The Restory Retreat Centre

  Our brother-in-law, William, loves the simple things in life – sunsets, a nice cup of coffee, hearty meals with family, a bowl of home made Barrowfield yoghurt, a good joke. Growing up in Douglas in the Northern Cape instilled in him this deep appreciation for the gentle beauty and value of ordinary things. For the largest part of his adult life – 31 years to be exact – he has worked as an electrical engineer at Sasol in Secunda. Not the ideal setting for someone touched by matters that feed the soul.  We weren’t surprised when he started beekeeping a number of years ago. It suits his character and acted as a very good counter-balance to his work at Sasol. He placed 2 hives behind the stone wall in our garden and it has been a wonderful journey for us too, learning through William more about these little miracle workers of nature. And we feel rich beyond belief when our bottles of “liquid gold”, tasting of Barrowfield, stand on the pantry shelf at the end of a good season. I...

We’ve just completed the first unit of our Living School program. Not the easiest of entries I might say. It’s like learning a new language while reading St Bonaventure (1259), The Cloud of Unknowing (late 1300’s) and Teresa of Avila (1577). “It sounds quite boring” you might think. “Being busy with all that old stuff of ancient dead people long forgotten. Their thoughts and words are of no use for us living in the 21 st century; merely the eccentric interest of a few nerds busy naval gazing. There are such a large number of recent exciting authors and books. Why not stick to them? ” I am totally with you on the exciting recent authors and publications. But we are only now discovering the value of the long dead and buried for our survival and for daily living. I experienced it in a very concrete manner again this past week. My brother-in-law William, a budding bee keeper, earlier this year, placed two bee hives close to our vegetable patch. The bees’ presence and cons...

 This weekend past is one of those we will talk about in future, stating the date, and reminiscing on how extraordinary and special it was.     We knew up ahead that the unusually hot Spring days would be countered by a severe cold front that was moving in from the Southern part of the country and which would be reaching us around Saturday afternoon.   Snow was being predicted for the higher parts of the country and this would send icy winds our way. We were also looking forward to a family visit and felt comforted in the knowledge that the old stone house would keep us cosy and warm as we shared time together.      Naturally, a menu was planned with all of this in mind. I had pampering in mind, Grandma style: -               -  A vegetarian pasta with hot lemongrass tea for Saturday lunch -              ...