Sunday 17 August: Friday was a short archive day, taking the afternoon off to go to PE for lunch in the Ocean Basket in Summerstrand and then to Woolworth’s (the SA parallel to Marks & Spencer) for a food shop. Saturday was a day of brunch, restfulness and some mild cleaning – oh, and me writing a paper to be given in the English Department next Thursday. This latter I have already apologised for the deficiencies of, as I’m not really prepared for such, more for routines like scoping and skimming and noting and transcribing and puzzling and mulling. But not deep thinking of a kind that joins things up and engages in a meta-level analysis of them.

My days and my mind involve a complex of fragments, where all jostle for attention. Thus with thoughts about Moffats, Pringles, Stritch, how the mass endeavour of the diamond fields eventuated in De Beers and Consolidated Gold, a paper for literature scholars about the Schreiner letters, and other things in addition, all crowding the background of my mind, Sunday is to be an early start for Addo and a day of driving round just staring and staring at the world of trees and plants and animals. It’s now 6.05am, I’ve been awake and up since 5.15am and I long to be off, though I have strict instructions not to wake Sue until 6.45!

Last updated: 17 August 2014