Author Archive
5 Feb 2021
My Dad taught me…
On 13 April 1935 God sent a very special angel to earth and on 12 October 2020, after a full and happy life, that angel’s time on earth was done. After 63 years of married life my
25 Jun 2020
This is…
THIS IS US… Most probably one of the best written and edited drama series I’ve ever seen, or at least in MY opinion. For those of you that aren’t familiar with it, This Is Us according to Wikipedia is
4 Jan 2019
The Soundtrack to your life
By Pauli Nigrini On 4 January 2019 In Memories
One Saturday morning early in 2018, my husband and I found ourselves glued to our computer screen, watching one YouTube video after another… For the first time in years we had reliable fast internet and we just
13 Aug 2016
It doesn’t take much
By Pauli Nigrini On 13 August 2016 In The way we think
I regularly find myself getting up rushed and tired, so many things to do to get through the day. A career to build, groceries to buy, bills to pay, errands to run, dinner to cook, a
13 Jul 2016
The Promise of Blue Cheese
Have you ever craved something so badly you could actually taste it in your mouth? You knew exactly what it was supposed to look, taste and smell like. You could even determine how that one thing would
2 Feb 2016
A breath of fresh air
Have you ever drowned? Or rather, almost drowned? The feeling where you are gasping for air, lungs burning, every time just getting enough to keep you going for a few seconds before the need to gasp for
30 Aug 2015
More willing…
You know that gut wrenching feeling when something you hoped for and was 100% certain about, doesn’t happen? It feels as if the ground under your feet gives way and you can’t breathe. On 16 December 2007
7 Jul 2015
Home is where the heart is
They say home is where the heart is and that the kitchen is the heart of the home. I fully agree with this. But, the heart needs a pulse, something that makes it alive. An empty kitchen,
22 Jun 2015
Reality Bites
By Pauli Nigrini On 22 June 2015 In Reality
Ok, so you have read some of my previous posts and my “About” section. And as you are sitting there reading this, you might think that I have this very rosy and naive outlook on life. This
12 Jun 2015
Getting Up
I can still remember the over-sized, sunny lounge in the farm house where I grew up. In it stood a wooden couch that my parents got from Ouma Cloete (my Dad’s mom) when she moved to a
31 May 2015
The Caterpillar Perspective
If I ask you to choose a symbol for your life, what would it be? What would you compare your life with? Since I can remember I’ve compared my life to that of a butterfly… or actually
26 May 2015
The Check List
Have you ever made plans for your future or had a picture in your mind of how things would play out? Of course you have, all of us do. I was the master planner when it came
25 May 2015
Spiced biscuits, Cutex remover and hairspray
When I was seventeen, in my final year of high school, I was sitting in a cold exam hall. We were waiting to write an Afrikaans Creative writing exam. It was one of those exams where you
17 May 2015
Om ‘n Ouma te hê…
This is the original essay in Afrikaans, as referred to in “Spiced biscuits, Cutex remover and hairspray.” Deur Pauli Havemann, 17 jaar Dit was ‘n lang pad ek onthou. Elke boompie, telefoonpaal en plaasopstal het