Hooking at the Lagoon

 My granny taught me the basic stitches of crochet and knitting when I was about 5 or 6 years old.

When I decided to get rid of my nicotine addiction about two years ago, I reached for the crochet hook again. Kicking the habit would mean more snacking and fidgeting hands and I thought getting hooked to yarn might help.
Well, it did. I also managed to get hooked on Merino wool, as the ultimate fiber to work with.

The story of sheep to yarn is magical and the finished product possesses the properties of the wool it is made in; soft, luxurious, breathable, flame resistant, natural, biodegradable and regulates the body's temperature through the natural crimp in the fiber. All these qualities appealed to the natural living style we were after and I got busy with my first major project.

 Four kilogram's of Merino wool later, and we had the ultimate ripple style blanket for our bed.

Friends bought a plot at the lagoon and asked for a blanket as well, so another four kilograms and 8 months later, they have one too, for their new home. The wool yarn was sourced from different Merino wool suppliers in South Africa, some being designers hand painting commercially spun wool, others were homespun and some were from commercial spinners and dyers. The Merino Ripple blanket has been on our bed for almost a year now and is the most wonderful sleeping buddy you can imagine. The 'regulate your body temperature' fact is completely true and results in much deeper sleeping patterns.

Getting back into crochet, I have met a wonderful group of people, with the same mindset and urge to be creative in yarn. When you hold that ball of wool in your hands and start thinking about the possible projects you could use it for, something clicks and nothing else is quite so important any more. Playing with yarns and hooks have helped me kick the habit and proved to be therapeutic to a stress-filled city soul. Highly recommended.

Free Range

Lagoon Living has made us more conscious of the origin of our food and drink and living closer to nature, this has become a priority. I have been baking our own bread for years, but only recently found a source of flour without the added iron and additives we are trying to avoid. Bolkor Flour is made by the Van der Merwe family in the Porterville district and they are sticklers for quality. (contact tel +27.22. 9313121)

We dream of eating only free range proteins and found a wonderful source of Nguni beef, from Waylands farm, just outside Darling. Lizette and Michael Duckitt are the sixth generation on the farm and their family has been farming there since 1865! I think they know their stuff by now. They strive to farm holistically and in harmony with nature and their wild flower reserve is open to the public during flower season.
 

"We are using the “holistic grazing” system. This enhances the natural vegetation which means that the more we graze the more food we get for the animals to eat and the healthier they are. Everything from the daisy’s to the birds are benefiting from this system. "  says Lizette.
That's our kind of thinking, so we gave it a try.

 We bought their Nguni meat chunks for mincing and made our own beef sausage, mince meat and beef patties. Nothing compares to eating your own, home made sausage, with absolutely no added anything. Just pure beef. Free-Range. Local. Lekker!

Making moves

Making the move from Big-City-life to a small seaside village, next to a salt water lagoon, was always our dream. When our son left home for university, we finally decided to take the leap.

Husband has to drive the 100km to work every day, but does so through the West Coast National Park (www.sanparks.co.za/parks/west_coast) with a variety of indigenous buck, tortoises and ostriches causing peak hour traffic, in stead of thousands of other commuters. I can work from home most days and drive with him when I need to be in Cape Town for meetings. This gives us an extra two hours together in the car, which is great for focused communication and crochet projects.

Our lifestyle change is significant and I will write about our experiences, in my very simple Lagoon Style, to share our triumphs and tribulations. You might be thinking of doing something similar in the near future and I hope to shed some light on how it is working for us and what you could expect. I will also share my love for Merino wool, crafts, the arts and local flavours at the same time. 'Local is Lekker', as we say here at the West Coast.