decor for the rich: do not fight serendipity

You know how it goes. Needed a special gift for a friend's birthday. Popped into Vintage Bazaar, Lower Main Road Observatory, just to ask directions to Liesl Trautman's new premises. But being a second hand junkie, once inside I had to have a quick look around.

I've been looking for a good example of one of these since I broke mine three years ago, and this is it. No chips or cracks, and only R120 (less than US$10).

It's March

lily time. Amaryllis belladonna. Always on time. Exquisite, but a little creepy. Softly pink and sweetly fragrant cannot mask the subtle bitterness that warns of toxic alkaloids.

The scent evokes an old perfume in a dusty recess of my childhood memories. Feminine, but with a dark, slightly jarring undertone. I think it was a scent my grandmother wore for evening occasions in the 1970's. Something that smelt of Europe in the 40's, a relict from a grander life. But I'm not really sure, and don't have the words to resurrect it properly.