The Restory Retreat Centre

  Food As Part Of Simple Living The Conversation Elements From The Conversation  Music Music in touch with things that take time to grow, are being prepared slowly and are enjoyed with abundance.  George & Matilda

 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 -              ...

Eylene at four years old (left) and at thirty (right). Not much that's changed. And yet. Eylene turned thirty yesterday. To celebrate the occasion, we went on an adventure, not unlike Winnie the Pooh and his friends when they went in search of the North Pole. We, a party of ten, however, went searching for the Neighbourgoods Market  in downtown Johannesburg.        We took the Gautrain, which is South Africa's only super modern express train. It runs between Pretoria and Johannesburg and we are very proud of it as the stations are kept neat and clean and one can pretend you are travelling abroad somewhere in a first world country.        Stepping off the train and following a myriad of cell phone gps's and hard copy maps, we set of to walk the 750 m to the market through an area we would normally not venture into. I felt excited by this, and sensed it in Eylene also, as we walked into the stomach of this vast African city, the sun ho...

Coffee In Heaven You'll be greeted by a nice cup of coffee when you get to heaven and strains of angelic harmony. But wouldn't you be devastated if they only serve decaffeinated while from the percolators of hell your soul was assaulted by Satan's fresh espresso smell?                                             John Agard              -- o -- Peas I always eat peas with honey, I've done it all my life, They do taste kind of funny, But it keeps them on the knife.                                             Anon