Make a left at London and Mind the Gap

So it looks like my preferred stop between South Africa and the States is London.

Of course I'd rather fly nonstop on United or South African Air. For one thing it's nonstop. Secondly, I am treated like a queen on them being a Lifetime Million Miles Reward member thanks to Vince's business travel. More free bags to check with priority baggage handling, free upgrades to the roomy seats and access to free drinks in the Premier Lounges at the airports. But when it's on my dime, British Airways and Virgin seem to consistently have the best prices. Which is too bad because I am nobody on British Airways and Virgin. No. Bo. Dy. But they do stop in London. All day. Twelve hour layovers so you are practically forced to spend the day in the city.


Fortunately I love London. And although I have been there countless times, just like New York, there is always something new and exciting to do and see in London. "David Bowie Is" at the V&A, the Duchess of Cambridge's recently unveiled portrait and the Man Ray exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, the sale at Liberty, Sunday Mass at Brompton Oratory or Westminster Cathedral, photographs by Michael Caine at the London Museum, the Spring Plants and Garden Fair at the Garden Museum, the 2013 Sony World Photography exhibit at Somerset House, a handbell concert and English baroque choir at St. Martin-in-the Fields, the Zandra Rhodes design retrospective at the Fashion and Textile Museum. Ever changing and endless opportunity.

Or you can just walk around for a good stretch of the legs and enjoy the beautiful spring weather. It's a great city to explore on foot if you do not have excessive hand luggage to lug around. (Make a note for next time.) Mews and parks and markets abound.

And so easy to get to and from the airport. The Heathrow Express gets you to Paddington in just 15 minutes! An all-day Underground pass and the city is there for your layover adventure. Keep Calm and Lay Over in London.

Mama Fina

The people who come up to your car at stoplights usually do not have anything that interests me - flyers about retirement properties, chargers for your phone, ostrich feather brooms - but today I scored big time! A flyer for Mama Fina, herbalist witch doctor, sangoma. Not only can she help me fix an immoral spouse and interpret my dreams, but she can remove a witch's hex and reverse bad luck! Never know when that will come in handy.

I can find Mama Fina 24/7 in Randburg and Sandton near the Zenex Garage. But just in case the flyer listed her cell phone too. Wonder if she knows Asbury Park, New Jersey's Madame Marie?

Happy Freedom Day 2013!

www.google.co.za

Today is Freedom Day!

The day, on 27 April, marks the first post-apartheid democratic elections held in the country, in April 1994, which led to its first black president, Nelson Mandela. I guess kinda like our Fourth of July.

Events in Joburg on Freedom Day include the Back to the City Hip-Hop Festival, an extravaganza concert by singer Sibongile Khumalo at the Lyric Theatre, as well as a fun walk for those who would like to celebrate in a healthy way. About 14,000 young people are expected to head to Newtown for Back to the City, a music and art gathering with a sizzling lineup. There are marathons, parades and many other festivities planned all over Joburg, its suburbs and nearby Pretoria. Can't wait until Worker's Day on May 1st.

Braai anyone?

How would you like your Donkey Meat cooked?

The first time I went shopping by myself at the supermarket here, I was browsing through the meat department and I saw something marked Donkey meat! Wha? What?

Now when I went on safari to Africa in 1979 I was a strict vegetarian. That was easy. No meat. Period. Today I am just a recreational vegetarian which means I will eat meat occasionally but mostly refrain. I am just not religious about it. I do remember on safari they served some bizarre things which at the time I was happy to have an excuse not to eat like ostrich (I have since had ostrich and it is very good) and zebra (still no) but donkey meat? I brought it over to the butcher and questioned it. "Is this for real?" I asked. "No" she laughed, "it is a practical joke for April Fools' Day."

Apparently just before I arrived, there had been a donkey meat scare. The SA Department of Agriculture had found traces of horse or donkey meat in some beef mince somewhere and there was a big country-wide meat recall because of this. I was actually relieved to know that a) there was a Department of Agriculture who checks such things, 2) that they took such drastic measures when they found a sample contaminated, and C) they have such a great sense of humor about it!

But maybe it's time for this fool to go back to being a strict vegetarian.

South African Fashion Week

Lincoln Center

Fashion Week In New York was always a magical time. Everyone was even more decked out than usual shopping in the boutiques and (not) eating in the restaurants. I was happy to find out that South Africa also has its own Fashion Weeks to enjoy. In fact South Africa has a vibrant and burgeoning fashion industry and it is showcased during South African Fashion Weeks in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

I did not go to any of the fashion shows this spring in Joburg - I will next season when I am more settled - but I have been following the nonstop runway shows on Fashion TV here and on the SAFW facebook page and blogs like Talk Shop. Me likey!

Stalking a good price on the African Tray Man

Vince needs a free-standing shelf in his bathroom at Valley Lodge to hold his toiletries. He has his sights set on a tall tacky free-standing wood carving of a African servant man in a sola topi holding a serving tray. It is so tacky (and a little bit racist if you ask me) but he wants it. I will let him get it, but I will not let him spend what the crafter is asking for it. Tacky is one thing. Expensive and tacky and I draw a line in the sub-Saharan sand. So we are visiting the crafter every week at the Rosebank Market and low-balling the negotiation. After about a month of this we will ask him the question, so how many have you sold in the last month? We are hoping he will adopt the proverb, "A bird in the hand is worth two Rand in the bush." Let's see, shall we?





Believe me I get the attraction. I brought back shields and spears and Maasai necklaces, straw baskets, batiks and animal carvings when I first visited Africa in 1979. I even hand-carried a mosquito net attached to an 5 foot diameter iron ring on the airplane with me to hang over my bed at my beach house which I purchased at Abdul's of Nairobi. Half of the charm was the tag which said "Abdul's of Nairobi." There is no malaria at the Jersey Shore. And sure they may have been tacky, but they were cheap! African tray man needs to get in line with the world market.

While we are waiting for him to cave, we are decorating our apartment with welcome masks from the Bobos of Bukina Faso, shields from the Fangs of Gabon and other beautiful wood carvings which are relatively reasonable in price, beautifully made and not tacky at all. And we walk right past the African tray man with our purchases and make eye contact to let him know we are buying. Are you selling?

South Africa Succs

"The objectives of the Succulent Society of South Africa is to promote knowledge, the cultivation and conservation of succulents."

a trough garden

a terrarium

Back in New Jersey, I cultivated many cement trough gardens and mason jar terrariums with succulents. I loved them. They are easy to grow, demand absolutely nothing from you as a person, a gardener, a human being. You do not even have to water them (unless there is a serious rain shortage and even then probably not.) Leave them out in the winter in North America and they come back in the spring happy to see you again. They are everywhere in Joburg and all over Valley Lodge so I decided to indulge myself with some succulent gardening at the source of many of these native plants.

a tree stump table and chairs in the center of my succulent garden in NJ

a gnome in my succulent garden

According to the Succulent Society website, "Succulents may be described as plants which are adapted to store water in their leaves, branches or stem bases in order to be able to survive long periods without water. These succulent storage organs led to their descriptive name in Afrikaans: vetplant (fat plant). As can be expected, most succulents are found in arid parts of the world, although some are also adapted to grow in areas with a high rainfall.

Southern Africa is one of the most succulent rich areas in the world. Of the world's approximately 10,000 succulent species, nearly half originate from Southern Africa. World-wide there is a tremendous active interest in the succulents of the region.

There are a number of reasons for the interest succulents enjoy among plant and nature lovers, gardeners and botanists. The ability to survive in the most hostile environment, the fascinating growth forms and spectacular flowers which occur amongst these plants, the fact that the plants can be transplanted fairly easily and can in the most instances grow happily for weeks and even months almost care free, all lead to the special interest succulents enjoy.



From the viewpoint of conservation there is also enough reason to devote special attention to succulents. A delicate balance exists in the habitat of most of these plants. A slight disturbance of this balance may seriously endanger their survival. Many succulents are also endangered because they are much sought after collectors' items, which leads to the illegal removal of plants from the veld.

The South African Aloe and Succulent Society was founded in 1963 when a few succulent enthusiasts realised that Southern Africa's succulent richness and the wide interest in the plants necessitated a society having as its aims the conservation of these plants and the making available of both information on succulents and the plants themselves. In 1988 the name was shortened to the Succulent Society of South Africa."

echeveria planted @ Valley Lodge

So I sent my membership dues off to the Succulent Society of South Africa. Now I succ in South Africa too!

The Business of Making Friends

Yes you read it right. It is a business in my case because I am going to have to work at it. Like I've never done before.

Nancy and I reunite in the 80's

You see, I have moved before both near and far but I have always moved into a community where friends came naturally. Moving from NJ to Florida in high school, I had the "pool of school" to jump into. I was very lucky in that I met a really good friend Mary at the bus stop on the first day of school and my best friend Nancy on the same day in gym class. Nancy and I had both moved to Florida from New Jersey only weeks before and we found out that day we had the same exact birthday too! How's that for an Olympic-quality dive into the school pool?

Jersey shore house in Belmar

When I moved back to NJ after college, I had a new job and graduate school waiting to tap. Once again, luck was on my side. I met my future husband almost immediately at a mixer for an upcoming Bell Labs Ski Club ski trip we were both signed up for. Bell Labs, where we worked, was in the middle of a hiring heyday scooping up college graduates from all over the country. It was ideal.

w Bell Labs pal Carol

We were all about the same age, new to the area and eager to make friends. Softball leagues, bocce leagues, disco dancing lessons at lunch, a Ski Club, FADC (Friday Afternoon Drinking Club), summer shore house shares. These were all natural ice-breakers creating slews of new friendships. Another graduate school, more moves around New York and New Jersey, and different jobs brought more new friends.

My 50th birthday luncheon

After I stopped working to have and stay home with my children, I had to work a little bit at the friend-making. I joined playgroups through Overlook Hospital in Summit where my children were born and the local Newcomers Club in town before my sons started pre-school and helped to create another community pool of friends. I joined the Junior League in Westfield where I lived to further connect with my local community. The League led to sponsorships for other clubs where I made more friends. I have always thought it a Catch 22 by the way that in order to join country clubs or swim clubs or tennis clubs or even exclusive garden clubs to meet new friends you need to first have friends in order to get the kazillion sponsors you need to join in the first place.

Beach Bash in Mantoloking

Even at the shore where we had a summer house it was natural and easy. After many years of summer shore house shares with friends, there was a community already and a familiarity (and a bar scene) that provided lots more friend-making opportunities. We joined a yacht club when our boys were young and tired of just hanging at the beach making sand castles so they could learn to sail and play tennis. I made many dear friends at the Mantoloking Yacht Club playing tennis and sailing myself and volunteering at dinner dances and regattas.

But now I had moved to another continent. As a spouse. No job or occupation. No school. No playgroups for my sons. My only real point of contact to the friendship pool was my husband. Not good. Lots of dreary office talk at dinner. Okay every once in a while at a braai on a Friday night for a laugh, but a steady diet would be deadly. I need Girlfriends with a capital G!

So I had to do some due diligence. Where would I find my new friends?

my sister and I w the BSF group in the Holy Land

First thing I did was transfer to a local Bible Study Fellowship group. One of the things I did in the 3 minutes I thought about whether I wanted to move to South Africa with Vince is to check the BSF website and see if they had a group in Johannesburg I could transfer to. I had been studying the Bible with BSF for three years in nearby New Providence, NJ at the urging of my sister who studied in Denver where she lives. I loved it!

My sister and I went to the Holy Land with a BSF International group last October and I loved everyone on the trip so I knew BSF people were good people wherever they lived. A few of my fellow pilgrims have even moved up to become very dear friends in their own right since our trip. One of the many things I love about BSF is that it is national. If I was away on vacation or visiting my sons or sister in California or Colorado and missing my weekly lesson, I could visit a local class and join a group. Now I would get to check out the international possibilities. And yes, there was a class that meets on Wednesday morning in Randburg, another suburb of Johannesburg. Praise God! Alleluia!

One of the perks of Vince's job is membership in several Joburg country clubs with some really fine golf courses like the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington. I have always avoided playing golf in the past even though the pressure was great in the golf-heavy world I was leaving behind in NJ. But I have a feeling the sailing stinks around land-locked Johannesburg so maybe it is finally time to join a nine-holer, learn to play golf, and meet some people in the bargain. (There is actually the Transvaal Yacht Club nearby which sails on a large inland lake formed by the Hartbeespoort Dam which we will surely check out one weekend. But after bay and ocean sailing, I am not sure if it will measure up. So golf it is!)

There is no shortage of international and expatriate club options for women too. They offer dining clubs, book clubs, garden clubs and games. I would definitely like to learn Mahjong, but not sure about Bridge. Between Golf and Bridge, I would not want to turn into "little Englishmen" as Denys Finch Hatton warned Karen would happen to her Kikuyu if she taught them how to read in Out of Africa. But the International Women's Club of Johannesburg will have something that the RJ&KGC may not, ex-pats who understand what it is like to be a stranger in a strange land.

And there are the lovely  neighbors of course in my small apartment complex. Daphne, Val, Nikki, Tracey and Marian have been super supportive showing me the best plant nursery, Pilates studio, markets, and restaurants in the area, inviting me to tea and us for braais, lending me their IT expert sons to fix my internet, recommending dentists and doctors for us and vets for the puppies. They all have dogs so the puppies have become my new currency for friendships.

So here I am, Johannesburg. Open for business!

Waiting for the Rooftop Market to reopen

Vince and I have a little routine already on Sundays. We go to Mass in Rosebank at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and then we head over to the nearby Rosebank Mall for an alfresco brunch and the African Crafts Market featuring the incredible Sunday Rooftop Market. Downstairs there are mostly traditional African crafts - masks, straw, batik, bead and wirework, shields, statues, etc. But up on the roof is where the real artists play. Creative crafts done the traditional way with a modern twist. I had made a list of what we needed before heading over last week - six of the etched highball glasses with safari animals on them for my Amarula cocktails and Vince's Scotch, the mounted orynx antlers carved out of wood, some zebra skin pillows, a bench to sit the laptop on in order to play movies on the flatscreen tv above it, Vince's favorite artisanal coffee, etc.

When we turned the car to get into the parking lot for brunch, we were met with a huge banner hanging from scaffolding surrounding the roof, "Rooftop Market Closed for Renovation"! WHAT THE F? It is a roof. Over the Rosebank Mall parking garage. How do you renovate a roof with scaffolding? I got a sick feeling in my stomach having been the victim of many of my most favorite flea markets and antique emporiums being summarily shut down over the years in NJ and NY. RIP the Morristown Antique Mall. RIP NY's Chelsea Outdoor Market. RIP most of The Garage on 26th Street. RIP the Stagehouse Antique Center! All victims of the mighty dollar. Fact: a flea market or antique center cannot compete with an office building or condo highrise in ROI for the landlord. Could the same thing be happening again to me in Joburg? Oh, the humanity!?!

one of my favorite vendors at my favorite flea market in Chelsea

So I did the only thing I could do. I "liked" the Rooftop Market on Facebook and joined the throngs of loyal customers voicing their horror and dismay. What about the crafters? Where are they going to go? Where can I get Vince's favorite artisanal coffee? Are you really reopening or are you just playing with me? Will it be in Rosebank or somewhere else?

It reminded me of Nathan Detroit's oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York in Guys & Dolls. It was an institution. Sure, it didn't have permanent walls but that did not make it any less an institution. Would it show up somewhere else? Same crafters all sticking together like a union? Would I be able to find it if it did?

Well the good news is the Market big wigs heard the outcry. It is going to reopen in May in Rosebank but will now be two stories worth of Rooftop artists! Yay!!!

But in the meantime, the big question still remains. Where am I going to get Vince's favorite artisanal coffee?

My new collection (read obsession)

Vince purchased two coffee mugs at the Sunday Rooftop Market at the Rosebank Shopping Center before I joined him in Joburg. One is a beautiful turquoise and one is a mostly green art-glazed ceramic pottery. They are both nice and weighty, small-mouthed and big-bottomed (insert the obvious parallel to the perfect woman.) The dealer told him they were Linnware and explained that they are a local pottery made in South Africa during the 1940's and 1950's. The green cup has a date of 1943 scratched into the bottom which was inscribed before it was fired and glazed, but the turquoise one does not have a date. They both however have the Linnware trademark and kiln mark which is the depression each piece has where it comes into contact with the pottery holder as it is fired. This is how you know it is authentic Linnware.

Doing our own research on Linnware, we found out that in February 1943, Rowland Cullinan, second son of Sir Thomas Cullinan of the Cullinan Diamond Mining family, persuaded Sir Thomas to buy The Ceramic Studio and retain Joan Methley as its chief design potter, thus establishing the Linnware Ceramic Company. A number of The Ceramic Studio's artists remained to produce "artistic pottery" for Linnware; the majority of works being tableware.

we found a copy at Collectors Treasury!

Dr Melanie Hillebrand commented in The Woman of Olifantsfontein – South African Studio Ceramics (1991) that "what Linnware art pottery lacks in formal originality is more than compensated for in its consistently well-made tableware. Utilitarian vessels must be judged according to their functionality and Linnware dinner services and other sets are remarkably well-designed and fit for their purpose." Sadly it was a short-lived venture as another source gives 1955 as the date of closure of the Linnware studio and 1952 as Joan Methley's last year with Linnware.

Vince had unearthed a truly South African treasure and my new collectible! It is the perfect collectible too, uniquely South African, artistic yet utilitarian, vintage and rare. My next piece? I'm looking for a vase with a flower frog.

Little Mount Kilimanjaros

Vince wants to buy me a pair of Tanzanite earrings for my birthday in May. Tanzanite is the beautiful blue purple gemstone discovered in the 1960's in the Mererani Hills of northern Tanzania near the city of Arusha and Mount Kilimanjaro, both of which I visited in 1979. The mineral was named Tanzanite by Tiffany & Co. after its sole origin source.

It is a rare gem, much  rarer than diamonds actually, since it is only found in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. In fact Browns, the leading Diamond store in Joburg, says that Tanzanite is 1000 times rarer than a Diamond!

But as opposed to the Diamond which is the world's hardest gemstone, Tanzanite is relatively soft. I am used to this quality in gemstones as my birthstone is the Emerald, another gemstone on the softer side. That is why we settled on earrings instead of a ring. I have several rings with Emeralds, including my original two carat emerald-shaped Emerald engagement ring, and I am always nervous I will damage or lose a stone when I wear them. Earrings are much, much safer!

Like Diamonds, Tanzanite is priced according to its color, cut, carat size and clarity. I will let Vince choose the color, carat size and clarity, but I will choose the cut. I am leaning towards the trillium cut which is triangular in shape. They remind me of little Mount Kilimanjaros!

PS Vince bought my tanzanite earrings at Bryllianta right in the heart of Sandton.  This is an appointment-only destination for your discreet diamond and tanzanite education and purchases. Bryllianta is a plush, private and secure jewel boutique offering personalised service and drop-dead gorgeous views of Sandton while you shop. Owner Bryna's many years of experience will ensure that you understand the quality and value of the stones before you make your purchase.

Email bryna@bryllianta.com or call +27 (0) 82 441 2121

A Goodwill Win-Win

Waterkeeper event @ Barbra's house

I spent the last twenty plus years working for the benefit of not-for-profits in the USA. First as a volunteer at  my sons’ school (which is pretty ironic since it was a very exclusive private school and always looked pretty prosperous if not profitable to me!), in my community with the Junior League, at our parish church, and for various other charities that were important to me over the years.

After I completed a Fundraising Certificate from New York University’s School of Philanthropy, I worked in development for (very little) pay for environmental charities such as Waterkeeper Alliance (Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the founder and President of the Board of Trustees) in NYC and Reeves Reed Arboretum in Summit, NJ. I plan to volunteer while I am here in South Africa, especially since I do not have working papers. I am thinking it might be for some animal rights initiative to help stop animal poaching or some other evil threatening the wild animal population here.

and one with Ethel and her son Bobby Kennedy(and a Lexus VIP)

That was how I found Jenna Clifford and a goodwill initiative she supports, StopRhinoPoaching. Jenna Clifford is a very talented and accomplished jewelry designer here in Joburg. As a matter of fact, her studio is right down the street from me in Morningside.  She has created a beautiful line of jewelry and homeware products which bear a specially designed logo featuring a rhino horn in profile. A portion of the sale price of the pieces in the line supports anti-poaching activities and unemployment in South Africa. 

Now this has always seemed like the greatest marriage ever in the world of fundraising. You get a beautiful piece of jewelry (my Achilles heel) and at the same time, you get to assuage your guilt about buying it by supporting an important cause. Win-win!

Monthly Notes for Highveld Gardeners

cliveas!

One of the things that sealed the deal for my choosing Valley Lodge as our Home Sweet South African Home was the established garden on the property. Helen, the owner of the property, is a gardener and she and Clement, the gardener who came with the garden, built the garden themselves from scratch. Clement and I are going to be very good friends. I intend to stick to him like glue as he prunes and trims, feeds and waters, digs and tops off the garden.

brugmansia!

I am a gardener myself having learned much of it while I was a member of a Garden Club of America club in New Jersey for 10 years. I also took classes at the New York Botanical Garden, Duke Gardens, the New York Horticultural Society, Reeves Reed Arboretum - where I worked for a while as an event planner -  along with many other botanical gardens and horticultural societies and clubs.

I had gardens of my own growing flowers, trees, water plants, herbs, and vegetables on my little acre in Fanwood and my summer house at the Jersey shore with the help of wardian cases, a heated greenhouse, an English conservatory, an iron compost bin, and a cold frame. I was not a very good gardener, but I tried really, really hard!!!

As it turns out I grew many native South African plants in NJ. (I had a greenhouse and a conservatory, remember?) I realized this as I was finding good homes for my plants before I left. I researched care instructions on some of the plants for the adoptive parents to refer to after I was gone. Blood lilies, veltheimia bracteata, jade plants, some geraniums and aloes, succulents, clivias ... all native to South Africa. So I was delighted when I found them  ... and one of my favorite non-natives, brugmansia  ... all blooming in my garden at Valley Lodge after I arrived. And as an added bonus, they were all planted in the ground and not in containers as they were in NJ where I would have to haul them in and out of shelter as the seasons changed! Awesome!

My neighbor Daphne recommended I go visit the Montrose Nursery nearby to survey the plants available and establish a friendly rapport. Good advice! It was there I found a copy of Monthly Notes for Highveld Gardeners, the full color almanac recently published by the Johannesburg Garden Club. It will be my gardening bible over the next year!

the right place for a lime tree!

The first thing I added to our garden is a lime tree. There was one on the complex property but it was planted in the wrong place. Behind a wall under very large trees in full shade. It hardly got any sun. It had a few limes on it which was pretty amazing really when you considered its location. It so badly wanted to fruit!

I had the perfect spot for it in my garden in front of a brick wall which would provide some nice radiant heat in practically full sun all day. I bought some compost and fertilizer from the nursery and Clement and Bob, one of the resident landscapers for the complex, dug a hole in front of the wall and transplanted it for me.
In the ground!

Now I grew citrus plants in NJ, mandarin orange, meyer lemon, key lime and blood orange, but they were in pots and spent most of the year in the greenhouse. They only came out after the threat of frost subsided in May and before the frost threatened again in September. Now I would try my hand on citrus. In the ground! What a concept.  (There is already a resident lemon tree that is in full fruit!)

lemons!

lime!

Helen is very glad that she has someone living at Valley Lodge who cares about the garden and I am happy to have a garden to care for - and Clement! I cannot wait until the Johannesburg Garden Club's annual plant sale in September to find more South African plants to add to it. I want to be a Highveld gardener!

Autumn in the South African Winelands