I’m not really what you’d call ‘green fingered’, but I do try with my veggie garden and my house plants (and I think that in this instance practice does make perfect).
I’ve long had a soft spot for terrariums and their mini landscapes. They are so beautiful and intricate, and meet all my requirements of both form and function 😉
I stumbled across Angles & Earth the other day, and their terrariums are pretty mesmerising in their exquisiteness. They’re based in Cape Town, and you can buy online, or take a terrarium class, which sounds dreamy.
Travel & lifestyle
Bliss Juicery
Some days I get the heady kick of feeling accomplished and in control. To-do list is checked off, work has been done well, laundry is washed, emails are answered, nutritious meals are cooked and mascara is applied, all while seeing the bigger picture and not swearing at anyone in traffic.
And other days (most days) I’m eating peanut butter on toast for every meal, plastic is mixed up with glass and paper in the recycling bin (and I don’t care), I’m slurping down caffeine while anxiety eating chocolate, all the while pondering if I’ll ever be a successful human being.
I’d love to juice every day, as much as I’d like to consistently grow my own food, go with the flow, meditate (more on than off), and not waste hours of my life wondering about other people’s curated existences on social media. But in a world where grocery shopping sometimes seems an impossible task, and just keeping my legs hair free is not always possible, Bliss Juicery saves the day.
Bliss has opened a small store a stone’s throw away from my home and they offer every manner of fresh cold-pressed juice, from the fruity, to the green. The almond milk variations are super delicious too! They deliver throughout Joburg, and they offer juice cleanse programs, which is a real win. I like to do a juice fast (feast) every autumn and spring, but sometimes find the admin of buying enormous quantities of vegetables, and juicing what feels like the whole day long, a little overwhelming. Now it’ll be super easy 🙂
A weekend in images
Back in Dullstroom, and more warm weather! I don’t know the place in all its balmy sunshine and t-shirts and shorts!
It was a deliciously lazy weekend with old friends and midday naps and tears induced by Cards Against Humanity. The sweet resident farm dog (renamed ‘Sally’ by our crew) joined us for most of the time, exuberant and grinning from ear to ear on river jaunts.
Time moves a little slower out of the city (and when there’s no wifi or cellphone reception!), and I was able to fully enjoy the heady scent of pine needles, the squawk of guinea fowl and the background babble of the Crocodile River. I sat for a while with my feet in the cold water and watched the frothy river run over my skin, and in that moment I felt a little lighter and a little more connected to the flow of life.
There are also some resident fallow deer on the farm. When I first saw them and there gorgeous antlers, I did a serious double take … it’s like I’d stepped through a doorway into the English countryside!
The 12 Decades Hotel
Val-Day has its perks, like a night at the 12 Decades Art Hotel in Maboneng, a place I’ve wanted to visit for ages! It feels totally indulgent staying in a hotel when your house is 20 minutes away, but also a lovely break from the same old same old.
We stayed in the MineHaus room, where Bauhaus meets Joburg mining town, designed by a long time favourite of mine Dokter & Misses. Below are some pics from the room, the installations on the 7th floor, and Joburg’s famous skyline from the rooftop bar (most from my Instagram).
Joburg getaway
I haven’t blogged in ages, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing some fun things (in amongst the grit of working for myself, hunting down new clients, and teaching heaps of yoga). Sometimes the fear of the blank document is just too much for me. I can’t bring myself to write, even though I know that the more I write, the easier it is. Admittedly by the end of 2014 I was totally overwhelmed with the on-all-sides assault of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and email. Brain = mush.
Anyway, enough about that! It’s a lovely, sparkly new year, and we were lucky enough to head off to Dullstroom for a weekend of deep breaths, rotund friendly ducks and delightful horses. Basically heaven.
My goal for the year is to release myself from Joburg more often – at least twice a month – even if it’s just on a day trip out of the city. We’re lucky to be close to an enormous array of beautiful landscapes and wide open spaces (some without cellphone reception!), so there’s really no excuse, except idleness, to stay city-bound.
In my experience Dullstroom is usually cold and misty, so I was intrigued to see the landscape in warm sunshine. Below are some pics I snapped in the lovely light (all from my Instagram).
Kruger bliss
We spent five days in the Kruger National Park, a place I love a little more every time I visit. We stayed at Olifants camp and then Tamboti, both which were lovely and classically SANParks (including those quintessential green tiles).
We saw loads of game including plenty of my favourite, ellies, the smallest baby elephant I’ve ever seen, four different prides of lions, leopard, seven white rhino, marauding honey badgers at Tamboti, and a mum monkey that raided our car for sweets.
And I even managed a few gentle practices while I was away 😉
Some Friday lightness
It’s been an intense week, even by Johannesburg standards. Luckily I got to spend a day out of the city at Monaghan Farm on Wednesday – it’s a lovely place to take a couple of very deep breaths.
A small Cape Town holiday
We went on a little mid-year Cape Town holiday last week. Here are some of my pics from the trip, mostly from my Instagram account, and usually edited with beloved VSCOcam.
Day one of the holiday started with a most perfect summer’s day, in the middle of winter. Cape Town showing off, as she does.
A walk on the prom was an obvious, and perfect, end to the day (with a cocktail at the Winchester Mansions).
Day two saw us being tourists and riding a big red bus, visiting one of my very favourite places, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, and a ride along the coast.
We then left Cape Town and went off to Lakenvlei dam, just outside of Ceres. Cold! But beautiful, with fynbos and proteas and still, icy waters.
And finally, back to Cape Town for some delicious lunches and dinners, and a walk through the lovely Greenpoint Park and Biodiversity Garden (we need one of these in Joburg!).
Thanks Cape Town … a pleasure, as always. Joburg now feels particularly cold, dry and brown!
Constitution Hill
Over the weekend I visited Constitution Hill (side note: for some inexplicable reason I tagged photos from the visit ‘constitutional hill’ … I’m holding thumbs that one day soon Instagram will have an after posting text editing option).
I’m really not sure why it’s taken me so long to visit this place that holds so much of our history. It’s architecturally beautiful – with amazing views over the city – and the prison and fort have been incredibly and sensitively restored.
I felt that the stark emptiness of the cells and courtyards, almost scrubbed clean, emphasised the missing collection of people that once inhabited the space. I walked into cells expecting to hear voices, be hit by odours. It was a harrowing morning … and yet another reminder of the places that human beings, in fear, can go.
A weekend away in the Berg
Another long weekend in South Africa meant a weekend away in the northern Drakensberg. Dry and cold and a million shades of brown, but always beautiful.
