While I am and always will be a Durban girl at heart, I have to say that Cape Town is a lovely place to live. It’s such an easy city to live in – we have an independent cinema on our doorstep, bakeries on practically every corner, and you can walk around town. I absolutely love being able to walk around town, it reminds me of my days in good ol’ Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when I was a college student and spent hours wandering around the city…

Nowadays, of course, I am a Career Gal (believe it or not!) and I have to occassionally go on Business Trips to Big Cities. I was in Joburg for most of last week, a city I do not love (sorry to all those who live there, but it’s true…) Everyone is in such a hurry, there’s so much going on all the time, and I always feel tiiiired when I’m in the city.

I was there, oddly enough, to interview farmers for work (so that I can make videos of them for the website), so I got to meet a cucumber farmer, a strawberry farmer, a roasted seed producer and a man who sells grow-your-own-tree kits! More on that later… Nevertheless, it was still Joburg, with traffic and long distances to drive and altitude.

So I was very happy to return to Cape Town yesterday. Even happier when I discovered the MyCITI shuttle! It’s like overseas! Only here! A clean, spacious bus that arrived at the airport right on schedule and took me into town for only R50. What a pleasure! My only concern is that unless we all start using it more, it might stop running (there were only two of us on the bus yesterday). I think for solo travellers an airport shuttle makes so much sense – it’s kinder to the environment, kinder to your family and friends, and much much quicker than getting a ride. And it’s totally guilt free… What a pleasure!

Check out the schedule here, and tell all your friends. One more reason why Cape Town is a lovely place to live, hmm?

Photo: eguidetravel

I’ve recently stumbled across not one, not two, but THREE local bloggy gems, and I wanted to tell you about them. It always makes me so happy when I find local blogs that I love, because not only can I totally relate to what they’re talking about (especially if it’s about food), but because it means the South African blogosphere is growing! Great stuff.

So, in no particular order, three lovely blogs you should check out:

* Mint The Shop is my idea of heaven. Gorgeous vintage and retro homeware, from kitchen stuff to quirky home decor. Be warned! It’s difficult to leave without having bought something (because it’s reallly reasonable). That gorgeous vintage yellow Le Creuset pot is now mine! Thanks brother. Visit Mint here: http://www.minttheshop.com/

* Still Life With Wooden Spoon is a blog about cooking…. with a full time job, which I appreciate. Funny, self deprecating and with some incredible recipes, this is one to bookmark and look at just before you go home to cook dinner. I may even try the gnocchi-ravioli combo… Yum! Visit Still Life here: http://slwws.wordpress.com/

* love made me do it is extremely girly and whimsical and lovely, and I read the whole thing in one sitting. The author is actually going to be our wedding photographer (more on that soon!), and we have so much in common: a passion for old knick knacks (she’s also collecting vintage plates for her wedding), a love of proteas, a fondness for the phrase ‘love is all’ etc etc etc. Visit love made me do it here: http://lovemademedoitx.blogspot.com/

Happy bloggy browsing!

PS: It’s time for the SA Blog Awards, so if you’d like to nominate me, please visit here: http://www.sablogawards.com/or click on the banner on the right. I’m under ‘Best Personal Blog’. Thanks!

Image: love made me do it

I’ve had a realllly busy week, and I must confess that I didn’t even think about a gift yesterday – I was too busy driving to and from Gordon’s Bay for a Fresh Living TV shoot. Very exciting!

But as I pulled up to the traffic light near my house, I saw the old man who begs there every day. And while this may sound like a simple statement, the fact that I saw him was quite remarkable, because I usually drive past and don’t notice that he’s there. So, on impulse, I reached into my wallet and gave him some much-needed money. Much more than I  usually would have. Because sometimes you just have to follow the impulse, you know?

I know, I know, another succulent… But this one was actually requested by a colleague because her desk looked lonely.

And then my mug cracked, and instead of being sad about (yet another) mug breaking before my very eyes, I decided it was happy timing and filled it with some dirt and a plant. Because sometimes when things you love break, you just have to accept that they’re broken and make the best out of a bad situation.

Yip, I’m trying to insert a little philosophy into today’s succulent post, did you notice?

Those of you (men) who don’t have the nesting instinct might not know how essential nesting tools are. But let me tell you – when a woman wants to make her home her own, numerous nesting kits are necessary.

So when I heard that a lovely friend of mine has finally started nesting in her flat (despite having lived there for many months) I decided I had to encourage the nesting drive and buy her some tools. Hence the pan / spatula / apron / oven glove combo. In pink! Ohhh yeahhh…

So I realised yesterday that even though I’m halfway through this challenge, I haven’t given anything to my man yet… Or my family, actually. I think sometimes when people are very close to you it’s easy to take them for granted a bit.

So I decided, today, to rectify that. My language of love is gifts (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, check this out – I’ve spoken about the 5 love languages before) which is why this challenge appealed to me so much. But my man’s language of love is affection… I often think it’s an easier language to have, because when someone loves you they’ll obviously be affectionate. When you open your arms for a hug, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get one.

But just as a gift doesn’t mean as much when you have to ask for it, affection doesn’t mean as much when you have to ask for it either. So yesterday evening I made a conscious effort to be as affectionate as possible – to step out of my circle of ‘this is me on a Friday night, watching a DVD, eating (yummy) naan bread’ and give him extra hugs and kisses. And don’t you know, he was in the best mood by the end of the evening.

I think it’s something I’m going to do more.

PS: Had to improvise a little with the picture, but these toys are on his desk and they kind of look like they’re hugging, don’t they?

We drove to Knysna today, for the Knysna Oyster Festival (we’ll be here for the next 4 days and I am SO happy to be here). The timing couldn’t be better – both my man and I really need a few days out of routine, to catch up with ourselves and each other.

En route we stopped off at the obligatory petrol station for a somewhat crappy lunch (greasy chips and a dry toasted sandwich, yum!) and when I went to the bathroom I saw this sad little tip jar. Surrounded by wilted wet flower petals, I didn’t think there was much chance of the attendant getting any tips today, so I gave her a rather large one.

It’s so funny how knowing you have to give a gift each day makes you more aware of people who might need a bit of cheering up… And this is only day 4! I’m curious to see how my view of the world changes by the end of the month…

Let’s start with marmalade.
I made some! From scratch. In my kitchen. It was terribly satisfying.
I don’t actually eat marmalade, but my man loves it so I thought I’d give it a go. What do you think? Pretty, hmmm? Maybe if you’re nice to me I’ll share the recipe next week.

The magic part comes directly from Madame Zingara. I went to the show last night and it blew me away! Extraordinary stuff. The tent is from the 1920s, entirely mirrored and decadently decorated on the inside, and it is filled with colour and life and wonder. Extraordinary performers – acrobats and hula hoop girls (twenty hoops in one go!) and roller skaters and singers, it was honestly jaw-droppingly good stuff. The food was wonderful too – four courses perfectly prepared and delivered (even though there were 300 people there). And, lastly, the company was fab. I was lucky enough to be with my man and four other fabulous folks, including one of my favourite bloggers – I Want That.

And, lastly, mist.
I’m working late today, for the first time since I started this job. It’s Friday evening and I’m ready to go home, but I’m waiting for some files to transfer, and they’re taking a long time. Outside it’s starting to get dark and the mist is rolling in over the mountains. It’s wintry today, and I am so ready to go home to my nice cosy flat, have a hot cup of tea, change into my schloompfy pyjamas and do nothing much of anything but eat dinner and hang out with my man for the night.

Lovely!

We arrived home late yesterday afternoon, and I’m jetlagged and exhausted and so deeply happy to be back in South Africa.

I’ll be blogging regularly again, now that life has returned to semi-normal (still homeless till the beginning of next month, and interviewing for jobs in the next couple of weeks – I’ll keep you posted!)

Mostly, though, just happy. Happy to be home. Happy to not have to live out of a suitcase for much longer. Happy to see family and friends.

*Sigh!*

My man and I have had guests staying with us on and off (but more on than off, I think) for the last 3 or 4 months. Cape Town in the summer is so beautiful, everyone wants to come visit!

And now I’m about to go on a three week trip to the States (in the next couple of months) where I’ll be staying with various friends the whole time.
It’s a delicate balance, this whole guest thing. You don’t want to stay too long, you don’t want to get in the way, but at the same time you want to spend time with your hosts and be a pleasant guest. Someone once told me that house guests are like fish, they go off after three days. True?

So here are my questions, please help me shed some light on the whole conundrum!

1. How long is the perfect time to stay at a person’s house. 3 nights? 4 nights? One night? Is a week too long?
2. How much time should you spend with your host, and how much should you give them free space?
3. As a guest, are you obliged to do all the washing up and tidying, or just a portion of it? (You know how much I hate washing up!)
4. What’s the correct ‘payback’? Buying them dinner? Buying groceries? (And if so how much?) Gifts
5. That’s all. I thought I had five but I only had four.

So what do you think? Have you ever had wonder guests? Horror guests? Let’s take a poll on what the Ideal Guest Behaviour is. And then we’ll all be Ideal Guests from here on in!