I said YES!

As I am looking back at 2012, a lot has changed in my life; it was a rough year, but also the best year of my life so far…

2012 was the year I got engaged! I always wondered about this stage in a person’s life, because I have 4 siblings, I always had a good example of what it would be like, but the emotion that goes with the whole new step is unbelievable. I never really thought about whom it would be that I would one day marry and spend the rest of my life with, I never wanted to put the idea in my head and maybe loose the one because of my preconceived notions. 

Then my life was literally swept away from under my feet, to put it in short terms, I became a single girl after 3 years, moved back home, a flood came and through everything I really knew upside down, my support system basically all moved to Korea, then I had to make new friends,I found new love, built a new home, got engaged, and now I am planning my wedding… Wow, I am actually exhausted just typing this right now. But to say the least I have never been happier! 

In the process of planning this very large wedding, I realized the most important thing really is not to get caught up in all of it, but to use the time to be inspired by what I see, the people that I share this time with and most important to have the best time with my fiancé. 

Here are some of the things I would like to share with you…

 My vintage PENTAX, that has a documentation of the whole change from start to finish...Pretty cool!

Picking wild flowers on the mountain, to get ideas for my wedding bouquet. 

The Purple Crested Turaco, that opened my heart...

The real deal I always wanted...

Getting the chance to use my grandmothers Vintage wedding dress, to incorporate in mine...

 Sharing all these great moments with the love of my life...

                        So till next time!

The chilled life.....

Since I have moved to Hoedspruit, from Pretoria my life has become a bit more relaxed. Hoedspruit is a small town with one big forway that is not operated by a traffic light, there are no traffic lights to speak of. The slower pace has given me so much time to think about life and the whole rush you experience while living in a big city. I should say, a do prefer the more relaxed vibe of a smaller town, even though we dont have as many fast food joints or clothing shops as a big city would hold.

The small town has nature in your face everyday, the mountains standing tall and strong and wildlife all around. Even though a propper clothing store is an hours drive away, I would drive 2 hours to just be at peace as I am....

Here are some of my experiences some of them daily and some once in a while...

The sunrise and sunset is pretty amazing in the lowveld..... I believe it holds magical energy!

Cameleons are such interesting creatures to me. I love discovering one in nature, picking them up and inspecting them, and then releasing them again.

Minature Horses on a farm nearby.....

Orchids growing in the trees, naturally!!!! This one was blooming!

The Drakensberg Mountains....View from the house....

Getting the chance to touch a cheetah, only in Hoedspruit!

Planting herbs and lettuce for fresh organic salads everyday!

Butterflies in the garden..... My favourite!

Sunshine everyday!

Piccadilly Padstal

So my mom decided on a whim that it was time to open a padstal. We jumped in and made some things to sell and then it happened, it was named after my label Piccadilly Red, she wanted to only use Piccadilly...

It is located in our small town of Hoedspruit...

My mom and sister did most of the decorating, they are both very creative people with lots of unique ideas...

 

My sister used all of my dad's old scrap on our yard to create unique and exiting pieces.

The inside is very nicely decorated from old bins and paintings...

 

The counter is decorated with old sighns.

Inside also there is a station with groceries for the local people...

 Baskets with socks, scarfs and  Mosambique- wax print sling bags.

Recycled glass containers filled with yummy sweets for the kids - R10.

 Piccadilly Red Wax print slingbags -R65

 Headbands, Necklaces and bracelettes all from Piccadilly Red.

Some curios, Books, weaved pots and armbands from Cie DESIGN.

 Some Piccadilly Red Brooches and hair pins...

 Some Piccadilly Red Clothing and Cie dESigns interior products.

 The creative work from my mom, dad and sister!

Hope to see you at the padstal soon!!!

For more information on Classic imports + exports interior designs contact Ester Coetzee:072 49 48 794 

Mother earth's gifts to us...

The thing is, to be happy in life I believe it is the small things that counts. My friend told me the other day that I must find what inspires me and concentrate on those small things in order to be inspired and be happy again. Well here are some small things mother earth has shown me... and it makes me feel happy and inspired;

 A simple flower, with the most interesting detailS... 

 A Dandelion, just hiding in the grass, ready to make a wish with...

 

 Brambels, almost ready to eat...

 

Flowers Growing on the mountain tops...

 

A natural stream coming straight out of the mountain... the purest water you will ever drink.

These are the samll things mother earth offer us everyday... we are truly blessed.

 

Mushroom village....

Once apon a time there was a glorious village in the woods right next to a beautiful river...

The beauty of this place would make you shiver...

It was filled with secret spaces and amazing places. 

The trees whispered words to one another as the wind blew through and the butterflies fluttered...

Every hole and tree bark had a secret entrance filled with mysterious bugs, hiding inside doing their daily jobs. It was amazing this village, all the different flowers and ferns where scattered all over the place, it was truly a beautiful face...

Walk carefull and silent and you will find true treasure behind it...

There is no place like this, the true spirit of nature whispers in you ears, the magig that is here...

Discovering the Inhabitants  of this magical place was what made me so amazed...

I named each and every one, others more special than some...

To find them you have to look hard and long, while listening to the birds singing their song...

My mushroom friends has revealed themselves to me, and I was gratefull of how special it would be...

Underneath the beautifull spread of plants and flowers, I studied these umbrella shaped things with magnificent powers...

I will introduce you now to my special friends

Be carefull not scare them because on you they depend...

Yellow Flippie

Yellow Flippie likes lazing in the sun, 

he has a sqeecky voice and always has a lot of fun!

He wiggles his umbrella through out the day, and he will always help you find you way...

Tree-hugger Timmy

 Tree- hugger Timmy loves his tree friend he is growing on...

He chats to his tree friend all  day long.

They make jokes and sings,

For you will enjoy the fun that Timmy brings...

 Jolly Jeffrey

Jefffrey likes to play in the mud, the leaves on the ground are his best buds...

He likes to read poems about love and the way travelers roams!

He is always ready with a story, and will never bore you!

Tiny Twins

 

The twins are always playing pranks, on every Tom, Dick and Hank...

The will always entertain you  with a trick a joke, even a prank or two!

Never knowing who is who, they will come from behind with a loud BOO!

Billy Brown

Billy Brown is a naughty one, 

He is always up for some fun...

 Teasing here and there, 

Always having some funny joke to share.

The Willy Brothers

 The Willy Brothers are a lazy bunch

Always thinking what they will have for lunch...

Yahwning and sleeping all day long...

Always wondering why they never get strong.

Phat JOE!

Joe is a little fat one,

Wishing he had more friends than none.

He is a friendly shroom with a good heart

The only thing he does more than eat is fart,

Joe struggles with this a lot,

wishing that someone some day will give him a shot!

And now you have met them all, the whole bunch in one call.

Be as it may, they are all very happy anyway.

Good bey my mushroom friends,

We will see you next year after the rains just around the river bends...

The beauty of nature....

During my new year traveling, I went deep into the Drakensberg mountains, way up on the top... There you will litarally find your soul in the beauty of nature...It is one of my favourite places in the world. Every time I visit mother nature has a special gift to offer, and all her little secrets are revealed to me...

 

This year was more magical than ever, my discoveries of what nature had to offer blew my mind...

There was the lovely gift of a pretty flower here and there...

 

And can you spot the little snail on the bottom of the flower on the left? That was one of my favourite parts of the trip, all the wild flowers, that are free... You will find them everywhere.

Then there were the mushrooms...in every size shape and color!

This was a tiny one we found...

Obvious;y all the ferns were amazing... This ons was in a spiral around the tree... 

My last favourite picture of the trip was this Protea, right on the ecge of the mountain.. as the clouds formed a floor, I found this one, it was old an dead but it still had that proud feeling of the Protea

And this is why I love the beauty of nature...

Freedom...

Okey so my world came crashing down on me, and I got completely side tracked... My tribal range is currently on hold as it is and this is the reason...

First of all, that new job I took just completely took over my life. I am not complaining I am still getting to do what I love ( being around sewing machines and fabric) but it just got so business-like... all serious and stuff, which I am only learning now is the fate of the average working class girl, yes Average! So apart from a whole list of things dramatic and weard that happened in the past few weeks I will tell you only about the main peanut, the big one...So, this beautifull little town I live in got hit by the side of a syclone that was heading to Mosambique and this just opened a whole new chapter in my little world. I got a rude awakening on 17 or 18 Januarie? I know its all still a blur, My dad woke me and said in a very serious panicky voice that I have to get up, someone phoned to ask for help at one of my dear friends's houses, they were stuck in thier houses in the middle of a quick rising Blyde River. It was pooring down hard that day... So not to be too dramatic, we went there, almost everyone got out safely, including their two dogs, and a meerkat called GRAATJIE.  I was in shock that whole day, we were stranded between a flooded bridge and a closed road ( obviously due to a flooded stream crossing the road). So I spent my whole day from 07h00 to 14h00 in the rain walking barefoot staring at the horific scene of these masses of water streaming down like a angry monster, demolishing everything in it's path....The little town called Hoedspruit as most of you know, was declared a disaster area, my dear friends among a lot of others, lost their home and the only known sanctuarty I had here, their beautifull adventure camp, that was situated on the banks of the Blyde river. Obviously the whole river flooded and took everything with it...Including one of my dearest animal friends called Valiant....

 

Let me tell you a little about him...If you ever had the pleasure of knowing this amazing animal you would be blessed with the freedom he had. He would roam free at the camp every day, eating his way through the grass, wild figs, lunch boxes, leftovers, we even found chocolate wrappers in his droppings! He was a free spirit! I would feed him bread or sugar and braid his hair, putting feathers in it, he would look like a true Indian horse, I think he liked it a lot... Sometimes I would just play dress up with him, putting his main up in a ponytail, or putting my scarf on his face to make him look like a Desert Arab!!

The week after the floods, we were all still a bit shacky and I was very happy and blessed not to have lost any of my friends or my house for that matter. But the only bad news was that someone saw a horse in the main stream of the floods and a few days after posting messages and pictures of him on facebook, Valiant was found, but he did not make it...

I realise for a lot of people this is probably so stupid and they might think I am crazy... but Valiant was my dear friend, he would always bring me joy and happiness. He had this free spirit that could not be tamed. I was inspired by his freedom. I am sharing this with you because he ment a lot to me, and I want to honor him in the only way I know... by telling his story and sharing a bit of his spirit...

I am going to miss you my dear animal friend. I will never forget you. Have fun in horse heaven, I am sure you are now more free than you could ever be. Love Nicola