We Went Marching To Pretoria (or How I fell in love with Afrikaans in my 36th year)

For those of you who are new here, I am married to 23Thorns. He is also a blogger. We are the modern equivalent of Leonard and Virginia Woolf (but with shoplifting), Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald (but with dassie corpses on the stove), Iris Murdoch and John Bayley (but with a criminally clever Chinese Crested Powder … Continue reading →

Hottentoo Harry, Jan Van Riebeeck and Granny Thompson Part Two

This is part two of Hottentoo Harry, Jan Van Riebeeck and Granny Thompson. As per my charming husband’s instruction, I split the article in two. I hope after the abrupt expulsion (compliments of said husband) from the fynbos-covered land around Cape Town, that you can throw yourself back into the south-easter. Hottentot Harry whose real name was Autshumato learnt some … Continue reading →

Hottentoo Harry, Jan Van Riebeeck and Granny Thompson Part One

For my 35th birthday my charming husband gave me a history in South Africa that stretches back 100 000 years and more. My mitochondrial DNA profile places me in haplogroup L0d1b. This means that a woman with my genetic profile has lived in South Africa since the beginning of human time. Group L0d1b is found in people with … Continue reading →