Looking back, I will always remember 2011 as the year during which I attended four funerals… The first was at the start of March, when Conor Callanan, an elderly gentleman who came originally from Ireland but who had long been resident in Cape Town, died quite suddenly. I had met Conor a couple of years…
I received some very sad news last night, and I wanted to share it with you. I’d like to tell you about a very special dog called Duma, and how we met and fell in love with him. Pour yourself a cup of tea, and pull up a chair, if you like. In December last…
A little challenge for you When was the last time you looked at your national flag? Have you ever tried to draw it? From memory? And without looking it up on Google? Go on, give it a try. Grab some colourful crayons or pencils, a piece of paper, and draw what you can remember. The…
You may have been wondering why the international internet connection from South Africa to the rest of the world is a little slower than normal. You may also have experienced delays and ‘issues’ with Google and Gmail and all those essential online functions to which we have become so accustomed. The reason for this is…
A strange ‘referrer’ popped up on my stats page a day or two ago. So, intrigued, I hopped on over to the link for a look. It was a bulletin board called Skyscraper City. I’d not heard about them before. I had a look at the particular thread that was referring back to my blog,…
I went into my local library at the Howard Centre earlier this week to take out a couple of books. I don’t go there all that often anymore, because I have so many unread books waiting for me at home that it somehow doesn’t feel quite right. But I do go there often enough to…
When I was growing up, my favourite-of-all-time toys was Playmobil. I remember being ecstatically excited whenever I was given a new set for Christmas or my birthday, and spending hours and hours, and yet more hours and hours, playing contentedly on my own, in my room, in the lounge, in the garden, with the little…
Sometime last year, I came across a blog with the delightful title Opening the door, walking outside. Its tagline declared that it was “A 365 day blogging promise to spend time each day in the great outdoors”. This immediately captured my attention, because it was something I wanted to do myself – and was doing…
I am bouncing off the walls at the moment with happy excitement, so I thought I’d share a little of it with you. I have just finished a Skype Video Call with my friend Bobz in America. This probably does not sound like a big deal to you, so I should explain: Bobz and I…
I have just returned from the local Post Office. And I am puzzled. My mission: To send copies of my book to family, friends and fellow-bloggers around the world. The friendly chap behind the counter told me that the local postage was R5.65 per book, which struck me as quite reasonable. He asked me *twice*,…
The Worldwide Photo Walk happened to coincide with Mandela’s 91st birthday, which was being celebrated, amidst much hype, with a humungous supercharged concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York, of all places. Actually, I feel a little irritated by the fact that the Yanks have taken over OUR Madiba. OK, I guess we…
In January this year, I crossed the 3,000 page views threshold on this blog (see post). Today, I am thrilled to say, that I have crossed the 10,000 page views threshold! So I would like to thank every single one of my regular readers, as well as all those who occasionally pop in for a…
Tuffy-Cat came into the office this afternoon, announcing her arrival with a plaintive, slightly questioning ‘mraow?’ I bent down to scratch the top of her head, and she ducked, flattening her ears. This wasn’t her normal response. Usually she arches her neck to push her head into my hands and then arches up her back,…
… is coming along nicely, thank you. 🙂 In the week before Easter, Richard’s sister Tanya flew down from Windhoek (Namibia) to stay with us for a couple of weeks. Needing a bit of a holiday ourselves, we headed off into the wilds of the Garden Route with her and had a totally wonderful time…
Last week Tuesday, I posted about the brutal murder of an ex-colleague of mine, Noorjehan. I’ve been keeping an eye on the newspapers, and regularly searching the internet in the vain hope that more information had surfaced in the meantime. After the two initial articles I mentioned (Mom’s body found in bushes and Ma van…
Grains of Sand 
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