Doubt

Inspired by these lines from Dorothy Parker's poem (Prophetic Soul):

Because your eyes are slant and slow,
Because your hair is sweet to touch,
My heart is high again; but oh,
I doubt if this will get me much.

Weekword: Aroma

Can you smell it? Hmmmm .... heavenly!!
(object from Kassia and Figg, book from our local library)

Home is Here

When people tell me (and some have) that I do not belong here, it saddens me. Apart from the fact that we (homo sapiens) all originated in Africa, my own family has been in this country for 15 generations. If not here, then where? I love Africa. Home is here.

(This is my submission for the This is Home project.)

Scary plastic

I picked up this piece of plastic on my walk yesterday.
I have no idea what it is ...

... but my imagination immediately turned it into this ...

(Click here for sound.)
I have seen way too many scary movies.

Happy #6

Other people's junk makes me happy.
Lisa's Happy Week made me so happy that I might do an extra happy post every now and then. As you probably know by now, car boot sales make me very happy. Also charity shops, junk shops, church bazaars - any place where I can view other people's cast-offs and choose some quirky pieces for my home. I love it that these items have a history, and when the history is not known, I make up a story and imagine one. Recently acquired:

This one and the one below date from the 60's I think. They are for keeping dishes warm - you add small tea lights. Found at a local Methodist church white elephant stall.

A small scale - found at Kassia and Figg in Kalk Bay.

This rectangular mirror must have been the side-piece of an old dressing table. I love how the silver on the inside is breaking up at the top. Found at Mix in Prince Albert.

Now just imagine ironing your clothes with this little cast-iron iron. Makes me tired just thinking of it. I'll use it as a door stop rather. Also found at Mix.

Weekword: Camping

I really battled with this one. I am just not a camping kind of girl. Best to be honest about it, I think.

For other participants, see Nickey's blog (and check out her beautiful illustration!)

Happy #5

Creative inspiration makes me happy.
I get creative inspiration all over - from other people, nature, objects, books, films and the Internet. But the kind of creative inspiration I absolutely love are the task-based lists/challenges/collaborations, something like Lisa's Happy Week, or the Colour Week a while ago, or Weekword that I participate in once a week or Thing-A-Day that ran in February. They focus my scattered mind and help me to see details and possibilities that would otherwise pass me by.

Another Internet challenge I am busy with at the moment is the This is Home project. And then of course there is the brilliant Keri Smith. I have done three of the projects in her How to Be an Explorer of the World book so far, and every couple of weeks I do a 100 Ideas page. The two mosaics are recent pages from my 100 Ideas journal.

There are so many ways to get inspired - and that makes me a very happy bunny indeed!

Happy #4

Books make me happy.

This is the bookcase in my study. (How do I remove a book? Carefully, very carefully.) It is one of seven bookcases in our house - all stuffed full of books. The overflow is now on the bedroom floor - four towers, steadily getting higher.

I just love books - old books, new books, library books, pristine books, books with scribbles in them. Every thing about them - the front cover and spine designs, the smell, the typography, turning the leaves, the anticipation of a great story, and of course, actually reading them! Through them I live adventurous and glamorous and sometimes tragic lives. I get to know people I wouldn't normally meet and travel to places that I will probably never see in real life.

I have just finished Trollope's The Warden, am currently reading JG Ballard's Super-Cannes, and waiting on my bedside table are Paul Auster's Travels in the Scriptorium and England, England (Julian Barnes).

We popped into Coffee & Books today - a lovely little second-hand bookshop in Fish Hoek, where you can browse the books, have a coffee while paging through them, chat to owner Bruce Clemence, and at certain times, also have a curry or a roti. And came away with three books, amongst them Alan Hollinghurst's The Folding Star.

The towers are growing.

Happy #3

Blue skies make me happy.
It has been raining in Cape Town for the last couple of days. I like the rain, and many good things associated with it. But I can't say that rain makes me happy. Especially since the rain brings so many added problems to the informal settlements in and around Cape Town. On the other hand, blue skies, even just a patch of blue, always make me happy. They speak of summer and good times and hope.

(Images above all taken on my Karoo trip. For other participants, see Lisa's blog.)

Happy #2

Art makes me happy.
I love looking at art. I can happily spend hours in a gallery just looking. Going back. Looking again. I probably drive people crazy. In a very tiny way I also collect art - sometimes something just speaks to me, and if I can afford it, well, it is so satisfying to have something beautiful at home to look at, isn't it?

This is the Diane McClean painting we acquired last week on our trip to the Karoo. The photograph doesn't do it justice, really. Looking at it makes me very, very happy.

Happy #1

Spontaneous road trips make me happy.

Both L'Usband and I freelance - which makes spontaneous road trips possible. The kind where you muse at about 7 pm on Sunday night: "Jeez, wouldn't it be lovely to spend a week in the Karoo?", then look at one another, gleefully say: "Let's go!" and leave early the next morning. No planning, no bookings. Just get in the car and go. That makes me happy.

Lovely Lisa of curious girl is hosting a Happy Week - so from Monday to Saturday we will be posting things that make us happy. Have a look at her blog to see other participants.

PS Spontaneous road trips notwithstanding, I am also happy to be back - I have missed all you beautiful people!

Weekword: Detour

"I'm late! I'm late!"
Hopefully not too late to do the weekword for this week (which Aimee chose) - a quick scribble in black ink in one of Jacci's jotters ...

Time Off

I'm taking a week off for a much-needed break. Will see all of you beautiful people next weekend! Have a great week, my dears - read, eat, drink some wine, take a road-trip (even if it is just around the block), sit in the sun, draw, paint, think, dance a little (even if it has to be by yourself), dream, make lists, sing. Because that is what I'll be doing!

Weekword: Wanderlust

I have a distinct memory from when I was a little girl - I am standing with my mom in front of a big window at the airport watching planes take off. Were we there to see somebody off? Or perhaps to meet someone? Or was it one of my ever-resourceful mother's ideas for entertaining four kids on a Sunday afternoon? I can't remember. But I do remember thinking: One day I too will travel - I will go on journeys.

Now that I'm an adult I realize that most of my journeys do not involve planes or passports...
(Asiye of l'atelier chose this wonderful word - see her blog for other participants.)

I was here.

Ode to Typography

This was my first attempt at Valentina's "reinvent" weekword last week. As soon as I'd finished it, I realised that I was not reinventing the keyboard, I was repurposing it, i.e. creating another use for it. But I spent the better part of an hour on this first interpretation, and I just hate wasted effort. (And wasted time.) So I thought I would post it today. And also because I love the poem this comes from. And also because I need a break from the sea of words I'm drowning in.

The poem is Ode to Typography, by Pablo Neruda, you can find the full one here. I am not quite sure though why it is "the U of your gaze" - any ideas?
(The keyboard is from the car boot sale - I prised off the keys and used a few for my Anatomy of Love board. The typeface I used for the letters is Tahoma, in case you were wondering...)

PS The new weekword was chosen by Asiye and is wanderlust (Lovely!!) Leave a comment on her blog here if you want to play along.