Author Archives: Administrator
At the mercy of beeps and vibrations
IT happens every time a plane taxis to a standstill on the tarmac and the seatbelt lights expire with a customary “ping”: There is frantic fumbling in the seats and aisles as cellphones are hurriedly switched on and, like nervous … Continue reading
What happened to those magic mushrooms of yore?
I AM mycophobic. I am ill with the fear of mushrooms. I fear how bland most commercially available mushrooms are. I fear that I will never again enjoy the pungent aroma and flavour of the delicious wild fungus that, in … Continue reading
Learning to say no
UNTIL recently, I thought of him as my roof repairman. But then, he dumped me. My fascias, it seems, had lost their fascination, my beams were too broad and my gutters too ghastly. Most painful though, was the fact that … Continue reading
Boating and a marriage proposal in Ireland
“IN Ireland,” wrote 19th century scholar and author, Sir John Pentland Mahaffy, “the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs.” I should not have been surprised then, when a life-worn old Irish dairyman – whose large and languid-looking herd … Continue reading
All steamed up about asparagus
ASPARAGUS has long been a most venerated vegetable. It is thought to have originated in the Middle East – the Persian word “asparg” means sprout – and upper-class Greeks and Romans cultivated and consumed it from as early as the … Continue reading
Romance and ravage on the Orange
REFLECTING the flames beneath long lashes, his dark brown eyes caught mine across the campfire. The slow smile that teased his tender lips took my breath away. In a strong, fluid motion, he rose – tall and lean – and … Continue reading
It’s a cellar’s market
HISTORIANS will tell you that caves provide the best environment in which to store wine. They will probably explain – almost certainly at great length, if my experience of historically-enabled individuals is anything to go by – that celebrated (and … Continue reading
New life for two warehouses and a church hall
IN the early 1900s, tailors, seamstresses and merchants sized, styled, stitched and sold clothing and textiles at 15 Buitenkant Street in District Six. On February 12 2010, the building revealed its vibrant, new theatrical garb. Little over six months prior, … Continue reading
Cruising in a big way
ASIDE from a brief phase of folly in my unfettered youth, I am not a cruising kind of woman. That is not only due to my predisposition to claustrophobia and seasickness. It is also because the thought of being closeted … Continue reading
Penny Haw 