time of the year. I can write that with conviction, because I have two very definitive memories of that weekend. We arrived on a Friday. I was wearing jeans, … More Two Years
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…
Thank you for your text message last week. I’m glad to hear that you’ve had a wet cold weekend- I know how much you have all been praying for rain. Last week, the low grey clouds here in Strasbourg were unbearably omnipresent; even my smart-phone’s camera was rejecting the notion of taking nice photos; there simply was not … More Dear Dad
It’s been a while since I last regaled details of a meal not cooked at home, so because I received some lovely feedback last year, and because the weather has got me in such a slump that I can find nothing else to write about, bear with me while I tell you about the Italian restaurant … More Eating Italian
October. Aside from the obvious autumnal-ness, October seems to be choc-a-bloc full of birthdays, and not only that of my Dads’, mine or Beths’. In the last month, we have celebrated and attended no less than 6 birthdays between us (- all from the ‘ex-pat’ crowd, mind you). When I RSVP’d to the one invite … More Birthday Month
Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals 