Tags
Albertus Seba, Baking, Cape Town, Chef, Decorate, Design, fashion, Finland, France, Gretha Scholtz, Interiors, Lepidopterology, Orchids, Renovate, Shoes, South Africa, travel
So how DOES a girl from a farm in the middle of South Africa end up on an island in the Finnish archipelago? Well, that’s what happens when you marry a Scandinavian man… It feels like I spend MOST of my life travelling from our summer house on an island in Finland, to the little farm-house in the South of France, or our house in Cape town, South Africa. And that’s when we’re not in Malta, where we’re residents. Throughout all this my hubby will be by my side and all you need to know about him is that he indulges and humours me, and he goes by M.
The fun thing about this life is that I get to travel, explore, renovate, decorate, shop, try new restaurants, and bake, so that’s what I write about, things that inspire me, catch my eye, and make my heart beat faster. In my spare time I’m a collector, designer, photographer, writer, muse and artist at heart. My current obsessions are cabinets of curiosities, copper-plate engravings by Albertus Seba, the natural history museum, vertical gardens, orchids, lepidopterology, quartz crystals, book art, and yes, shoes, always shoes.
Baking is another of my many passions, I know no better way of expressing love and friendship to people, presenting them with a tray of cupcakes fresh from the oven, and besides, there’s no scented-candle that beats the fragrance of baking brownies wafting through the house! I’m not a professional chef by any means, and I like to experiment with old favourites, sometimes successful, sometimes not so much! but I AM passionate about it, so even if the recipes have not been tested in a professional kitchen, the favourites I post here have been baked by myself, and eaten by those I love.
In a perfect life, I’d be living on a farm in a country where the weather’s never bad, yet I get to sit in front of a roaring fire in the evenings. There’ll be animals, and I’d read interior blogs, shop on-line, try new recipes, always get to lick out the bowl, eat chocolate for breakfast every day, all while wearing a silk & lace slip and fabulous shoes. I’d get to re-decorate every year with an unlimited budget. I’ll have friends over for long lunches under the old oak trees every day. I’ll get to drink champagne when I’m thirsty. I’ll always have perfect hair. My best friend will be a couturier. Another will own a vineyard. I’ll be invited on amazing holidays. Hang on, that IS my life (except for the good hair), and this is my story.