Family

Returning a wooden statue to "his family": this was why we journeyed to Franschhoek last week, an hour's driver over a mountain pass and through winelands. The carved statue, about 60cm tall, belonged to my friend Elizabeth. As she is hoping to move to America, she decided to return the "man" to the artist's family - cousins of hers who run a pottery and gallery in Franschhoek. We were welcomed into their historic home, with the gallery downstairs and very old house upstairs, full of beautiful artworks. Paintings, objects, furniture, pottery - each had its place and complemented the beautiful old building.

Another "family occasion" happened last night, when our church family gathered to celebrate the 60th birthday of a friend. Gary has been our lead elder/ pastor for many years, and the team devised a musical tribute to him, using a timeline of his own life. It was excellent - such talented singers and musicians! - and demonstrated community at work in a brilliant way.

On Friday the boys and I were part of an even wider community: that of the City of Cape Town. We went to Sea Point, had tea with our friend Kevin, and then took the Red Bus sight-seeing tour of the city. The weather was perfect - no-one needed their jackets, leaving some fellow passengers rather over-dressed! They had obviously been warned about the city's fickle weather... On the way to catch our bus we strolled through the Green Point Park. This place made my heart sing: it is a thoughtfully designed green space, linking two areas of the city, providing acres of play-areas, beautiful granite water-fountains, areas of open water, and a wide boulevard for cycling or walking. There is a bio-diversity garden, a labyrinth, a water-wheel...and space for everyone. If you need more, there is the backdrop of a golf-course, the soccer stadium, Signal Hill, and of course, Table Mountain. Hope you can join us one day...

Home Office

My mind is full of gorgeous pictures of home offices, from bright orange and contemporary, to clean white and utilitarian, to booklined and traditional...I have discovered a site called www.houzz.com, and while the spelling is irritating, the site itself is inspiring. I have started two "ideabooks" as they call them, and could quite happily stay up all night browsing photos and finding ideas...

And then my thoughts turn to more sombre things, such as a friend still in hospital after a stroke; my nephew who, it seems, has not outgrown his epilepsy, despite our high hopes...My emotional tank is drained by these thoughts, and by the constant refereeing between two small boys who have been on holiday together for too long.
I long to just lose myself in the pleasure of design and beauty and inspiration; and am thankful for the few half-hours when I can indeed do so.
(By the way: the bathroom has finally been painted, for the SECOND time (the first failed...). It is clean, bright, and white.)