Lush, now in Durban!

Last month I was thrilled to see this at Gateway Theatre of Shopping

And yesterday, I followed my nose (the store smells amazing due to all the different essential oils in their product range) and bought a huge chunk of yummy honey soap.

What I love about the Lush brand is that the products are handmade, against animal testing and, directly from their website: "effective products from fresh*, organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics"

Update

I've just found the asterisk after "fresh" and "organic" above is for: "We also believe words like "fresh" and "organic" have an honest meaning beyond marketing"

Christmas came early

Fate favoured me in Denise's prize draw for the translucent tangerine vinyl vase from Freshly Found.

So I went to collect my prize (no point in posting between two Durbanites) and Denise gave me a bag which I thought contained only this gorgeous vase.

Photo: Freshly Found

When I opened the parcel at home I found it was FULL! of lovely lovely LOVELY! goodies from Freshly Found.

I was so surprised. Opening all the beautifully wrapped gifts was like an early Christmas.

If you'd like to find out more about all the marvellous things Denise makes, follow her blog here

Assagay coffee

Recently we got the chance to tour the coffee farm of Assagay Coffee (available locally).

Coffee trees

It's a complete tour from seedlings to tree and fruit to dried bean, followed by the sorting and roasting. The process is very labour-intensive and a lot of love and skill goes into a cup of coffee. The roasting part is the most complicated because that affects the flavour so significantly.

After the tour we were treated to a cup of coffee and some yummy banana loaf and pecan pie in the farm coffee shop.

Banana loaf (baked in a mini loaf tin) and pecan pie.

You can go on a tour too, they're not very far from central Durban. Contact them on 0317821268 or 083640223.

Heart Market next weekend

I've always loved the designs of these posters but I think this one is the best so far. Design and concept by Dominic Strauss.
Take note: The market is on the North side of the stadium this month.

Don't say "Stupid"

I came across this sign as I drove home last night...

Apologies for the quality of the image - I was stopped at the robot (traffic light to non-South Africans) and it was raining.

Telkom - hard at work

Would you believe it. Telkom was working on our lines yesterday (intermittent internet, interchanged with intermittent phone) and we had not one, not two...

but...

three(!) Telkom trucks in our street (there are two on the right).

September Spring Shopping Saturday

The I Heart Market is this Saturday. And if you're busy on Saturday morning, you could always go to the Jomba! City festival at North beach skatepark on Friday 31 August where there will also be a nighttime I Heart Market!

And for people like me who like to know exactly where they're going there's even a map!

Bamboo toothpicks and take-aways

A strange ironic delight fills me each time I read the caution on what was actually a set of chopsticks. I think what has happened is the packaging was originally intended for toothpicks but has been used accidentally to wrap chopsticks.  It's rather like the "open packet and eat nuts" instruction on a packet of nuts but what bothers me most is that the toothpick may be more likely to hurt your mouth than your finger!

 

"Toothpick may hurt your finger"

And to Mooki Noodles, I'd like to say:

Getting crafty

A little while ago I was lucky enough to visit Fat Tuesday in Kloof where I treated myself to (amongst other things) a cool set of postmark stamps. I hurriedly used them on some gift wrap to justify their purchase. Future plans for the stamps include more gift wrap and some birthday cards.

A postscript (if you will): the UNISA logo is not one of the stamps. It's just me recycling a very old envelope.

Yay Durban! c/o Mr Price

Two of Mr Price's favourites today are Durban-based. Yay!
http://www.inthefashionloop.com/girls/10-things-we-love-now/

Hope to see you there...

I've been looking forward to this for weeks!

Friday Favourites

First an old favourite (old as in I have been following since I started blogging). Tania Kindersley is a woman with the most exquisite turn of phrase. Her blog is a daily delight and now I find that she has a second more "instant" blog, here, with one-liners and magnificent pics like this one:

Secondly, I have found (at last) a maker of ragdolls I can truly love. Her name is Angelica Pelati and she makes a range of speciality cakes and custom homemade plushies. She'll be at the i heart market on Saturday and I'm hoping to get my paws on one of these:

News just in - i heart market's new location

Ladies & gentlemen (trumpet, drumroll etc): the i heart market has a new home at the Moses Mabhida Stadium north podium (oops, nearly wrote North Pole!). I'll see you there on 1 October 2011 between 9am and 2pm.

Shopping and writer's block

Today, right in front of me and blocking my way, is writer's block. My mind is very very busy and stringing together a coherent sentence is proving to be an impossible task. So instead of the usual text-supported by image, it is my pleasure to present (as the circus-master says) some images supported by text.

Last Wednesday, while out looking for new Globe chairs (the centre chair in the photo below)...

I popped into Caboodle at 106 Bulwer Road and got a chance to catch up with Denise from Freshly Found. She has so many charming crochet items and I fell in love with this excellent crochet bracelet which hopped into my bag and came home with me. 

Talking with Denise got me all fired up about the i heart market on Saturday where I bought this ceramic trinket box with the little heart and miniature roses. 

To my surprise and delight, the inside of the lid has a repeat of the pattern that is embossed on the outside of the box.

The market was wonderful. We were treated to music and singing while we shopped (what could be better) and the whole school was buzzing with activity.

Mid-month I Heart Market

This Saturday, the 17th, there's a bonus i ❤ market. It's at Chelsea Drive School upper campus on Northway in Durban North. The school is holding an arts festival so there will be music and singing and dancing (would that there were "music and moonlight and love and romance" but since it's raining today, just sunlight will be welcomed).

Learned something good today

The i heart market is on this Saturday, 9th July, just at a different venue (see right).  I feel like it has been arranged just for me because I wasn't home on the 2nd of July and thought I was going to miss this month's market. Yippee!

Back at home (and so glad to be here).

Well, we are back at home and I am so relieved to be here. There really is (as Dorothy said) "no place like home". We had a truly wonderful holiday but to be back in my own bedroom and my own kitchen with familiar possessions and kitchen utensils is like a holiday in itself. The sense of comfort from what is familiar is impossible to achieve anywhere else but at home. 

Today has been delightfully event-filled

Lunchtime today was at Vida e Caffé, Gateway and opposite was the iStore with the queue for the new iPad (iPad 2) going out the door and down the passage.

When I visited my parents this afternoon there was great news in the Mercury. Madame Zingara's circus (and the fabulous food) is coming back to Durban. Check out www.madamezingara.com and take some friendly advice: don't hesitate before making your booking, tickets sell like hotcakes!

And then this evening my husband brought home the cutest "Royal Couple Cookies" - so named by his colleague who bought a "couple" for everyone on their team.

All linked-up today (makes me think of "joined-up" writing)

I'm just happy being me.

Soon the April I ♡ Market will be upon us (hooray). I am really looking forward to it since I was unable to get to the March market. I'm sad that lisa&joe won't be there but look forward to seeing them back at the market as soon as they are able.

Today's special mention goes to Nadia of Cupcake Couture who has done a BRILLIANT post about blogging and the blogging community that we are a part of.

Still holding on and holding out, but in the meantime...

While my heart remains stuck in my throat waiting for the results of my friend's blood tests, I'm thinking of some lines from Macbeth which often pop into my head: "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day" William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5, scene 5. These lines manage to describe exactly how I feel when waiting for the results of something important. It's as though time is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out. 

Meanwhile (in other news) I visited I ❤ Market on Saturday, and must say that it was super-cool. I got some great gifts for family and friends and got this "Blogging Tea & Cupcakes" badge (left) for myself from Cupcake Couture who also presented me with one of her ribbon rosettes in exchange for the buttons for her Button Hunt. The crocheted headband bought from Freshly Found (right) will be a gift for my niece when we eventually get our trip to the UK planned. I chose the butterfly because my husband photographs insects (macro photography) and so the gift represents both him and me.