Flower feedback: Franschoek 20

Yeahhh! The 20th message from the Franschoek flower! 

This is definitely the most visited flower of all.

Hello. My name is Elsa and with me is my friend Elise. 

We are from Paarl/Franschhoek and we went for a walk to the Hugenote Monument.

What a great idea your flower chain is!

Have a nice day! :)

Thank you girls!

Flower feedback: Witsand 9

I thought they have all gone, but the Witsand flower is still hanging in there!  

I received this lovely email from Lisette Valentine.

Thank you for the lovely gift of colour at Witsand National Park, it looked so bright in the midst of the dry orange sands and thorn trees. 

My name is Liz and I spend a fair amount of time travelling around South Africa with my partner Ian. Both of us have done overseas visits but find that SA is filled with many beautiful places still to be visited. We try to go out camping or to self catering cottages at least twice a month and also do a couple of longer trips to the many parks and nature areas around us. 

I am originally from East London and Ian is from Rugby in the United Kingdom. He has lived in SA since he was a young child. The Eastern Cape is a favoured place to travel to as I have family there but we also go to Hopetown where my sister has a farm - Northern Cape is extremely different but also very beautiful. 

I teach art (painting and drawing) to adults and love to do craft and as there are so many I tend to do mosaic, paperwork, sketching and not much else as there are not enough hours in a day. Hobbies after this are reading and photography. 

Hope my note isn't information overload! 

Thanks for the lovely blog and I will keep reading and following your journeys and craft. 

All the best wishes 

Liz 

Embroidery Magic

One of the treasures I found at Junktion yesterday: An Embroidery Magic binder filled with embroidery patterns.

The binder contains 120 (yes, really!) pattern sheets, each with a different design. The sheets are A3 size with a photo of the finished design on one side and the instructions on the other side.  

There is no information anywhere on the binder about the publisher or designer(s). 

I tried Google, but can't find anything either.

If you know anything about this folder (I think it is part of a series), please let me know. I am mystified..

Oh, and can I just add that I paid a full $2.00 for this file...

Adelaide in Pictures 3: Junktion

In my pursuit of a place to join the Knitting in Public Week, I came upon this little gem of a shop in Marion.

Junktion is more than a shop though, it's a place where people meet, drink coffee, shop, share with the community and make friends.

The proprietor is a lovely woman called Pixi, who welcomed me into her shop like an old friend.

She describes Junktion as a Non profit Recycle store, but it feels more like a treasure trove filled with lots of clothes, household items, some furniture, books, lots of hand made stuff and... food.

The shop is delightfully decorated with all sorts of knitted and crocheted things to celebrate not only KIP-week but also International Yarnbombing Day which just happened to be this past week.

I went there to knit, but we talked so much, that between all the chatting and browsing, I didn't do any knitting!

I will have to go back for that...

So, if you are looking for a bargain, or a coffee, or a nice chat, or a piece of cake,

Junktion is the place to go.

Visit her Facebook page here.

Flower feedback: Franschoek 18

It seems Franschoek is the place for great love stories! 

Here's another beautiful story from Rumbi and Tristan.

This picture was taken way back in December 2012, but I only received it recently.

The love between Rumbi Goredema and Tristan Görgens took a little while to develop. They first met during Rumbi’s third year of school. She was taking a psychology class and he was the tutor. Despite Tristan’s valiant attempts to get the whole study group involved in discussion, Rumbi recalls that it “pretty much became a conversation between the two of us. With nineteen other undergrads there. Conventional start to a love story.”

Tristan and Rumbi lost touch for the next two years. They reconnected through work, as they both began working for an alumni association. Even though they saw each other at work every day, their romantic relationship was still slow to develop. Tristan remembers that “it was during the long meetings and period in between and after meetings that we could really get to know one another.” Over the months, they became good friends, and one day Rumbi got up the courage to ask Tristan out. She says, “Our first date was a disaster: neither of us was sure whether or not it was a date, and it dragged on for about six hours.” Even though the first date wasn’t great, they tried a few more times, and thanks to online chatting through their work, they finally connected. “We fell in love quickly after we started dating,“ recalls Tristan. This realization came when Rumbi left on a trip shortly after the two had gotten together, and they missed each other desperately.

According to Rumbi, “we’re a pair of homebodies” who spend most of their time at home. They both have jobs that keep them busy all day, so being at home is the perfect place for these two to relax at the end of the day and enjoy each other’s company. Although they have recently moved in together, Rumbi says, “I think as a couple, though, we like to create home within our relationship for each other.”

They both are very passionate about certain things, and love to have long talks out on the porch about current issues. Even with that, Tristan believes it is the balance between them that makes them work so well. “In some instances I am the impulsive and risk-taking one, and in others she will be the one who will stop me from dragging my heels and being too ponderous about decisions. And, perhaps most importantly, we are both intensely committed to one another’s happiness,” Tristan says.

Love can be hard to find. But the best love comes when you are not looking for it, like in a college study group, or at the office. In the end, it is the love that has taken its time that is the love that will last forever.

Adelaide in Pictures 2: Art Deco

To mark History Month the Adelaide Chapter of the ArtDeco and Modernism Society 

held a walking tour of the CBC on Sunday.

As a newbie in Adelaide I thought it was a great opportunity to see and hear more about 

the architectural history of this fair city, from those in the know.

The city is littered with Art Deco buildings of all sizes and in all states of repair. It was great to meet people who are passionate about the heritage of this particular era, and who are working hard to preserve what is still in existence.

The tour lasted almost 2 and a half hours and we only covered a very small part of the city.

My favourite was the Bank of South Australia building in King William Street. It is a gorgeous example of total Art Deco high rise design. The interior is still in its original condition too. Unfortunately, as it was a Sunday, we couldn't go inside. It is on my to-do list for the next time I am in town during business hours. 

 We saw quite a few smaller buildings that survived modernisation. It seems their size saved them, as it is not economically viable to demolish and rebuild on such a small plot.

The only interior we were able to see was the former West's Cinema, now the headquarters of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, in Hindley Street. The circular foyer with its two flights of stairs are still in original condition. The balustrades, mirrors and  domed ceiling revoked something of the (now fashionable) gatsby era.

*Have a look at the Adelaide Chapter's Facebook page for more photos of 

these and other Art Deco buildings around Adelaide

Tribute to Kathreen Ricketson

It was with great shock and sadness that I learned about the tragic death of Kathreen and her husband Rob last week.

When I started blogging four years ago, she was one of my main inspirations. I first 'met' her and her blog Whipup via the Craft blog, which I had been following for some time. She was creative, fun, helpful and prolific.  Her blog was always jampacked with creative ideas and inspiration. She loved to share and to teach. Her kids magazine Action Pack is testament to her - and her family's - dedication to creating a happy, healthy and wholesome environment for their kids to grow in and learn.

When we decided to travel to Australia in April 2012, I wanted an Australian craft blogger to do a guest posts for me while I was away. Kathreen was the obvious choice. Her post on why she loves Australia can be viewed here. Soon after our visit, our lives changed and we relocated from Dubai to Adelaide, Australia. We became Aussies too. We kept in e-mail and blog contact and when I learned that their roadtrip would take them through Adelaide, I was delighted to have the opportunity to finally meet her.

We met on a Tuesday afternoon in late January, at the Adelaide Central Market, where we had coffee and chatted for an hour of two. We talked about blogs, quilting, travelling and motherhood. I met Rob and the two kids. I went home that afternoon and told my husband that if we lived closer, I think our two families could become good friends. We like all the same things: camping, outdoors, travel, creativity and sharing it all with our children.

I followed their trip on her blog and made mental notes of all the great places they were exploring, adding them to my list of Places We Still Have To See.

Her last post written at Coral Bay starts like this: We are bush camping at a station on Ningaloo reef, Western Australia. A dream come true — is that totally corn ball?

Although this story has one of the saddest endings I ever experienced, and my heart breaks for the children, I am comforted by the fact that they were living their dream. They had several months where they could devote themselves to their children and create family memories that can never be taken from them.

When I think of Kathreen, this is what comes to mind:

Inspired crafter

Prolific writer

Devoted mother

Dear Kathreen, 
it was a priviledge to know you.

* A fund has been established to help support the children. Find the details here.

*Photos taken by Kathreen, cropped and edited by me

Flower feedback: Blood river 2

Another sighting at Blood River!

My name is Jacqui du Toit and I am a 30 year old mum of 2 boys. I came to the battle of blood river with my husband an 2 kids on our way to Balito for a holiday..

Thank you, Jacqui!

Flower feedback: Franschoek 16 & 17

I am amazed at how many people who visit the Hugenot Museum in Franschoek are in some way related to the history surrounding the Hugenots and the museum. This is the third response I received from someone who has a direct family connection to the place.

Hi 

My father, mother and myself visited the monument on 1 May 2013 whilst on holiday.

The monument's history runs deep in our family roots.

I, Samantha Spencer am the great great grandaughter of James Andrew Clift whose company JA Clift Pty Ltd built the monument.

The family tree runs as follows :

James Andrew Clift, founder of JA Clift is my great great grandfather

William Andrew Clift, son of James Andrew Clift is my great grandfather

Patricia Elizabeth Swart, nee Clift, is the daughter of  William Andrew Clift and granddaughter of James Andrew Clift and my grandmother

Winifred Alice Spencer, nee Swart, is the daughter of Patricia Elizabeth Swart and my mother

We visit this monument every visit to the Cape as we live in Pretoria and when I saw the flower chain I liked the idea and wondered how many people have responded to the sighting.

Greetings

Samantha

Samantha, as you can see, you are the sixteenth person to respond to the flower and the third who has a family connection. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

But it is not only South Africans who enjoy the place. International visitors are equally attracted to the place:

 From the UK and touring SAs Western Cape for a one week holiday after two weeks work.

Steve and Sheena Mottershead.

First Afrikaans article published in a South African magazine

My friend Christelle started a Facebook group about two years ago called Ons Hekel (We Crochet). It has grown from strength to strength and has brought together many fabulous women who loves to crochet.

I wrote an article about her and the group for Idees, an Afrikaans magazine celebrating creative inspiration in true South African style. The article can be seen in the June edition which will go on sale this week.