Hot off the press!

The colourful title page of the February 2012 edition of the Muse magazine

Oooh! I have such exciting news for you all!

Do you want to hear it?

Do you? Do you?

I am holding up the latest edition of the Pinelands Muse, and doing a little jig of joy.

“Why?” you ask, a little puzzled.

Do you realllllllly want to know?

I dangle the magazine tantalisingly in front of you.

“Yes, yes, tell us!” you declare impatiently.

Because – wait for it – I’ve been published! In the Muse!

Bella, Milly May's daughter, definitely likes a good scratch (Photo by Glynnis)

“Oh, really?”

Yes! REALLY!

“Er… what is The Muse?” you ask, bewildered.

Oh, you don’t know what The Muse is? Well, then, I’d better explain.

In February last year, you may recall, I was approached by Glynnis, ace reporter of the Muse, a colourful, glossy and well-written local magazine that magically appears in our postbox once a month, free of charge, and asked whether I would consent to an interview for an article they were written about local bloggers.

After several days of humming-and-hawing, uncertain whether I really wanted to give up the comfort and safety of my relative anonymity, curiosity won.

Would you join me for a cup of tea in our garden while we leaf through the back issues of the Pinelands Muse?

To my great relief – and delight, the interview went off smoothly, and we found that we shared a similar interest in photography and a passion for our neighbourhood, our city and our country.

At the end of February 2011, Glynnis’ write-up of the interview appeared in the March edition of the Muse (you can read the PDF here and my blogpost about the whole experience here).

At the end of September last year, the Pinelands Muse brought out their First Anniversary Edition.

Barry (on Jack) and Joe (on Cherokee) with Kendre (on Mo)

As I had kept a copy of every edition since the very first one, and still enjoyed leafing through the previous issues from time to time, I thought it apposite to write a retrospective, Looking Back, to say ‘thank you’ to Max (the editor) and Glynnis (the photographer and writer) and Christelle (the very talented person who does the design and layout).

In January this year, Glynnis sent me some information about two intrepid adventurers who were due to arrive in Cape Town, having ridden more than 2200km from KwaZulu Natal and through the Wild Coast (which is called that for a jolly good reason) down along the southern coast to Cape Town.

My article about The Ride Into The Unknown (click the picture for a larger view)

On horseback.

No, seriously. I’m not making this up.

Can you tell that my curiosity was not only piqued, but that I could not wait to see these extraordinary individuals in real life?

The announced day of their arrival in Pinelands was Saturday, 14 January 2012, and I thus found myself joining a crowd of well-wishers and supporters, some in 4x4s, some with horse-drawn carts, and many on horseback, at the eastern end of Forest Drive. They were all waiting to welcome Barry, Joe and their entourage to Cape Town, and to accompany them in a long convoy of horses, carts and vehicles to Oude Molen Eco Village at the western edge of Pinelands.

If you haven’t read it yet, have a look here.

My article about the Chart Rose Farm in Wynberg

And the reason I’m so excited right now is because the Muse has published an article of mine about this event, together with some of my piccies!

Look!!!!

And not only that, but they have also included my article about the Chart Rose Farm, which we visited a couple of weeks ago during mom-in-law’s visit to Cape Town for some scones and crumpets among the sweet-smelling roses.

In fact, they liked the picture of my golden-yellow roses so much that they decided to include it as the front cover!

Now if that isn’t worth a little jig of joy, I don’t know what is.

Hrrrrmmmm-hrrrrrmmmm.... that's nice.... Do you mind if we talk about this later? I was just dreaming of a can of tuna opening.... zzzzzzZZZZZ

So excuse me, while I jig-and-jog and hippity-hop through the house, waving my personally-hand-delivered-this-morning hot-off-the-press and still-smelling-of-fresh-ink copy of the Muse!!!

I need to go and show it to my cat.

And as you can tell, she is taking this joyful news in her customary, unrestrainedly effusive manner.