Coffee.
It is one of my great loves (after books and my cats and my family). I love a glass of prosecco or red wine but if I had to choose, I would happily give them up in exchange for coffee. I can hear several sharp intakes of breath at this bold statement especially from the rellies, the bookish community and my Red Wine Friday crew, but it is true.
Every morning the Husband and I go for a walk which includes stopping at one of our fave coffee shops, Croft & Co in Parkview. The owner, Grant, his lovely wife, Marisa and his staff are legends in the area, you can get a cappuccino from before six in the morning and in double quick time and it is DELICIOUS. They are a godsend for cyclists, runners, walkers and sleep-deprived writers who all congregate there at first light – and they even put out bottles of water for the super athletes.
Sadly, they do not open on a Monday because they too need a day off (tragic but true), so I was thrilled to find out that they’ve opened a new branch of C&C in Keyes Avenue in Rosebank – near Marble. The Husband and I popped in to have a squiz at it; it is very cool and if you live in the area, I would definitely try it out. Plus, the best thing about it is that it is open on Mondays. Woo hoo! Slightly too far for me to walk – especially on a Monday – but I’m happy to get into my car for these guys.
A lot of people don’t realise this, but the Husband is allergic to coffee.
This allergy seemed to be brought about by stress, we were on a flight to London when it first hit. It started off mildly but with each attack, it got progressively worse. He said that it felt like he had very bad motion sickness – he would start staggering, then doing impressive projectile pukes and after that he would have to take to his bed for days at a time.
We thought it was Ménière’s disease but eventually through a process of elimination, and some rather nasty injections into the base of his skull, discovered that they were vestibular migraines brought on by caffeine. Not all caffeine is created equal, so it seems to be espressos and the caffeine in red bull that affects him.
We discovered the red bull allergy after a golf day at the son’s prep school; the Husband consumed a Jager Bomb (jägermeister and red bull) during the prize giving and had to be carried out of the golf club by a friend who kept telling everyone that the Husband has an allergy to caffeine. Needless to say, no one believed him, they all assumed the poor man was blind drunk.
NO, HE WAS NOT BLIND DRUNK, HE HAS A CAFFEINE ALLERGY.
Can you hear the cackles? They still don’t believe us.
I did think I would have to divorce the Husband for his allergy as we could no longer enjoy coffee together. This would’ve been v sad for the kids (especially if they were left with just me to cook for them. VERY SAD. Although Uber Eats would’ve been happy).
Luckily, before we had to hit the divorce court, coffee shops started serving rooibos lattes and cappuccinos and all was fine with the world. Again, not all red cappuccinos are equal (so the husband tells me, I cannot stomach rooibos, it is gross. Another sign of how people with different beliefs CAN live together in harmony) apparently, the ones at Croft are PARTICULARLY DELISH.
I know it sounds like I only go out for coffee, this is not (entirely) true. I do also possess a Nespresso machine and I am very fond of the coffee capsules from Fournos. My Nespresso machine is getting on in years and I have now sent it in twice for repairs and I must give them a shout-out because the last time I sent it in (a couple of weeks ago) – they delivered a replacement machine whilst mine was being fixed.
That’s what I call service.
Film recommendations: Moxie with Amy Poehler, you can find it on Netflix. A teen, coming-of-age, finding-your-voice movie that I found surprisingly poignant possibly because I have a daughter that age. Got lukewarm reviews, some of them were downright sexist and oozing toxic masculinity. Luckily, we ignored the reviews as the husband and I thought it was great.
Love and Monsters, also on Netflix. Quirky, apocalyptic end of the world flick where a meteor is headed to earth, gets blitzed by all these rockets, and the resulting chemical debris that falls back to earth causes all insects to mutate into giant monsters. Frankly, with what’s going on in the world currently – Covid, the fires in Cape Town etc..I had no trouble with my suspension of disbelief, in fact, the story really resonated. If someone told me a large meteor was headed to earth tomorrow, I wouldn’t even be the tiniest bit surprised. Cool script, nice performances, we enjoyed this one immensely.
Book recommendations: Girl In The Walls by A.J. Gnuse which is about a girl whom after her parents are killed in an accident, literally lives between the walls of her old house. Beautifully written, very goth, and brimming with suspense. I enjoyed it enormously.
Little Threats also arrived for me this week. The book, that is, by Emily Schultz. I ordered this one back in December, I presume it was delayed due to Covid. Anyway, it was a delightful surprise because I had gone on such an orgy of book buying just before the hols, I had completely forgotten about it. It concerns a girl that goes to jail after supposedly murdering her best friend. There’s a twin sister and a dubious crime show host in the mix and yes, I’m already finding it compelling.
I also watched The Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral last Saturday, which was beautifully put together and was a rather wonderful send-off. Whilst I was watching, I started feeling weirdly envious of the fabulous music and incredible marching and began imagining how state funerals COULD look here in SA.
I then had a riveting Twitter convo with showrunner, Portia Gumede about how these things need to be rehearsed.
We’ve got all the ingredients to put on brilliant funerals here in SA that really showcase our different cultures, they just need to be properly planned and choreographed and REHEARSED. I was impressed at how much thought went into HRH’s funeral – obvs he had a lot of time to think about it being 99 and all – but I think it’s such a kindness to the grieving (possibly warring *side-eyes Harry & Wills*) family that are left behind if you’ve put down on paper exactly what you want. Food for thought.
Have a great week everyone, happy reading! xxx