Operation Oysterhood: 15 August

1 Reply

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

— @HaggardHawks

801

The Alma Café Traders’ Market. ‘I’ll be happy, if I sell five books,’ I said to my love yesterday. So, you can imagine how over the moon, and sun, I was when the list of books sold – new and second-hand – extended to twenty-nine after three hours of the market. I could make the promised donation to the Alma Café, tip the wonderful young musician on stage (live music!) and the helpful car guard outside, and I will be able to add to the royalties owed to Karavan Press authors later this year. I even sold a copy of The Fifth Mrs Brink and two copies of HAIR.

Today, I am a hopeful writer, editor and publisher! It was so heart-warming to talk books to readers again. I had so much fun, even with the mask and the visor and the constant hand sanitising.

Nancy Richards came to say hello and bought a book and left a personal literary treasure in the making with me to read. She also took a photo of me: ‘The Bookseller in the Time of a Pandemic.’

At Alma_by Nancy Richards

A special thank you to the kind woman who reads this blog and came to say hello – I hope I remember your name correctly, Carolynn. Thank you to you and all others for coming to support us! I cannot tell you how much today’s experience has boosted my morale.

I spent the rest of the afternoon editing and doing admin. In the evening, I did some ironing to relax me while I listened to the President making the latest announcements concerning the extended state of disaster. Level Two! We have arrived. Somehow, somewhere. And I know many, many people will be relieved about the new rules of lockdown, but I think we all know that this is not the end, nor is it time to relax our vigilance. More than ever, I want to keep healthy and I want to do everything in my power to keep others healthy. It is all still in our hands – let’s act accordingly.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local – thank you for supporting local!!!

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

— NICD

Operation Oysterhood: 14 August

Leave a reply

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

— @HaggardHawks

796

I have such a weak spot for Elgin, the people, the apples, the wine and THE STORIES. And there is, of course, the wonderful Liberty Books in Grabouw (if you haven’t been yet, do go – it is just off the N2, and no reader will regret stopping there to browse!). A few of Lester Walbrugh’s stories in Let It Fall Where It Will are set in the area and the manuscript is nearly ready for typesetting. Can’t wait to see this book on bookshelves, and I hope that we can have a launch in Elgin as soon as it is safe and possible to gather for such events.

Tonight, at the end of an intense Friday, I travelled to Elgin via my taste buds. ONE MAN BAND is a beautiful wine. Just perfect for the feast that was tonight’s dinner.

La Colombe Dine-In Experience

And thinking of great wines and restaurants: did you hear about the amazing Restaurant Rescue Project? These are partnerships that will probably save hundreds of livelihoods, and the people buying the vouchers are buying incredible experiences at a bargain price. It is one of those rare occasions when everyone involved can win. I love the idea of this initiative and wonder how it could be translated into the book world … I know my love will smile reading this: I might have an idea!

But it will have to wait for after the weekend. I am still working tomorrow, including selling books at the Alma Café Traders’ Market in the morning, but from Sunday, I am taking a few days off. Rest is badly needed. There is no point of working oneself into a stupor. And I am nearly there.

I have returned to book reviewing (pay or no pay – I just find it such an essential part of a vibrant literary community that I will try to fit a review a week into my schedule and focus on local books in the hope that they will find their way into the hearts of local readers). The first appeared in the Cape Times today. See previous post. Review spaces are shrinking, so let’s see how we can keep the ones that are still somehow functioning going.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

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

— NICD

Review: Sea Star Summer by Sally Partridge

2 Replies

The award-winning YA author, Sally Partridge, has been writing about the trials and turbulences of growing up since her debut novel, The Goblet Club, in 2007.

Partridge’s latest novel for young adults, Sea Star Summer, is her seventh and tells the story of the sixteen-year-old Naomi on holiday with her parents in Jeffreys Bay, where all she wants to do is enjoy some solitude and read good books. Yet, a dashing but dubious local surfer, another unusual and wonderful holidaymaker called Elize, and her intriguing brother, have other plans in store for Naomi. There is nothing more magical than falling in love for the first time. Equally magical can be reading about it in a novel when the book manages to capture, as Sea Star Summer does, that unforgettable and intoxicating mixture of wonder, revelation, anxiety and possibility that is young love.

“There’s only one person out there, a dark-haired girl about my age, kicking her feet through the incoming tide. The way she’s laughing and shrieking, clearly in a world of her own, makes it look like she’s having a great time. I envy her lack of inhibition. If it was me, I’d be worried about who’s watching.” This is how Naomi first encounters Elize. Meeting her sets in motion a chain of events and discoveries that allows Naomi not only to find herself and what she wants, but also to find the courage to proclaim it, even if only softly, to the world.

“Even the sea and sky seem larger, more real than before, like I’ve been walking around half asleep this whole time and have only just woken up.” The sea moods and beach adventures of Jeffreys Bay are vividly portrayed in this sensitive and empowering story that will appeal to young people and those young at heart alike.

Sea Star Summer

Sally Partridge

Human & Rousseau, 2020

Review first published in the Cape Times on 14 August 2020.

Operation Oysterhood: 13 August

2 Replies

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

— @HaggardHawks

794

Let’s just say it wasn’t a great night. Ms Insomnia refused to take any hints that her presence was unwelcome.

Then: loadshedding. Stage two did not affect me today, but it did others with whom I had planned Skype meetings, and the entire schedule for the day was thrown into disarray. After the Eskom news, and the flurry of re-scheduling that followed, I did manage to crawl back into bed for a few minutes with coffee and a book and Glinka for company, but then the whole day started running away from me and I had to get up and face the chaos. It all stabilised, eventually, in the afternoon and I managed to do the shopping I had to and some decent work that I am happy with, but I am now exhausted (and back in bed with the Ladies and a lovely glass of red).

Day One Hundred and Forty. Despite the daily count, I don’t feel time any longer. Is it REALLY August? How did we get here? What does it mean? Winter should be coming to an end, I hope (I was so cold today that I started shivering). I want more light, earlier in the day and later at night. I need to spend more time in the sun again.

And, I want a few days without drama and without having to deal with unkindness. It saddens me to experience how toxic people sap all energy out of one. Luckily, most people I work with are not like that, but the vampires among us – on the grand and small stages of everyday life – manage to do a lot of harm, and usually for nothing else than satisfying their own fragile egos. There is nothing left to do but soldier on.

Especially considering the other numbers haunting us daily:

Over eleven thousand deaths in the country. A small town. Just because of a virus, because people breathed in infected air, touched the wrong thing. 750 000 Covid-19-related deaths worldwide (and that is only the official tally). Numbers like that are impossible to comprehend. They make one feel numb with horror.

In Earth to Mom, Sue Brown describes a period of grief and sorrow as “the thinnest time”. Ours is the thinnest time.

795

The new flowers in my house bring a spark of joy.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

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

— NICD

Operation Oysterhood: 12 August

Leave a reply

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

— @HaggardHawks

Rain. A day of editing, cover design drafts, competition planning and general crisis management. Thank goodness that most of it could happen from the warmth and safety of my bed, with catssistants all around. There was coffee.

Kamala Harris by Edwar Carey

Last night, the news of Kamala Harris. I love this portrait of the – hopefully – future VP of the USA by Edward Carey. The alternative – another four years of tangerine horror and all that it entails – is unimaginable.

Locally, our Province seems to have the worst of the pandemic behind it – now, we just need to keep doing all the things that can keep us as safe as possible going forward (mask, hand-washing, physical distance, monitoring for signs). And the rumours are that level two might be just around the corner. Goddess knows how much work still lies ahead. We will need a lot of creativity and kindness to survive the economic tragedy all around us …

The Hoghouse has a new Wednesday treat: BBQ BUNS. One can pre-order or get takeaways directly from The Hatch on Wednesdays between 5 and 7 p.m. That is what I did today. Delicious, as always.

Be kind. Wear a mask. Support local.

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

— NICD

Operation Oysterhood: 11 August

Leave a reply

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

— @HaggardHawks

Nothing says ‘homecoming’ like waking up with Glinka on top of me and demanding her share of a rusk.

August: Women’s Day, etc. I grew up celebrating the International Women’s Day on 8 March. In Poland, it’s an affair of cakes, vodka and flowers for all women – I don’t remember much else, but I do hope that it might have acquired a slightly more reflective, feminist, dimension since then. Here, on Women’s Day, there is one text to look forward to – one that will make you appropriately angry and ready to act: Helen Moffett’s famous Women’s Day Rant. She delivered, of course, this year, too: “How to make Women’s Day even worse: just add pandemic plus lockdown.”

There is, of course, another perspective, when one looks beyond the horrors of what it can mean to be a woman – in South Africa, and elsewhere – and that is all of us celebrating women. That kind of celebration cannot and is not confined to a day or a month, but is intensified during this time. In this spirit, I participated in the inspiring Protea Boekhuis campaign, celebrating their women authors.

 

What else? A day of catching up with work. Going away is wonderful, but sometimes I feel that one should have a holiday after the holiday before facing the everyday again.

sdr

I did not get everything that I wanted done today, but a lot of it (Glinka, quite critical, catssisting towards the evening), so I can get into bed with Harry (next book in the series) and relax. I also have these beautiful roses from my love to make me smile:

dav

In the morning, I had a meeting with a potential Karavan Press author. It is tough to make decisions during this time of absolute chaos. And after the latest sales (or rather: returns) reports at the beginning of the month, it is difficult to remain hopeful. Yet, I refuse to give up. Every little bit will help, so this weekend, I am joining The Alma Café Traders’ Market and will be selling books (new and second-hand) at special prices. If you are nearby, please come to support our efforts: Saturday, 15 August; 20 Alma Road, Rosebank, Cape Town; 10:00 – 13:00.

On the way to the meeting, I crossed the Liesbeek River (the historical frontier), full after the rains. Always a good sign.

787

Be kind. Wear a mask.

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

— NICD

Operation Oysterhood: 10 August

Leave a reply

Saturday

Heilfontein22

Tesselaarsdal. The first weekend away since the beginning of the lockdown. And it was clear from the start of the journey that we were not the only ones leaving the city: heavy traffic with its usual culprits stuck in the right lane as if their lives depended on it, masses of people at the Peregrine Farm Stall in Grabouw, and every cottage in the valley seemingly occupied by intra-provincial travellers. It was my first time visiting this beautiful area and I am certain it will not be the last. Our cottage on the Heilfontein protea farm – perched high up on a hill with an incredible view over the protea fields, water-lily pond and happily grazing cows – was wonderfully secluded (or: pandemic-proof).

Heilfontein

G&Ts on arrival settled us into the place. We watched an industrious mole re-organise her molehill right in front of our feet while sipping the contraband. It is ridiculous that one should feel legally threatened for transporting one’s own legally bought and always moderately enjoyed alcohol for a weekend away next to a comforting braai fire under the Tesselaarsdal stars. I understand the reasoning behind the ban during the pandemic, but I would like to see real, permanent solutions to the multi-layered crisis that is fuelling the irresponsible, dangerous and often life-destroying consumption of alcohol … (Dream on, Karina.)

After a light lunch, one of us had a nap, the other worked a bit because she is behind with one of her projects and needed to catch up to properly enjoy the relaxation on offer. Then it was time for a glorious two-hour walk around the area. For a while, we were accompanied by a flock of mousebirds! Guess who was smiling from ear to ear all the way back to the cottage? We also saw sunbirds and sugarbirds, all feasting on the rich offerings of the farm. The setting sun brought a peaceful light to the valley.

It was time for a braai and a bottle of smooth Chianti, which we enjoyed next to the fire and with the delicious dinner. The stars came out to say hello and wish us a good night. I was a bit apprehensive about insomnia disrupting the weekend, and it is always more difficult to deal with when one is not in one’s own bed, but although it wasn’t entirely plain sailing, I managed to get some decent rest, even snore up a storm (according to my love’s report), and it was simply wonderful to wake up next to my love again.

Sunday

cof

Rain, morning in bed: coffee, Alma Café rusks, breakfast, reading and watching rainbows appear whenever the sun came out to play.

We brought two Sunrise Beauty Studio DIY Vitamin-C facials with us and had fun applying them after finally getting up.

A long walk along the Yellow Protea trail around the circumference of the farm before lunch. It was still raining on and off, but we had come prepared and rain gear kept us warm and dry. The view from the hill opposite our cottage’s slope was spectacular. No mousebirds, but the sugarbirds were undeterred by the weather and kept us company in the protea groves.

btf

Lunch was a lavish leftovers affair with a bubbly treat of note. Despite coffee, I fell asleep reading the Harry Bosch novel I had abandoned quite a while ago because of other work-related reading commitments. But also, reading had become difficult again in the past two/three weeks or so; not sure why. It was good to return to a book again, and to nap in the afternoon – something I don’t allow myself often because I am usually groggy and unhappy after sleeping during the day and thus incapable of further work. But there was none to be done today, so I just relaxed and enjoyed the extra sleep. The rest of the afternoon was spent in front of the fire that my love made for us. And Harry continued chasing crooks through the streets of L.A.

Dinner was again a braai feast – simple but delicious. The rest of the bubbly a welcomed aperitif. The evening ended with books next to the fire. I finished Bosch. Justice prevailed.

Monday

I had been apprehensive about leaving home for an entire weekend again, but I cannot thank my love enough for making it happen. It was good to get away, to be in a alternative space and experience a new landscape and a different light. An African Hoopoe visited us while we were packing to go this morning. And on the way out, we saw a Cape Vulture devouring what looked like the carcass of a sheep.

We stopped at the famous Café De Postkantoor for delicious takeaway cappuccinos.

The return home meant a full return to duties, home-and-work-related, but they were all manageable in the afterglow of a restful weekend.

Be kind. Wear a mask.

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

— NICD

Operation Oysterhood: 7 August

Leave a reply

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

— @HaggardHawks

775

Mr Mozart is in the house.

It’s not that they are bad, but my nights haven’t been great for a while. And I am running out of John Oliver videos to watch. I watched The Wax and the Furious at about four a.m. last night, and laughed myself silly. Sleep returned eventually, but opening my eyes in the morning took a long time.

And during the day, I burst into tears out of sheer relief today. After picking up some more rusk from the Alma Café, I went to the small shopping centre near my home to buy more cat food. I hadn’t been to that particular centre for a while, and the two or three times I had been there during lockdown, I found it quite depressing because of a particular reason. Outside that centre, before the lockdown, there had always been two traders who I spoke to regularly whenever I was there. One of them had sold flowers, the other bead artwork. I had always loved buying things from them and even when I wasn’t buying anything we still shared smiles and hellos and occasional longer conversations. Just before the lockdown, I had gone to see them and bought flowers and a a bead cat, paid more than they were asking and wished them well. I remember I had tears in my eyes when I was walking away because none of us knew what lay ahead.

The flowers lasted a long time and the bead cat is still with me, guarding the fireplace. During lockdown, both reminded me of these two strangers I did not know well – not at all, really – but for many, many years they’d always managed to make me feel better about any day when I had a chance to talk to them or to buy flowers or bead gifts for myself or others from them.

I had hoped they would be all right.

Today, I found out that they had been – are – all right. They were back outside the centre, presenting their beautiful artworks and flowers to the public for sale again. I asked after their health and their families and how they had coped and they said that they’d had no illness in their families and “because of people who supported us, like you,” the man said, “we are okay and back at work again.” I was so happy to see them both! I promised to return after the weekend and bring cash to buy more flowers and a friend for my bead cat. I waved goodbye and turned to leave, and a few steps away from Topolino, I burst into tears. It was sheer relief. I hadn’t realised how worried I had been about these kind, hard-working people, who bring so much warmth, beauty and colour into my world. And we don’t even know one another, not really – and yet …

Despite all the work that had to be done today, the rest of the day was simply filled with lightness.

And the day ended with another treat from my love, a home feast from FYN Restaurant.

The pandemic has resulted in so many losses that they are impossible to count or comprehend. The world is reinventing itself and everyone is trying to survive, somehow. None of this is easy, no matter who you are. But almost every day I am reminded how much kindness there is out there and how even a stranger’s smiling eyes can save one from despair.

And some of these strangers come into our lives with bunches of flowers in their arms and they can make even a desolate heart sing.

Thank you.

Be kind. Wear a mask.

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

— NICD