Pixi Hollow

After the Crawl on Thursday I was really excited to get home and post my blog on Pixi Hollow, this week's coffee shop.  First, though, I had to get to the gym, give a few piano lessons, make dinner and, of course, catch the Broncos/Raiders game that we had recorded.  So, here I am on Friday hoping to get my post up so those PE readers who are out on Saturday morning know where to go for breakfast!  Hope my directions are okay..... Pixi Hollow is inside the Emerald Square Centre on Buffelsfontein Rd. in Mount Pleasant.  Just as you exit the Spar (after picking up meat and rolls for the braai) look up and to your left and you will spot the Pixi Hollow logo.  Head straight in and order a coffee from barista, Travis.  He makes a mean cappuccino and his filter coffee is just as good.  Oh, and if you happen to have your laptop with you, you can check out the Rugby World Cup stats because Pixi Hollow has free WiFi for all patrons.  After you've ordered your coffee, choose a table (upstairs or downstairs) and check out the full breakfast/lunch menu.  The cakes on display look tempting as well.  Pixi Hollow's hours are Monday-Saturday, 8-6 and Sunday, 9-4.  You have all the info you need.... now, get going!!!

Meet the Owner
Joyce Mossop

This week's Crawlers, Gail Darne, June Nash, Leanne Waller, Nomusa Nkomo, Les Baldwin, Fran and Keith de Beer, were all thumbs-up when voting on their Illy espresso and Puro Fairtrade filter coffees.  I was impressed with both but when owner, Joyce Mossop, and I sat down for a cup after all the Crawlers left, I ordered black filter coffee, no milk, no sugar.... just as nature intended.  Joyce has owned Pixi Hollow for six months and has some very creative plans to decorate the shop as a "hollow" you may read about in fantasy literature, complete with gnomes, fairies, crooked bonsais, and maybe a few goblins thrown in for good measure.  Very cool ideas, Joyce.  It will be fun to watch this transformation!!!

Along with the coffee shop Joyce also owns the Trade Beads and Gifts Shop adjacent to the upper level of Pixi Hollow.  MJ, the manager of Trade Beads, designs, custom makes, and repairs jewelry, and offers beading workshops for children and adults.  If requested, the workshops may include refreshments provided by Pixi Hollow.  How awesome is that?!?




Meet the Barista
Travis van Eyk



Meet the Trade Beads Manager
MJ de Kock



Okay, on to the Crawl conversation.  Thursday happened to be World Rhino Day, a day set aside to raise global awareness of rhino poaching and how it is leading to the dramatic decline in numbers of this magnificent animal.  We talked about this a few weeks ago at the Crawl... it's been making the news quite a bit lately.  Another topic that is making news is the Rugby World Cup.  During Thursday's Crawl, South Africa played Namibia.  Keith left Pixi Hollow to go home and watch the game.  He returned later with the good news that the Springboks won, 87-0!  The Boks are on their way!!!!  U.S. Rugby update - the Eagles lost to Australia on Friday.  Rugby was the topic of Keith's useless fact-of-the-week.  I'd heard this somewhere before but Keith reminded us that the U.S. is the reigning Olympic champ in rugby.... last time rugby was played in the Olympics.... 1924! 

The Crawlers continued to talk sports, namely tennis and golf.  Nomusa, Gail, and I are looking for a fourth for doubles in tennis... anyone game?  And, by the way, where are there some public tennis courts in PE?  I know that poker doesn't count as a sport but I love the game and found that I will definitely clean up if I play with June... no poker face there!!!!!




This Week's Crawlers
Les, Nomusa, Gail, Keith, Fran, June, Ellen
not pictured - Leanne



Thank you so much, Joyce and staff.  We had a great time and I will definitely be back for coffee, cake, and conversation.  

Until next week,

Ellen

Memory Lane

Last Tuesday night was one of those nights I just couldn't get to sleep.  After tossing and turning for an hour or so I watched some TV, read a few hundred pages of the book I'm presently into (The Covenant by James Michener), and did about 20 sudoku puzzles.  That took me until about 4:00 am.  Our alarm goes off at 6:00 am so I figured there was no point in attempting to get any sleep.  I resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be a rough Wednesday.  Once the sun was up, I finished off a pot of coffee, straightened up around the house, and ran a few errands.  Then I began to procrastinate about going to the gym.  I go every day, but Wednesday I could tell it just wasn't going to happen.  I made a chocolate cake instead.

Well, I certainly couldn't eat the whole cake myself so I brought it to share with the Crawlers on Thursday.  Shaun Aupiais (PE coffee distributor, barista, and coffee connoisseur) had recommended this week's shop a few months ago when we had a coffee tasting at Urban Blend (July 19 Crawl).  With all the suggesions of coffee shops I get from locals it has taken all this time to heed Shaun's suggestion and head to Memory Lane, situated at 2 Bingley St. in Richmond Hill.  Like a number of shops we've visited, Memory Lane is a renovated residential home.  Though it seats 80 (inside and outside combined) it doesn't feel crowded since tables are arranged in different rooms.  This also gives the shop a nice homey atmosphere.  Some of the rooms at Memory Lane are also set aside for antiques and "farm stall goods."  In the time I spent poking around the shop I found these really cool porcupine quill lampshades and framed mirrors.  I may return at some point to get those shades for the guest room in our house.  (Jeff and Liz, what do you think?  Would quill shades match the "Africa room" in our house here?)

Memory Lane opens Mon.- Sat at 8:30 am.  On Thursday I arrived at 9:00 (a bit earlier than usual for the Crawl) and was greeted by owner Eugenie de Wet.  We talked about the blog for a bit then she organized a table for this week's Crawlers, Les Baldwin, Nomusa Nkomo, Stella and Beryl Dawson, June Nash, Leanne Waller, Beth Vieira, Fran and Keith de Beer, and Gail Darne, while I snapped a few pics and retrieved the cake from the car.  Within minutes everyone arrived, was seated and ready to order.  Memory Lane has two baristas on staff, Josie and Felicia.  Josie was the Crawl's barista for not one, not two, but three rounds of Caffe Molinari coffees.  Nice job, Josie... the coffees were excellent!!!

Meet the Owner
Eugenie de Wet

 

Meet the Baristas
Josie and Felicia



My favorite dessert is pecan pie with a steaming cup of black coffee.  With no pecan pie in sight, the chocolate cake I brought wasn't a bad substitute.  After the cake was served we all sang "Happy Birthday" to my son, Christopher (living in the States), who celebrates his 28th birthday on Sept 20.  Were your ears ringing at about 3:30 am on Thursday, Christopher?  Happy Birthday, Son!  Well, that got everyone talking about birthdays.  We went around the table sharing our birth dates (including years) and, what do you know, Beth's birthday was the next day, Friday, Sept 16, and occasional Crawler, Fr. Dominic's birthday was Sat., Sept 17.  I knew there was a reason I brought the cake!!!

Excitement still abounds in PE as play for the Rugby World Cup continues.  The crawlers discussed SA's win over Wales and the U.S. loss to Ireland along with upcoming games including SA vs. Fiji and U.S. vs. Russia.  Since this post is so late I can happily report to those not following the rugby action that both SA and U.S. teams won those games.  WooHoo!!!

I don't know why but cricket keeps sneaking in as a topic of discussion at the Crawl.  Stella, Beryl, and Keith are all fans of the game.  They tried, yet again, to explain it to me.  All I can say is perhaps if I watched a cricket game on Tuesday night I may have gotten some sleep!!!



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



The Crawlers then talked about restaurants in PE.  Folks, when we have exhausted the list of coffee shops in PE I may have to start a restaurant blog... there are soooo many here in PE...  after a year here Lou and I have only scratched the surface.  What do they say?... I'm making my favorite thing for dinner.... reservations!  Now on to what has become a favorite of Crawlers and readers alike... Keith's useless fact-of-the-week.... Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in Sept, 1928.  Keith thought that Crawl day (Sept 15) was the actual anniversary of the discovery but, in researching it, I found that the date fluctuates from one report to another.  So, Sept it is... close enough for jazz.  And, finally, my Afrikaan lesson this week included the longest Afrikaans word which is 136 letters or something crazy like that... certainly puts "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" to shame!



*Check out this coffee pic that Fran and Keith's daughter,

  Mandy, sent from the Heathrow Airport this past

  week.... the Coffee Crawl hits London!!!

A bunch of Happy Birthday wishes:

~ Christopher, Sept 20

~Beth, Sept. 16

~Fr. Dominic, Sept 17

~Sheila, Sept 14

~Thurston, Sept 22

~Joshua, Sept 15

~Samantha, Sept 15

Happy Halfway to St. Patrick's Day ... Those crazy Irishmen will find any reason to party!

Thank you to Eugenie and Staff for your hospitality.

Thank you to Shaun for suggesting Memory Lane.

Until next week, 

Ellen 

Valley Harvest Bistro and Shoppe

Back at the end of July the local Barista Championship was held here in PE.  Lou, Liz, and I were in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe at the time so we were unable to attend the event.  Fortunately, though, this week's Crawl took place at Valley Harvest Bistro and Shoppe, 129 Fordyce Rd. (corner, 6th Ave and Fordyce), Walmer, the coffee shop proud to have PE's Barista Champion on staff.  Sisa Mapetu not only took first place at the PE competition, but also went on to take second place in the Eastern Cape Competition, as well!  Needless to say, I was especially excited about the Crawl this week.

The first thing that struck me as I entered Valley Harvest was the hardwood floors and tables.... my favorite, two weeks in a row!  I'm on a roll!  June and I spoke with Valley Harvest owner, Penny Sawyer, and then, while waiting for the rest of the Crawlers, took some time to check out the variety of goods for sale at the "Shoppe."  If you're looking for health foods, spices, specialty flours, gluten and other allergen free foods (fresh and frozen), snacks, goose and duck eggs (!), preserves (the list goes on...) along with some really cool tote bags, Valley Harvest has it.  The "Shoppe" area is very well organized, and the presentation of items is extremely "user friendly."  So much so that this week's Crawlers, Beth Vieira, Fran and Keith de Beer, Les Baldwin, Nomusa Nkomo, June Nash, Gail Darne, Stella and Beryl Dawson, spent about half an hour shopping and remarking on all the different and hard-to-find things available at this shop before adjourning to the "Bistro" area for coffee.



Barista, Sisa Mapetu and owner, Penny Sawyer

  

Meet our waitress
Lamla



  

Barista, Sisa and waitress, Lamla, pushed some tables together to accommodate the Crawlers.  We chose to sit indoors but there are numerous tables in the pretty courtyard area outside.  Well, chatter at the table started right away, and before we knew it we had ordered, been served, and were halfway done with our first round.  What had everyone talking was Fran's announcement that she is training for the Knysna half marathon that is held every July (about 2 hrs. west of PE).  That's plenty of time to prepare, Fran. I know you can do it.  If Jeff is here visiting at that time I'm sure he'd love to join you.  I know a whole bunch of coffee drinkers who will stand on the sidelines giving you moral support!!!

So, all of a sudden it was time for round two when most everyone changes their order.  Cappuccinos this round went to Gail and Nomusa (our resident tea drinker who couldn't resist since a champ was preparing the coffee).  Sisa came to the table and gave a demo by pouring Gail's Special African Blend cappuccino, showing off his awesome award winning skills.  He then talked coffee with all of us for a bit... what a charming and engaging young man.  Penny, you are fortunate to have him on your staff!!!




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

 



Sisa demonstrating his skills









While we were all enjoying our second cup we got to talking about the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.  The South Africa Springboks are defending World Cup Champs so as you can imagine the excitement has been building here for a while.  The Springboks play their first 2011 World Cup match on Sunday against Wales.  Go Bokke!!!  Living here for over a year, I have become somewhat familiar with rugby but if you read last week's post you know that American football is where it's at for me.  As a matter of fact, I would have published this post on Friday night but I was busy watching the NFL season opener (Green Bay vs. New Orleans) that we recorded in the wee hours Friday morning.  Go Packers!  While one end of the table was talking rugby, the other end was discussing the difference between sago and tapioca.  No one had a definitive answer but we all agreed that both make for a superb pudding!

Springboks get a second mention in this post because Keith's useless fact of the week is that there are no springbok in Kruger National Park, SA.  I guess that's useless unless you're planning a trip to Kruger soon.

On my way out of Valley Harvest on Thursday I picked up a few items: vanilla extract, a coffee/vanilla mix for grinding, jalapeno relish, and (by Keith's recommendation) slaphakskene (never got the translation for that one!).

~A note to PE readers - stay tuned to this blog for info regarding an upcoming coffee tasting at Valley

  Harvest 

~Thank you, Penny and staff - I love your bistro and shoppe.  I was excited to visit this week... you did not

  disappoint.

~Thank you, Johan, for the pics

~Congrats, Sisa - PE Barista Champ!

~Thank you, Keith for the email with way more info than I ever wanted to know about sago, but good

  research!!!!!!!! 

Until next week,

Ellen

Deo Volente

Spring has sprung!!!

South Africans (or at least the ones I know) celebrate Sept 1st as the unofficial beginning of Spring... kind of like Labor Day Weekend being the unofficial end of the summer in the U.S. (Oh, that's this weekend, isn't it?).  So, right out of the blocks on Thursday, on my way to this week's Crawl destination, I received a call from a friend here wishing me a Happy Spring!  Then, once at Deo Volente, Fran de Beer surprised this week's Crawlers, Keith de Beer, Stella and Beryl Dawson, Beth Vieira, June Nash, Gail Darne, and me with daisies from her garden to celebrate the occasion.  Thank you, Fran... what a great way to start the day!  Someone must have tipped my husband off about the Spring thing because he arrived at home on Wednesday after work with roses for me that he bought on a street corner for R20 and an apple!  How romantic.

This Week's Crawlers
Beryl, Stella, June, Fran, Keith, Beth, Gail

 

 In either case, everyone was in a festive mood for this week's Crawl.  We met Deo Volente's owner, Margie Peel, in the parking lot as she was just leaving to do some errands.  She happily welcomed us, chatted for a bit, and made sure we were all settled before she continued with her morning's activities.  It was great talking with you, Margie.  Hopefully, we'll be able to continue our conversation soon.

Deo Volente, located at 29 5th Ave in Newton Park, has been an integral part of this area of PE for two and a half years. Owners and patrons of the many businesses in Newton Park keep Margie and staff busy M-F, 7-4:30, and Sat. 8-2.  The shop seats about 32 customers for regular business and about 50 people for small functions. 





Meet the Owner
Margie Peel

 

Meet the Barista
Emmanuel



 

Now, I am a real fan of hardwood floors, so when we entered the shop and I saw the beautiful wood floors with complementing wood tables to match, I thought that this is how I would furnish a coffee shop if I ever opened one.  In an effort to support local talent, Margie has decorated the walls of Deo Volente with works by PE artists and photographers.  All the pieces are for sale so the decor is constantly changing as patrons purchase wall hangings that catch their eye.  The walls are filled with pieces of varying styles so it's not difficult to find something you like.  At some point during our visit, everyone took an opportunity to check out the tremendous selection of paintings and photographs.  In keeping with the local theme, Margie has chosen Masterton's "Out of Africa" blend for the shop's barista, Emmanuel, to use as he whips up all of the coffee beverages.  When I make a Masterton's run I usually go for the "Cameo on Black Velvet" beans and a blend called "Dawn Patrol."  I really like both but "Out of Africa" was out-of-this-world!  The cups were nice and hot, as well.  Thanks, Emmanuel, my cappuccino and Americano were awesome!

 So, what was it that Tennyson said?.... "In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."  This week's talk at the table started with Beth's announcement that her son, Carlos, and his girlfriend, Angela, are engaged.  Congrats to both of you!  Those of you who are regular readers, Angela was at the Coffee Crawl on St. Pat's Day at Keg and Swan.  Quite a crowd we had that day!!!

With all this talk of Spring my brain automatically thinks April/May time frame.  Along that line, the Crawlers then discussed April Fool's Day and the lengths some people will go to to pull off a good prank.  As a teacher in NY I always gave an outrageously difficult pop quiz on April 1st, putting my students into a real panic.  I'm certainly not the only teacher to do this so I just don't get why the kids always fell for it!?!



Also with Spring comes the realization that Christmas is just around the corner... WHAT?!?  Sorry, hemisphere confusion strikes again.  But, we really did then get onto the subject of Christmas.  I definitely need to get going on writing my cards.  When I sent birthday cards to my father-in-law and sister earlier this year it took two and a half months to get to the U.S.  I'd better get my holiday cards mailed soon!

 The Crawlers' last topic before Keith revealed his useless fact-of -the-week was rhinoceros poaching... a real problem here in SA.  Some game parks have taken to surgically removing the rhinos' horns to prevent poaching.  Very sad.

 Now, on to Keith's useless fact.  Keith told us that the color of the 100 billionth Crayola crayon was periwinkle.  Keith, ek is jammer man maar jy is verkeerd.  When I checked the official Crayola website, the 100 billionth Crayola crayon color was actually "blue ribbon," a one time only color created for the occasion.  It was in Feb, 1996 and Fred Rogers of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" fame was chosen to pour the mold.  Keith, I'm a teacher... I will randomly check your facts just to keep you honest, buddy!

 I read a quote once that said, "Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny Spring day."  Amen to that!!!

~Thank you to Margie and staff... Deo Volente was the perfect shop for the Crawlers to celebrate Spring

   Day!

~Thank you to all who wished me a Happy Spring Day on Thurs!

~Thank you for the roses, Louis!

~Happy Spring to all southern hemisphere readers!

~Happy Labor Day Weekend to all U.S.readers!



 Until next week,

Ellen