2020 dawned, with people full of positivity and wishes for a good start to the new decade. But just as soon as we had got over our hangovers, and Christmas food belly’s, we started seeing news from China of this flu pandemic, the corona virus. To cut out all the rhetoric you already have read, … More TĂ©lĂ©travail, Homeschooling and all that pertains to Covid-19
If you’ve ever been a guest at the Netherby table surrounded by the youthful members of Die Vrot Kol, you may shake your head in wonder that I ever became a chef and have as much of a love for food as I do. With tales originating out of Richmond boarding school, tales of cold … More Memories of the Culinary Kind
Dear friends and family, My mom used to be a prolific writer, something she managed to instill in me and my siblings as children. I guess 12 years of boarding school enforced in me a need to write, and back in the 1980’s and 1990’s, once we had made our treasured friendships, (only to be … More Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, the 2019 newsletter
I turn into the wind, adjust my scarf and lift my coat collar to block the cutting chill that seemed to race down between the buildings on either side of the train lines. Beneath my feet, battered and bruised autumn leaves lie, and above my head is a ceiling of grey cloud. They’re too high … More And so the autumn leaves gather at our feet.
[I would recommend you print this and read it with a pot of tea] (Sometime early June) Well hello, will you look at that? I have 15 minutes to drop in and say hello! It’s a Wednesday, and today the girls finish school at 11:30 and can come straight home- no more ice-skating classes for … More June 2019. Nope. Let’s just call it Summer 2019
Whoop-whoop, I’ve found a reason to enjoy February!! This is pretty exciting news because normally I hate February, with it’s deep end-of-winter cold, the complete absence of any colour whatsoever and mostly because nothing ever happens in this very mediocre of months. The trees are grey, it looks as if their skinny new branches are … More March 2019, the end of another winter.
Looking back as one does at this time of the year to reflect on the one that just tipped down over the horizon under the disguise of omnipresent grey clouds, we are able to sigh deeply with content and say “it’s been a good one!” And for that, we are blah blah fish paste and … More Bonne AnnĂ©e And All That Jazz.
Thursdays are currently my Sunday, my one day off work where I don’t do anything unless its for me: go for a run; have a coffee date; sit on my terrace and write; binge watch tv; sew or even mundane stuff like the washing and cleaning. Between 8:30 and 15:00, my time is- for the … More Heritage Day
I pick up my wine glass and take a long draw of the ice cold summer rose that I poured out minutes before. In the background my iPod is beating out something loud and somewhat inappropriate, but I shrugged it off- my music taste was never ever going to be as tame as my … More High Summer. A short story.
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.
As you are pretty much aware, I love myself a whole lot of Facebook (and Instagram). I spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling through my social media feeds: while waiting for the bus; while having my cup of coffee; while watching tv; while waiting for my baking timer to buzz; while reading boring books. … More 5 Years
Hello my dear friends, As the winds blew me home last night and the wheat turned golden in the setting sun, I realised that the highlight of my European calendar these days is June 21st, midsummer. No doubt thanks to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream, the idea of magic under the fairy lights has appealed … More Midsummer 2018
Just in case you were wondering, it’s May. Again. Generally I love May. It’s actually a pretty awesome month. There are loads of public holidays. The flowers are so beautiful. It heralds the start of summer up here. The days are long, the rosĂ© is sweet, it’s Mothers Day Sunday which means gifts and I … More Mother’s Day May
Wowsers, that week away was awesome, and I feel inclined right up to express my revelations at travelling low-cost in Europe, and in the event you have seen my many many photos I posted on Facebook and Instagram, I will include some of my favourite ones right here! I booked the flights all the way … More Easter Travel, The Emerald Isle.
After what seemed like the longest, most bizarre winter of our years here so far (which included at least 4cm of snow every month since November), spring arrived later than normal. I have grown to love all the seasons here, (although with less emphasis on winter obviously.) Summer is a reward. Autumn and spring bring … More Idle Thoughts While Commuting.
Have you, as you have become older, noticed yourself changing? I’m not referring to your appearance- grey hair, crows feet and sagging bellies are almost inevitable. No, I’m talking about who you are, the things that make you tick, your reading list, your opinions, your goals and aspirations. As I write this, I realise the … More The Evolution of You.
Sunday 25 February, 2018. I took a photo of you today. Once again it epitomized your beautiful soul and I felt compelled to share it on Instagram. While searching for some words to describe you, I realised that it’s a week away from your birthday. I can’t really believe how time has crept up on … More To our Alex
Hello my darling angel friends, I am having a truly lazy day. It’s very much a me day, and I suspect that by the time I go to bed tonight, I may be slightly discomfited by the fact that I have achieved nothing. Nah, scratch that thought. I may very well have thrown our PC … More January 2018
Who ever would have figured that I would be flipping burger patties in my 22nd year of being a chef, and at the age of 40, with a hubby and 2 kids under my belt? Yes indeed, I am a burger-flipper these days. (Even I am sitting here shaking my head in irritable disbelief, that’s … More Thoughts on a French Kitchen
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 clichĂ©d title in here as you see fit]
Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals 