Cycling through rural Weenen

I have to say that living in the Midlands can sometimes be pretty boring, being the small town community it is, and I think this is what has led me to search for a bit of adventure, something to challenge me out of my comfort zone, so to speak. It doesn't help that I am reading Riaan Manser's book, 'Around Africa on my Bicycle'! Well it came in the form of an invitation from friends to join them on a 'park and ride' weekend in Weenen. Never having done this before, but with longings, I jumped at the opportunity to join them. Basically what it means is parking your car at a designated spot in Weenen and then cycling 30kms through rural African homelands which, in this neck of the woods, means dry, rocky and mountainous. It's a perfect opportunity to see how rural African life is really lived. The number of children and adults alike who came running out to greet us, was simply humbling. The scenery was magnificent and, best of all, was that we stepped up to the challenge.

Our destination was a lodge called Zingela Safari and River Company http://www.zingelasafaris.co.za where one sleeps in bush 'tent' like accommodation literally alongside the Tugela River, which is just amazing. To push my comfort zone a little further we opted to try out the river rafting the next morning, which my family have certainly never tried before. And I have to say that had I not got over my anxiety, I would never have known what an exhilarating experience this is. Definitely to be recommended.

It was a tough 30kms getting there and with the ride still fresh in my bones I wondered if we would even make the ride back the next afternoon. Amazingly we did, even my ten year old son, and my very unfit husband! So now i'm looking for the next adventure so i'm open to suggestion......

Gorgeous Patio Chairs just arrived ....

These stunning patio chairs have just arrived in the shop and are the real mccoy! They are simply stunning. Snap them up before someone else does!

Contemporary meets Antique

It is a fact that antiques can be mixed with hints of contemporary furniture and it is not necessary for antiques to be paired with antiques, giving that stuffy brown museum appearance. Penny's photograph (right) of her lovely Joburg home proves just that. This stunning 'French style' table bought at Simply Sam Antique Brocante & Gifts was paired with French designer 'Philippe Starck' chairs for that eclectic look and is simply wonderful.

Residents come in please!

In our wee little hamlet here we have a radio system to enable residents to keep in touch with each other in an emergency. Daily, usually around 7pm, one of our neighbours will do a 'call in' just to check everyone's ok. The electricity had gone off after a bad storm, so someone radio'd to check it was off everywhere. No sooner had it gone off than it was on again. One of the neighbours called in to say "electricity is back on, there goes my chance of romance in our house"! Well I couldn't help but laugh when one of the pensioners got on the radio saying  "turn your electricity back off, put the candles back on, and enjoy that bit of romance"!

New Stock arriving soon......

When my friend, Debbie, called today to say she was bringing me new stock I couldn't wait to see what goodies she had found for Simply Sam. She is making the trek here with a full trailer including two gorgeous shabby chic patio chairs, fully painted and distressed to liven up any patio into that French look you've been dying to achieve!  And I know, just by the number of comments I get from people that come into my shop, that you are going to love the various shabby chic cupboards she's bringing.  There's a stunning 'must have' Oregon window with mirrors that I feel sure won't even make it into the shop, cause I have the most perfect spot for it at home! The beautiful French looking demi lune table with matching mirror is one of those items you are going to have to snap up before someone else does. Stock will be in the shop by Saturday morning, so be sure to pop in and be one of the first to see. Else wait a couple of days and i'll have done my best to load it onto our website www.simplysam.co.za

Welcome to 2011 at Simply Sam Antique Brocante & Gifts

A very happy new year to all our readers. 2011 eased its way into our lives as we climbed into bed at 4h30. Our children had started a new game of pool in 2010, especially so they could complete it into the new year. A novel idea! We had a superb brunch after we'd eventually crept out of bed and then had a leisurely walk up our mountain.Someone mentioned scones and cream whilst we sat at the top, over looking the beauty of the scenery that abounds in our area, so we made a leisurely walk back home to bake - well scones of course, whilst we left the men flying kites in the local field.
I remember my Mum baking scones, black berry and apple pie, rhubarb crumble, or whatever took her fancy, just off the cuff. I find myself doing exactly the same thing. Today I baked two large Focaccia bread. One with ham and fetta the other with loads of garlic, olive oil and crushed salt. I'd actually baked them to take to my neighbour's memorial, who had died strolling on top of our mountain on the morning of Christmas eve. David Fox had lived in our little hamlet for fourty four years, so knew this Fort better than anyone. He had worked tirelessly to keep the Fort Nottingham Museum running (which is on his property) as well the popular annual Fort Nottingham Highland Games which has been attended by hundreds of people every year. I like to think that he passed away doing what he loved best amongst some of the most beautiful scenery.
I think sometimes we have to stop and smell the roses and really appreciate what we have around us. We now have two comfy chairs on our veranda and that is where I have taken to sitting every now and again while I snatch a moment to read. We have the most amazing bird life and the number of times I see both male and female Sunbirds flying into where i'm sitting is a real special treat. It's only in this garden that I have ever actually been able to view the 'Piet-my-vrou' - the red chested cuckoo- who signals that Christmas is near. He is usually so elusive that you can recognise his call, but never actually get to see him.
It has been raining most of the day and the mist cover reminded me of the Lake District when I drove out today and it was just like being back home in England. I hope I can always appreciate what I have right here on my doorstep and realise just how lucky we are to live in this beautiful area. I need to remember to go Blackberry picking tomorrow with my children and bake, well Blackberry pie of course!

As I look back on 2010 .....

... there are so many good memories. How spoilt I was being whisked off to America for three weeks. I loved San Fransico and New York. I discovered my 'now' favourite shop, Anthropologie (http://www.anthropologie.com), and how good to see South African artists flying the flag in this shop. It is a shop full of inspiration and quality - I just want to follow in their footsteps for Simply Sam Antique Brocante & Gifts. 


After restoring our home, built in 1893, for the last three years we are almost complete (a year in Provence has nothing on us!), though I think with an old house you are really never finished! One of the highlights of the build was when we gave an old water tank to the Midlands Meander Education Project, which they were able to install in the home of a young woman in Mpophomeni. Her letter of thanks for such a simple gesture really touched my heart and knowing that she now has water at her home, is so meaningful. A little kindness goes a long way, as they say!


At the Pietermartizburg Christmas fair, I took along mainly my new gift stock and I have to say that I stayed true to myself when I realised that almost everything I have selected is proudly South African, either from job creation projects or hand made in this beautiful country. I will continue to source new stock items next year to bring you wonderful choice and if you can't make it into the shop, these wonderful items will all be on our website, available at the click of a button. 


I like to think my shop has improved over 2010, but even more so that of my website. I have already started scaling down my shop hours to be open only Thursday to Sunday from 10-4pm, to combine quality of time with my family in this beautiful area, and business. More and more people are starting to see the value of purchasing over the web. Our web credit card facility should be up and running by the end of January 2011which we plan to launch with a less 50% sale on selected items. Watch this space.


I enrolled on a 'Social Media' course in the middle of the year and, though time (and diligence!) did not permit me to spend as much time as I would have liked completing this course, I have great plans for 2011 to become a 'boff' (so Greg, if you're reading this you have something to hold me to!). I meet people on a daily basis in my shop who balk at even the idea of an sms, never mind Face Book and the world wide web, and often think to myself "well you have a choice to follow their lead or go the whole hog and move with the times" and with young children I really think we don't have a choice. So Simply Sam now has its own Face Book page and if you do a search on Google you will find we are now almost always at the top of the search.


I have lived in South Africa all my adult life, but often say to people that the British flag is tattooed on my heart. So you can imagine how uplifting is was at the Soccer World Cup this year to see my three children being 'British' for a few hours when we went to watch England play Slovenia in Port Elizabeth. And to be surrounded by my 'own' people was simply awesome! Seeing the Gautrain in JHB recently made me realise that the world cup may have been and gone, but it has left us with some fantastic infrastructure we can be proud of in this 'third world' country of ours.


One of the highlights of my year with my family was participating in the Kings School survival day which included eating chicken heads and feet (walkie talkies as they are called in South Africa), crawling through mud, finding marbles in the ice with bare feet, as well as various other 'family bonding' activities. I think the highlight for my family was watching me fall into the freezing cold water of the Dam, as I tried to pull myself across. They obviously knew I was going to fall in, they were just wondering when! We are so lucky to live in the beautiful Natal Midlands and seeing how our family has bonded has made the transition over the past three years more than worthwhile. We are lucky to have the most wonderful schools on our doorstep and happy children. Our best friends moved closer to us, from Pretoria to Hilton, and we have met some wonderful new friends and now feel we are part of a great community. And if all that wasn't enough, to celebrate my 17th wedding anniversary, I booked us into the cave at Antbear in the Drakensberg and my husband got down on one knee and presented me with a diamond eternity ring. Now that's what I call lurve! And the cave comes highly recommended too!


To 'almost' end my 2010 blogging, I have a poster in my shop which was made by a local lady out of bubblegum wrappers which says "Trust in God". It was bought with some of the first profit I made in my new shop, here at the Country Courtyard. When we first moved here three years ago, I used to take our children to Catechism in Cedara, a good fourty five minute drive from here. I had a dream of starting Catechism here in Nottingham Road and it really seemed like such a big deal, in fact quite over whelming. Having had the support support of Carolyn Mielella, Terry Pellow-Jarmin and Veronique Edwardes I am blessed to say we completed our first year of Catechism this year and we pray our Catholic community in Nottingham Road will continue to flourish. 


With my love of writing it has been wonderful to discover the art of Blogging and to be able to snap photographs of things I love, and be able to share them with like minded people 'out there' is very satisfying. We have ended with a bumper month at our shop, Simply Sam Antique Brocante & Gifts, in Nottingham Road, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported my life long dream of owning an antique shop and living the country bumpkin lifestyle. I have had endless fun. I'm hoping in 2011 I will take my dream to the next level by visiting and purchasing beautiful antiques directly from France. So all I can say is, "if you can dream it, you can make it so". 

God bless and see you in 2011.

Sam McDonald