Hamba Kahle, Jet Master

Our Jet Master died yesterday. We are utterly heartbroken about our beautiful boy. In the words of Mick Goss, of Summerville Stud...

"On the very day that “Boeing” unveiled their latest stratospheric invention, the horse by the same name, Jet Master, ascended to the heavens. One thing that’s sure about the passing of Jet Master, is that he’s going upwards, not down. If ever there was one, he was South Africa’s saint of the turf. Few people, besides Pat Devine, saw in him what he turned out to be. At R15,000, South Africa’s famous weanling purchase, Jet Master, belied his origins to become one of the greatest equine athletes of all-time".

Mum and Henry, Benny Marais and team at Klipdrif Stud - our lives will never be quite the same...

(Words from Summerhill Stud Blog)

More here and here

Transversing History in Paris

Filled with nostalgia for Paris - it has been just about a year since our trip. One of the many things I was constantly enamored with were the bridges crossing the Seine. So beautiful and intricate. Never a simple passage - it would take half an hour to walk across due to all the ogling (non-lecherous) and exclamations of wonderment...

Here are some breathtaking photographs of the Viaduc de Passy, now know as Pont de Bir-Hakeim. The bridge links Passy on the right bank of the Seine (16th Arrondissement) and De Grenelle on the left bank in the 15th Arrondissement. Incidentally - some film trivia - the apartment in which Marlon Brando trysts with Maria Schneider in Bernardo Bertolucci's film Last Tango in Paris, is in Passy.

Enfilade des lampes du Viaduc de Passy

Detail immeubles Passy

Viaduc de Passy

Forgerons riveteurs Gustave Michel

Viaduc de Passy

Armoiries de Paris

Passy

 All images via here and here

Braveheart

True story: mere minutes after performing his conjugal duties with Jolly Laughter, champion stallion Rollins was fatally struck down by a freak bolt of lightning. A generation later, Jet Lightning ensured her legacy in turn, by producing our stallion, Jet Master — legend on the race track and five time champion sire. In a cruel twist of fate, Jet Master recently contracted the dreaded West Nile Virus, affecting his central nervous system. Dr. Barrie Grant and a team of vets from America have flown to the Cape and will perform a ground-breaking operation to his spine (Titanium Basket Implantation in the vertebral column - the concept alone truly blows my mind). Read his extraordinary story and details of the procedure here...

Painting by artist, Andrew Barlow

Through the Looking Glass (XXI)

Via here and here

Accidental Placement

Good friends of mine are wrestling with the mother of all renovations - a real toll-taker, not for the faint of heart. But they are parting this red sea with admirable fortitude. I spent some time there today discussing color options, when my train of thought was interrupted by the temporary placement of the grand pier mirror - sun-drenched and patiently leaning against the wall, awaiting its command performance on the diningroom mantel...

Chandelier detail

Images by Philippa Berrington-Blew

My Baltimore (II)

Our family always likes a modicum of self-imposed mental flagellation (or rather it is imposed on us) and Saturday was no exception. Our car broke down in Roland Park. No plausible explanation, just obstinately refused to start. No problem, we thought... we would catch a bus home. No buses from that location on a Saturday. Then we shall walk, I stated. What about a cab, was my husband's response. No! I exclaimed in a knee-in-the-nuts tone that prompted a sideways empathy glance from my daughter to my husband. A few hours later, we were home with aching limbs. But, at least it was a perfect fall day. Along the way we stopped to gawk at the AMAZING window in the Hampden Junque Shop. Wonderfully off-center, slightly macabre and infinitely original...

Hampden Junque

Birds

Love this - just classic...

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock. “The World of Birds” (BBC Archives) via here