When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
I love plants and flowers, but I have no green thumb. I have managed to kill a cactus. Twice. (and one of those times I over-watered it) Luckily the previous owners of our house created a garden that is full of blooms year round – and seems to require very little beyond basic maintenance. And Stuarts helps to solve the rest of the problem by buying me cut flowers often. They are expected to last only a limited time.
Having a puppy means you spend a lot of time in parks. A lot of time. But when the sun is shining and the sky is blue, there are not many nicer places to be.
In the past, a big portion of social life in Johannesburg has revolved around shopping malls. The security issue in South Africa has made it difficult to create a ‘street culture’ worth mentioning. Thus it has been such a pleasure to see how there has been more and more interesting neighbourhoods and outside restaurant popping up in the past 2 years. Security is still an issue, but people find ways around it. And that leaves shopping malls for what they are good for – shopping.
I enjoy the ‘drama of cooking’. And I don’t mean the drama of MasterChef (although I really enjoy that too!). I love the chefs who are proud of what they do, and willing to take that one extra step to make the experience of eating special – even if it is just flambéing the calamari at the table.
I’ve moved ~13 times in the last 12 years -to 9 different countries and 4 different continents. The more times I move, the more important for me is that I take the time (and effort) to build a real home. Home makes me feel at home. Even when I’m still unsure where to buy my lightbulbs.
Thus the topic of my new fooling-around-in-Photoshop-project is quite appropriate. My ‘home’ world.
Friends’ birthdays make good excuses to go out and try new restaurants. Joburg is going thru quite a restaurant-boom. New (an often even good) places pop up faster than one can visit. Especially is one also enjoys cooking at home.
God mojitos, huge cake, and buzz of conversation – Happy birthday, Ridhima!
Braai is probably the best ‘South African’ word there is. It just sounds so much better than BBQ. Even my Finnish family has adopted the word to their speech. And luckily, spit braai does not actually require you to spit.
Saturday was Midsummer in Finland. It is one of the biggest celebrations of the year in the north, and always makes me a little homesick. To celebrate, we had a little mid-winter fire and some good food with friends. And ironically, the weather was better in Joburg than what is was in Finland…
Orange glass and Sprite. Happy afternoon.
Saturday evenings are made for curry. And wine. And good friends.
After certain amount of wine, one should not try to get the photos done anymore…
Blue Moment 