Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween
from the Dead Plant Society

Concrete Jungle Mobile

With an eye on the 2010 World Cup Cape Town CBD is turning into a developers playground. A visual autopsy of buildings you've never been in. Not so long ago FreshlyFound featured a great post on mobiles and mobile art and suddenly innards became art. Ok maybe that's an overstatement, but these suspended concrete blocks look really cool.

On a Platter

My latest ceramic offering.


This is the second platter in group of three. The first one I've used as a background. The next to be fired is a large bowl with a motif inspired by Queen Anne's lace. I don't think I need to explain my inspiration for this though.


Have a great weekend everyone. I'm going to pile these with some glorious summer salads.

Things That Cheer Me Up

Friends, flowers
Friends that leave flowers

I arrived this morning to a vase dripping purple seringa tears, smelling like musky jasmine and a heartfelt note ~ Thank you

A good blog
Heather Moore from SkinnyLaMinx gave a talk at the AAA School of Advertising (were I lecture). Much to my delight, she's been a favorite of mine and an inspiration from day one.


Throw in a beautiful bag or two
I visited the Organics Fair at the CTICC and walked away with this beauty from Veldt and inside lives my SkinnyLaMinx purse! Another gift.

And wrap it up with a beautiful pic

Sweets nothings

Talking about birthdays, it was my daughters eight. (Note I'm still avoiding my garden - it drowned) I thought I'd show you the cake.
TaDaaah!



But wait! There's more!... Inside the dolphin buried in the 3 layers are sweets in the shapes of crabs, shells, fish and starfish. So you get to see what he had for breakfast in your slice of cake!

I'm no baker, but decorate I can. So every birthday I 'build' the cake.
The production - you have to understand - is a big thing, with mom always keeping something a surprise for the day (or trying too) The water was made of jelly and added at the last minute.

Vertical Sundials

The sun came out this weekend! Yes, for the whole one (I don't count a spot of rain at night) after all what you can't see can't hurt you. So we celebrated birthdays, swam and sat with our faces turned to the sun.

14H20 sharp

I have always wanted a wall sundial and look who volunteered! Sweet hermaphrodite, for once doing something useful.


When I went to research the actual thing I found some wonderful pics. This one is found in Cornwall on the South west decliner of St Buryan in Cornwall England. 50°4′30″N, 5°37′15″W
Find out more about vertical sundials here and for some amazing pics here.

........was here

Evidence of the passing of a familiar ghost. In Cape Town the wind is our summer signature and there are hints of it's immanent arrival everywhere.

Have a quiet one.

Perfect patch

Stopping in the small town of Paternoster I discovered this tiny little shop of gems.



Filled to the top with gorgeous quilts made by Darlene, Sharon and Nadia it really is a visual feast. My mom has always loved patchwork quilts and I've been following Nicolettes quilting journeys through her blog devliegendekoe avidly so I thought I'd show you the treasures being created on the West Coast.



This quilt showing the 'pixalated' (work was clearly still with me) map of the bay of Paternoster and the surrounding village was my very favourite.


The sky is made up of a cloud print and if you take a closer look you can see the typical West Coast fishermans cottage with it's chimney standing in a wild flower surround. You can order a quilt or even commission one.

Rested and revitalised

I'm back and for a week I managed to just about escape the wettest winter here in 52 years. We went on our first family camping trip and what an adventure it was. Starting with 3 days at Tietiesbaai on the West Coast and ending further up the coast at Vensterklip just outside Elandsbaai. Two totally different experiences but the one thing that really struck me, was how being exposed to mother nature just makes you feel so much more in touch and vunerable at the same time. The only time the children stopped running, climbing and rolling down sand dunes was for food and sleep - what a joy and rare privilage!

Tietiesbaai ~ where you can camp all along the coast in many different spots some with amenities and some with none. Apparently it gets a bit crowded in the crayfish season.