Staycation Reading

I’ve been trying and failing to link to an article in the Times Online on staycation fashion – lots of impractical but elegant slouchy outfits. If I’m going to be finger-painting (ta Ladyfi!) and bike riding, then I’m not going to be wearing silk pants and artfully arranged scarves, thanks very much. However, I do [...]

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It’s Staycation Time!

My family are right on-trend with our plan to stay home for the summer holidays. As we drove back from France yesterday – which is not as glamorous as it sounds since it’s less than a two-hour drive and the campsite was one kilometre over the border – German radio was full of top tips [...]

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Are the Germans Getting It Wrong?

I went to church twice today for two end-of-the-school-year services. Since I am not big on organised religion or church, that’s probably my fill for the rest of the year. I did notice something odd though – the Germans sit to sing and stand to pray. I’m sure I remember it being the other way [...]

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Blogging Without Abandon

Taking a brief blogging pause for the following reasons: 1. Getting kids through the last week of term (fests, fests, fests and church services – am going to church twice in one day next week, which surely has me in with God). On the note of school holidays, this article on how to survive the [...]

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Examining Navel, Thanks to Blog Award

Thanks to the very lovely Zoesmom and the equally lovely Featherduster for a blogging award and a meme. Here is the award: To claim this beauty, I have to list seven personality traits, and then nominate seven others. I am always happy to navel-gaze, so here goes: 1. I have a Facebook habit. I like [...]

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Breaking the Silence

One of South Africa’s most senior and eminent businesspeople, Clem Sunter, writes movingly of the AIDS crisis in News24: We recently witnessed the huge coverage given to the Air France Airbus that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Two hundred and twenty-eight people perished in that disaster. Putting our Aids statistics into perspective, the equivalent is [...]

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The First Meme

Stolen from Queen Emily, who is mining a rich source of memes in that wonderful place we like to call Facebook, here is the meme of Firsts. The rules are simple and since it is 05.34am, I need simple: …. 25 Firsts …. Share 1. Who was your first prom date? Growing up in South [...]

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Carrot Cake Muffins

Here, by popular demand, is the carrot cake muffin recipe I mentioned last week. It comes from a book called Muffins und Törtchen, Einfach und Schnell by Susanna Tee, and this recipe is both simple and fast. It also happens to be delicious, and the marscapone frosting is a new level of heavenly. I far [...]

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A Suitable Girl

I’ve just read in the Independent Online that Vikram Seth is busy writing the sequel to his giant novel A Suitable Boy. The new book is, of course, going to be called A Suitable Girl. Seth has been paid an advance of 1.7 million pounds, and the new novel will be published in 2013. My [...]

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Welcome to the Tea Party

I’ve decided that if I don’t crack it as a novelist, I’m going to offer my services as a professional tea party organiser. I love it all: the baking of delicious goodies, choosing and arranging flowers, sourcing decorations, using objects I already own to prettify the room and table. It’s a silly lot of fluff [...]

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