The call of the Kalahari
Chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen has written his latest cook book, Klein Jan Cookbook - A Memoir of the Tables From My Childhood and My Journey to the Kalahari
Get reading over the summer holidays
No phones, emails, deadlines or demands, and a tranquil comfy spot to escape with a book: what more could one want while on holiday?Here’s a guide to some of the books you should have in your backpack, beach bag or on the bedside table. For the romantics, there’s a trilogy (so far) of delightful stories that one reader said made her feel like she was being wrapped in a warm hug.
Consumed by end of life dilemma
End of life. We’re all helplessly trapped. Seduced, sucked in, oblivious, with little hope of escape the lure of shopping till we drop the planet in the trash.
Next level cadre deployment
Couch exclusive: a breakthrough insight into South Africa’s influence and biggest export ‒ cadre deployment.
Reading up a thunderstorm
We’ve had a couple of dingy weekends, great for curling up on the couch with the thunder-sedated dogs and some terrific just-in-time-for-Christmas or summer holiday books.
Real reason birds are angry
It is clear why birds outlived the dinosaurs: the dinosaurs probably jumped off the edge of the world to get away from the damned pterodactyl chick screaming for more woolly mammoth morsels.
Morningside landmark Manor House on a hill
Today’s feature on a historic Durban landmark focuses on the Manor House in 14 Nuttall Gardens, Morningside. Its porticos and colonnades were designed in a Revived English Baroque architectural style, and is a significant Berea landmark near Mitchell Park. The home was built circa 1904 for sugar baron Sir Liege Hulett, who also built Kearsney House, “a well made and designed mansion with large, furnished reception rooms and 22 bedrooms”.
I’d walk through fire for ID book
Top of the list of things to grab in an emergency is your ID book.
Brute force inspires dad joke
‘Little’ Leila is giving the couch residents a bit of trouble. She’s big, powerful, cute and has no shame. Just like a public figure who’s been caught in a nefarious plot.
More bugs and bed lebods
Bugs, bruh. If they’re not in the pillows, they’re whizzing around in the air looking for new homes.
No cushion for this disgusting science
The couch scientific research council has many valuable, highly respected – and some downright dodgy – sources.
Sky falls on Cerberus
Our current pack has all the welcoming features of Cerberus, the multi-headed hound of Hades who keeps mortals out of the Underworld in Greek mythology.
Oily slope of best intentions
The road paved with good intentions has washed away. Down the drain and into the sea, accompanied by the blood of self-flagellation and an oil slick that rivalled ExxonMobil’s worst.
Time to drop Plan B for a Plan C
When one lazy plan fails, it’s time for a better one.
Nothing ignoble in this comfort blanket
We absolutely love the Ig Nobels. They are awarded every year at about the same time as the real Nobels for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think”.
Peace and calm in the pot
Finding tranquillity in the bottom of a pot is better than looking for it in a bottle.
Drooling beg to Saffer family
Begging for something with desperation: your vote. Not on behalf of anyone, but so we can all lay our cards on the table and know where we stand with each other.
The remarkable tale of Dolly
The couch loves a happy story, especially one that involves dogs. We were overjoyed when this one dropped unexpectedly into our WhatsApp box.
Smiling all the way to work
We should consider that we do not always see someone’s grief, and try to be more gentle and kind in general so that life will smile, maybe not as brightly as before, but once more.
Our politics need more good dogs
The unlikely comparison of our body politic and the solid union in our pack came up with the introduction of a new kid on the block, causing utter chaos.
Great pride under the sewage pit
While we sink in outrage, fear and uncertainty in the Saffer sewer of corruption, politics, politicians and criminals, sometimes one and the same, it’s stories like the one on this page about MeerKAT that should have us Saffers glowing with pride. That show what we are, could be and should be.
Learning X muscle memory
Muscle memory is a wondrous thing until it gets amnesia. Then it can be a painful condition with serious consequences.
Will dental turn deadly?
Back when we had a two-pack, the couch was but a single armchair, a refuge from the TV and tense motherly challenges of raising a teen.
When change bites you on the butt
This may be just hair but a word to the wise: if you’re considering changing things, look out for the sharp teeth of unintended consequences.
Saffer skandaals slay deepfakes
Saffers are so accustomed to being lied to, placing their trust in organisations and entities only to have it shattered, that most of us don’t believe a thing anyone says today. Who could possibly make a deepfake that is worse than reality?