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

We love to get out at least once over a weekend, if we lurk around the house over weekends it just doesn’t feel like a break from the norm.  Visiting Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve is the perfect weekend outing. We can leave home at mid-day have a picnic or braai and hike and be home before sunset.  At the picnic sites …

Today I’m not sharing an experience or thought with you but looking for advice.  My Children’s picture book ‘Snuffles and the Cloud People’ is at long last ready to be uploaded to Amazon and any other sites which you may recommend.  I will be doing so within the next few days …. drumroll!   I would be deeply grateful for any …

When looking for burger patty recipes  I found that they all seem to require egg.  Fjord is allergic to egg which rules this ingredient out for us.   I was worried about leaving out egg thinking that they would fall apart, but they don’t.  Basically you can use any recipe and simply leave out the egg.  I have however made …

On our walk through Royal Natal National Park in the Drakensberg, my heart swelled with renewed love for our country.   Crime, corruption and the stresses of daily life, lead to sometimes forgetting how blessed we are to live here.  We have everything, we have soulful deserts, Beethoven symphony beaches and the magnificent Drakensberg mountains.  South Africa also has very special …

Yesterday we spent time at the Cambridge Food Festival.  We had heard about it on radio 702 and it sounded like a good outing.  We had mixed feelings about the day.  Our main gripe was that we felt the entrance fee of R50 for adults and R25 for children under 5 was excessive.  The entrance fee is not mentioned on …

I was taught to crochet by my great Grandmother when I was little.  She only taught me to do chain stitch (casting on) and treble stitch.  With this rudimentary knowledge I have made many blankets and scarves but been frustrated that I could not advance my skill.  Recently I discovered a wonderful wool shop in Boksburg and I was enthralled …

Chocolate box scenes of verdant colour are embraced by all.  We enjoy a visual cacophony, the optical equivalent to a big band cranked to the max.  What about the soul searing notes of a lone bagpipe?  The simplicity of winter reveals the bare bones of life.  Dried stems clutch dormant seeds.  The seed may be greater than the bloom, potential …

Over the past year I have read many books by South African authors.  It helps belonging to a book club.  All of these books have make me feel very proudly South African.  Deon Meyer is brilliant.  Redi Tlhabi’s book ‘Endings and Beginnings‘ was one of the most moving books I’ve read.  Yesterday I finished reading ‘The Shining Girls’ by Lauren …

With our Daddy’s Deal stay at Mont Aux Sources Hotel we received 2 vouchers for All out Adventures.  Looking through the brochure I thought that it seemed over priced.  After our visit to All out Adventures I felt that although pricey, what they offer is very good value.  So many times, particularly at some restaurants we leave feeling ripped off, …

Our original booking to stay at Mont Aux Sources Hotel in the Drakensberg had been made for the week before this visit.  Unfortunately nearly half way there we were forced to turn around and return home because our house was broken into.  Luckily Esme at reservations was very understanding and accommodating in postponing our booking by one week.  This time …

I’ve always been fascinated by dreams, mostly how creative we are when all the guards which patrol in our thoughts are sleeping.  My friend Karin was amazing at dream analysis, she would talk through a dream with me and arrive at interpretations which were real revelations.  She was very much against the school of thought which has fixed meanings, such …

Sometimes a bad news story becomes more of a good news story.  I spent Friday morning packing for an eagerly anticipated trip to Mont Aux Sources in the Drakensberg.  We were 150km from home when I got a horrible call from Bernard at our security company COPS. He had been told that our house had been broken into and was …

As I looked at the enamel cup bought for measuring out the bird food, I reflected on the previous most common use for enamel coated tin mugs.  They were for the use of domestic servants, who generally did not share the family crockery although they very often lived in an out-building on the property.   The simple mug suddenly encapsulated the …

This month, I read the incredibly moving book “Endings & Beginnings” by Redi Tlhabi.  One aspect of the book which struck me was how a child given a name meaning sorrow was so negatively impacted by his name.   I have 4 children, their names and the meanings were carefully chosen. As a child, I had a best friend Dominique, she …