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

This December we used a Daddy’s Deal to visit Zulu Nyala Lodge.  First impressions do set the tone in most instances.  Before reaching our room we saw Nyala on the pathways in the natural gardens.  The lady at reception was warm and welcoming as we subsequently found all the staff to be. There is not a lot to do around …

Very few things are impossible, including climbing a mountain with a 3.5 year old, whilst we have proven that this is possible it is also foolhardy.  There are two routes to Elephant’s Eye Cave on Constantia mountain.  Apparently one takes 2 hours, parking at a higher point.  The other is described in the book ‘Hiking Trails of South Africa’  as …

As a rule I prefer the family owned and run wine estates, still some of the corporately owned estates are well worth a visit.  The buildings and gardens at Neethlingshof are beautiful.  The wines are excellent, a rare instance where not one seemed lacking, each wine tasted was well above average.  I chose a single glass of Chardonnay and Cliff …

Returning to visit the Cape we delight in the prospect of visiting new wine estates.  This year our first stop was Overgaauw which ticks all the boxes which matter most to us.  I love family run estates, they have a warm sense of home and history.  The current wine maker is 4th generation and a new addition to the family …

This post is written for anyone who is searching the web in a panic about the results of consuming rotten, turned cold meat such as ham.  After my children ate putrid ham I was told that symptoms would display within 6 – 8 hours, fortunately my children survived my flawed parenting unscathed.  Incidentally the meat was used before the sell …

Four and a half weeks ago, I found Poopsie on the ground next to his dead sibling, they had been blown from their nest during a storm.  On the advice of our local vet I fed him ‘Hills Canine / Feline  Critical Care’ tinned food mixed with water successfully from a syringe, he grew and developed wonderfully. However I now …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHHjP7XrBq0 Last night I was discussing the Mandela memorial with my husband and eldest daughter.  I was expressing my feeling that the memorial felt very hollow to me.  So many words, so much ego and politics and the music was nothing special.  I said that I would have loved to see Soweto Gospel Choir there or Johnny Clegg.  Domi then …

Madiba has been on my mind almost constantly since hearing of his death.  There was no shock, if anything a sense of relief, arms dropped after months of waving goodbye. I cannot say that I felt grief, he was 95, he had lived the most full and fruitful life, even during the prison years.  What brough tears to my eyes …

Three weeks ago today, Poopsie the Olive (Karoo) Thrush fell from his nest during a stormy week.  On the day that I found him I prayed that he would survive, the journey which he has taken us on has been beautiful.  You can read of the progress from his first day until now on my previous posts.  Each stage has …

It’s that time of year again and I am weary to the bone.  This post about Sun City  is my first paid blog post for MyScoop, looking at pictures and refreshing my memory of the leisure activities at Sun City has left me wishing that we were packing off there for a weekend right now. I have very special memories …

The images above show Poopsie at roughly 1 week old on the top left date 13/11/13, a week later 20/11/13 (top right) and bottom at roughly 3 weeks old on 27/11/13 Poopsie has now been part of our lives for 2 weeks.  To read about his development from when we found him and his 1st week you can click on …

The images above show Poopsie at roughly 1 week old on the left date 13/11/13 and today, a week later 20/11/13 on the right It is a week since our chick Poopsie fell out of his nest and into our lives.  At the end of my last post we had tried placing Poopsie in a nest tied to a tree, …

I haven’t been to a Zapiro Book launch since the launch of “Pirates of Polokwane” at Constitution hill a few years ago.  When I saw that tonight was the launch of “My Big Fat Gupta Wedding” I knew that a babysitter, and birdsitter would be needed, my eldest daughter Domi rose to the occasion with good grace.  l love books …

It has taken 9 years of living in Gauteng to get around to visiting Irene Market, we are already planning our 2nd visit 2 weeks after the first. The market is amazing. So many stalls, so much on offer and not a piece of plastic junk to be seen. Each stall offers nothing but quality, well that was my impression …

This week has seen 2 storms including a hail storm which left a ghastly aftermath of birds killed by hail stones, some as big as golf balls.  Yesterday walking through the garden I noticed a flicker of life on the grass.  Two baby birds lay on the ground beneath the Ash Tree, one was dead and the other barely alive. …