Yup, I've been bad. It's my intention to try and post once a week, but managed to override guilt feelings for the past three weeks. Let's see if I can catch up.

February's been a pretty full month so far. The main thing I've been busy on has been my masters. Managed to get a lot of research done, but for every answer I find there are 10 more questions! The plan is to spend most of this week writing down all the stuff that's been percolating in my head and then see what kind of order I can impose on it.

One of the more daunting and exhilarating tasks for next month is to tackle the Pretoria archives and National library to see what they can yield. Added to this is the discovery of two people that have done lots of research on Pretoria, and who's brains I hope to pick in return for coffee! One of them is Rosa Swanepoel who's been writing a monthly newsletter on Pretoria for a number of years. Her collection is up on the UPSpace repository for anybody who's interested.

Other than reading and thinking hard, there's also been a couple of functions and projects that have demanded a bit of time.

Burr and Andri got married on the sixth:


I hosted a hand-sewing class for MACS members. Back-stitch, running-stitch, whip-stitch, button-holes, seams and hems were covered. Despite a few snags, everybody was very proud of the drawstring pouches they had made. Now that I've proved a point, we will soon run a machine-sewing class!


My (purple) and James'(yellow)accomplishments. Despite all the sewing I've done, this is the first time I've done a project completely by hand with all the correct stitches.


I've been slowly trying to get my archery gear sorted, and I spent yesterday afternoon repairing arrows. To round off I decided to make a leather quiver for said arrows! It came out pretty well, and I plan to dye it red-brown and then paint on a Celtic pattern.


With the extra free time I've had, I've also been trying my hand at pie making. My steak-and-kidney pies received the highest complement I've had yet from my understated hubby, "That was quite nice.", and turned out so filling we had enough to freeze for three more meals. The pic below is of the chicken pies I've made this morning from the extra chicken we cooked last night.

Cape 2010 - Day 12 (Jan 27)

Breakfast at 07h00 and then we hit the road for the long trip to Pretoria. Grabbed some photos as we left. After all the rain and mud, James' car wasn't really white anymore!






What with changing drivers every two hours and eating lunch on the go, we managed to get back into Pretoria by 17h00. Tired, but happy!

Cape 2010 - Day 11 (Jan 26)

Left early because we had to get to Nieu Bethesda before the Owl House closes at 17H00. After leaving Cape Town we passed through a spectacular mountain range. I'm not even going to try and describe it so I'll rather put up extra photos!






The next step of the journey was through the Karoo. The further we traveled the thicker the cloud cover became and we could see rain in the distance. It made for a very moody atmosphere and made for great photo opportunities.







Just as we hit the dirt road to Nieu Bethesda it started pouring with rain. The car slid slightly once or twice, but fortunately it didn't last too long. We got to Nieu Bethesda at 16h00 so James dropped me off at the Owl House and went to sort accommodation. Fortunately he managed to get to the Sneeuberg brewery before it closed and grabbed us some beer to take home. He also managed to get back in time to see the Owl House.

The Owl House is seriously something else. I've seen many detailed pictures of it, but it just isn't the same as being there. It felt equally wonderful and eerie to me. Thought I would take many photos, but I spent most of my time simply looking.





After settling in at the Backpackers, we walked down the road to the small pub. Had a good time talking to the locals while sampling the local beer. They also make fantastic hamburgers! Probably stayed later than we should since the bartender/owner fell asleep!

Got back to our room only to find out that the lock on our door was being troublesome. Tired and very relaxed we simply climbed in through the sash window, leaving the problem till morning!

Cape 2010 - Day 10 (Jan 25)

Slept late, made breakfast for everybody, got away late. We went to Uncle Jack's Pub on the corner of Jarvis an Napier street in Cape Town to go taste the Jack Black lager, Bostan larger and Whale Tale Ale he had available, but also had a very good pub lunch there. I went for Guinness Pie with mash and James had hake in a beer batter with chips. Most delicious!



Finally dragged ourselves off to the Boston Brewery and purchased two 6 packs of each of their four beers. The car's boot is starting to look more like a beer stash and our bags now have to stay on the back seat.

Windy day and Table mountain had a lovely fluffy "table cloth"! Got to Adrie's at 17h00 and had a quiet evening.

Cape 2010 - Day 9 (24 Jan)

Very relaxed day on the whole. Got up, cooked breakfast and James went off to the sword seminar. I spent a fairly lazy morning and did a bit of blogging.

Marek went to pick Christo up made us nachos for lunch when he got back. Yumminess! Then Christo, Marek and I went to Zorgvliet wine farm after we dropped poor Bernadette at work. We tasted five different wines each and decided on a wine to buy to accompany dinner.



James joined us at the house and we drank wine while Marek made us Cajun chicken for dinner. After dinner we played 30 Seconds and Trivial Pursuit - Celebrity Edition.

Cape 2010 - Day 8 (23 Jan)

Aargh! Fell behind. Again. Going to be very brief in the next binch, but will try to make up for it with photos!

Left Adrie's place just after 09h00 and drove through to Stellenbosch for the sword seminar. Dropped James, said hi to everybody and then went to pick up Bernadette who had just finished with a job interview.

After sorting our baggage she and I walked over to the Trumpet Tree for lunch. Very pleasant little place. You go down this little alleyway off Dorp street to find a lovely cool courtyard complete with grapevines and chickens!

Bernadette is trying out for the position of chief pastry chef, and had to be at work at 15h00. Dropped her off and then went back to the sword seminar. They finish at 17h00 and then we went out for a beer with some of them at Die Akker. Marek joined us there later and we eventually abandoned ideas of cooking dinner and simply ate out.

Cape 2010 - Day 7 (22 Jan)

Breakfasted, packed car and then left Struisbaai. Passed through Bredasdorp again and then went west. It is amazing how many birds of prey one sees on the side of the road in the more remote areas of the Eastern and Western Cape. I spent part of the drive trying to snap photos of them sitting on the telephone poles.

Stopped in Napier at a second hand book shop; bought far too many books. We also got to see a private collectors militaria collection that he has open to the public. Since we were in Napier to sample some Napier Brewery beer we tried to locate a place that had it available, but the only place that did was closed. Eventually we settled for a beer at The Fox (with pork pies!) and picked up some Napier Brewery beer at the liquor store on the way out.

Next stop was Stanford and Birkenhead Brewery. Birkenhead had a weiss beer (Honey Blond), a pilsner, lager, Old English Ale, stoat and a mixture they do with stoat, brandy and honey blond which they call Cobra. We decided to buy some of each and started considering holding a beer tasting when we get back.



Enjoyed a picnic lunch out on the lawns before starting the last leg to Cape Town.

Reached Adrie's place at about 17h00 in Durbanville, Cape Town. It was great catching up with her again. It's sometimes so different meeting people again that you only knew as a child. She and I chatted until late while James opted for an earlier bedtime because he had to teach the next morning.

Cape 2010 - Day 6 (21 Jan)

Oh dear, I'm getting behind again. Will do my best to catch up today oh faithful readers!

Woke about 05h00 due to a combination of noisy bird song and a competing rooster. It also gets light VERY early in this area of the world! The full dark also only arrived at about 20h00 last night. Snoozed until 06h00 at which point I got up because I wanted to say good-bye to Nelita, Elme and Jonelle. Renier had left much earlier to help a man with a hot air balloon which we saw floating past! The morning was wonderfully cool and I was not inclined to stay in the house, so I borrowed Renier's bike and cycled with the two girls to their school. After seeing them off I cycled back to the house where I showered and then caught up on some of the blog writing.

By the time James woke up Renier was back and cooked us a huge English breakfast so we felt terribly spoilt. We eventually left at about 10h00 only stopping at the supermarket to buy supplies for the road. I bought myself an ostrich egg there too. I wanted one to do some carving on and they were simply being sold as foodstuff right next to the chicken eggs! It should keep until I get back home, but I might still have to figure out who to invite for breakfast when I cook it. As we left Oudshoorn I took some (very bad) photos of ostriches through the car window because it just didn't seem right to not have one on the blog.

Our next stop was Calitzdorp, a beautiful little town tucked away amongst the mountains. It boasts three wine farms in a very small area. We stopped at the Boplaas vineyards. We bought far too much port and some pinotage and shiraz. It also felt really strange to be doing a wine tasting in the morning.


We spotted a sign that said "Secondhand books for sale" and stopped to investigate. It was at the Calitzdorp museum so we took the opportunity to see the museum and browse the books. After asking permission and explaining about my masters topic I also had a good look the collection of product containers they had there. To my excitement I found one of the products that had been advertised in the Transvaal Advertiser in 1880!


We continued our trip west to Ladysmith and then south to Barrydale, Zuurbraak and a number of tiny settlements. We briefly stopped on the road at a picnic spot for lunch. It was in Zuurbraak that I first notice certain building "types" which I'm inclined to describe as pioneer-style dwellings. Look a bit further down for the picture of the church in Struisbaai to get an idea of what I'm talking about. They all have walls that look to be about a foot or more thick and the symmetrical shape is usually interrupted by a chimney on the one side. This type of building was present all the way down to Struisbaai, and it's only when we got closer to Cape Town that I realised why they look so familiar. They look almost exactly the same as the Dutch Gable houses, but without the ornamental gables!

Hit the N2 again at Swellendam and then passed into completely different country again. With the rugged Klein Karoo mountains behind us we descended into a sea of rolling golden hills. I'm still amused at how abruptly South Africa can change in the space of 40 kilometers! Bredasdorp was our destination as it was our intent to visit the Maritime museum of shipwrecks. Interesting as the artifacts were I think it was the chance to read some of the histories of the shipwrecks that was fascinating to us. Here I also found an enormous collection of glass and ceramic bottles which I oohed over and photographed until they chucked us out at closing time.


We did the last stretch to Struisbaai where we booked in at the backpackers. Very plesant indeed. We had a room to ourselves, with shared bathroom facilities and a communial kitchen. Outside there was a bar, swimmingpool and a large comfortable relaxation area.

After checking in we went shopping for dinner ingredients, and then drove on through Struisbaai to reach Cape Agulhas.


Stopped for some photos at South Africa's most southern part and for a paddle in the sea.