Elyon's Coffee Shop

Happy 50th Birthday, Jackie!!!

This past Thursday (June 23) began like every coffee crawl day.  But as I was prepping for this week's crawl I decided to send my BFF, Jackie, in Horseheads, NY a quick text msg to wish her a happy birthday.  It was 8:00am here in PE and 2:00am in Horseheads.  No matter, I thought, I knew she'd be awake.  I sent the text and, what do you know, within a minute I received a response from Jackie!  Well, after a brief text conversation we decided to Skype.  An hour later it was time for me to go and for Jackie to try to get some sleep.  So, I sang "Happy Birthday" to her and we signed off.

I sang "Happy Birthday" yet again Thursday morning shortly after this week's crawlers met at Elyon's Coffee Shop.  As promised on last week's post I, along with Beth Vieira, Leanne Waller, Nomusa Nkomo, Les Baldwin, Stella and Beryl Dawson, and Fran and Keith de Beer, sang "Happy Birthday" to June Nash whose big day was Monday (June 20.... you just made the Gemini cutoff, June!).

Elyon's Coffee Shop, located at 8 High Street in Mount Pleasant, is a renovated-for-business house situated in a residential area.  This two-year-old business shares space with V and A Garden Centre and Indigenous Nursery.  After congregating at the nursery and checking out the plants and pots for sale, this week's crawlers moved into the coffee shop to get the crawl underway. 



Meet the Owner
Salome Rees



Elyon's is a small shop with six black-and-white clothed tables and a comfortable lounge area.  The shop is open on weekdays for breakfast or a light lunch, closed on weekends and public holidays.  Owner, Salome' Rees, also provides a "venue and menu" for business meetings, children's parties, and other small gatherings.  She does all the baking of pies and cakes as well.  As you may remember from previous postings I have a weakness for lemon meringue pie.  Well, I broke down and bought a piece to eat later after my trip to the gym.  The pie didn't last that long.... I ate it as soon as I got home.... providing even more incentive to go work out!

I'm finding that many coffee shops in town serve two different brands of coffee.  Elyon's is following suit by using both Miko and Puro FairTrade brands for their coffee beverages.  But for the fact that some of the cappuccinos were served initially without froth and had to be sent back, the coffees were very good.  A second round on the crawl has become a habit, with this week being no exception.  Barista Sibu ("Pinky") served up round two and, with this past Thursday being the second crawl in a row with sunshine, our group sat back and enjoyed the beautiful day and Elyon's relaxed setting.

So, June is not the only Gemini in the group with Keith having just celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago.  As Keith was giving me my weekly Afrikaans lesson, I spied on the wall directly behind him, his astrological "Twin."  Seriously, just look at the resemblance!!! (see pic)  After sharing our respective "signs" the crawlers went on to the subject of puzzles, the most addictive being Sodoku and all newspaper word games.  The "puzzle fiends" in the group all admitted to, at some time, having put off a more urgent task in lieu of completeing a Black Belt Sodoku!  I know many of you readers have done the same...you know who you are!   Motorcyles and pre-paid electricity were topics that also found their way into Thursday's
conversation.   Nomusa got her motorcycle learner's permit; when she gets her license she says she'll come to the Crawl on her "bike."  I'll have to get a pic of that...let's hope it's not raining!  As for pre-paid electricity, I think it's a good idea...keeps you honest.  I can tell that my blood has thinned out since moving here... Lou and I have upped our daily electricity usage to 45 kwh using the electric heater (and the winter has just begun here!)  Winter here is like a cool summer day in NY.  Wow, I'm going to have some problems when we move back!!!

And, Crawl # 20 comes to a close... I have an outrageously busy Thurs-Sat ahead of me (that's why this posting is soooooo late!)  I ended Thursday as I started it... on Skype... this time for two hours with my sister, Elaine, in Erie, PA.  Good talking to you, "schwes."

This week's thanks go out to:
Salome' and staff- I love your shop!
Skype, for providing me with the opportunity to see my family and friends while I'm living away from home.

And, one last note to Jackie...Here's to another 50 yrs!  When you turn 100 I'll probably be celebrating with you in the U.S.  If I'm out of the country I'll text you.... I know you'll be up!!!!

Until next week,

Ellen



This Week's Crawlers
Nomusa, Beth, Stella, Beryl, Leanne, June, Fran, Keith, Les




Gemini Twins!!!




Meet the Barista
Sibu  -  "Pinky"



The Grove Tea and Coffee Shop

A number of years back, on the occasion of my father's 80th birthday, my then 96-year-old piano teacher told him he was still a Spring chicken!  I guess youth is relative.

This past Thursday (June 16) was Youth Day, a National Holiday, in South Africa.  Now, a National Holiday usually means a day off...woohoo!!!  So, there's good news and bad news.  The good news is my husband, Lou, had the day off.  The bad news ...... so did most of the coffee shops in the area!  Fortunately, The Grove Tea and Coffee Shop, which is usually open only on weekends, happened to be open on Thursday!  This week's crawlers cruised a few miles out of town, and met at The Grove, a renovated dairy farm situated on Lakeside Road in Theescombe.  Along with Lou (who brought the sunshine for his first crawl) I was joined this week by Stella and Beryl Dawson, Fran and Keith de Beer, June and Howard Nash, Marie and David Nash, Nomusa Nkomo and Les Baldwin.  We were greeted by Sean Page, cook, barista, and brother of owner, Deirdre Kohler.  Sean quickly moved some tables together for our group and settled the twelve of us in for this week's holiday crawl.

The first round of LavAzza coffees included seven cappuccinos and four black coffees, along with a pot of tea for Nomusa.  Few places in PE serve LavAzza coffee but maybe more should consider it.... the coffee was excellent....certainly good enough for the crawlers to order 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds!!!  Sean was a very personable host and kept up with the onslaught of coffee orders with a smile and a sense of humor.

The Grove, which only 18 months ago was a dairy farm's cattle barn and storage room, is now a tastefully decorated coffee shop in a beautiful rural area.  It is a large, one-room shop that serves not only as a coffee shop but also as a venue for corporate events, parties and receptions.  The weekend menu is hand-written on a chalkboard.  Sean says that when they run out of something on the menu, it just gets erased!  Sean's specialties include oat waffles, lemon meringue pie and, his piece de resistance.....ice cream cake.  We sampled some as we were leaving...WOW!  This coming Sunday being Father's Day, The Grove is having a special luncheon including South African lamb, chicken, and prawn potjies.  Lou and I will definitely be there.

So, what do marriage, a lunar eclipse, politics, and television have in common?  Answer...absolutely nothing, but those were hot topics around the table this week.  Right out of the blocks, Lou and I led a toast to Lou's parents, Lillian and Sabie in Binghamton, NY as they celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary!  Needless to say, the talk of weddings led to some interesting conversation.  My vote (and the only one that counts since this is my blog) for the best comment on the subject of marriage is Howard's....."The first 25 years is all downhill, then it levels off and gets better after that!"  I don't even know what to say about that.  Anyway, Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

As for topic #2, skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere witnessed an impressive total lunar eclipse Wednesday evening.  Lou and I were on the phone with Jeff (in NY) at the time and asked if he was watching it....oops....it was 3 pm in NY, so I guess not.  Clear skies here made for excellent viewing.  Sadly, my photography skills are not honed enough to do the eclipse justice.  So, on to politics.  At the table were 8 South Africans, 1 Brit, 1 Zimbabwean, and 2 Americans.  Enough said?!?  And finally, something that came as quite a surprise to me... the South Africans at the table informed me that SA has only had television broadcasts since 1976, and at that time for limited hours.  "The Bob Newhart Show"and "Dallas" topped the list of early favorites.  I'm still stunned at this........both TV in '76 and their top choices!!! :)

During our visit to The Grove I had an interesting conversation with owner, Deirdre Kohler.  She gave me some background on how she came to start up the coffee shop.  It was the result of checking off things on her "Bucket List" after she was diagnosed with a brain tumor four years ago.  The shop, traveling to Egypt, starting a brain cancer foundation, writing a book, rediscovering her inner artist, working on her Master's Degree in Philosophy at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.... all these things she has accomplished since her diagnosis.  I bought a copy of her book, Brutal Honesty, which she signed for me.  What an inspirational woman.  Check out her website/blog at  <deirdrekohler.com>

Celebrations to note:
*Happy Father's Day to all fathers, grandfathers, and godfathers this Sunday.
*Happy Birthday to our friend, David, in Horseheads, NY, who celebrated on coffee crawl day (June 16)
*Happy Birthday to my brother, Chuck, in Erie, PA, whose big day is today (June 17)
*Happy Birthday to coffee crawler, June Nash, who will celebrate on June 20...we will sing to you next week!

Thank you to Deirdre and Sean....we all had a great time visiting The Grove!
Thank you to my husband, Lou, for being so supportive of me with this blog and for bringing the sunshine with you on Thursday.  And, Lou, contrary to what Howard says, our first 25 yrs (and the 6 yrs since) were awesome!

Until next week,

Ellen



This Week's Crawlers
Nomusa, Les, Lou, Howard, Stella, Beryl, David, June, Marie, Fran, Keith 




Meet the Owner
Deirdre Kohler

Meet the Barista
Sean Page

Blue Orange Cafe

My brother, Chuck, is the artist in the family.  As for my other five siblings, any one of them would be a decent Pictionary partner.  I, on the other hand, must have been at recess when they were passing out artistic ability.  I struggle with stick figures, and the whole depth perception thing...well, forget about it.  The only thing I remember from the Saturday morning art lessons my sisters and I took as kids is the color wheel.  Primary, secondary, and complementary colors struck me as something I just might use someday.  So, here I am in Africa years later, and when I heard about the Blue Orange Cafe, the first thing that came to my mind was the color wheel.  Blue-primary, orange-secondary, blue and orange-complementary....the extent of my artistic knowledge would finally be put to the test!  Well, it turns out that the Blue Orange Cafe has nothing to do with the color wheel or art in general (unless you count the really cool "distressed" picture frames for sale at the shop...I especially liked the framed mirrors).  Actually, no one I spoke with on Thursday knows where the shop got its name...and so it remains a mystery.  (Keith de Beer said he would investigate it... when you email me your findings, Keith, please put it in Afrikaans so I can practice!)

The Blue Orange Cafe is located at 92 Heugh Rd. in Walmer and is open daily from 8-3 serving breakfast and lunch.  It is also known as PE's Secret Garden Cafe, or so it says on the business card.  Unfortunately, we didn't spend any time in what appeared to be a beautiful garden because, yes, you guessed it, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!!!  (June's husband, Howard, says that the mayor of PE should bestow on me, and my blog, the Rain Maker Award, and for bringing an end to the drought.)  I imagine that on a nice, sunny day having tea or coffee out in the shop's garden would be a little bit of paradise.

June Nash and I arrived a bit early, ordered cappuccinos, and wisely chose a table near the wood burning stove and away from the leaking ceiling tiles.  We were soon joined by Beth Vieira, Fran and Keith de Beer, Leanne Waller and her two sons, Daniel and Luke (who brought the average age way down this week!), Les Baldwin (no, not one of the famed Baldwin bros.) and Nomusa Nkomo.  Everyone settled in and was quickly served coffees/teas prepared by barista, Phumza.  The Blue Orange serves both Illy and Masterton's blends depending on the beverage ordered.  My cappuccino with whipped cream (which was more whipped cream than coffee) was Illy brand while my second cup, black coffee - no cream, no sugar, was a Masterton's blend.  All agreed that the coffees were good and hot.  I was tempted to have one of Blue Orange's famous carrot-nut muffins to go along with my caffeine but held off.  I'm sure to stop by and try one another time.  The cafe's owner, Jennifer Buchler, was not on site Thursday, but manager Jan`e Bosman, and our barista and a trainee made sure we were comfortable, happy, (and dry!).

The rain was the main topic of discussion since a torrential downpour had been ongoing at that point for three straight days.  I believe the drought must be over by now!  The crawlers then played a quick game of "Name That Celebrity" by trying to identify the headshots of famous personalities displayed in the aforementioned frames adorning the walls.  The faces of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow, Judy Garland (and a few others we were unsuccessful in recognizing) stared down at us as the conversation turned to the upcoming winter (July, August) festivals in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces.  We will definitely try to get to some of them when Liz comes to visit next month.  We then went on to discuss the rash of "Elephants Gone Wild" stories that have hit the news recently....those crazy elephants!!!  My favorite topic this week, though, was Nomusa's description of Mopani worms, a Zimbabwean delicacy.  The harvesting, boiling, drying, and final prepping of the worms for consumption is quite a process.  Lou tried some when we visited Zim in November.  He got a certificate declaring that he ate the worms.  I don't know about you but I always hesitate to eat something that you receive recognition for afterwards.  I'm certain I'll try Mopani worms sometime before I leave Africa....and I'll be sure to get the certificate to prove it!!!

As this week's crawl came to an end no one was in any rush to leave... perhaps it was the comfortable atmosphere, the pleasant staff and the good coffee, or maybe it was just that no one wanted to go back outside and get soaked.  In either case, we stayed for a few hours enjoying PE's Secrret Garden Coffee Shop.

Thank you to manager Jan`e and staff for keeping us warm and dry.
Thank you to the crawlers who braved the flooded PE streets to join me!
Thank you to all the art teachers out there...keep the faith, and you are appreciated!

"They" say everything you learn you use sometime in your life...well, that color wheel came in handy when I needed fodder for the penning of this week's blog post.  Now, I can check that off the list!

Until next week,

Ellen




Meet the Barista
Phumza






Meet the Manager
Jane Bosman

  





This Week's Crawlers
Beth, June, Fran, Keith, Leanne, Daniel, Les, Nomusa



Proof!!!

Sacramento

It has been a busy couple of weeks since my son, Jeff, arrived for an unexpected visit to South Africa.  On his final full day here, he and I took a drive just a few miles outside of PE to Cape Recife.  We toured SAMREC (South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre), and even watched as the centre's volunteers fed some recuperating penguins.  Eddy was a great tour guide...knowledgeable and very passionate about the future of the African penguin.  Jeff and I then went out to the beach where the Cape Recife Lighthouse stands warning mariners of Thunderbolt Reef just offshore.  The lighthouse was commissioned in 1851....a few hundred years too late for the  Portuguese Galleon, "The Sacramento," that hit the reef on June 30, 1647.  Now, fast forward almost four hundred years and you will find the PE Coffee Crawlers making their way to Sacramento, a coffee shop/restaurant named after the ill-fated ship.  Unfortunately for the 72 survivors of the shipwreck, there wasn't a nice little coffee shop here for them to rest after swimming/climbing ashore.  I bet a nice, hot Caturra coffee would have hit the spot!  (And maybe more than nine of them would have also survived the 1300 km trek back to Mozambique!)

The Sacramento coffee shop/restaurant is situated on beautiful Marine Drive in Schoenmakerskop ("Schoenies" to the locals) overlooking the Indian Ocean.  This area is part of the Sardinia Bay Sea Reserve that boasts magnificent vistas, white sandy beaches and rocky shoreline, and numerous hiking trails.  Lou and I have hiked one called The Sacramento Trail a number of times....makes for a relaxing Sunday afternoon.  The Sacramento coffee shop is open every day (except Monday) until 5:00 with extended hours on Wed., Fri., and Sat.  The full menu includes seafood specialties and some very yummy sounding desserts.  The nautical theme (no surprise there!) of the shop includes a bronze cannon from the sunken ship.  Some interesting curio collections and a big fireplace contribute to the comfortable atmosphere.

I spoke with Sacramento's owner, Mark de la Peyre, when I first arrived and he was most welcoming to our group.  Our barista, Leigh, was cheerful and efficient as she filled our eleven orders of various beverages, cappuccinos w/froth, cappuccinos w/cream, teas, and black coffees.  It seemed that everyone switched up their order for round two (a second round is starting to become a habit) but that didn't faze Leigh; she never missed a beat.  Leigh is definitely a keeper.  Owner Mark missed the photo session on crawl day but posed for a pic on Saturday when Lou and I stopped by.  While we were there we ordered coffee, and again, great service with a smile!!!

Scary movies was the topic of conversation for crawlers Beth Vieira, June Nash, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Jeff and me.  The original "Psycho" and the relatively new "28 Days Later" were voted as must-see flicks.  By the time Fran and Keith de Beer, Fr. Dominic Griego, Leanne Waller, and Nomusa Nkomo arrived, the topic had changed to a debrief of Jeff's short visit to South Africa.  He only had a fortnight here so he got the Reader's Digest condensed version of the area.  (Hearing the S. Africans use the word "fortnight" and having only ever heard it before in old movies and Shakespeare plays, Jeff wondered aloud, "People still use that word?"  Apparently they do, Jeff!!!)  Jeff's bungy jumping off the Bloukrans Bridge (the highest bungy in the world) last weekend drew lots of questions and comments from this week's crawlers.  I still can't believe I watched my husband and son jump...they are crazy!  So, Fr. Dominic, Jeff has a great idea for a church fund-raiser!!!  Are you up for it?
Somehow, then, we got onto the subject of pizza, best pizzerias, favorite toppings, crust preferences...aside from coffee (oh, and chocolate) pizza is my favorite topic of conversation.  And finally, our discussion took another turn and ended up with Fr. Dominic telling tales of his brief modeling career.... I wish I would have been there for that catwalk!!!

A couple of notes:
This is Jeff's last week on the crawl with us.  He flew out Thursday afternoon right after our Sacramento visit.
Fran is keeping us up to date with her sister's (Prudie's) coffee crawl in KwaZulu Natal.  Her group is meeting for coffee every fortnight (OMG...there it is again, Jeff!!!).
Two of this week's crawlers celebrated birthdays last weekend.  Happy Birthday wishes go out to Nomusa Nkomo and Keith de Beer.  And for those of you who are wondering...I didn't ask!

Lots of thank you's this week so let's get started.
*Thank you to Mark and the Sacramento staff, especially to Leigh.
*Thank you to the SAMREC volunteers who care for sick and injured African penguins.  Eddy, you are awesome!
*Thank you to Delta Airlines for getting Jeff here and back to NY safely!
*Thank you to Keith de Beer for his comment on The Pink Fig post...you are very kind.  For those of you who aren't fluent in Afrikaans.... google translate it!!!
*Finally, thank you to my son, Jeff, for joining us on the crawl for the past few weeks.... we loved having you "crawl" with us, honey!

Until next week,

Ellen 

 

Meet the Owner
Mark de la Peyre

 

Meet the Barista
Leigh

View from Sacramento
Schoenmakerskop



This Week's Crawlers
Nomusa, Fran, Leanne, Beth, June, Beryl, Stella, Jeff, Fr. Dominic, Keith