Wednesday 26 June 2013

Flower feedback: Witsand 9

I thought they have all gone, but the Witsand flower is still hanging in there!  
I received this lovely email from Lisette Valentine.



Thank you for the lovely gift of colour at Witsand National Park, it looked so bright in the midst of the dry orange sands and thorn trees. 
My name is Liz and I spend a fair amount of time travelling around South Africa with my partner Ian. Both of us have done overseas visits but find that SA is filled with many beautiful places still to be visited. We try to go out camping or to self catering cottages at least twice a month and also do a couple of longer trips to the many parks and nature areas around us. 


I am originally from East London and Ian is from Rugby in the United Kingdom. He has lived in SA since he was a young child. The Eastern Cape is a favoured place to travel to as I have family there but we also go to Hopetown where my sister has a farm - Northern Cape is extremely different but also very beautiful. 

I teach art (painting and drawing) to adults and love to do craft and as there are so many I tend to do mosaic, paperwork, sketching and not much else as there are not enough hours in a day. Hobbies after this are reading and photography. 

Hope my note isn't information overload! 
Thanks for the lovely blog and I will keep reading and following your journeys and craft. 

All the best wishes 
Liz 

Saturday 15 June 2013

Embroidery Magic

One of the treasures I found at Junktion yesterday: An Embroidery Magic binder filled with embroidery patterns.


The binder contains 120 (yes, really!) pattern sheets, each with a different design. The sheets are A3 size with a photo of the finished design on one side and the instructions on the other side.  


There is no information anywhere on the binder about the publisher or designer(s). 
I tried Google, but can't find anything either.
If you know anything about this folder (I think it is part of a series), please let me know. I am mystified..

Oh, and can I just add that I paid a full $2.00 for this file...

Adelaide in Pictures 3: Junktion

In my pursuit of a place to join the Knitting in Public Week, I came upon this little gem of a shop in Marion.


Junktion is more than a shop though, it's a place where people meet, drink coffee, shop, share with the community and make friends.


The proprietor is a lovely woman called Pixi, who welcomed me into her shop like an old friend.


She describes Junktion as a Non profit Recycle store, but it feels more like a treasure trove filled with lots of clothes, household items, some furniture, books, lots of hand made stuff and... food.


The shop is delightfully decorated with all sorts of knitted and crocheted things to celebrate not only KIP-week but also International Yarnbombing Day which just happened to be this past week.


I went there to knit, but we talked so much, that between all the chatting and browsing, I didn't do any knitting!


I will have to go back for that...


So, if you are looking for a bargain, or a coffee, or a nice chat, or a piece of cake,


Junktion is the place to go.


Visit her Facebook page here.

Flower feedback: Franschoek 18

It seems Franschoek is the place for great love stories! 
Here's another beautiful story from Rumbi and Tristan.
This picture was taken way back in December 2012, but I only received it recently.


The love between Rumbi Goredema and Tristan Görgens took a little while to develop. They first met during Rumbi’s third year of school. She was taking a psychology class and he was the tutor. Despite Tristan’s valiant attempts to get the whole study group involved in discussion, Rumbi recalls that it “pretty much became a conversation between the two of us. With nineteen other undergrads there. Conventional start to a love story.”

Tristan and Rumbi lost touch for the next two years. They reconnected through work, as they both began working for an alumni association. Even though they saw each other at work every day, their romantic relationship was still slow to develop. Tristan remembers that “it was during the long meetings and period in between and after meetings that we could really get to know one another.” Over the months, they became good friends, and one day Rumbi got up the courage to ask Tristan out. She says, “Our first date was a disaster: neither of us was sure whether or not it was a date, and it dragged on for about six hours.” Even though the first date wasn’t great, they tried a few more times, and thanks to online chatting through their work, they finally connected. “We fell in love quickly after we started dating,“ recalls Tristan. This realization came when Rumbi left on a trip shortly after the two had gotten together, and they missed each other desperately.

According to Rumbi, “we’re a pair of homebodies” who spend most of their time at home. They both have jobs that keep them busy all day, so being at home is the perfect place for these two to relax at the end of the day and enjoy each other’s company. Although they have recently moved in together, Rumbi says, “I think as a couple, though, we like to create home within our relationship for each other.”

They both are very passionate about certain things, and love to have long talks out on the porch about current issues. Even with that, Tristan believes it is the balance between them that makes them work so well. “In some instances I am the impulsive and risk-taking one, and in others she will be the one who will stop me from dragging my heels and being too ponderous about decisions. And, perhaps most importantly, we are both intensely committed to one another’s happiness,” Tristan says.


Love can be hard to find. But the best love comes when you are not looking for it, like in a college study group, or at the office. In the end, it is the love that has taken its time that is the love that will last forever.