Open Day Weekend

December is fast coming to a close and we have been busy.


On the weekend of December 13-14 we helped out at Hyme Rabinowitz' Open Day weekend - the 17th of these occasions - this time at Hyme and Jeni's home on Eagle's Nest. Hyme sold pots and some other artists sold their creations as has become the tradition over the past 5 or more years. It was well attended and good weather prevailed which was important since most things were set out on the lawn. Snacks were sold to benefit a local charity called Abalimi which focuses on teaching people how to grow vegetables and food for themselves and provides the materials for making that happen.


Hyme sat in a chair and was busy talking with both old friends and making new ones from 10 am till 5 pm. Between the beautiful setting and people thinking that this could well be Hyme's last open day - he is 88 now and quite frail -many friends and other artists came. He seems to remain alive primarily by his goodwill and gentle spirit.


We also could not resist adding to our own Hyme collection and we are already using the pieces regularly. Through Hyme's work and Michael's example I have come to appreciate that beautiful pots are to be used not just put on a shelf. (although they look wonderful there when not in use.)

While Michael helped at the sales table with a friend named Lee, I was lucky enough to help two of the craft artists there- a woman potter who makes amazing porcelains with delicate designs through which light shines called Lisa Ferier and a young woman called Saskia who makes necklaces using an array of interesting and often antique African beads collected from many different countries. There was also a mother daughter jewelry team and our friend Margrit selling the last of the Thula Thula clothing that she and Jeni had made a few years ago.


The first photo shows Jeni sitting with an Italian woman here on a two year stint with her husband and the fabulous jeweler some of you know from pieces she has made for us - the woman known to all here simply as "Jane the jeweler". Jeni is showing off one of Saskia's more elaborate pieces to both of them. Paula is on the left, Jeni in the middle, Jane on the right.

One of the other treats that weekend was walking on Eagle's nest and seeing three Cape Eagle owls that roost in an old wood pile there. One of these days we hope to get them on film but meanwhile we enjoy visiting them.

Wow it's December

It is hard to imagine that we have been here now for more than a month. We are so thankful for every day that we wake up and look out of our doors to see the amazing Table Mountain which is so green this year because of the particularly wet winter. It is quite simply spectacular! Summer has truly arrived and the deep blue skies and brilliant sun are welcome.

So far it has been a time of rediscovery, learning, reconnecting and getting used to living here full time. It is kind of weird because we keep reminding ourselves that we are not on vacation - at least not in the true sense.  In addition to trying to arrange normal things like health insurance and buying a car we are redoing this large garden, and hoping to make connections to find some freelance work.

Currently there is a debate going on about the type of vehicle we should buy - one of us wants a small vehicle, big enough for trips but not for tough off-road safari stuff and the other is leaning towards the bigger engine 4x4 type vehicle. See if you can guess which one holds which opinion. But the good news is that I am really getting used to driving on the other side of the road.  I actually get more confused when walking to look in the correct direction to avoid traffic running Emma and me over. 

Our Thanksgiving celebration last Sunday was a hit - 19 people and a big, well cooked turkey - which ultimately did come from Minnesota. The Brazilian bird is still in the freezer! I went to the ever reliable Epicurious site and found a recipe for an apple cider brined turkey that worked out beautifully.  We had lots of cooks helping and the meal was very yummy - actually this week felt more aimless without needing to plan for a big feast. Of course we forgot to photograph the turkey but I've included a few pics of a friend who brought soup and one of the tables of guests.

But what has been most fun lately are the discoveries of wildlife and gardening. We have had marvelous walks on the beach finding loads of shells, seeing a pair of oyster catchers, the bird below, and a number of visitors to our garden. 

The hadeda bird is a kind of ibis and they like to hang around to find bugs in the lawn. Emma likes to chase them out of the garden but this guy was not about to leave so easily so he simply took up a spot on the top of the little cottage.   I also found the most incredibly beautiful ladybug on the lawn yesterday - a soft rose color with big black spots some of which were shaped like little hearts - an amazing little creature. We finally managed to get some good photos of the bullfrog who lives in our pond and a spider that Michael disturbed from her nest in the shrubs ( I am happy to report that she did return to the nest the next day - I checked) 

Our next challenge is to get a photo of the orange breasted sunbird who comes to feed regularly at the large hibiscus just next to the patio - stay tuned!

PS - just like at home, the holiday shopping season has started here. We are enjoying seeing how the decorations are since it is a summer holiday here- quite fun to observe. 

Amazing Beach

Hout Bay, old fishing harbour, chill-some Atlantic Ocean side

We had a lovely walk yesterday morning - it was sunny and windless since we were out relatively early. We picked up our friend Jeni's dog to join us and returned to the scene of the lost wallet. All cards have been replaced and Michael is going to apply for a South African Driver's License while he waits for a new one to come from Vermont.

Yesterday was a good garden day - with me planting stuff and working on weed clearing - not exciting but feels good to be making some kind of progress against some of the bigger projects of putting up artwork and arranging an art space for myself.

We are looking forward to a number of social things for the weekend which includes visits to a local farmer's market at the Tokai Forest and the Potter's market in a nearby town called Rondebosch. Not that we need any more pottery but as this is the place where Michael first developed his love for pottery and he is keenly interested in getting to know many of the local artists we may just come home with something new.

One of my projects for today is to check out printing photos from the digital camera disk directly at the store.  The other plan since it is truly going to be a warm summer day of 25 centigrade (over 80 farenheit) is our first beach for swimming outing at Michael's favorite beach called Fish Hoek. It's the Indian Ocean side so the water is just barely warmer and possibly warm enough even for me to get in it.  We shall see.

Working in the Garden

This past weekend we started to work in earnest on parts of the garden. I planted some lettuce and herbs in a patio box just off the kitchen. There's lots of basil so Michael can be the mad pesto maker.  I am trying an experiment by planting in multiple locations to see which areas the plants do best in - midday sun or late afternoon sun.

We are creating a vegetable patch near the one small lemon tree and yesterday I spent a few hours with Nomfus clearing out weeds. Nomfus is the 4 year old daughter of the woman who cleans for us once a week. She is very curious and likes to follow me around and help me with things. Of course she speaks Xhosa and I speak English so it can be quite funny.  Yesterday she was trying to teach me some Xhosa - like the word for mole, of which I found a dead one while clearing. Actually that is a current problem in our lawn - lots of mole hills. Apparently they like bulbs but I certainly have no idea where we have bulbs. I have noticed though a bunch of loose little onion like mini bulbs floating around so there must be something. I will have to learn about humane ways to discourage them from hanging around here. 

There are some trees here called Eugenia which were brought from another country to be used as hedge plants but they are ruthless self-seeders so one must control them carefully if you want to have them in your garden. In South Africa there is a lot of discussion of alien versus native vegetation and trees - and we seem to have quite a few of the alien, and invasive, trees and shrubs. At first I was like, so what? But I am beginning to see the light and now of course it means there will be much more to do in recreating our large garden. Today we had the very satisfying experience of pulling out one of the small trees which has grown up around the fish pond. It was not planted and blocks much light from the little pond. We are hoping that opening up the pond to the light will minimize the duck weed and allow the water lilies to thrive. 

There are lots of similarities in the summer plants except that here I suspect they have longer blooming times and some of the plants that are annual for us are perennial here and vice versa. I am hoping to get plants from friends' gardens. Tim in particular has a very big and complex garden with lots of thriving native plants so he'll be a good resource.

Anyway, it is time for me to return to the garden to do some clear-up of our earlier activities.

Oh, one thing we should adopt that happens here is the big "L" which appears in some car back windows which means the person is a "learner driver" - very smart. It is big enough to be seen from afar and you are forewarned. I'm thinking of getting one for myself as I get used to driving on the other side of the road. 

Differences to Note

Moving to a new place always includes learning the new ways and customs - here are just a few one learns quickly:

Mail is delivered but not picked up. You must take it to a post box. Unusually sized cards require a cost premium, like at home, but instead of a small up charge, it is 3 times more so; therefore all cards and letters sent will be standard sized.

Movie DVD rentals are due the day after you rent them by Noon! even if you rent them at 9:00 pm. We were so shocked that the manager at the rental shop gave us the extra night just this once.

People are very serious about security and burglary prevention such that every home has an alarm system and they sleep with it turned on! We just learned how to turn ours on at night so that we can have the additional security too!

A lot of the English language used here is just that - English, not American so I am changing over my usage of words like yard and garden, trunk and boot.

We just ordered a turkey to make for our Thanksgiving celebration and it will come from Brazil - can you imagine? There is plenty of poultry here but not big fat turkeys like in North America.

Pedestrian crossings are called zebra crossings because of the white stripes but they are not nearly as well observed as in Vermont so be careful crossing the road.

Everyone is very polite, saying thank you all the time and people are helpful if you have a problem. Today a woman let me borrow her cell phone to call Michael when I could not figure something out - she even offered to give me a lift home.

It is rather chilly today - in the 50's and dreary so I asked Michael to make us a fire in the fireplace - of course since it has been raining most of the night and day we have no dry firewood - but he has some ideas so we shall try.

Catching Up and Moving Forward

Please excuse the craziness of the photos - I put too many for this post. The first group are of Emma on the journey beginning in Frankfurt. She is there being turned over to PetAir the very expensive freight cargo service. They took her to the "Animal Lounge". Her passage cost more than one of ours round trip! Ah but she seems pretty happy now.

There is a mixture of photos including the sweet little Cape Batis bird that sat on our patio door the other day. The delicate pink flower is a native gladiolus that grows wild on the hillside of our friend Jeni's home on Eagle's Nest.

The bouganvillea grows on a wall in our courtyard garden and there's a picture of Emma walking on Eagle's Nest with a view of Table Mountain in the background.

One of the first things I have learned about living here is that to become an official recognized person you must show proof of residence and proof of your credit worthiness. It is a real pain when you are the non-South African but we are slowly taking the steps necessary to get my name on some contract or other paying items so that I become "real" as I like to say. The other aspect that one observes quickly as an American is the much slower pace with which things are done. Initially, this is frustrating but I'm sure I shall get used to it and it does help one to stay in the present.

One nice thing we have been experiencing lately as Americans, is the ability to hold one's head high for our history making election. I show off my Obama purse regularly as I shop in the stores.

As we start our second week here all the suitcases are unpacked so we are almost ready to get the 5 boxes of things we left with a friend this past January. I am eager to get everything put away so it feels more like a home than a way station. We are also planning to have our own Thanksgiving celebration with friends here but will have to make a slight modification to hold it on a weekend since, obviously, no one here gets the Thursday as a vacation day!

The English guests who were staying with us and visiting South Africa for the first time left on Sunday. It was really a wonderful distraction from having to focus entirely on our chores. It allowed us to show off some of our favorite things - like walking on Muizenberg Beach and going to the Olympia Deli in Kalk (pronounced like caulk) Bay. We also benefitted from their excursions to learn about a lively local bar/restaurant at one of the beautiful Constantia wineries where we went for dinner last Friday night. We took along one of my niece Sophia''s friend's who has been studying here in Cape Town at UCT. Even with all we need to do, they were such easy guests that we were sorry to see them leave.

The best stories thus far are about our experiences with friends, nature, and the dog's reaction to the creatures here. We have been very warmly welcomed by our good friend Jeni who is like a sister to Michael and our friend Tim who returned from a long visit to England just recently. They both live here in Constantia and are great about giving us ideas for where to get things, have invited us over for a meal and such. We have walked at Silvermine Nature Reserve and gone to a local farmer's market. We even went to a Saturday night movie and have plans fora chamber concert this weekend. Our friends here are very social and go out together more frequently. We shall have to figure that into the budget! It is a much easier transition to already have so many contacts here.

On to the creatures: the first day we came to the house I was excited to see a lizard popping its head out of a yucca tree stump in a garden bed on the patio. His tree stump home is surrounded by the lavender we planted just before leaving that thrived since its planting. We were fortunate that the plants had a very wet winter so got well established during our absence. Everything we planted has grown and it has been good to see improvements in the garden overall. The gardener has been slowly but surely clearing out some seriously invasive plants that had grown up over the past 7 years. There are various flowers in bloom including a very showy bougainvillea pictured below.

the second morning here I came into the living room and saw a huge brown bug which was hoping about like a cricket - I still have no idea what it was but it was funny to watch Emma chasing it around the living room. Fortunately she has no killer instinct so we simply hopped it out the big sliding door.

Will sign off now as this is more news than even I could absorb! Please continue to send me your comments.

Arrival and settling In

Congratulations to all of us - we have a new President elect - Yea!

We were quite eager to get information on the election last night when it was still just your morning; it was odd to be so far from home with such an important and momentous election taking place there. I woke up early just in time to learn that McCain had conceded and Obama had won! Yippee. We met a woman while walking Emma this morning who recognized my accent as an American and asked whether we were glad to hear the results. Of course we said yes indeed and she was pleased on behalf of the world too. It was marvelous. Now we just need to find some Americans with whom to celebrate. I'm thinking that we might have an inauguration party on January 20, 2009!

As for us, we are settling in - and just today succeeded in getting the new mini mac computer hooked up with an internet connection. One thing I've learned quickly is that things take time here. I've also learned that to be "in the system" you must prove all kinds of things about where you live and whether you have money, etc. So we are getting those things going for me - the invisible one.

We have emptied all the suitcases but have not yet figured out where to put it all. The house is as lovely as we remembered it. The tenant moved out on Saturday after telling us how much he and his children enjoyed the house. Emma is trying to figure out what is going on but we keep telling her that this is her new home.

We had our first minor calamity on Saturday when I lost Michael's wallet with all his identifying information and credit cards at the Hout Bay Beach parking lot. It was truly a stupid thing but we are back in business with new bank cards so we continue along.

Pictures of the house and surrounds will have to wait for a next post when we get the camera photo uploading worked out with the new computer.

and for those who are interested it turns out that Emma is a true world traveler - she got out of her crate at Cape Town airport, had a long pee, a good shake of her head and has been just fine since then - amazing!

Less than 5 days left on Northern soil

Well, it has been a very crazy time. We are now half way through our journey. We are in Frankfurt Germany having the day to rest and refresh before the long flight to South Africa this evening. Michael, Emma and I are fine.

Of course, the final week had more surprises and worries than we expected. It began last Wednesday with the fact that Emma's blood work tests were done too soon so we had to worry about whether she would be allowed to arrive in CapeTown and be accepted! We also had to change our travel plan to fly straight through Frankfurt with Emma getting a day to recover, arriving in Cape Town on Friday.

Now that we are in Frankfurt Emma's passage will be taken over by a company named Pet Air, which is reassuring at one level because we know they have done it before. She is traveling as rather fancy cargo. And the best part, her travel one way is more expensive than our round trip airfare - ah well. We kind of expected it and of course would not have it any other way!

the next post will be from Cape Town. till then wish us safe travels.

Packing up stuff

It is kind of amazing to begin to see all the things one collects. Moving is a very effective way to realize that you do not use many of the things that surround you. While the process can be stultifying, it is very freeing to give things away and keep only essentials. I am challenged everyday by objects for which I must answer the questions - do I use it? will I use it? or am I just pretending it is vital. Frequently I find myself thinking, I know just who I should give this to who will really enjoy having it and so I create another small space for something new to appear.

Here is a photo of our little fish pond a the house in Constantia. Grandsons Sam and Ewan were searching for the new goldfish we had put into the pond. Gerry is in the background and the small artist's cottage can be seen there too.  I'm looking for the photo with the lovely view we have of the back of Table Mountain to post. I've posted one at the office to keep me inspired as I move through the last few weeks at work.

Welcome to my site

Well, here goes.

I promised myself I would start this before leaving and with two months before the trip this is pretty good!

This photo is of our home garden last fall - a bee caught in the morning dew, too cold to fly away quickly.

Not sure what kind of things will live here but I can use the next two months to learn as I go.

Please ask me questions.