Last weekend I went to South Africa’s Eastern Free State to attend the annual Cherry Festival in Ficksburg. I took the weekend off, more or less. I didn’t take many photos and hardly thought about blogging.
Regarding the Cherry Festival: Although I had lots of fun, it was really just a local carnival with a few cherry-related activities and some cherry jam for sale. Even though I love cherries, I wouldn’t necessarily go back to Ficksburg for the festival. But it was a great excuse to hang around in one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa.
Clarens, a quaint tourist town near Golden Gate Highlands National Park. We stayed in Clarens our last night before driving home to Joburg.
One of the activities on offer at the Cherry Festival was a “Cherry Pip Spitting” contest. (Americans call them pits, not pips. But I think the word pip is way cuter.) I missed the actual contest but I did try my own hand at cherry-pip-spitting, and it seems that I have some talent. Check it out. (Thanks to Ray for recording this amazing video.)
2Summers Cherry Pip Spitting from Heather Mason on Vimeo.
Anyway, my main reason for writing this post is to apologize for the recent silence. I took a bit of a break from blogging because 2Summers was in the process of moving to a new host. This won’t make any sense to the non-bloggers among you, but for those who are interested: I moved 2Summers away from Wordpress.com and onto a self-hosted platform.
The look and feel of the blog have hardly changed at all, but this move means that I’ll have more flexibility going forward when it comes to the blog’s design and functionality. This is my first time posting since the blog moved so I’m hoping that everything works okay. There might still be some kinks to work out so if you notice any problems, please let me know.
Also, I’m working with a great web developer on this project and I want to give him a plug. If you’re based in South Africa and need help with a website, please contact Lebo Moeketsi at info@kemoso.com. I put off this move for a long time because my blog is really important to me and I was terrified that something would go wrong. But Lebo has been fantastic and 2Summers could not have been in safer hands.
Lastly, Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans among you. Thanksgiving, like Labor Day and Memorial Day and the 4th of July, is just like any other day here in South Africa. But I’m still feeling thankful for many things:
I’m thankful to be taking my South African boyfriend to his first Thanksgiving dinner this evening. (My awesome American friends Anita and Johnson are making a turducken.) I’m thankful to have an amazing life, in which I get to do what I love pretty much all the time. And of course I am thankful for this blog, where I can say what I want and post silly pictures like this.
Heather and Ray in creepy cherry land.
I’m looking forward to filling all of you in on my recent adventures.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
In 2020, I published a blog post with tips for Americans living in South Africa who wanted to vote in the U.S. presidential election. I thought about simply resharing that post this year. But then I realized: 1) I want to write a U.S. election post that will be fun and informative for everyone, not just other Americans; and 2) Believe it or not, the U.S. presidential election stakes are even higher in 2024 than they were in 2020. So I’m introducing you to some really cool Americans in Joburg – one who I’ve known forever and two who I just met – and tell you a bit about who they are, why they live here, and why they vote.
Use the share button below if you liked it.
It makes me smile, when I see it.