The Restory Retreat Centre

  Dear friends and supporters, As many of you may have heard, for five days, Monday to Friday, we were completely without power here on Tafelkop after the snowstorm last week. For us, the rain and snowstorms are always a big challenge. We are located at the very tail end of a long, sparsely populated Eskom supply line, and this unfortunately means that we are often at the very back of the queue when repairs are made. This time it made us very aware of how vulnerable we are. For example, we had someone here on a private retreat, and he had to cope with the entire week without electricity with us. By day 3, the goods in the freezer had to be transferred to a freezer on a neighboring farm that has solar power. This made us realize that we can’t just hope that there will be few outages this coming summer, or that the next one will be shorter. There is also another side to our power problem. Our Eskom bill starts at around R3 400 each month (fixed line charges and tariffs), before we ha...

  When You Know But Still Do The Conversation  Elements From The Conversation  Remnants of sculptures at the bottom of the kiln. Snow outside, pottery workshop and Glühwein inside. In spite of disappointment and setbacks, we return to create again. To create is to live this life. Again, always, with love. George & Matilda

Tidal Wave  This week has washed over us like a tidal wave in preparation for the annual Wakkerstroom Arts and Crafts Festival, artists and festival goers staying on Tafelkop over the weekend, retreat goers coming on a 4-day structured retreat from Monday and retreat goers coming on a 3-night silent retreat next week. As part of all this, we converted the old bathroom into a wheelchair friendly facility. Last night it started to snow. There was just no opportunity for a conversation recording. The music is an island of tranquility in the midst of great activity. With love. George & Matilda

With New Eyes Molly listening to our recording where we tell about her experience. The opening where she fell through. The Conversation Elements From The Conversation  Snow-covered Tafelkop Music Click on the YouTube link in the block above to watch the video. With love and wishing you a spacious life.  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 -              ...

In December 2011 we experienced snow on a visit to  Prague Today being Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere and therefore the shortest day(length of daylight) of Winter as opposed to the longest day of Summer up North, I feel like concocting something special to celebrate the season. Me celebrating Winter? I must be either evolving or moving towards enlightenment! But searching through my many folders of photographs today looking for something to paint (I’ve enrolled in a watercolor course starting Monday), I discovered, to my utmost delight, how the winter palette speaks to my heart. Also, what really grabbed my attention as I scanned the internet for some interesting facts about solstices, is the incredible design of this little speck of dust in the expanse of space we call home. "The June solstice occurs when the sun is at its furthest point from the equator. It reaches its most northern point and the Earth's North Pole tilts directly towards the sun, at abou...

How does one tell about Prague? Three weeks of Prague? You try but know you’re not doing it justice. Also one doesn’t show too many photo’s. Someone else’s travel pics are hardly ever gripping stuff. So, you tell about the historical background, the art, the music that’s everywhere: on market squares, street corners, bridges. In churches and chapels. You tell about the dark periods of war and communism that left  scars throughout the city. About the river, the legends, the funeral of Vaclav Havel. You marvel at the many many sculptures everywhere: on bridges, against walls, inside walls, on rooftops. Sculptures as pillars for roof structures, sculptures that grace the corners of buildings, or crown them. Sculptures kneeling, praying, dancing, suffering. You tell about a strange sculpture of a dead horse hanging upside down from it’s legs with the knighted St. Wenscelas sitting on it’s stomach. It hangs from the ceiling of an Art deco palace where a movie theatre shows po...