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

First listening to the David Bowie album Blackstar, released 2 days before his death, I simply didn’t like it, it jarred.  It is not bop while you get on with your day music, it demands.  Sometimes music needs to grow on you, grow into you, send roots into the loam of you, but rewards with a view from its highest …

Outside the world of instant communication, David Bowie was still alive in my world, the day after his death.  On our road trip, drought parched Karoo scenery assaulted my field of vision, myriad deaths surrounded me, brown grass bereft of life, skeletal antelope, warthog brave with hunger grazed on bended knee.  Bowie was still alive in this world, his death had …

On our extended road trip from Jo’burg to Cape Town some wonderful treasures were discovered.  The encompassing  feeling at Foster’s Manor in Oudtshoorn is one of nostalgia. Appreciation was tinged with regret that we no longer live in a time where craftsmen took real pride in what they created, even the term craftsman is generally rendered obsolete. I uttered many …

What is childhood without a little magic.  In 2013 when Fjord was 6 he wanted to go to a magic show.  I bought tickets for an illusionist show over an hour’s drive from home.  I gave myself a great parenting pat on the back, but oh what an epic fail.  The show was fun for adults but not in the …

I haven’t bothered to write about the last few wine estates which we have visited.  They have been quite forgettable.  Vines in abundance, check.  Lovely old buildings, check.  Nice wine, check, and so on.  Nothing has stood out enough to be remarkable.  Just when I was beginning to feel that wine tasting is all “been there, done that”, we discovered …

Our daughter Acacia (5) called The Owl House in Nieu Bethesda “The God place”.  True art is spiritual, a link between mankind and infinity.  It is a bridge between flesh and blood and that part of us which reaches for more, even when ‘more’ cannot be named and pinned down. Helen Martins was a troubled soul, there is a tangible …

I have mixed feelings about the book The Glass Ocean, by Lori Baker. The poetic prose is haunting. The writing feels more like art than fiction. I did not like the first person voice which Lori Baker chose to tell the story. The narrator is the daughter, who tells the history of her parents, a large portion of their story …

Heading for our self catering accommodation at Lupela Lodge, we passed the nearby town Lady Grey. The clouds had dressed her, to fit her name. Like the original Lady Grey, the clouds were fickle and untrue, yielding nothing to the drought stricken earth. Despite the dun shades of drought, the lodge is a haven of peace and tranquillity. After the …

The road from home to the Eastern Cape baffled expectations, a winter landscape in mid summer. Lacking lush green the eyes took in only drought painted patterns of brown and black. Most rivers crossed bereft of water, we looked down on sand and stone. Out of sync seasons, left me feeling that I was watching a faulty movie, lips speaking …

CARPE DIEM Through the day I turn over moments like lost things seeking the other half of memories yet to be made

My daughter Domi and her now husband Duncan married at Providence in the Natal Midlands at the end of September.  While memories of the ‘big day’ have drifted to ground like confetti, a mental collage remains.  Images of precious moments which will endure . Many of the most special memories were formed in the preparation for the wedding at Providence.  Mum …

Sometimes the good old-fashioned recipes are the best.  Apple crumble is my son Fjord’s favourite PASTRY 120 g butter 125 ml sugar 1 egg 2 ml vanilla essence 2 cups (500 ml) flour 10 ml baking powder pinch salt FILLING 1 large tin pie apples 60 ml raisins or sultanas (optional) 50 ml brown sugar cinnamon for dusting INSTRUCTIONS Heat …

Encountering echos of a theme or thought, feels like reinforcement.  Layers being put in place, creating a pattern and a sense of order.  It seems significant when a visible thread links chance encounters.  Once I came across 3 different references to Socrates and his bowl of hemlock in about as many days, if I were superstitious I would probably have …

These Chocolate Muffins with a Mocha sauce make a delicious pudding or tea time treat.  The recipe is adapted from one in Quick & Tasty Chocolate – South Africa INGREDIENTS 55 g butter 55 g dark chocolate 2 eggs 75g icing sugar 75 g self-raising flour 25 g cocoa powder FOR MOCHA SAUCE 145 g dark chocolate – broken into …