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

— @HaggardHawks

My birthday week begins. Best present: Mom and my love got their booster shots and both feel fine.

Present to myself: writing. My beautiful friend Joanne and I decided to meet once a week for a morning of writing and just sit together in a room and do nothing but write and then have a simple lunch together and chat. Last week, I felt like the words were flying off my fingertips. This week they were flying on steroids. It is an amazing feeling to write again – to write the book which has been burning in me for over five years. Finally, it’s happening.

Monday is also household duties day, so I did a lot of that and then went for a swim, and in the late afternoon attended the first of five lectures by Karen Jennings at the UCT Summer School. It was wonderful to see Karen again and to listen to her was pure enlightening joy. I mostly had a great time during my university days, so I return to a lecture room with many good memories. Karen’s topic is fascinating: HOW SOCIAL INSECTS HAVE SCUTTLED ACROSS THE THRESHOLD BETWEEN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE THROUGH THE AGES. I can’t wait for the next four lectures.

It was lovely to see a young woman walk up to Karen after the lecture and ask her to sign a copy of An Island for her. She said that Karen has become her favourite writer and she is reading everything that Karen has written. I know how she feels – to discover writers through one of their books and then seek out everything else they have written is one of my favourite occupations.

In the evening, my love and I met up with two dear friends who are visiting from Europe and we exchanged stories while watching a spectacular sunset outside their cottage and delighting in delicious food and drink. It was the best end to a really good day.

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

Even the hippos are getting COVID-19 now. The fourth wave is crushing over us in South Africa and all I can think of are the friends we’d lost during the early waves when we had no vaccines to prevent the worst consequences of an infection, and I cannot understand how many people are still resisting this – now available and easily accessible – protection measure.

A real oysterhood weekend at home, mostly in couple solitude apart from a Sunday lunch with three COVID-19-recovered and fully vaccinated friends. My love has been under a lot of professional pressure recently and he really needed the rest and the calm joy of being with lovely people who care. We were both excited about serving a meal and wine to people who are passionate about the food and drink industry and very successful at what they do. What is most inspiring about them is that they do not stop at their own success, always sharing with and caring about those less fortunate than them. And our wonderful guests brought fresh oysters for us to enjoy and happily cooked up a storm in our kitchen to serve a beautiful sauce with the meat my love braaied for us. He also served some truly special wine from his cellar. I contributed salads and crème brûlée for dessert. Joint efforts, jointly enjoyed. It was an amazing afternoon.

I did do a little bit of work this weekend, but mostly I relaxed, read, watched TV and even indulged in a bath. Much needed down time after the intensity of the last few weeks.

On Saturday, it was my brother’s name day and we met on Skype with Mom for a celebratory breakfast that included a pastéis de nata from The Hoghouse on my side of the screen. It was also a dear Friend’s birthday and I hope to visit her early this week to celebrate the occasion. A small birthday parcel is waiting.

I think most of us are exhausted after the relentlessness of this tough year, and there are still three weeks of 2021 left to make the most of. I want to unwind and spend time with loved ones (in the safest possible manner). My love and I made great plans for Christmas. I can’t wait!

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

“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

The last three days have been so intense, with so many personal and professional ups and downs, that I did not have the headspace and time to write, but now I am being forced to come to a standstill.

Yesterday, I woke up with what felt like an ordinary allergic reaction. It’s spring and I have many allergies. I often wake up feeling like this during the season. I noted the change, but wasn’t too concerned – yet. Today morning, I woke up feeling different, like my body was fighting off something. In the olden days, I would have said that I might be coming down with a cold. I cancelled a coffee date with a future Karavan Press author, just to be on the safe side. I still delivered books to the distributor, but arranged a contact-free delivery. I worked an ordinary working day. In the late afternoon, my temperature started rising. It’s not terribly high; just worryingly THERE. Tomorrow morning, I will phone my doctor and try to arrange for a COVID-19 test. I informed the three people I have been in contact with two days prior to the onset of symptoms. I asked my love to stay away and isolate until we know more. Apart from all the professional commitments, we have so many lovely plans for the next while … Maybe it is just a simple cold. If it is the dreaded COVID-19, I don’t fear it for myself – I am fully vaccinated and feel confident now that I will be okay – but I am a bit worried about the people I have been in contact with. They are also all vaccinated, but still … I can isolate and wait this out, but others have families and responsibilities that make this much harder. What a bloody nuisance! And I am so sorry that I am causing distress to others.

I have tons of literary news to share, but all of it can wait. For now, I pray.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

“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

Rain. The sound is balm for the soul. Not sure how the roof feels about it, though.

Too much is changing and I am struggling to catch up. There are moments when I say to myself ‘I can’t; I am not coping.’ But, somehow, I manage in the end. And I found three lucky coins today. Good omens, let’s hope.

And, most importantly, my love and I have something wonderful to look forward to … I will report back on Sunday.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

“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

Christmas Day. My love and I spent the day being lazy together, first at my home, then at his, spending quality time with all the feline members of the family, and reading, sleeping, swimming, drinking bubbly and wine and having braai leftovers and Christmas cake. I treated myself to a sweet dinner with another small cake from the Hoghouse Bakery.

In the evening, I was on Skype with my Austrian family again. And now: bed. The Bosch Binge continues.

More sad news today, but also some good news. It is a constant emotional roller-coaster.

Last night, I had a nightmare about a post-apocalyptic landscape where everyone was lost and despairing. In the nightmare, I managed to find a freshly baked bread and was running to find my love to share the treasure when I woke up. For a few minutes, I was quite disorientated, but then the relief of our reality hit me – my love and I have bread and so much more to share – but even so, there are days when we struggle to keep despair and the feeling of being lost at bay. We are nearing three hundred days of lockdown. At the moment, the pandemic is raging again and we haven’t even reached the peak of the second wave yet. There has never been a good time to get sick, but now is probably one of the worst times to get infected. I keep thinking of the relentless pressure on the healthcare system, the people who care for us in our hours of need, how stretched and stressed they must feel, how utterly exhausted. I selfishly want to keep healthy, but I also want to keep healthy for them. They also need some rest.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

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

— NICD