Hekel-stekel

My dear friend and colleague Henriette from tjou-tjou crochets for the love of it. Here in Cape Town winter has set in and she duly rose to the occasion with this little set. It really suits her colouring too. Have a warm long weekend.

The seed of an idea.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: Started in Mansfield, Missouri by 17 year-old Jere Gettle in 1998.

I have always been very taken with the idea of heirloom seed - something that is as nature intended. Something that carries within it part of our human history. I came across this post on Design Sponge that got me excited all over again. I would love to buy my seeds like this, wouldn't you?

The devil's in my garden!

And I find it irressistable - just look at that wicked colour!

Leucadendron Saglignon (Red Devil)

One of the survivors who made it through the last year of neglect is blazing with delicious colour at the moment. It's autumn in the Cape and the fynbos is looking good! This has to be my favourite time plantwise. The drab browns of a south easter summer are replaced by rich, dusty, green greys and silvers with blazing bits of colour inbetween. Yum.

Small things

As I've said before - this year I'm stopping to smell the roses (although in my case it's the plants that made it through last year - the roses didn't ). It's been school holidays and I've been frantically busy trying to fix everything I didn't last year, but I pulled myself up short just as I felt that drowning emotion and spent some time just to enjoy...


magical cookies made by my beautiful daughter (all by herself)...


a family walk on grandad's beach at Yzerfontein...


beautiful small pieces of blue...


some of my new babies - sweetpeas and coriander...


and last but not least the replacement for my roses - if you can't beat them join them is my motto. Although if I'm entirely honest I haven't completely given up on the roses, but I need to find the perfect spot and in my garden that's the hard part.