Book news, manis, eating out and staying in
Another funny old fortnight, the usual rinse and repeat routine dodging, diving, dunking and detouring loadshedding, potholes, faulty traffic lights, lawless drivers, corruption and crime - just another fortnight in South Africa.
The winter solstice has come and gone, and in our night skies tomorrow (Monday, 3 July 2023) will see the full moon lighting up the inky darkness of the celestial skies dark sky - la bella luna piena.
We have had beautiful sunny winter days and yet a day of rain to break the monotony of the week this last Wednesday. Rain is traditionally unseasonal in winter so that was expected, sudden and most welcome by our winter gardens and lawns.
We continue to work; me at the usual manic pace and I ventured into the office on rainy Wednesday.
The highlights of the last fortnight have been - a great pampering session at Legacy Nails; Skye's safe return from a lovely holiday visiting her family in the UK; treated to lunch at the Johannesburg Country Club in Auckland Park by my boss and his wife; an amazing event to promote my book, a delicious mexican themed dinner at Zen's and breakfast with Ros, whom I have not seen for far too many years and coffee with Tristan and Skye.
We got all spruced up for lunch at the Johannesburg Country Club last Sunday - I thought there would be a dress code so we had to be dressed accordingly but I was wrong; all dress codes (bar dinner jackets and ball gowns) were acceptable from leggings and hoodies to jeans and tshirts. The country club is in a beautiful huge property with magnificent trees and gardens; we sat on the wide verandah and enjoyed the vistas of the rolling green lawns up toe the forest edge. A magnolia tree was beautiful in full bloom and we were delighted with the sight of happy orange and yellow poppies - very unseasonal but climate change and global warming has nature well and truly confused. We had a very enjoyable lunch with Carol and Dinnie, along with the company of their son, Cameron. An interlude between courses afforded Johan the opportunity to perform his card artistry and fool Donald and Cameron with his card tricks. It was a great afternoon, very enjoyable and the food was good too! Spoiler alert: No photos were taken for the recording and accounting of this lunch.
The week started off with a hairy and stressful start but thankfully it ended on a far calmer and relaxed note. I did get to enjoy a rather emotional (the cause of the stress) with Paulo, my brother from another missus whom I never stop missing despite the passage of time since he left South Africa to move to Madeira. He is always in our corner providing the most incredible support and strength; he is amazing and we are so privileged he is an honorary member of our family.
Saturday, 1 July (how did it become July? You lie it is July?!?!) was a very productive busy day - I put more mileage on my car in one day than I had done in the last week (at least!) A grande Seattle cappuccino, en route to my Eating Disorders Anonymous meeting, helped kickstart my day.
EDA was an amazing meeting; errands and blow-dry by Roxy followed before I went to give a presentation to Bronwyn and Dominique's bookclub about my book. I was so honoured and privileged to be asked to join their bookclub to talk about my writing, read excerpts from "My Son Went to Rehab, I Went to Rome - A Journey of Hope" as did Bronwyn (thank you so much Bron!) and answer some questions. It was an incredible afternoon and copies of my book were sold which is always brilliant. It was truly a very special afternoon - thank you so much Bronwyn and Dominique!
Saturday evening we attended a mexican extravanganza meal at Zen's house to celebrate her 5 years of being in Jo'burg and remembering her parents on what would have been their wedding anniversary. Emily was also there, dear Emily who studied Drama at Rhodes University when I was the Drama Department administrator - we had a really great evening, ate far too much of very tasty food and Johan while not singing for his supper, did perform his magic tricks for dinner - it was a really awesome evening, thanks always Zen, food connoisseur and chef extraordinaire.
Sunday morning was an early rising day for yours truly as I had a 8.30am breakfast date with Ros, my friend of many years and colleague from Webber Wentzel, my very first place of employment when Morgan, Tristan and I relocated to Johannesburg at the end of August 2001. Despite our living in relatively quite close proximity we have not seen each other for far too many years and it was amazing to see Ros, enjoy breakfast and so much chatter. The rest of this Sunday was spent catching up on messages, updating social media for my book, a thwarted attempt to nap and a great visit to Tristan and Skye's home for coffee and more chatter. We have not seen Skye since her return and it was wonderful to see her and catch up; it was a lovely visit.
All in all, a fabulous weekend with so much to be grateful for.
Out and about, recommendations and referrals
Clearwater Mall
Legacy Nails - https://www.facebook.com/legacynailssandton
Super Sconto - http://www.supersconto.co.za/
Johannesburg Country Club, Auckland Park - https://thecountryclub.co.za/
Readers Warehouse - Lifestyle Centre Randpark Ridge
Streateatery - Lifestyle Centre Randpark Ridge
Foodlovers Market - Lifestyle Centre Randpark Ridge
Big F Car Wash - Lifestyle Centre Randpark Ridge
What have I been reading/are reading?
Paris by the Book by Liam Callanan
What have I been watching on the small screen?
My usual staple of "bubblegum" tv
The Night Agent
The Bear 2
What have I been listening to?
Podcasts:
Something was Wrong
True Crime Daily
The Trial of Lucy Letby
Scamanda
Betrayal
The King Road Killings
The 13th Step
Diss and Tell
Heart of The Matter
Audible:
I'm taking a break from Audible but need to get back onto Audible as I do have a lot of credits to use up!
Reminder: if you have read the book, please would you do me the honour of writing a review for the book's website and my author profile on Instagram. And if you are an Amazon client, if you would follow Barbara Steyn author on Amazon that would be fabulous and if you purchased your copy via Amazon, please would you be so kind as to review the book there. For book sales in South Africa contact me directly and international sales on Amazon:
Stay safe, keep warm in the winter climes and cool in the summer climes, and thank you for following this blog and reading it - I so appreciate each and every one of you!
Blessings, love and light xxxx