It's felt like midwinter since our return to California more than a month ago. Except for one sunny July weekend, temperatures have been around the mid fifties at 11 in the morning, maybe reaching 60F on a good day. We've clothed ourselves in many layers - protection from the gloomy fog that some days never lifted.
Two days ago the fog gave way to blue sky around 9am and we had our first glorious day. The last two mornings we've woken to sunshine - hooray!! Today, as I made tea at 6:30am the temperature outside was nearly 70F - it feels like summer at last!
In the meantime we've been keeping busy weeding and clearing the immediate garden around, down below and up above the house. Forget-me-nots, thistles, blackberries and other nameless undesirables grew like crazy in our absence.
After searching the internet for the best part of a month for a replacement computer for my stolen Sony, I ended up ordering the latest 14" VAIO. It arrived last week. While working on Tim's old Mac I twice tried to make a photobook of his mum's 90th Birthday party. Twice My Publisher crashed losing all the pages I'd created, the first time 22 pages, the second 45 pages. Not to be daunted, I downloaded My Publisher the day after my computer arrived, immersed myself in photos and organization and by the end of the day uploaded Lucy's book.
Next I got smitten by the Ancestry.com bug - mmmm - in the haze of foggy days I became fixated on recreating my family tree (that was on my stolen computer). First I ordered the latest edition of Family Tree Maker software because my 2005 version wasn't Mac compatible. In my enthusiasm I failed to notice that I pre-ordered a new version that would only be released and mailed at the end of August. So I spent another $30 for a month's subscription to Ancestry.com. Omigosh, Ancestry sucks you into an utterly addictive family member pursuit. Each time you add a person to your family tree, Ancestry searches its database for matches and sends "hints" in the form of census or other records that could belong to your ancestor, or a link to where Ancestry finds your ancestor on someone else's family tree. Quite a remarkable program!
But it's time to drag myself out of my mid 18th century ramblings from East Yorkshire to Lincolnshire to South Africa and over to the USA because the sun is out and it's hard to see the computer screen in such bright light and it's time for our three mile walk around our hill in the sunshine!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Reality Check
Tim and I got back from France/Florida last Monday to discover we'd been burgled and both my working computer and my backup PC were stolen together with an old Mac of Tim's. I have external hard drives with enough data to resurrect my files, but the hard reality is how vulnerable one is. And sad to realise that our 'safe' neighborhood is no longer that. For the past week every time we go out we either take all our valuables with us, or hide them in the house. It feels a little like living in South Africa!
The weather has been foggy and misty most days, damp and cold until the sun comes out, sometimes as late as 4pm. Such a difference from our time in France and Florida, both muggy and hot. I would far rather add more clothes to keep warm that sweat it out in humid climes. Being a tourist in Paris was quite overwhelming. It reminded me of Singapore. Not the architecture, but the heat and exhaustion walking down the boulevards or backstreets, looking at all there is to see in that wonderful city.
After Tim's Paris meeting we caught a train to Auxerre in Burgundy, arriving at noon to torrential rain. We couldn't help laughing at our poor planning. Even if we'd caught a taxi to collect our car, the Hertz office was closed - Siesta until 2pm. So we resigned ourselves to lunch in the station cafe which turned out to be an unexpected delight - tomato tartare and two Heineken beers.
We stayed at Domaine Borgnat a working wine farm for two nights, just outside Auxerre, with comfortable, unfussy lodgings and excellent dinners served at large communal tables. At 6pm each evening the vintner conducts wine tastings in this cave-like wine cellar. Check Trip Advisor.
From the north of Burgundy we made our way south, to Beune, the wine capital of Burgundy, a beautiful town surrounded by the remains of an old wall and moat, and, further out, acres of vineyards of the Cote d'Or, all green and lush in the July sun. We spent two happy days and nights at a delightful inn, Jardin de Lois, in their newest room, not yet even on the website, with views out to the large rambling garden. The first evening we ate a sumptious meal at the Auberge du Cheval Noir. Although the service was slow to get started, once we were 'in the stream' the food and wine got better and better.
Too soon we had to journey back by train to the airport to catch a plane to Tampa, Florida and make our way to Boca Grande to join all the Lucy and Jim Stanton children, grandchildren, wives, husbands, as well as three great grandchildren, two nieces and one grand-nephew. An amazing gathering to celebrate Lucy's 90th birthday - all the family below -
The weather has been foggy and misty most days, damp and cold until the sun comes out, sometimes as late as 4pm. Such a difference from our time in France and Florida, both muggy and hot. I would far rather add more clothes to keep warm that sweat it out in humid climes. Being a tourist in Paris was quite overwhelming. It reminded me of Singapore. Not the architecture, but the heat and exhaustion walking down the boulevards or backstreets, looking at all there is to see in that wonderful city.
After Tim's Paris meeting we caught a train to Auxerre in Burgundy, arriving at noon to torrential rain. We couldn't help laughing at our poor planning. Even if we'd caught a taxi to collect our car, the Hertz office was closed - Siesta until 2pm. So we resigned ourselves to lunch in the station cafe which turned out to be an unexpected delight - tomato tartare and two Heineken beers.
We stayed at Domaine Borgnat a working wine farm for two nights, just outside Auxerre, with comfortable, unfussy lodgings and excellent dinners served at large communal tables. At 6pm each evening the vintner conducts wine tastings in this cave-like wine cellar. Check Trip Advisor.
From the north of Burgundy we made our way south, to Beune, the wine capital of Burgundy, a beautiful town surrounded by the remains of an old wall and moat, and, further out, acres of vineyards of the Cote d'Or, all green and lush in the July sun. We spent two happy days and nights at a delightful inn, Jardin de Lois, in their newest room, not yet even on the website, with views out to the large rambling garden. The first evening we ate a sumptious meal at the Auberge du Cheval Noir. Although the service was slow to get started, once we were 'in the stream' the food and wine got better and better.
Too soon we had to journey back by train to the airport to catch a plane to Tampa, Florida and make our way to Boca Grande to join all the Lucy and Jim Stanton children, grandchildren, wives, husbands, as well as three great grandchildren, two nieces and one grand-nephew. An amazing gathering to celebrate Lucy's 90th birthday - all the family below -
Monday, July 5, 2010
London
Ten gorgeous sunny days at home in Inverness, Califonia, and then off to London. A quick overnight flight and here I am in Gareth's house in Earlsfield, near Wimbledon Park where we walked the dogs this morning amidst the aftermath of tennis crowds and queues. The Park allows fans to camp overnight in an orderly queue waiting to buy tickets for tennis the next day. Today it was back to dog-walking normal, a haven for all species, humans and dogs.
My 4th of July celebration was meeting my nephew, Will, and his girlfriend, Jen, for a drink and meal on Sunday evening with Gareth and Naz. Thanks for the photo, Jen! And for the drinks and Thai dinner at Dusit in Wimbledon, Gareth, Will & Naz!
I'll meet Tim in Paris on Wednesday. Meantime, two days wandering around London - pretty nice!
My 4th of July celebration was meeting my nephew, Will, and his girlfriend, Jen, for a drink and meal on Sunday evening with Gareth and Naz. Thanks for the photo, Jen! And for the drinks and Thai dinner at Dusit in Wimbledon, Gareth, Will & Naz!
I'll meet Tim in Paris on Wednesday. Meantime, two days wandering around London - pretty nice!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Back home again!
It's a week since we left Cape Town and in another week we set off to France so this halfway mark is a good point to post an update.
There were some great highlights in our last week in Cape Town amidst the stress of packing up our rental house. We spent an evening with a few of the students staying on for the winter at Ganesh restaurant in Observatory, watching Brazil play North Korea on the big screen - by now we were all soccer addicts! And a last meal at our favorite local restaurant, the Wijnhuis, on Thursday evening, wishing Nan a happy 40th birthday for Friday June 18. I can't believe I have a daughter of 40!!
Friday morning we rushed to the airport to catch the flight to Singapore for arrival early Saturday morning. We headed straight to the hotel to catch up on sleep. Our host, Eddy Chong, picked us up, groggy with sleep, and drove us to lunch at Food for Thought - a restaurant with a conscience in this bustling capitalistic city! After lunch, Eddy dropped us at Raffles hotel and we walked around a bit before meeting up with him again for tea with a couple of his colleagues.
That evening we ate Peranakan food at our hotel restaurant, a fusion of Malaysian and Chinese flavors, which we followed with TV soccer until the early hours of the morning until we finally fell asleep. We woke on Sunday morning, too late for hotel breakfast, so made our way to a Starbucks for morning tea and coffee and bagel; boringly safe!
We thought of all sorts of tours we could do after breakfast but finally settled on getting a taxi to Clarke Quay and walking up and down the river. We stopped at IndoChine restaurant for the most delicious fresh rice paper veggie rolls, sitting outside across the river from the row of quaint shophouses on Boat Quay, all that remains of the Singapore working dock of old. The buildings now house a long row of restaurants, each with eager staff tempting you to sit down for the special of the day. This is a 2003 photo but shows the shophouses against modern Singapore.
Sunday evening Eddy took us to his home where his wife, Yan, and their son Nathan, and Christine in the kitchen, treated us to a superb meal with little dogs, Buffy and Bella, sitting obediently on their chair, near the table, observing us patiently. A real honor to be guests in their home.
Monday was the work day, the reason Tim was in Singapore. But first, in the morning we met up with long time friends and colleagues, Cheng Chye and Hwee San, for a tour of the school where they now teach, School Of The Arts (SOTA). Cheng Chye and Hwee San were both at Raffles and were responsible for our great trip to Cambodia and Thailand at the end of 2006.
That afternoon Tim was to address students and interested philanthropists in a talk about Service Learning at the National University of Singapore's Business School's Centre for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy where Eddy works. Eddy collected us around noon for lunch with the Director of the Centre, Albert Teo who had ordered the most incredibly scrumptious dishes for us to enjoy over an hour or so of good conversation.
Tim's talk was excellent, but somehow all that lingers of our three days in Singapore is the food we sample in that city. After goodbyes with Eddy, we met up with Wilson, another friend from the old 2003 days. Wilson whisked us away to a Chinese neighborhood where we feasted on countless incredible dishes - so very yum!
Next morning we rose at crack of dawn to catch our 7am flight to Narita and then back to SFO - a long day, but spent pleasantly relaxed over movies and more good food on United airlines.
We've been home 5 days now and it feels like we couldn't possible have been away for seven months. We're really enjoying the long summer days, the peace in our rural home, the sounds of the birds in the garden, and the long familiar hikes out here on the Point Reyes Peninsula. But we miss the vibe of Cape Town, the walks up Palmboom Road to either fetch the newspaper in the morning, or take off on a hike in Newlands Forest; the proximity to the shops and restaurants, all a short walk away; and of course we miss our friends and family.
In some way I feel divided, half of me is here, the other half in Cape Town.
There were some great highlights in our last week in Cape Town amidst the stress of packing up our rental house. We spent an evening with a few of the students staying on for the winter at Ganesh restaurant in Observatory, watching Brazil play North Korea on the big screen - by now we were all soccer addicts! And a last meal at our favorite local restaurant, the Wijnhuis, on Thursday evening, wishing Nan a happy 40th birthday for Friday June 18. I can't believe I have a daughter of 40!!
Friday morning we rushed to the airport to catch the flight to Singapore for arrival early Saturday morning. We headed straight to the hotel to catch up on sleep. Our host, Eddy Chong, picked us up, groggy with sleep, and drove us to lunch at Food for Thought - a restaurant with a conscience in this bustling capitalistic city! After lunch, Eddy dropped us at Raffles hotel and we walked around a bit before meeting up with him again for tea with a couple of his colleagues.
That evening we ate Peranakan food at our hotel restaurant, a fusion of Malaysian and Chinese flavors, which we followed with TV soccer until the early hours of the morning until we finally fell asleep. We woke on Sunday morning, too late for hotel breakfast, so made our way to a Starbucks for morning tea and coffee and bagel; boringly safe!
We thought of all sorts of tours we could do after breakfast but finally settled on getting a taxi to Clarke Quay and walking up and down the river. We stopped at IndoChine restaurant for the most delicious fresh rice paper veggie rolls, sitting outside across the river from the row of quaint shophouses on Boat Quay, all that remains of the Singapore working dock of old. The buildings now house a long row of restaurants, each with eager staff tempting you to sit down for the special of the day. This is a 2003 photo but shows the shophouses against modern Singapore.
Sunday evening Eddy took us to his home where his wife, Yan, and their son Nathan, and Christine in the kitchen, treated us to a superb meal with little dogs, Buffy and Bella, sitting obediently on their chair, near the table, observing us patiently. A real honor to be guests in their home.
Monday was the work day, the reason Tim was in Singapore. But first, in the morning we met up with long time friends and colleagues, Cheng Chye and Hwee San, for a tour of the school where they now teach, School Of The Arts (SOTA). Cheng Chye and Hwee San were both at Raffles and were responsible for our great trip to Cambodia and Thailand at the end of 2006.
That afternoon Tim was to address students and interested philanthropists in a talk about Service Learning at the National University of Singapore's Business School's Centre for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy where Eddy works. Eddy collected us around noon for lunch with the Director of the Centre, Albert Teo who had ordered the most incredibly scrumptious dishes for us to enjoy over an hour or so of good conversation.
Tim's talk was excellent, but somehow all that lingers of our three days in Singapore is the food we sample in that city. After goodbyes with Eddy, we met up with Wilson, another friend from the old 2003 days. Wilson whisked us away to a Chinese neighborhood where we feasted on countless incredible dishes - so very yum!
Next morning we rose at crack of dawn to catch our 7am flight to Narita and then back to SFO - a long day, but spent pleasantly relaxed over movies and more good food on United airlines.
We've been home 5 days now and it feels like we couldn't possible have been away for seven months. We're really enjoying the long summer days, the peace in our rural home, the sounds of the birds in the garden, and the long familiar hikes out here on the Point Reyes Peninsula. But we miss the vibe of Cape Town, the walks up Palmboom Road to either fetch the newspaper in the morning, or take off on a hike in Newlands Forest; the proximity to the shops and restaurants, all a short walk away; and of course we miss our friends and family.
In some way I feel divided, half of me is here, the other half in Cape Town.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Farewell Dinner and Soccer Frenzy
June 10th arrived, the last day of the program and the excitement of the Bing Farewell dinner at Addis in Cape is in the air. Everyone is looking forward to the Ethiopian food and ambiance, a super end to the 11 weeks in Cape Town for the Stanford Spring Quarter students. Some lovely photos tell the story of the evening.
The whole of South Africa has been awash with flags; on cars, windows, walls, wherever. All the different countries, on sale at traffic lights from street vendors and at most shops - it's the rage. I bought one US and one SA flag and drove to Welcome Glen to visit Nan and Daniel feeling proudly SA and US. On my way home, the US flag flew off it's holder - not even an hour old!
I'm not all that impressed with vuvuzelas, but it seems I'm in the minority on that score. As their populararity increases, we're bombarded with ear splitting eruptions at all times of the day and night, whether there's a soccer game on or not!
But, if that's what makes Bafana Bafana (ranked 80) play like they did against Mexico (ranked 16) in their 1-1 draw, roll on vuvuzelas! What an exciting game - the opening South African goal such a winner from Siphiwe Tshabalala, later named man of the match. How terrific to be the first to score, and how nearly that was the one and only. But Mexico, deservedly, retaliated, 11 minutes from the end, with their own excellent shot straight past Bafana's keeper.
That was Friday. Saturday saw us meeting up with an old Kent school friend of Tim's, John Watkins, and his partner and son to watch the US play England. Disappointingly, England scored in the fourth minute and we thought the US was in for a drilling. How jubilant we felt in this tightly marked game when the US scored the equaliser. We watched on a huge screen in a bar/restaurant called Arnolds in Kloof Street.
I'm hooked on soccer and can't wait to follow the matches.
The whole of South Africa has been awash with flags; on cars, windows, walls, wherever. All the different countries, on sale at traffic lights from street vendors and at most shops - it's the rage. I bought one US and one SA flag and drove to Welcome Glen to visit Nan and Daniel feeling proudly SA and US. On my way home, the US flag flew off it's holder - not even an hour old!
I'm not all that impressed with vuvuzelas, but it seems I'm in the minority on that score. As their populararity increases, we're bombarded with ear splitting eruptions at all times of the day and night, whether there's a soccer game on or not!
But, if that's what makes Bafana Bafana (ranked 80) play like they did against Mexico (ranked 16) in their 1-1 draw, roll on vuvuzelas! What an exciting game - the opening South African goal such a winner from Siphiwe Tshabalala, later named man of the match. How terrific to be the first to score, and how nearly that was the one and only. But Mexico, deservedly, retaliated, 11 minutes from the end, with their own excellent shot straight past Bafana's keeper.
That was Friday. Saturday saw us meeting up with an old Kent school friend of Tim's, John Watkins, and his partner and son to watch the US play England. Disappointingly, England scored in the fourth minute and we thought the US was in for a drilling. How jubilant we felt in this tightly marked game when the US scored the equaliser. We watched on a huge screen in a bar/restaurant called Arnolds in Kloof Street.
I'm hooked on soccer and can't wait to follow the matches.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The end is nigh!
Three weeks have zipped by since my last post and in two more weeks we'll be in Singapore for a few days, en route home. I am in my usual pre-departure panic at thought of packing up for 5½ months - what to take to California, what to leave behind here?
In the meantime, to catch up on what we've been up to these past three weeks, we had an unplanned visit to Johannesburg for a friend's memorial the weekend of 20 -22 May. Sadly, South Africa's former Leader of the Opposition in the days before democracy, Van Zyl Slabbert, died at 70. Seems so young for such a great mind to leave us, but he had not been well and was not improving. He had a wonderful birthday celebration in February which, with hindsight, was his farewell to friends, I guess.
We stayed with my sister and husband, Gill and Michael, in Joburg which was super, especially for Tim as he had not seen them for a couple of years.
The next week we had the last student dinner at the Wijnhuis,our favourite local restaurant. Followed by another student wine tasting evening, see pics at link, excellent again, thanks to Chris Wiehe. And, to end the week, the students' cultural evening - an outing to the town of Darling for "Koeksisters for Zuma", a show by Pieter-Dirk Uys. We got there early, in time to explore all the marvelous memorabilia he has collected and displays in this converted railway station that is now his very own theatre, "Evita se Perron" (He plays Evita Bezuidenhout, wife of the ambassador to Bapetikosweti, and Perron is the Afrikaans word for (station) platform - a play on Argentina's Evita Peron.)
Pieter has the wonderful ability of tuning his show to suit his audience and played up to the students beautifully. The theatre is very intimate, the stage a slightly raised part of the restaurant. The food is served before, during the break, and after the show. Altogether a fabulous evening's entertainment. Here we are sampling Darling Brew before the show started and with PDU after the show.
The third week, last week, and two highlights involving the Stanford program. One was having Tim's staff to dinner here - long overdue! The other was going to the Stanford Centre on Thursday evening to be an observer at the Financial Self Sustainability Forum that two of Tim's research students convened. Wow, what a great gift Craig and Ken gave the eight NPO leaders who were there - getting them acquainted, raising challenging issues in their businesses, thrashing out different ways to approach the issues - what we saw and heard was most inspiring. Here they are in the large lecture room at Waverley.
Sunday May 30th my aunt, Ruth Jeffery, celebrated her 96th birthday at a wonderful gathering at her farm, Timberlea, in Stellenbosch. She was surrounded by four generations of family on a glorious sunny winter day and spent hours basking in the delights of close relatives. Here she is looking not a day older than 80!
Each week these last three months I have fetched my grandchildren from school on Thursdays and taken first Nathaniel, who finishes earlier than Ayanda, for a bite to eat followed by some play on a jungle gym. After a couple of hours we go back to school to pick up Ayanda and treat her to a scone and milkshake. It's been a chance for good chats with them both and a lot of fun for me. And I have sure got to know the tea/lunch spots in the Kommetjie/Noordhoek part of the Cape Peninsula.
Friday next week kicks off the World Cup Soccer with one game here in Cape Town, and another in Johannesburg. On Saturday the US is playing England in Rustenburg, NW of Johannesburg. Tim and I will watch on TV with US friends at the Mount Nelson Hotel, cheering on our side who have a big team to tackle in their first game.
There are a bunch of "friendlies" being played as warm-ups to the competition and I see the US played Australia in the Johannesburg area last night and beat them 3-1 - good for the US!
Two games will be played in Cape Town before we leave: Uruguay vs France next Friday and then Italy vs Paraguay, Mon June 14. All around the country 20 of a total of 48 group matches will have been decided before we leave so I am sure we will be drawn into the excitement. Here's the link to the match schedule.
In the meantime, to catch up on what we've been up to these past three weeks, we had an unplanned visit to Johannesburg for a friend's memorial the weekend of 20 -22 May. Sadly, South Africa's former Leader of the Opposition in the days before democracy, Van Zyl Slabbert, died at 70. Seems so young for such a great mind to leave us, but he had not been well and was not improving. He had a wonderful birthday celebration in February which, with hindsight, was his farewell to friends, I guess.
We stayed with my sister and husband, Gill and Michael, in Joburg which was super, especially for Tim as he had not seen them for a couple of years.
The next week we had the last student dinner at the Wijnhuis,our favourite local restaurant. Followed by another student wine tasting evening, see pics at link, excellent again, thanks to Chris Wiehe. And, to end the week, the students' cultural evening - an outing to the town of Darling for "Koeksisters for Zuma", a show by Pieter-Dirk Uys. We got there early, in time to explore all the marvelous memorabilia he has collected and displays in this converted railway station that is now his very own theatre, "Evita se Perron" (He plays Evita Bezuidenhout, wife of the ambassador to Bapetikosweti, and Perron is the Afrikaans word for (station) platform - a play on Argentina's Evita Peron.)
Pieter has the wonderful ability of tuning his show to suit his audience and played up to the students beautifully. The theatre is very intimate, the stage a slightly raised part of the restaurant. The food is served before, during the break, and after the show. Altogether a fabulous evening's entertainment. Here we are sampling Darling Brew before the show started and with PDU after the show.
The third week, last week, and two highlights involving the Stanford program. One was having Tim's staff to dinner here - long overdue! The other was going to the Stanford Centre on Thursday evening to be an observer at the Financial Self Sustainability Forum that two of Tim's research students convened. Wow, what a great gift Craig and Ken gave the eight NPO leaders who were there - getting them acquainted, raising challenging issues in their businesses, thrashing out different ways to approach the issues - what we saw and heard was most inspiring. Here they are in the large lecture room at Waverley.
Sunday May 30th my aunt, Ruth Jeffery, celebrated her 96th birthday at a wonderful gathering at her farm, Timberlea, in Stellenbosch. She was surrounded by four generations of family on a glorious sunny winter day and spent hours basking in the delights of close relatives. Here she is looking not a day older than 80!
Each week these last three months I have fetched my grandchildren from school on Thursdays and taken first Nathaniel, who finishes earlier than Ayanda, for a bite to eat followed by some play on a jungle gym. After a couple of hours we go back to school to pick up Ayanda and treat her to a scone and milkshake. It's been a chance for good chats with them both and a lot of fun for me. And I have sure got to know the tea/lunch spots in the Kommetjie/Noordhoek part of the Cape Peninsula.
Friday next week kicks off the World Cup Soccer with one game here in Cape Town, and another in Johannesburg. On Saturday the US is playing England in Rustenburg, NW of Johannesburg. Tim and I will watch on TV with US friends at the Mount Nelson Hotel, cheering on our side who have a big team to tackle in their first game.
There are a bunch of "friendlies" being played as warm-ups to the competition and I see the US played Australia in the Johannesburg area last night and beat them 3-1 - good for the US!
Two games will be played in Cape Town before we leave: Uruguay vs France next Friday and then Italy vs Paraguay, Mon June 14. All around the country 20 of a total of 48 group matches will have been decided before we leave so I am sure we will be drawn into the excitement. Here's the link to the match schedule.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Field Trip in the Cederberg
When we cancelled the Cederberg field trip in February because of extreme heat, I was convinced that it would snow over the weekend of the rescheduled trip - what a pessimist!
The weather report said we'd have fine days but it was hard to believe as we set off on Friday afternoon and drove the first 150 km's in torrential rain. When we stopped at Kardoesie on top of the Piekenier's pass we were greeted with a cloudburst that kept us huddled in coats, shivering inside the farmstall.
Onward when the rain stopped, to Clanwilliam and an hour at the Living Landscape Project that our archaeology guide, John Parkington, began some years ago and where our students spent a weekend in 2003, 2006 and 2008.
This time though, we were not staying here. Instead we headed higher up into the mountains, over the Pakhuis pass, to Traveller's Rest, a large farm owned by the Strauss family, offering accommodation and food, with hikes to the many San rock art sites that are found here. We arrived, got the bed selection organized and headed over to the Khoisan Kitchen for our first meal, a huge three course dinner made by our generous host, Haffie Strauss.
After supper, John Parkington gave us a slide show of what we could expect to see on our hike in the morning, after which it was off to our cottages.
Saturday was a perfect day, sunny and warm - how could I have doubted those forecasters! After breakfast, we walked the Sevilla trail with John. I'm not going to describe it here - it would take too long - just take a look at the photos in the link below. After lunch, we walked to Salmanslaagte, another rock art site alongside a babbling river with cliffs on either side. Six of our party went on horseback - Traveller's Rest offers horse trails too. Back to the Khoisan Kitchen in the setting sun for another wonderful meal and pleasant end to the day.
Sunday morning John walked all but 9 of us to the Hollow Rock Shelter, set on top of a ridge with quite a demanding ascent. From the top we waved at the riders down below on their trail. We didn't meet up with them this time.
John explained how the Hollow Rock Shelter had been found and excavated. It was not a site for paintings, but a very interesting collection of stone tools. See this U-tube video if you want to find out more about the tools man used 70,000 odd years ago.
We had a slight panic on return when the horse riders were not back by 11:45 and we were due for lunch at noon. Tim waited for them while Sipho took the first bunch to Bushmanskloof a Relais & Châteaux lodge that adjoins Traveller's Rest and has an extensive collection of rock art.
I guess the photos really say it all, so this is enough from me for now. Thanks to all who made this such a great excursion, especially the Bings!
The weather report said we'd have fine days but it was hard to believe as we set off on Friday afternoon and drove the first 150 km's in torrential rain. When we stopped at Kardoesie on top of the Piekenier's pass we were greeted with a cloudburst that kept us huddled in coats, shivering inside the farmstall.
Onward when the rain stopped, to Clanwilliam and an hour at the Living Landscape Project that our archaeology guide, John Parkington, began some years ago and where our students spent a weekend in 2003, 2006 and 2008.
This time though, we were not staying here. Instead we headed higher up into the mountains, over the Pakhuis pass, to Traveller's Rest, a large farm owned by the Strauss family, offering accommodation and food, with hikes to the many San rock art sites that are found here. We arrived, got the bed selection organized and headed over to the Khoisan Kitchen for our first meal, a huge three course dinner made by our generous host, Haffie Strauss.
After supper, John Parkington gave us a slide show of what we could expect to see on our hike in the morning, after which it was off to our cottages.
Saturday was a perfect day, sunny and warm - how could I have doubted those forecasters! After breakfast, we walked the Sevilla trail with John. I'm not going to describe it here - it would take too long - just take a look at the photos in the link below. After lunch, we walked to Salmanslaagte, another rock art site alongside a babbling river with cliffs on either side. Six of our party went on horseback - Traveller's Rest offers horse trails too. Back to the Khoisan Kitchen in the setting sun for another wonderful meal and pleasant end to the day.
Sunday morning John walked all but 9 of us to the Hollow Rock Shelter, set on top of a ridge with quite a demanding ascent. From the top we waved at the riders down below on their trail. We didn't meet up with them this time.
John explained how the Hollow Rock Shelter had been found and excavated. It was not a site for paintings, but a very interesting collection of stone tools. See this U-tube video if you want to find out more about the tools man used 70,000 odd years ago.
We had a slight panic on return when the horse riders were not back by 11:45 and we were due for lunch at noon. Tim waited for them while Sipho took the first bunch to Bushmanskloof a Relais & Châteaux lodge that adjoins Traveller's Rest and has an extensive collection of rock art.
I guess the photos really say it all, so this is enough from me for now. Thanks to all who made this such a great excursion, especially the Bings!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Witsand and Hermanus
My brother, Thane, farms outside the seaside village of Witsand, at the mouth of the Breede River. He and his wife, Elize, have turned a ramshackle purchase of a few years ago into a fully working sheep farm called Melkhoutkraal (Milkwood 'enclosure'). I love a lot of things about my brother, but mostly I am so proud of the wind generator and solar panels he installed to feed 36 batteries and provide all the power they need. Well, not quite. All except a gas cooker and the HWC, but the latter will change soon. And the water collection tanks he uses to be independent of council supplies.. The really pleasing thing is they don't get the utitlity bills that the people in the cities dread to find in their mailboxes. Such freedom! I wish my parents were still about to see his handiwork. Here he is.
Last Friday afternoon, Tim and I drove to Witsand, three hours away. We checked into the Breede River Lodge and were soon visited by Thane's daughters, Natalie and Liza. Natalie was on her way to spend the weekend with her boyfriend. Fortunately Liza was on hand to fetch Thane and Elize because the clutch of his 'bakkie' (pick-up truck) had collapsed and we wouldn't have been able to have supper together if it hadn't been for Liza and her boyfriend, Jannie. They set off in a tiny little bakkie to rescue my stranded brother. On their way back to Witsand, they had a puncture! Repair had to be done in the dark by the light of Liza's cell phone. That was the second bad thing to happen to Thane that day. Fortunately, meeting up with Tim and me was not the third. We had a fabulous meal with non stop chatting and lots of education about the fishing industry in South Africa, as well as wind turbines, sustainability, etc.
Saturday morning we visited the farm, see back view, above, and walked over the scorched earth (no rain) to look at the geese, the sheep and the two hand built and brick walled wells - their source of water. The wells were made by a previous owner. After the tour we sat inside the house and chatted for a few hours and then set off for Hermanus, the seaside town where I spent all my school holidays, and where my parents retired.
My father's sister, Ruth, turning 96 at the end of the month, inherited her parent's holiday home in a beautiful position on a headland overlooking the rocks and sea and, in season, the whales. Ruth's son, Peter, and his wife, Muffy, invited us to spend a night with them and what a treat that was. Although the fine Saturday weather didn't last and Sunday we got a bit wet on our cliff path walk, I loved being in the familiar places of my childhood, walking past the beaches and cliff pools where we swam and sunbathed, smelling the heady scents of the fynbos, treading magical paths through arches of indigenous trees and shrubs. My childhood was definitely spent in heaven!
Home again and a picasa photo album posted. This week has been mostly preparation for the upcoming weekend. We leave on Friday for our long awaited Field Trip to Clanwilliam. The one that was postponed in February because of the extreme heat. It looks like we may be in for extreme cold this weekend. We've had a week of torrential rain. Hopefully it will not follow us to the mountains!
Last Friday afternoon, Tim and I drove to Witsand, three hours away. We checked into the Breede River Lodge and were soon visited by Thane's daughters, Natalie and Liza. Natalie was on her way to spend the weekend with her boyfriend. Fortunately Liza was on hand to fetch Thane and Elize because the clutch of his 'bakkie' (pick-up truck) had collapsed and we wouldn't have been able to have supper together if it hadn't been for Liza and her boyfriend, Jannie. They set off in a tiny little bakkie to rescue my stranded brother. On their way back to Witsand, they had a puncture! Repair had to be done in the dark by the light of Liza's cell phone. That was the second bad thing to happen to Thane that day. Fortunately, meeting up with Tim and me was not the third. We had a fabulous meal with non stop chatting and lots of education about the fishing industry in South Africa, as well as wind turbines, sustainability, etc.
Saturday morning we visited the farm, see back view, above, and walked over the scorched earth (no rain) to look at the geese, the sheep and the two hand built and brick walled wells - their source of water. The wells were made by a previous owner. After the tour we sat inside the house and chatted for a few hours and then set off for Hermanus, the seaside town where I spent all my school holidays, and where my parents retired.
My father's sister, Ruth, turning 96 at the end of the month, inherited her parent's holiday home in a beautiful position on a headland overlooking the rocks and sea and, in season, the whales. Ruth's son, Peter, and his wife, Muffy, invited us to spend a night with them and what a treat that was. Although the fine Saturday weather didn't last and Sunday we got a bit wet on our cliff path walk, I loved being in the familiar places of my childhood, walking past the beaches and cliff pools where we swam and sunbathed, smelling the heady scents of the fynbos, treading magical paths through arches of indigenous trees and shrubs. My childhood was definitely spent in heaven!
Home again and a picasa photo album posted. This week has been mostly preparation for the upcoming weekend. We leave on Friday for our long awaited Field Trip to Clanwilliam. The one that was postponed in February because of the extreme heat. It looks like we may be in for extreme cold this weekend. We've had a week of torrential rain. Hopefully it will not follow us to the mountains!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Trips and visits and an important birthday
I spent five lovely, chilly, days in Johannesburg, visiting my sister at the end of April. Funny, the weather was what I'd expect in the Cape, long, soaking rains. It was an excellent break from Cape Town routine, a chance to read, go to the movies with Gill (to watch (mostly in horror) A Prophet) and be treated by Gill and Michael to a superb dinner/night out at CasaLinga restaurant. Over the weekend we had visits from my nieces, Gill's Polly, and her boyfriend, Chris, as well as Michael's Bernadette, and boyfriend, Alan, and their children. Wonderful to catch up.
Back to Cape Town to enjoy another daughter's visit - this time Tim's Erin, all the way from California. She spent a week with us - a gorgeous sunny week, ratcheting up several kilometers hiking on the Cape's mountain trails. Twice above Kalk Bay, once in Newlands Forest, and the last, all the way from our house in Newlands to Kirstenbosch, up Skeleton Gorge and down Nursery Ravine to end up with weak and wobbly knees for lunch at the Kirstenbosch tea room. After huge, healthy salads, we walked home feeling very weary.
Here's our self timed photo on top of Skeleton Gorge - I'm already collapsed and we still had to get down the slippery, steep mountain.
On Friday we nipped off to the winelands, to visit the goats of Fairview Wine Estate's "Goats Do Roam" fame, and taste their fine wines and cheese. We had lunch in Groote Drakenstein, at Solms-Delta in a beautiful setting at a table with a sweeping view of the Simonsberg mountain - here's the photo.
Sunday morning was a special day for Nan's Nathaniel. He turned 5 and had a picnic party in the forest at Silvermine. 22 children and their parents engaged in a lot of merriment. Tim, Erin and I managed a quick walk along the river after the party, the last bit of exercise for Erin before she boarded the plane that afternoon, back to California.
This week winter arrived with a vengeance - it's been cold and very wet. I guess we can't complain about a few wintery storms after 5 months of summer. Our house is dark and cold, the fuzzy jackets and heaters are out, and we're working our way through some good books. My latest have been two thrillers, one by Scottish author Val McDermid, and a South African writer, Deon Meyer which was fun to read. It is so South African it was written in Afrikaans and translated into English. I rather enjoyed the familiar place names and a real mystery set in this country. Fun! I'm nearly finished another SA book, Trekking to Teema by Pieter Dirk Uys, the satirist who performs in his theatre, Evita se Perron, in the small town of Darling, about 90kilometers from Cape Town. Another homely read for me.
We'll be taking the students to Darling to see Pieter Dirk Uys's latest show, Koeksisters for Zuma at the end of May. A koeksister is a very sticky sort of South African doughnut and the show is a send up of our colourful politician's food fancies.Lots to look forward to this month. Four more student dinners, one each week, next weekend is the field trip to Clanwilliam, wine tasting the following week and we end the month with koeksisters in Darling.
Back to Cape Town to enjoy another daughter's visit - this time Tim's Erin, all the way from California. She spent a week with us - a gorgeous sunny week, ratcheting up several kilometers hiking on the Cape's mountain trails. Twice above Kalk Bay, once in Newlands Forest, and the last, all the way from our house in Newlands to Kirstenbosch, up Skeleton Gorge and down Nursery Ravine to end up with weak and wobbly knees for lunch at the Kirstenbosch tea room. After huge, healthy salads, we walked home feeling very weary.
Here's our self timed photo on top of Skeleton Gorge - I'm already collapsed and we still had to get down the slippery, steep mountain.
On Friday we nipped off to the winelands, to visit the goats of Fairview Wine Estate's "Goats Do Roam" fame, and taste their fine wines and cheese. We had lunch in Groote Drakenstein, at Solms-Delta in a beautiful setting at a table with a sweeping view of the Simonsberg mountain - here's the photo.
Sunday morning was a special day for Nan's Nathaniel. He turned 5 and had a picnic party in the forest at Silvermine. 22 children and their parents engaged in a lot of merriment. Tim, Erin and I managed a quick walk along the river after the party, the last bit of exercise for Erin before she boarded the plane that afternoon, back to California.
This week winter arrived with a vengeance - it's been cold and very wet. I guess we can't complain about a few wintery storms after 5 months of summer. Our house is dark and cold, the fuzzy jackets and heaters are out, and we're working our way through some good books. My latest have been two thrillers, one by Scottish author Val McDermid, and a South African writer, Deon Meyer which was fun to read. It is so South African it was written in Afrikaans and translated into English. I rather enjoyed the familiar place names and a real mystery set in this country. Fun! I'm nearly finished another SA book, Trekking to Teema by Pieter Dirk Uys, the satirist who performs in his theatre, Evita se Perron, in the small town of Darling, about 90kilometers from Cape Town. Another homely read for me.
We'll be taking the students to Darling to see Pieter Dirk Uys's latest show, Koeksisters for Zuma at the end of May. A koeksister is a very sticky sort of South African doughnut and the show is a send up of our colourful politician's food fancies.Lots to look forward to this month. Four more student dinners, one each week, next weekend is the field trip to Clanwilliam, wine tasting the following week and we end the month with koeksisters in Darling.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Another week slips by...
Only nine more left before we leave Cape Town for Singapore. Still so much to do here. Thank goodness we'll be back in December!
Last week we had the first "Dinner with the Stantons" evening with the students. Instead of cooking up a feast at home, we walked to our local restaurant, The Wijnhuis, for a very pleasant evening with Bonnie Chien, Shelly Amieva, Lucy Litvak and Adriana Campos. Bonnie is from Taiwan, Shelly and Adriana are both from Texas and their families come from Mexico, while Lucy is from Mill Valley a few miles from our home in West Marin!
Tim took four students to Riebeeck Kasteel on Saturday morning, to Goedgedacht Trust where they are doing research projects. There are a number of fine wineries in the area where Tim enjoyed sampling wine and olives. Not in quite the same jolly vein as last week's ramble in the Constantia Valley, since he was the driver, but very pleasant to explore a new area. The town of Riebeeck Kasteel has an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants and Tim stopped at the Bar Bar Black Sheep restaurant for some gazpacho. The menu there has pretty fine food for a teeny town. Click on the link if you want to listen to some Afrikaans "boere musiek" (farmers' music, also called "tikkie draai") and check out the menu.
Saturday evening our friend Pieter Jolly launched two new books, one called Rock Shelter, about cave houses in Lesotho, and the other on decorated Sotho houses. The event took place at the Iziko Cape Town museum, in the rock art gallery where we took the students last quarter for the first part of our field trip when Pieter was our rock art guide. The displays there are excellent - it was a perfect setting to show off the beautiful photos in these books. After speeches and sales quite a few of us carried on partying at Pieter's house. I took my camera along - click the link to see photos of the fun evening.
Last night we got the closest to Bluegrass we've been in Cape Town at the Alma Cafe where Blacksmith performed to an enthusiastic following. Lots of singing along encouraged, and Tim seemed to know all the words!
Today we woke to cold and rain. Winter is here. This evening we'll be environmental activists at a meeting at our old favourite, the Vineyard Hotel. We'll be protesting the building of another nuclear power plant near Cape Town. It will be a different sort of Monday evening compared to our old wine tasting nights when our friend Chris filled our glasses with generous samples of fine wines.
Last week we had the first "Dinner with the Stantons" evening with the students. Instead of cooking up a feast at home, we walked to our local restaurant, The Wijnhuis, for a very pleasant evening with Bonnie Chien, Shelly Amieva, Lucy Litvak and Adriana Campos. Bonnie is from Taiwan, Shelly and Adriana are both from Texas and their families come from Mexico, while Lucy is from Mill Valley a few miles from our home in West Marin!
Tim took four students to Riebeeck Kasteel on Saturday morning, to Goedgedacht Trust where they are doing research projects. There are a number of fine wineries in the area where Tim enjoyed sampling wine and olives. Not in quite the same jolly vein as last week's ramble in the Constantia Valley, since he was the driver, but very pleasant to explore a new area. The town of Riebeeck Kasteel has an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants and Tim stopped at the Bar Bar Black Sheep restaurant for some gazpacho. The menu there has pretty fine food for a teeny town. Click on the link if you want to listen to some Afrikaans "boere musiek" (farmers' music, also called "tikkie draai") and check out the menu.
Saturday evening our friend Pieter Jolly launched two new books, one called Rock Shelter, about cave houses in Lesotho, and the other on decorated Sotho houses. The event took place at the Iziko Cape Town museum, in the rock art gallery where we took the students last quarter for the first part of our field trip when Pieter was our rock art guide. The displays there are excellent - it was a perfect setting to show off the beautiful photos in these books. After speeches and sales quite a few of us carried on partying at Pieter's house. I took my camera along - click the link to see photos of the fun evening.
Last night we got the closest to Bluegrass we've been in Cape Town at the Alma Cafe where Blacksmith performed to an enthusiastic following. Lots of singing along encouraged, and Tim seemed to know all the words!
Today we woke to cold and rain. Winter is here. This evening we'll be environmental activists at a meeting at our old favourite, the Vineyard Hotel. We'll be protesting the building of another nuclear power plant near Cape Town. It will be a different sort of Monday evening compared to our old wine tasting nights when our friend Chris filled our glasses with generous samples of fine wines.
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