OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

It was just me and The Cats waking up this morning in our old brass bed. My love’s houseguests have left and he could return to his own home again. I went to visit his house today to do my washing. He has a brand new, state of the art machine that I had no clue how to operate despite very careful instructions. My visit did not result in much laundry being washed, but I did have a great time reconnecting with my love’s feline family member. On Skype, my brother diagnosed that my washing machine’s pump must have given up its ghost – I have a feeling that there is a transcontinental Skype washing machine pump replacement session coming up … Watch this space …

In the evening, my love and I went to the Vineyard Hotel for Bon Appétit!

Bon Appétit!, a captivating pairing of music and food, is brought to you from the Vineyard Hotel show kitchen. The flavours of Bernstein’s “La Bonne Cuisine: Four Recipes for Voice and Piano”, Bach’s unique secular Coffee Cantata Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (“be still, stop chattering”) and others will serve as hors d’oeuvres and main course. Dessert is Julia Child’s “deliciously decadent” chocolate cake recipe, reincarnated as a musical monologue by American Composer Lee Hoiby from a transcript of an episode of “The French Chef”. Join Chef Mike Basset and Cape Town Opera on this exciting culinary journey with musical direction from José Dias.

Book on Quicket

Superb voices, captivating performances, delicious food and ‘John Wick’ on the piano:

Loved it. I will be serenading my coffee tomorrow morning!

But first: sleep. Good night.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

I suppose it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to fit over three hundred people into a room during the pandemic, but we did manage to fit into a webinar. Thank you to all at All About Writing, to the inspiring Cathy Park Kelly and all who attended our webinar tonight. It was great fun, and it reminded me again: read, read, read, and be kind. The rest will follow.

I also saw my counsellor earlier today and spoke to her about the difficulties of writing my memoir, and I introduced her to Bobik and Rudolf and told her their stories. It fascinates me how all of these things are connected. How crucial it is to be seen, and to see; and, how sometimes you do not have to explain anything and yet those who love you understand.

At lunchtime, I was back at the Alma Café – they now offer Eggs Benedict. And they are really good. With the coffee Jono serves, the perfect treat. I walked home in the rain and remembered my grandfather always reminding me: ‘Karina, you are sweet, but not made out of sugar; you won’t melt in the rain.’

I didn’t.

Good night :)

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

This week is turning out to be an almost accidental tour of the Cape’s beaches. Fish Hoek today. I met a future Karavan Press author there for coffee.

Cold, rainy day. True autumn. I got into a hot bath in the evening.

The state of disaster is ending, and my Oysterhood Diary will be ready for printing. I never expected it to be sooooooooooo long. I might have to divide it into volumes, or waves.

This is happening tomorrow night:

Live Zoom Webinar
30 March 2022
17:00
UK time
18:00
South Africa Time

Click here to register: ALL ABOUT WRITING

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

I promised my counsellor that before seeing her again I would do this for myself: a walk on my favourite beach – Noordhoek. I added the bucket of Kristen’s Kick Ass Ice Cream to the deal of my own accord.

Great writing session with my lovely writing group this morning, but confronting the material I am mining for my book is highly triggering for me.

The walk did me a world of good. The beach was nearly empty, the wind merciless, the ice-cold water froze my veins, but I loved every second of it. Even all the sand that I now have in my hair.

One can feel autumn in the air. The afternoon light is gorgeous this time of the year. And tomorrow it might rain …

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

In the audience at Open Book Festival 2022! How good to be able to attend a live festival again, with all that it entails. I had quite a lot of work to get through this weekend, so could only attend a few events, but I loved it – all of it. And despite all the busyness, there was time for a fabulous dinner with lovely friends on Saturday evening (I cooked Scandinavian dishes from Andreas Viestad’s cookbook and my love served a few divine wines with them), a swim and some sunbathing, leisure reading and TV watching. All in all, a really satisfying weekend.

But no matter how intense, demanding and amazing our everydays are, somewhere in the background I cannot stop thinking about a drone video I saw on the BBC website – the cold-blooded murder of a Ukrainian civilian by Russian soldiers. The man was not armed and had his hands up in surrender when he was shot. Under other circumstances – i.e. during peace times, those times when a madman does not decide to destroy an entire nation because of some insane vision of his – with such clear evidence of what happened captured on video, the people who fired at the innocent man would be in prison, awaiting trail.

War is a crime against humanity. It is ungraspable.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

Friday, but not the end of the working week. I met with Catrina, Karavan Press’s literary agent, for coffee this morning, and we discussed future plans and possibilities.

Some admin, many emails, eBook formatting and a short chat with Mom and Krystian followed. In the late afternoon, it was time for the Opening Bash of the 2022 Open Book Festival!

The Fugard Theatre is no more and so much else belongs to a distant, pre-pandemic past, but – somehow, against all the odds – here we are, having another Open Book Festival. Although almost everything about it feels different this time, I am sure that it will be as thought-provoking and inspiring as always. It is simply miraculous to see it back on Cape Town’s events calendar. And I love the new venue: Bertha House. Only five minutes away from home :)

In the evening, my love and I had dinner with his family at The Hoghouse. Delicious as ever!

Beauty sleep, here I come!

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

A month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Every day, I read the reports and look at the images and I still cannot grasp how this has become reality, how millions of people have to go through hell because of the insane visions of a psychopath. It makes me realise, not for the first time, that we need to learn how to prevent these people from accessing that kind of power. We need to learn from history, we also need to learn from our personal experiences. The one will follow from the other – the connection is obvious. I am writing about it.

We launched An Island at EB Cavendish tonight. I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen at the event. A wonderful evening of celebration.

Quite a few of Karavan Press titles were on display and it was a joy to see, to know that we made these beauties happen.

I delivered the author copies of our latest – The Other Me by Joy Watson – to Joy in the afternoon. Always a magical moment.

Karavan’s next stop: Open Book Festival :)

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

I might be back home, but in my head, I am walking with Felix and Thobile around Oudrif. The return home has not been easy – there is just so much happening. Nothing gigantic, but all the small tasks and responsibilities and deadlines that channel into a sense of restlessness. I saw my counsellor yesterday and that helped. Lester was in town for a workshop and we could chat briefly and have a quick bite beforehand. Also good for the soul, and in the evening, I cooked dinner for dear friends – which was absolutely wonderful. But I might have had a bit too much wine :)

One of Topolino’s warning signs came on yesterday when I was turning into the garage and I dread to find out what it means. Especially since the water in our area has been switched off yesterday without any warning and my ancient washing machine could not cope with the sudden challenge in the middle of a cycle. I wasn’t home to save it in time and now it is broken. These things always happen simultaneously. And to cope with one at a time is already difficult enough. I still haven’t managed to replace my damaged desktop computer …

New Covid-19 regulations are in place and the state of disaster should be coming to an end soon. Even though it is allowed now, I still could not walk without my mask outside yesterday. By now, I understand that the risks are minimal or non-existent in this context, but there is something about the habit of having your mask on when you are among strangers that makes me feel safe(r).

I am sorry that even with a vaccination mandate, theatres and other indoor venues cannot be filled to capacity. The arts industry is surviving on a prayer.

I wish surviving would transform into thriving …

Good literary news: I am picking up the latest Karavan Press title from the printers today. And tonight, we are celebrating Karen Jennings and her An Island at EB Cavendish. I can’t wait.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

I love it at sunrise and sunset, also at moonrise, day and night, in any weather, even in the heat; when it is dry, like last weekend, or when the flowers have just come out after the rains. Always. Apart from my own home, this is the place I always want to return to: Oudrif.

It was my love’s birthday weekend. And Oudrif was the treat, chocolate cake from The Hoghouse and all. On the way there, we found out that the loveliest of people were also coming, so our weekend could not have been more perfect than it was. Maybe a little bit cooler (but only for my love, who does not do as well as I do in the heat).

I stayed in or close to the river. The water was very muddy this time around, and a crab pinched me in the thigh (I am certain it wasn’t a fish nibbling, as I was sitting on the river’s floor, only my head sticking out at the time, and the pinch was a pinch, not a nibble), and the river lilies were in full bloom, their scent intoxicating.

Where the river bed was dry, I walked on the hot stones and my bare feet loved the heat sinking in through the soles.

And we walked in the veld, listening to Bill’s stories and ancient stones and their magnificent colours; and Felix, The Cat, walked with us this time (a first for me, and I loved it, too).

And I read at sunrise, and in a hammock near the river, and I watched the light yawn and stretch in between.

The food was delicious as always. Jeanine and Bill are the best cooks of veggies – of most things, really – I know.

The company was the best of all. Not only human …

And I saw my moon shadow and marvelled at the Earth, how it must also rise and set, all glowing and mesmerising, if one is watching from another planet.

I came home restored to myself. But now, one day into ordinary life, my cheeks are sore and my heart full of longing for the calm and wonder of Oudrif. Thank all goddesses that we will be returning next month already. With such a prospect ahead, I can face anything!

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD

OYSTERHOOD is reclusiveness or solitude, or an overwhelming desire to stay at home.

— @HaggardHawks

One of those wonderful mornings when, even though there was a lot of computer work to be done, it could be done in bed, Salieri catsissting :) We got up only at lunchtime. Then the afternoon became less relaxed, but richly rewarding: meetings, deliveries, last-minute arrangements for a trip, a visit at Digital Action to pick up the printer’s proof of The Other Me by Joy Watson, and the highlight of the afternoon: showing it to Joy – she was so clearly moved, my heart burst into double delight. This moment never loses its wonder, no matter in what part of the publishing process you are involved. You work and work and work on something quite ungraspable, and then, one day, you are holding it in your hands, and it is a book. A real art object in the world. And when it has your name on the cover, it is pure magic.

I stopped running a few minutes after six and then could just sit quietly for a little while before my love returned from work and we went out to dinner. Our friends prepared a feast of note in their beautiful home, where two felines rule the house and they all have the most remarkable view of the city. I wish I could have recorded the conversation and the laughter to save for a rainy day, because I haven’t laughed so much in a long time. It was wonderful. And I had seconds and thirds and … then I lost count. The food was so delicious.

The day ended with a trip to the airport to pick up my lovely houseguest who abandoned us for a few days in favour of Joburg. I still planned to watch the Nadal / Kyrgios match, but did not last even ten minutes … Rafa won, though, so all is good. I wish I could watch his next encounter – with the super-exciting newcomer Carlos Alcaraz Garfia – but that will also not be possible, because …

… it is my love’s birthday weekend and we are heading to Oudrif. Oudrif. Oudrif! :)

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local. Get vaccinated, please. Live.

“Physical distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic.”

— NICD