TICK TOCK

Time ran out for the other aspirant entrants who either didn’t know the answer or missed the cut-off gong. Not Clever Dick – or, in my case, Lucille – whose name was drawn to win a copy of writer Margie Orford’s reprinted book Like Clockwork, which features ‘sassy, smart, sensual Dr Clare Hart’ who, to answer the question, lives in a beachfront flat on the Sea Point promenade.

Those of you who thrive on crime fiction should check out http://crimebeat.book.co.za/blog/ Watch out for the forthcoming competition which will win some lucky person a reprint copy of Deon Meyer’s Blood Safari or Mike Nicol’s Payback. This website gives the all on South African crime (or as they would have it, krimi) writers, a regular blogger on which is long-time friend, said Mike Nicol who is featured in this delightful pic with partner-in-crime and editor de luxe Jill Gallimore.

LOGGED ON

The table on the patio developed a serious hairline crack and I could just imagine it landing in some guest’s lap, leaving me to face a lawsuit. So it was dispatched to the big Scrapyard for Cementworks in the Sky, which left me with the angst of replacing it.

Synthetic wood was a viable option but, because the furniture is produced by mould method, it was too narrow. So back to the drawing-board which in turn led me to Oubaas Ferreira, a local contractor whose opinion I value highly who, on one of his morning cycling trips, had spotted a huge pile of timber in the process of being sawn into planks in Paternoster.

Back in August last year the cargo ship MV Lola off Robbeneiland lost its cargo of giant logs (Aucoumea klaineana -Angouma, Gaboon or Okoumé, of the family Burseraceae) of which 27 were washed up on the west coast. Yes, this was the very same timber that André Kleynhans had salvaged under tender process and was busy cutting down to size.

I was fortunate enough to be allowed (yes, André’s quite possessive of his haul – a slightly different catch to that which he usually pulls out of the sea) to buy in an amount necessary for local master craftsman Owen Osborne to create the table that now adorns my deck and on which guests get to enjoy their breakfasts.

IN SEVENTH HEAVEN

Noel and Janet Ross-Gillespie celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary with me on 9 August 2003 and this year was the fifth time they’ve repeated the exercise (now married for seven years), bringing with them Jamie (now 3) and Erin (turning 1 on the 20th). Congratulations, you two, and happy National Women’s Day to boot.

Which takes me back to that first meeting when we discovered, by pure chance, that we were actually related – second cousins twice removed or something like that. Who says you won’t bump into a fellow countryman in Trafalgar Square?

This hands-on couple take great delight in their offspring (although I suspect a great deal of Noel’s interest is focused on the electronic toys!) and their adept parenting skills are already showing signs of paying off in their two delightful kids.

I’ve also had the pleasure of hosting Noel’s parents to stay (August 2006) when Trevor presented me with a stunning watercolour of a thatch-roofed house across the bay that he rustled up during his and Shirley’s weekend here.