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

— @HaggardHawks

Friday felt like a marathon with one pit stop. It started at the printers with an attempt to make pool water look blue, not green, on a cover of a book, and at the same time not to make the author look sunburnt on the flap of the same cover. And all of this on paper that is not entirely white, and when it is laminated, it looks slightly different than before, too. I think we got it now and I can’t wait for readers to dive into Melissa’s first novelette, The Pool Guy.

The rest of the morning was reserved for the final corrections of the last Karavan Press book of the year: Cathy Park Kelly’s Boiling a Frog Slowly. It is going to print on Monday.

I returned home just in time for a book pickup by another Karavan Press author and wanted to lure her into having lunch with me at HARU (no time for breakfast, so I was starving), but she had to run, and so I decided to enjoy the delicious break on my own, pink wine and all.

Luxury of all luxuries nowadays: while eating, I started reading a new book just for the pure pleasure of it. I picked Abudulrazak Gurnah’s Memory of Departure. The reading itself is a pleasure, but the content is shockingly sad. I am almost scared to turn the pages.

Is the latest Harry Bosch out yet? Even a crime novel might be an emotionally safer read in comparison.

The rest of the day: A D M I N. I finished late in the evening. After a leftovers dinner, I watched one episode of Star Trek: Picard with Krystian. By the time it ended, it was well after ten and I could not keep my eyes open any longer.

Karavan Press has one cover shortlisted for the GBAS Book Cover Design Awards, and Disruption also made it!

Disruption is now available as an audio book, too:

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 Moti brothers were freed. FW de Klerk died. The mini-budget speech was delivered. Eskom announced that loadshedding will be suspended tomorrow morning (for now). And it wasn’t even three in the afternoon yet. Interesting times on steroids.

I just worked all day long until four-thirty when I left Noordhoek (where I was completing work on a manuscript with an author) and went to join a few lovely friends for drinks and a light supper. It was a beautiful late afternoon/evening full of true magic.

But all day long I have been thinking about McGregor. I am going there for the Poetry Festival and a few days of just sitting in the sun and doing NOTHING. The idea of these idle sunlit hours in McGregor makes me want to travel there immediately, even now in the middle of the night. Soon …

Until then, I continue dreaming.

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

Five years ago, I sat at a dinner table, feeling too miserable for words and watching the man sitting across tell wonderful stories with an exuberance that was charming and inspiring. All others at the table were also entertaining and kind, and I went home feeling a little bit less sorry for myself than before.

Today, that man is my love and my life is millions of miles away from the misery of that life-changing evening. We cannot have dinner together tonight because my love is travelling, but we did have a few minutes to ourselves this morning and he gave me a beautiful gift – an Alice Toich | Beagle & Basset artwork that is balm for the eye and gentle comfort to the touch. Simply beautiful.

A day of work otherwise. An evening of remembering, quiet love and gratitude.

Good night.

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

Glinka and the vet survived this morning’s visit to the clinic. I am still nursing my wounds. She was IMPOSSIBLE in the car, and WORSE at the vet’s, but we made it. She is now fully vaccinated for another year and the only totally healthy cat in the family. Mr Mozart’s blood test results showed the beginnings of a kidney issue, but we hope he will respond well to a different diet. We are getting older and frailer. And all my loved ones are officially on special diets. Me too: the pink bubbly diet (the only thing that helps).

The rest of the day was just an avalanche of work-related issues – the highlight was the delivery of author’s copies of Beat Routes to Justin. The poetry collection has been many years in the making, so it feels special to have it finally ready to face the world. I also had the privilege of reading Stephen Symons’s latest poems and am awed. We are so ready for the McGregor Poetry Festival!

I visited our printers today. Loadshedding is ridiculous to manage for such businesses. We might not get all the books printed according to schedule, but we have to be kind and patient under the circumstances – everyone is struggling.

This wasn’t exactly struggling, but I got myself takeaway breakfast this morning and had it in the car in my driveway, listening to the radio, during this morning’s power failure. It almost felt ordinary … In all this chaos, no wonder.

My love is going off on a short business trip tomorrow and we had dinner at HARU tonight. The small-big pleasures in life.

Did I mention I am tired?

Baie moeg.

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

Loadshedding galore. Before the lights went off this evening, I thought: let me use this time to catch up with my ironing. Duh. Then: maybe I can mow the lawn before it gets dark? Duh. And finally: backwash the pool? Triple duh.

I braaied a simple dinner for us and, when my love went home, I drank a glass of red by candlelight and wrote this post on my fully charged laptop. Will put it up when the power comes back on.

But otherwise, this has been a good day. Lots of work got done and the vet gave me relatively good news: Salieri’s results have improved in two out of three areas. The most important one – the thyroid – is finally within acceptable levels. Still on the high end of the scale, but better than it has been in months. The liver is just lagging behind after the onslaught it has endured. No operation. Raincheck in three months. We continue with the strict diet.

And Mr Mozart also braved his annual visit to the vet today and got all his vaccines, especially his rabis refresher now that there is an outbreak in the Cape. I am a bit worried about his kidneys, but let’s see what the blood results will say in his case. He was very dapper in the car and at the vet’s, but was completely disorientated after our return home. Poor thing. It took him a while to figure out where he was and what was what. And he is staying close to me now – just making sure that he is safe.

It’s Glinka’s turn tomorrow. I am expecting some hissing bravado and a complete refusal to travel in the cage. Whose resolve will be stronger? Well, no points for guessing it right!

For the rest of loadshedding, since I can’t do my ironing, I am getting into a bath with a book that has been begging to be finished for weeks (not much time for reading for pure pleasure these days). Thank goodness that we are not approaching day zero while this eskoming goes on! What would I do during loadshedding evenings without the possibility of getting into the bath …?

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

What a great weekend!

It started off with a few hours of work on Saturday morning and, to be honest, the work should have continued around our social engagements but, in the end, the fun took over and it was just great.

On Saturday, we met friends for lunch who, due to serious health concerns, had been in self-imposed lockdown level five until they could get fully vaccinated. This was their first outing to Cape Town since March last year! And we made the most of it. A feast at FYN and post-feast drinks at Culture Wine Bar.

There were two literary wines involved in the afternoon, one from the UK (!), the other from France.

The Jane Eyre was a gift that I brought home with me that evening and it will be waiting to be opened for a special occasion. Not too long, it seems … there are so many reasons to celebrate, especially after this weekend!

When I finally fell into bed on Saturday evening, my heart was filled with gladness – that our friends made it through the madness of hard lockdown for one and a half years, and that they are now safe enough to go out of their house and celebrate life and friendship with us.

And if I hadn’t know it already, the fact how precious all of this is would have been brought home to me on Sunday morning when I briefly met with a friend at the Baxter for the Christmas market and she told me about one of her friends who has been fighting for his life due to COVID-19 in ICU for the past three months. It was good to see my friend, but so sad to think that this is still happening all over the world despite lockdown and vaccination efforts.

Sunday lunch was with new friends on a farm in the stunning Banhoek Valley. For someone who usually does not drink white wine, I enjoyed myself tremendously throughout the afternoon. The company was amazing and the wines a beautiful surprise. I might turn out to be a white wine drinker after all …

And because we hadn’t had enough fun yet, in the evening we went to the Alma Café to hear Derek Gripper perform magic on his guitar. He is a genius. To listen to him play is a spiritual experience. And there was Retha’s lemon meringue pie … Bliss.

During the first half of the show, though, I was also trying to watch with one eye on my phone the live feed, on silent, of the SALA ceremony, so I did not really know what was going on, but eventually the fantastic news reached me that Karen Jenning won the K. Sello Duiker Memorial Literary Award for her An Island. Is there a better way to end a weekend?

And we are reprinting the book again! It will need a new sticker …

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

A good end to the working week: almost everything accomplished on the to-do lists and three lovely social gatherings. Yesterday, my love and I hosted a dinner for friends, and because I knew that they were all doubly vaccinated after having had COVID-19, they felt like the safest people to have around a dinner table. And they are always great company. So, we had an evening of wonderful relaxation and indulgence, and I went to bed with a heavy head but a happy heart and woke up with an even heavier head, but still a very happy heart. No regrets.

Today in the afternoon, I had coffee with my beautiful friend Debbie and we discussed, among other things, the drafts for her artworks that I would like to feature on a future Karavan Press book cover. She brought a lovely pink wine for us to enjoy, but after last night’s extravaganza, I had to say no. Next time :)

And tonight, my love and I went to see book publicist Jean-Marie Korff perform at the Alma Café in her other role as one of the band members of Die Melktert Kommissie. Another great evening of live music.

Mint tea on a Friday night. My poor liver is no longer twenty, that’s for sure.

More socialising is planned for this weekend, but also quite a lot of work. I am bracing myself.

On Monday, we will have Salieri’s latest blood test results. She hasn’t lost any more weight and the vet said that she looked good. She has good and bad days, but she is very dapper and loving, and I hope the vet will give us good news.

But first, sleep.

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

What else is there to say on a day of pure literary joy like this?

DAMON GALGUT WON THE BOOKER!

I am thrilled for him. This is the recognition that his talent, vision, dedication and brilliance deserve. Wow! Finally.

I have just looked at the list of all his novels and realised that I’d read them all. I have been a fan for a very long time. When accepting the prize, Damon mentioned that he is working on a short story collection and I wonder whether the one he wrote for Touch: Stories of Contact will be included. It is one of the most exquisite pieces of writing I have ever read.

How absolutely wonderful that this has happened to him. The Booker. And now, Damon’s engaging and enriching work will be read and celebrated across the world like never before. This makes me happy.

A few years ago, at the FLF: with Fanie Naudé, Damon and Ivan Vladislavić – one of the most exhilarating festival events I ever had the honour of chairing.

(And the news that, as of tonight, we sold out all the available tickets for the Karavan Press Literary Festival is also really great! :))

Good night.

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

I am usually good at following instructions, but when these are not clear and no one is around to assist you, things can become very frustrating, especially when you are trying to juggle a million other tasks at the same time. Needless to say, I really failed – again – at something, and by the time I discovered how to solve the problem, it was perhaps too late. Let’s see. The good thing is that when I was running around this morning like a headless chicken, I found another lucky coin which cheered me up. Rainbows, lucky coins, signs. In all this chaos, one has to hang on to something.

Did you see the petrol price increase!? It made me reconsider my attitude towards bicycles. There was a time in my life (between the ages of fourteen and nineteen), when I cycled and trained every day and participated in two road races almost every weekend (I was hopeless at it, but I finished every single race I entered). Then, I let go. And since coming to live in Cape Town, I haven’t cycled apart from rare occasions when I visit my family in Austria again. Looking at the petrol price, I wish cycling was as safe and effortless as it is in Austria. Luckily, I am still a walker and I often walk to my destinations. Topolino will have to stay at home in the garage more often from tomorrow onwards …

Loadshedding. No surprise there, but oh, what a nuisance! Navigating most days without loadshedding is a challenge. With loadshedding, I just want to sit in a corner and give up.

Following the election results, I cannot help but wonder how people denied the vote for decades do not actually exercise their right when it is finally possible, especially in a country where things are not exactly going in a great direction. I was heartened to see that many of my friends exhibited their inky thumbs throughout yesterday and today, but still … It’s like vaccinating – if not enough people do it, the results are good for some, but not the majority of people.

My last task for today was a lovely book delivery (reading copies for the festival). I got home by about five and was relieved that the only thing remaining to be done was cooking dinner. And now, I am just going to have an early night. I am a walking zombie.

585 days since the beginning of our lockdown.

Good night.

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

I met with three lovely authors this afternoon at the Vineyard to discuss and celebrate different projects – one of the authors was Melissa A. Volker, and I was able to introduce her to The Pool Guy in all his glorious bookish flesh. Melissa’s first novelette will be available in bookshops later this month and we hope to launch it properly early in December. Details to follow.

The other two authors also brought smiles to my lips and I went home a happy woman. Then, I saw this rainbow on the way and made a wish and was simply in a good mood.

In the evening, I made a fire and braaied a monster steak for my love and myself. Glinka insisted on having a bite, and Salieri, out of frustration that she was not allowed to have any (because of her strict iodine-free diet), went out into the garden and caught herself a frog. Fortunately, I rescued the poor thing in time before his legs became Salieri’s dinner. No kisses of gratitude, though.

The Karavan Press Literary Festival is nearly booked out. I am thrilled.

I wish I could have voted, but I am not allowed.

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

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

— NICD