I'm still here

I love cypress trees. These are in Prins Albert and I just learnt that the town turns 250 years old this year. Happy birthday little dorp!

Some things

I added a special picture to my sidebar - it'll hang out there for a bit. Matt balanced it wonkily on a stile in the rain with a near dead battery and a full picture card but my trusty Nikon miraculously managed to capture the moment following one of the best moments of my life.

Poinsettias are blooming everywhere I look. I’ve never been a huge fan but they are so festive and I used one in a recent Christmas table illustration for a picture book coming later this year. It’s just too cold in CT. My dad’s extra thick mohair socks are getting me through it but only barely.

 Remember this? It happened again. I was stuck in super rainy Cape Town while my family got cosy with lions in the bush, played scrabble by lamp light and enjoyed Sophie’s perfectly textured krummelpap every morning.

I said goodbye to my old hood. I vow to live there again one day (God willing) when we can afford a pretty Victorian cottage and some yard space for a pup and a fruit tree. For now it’s down to streamlined art deco inner city living, which I love so far – though it sounds fancier than it is.

Here are some oranges I drew in Florence.

 And here are some prettily wrapped blood oranges from Bologna (still more on Italy to come).

On Thursdays, I can now almost roll out of bed and round the block and fill my basket with fresh market stuff thanks to earthfair and my new address. Last week's plain oranges surprised me - they were red inside. This is kind of amazing, I've never found blood oranges before in SA. Is it just me?

People from over the sea have mailed to request prints and since I’m already jogging to the post office weekly with Good Heavens orders, I think it is about time I opened an Etsy shop. I’m making it a priority. Hold me to it.