For the second year running we celebrated our annual staff party at Muizenberg beach with fish & chips. It was a blast - literally and figuratively - the wind pumped, but this didn't seem to dampen any spirits!
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Hi - I'm back after a great Christmas break filled with family, friends (old and new), sunshine and mountains of food. I hope your Christmas and New Year lived up to expectations and that your year ahead is creative, productive and prosperous.
I have GREAT news - see this pic of Zanele standing on sandy plot of land?
Soon she's going to be standing in her house!
That's right, Zanele and several other Mielie weavers have each been allocated a plot, water connection and toilet. They will soon receive building supplies and will then need to find a contractor to build their houses. We are all so excited!
I will post pics of the house building in progress.
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You can weave beautiful bags, cushions, and carpets with them... or those handy Mielie strips can turn an ordinary day into a GREAT hair day!
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Today there was loads of laughter... and the odd bit of gurgling, squealing and crying in our loft. The little pudding at the bottom is Fezeka's baby - remember her? The sleeping baby is Sentiwe's grandchild.
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Thursday is sebenza (work) day at Mielie, when we see all our weavers. It's busy. It's noisy. It's messy. It rocks.
Capetonians, don't forget about the organic market at Montebello tomorrow morning. We have some beautiful baby fennel in - delicious just steamed with a blob of creme fraiche and black pepper.
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Mielie's CEO (Chaotic Environment Officer), prince Buhle, turned two today. There was singing, dancing and cheering in our happy loft... and cake and treats too, thanks to Noseko, Buhle's ever-patient gogo - granny, comforter and nurturer. Mine mnandi kuwe, Buhi!
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After much head-scratching, many false starts, some incompatible formats and with a little help from my friends, I present to you (drumroll...)
The Mielie Nightingales!
And then we were politely asked to stop because the dancing was making the light fittings of the jewellery studio below us bounce and swing!
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A wonderful thing has happened on sebenza Thursday* lately - all the Mielie weavers have started to sing while they wait for their work to be checked. They sing mostly hymns in beautiful harmonies that have complicated rhythmic patterns. The music really, umm, struck a chord, because I grew up in a family where there was always singing and music, either from my opera singer mom, pianist dad or from all of us belting out "Oh give me a home..." and "Campfire's burning!" at the top of our voices on road trips. It was only when I was older that I realised that this wasn't normal or cool.
I'm sure you've noticed that I've been somewhat distracted of late - blog entries have been scarce, to say the least. The reasons are many, but it's mainly that the lovely and hardworking Marina has been on leave, so I have had my nose in the spreadsheets, price lists and status reports. The great news is that Marina is back on Monday, and so will I - in the blogging seat!
* Sebenza = work, or the day that the Mielie weavers bring in their work.
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As you know by now, Buhle is the cutest thing south of the north pole, AND he can also put in a hard day's work. He's always game to help pull a bag straight or give someone a word of advice. And of course his most valuable job at Mielie is that of class clown.
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Nwabisa is one of Mielie's talented weaver. She and her family live in BM section of site B, Khayelitsha. She regularly attends our Wednesday food garden workshop, and she's putting what she's learnt to practice by making a tiny veggie garden outside her house - all under the watchful eye of little Avela.
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