It's early on a Saturday morning and I'm downtown in Stellenbosch, sitting with a cappuccino and an unopened newspaper, my thoughts adrift. Suddenly, a rather surprising word jumps into my head: solastalgia.
Holy mackarel, I think, where did that one come from?
I peer down the row of coffee and curio shops lining the street, wondering what could have prompted it.
After all, I'm sitting at a cute little table - à la Paris - on the pavement outside Fidders, one of my favourite shops in town.
A gem from yesteryear, it's one of the few remaining true-blue village shops where you can buy anything from a ribbon to a lamp, where the staff have maintained the same familiar faces over the years, greeting you by name, asking after the family or making small talk about the weather. You feel like a somebody here, at home.
The cappuccinos outside, however, are new. For survival, I reckon, because the rest of the town has morphed into a colony of tourist shops, focused on euros and dollars.
If you look closely, you'll still find a handful of older survivors.
Denne historien er fra October/November 2021-utgaven av Home South Africa.
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Denne historien er fra October/November 2021-utgaven av Home South Africa.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Pestilence Domestica
We usually call them dirty, dangerous and utterly gross. But what if we looked at domestic pests through a different lens, asks Karin Brynard.
Quick as a flash!
These 15 dinners can be whipped up in a jiffy - before the power goes out!
The gift that keeps on giving
By taking cuttings and dividing existing plants and those from friends, Anne Turner and her son David have created a stunning garden that takes on a whole new personality as the seasons change.
Upcycle it!
Tuis Home food editor Johané Neilson and her husband Allister revamped a second-hand melamine wall unit to create a bespoke wall-to-wall display cabinet, for less than R3 500!
Little house in the forest
Thanks to her capable father, Neilke Pretorius and her partner enjoy an idyllic lifestyle in a custom-made home hidden in the trees.
Living large, inside and out
South Africans love a space where indoors and outdoors come together.
Modern CLASSIC
With authenticity as a guiding design principle, a young family has created their happy space in a 105-year-old house in the heart of vibrant Sea Point.
Peace & quiet...
A cinematographer and a set designer found the perfect bolt-hole in the Eastern Cape Karoo where they can truly relax and unwind.
ART AND SOUL
Five years ago, the Krugers transformed a tired city bungalow into a unique and modern family home.
Group therapy
Add impact and create rhythm using repetition and collections, as these Home readers have done.