The Holocaust Centre.

Yesterday I visited the Holocaust Centre in Durban. I did not even know that it existed. Evidently it opened in 2008. I am sure there are all sorts of nooks and crannies of interest in Durbs that I am unaware of. My sister read in the local newspaper, that the Coffee and Gift shop at the centre, serves the best cheese cake in the land!

We went into Durbs on a mission and once it was achieved we followed it with a visit to the Coffee Shop for its famous cheese cake. True to its reputation , the cake was unbelievable.....worth every calorie!

How sad I had not put my camera in my bag! Oi!!

The Coffee shop was just the beginning.....

The Garden of Remembrance was charming and in it was a memorial to all the children lost in the Holocaust. It is estimated that 1.5 million children were killed by the Nazis. It is unfathomable!

A group of high school girls were wandering through the centre and one wonders how meaningful the experience is for today's children. It is good that there are Centres and Museums such as this one to serve as a constant reminder of those desperate times.

The following poem is inscribed on the wall of remembrance for all the children who perished during those shocking times,

The Garden.

A little Garden

Fragrant and full of roses,

The Path is narrow

and a little boy, walks along it.

A little boy,

A sweet little boy,

Like that growing blossom,

When the blossom

Comes to bloom

The little boy will be no more. Frants Bass

Therensien Concentration Camp




After the yummy Tea and cake, we took a tour through the Centre and were absolutely touched by the presentation. It reminded us of the monumental loss of lives during 1939 and 1942. Lest we forget!

A special tribute to Anne Frank and a replica of her room has been created for all to see and appreciate. The wall is adorned with "pages" from her diary. It is amazing that a girl so young could write with such wisdom and depth. On reading the debate on-line about her writings, its authenticity has been debated. However, I choose to accept that Anna wrote the pages and will get a copy and reread Anne's diary.

A quote from Anne Frank's diary, painted on the Coffee Shop's walls..

How wonderful it is that nobody has to wait a single moment to improve the world.

How true!







 

Quilts, quilts, quilts.

How lucky can I get? After spending a week in JhB. helping Oscar settle in at the French school, I got to spend the day at the International Quilt Conference - Africa. I have not managed to get one of these exhibitions for many a year so I was like a child on Christmas morning, waiting to open her gift!

 

The event was held at Emperors Palace near the airport. As I arrived, I noticed all the quilters arriving in twos and threes and was a little sorry I was on my own. As it turned out I need not have worried! The quilting world is a small world and I met lots of friends. Some from KZN, some from Johannesburg, Swaziland and Nelspruit.

 

I headed for the vendor's hall first and it was truly magical as each stall outdid itself in it's presentation. In addition to all things to do with Quilting being sold, there was Lacemaking, Beading, Embroidery, wools etc. a feast for any crafter! Look at those Kafee Fasset fabrics on the Bench.

The very first stall I arrived at was called Dot's Quilts and while standing gaping at the beautiful array of fabrics I heard a voice say "Penny Boden, I know you" it took a few moments and then I was able to place a friend from our early years in JHB, Dot Lubbe. Our children went to primary school together. The Lubbe family had moved to Cape Town and when her husband's business folded, she took over the premises in the middle of an Industrial area, followed her passion and opened her Quilt shop! Dot has her whole family involved in the business and seems to be doing so well. It was lovely seeing her again.

 

After visiting every vendor it was time to see the exhibition. It was a collection of smaller collections plus the Challenge set by the organizers. Some of the collections were Fibreworks, the SAQC Traveling exhibition, fiber Revolution Tour and the Scandanavian Collection.

The VIP of the IQC event was Ricky Tims. This is one of his quilts on show.

Not a great picture but a great quilt made by Phil Fisher, a friend from KZN and was the first person I met on arrival. The lighting where hers and Sue Stevensons quilt were hanging was SO bad it was difficult to see the quilts. This was my only criticism of the day! I hear that Sue won a prize, which means the lighting did not affect the Judges decision.

 

 

 

 

These are some of the wonderful quilts on show. I am sorry I don't have all the names of the artist but they were truly wonderful

 

This is one of my favorite quilts. It took Mari Strydom SEVEN years to complete...a lesson in itself!

 

This quilt caused a great deal of amusement.

 

 

 

I love this Baobab!

 

 

...... and the list gets on and on! I am so inspired and I hope you are too. One cannot even believe that these are quilts and not photographs! The quilting on the quilts was absolutely wonderful. I have still have lots to learn! What a feast for my eyes and my soul!

 

Is it Spring?

Spring is sprung,

The grass is riz

I wonder where the boidies is?

The boid is on the wing

But that's absoid

The wing is on the boid.

Frederick Ogden Nash.

It is difficult to find appropriate poems about Spring pertaining to the Southern hemisphere but I do enjoy this fun poem by Ogden Nash. Coming back from the heat of Malaysia to a freezing cold start to September we have really felt it. The locals are thrilled as the days are longer and the mornings more cheerful with the birds singing. Despite being in the middle of suburbia I heard intermittent banging on the bedroom window and wow i was thrilled to find that the culprit was non other than a red collared Barberton. I managed to call the attention of the family but little Oscar got too close to the window and our little friend was gone. Unfortunately I did not have my new camera on the ready but today I was prepared for our little visitor but he chose not to make an appearance.

Instead it is Garbage day. All the black bins from the partment blocks are lined up on the pavement waiting for the big diosal trucks to arrive. Before they arrive a team of treasure seekers arrive and go through the bins. I watched while the amazing team work was carried out. One person collects plastic bottles, one cardboard, one is looking for glass, and so it goes. There were about 24 bins and a team of six guys did the sorting. I call them a team as they would pass the appropriate stuff around to whoever collects it. What a mess but before the task was concluded they all helped and cleaned up. The fellow collecting what seemed like paper had a huge bag assembled on flat trolley on wheels with a long handle attached and once done off he went riding on the trolley at a merry speed. We actually saw two of these collectors whizzing down the main road yesterday singing and laughing. We are part of an amazing society. It would be interesting to see where these collectors take their treasures and what follows. How does that little saying go....One man's trash is another man's treasure.

We are spending the week here before heading home as Sarah has asked us to be around while Oscar settles into his new school. Today the family start a new chapter in their life as Oscar starts at Lycee Jules Verne, the French school in Morningside. We went for a drive there yesterday to find the easiest and quickest route. While they still live in Parktown it Is quite a trek but once the renovations are complete and they move to Victory Park it will be much easier. Oscar understands French as his father Adrien, only speaks French to him and I am sure he will be parleying after a couple of months at the Lycee. His French Grandparents are coming out in December which will sharpen his skills too. He was so excited this morning while the parents were a little nervous. His first question to his Dad was "will I be starting ballet today". It helped break the tension and gave us a giggle for the day!

I hope you are enjoying pleasant weather wherever you are. I would love you to leave a comment on my blog just to see that the comment box ACTUALLY works.

Thanks Erica for your loyal comments. Xxx

Packing up!

It is packing up time again...this is the worst aspect of a holiday, especially when flying. Airlines have got fussier with the weight of the luggage and size of hand luggage etc. and we battle to stick to the rules.(not shown here are two carpets someone bought and fabric someone else bought!)

While I write I can see cranes working, hear the bull dozers at work, drills drilling, while buildings are being pulled down and new ones erected, right before our eyes! Joshua runs through every morning and looks out of the window and gives a daily report on changes taking place. This is all in the name of development. This city, in fact this country is amazing with all the building activity that is taking place. The view from our bedroom window will be quite different in three months time when we return.

Before that happens, I thought I should tell you a little about the "kitchens" in the homes in Malaysia. I can only talk of the places I have visited and stayed in, in the last ten years or so. Most homes have two kitchens as we know them. In the old days in our homes in S.A. we used to have sculleries and pantries...I wonder if our children know those two words, let alone what they are. In Malaysia most homes, including condos and apartment blocks have two kitchens which are referred to as the dry kitchen and the wet kitchen. The dry kitchen is the pleasant area where food and dishes may be stored but the wet kitchen is where the chopping and cooking takes place and the pots and pans are scrubbed. It is very much in the style of the old idea of kitchens and sculleries.

 

The dry kitchen

The wet kitchen.

A door divides these two areas and the maid's room leads off here. Maids generally live in in Malaysia and the room supplied is small and rather airless. A loo and shower lead off their room and the water the staff use, has no heater! You can hardly swing a cat in the room supplied. Some homes have double bunks for the ladies to sleep in and not much else is supplied!

Another fascinating thing about all the kitchens I have been in is that there is only cold water supplied for washing dishes! Usually dishes are "washed" under running cold water and stacked onto drip trays. Rarely are dishes towel - dried and put away! I know this would drive South African housewives crazy. Most cooking is done in a wok, while a rice cooker is a must. Joshua looked at a couple of rather expensive imported potatoes Warren had bought and asked what they were. He only eats rice and his favourite rice is red rice! Of course rice is no good for any one with weight issues nor is the delicious fried food which is the norm on a menu in Malaysia. Despite swimming regularly, the kilos continue to creep up and I have to make some serious changes to my eating style. With all the dinners out, treats and spoiling it is time to get real and get healthy.

The last six weeks have been wonderful. It was super celebrating Nick's 37 th birthday last night.warren treated us to Duck which is a firm favourite when visiting KL.

We really enjoy being in Malaysia with our family and will be stopping by in December en route to Australia. For now we will just say au revoir ...till we meet again.xxxxx

 

Perla, Moira and Moi!

Perla with the birthday girl Princess Celine, Ichowie and tiger Boy, Joshua!

 

Our Malaysian family. We love you guys!

Confessions of a quilter.

It is no secret that I LOVE fabric. I love to touch it, stroke it, smell it, dream about it and most of all OWN it. I also like using it, trying out all sorts of projects. I really don't mind if I don't finish what I start before starting the next project. My head is filled with a long list of things I want to make. I hear many wonderful quilters say that they NEVER start anything new before they finish their task of the moment. I admire them!

Do I want to be like them? No!

Will I ever be like them? NO!

I came across this quote from Greg Anderson and just have to share it.

"Focus on the journey and not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."

Good thinking! I do not deny that it is a great feeling of achievement once I finish the binding, finish the label and cut the last thread on a quilt. But I like to have several projects on the go.

I don't really like shopping except for Book shops and fabric shops. We have been here in K.L. For almost six weeks and on the second day we were here Moira and I passed a vendor selling Malaysian fabrics and she insisted on buying me these three pieces. These pieces are usually used as wraps for men when wearing their traditional clothing. They are about two meters in length and make terrific backings for quilts or I may cut them up and use them in a new quilt. Any suggestions?

Not having our own transport. we don't get out and about as much as we would like however I have discovered a Japanese shop in the local Mall within walking distance. Everything is five Ringgitt which is about fifteen rands. Everytime I get to the Mall I buy a few of these fat quarters. They are fresh and delightful. Who can resist these?

 

Eventually, we managed to get to Midvalley Mall which has a huge fabric shop called Khamdar and I bought two fabrics which I am sure I am going to find lots of use for.

In fact they inspired me to use them for my "Stilllife"

 

Sorry, the vases look a little wobbly in this photie.

 

On another occasion we managed to get to our original hunting grounds across the city and I found super BenTen fabric which I bought and made up for Ben's birthday. While there, I checked the Japanese cottons and could not resist getting a few pretty pieces at five Ringgit a meter...five Ringitt! Wow.

 

This week we took Joshua to the aquarium and had to catch our return bus near China Town and I visited an amazing fabric shop called Isetan and just had to buy a few meters of the most beautiful quality Japanese fabrics.....all dotty and spotty ! They cost a little more but well worth it.

 

In addition to my new stash, Moira has given me a few of her "pieces" from her collection which I will leave here for future use.I am so grateful to her for the use of her sewing machine, cutting board, cutter and ruler!

Between packing two lovely carpets purchased and my bits and pieces, fitting it all into our suitcases is going to be a tad challenging. One of the minor challenges of travel.