The Restory Retreat Centre

My sister Marinetha and I (left) during one of our annual seaside holidays. Strange forces are at work in the creative process. I often find myself buckling under the heavy hand of a dry spell that settles on the back of my neck and keeps my vision aimed downward. Downhill it rapidly pushes me and soon I find myself in a dark valley where I am convinced that no light ever reaches. No spark of inspiration seems possible as I don't really have the capability of NOTICING things to produce the necessary spark.       I know rationally that at such times the trick is to simply carry on creating. Even if it feels hollow or nothing much. To just keep going. But it is almost impossible to propel my inner artist to do this when there is simply nothing that excites.       At other times it is a subtler enemy that sneaks in and knocks me off balance. I get a commission to make a really special gift  for a really special person on a really special occasi...

There's something magical about the Farmer's Market held on the grounds of the Pioneer's Museum every Saturday from 05:30 to 09:30, come rain or shine. And I suspect it's exactly these ungodly hours that gives it its charm! To get parking within a decent walking distance to the gates, you need to get there really early, which, during these shortening autumn days, means arriving along with scores of others and strolling through the myriad of stalls in near darkness for close on an hour before the sun leisurely shows up. Many stalls sport their own ingenious methods of lighting in the twilight zone, ranging from all manner of lamps to small generators powering electric light, but as the day dawns, the incredible abundance of all things natural and hand made and gorgeously wholesome spill into view and my senses do somersaults in my still rather sleepy body. A little boy scoops handfuls of rose petals from a bucket his father is carrying and throws it up into the ai...

668 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2012. The 2013 statistics - 249 already killed. It is so difficult to protect a wild thing. The growing number of rhinos lost despite a variety of methods implemented by authorities is a case in point. It asks for a multidisciplinary approach. It costs a lot of money. As ordinary people we can make donations and get involved in the work of a number of organisations such as http://www.kariega.co.za/about-us/help-save-our-rhino-project and http://www.savetherhino.org/support_us/donate to name but two. On Fridays we can wear our T-shirts to raise awareness about this very important issue. Despite the challenges we cannot give up trying. The haunting question remains: once the rhinos are gone, what will be next? Or deeper still – can the rhinos help us to become aware of and open our hearts to the rest of creation as well? Even to people? George

“And this our life, exempt from public haunt,  finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,  sermons in stones, and good in everything.  I would not change it.”                                                         William Shakespeare, As You Like It

“He’s at the door again, Honey.” “I know. He’s been there all night. Making that high whining sound.” “We have to do something. The phone has been ringing non-stop. I think his presence was the only thing preventing the neighbours to come over in person and complain about his presence. You can’t blame them. His rear must be in, I would say, Ostrich Ave, and his wings stretch from here to the primary school on the one side and the traffic circle in Dan Pienaar Dr on the other. What a mess!” “I am sorry, Love. I never should have mentioned how lonely he looked there on the tarmac after we’ve landed. It was just that I wasn’t that aware of him during our flight. But seeing him from outside and all the people leaving him in such a rush after travelling together for that distance... They didn’t even look in his direction. It just felt right to say thank you.” “Shhh... It’s not your fault. How were you to know that he was going to follow us home? We just have to stay ...

Glory be to God for dappled things— For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; -Gerard Manley Hopkins

Discovering Prague's delights Writing my recent post  Any pair will do , reminded me of one of the most memorable summons we've had to a bookshop and the cache awaiting us there.     During our visit to Prague in December 2011, Linda showed us around the city just before Christmas. As we crossed the famous Charles Bridge, she showed us one of the sights we were heading to - the Franz Kafka museum.    But she had a few surprises up her sleeve and one of them was                                                            Shakespeare & Sons As far as we know, it is the only second hand bookshop in all of Prague dealing in English books! Being in the part of the city called The Old Town, the building is many centuries old and coming in from the icy cold through the huge wooden door on street level...