Vendange - "Late Harvest"

My series about 44 Stanley (read more here and here and here) will not be complete without telling you about Vendange, a retail store that performs the nifty trick of taking you from old industrial Milpark (albeit seriously transformed) back to the Franchhoek winelands – well, to some of the finest it has to export!

Vendage, which means “late harvest” in French, stocks a range of décor items, wine accessories, kitchen tables and a beautiful collection of products from Sagaform. They also keep the very popular handcrafted Trudeuau cheese and baguette board range made from recycled wine barrels. These items are actually manufactured by the owners of the shop. I can attest first hand to how beautiful these are – they have been extremely popular in my shop (Tapenade Olive Shop in the Cresta Shopping Centre) for a number of years now.

Good news for the Freestaters is that they have just opened a second shop at the Preller Square in Bloemfontein. 

On my desk at home I keep a lavender wand (watch out for a post on these coming soon), and this one small item is enough to transport me right into the heart of the beautiful valley it came from. If you do get the chance to visit this shop, maybe you’ll find something that will carry you off to somewhere special.


44 Stanley Avenue, Johannesburg
You can read their website or like their Facebook page.

Image credits: All photography by me

Wash Dry Fold Repeat

Love everything about this laundry caddy from Nest Design, except maybe to actually use it :-)!

"My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance."

Erma Bombeck

Image credits: Nest Design

Say cheese

I’ve used this blog more than once to throw a not-so-subtle hint at the husband for a Christmas gift or two or three.. :-). However, I am now on a new bandwagon – a wagon full of camera stuff!! How cool (and sometimes odd) are these gadgets that I found on Photojojo?

From left to right: 1) Camera Strap tee 2) Lens bracelets 3) Fuzzy Wuzzy felt camera case 4) DSLR money bank 5) Camera Dial Laptop Decal 6) Vintage Camera Mobile 7) Plastic printed paddles 8) Keep Calm and Snap On Prints 9) Keyboard Shortcut Skins for Photoshop 10) Canon Camera Lens Mugs 11) Juice box camera 

Image credits: All images from Photojojo

Events in my neighbourhood this week include the first ever Canon Expo in South Africa. It is on at the Sandton Convention Centre from the 9th to the 11th of December. Doors open at 10:00, entrance is free and it is on till 18:00. A price list is available on their Facebook page.

Sunday Edition #8

Image credits: No credits available (via Pinterest)

Breakfast in bed

Sometimes, the luxuries in life can be measured not by something as grand as breakfast in bed but rather by whose turn it is to get up and make the coffee today :-) Hope you all have a great weekend.

Image credits: Wish!

At the Chef's Table

Kitchens are notoriously hot, noisy and stressful environments – we all know the old saying: “if you can’t stand the heat…” But these days, the best seat in the house is quite possibly right there in the heart of the kitchen. 

How lucky am I that my friend Leona received a Chef’s Table at the Michelangelo Hotel on Nelson Mandela Square as a birthday gift and more importantly, that she invited me and my husband along to share in this celebration of food and friends around a table? 

We arrived at the hotel at 18:30 and enjoyed our pre-dinner bubblies at the Piccolo Mondo Restaurant. Our chef of the evening, Chef Marvellous Nkomo (and his name should have given us a clue as to what our evening was going to be like) welcomed us and took us on a tour of this five star hotel kitchen.

The Chef’s Table for 12 guests is located at a small alcove in the kitchen with a great view of the preparation tables, perfectly positioned to see the chef putting the finishing touches on what is truly a luxurious experience. 

 We did not receive a menu beforehand, but Chef Marvellous introduced every dish, explaining the ingredients and cooking methods. Once the food had been served and explained, our wine waiter, Nathi, would proceed to introduce the accompanying wines (no less than 10 times during the evening!).

Luckily , at the end of this prolonged meal (we left the Chef’s table for coffee in the hotel foyer at 23:00), we received a beautifully signed menu from Chef Marvellous as a souvenir of the evening, otherwise I would not have been able to tell you what we had! 

Doesn’t each dish just look beautifully presented and yummy? Chef Marvellous was given an actual ovation for the Butternut Cappuccino and the Springbok Loin had us all licking our lips.

What a great night out! Thanks Leona, for inviting us to this truly memorable occasion.

Image credits: All photography by me

Life is a Carnival at Kamers Vol Geskenke

I told you on yesterday's blog about Kamers Vol Geskenke at Irene. In amongst all of the stands all competing for attention, one of them in particular had me in awe and my finger on my camera. It is difficult to explain in words why this one, out of all the amazing, arty and colourful stands, grabbed my attention so much. Maybe it is because their products are fun, well made and stylish. Maybe it is because they had me the moment they gift wrapped an actual protea for someone in the most beautiful way! Maybe it was the use of the scrabble pieces. But, in the end, it could be that the main reason is their quirky styling, which resulted in such an eye catching “carnival”. It is an eclectic mix of items and they re-funked old pieces of furniture and accessories. The colours and textures all added to the overall look.

My words may still be not enough, so here are the images from “Life is a Carnival” at Kamers Vol Geskenke.

You can visit their Facebook page here.

Image credits: All photography by me