‘Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.’ – JK Rowling Happy Birthday, to my blog! This is my 100th posting, so it seems the perfect time to celebrate the wonder and power of words which are, after all, the life and soul … More CENTENARY CELEBRATION
‘Praise be to God, the first wine was made from Cape grapes’ – Jan van Riebeeck from his diary entry on 2nd February 1659 It’s a birthday month for the South African wine industry, and with hundreds of wineries there are plenty of opportunities for people to join the celebrations, propose a toast or two … More Cheers!
‘Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.’ – Abraham Lincoln I learnt a new word this month: permacrisis. You don’t need to be a language expert to work out that … More Global Tipping Point
‘A home without books in a body without a soul’ – Cicero For the past few years, I’ve kept track of every book that I’ve read, purely for my own satisfaction. When I signed up to Goodreads a few years ago, I discovered that they have an annual reading challenge. I’ve taken part so that … More Top Ten Books of 2023
‘May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas Eve.’ Anon I once had a group of eight-year-olds ask me if we had elephants in our garden in South Africa. It’s amazing which images persist and what impressions stick. I could have told them that Cape Town is actually a very … More Christmas Contrasts
I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 I’ve been fortunate to be able to see the local Helderberg mountains this week, here in the Western Cape. There have been days when the lingering wet winter … More Keep looking up
“I think it is a pity to lose the romantic side of flying and simply to accept it as a common means of transport.” – Amy Johnson – first woman to fly solo from London to Australia I used to think that air travel was incredibly glamorous. My dad sometimes had to travel to various … More up, tiddly up, up
The biggest redwood… in the world is the General Sherman… almost 2,000 years old. … More giants of the forest
‘…we still haven’t seen any bears …’ … More O Canada
… the first blackberries are appearing… many of them are fatter and juicier than ever. … More where the wild things are
dancingthroughchaos 