Eye spy Cape Town.

This week has been extraordinary.
We moved back into our pristine shop on Monday
and were trading instantly, out of the boxes!
So for 2 days we moved back in, selling our wares as we unpacked!
It was a bit surreal but a good feeling
having been closed for a week for a clean coat of paint.
‘Imagine on Belvedere’ is back!

We have had an English friend visiting for the week
and so between work shifts I got to re visit our city,
once again seeing it through fresh eyes.

What a treat to be reminded of that day
35 years ago when I too visited the mother city
for the first time and almost immediately
went back to the big smoke to resign from my job
and leave my apartment, piling my few belongings
into my little yellow mini
and heading for the tip of Africa.

We have been to Hout Bay, where we sat and soothed away the heat wave
with delicious local beers!

Our Englishman coped with 37 degrees better than we did!

Kirstenbosch, as ever delivered her special vistas and colours,
enthralling Jonathan.
Newlands forest, another favourite for a cool early morning walk, Moille Point and the promenade,
where we watched in awe as hang gliders
with tandem riders wafted down, landing perfectly on the narrow lawns
that lie between roads and rocks, high-rises and sea.
Hold your breath viewing!

We were drawn to Big bay to watch the kite surfers perform miracles
metres up, also ‘take a deep breath’ viewing.

We watched as the sun set over beaches whipped by warm winds
that drive the same kites skidding across the vast skies.

With vineyards done and compulsory Chapman’s peak driven,
It is good to reflect on this extraordinary and diverse city.
I am sad that our guest was unable to join me
on a visit to Nyanga on Saturday morning.
Woman Zone popped up for the second of the 13woman series, and yet another inspirational woman told her tale, Asanda Msuthu you blew me away,
so young and so very wise.
You can read more about this exciting initiative at http://www.womanzonect.com

A remarkable and emotional morning of story telling
topped off a spectacular week in our mother city,
not easily forgotten.

A snake’s tale.

Hidden in the depths of a densly forested area, surrounded by freshly spun
Golden orb spider webs (and no less complex), Guinea fowl with their week old chicks and Cape Robins scratching in amongst the fallen leaves that make up the forest floor,
there is something growing unusually fast in this, my all time
favourite Kirstenbosch Gardens.

This extraordinary development is getting more exciting by the day,
reaching heights never before reached in this part
of the enchanted garden, puncturing the skyline at it highest point.
It is not a Wild Almond, nor is it a Cape Saffron,
a Keurboom, nor is it a Tree Fuchsia.

It is none of these beautiful trees which inhabit this
“garden within a garden.”
This is something that is fondly referred to as “The Boomslang”
or literally translated the tree snake, and snake it does
high into the canopy, visually appearing as the skeletal
structure of this African snake.

It is made of steel and wood and is now being painted
a subtle green with wooden slats being laid underfoot.
This is a structure designed and created
to meander through the tree canopy and soon
hundreds of visitors daily will be able to enjoy the vistas.

People in wheelchairs  babies in pushchairs,
everyone will be able to glimpse the spectacular views into the tree tops,
bird watch or count waterfalls cascading off Table mountain
(one of the modern wonders of the world)
or gaze out towards Table Bay and the mountains that envelop and surround us.

It will give visitors a new perspective and understanding
of this previously seldom explored area of the garden and
soon the “Enchanted garden” will be a special whisper on every visitors lips.

Specialist teams are now putting the finishing touches
to this huge and exciting engineering marathon,
gently and carefully working around the treasure that
grows on the sloping ground below.
Although built as part of the Garden’s centennial celebrations in 2013,
the walkway will be completed in April 2014.

Cape Town was elected Design Capital of the world 2014,
and with this creative achievement, it is apparent why, we have some exceptional talent and visionaries in this mother city.

It has been planned with meticulous precision,
with virtually no changes to the pre-existing and hugely sensitive environment
but with such foresight that generations to come will
benefit from this amazing addition
to my favourite garden.

Wired up!

What a brief!

To create 16 wire worked baobab trees, as centre pieces
for a fund-raising function in Singapore.
Half a meter high, half a meter wide, adorned with roughly
150 double hanging crystals on each tree, candelabra style.
In roughly 6 weeks.
Fun times…

I have made these trees over the years but always at my pace.
Now I needed to find someone who could interpret my concept,
doing the heavy duty wire work meticulously,
keeping within the tight proportions and bringing in the creativity
req(wired) (sorry, just had to!) to create the look.

And so I set about looking for the right person to work with
and after 3 rather disastrous attempts, Voila! I found him.
John, the wire whizz with the wonderful smile and even more fabulous artistry.

Previously I have worked with a middle-man Richard, who hired someone, always
to remain anonymous to me, but a miracle worker.
Anon made the best trees, or so I thought.
Sadly, a few years ago Richard absconded with my hefty deposit,
never to be seen again and never to respond to my calls.
This is sometimes the way in Africa.
I often wonder what happened to Anon.
He made good trees.

And so it was with excitement and a smattering of trepidation
that John was appointed to make the first 5.
And then the next 10.
Always they were delivered at the appointed time and place,
always meeting my brief-within-a-brief.

When I collected the first order, John thanked me
for creating work in our country, employing people who need employment.
Each time I met with him he thanked me, with a warm handshake and a huge smile.

Humbling indeed to deal with such a man.
John is training people to wire-work with the discipline of time,
creativity and controlled briefs… He is up-skilling people
in the most positive way.
So, the trees are completed with roughly 2400 crystals
distributed throughout the ‘forest’.
(Thank you Sofi and Silje for your wonderful and unrivalled help)
Branches have been shaped and vases installed.
Now, the finished articles are boxed up and awaiting departure,
How exciting is this?
Nobody must ask me for my finger prints just now, I have none left.
My hands are raw but my creative soul replenished,
the house has been filled with rainbows,
on walls and tables wherever the finished trees settled.
This is a good feeling indeed.

I wish for more people like John in this country,
with such a positive attitude, attention to detail and teaching skills,
we as a country will start to sparkle like the crystals in the trees.
Who knows where it can lead us?