Free Kittens

Over to Kleinmond Harbour to book for lunch the following day for my daughter's birthday.  We always go to the small blue and white fishing restaurant that overlooks the harbour.  The road to the small fishing harbour has undergone quite a transformation in the last couple of years and is now lined with interesting antique, craft and bygones shops.  This was the first sign to catch my eye.  Moms, don't say you weren't warned!

This sign was outside my favourite shop which promises and really does deliver on its name.  Wandering around in here brought back memories of my gran's collection of cutglass scent bottles, delicate embroidered handkerchiefs and silk scarves folded between sheets of  tissue paper;   my aunt's glamorous jewel coloured satin evening dresses and high heeled dancing shoes which she allowed my sisters and I to try on; my mom's precious Blue Grass perfumes, soaps and creams given to her by my dad and kept tucked away in her cupboard thereafter; her small collection of jewellery in satin-lined boxes.

I remember using a basin and ewer just like this to wash in as a child when we arrived in the starry darkness of a Karoo night at the farm of an old family friend years and years ago.  No electricity, no piped water, just a wash and change into pyjamas in front of the fire, hot cocoa and into bed, under a handmade quilt.  Freezing cold, utter peace, the knowledge that our parents were right in the living room next door, the gentle murmer of conversation lulling us off to sleep.

When I got married in the in the late sixties I couldn't wait to furnish my home with "modern" furniture quite unlike the beautiful and functional tables and dressers in my gran's home.  Now I have two of these lovely old pieces, painted with my own fair hands, and filled with my collection of twenties and thirties teacups and milk jugs.  And the seventies furntiure?  None of it lasted, but strangely enough, I read in magazines that it's highly collectible now.  Go figure.

Can't seem to keep myself out of the picture.

I so appreciate hardworking people who take such care to make small gardens where ever they can and I always feel obliged to go into their shops, so I guess it works both ways.

And so to tea at the Potter's Garden, a delightful courtyard area, filled with potted flowering and foliage plants, a splashing water feature and a small but perfect plant nursery.  Also, as the name suggests, a pottery shop with the most incredible dishes and platters.  Tea and cake in this peaceful place, cut off completely from the hustle and bustle outside, is a soothing and refreshing experience.