South African weaving

With the Springboks playing Scotland at Murrayfield this afternoon, it seemed appropriate to blip a piece of South African craftwork.

Although South African by birth, I came to Scotland as a child and hadn't been back since 1971, until 2004 when I returned to do a tour of the country. We started in Cape Town, travelled up through the Garden Route to my home city of Durban, where I had a reunion with the only primary schoolfriend I was still in touch with after more than 50 years.

I bought this weaving in an establishment that claimed to be "The Highest Pub in Africa" when we stayed in the Drakensberg Mountains for a few days and had a jeep trip through the Sani Pass into Lesotho. Our jeep driver turned out to be a former classmate of my brother - small world!

The rest of the tour took in two game reserves and a visit to Pretoria, where I met up with my beloved big cousin and his wife, before flying home from Jo'burg. Although South Africa has its problems, it is a beautiful country and I was so glad I had the chance to visit again.

Today, after an optimistic forecast from the BBC, the weather has been disappointing - rain and hail - so I'm staying put indoors. I'm in the mood for chilli con carne, so a pot has been prepared for tonight's meal while watching SCD. Bliss!