Skimming Stones | Sula's Blog | Sula1968 A South African poet, potter and mother

Not for the first time, when we hear about snow in SA anywhere near where we can get to, we start itching to go play.  Yesterday must have been our most crazy day trip ever, a 736 km round trip.  After reading that there was snow at the Witsieshoek parking lot in the Northern Drakensberg on Saturday afternoon we planned …

We all make mistakes, but there are mistakes and there are monumental blunders but supporting, endorsing and promoting Dani Cappri (real name Daniel Boylan) of Gudwulfs ROC was beyond daft.  I was horrified when made aware of disturbing pictures of conditions where his ‘rescued’ canines were and was sickened by allegations of a dog’s throat being slit there.  *See the …

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSgto3HgjdU/?taken-by=sulaskimmingstones Ah why not, I’ll do 2 happy posts today.  There you go Jo more #Winningatparenting 🙂  Tomorrow we pray and march and the most you’ll get from me is a few protest Instagrams.  When Cliff announced that he was getting us tickets to The Great Moscow Circus at Carnival City I was very appreciative but did sort of wonder …

After my epic parenting fail post about Fjord’s tick bite fever.  His Godmother Jo called to ask instruct me that my next post be a #winningatparenting one.  I broke my word because between our conversation and now our lives in SA were turned upside down and instead I changed the lyrics to the 80’s anti apartheid protest song “Give me …

I’ve changed the lyrics of the Eddy Grant anti apartheid protest song Give me Hope Johanna to fit with the mood of today #KathradaMemorial GIVE ME HOPE KATHRADA Well Zuma he runs a country Runs in Nkandla and the treasury He makes a few of his people happy, oh He don’t care about the rest at all. He’s got a …

Fjord is 9 years old and prone to wild imagination which can translate to hypochondria.  This time there really was a wolf, when he cried wolf and it bit (well a tick bit but that doesn’t work with the word play).   Several days before showing symptoms of tick bite fever Fjord said that his belly button was infected.  I …

Last weekend my brother-in-law stayed over after flying up to Joburg for the Pixies, Rock on the lawns concert.  I wanted to make something nice for breakfast before he flew back home to Cape Town.  I based this recipe on an Angela Day one for ‘Cheese muffins with ham and corn’ but made quite a few changes.  They were really yummy …

Returning from Cape Town in Jan, I made sure that we spent a night in Kimberley for the children to visit the big hole.  This man made wonder is at the heart of a place where past and present seem to co-exist.  The spirit of adventure rises from the dust.  My children (6 & 9) were less interested in the …

Arriving at Adama’s Kingfisher Cottage was a case of loveatfirstsightness.  The straw bale, thatched cottage blended with the bushveld in a complimentary marriage of natural elements.  We have never stayed in Dinokeng Game reserve before and the area is perfectly situated for short breaks, a stone’s throw from Jo’burg and Pretoria.   Cliff chose Adama knowing that as a novice …

At New Germany Primary School, I was infamous.  I held the school record for most visits to the headmaster’s office, 3 times in one day and 7 times in a week.  It was absolutely futile to try to modify my behaviour.  The teachers and my peers had decided that I was ‘bad’, they would never have seen beyond their preconceptions, …

Gastritis may have messed with my joyous relationship with wine but it could not ruin the fun of visiting wine estates, which like our beautiful South Africa are diverse, unique, multi faceted and character rich.   They are also all set in chocolate box, pretty scenery, nectar for the soul. Unless you’ve been to Vergenoegd I bet you’ve never been …

Every year on our wedding anniversary, I wear the skirt and top which I wore the day we first met in the Nampak parking lot (we corresponded via matchmaker.com briefly before that).   We met on 5 March 2004 and married exactly a year later.  Over 13 years that skirt lining has perished, yesterday before wearing it, I mended it.  We …

A nasty altercation with gastritis reduced wine tasting opportunities on our last Cape trip, to mere lip wetting.  Visits to wine estates were therefore more focused on the full experience. We have never explored the Durbanville area much in the past and this time chose to remedy the omission.  Unfortunately we chose old years eve to sample the offerings of …

Since discovering Ostrich Mince, I never use Beef mince.  Ostrich meat is so lean that even extra lean beef tastes fatty in comparison.  Ostrich mince is available at Woolworths and Pick n Pay.   Of course you can use Beef, or Chicken mince in this recipe if you prefer.  This is a family favourite and we eat it once a …

I am soooo bad.  Never got around to writing about the last stop on our Spring Flower trip, on 6 September 2016.  One of the main purposes of this blog is to keep record of our travels.  Here it is, better late than never!   Nieuwoudtville is known for wonderful displays of bulbs during Flower season, although we arrived at …