When African Marimba Rhythms start to Play...

... on a wooden xylophone... and we chill in the sunshine... and get laid back, bro... (Please feel free to hum along... as I carry on phoctobering.)

Making music in the sunshine.

It doesn't get much better than this...

Another hellish day in Africa...

We need the support of tourists, keep visiting!

Chilled out listening pleasure.

This guy was so laid-back he was well horizontal!

These shots were taken when we went off to see the whales in Hermanus a couple of weeks ago. As we sat munching lunch at a street side restaurant, these guys struck up - what a pleasure!

Paying it forward and Poppies

Debi spoke on her blog last week about good deeds and small acts of kindness. It struck me how important it is when a good deed is done to us to play it forward and to spread the kindness and goodwill. As with the small pebble causing ripples in a pond, perhaps if we all partook in random acts of kindness and generosity the world would be a happier and brighter place.

So when I spotted this over at Mouse Medicine, I figured I had to join in Kim's challenge to pay something nice forward. This is what Kim wrote:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Given that I will now be receiving a special gift from Kim, I must pay this forward to you. So, to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join in the PIF exchange, I will send you a little gift. I can't promise that it will be handmade by me (since the only thing I could send you would be one of my photographs), but it may be a little something with a hint of Africa in it. Hopefully you may even receive it in time for Christmas or similar seasonal celebration. Of course, the proviso is that you too must pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog! So let me know in the comments if you want to play and if you don't, be sure to say "leave me out of paying it forward!"

And now to continue phoctobering - the images can speak for themselves.











And just to say, I may be a little scarce in blogosphere this week. My aunt, whom I've not seen for over 20 years, is visiting from Australia and I'm the designated tour operator... I hope, however, that I shall, in the process of taking her out and about, be able to get some suitably scenic shots for the last week of Phoctober!

At the Organic and Fresh Produce Market...

... under the Elephant's Eye...

And continuing Phoctober, of course.

Note the mountain pretending to be an elephant - see it's beady eye - known locally as the Elephant's Eye cave.

It's a tough life in Africa... chilling in the midday sun...

Waterblommetjies - water hyacinths, from which we make Malay inspired stews (called bredies - see recipe) and soups.

As fresh as it gets...

Dr Boomslang (meaning Dr Treesnake) does his thing in the garden...
Want to know more about boomslangs?

A riot of colour...

Freshly baked breads, croissants, and pastries from Crocodeli...

It's not just about food... we're an arty and crafty lot too...

Recycle, recycle and watch out for those baboons who are ever-aware of an easy handout - and hence become highly problematical and ultimately aggressive.
But they were here before us.

And when you need to wash away the dust and the morning's activities, there's nothing that will blow the top of you head off quite like a cup of "moer koffie" - a traditional country coffee brew - you won't ever be the same again and even the girls will have hair on their chests...
"Moer" means to, well... beat up very badly...

Dried meats - biltong is similar to jerky but flavoured with coriander (a Malay influence), droë wors (pronounced "droo-ah vorce") is similar but made from sausages. Beef and game meats are used. Want a recipe?
South Africans thrive on "biltong, braaivleis ( i.e. bbq's - the word translates as "barbequed meat"), sunny skies and sport...

Which brings me to...

A keen rugby supporter! Who by this morning will not only be a happy man but will undoubtedly be sporting the mother of all hangovers. Why? Because...

WE WON THE RUGBY WORLD CUP!!!
YEAH! HOORAY! VIVA! GO THE BOKKE!

Huge congratulations to the Springbok team, the coach and the management staff!
The Web Ellis Trophy has come home again!

Here's hoping this happy event will act as something of a unifying force in what remains a divided and troubled land. May the power of a team become the power of a nation.

A jubilant Springbok rugby team with their president

Photo courtesy of the South African Sunday Times

Sweet Award, another Meme and...

...continuing phoktober.

Dear Rambler over at Virtual Ramblings gave me a Sweet Award - that's just so sweet of him! He said: "Absolute Vanilla does truly deserve this, the kind of issues she deals with, and the stands she takes, does make her really sweet." Thank you, Rambler - you too are very sweet and were given your award deservedly.


Now, in time honoured tradition, I have to pass the award on and so I do to Wanderlust Scarlett, Canterbury Soul, Jefferson Davis, Vesper and Marie.

And talking of Marie, she, the Deep Thinker, tagged me with a meme... It doesn't appear to have a name so it's probably best referred to as "Three things that enliven you more than blogging". Only three?!

"The rules (I just hate rules) are as follows - words in italics have been added by the one who hates rules... for anyone playing further, take the italicised words out - if you want... ;-) :

* 1. After your intro, copy/paste this line and the rules below it: The originator - one Damien Riley - wants to see how far it goes so please keep his link intact: http://rileycentral.net/

* 2. Encourage people to post with the incentive of a link (People need an incentive? I thought self motivation and interest usually did it! ;-) ) by including those who have passed it along here: Audrey, Celtic Angel, JM, Romance Writer, Deep Thinker.

* 3. Visit at least 3 on the list who’ve written and passed this meme. Leave them a comment. I so hate being told what to do. Rules, I'm sure, are half mankinds' problem...

And then you are supposed to, “pick three things that enrapture, consume, fascinate, or otherwise enliven you more than blogging. Then write a few lines about each to explain what the nonblog activity does for you, why and how.”

So, here goes...

1. Writing: For as long as I can remember I've loved writing. I wrote my first play when I was about eight - it was performed on rollerskates, thus predating Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express by a good few years! It was called Little Girl Lost and I charged the neighbourhood kids five cents to come and watch. The hero was played by the German boy from across the road - he only got the part because he could rollerskate! Needless to say the playwright was also the leading lady... So, what does writing do for me - it takes me to other worlds, other states of being and it makes my soul sing. How? Because I get to give flight to my imagination and I tap into a far greater creativity than my own - there are times when I'm writing a novel, that I feel I am merely a conduit for something so much bigger than me.

Where the words happen...

2. Photography: This is something I've only recently rediscovered when Significant Other bought me a shiny new Nikon. I'd been into photography as a student but eventually gave it up when the developing costs became too exhorbitant. Now digital has opened that wonderful world of creativity to me again. As to why I do it - again, it takes me to other places (Significant Other asssures me I go into a sort of fugue state when I get behind the lens), it enables me to see the world very differently, encourages me to be so much more observant and it allows me to indulge in a visual form of creativity.





3. Cooking: My grandfather was a cook, all my mother's family cook passionately, so I guess maybe this passion is in the blood. Again, for me it's about creativity. Cooking is not a chore, it's an culinary adventure. When I was first married all I could cook was good old spaghetti bolognese. Within a year or two I was doing choux pastry, souffles and dinner parties. I suppose it never occurred to me to be afraid in the kitchen or to think something might go wrong (though I have had one spectacular blunder involving a dinner party, gelatine and raspberry mousse...). I think there is also something about food that has been prepared with love and joy that simply makes it taste that much better. Today, health problems preclude all sorts of things from my diet but it doesn't stop me from experimenting and trying new things - if anything, cooking simply but tastily creates more of a challenge. And while I have shelves of cookery books (my preferences lean towards Italian and French country cooking), I now read them for ideas and them make up my own recipes - like my grandfather, I have learned to "cook by ear". As for the why, I like to know exactly what I'm eating, I enjoy my own food, I love it that others enjoy it too and, above all, I love the art of creation in still another form!

Berry pavlova

Now, I tag Wanderlust Scarlett and Verilion.

Tay Dall at the Tay Modern

“Beauty is not a need,
But an ecstasy.
It is not the image you would see
Solely with your eyes,
But rather the image you see
Through the doorways of your soul.”
Tay Dall

A short while ago I wrote a post about creative forces and inspiration and mentioned a local artist called Tay Dall. It was a couple of years ago when I first encountered Tay’s work. Out on a gentle Sunday ramble to a nearby seaside suburb, we wandered into a small art gallery. Its walls were hung with the usual stuff - landscapes, seascapes, bowls of fruit and flowers - but over to one side where two small paintings that immediately caught my eye. In some way they reminded me of two of my favourite artists – Klee and Kandinsky. Never one to buy things from a gallery – you can rest assured that in trendy olde-worlde seaside suburbs they are ridiculously overpriced - I jotted down the artist’s name and rushed home to do an online search. What I found enthralled me and captivated – and set my soul soaring. I felt as though I had met a kindred spirit which took its form on colourful, evocative canvases and made my heart sing. Okay, so maybe that sounds a little clichéd or over the top. But that was the effect Tay Dall’s art had on me. I simply fell in love and set out to break the bank. I just had to have some of Tay’s paintings. Does that ever happen to you - when someone’s work – be it music, art, poetry, writing - just grabs you by the nose and you can’t get enough? I’d fill my entire house with Tay’s work if I had the money - and enough walls. I heartily confess to being entirely smitten.

For the last two years I’ve watched Tay’s website, returned to her art time and again and I’ve never been disappointed. I can always find something new, something magical and spellbinding in her paintings. And here’s the thing: Tay is a prolific artist and her work, whilst always abstract, falls into so many different styles, different artistic genres, so to speak. Some of it is colourful, vibrant and sensuous. Other work is thought-provoking and lyrical, while still other paintings talk of memories, dreams and personal journeying. It’s as though Tay puts her life, her feelings and her thoughts into her art and then out into the world.

Tay Dall’s art is striking – you can’t help but notice it. It calls to you, inviting you to join in its soaring, questing song. She describes her art by saying – and apologises for doing so - ‘it’s for me to know and you to find out’. Perhaps that’s what gives her art its special appeal. It tantalises, lures and entices. And as Tay says of her art, “If I had to describe my work in one sentence, I would say it is pure-raw-genuine soul. My soul.”

Tay’s soul then is clearly one which rejoices in the striking use of colour. It flies within the movement and motion that flows and swirls through her work. It dances in the drifting light that spirals within her paintings. It expresses itself in poetic forms and hints of story and ultimately envelopes her viewers in a unique blend of magic

Given all this admiration on my part, you’d think I’d met Tay and know her. I don’t. We’ve emailed, spoken on the phone once or twice but have yet to meet in person. I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I felt a little shy…? Well, I am but perhaps next time I go off to see the whales I’ll arrange to meet her… This time I only got as far as her newly opened gallery – called Tay Modern… - where these photos (remembering phoktober, of course) were taken.

I hope you’ll take a look around Tay’s site. Perhaps her work will touch you as it has touched me. I hope so, because there’s something special about sharing magic!

Tay's work in her new gallery, the Tay Modern (let it not be said she is without a sense of humour!)

Some of Tay's prolific outpourings for her new exhibition, stacked ready in the storeroom of Tay Modern.

And oh yes, I succumbed, I'm in the throes of buying some more paintings...

Floral messages in a bottle

Phoktober continues...

Playing with light, water, glass, shadows, reflections and flowers again.

Beauty rests in simplicity.

Things are seldom what they seem.

Light creates magic.

Whale Songs

Continuing the phoktober theme...

Last week I promised I'd try to get some whale shots... They're not brilliant and now the shopping list has been lengthened to include a powerful zoom lens...

Each year, from June to November, the southern right whale comes to our shores. In the protected bays along the southern coast hundreds of whales mate and calve. Given the amount of splashing, bellowing and heavy breathing that was going on when I took these shots I think we can take a pretty educated guess that there was some rumpy pumpy taking place..

Significant Other has always said I call the whales and this time I believed him. We have never seen the whales come this close to the rocky shoreline before.

What I find so utterly tragic is that people are willing to hunt these magnificent animals - invariably using grenade-tipped harpoons which explode inside the animals. Increasingly the ban on whale hunting, which has been in force for 20 years, is coming under pressure with 33 nations supporting whale hunting and only 32 against it. However, in June this year the International Whaling Commission upheld an indefinite moratorium on commercial whaling by IWC members that had been in effect since 1986. Despite this, the decision will have no practical effect on the whale hunting now conducted by Japan, Norway, Iceland, and certain other countries. For more information on this, please see here and, for an excellent article on the subject of whale hunting go here.

I reach out

and you touch me

with my heart in yours

I call

and you answer me

with your soul

this is whale speak

and I know

Song of joy

my heart to yours

as you play

rolling in the waves

To listen to the sounds of whales, go here, and to read more about the southern right whale, go here.