Hello. I’m Janette, and I’m so pleased to e-meet you on this journey.
I live and work on the edge of a coastal dune forest in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, sometimes under the milkwood tree this blog is named for. From here, I ride the work-life see-saw – imagine how boring life would be if the see-saw was always level.
Once, I was a “real” journalist (whatever that is), and I’m happy I pulled myself out of that self-identity – but not out of the habit of asking questions and following where they lead.
That is the honest reason this blog does not stay in one lane. I set out to write about sustainable living because we have made such a hash of looking after the Earth. But I could not stop myself from probing other things too: motorcycle sidecar ambulances that save lives across Africa but became fodder for local agendas; being mindful about the words we use for HIV and people living with it; the quiet damage gaslighting does in real relationships.
So yes – my tagline breaks the golden rule of niching down. But if you are drawn to real stories about how people (including me) adjust, cope and reinvent themselves when life does and does not go to plan, you will find plenty here.
What you will find on this blog:
- Sustainable living and slow fashion – where I’m active, not just opinionated
- Real travel through South Africa and beyond, always circling back to the milkwood
- Garden, birds and the wild things sharing my patch of dune forest
- Honest writing about being human – work-life balance, reinvention and some of the harder stuff too
This is not my first reinvention. My first blog (on Blogspot) was about surviving life after the corporate treadmill. Then I took a seven-year break. This blog is what came next – and I expect it will keep evolving because that is what real life does.
All photos are mine unless credited otherwise; all rights reserved.
Where to find me elsewhere
I am scattered across the internet – Instagram, Pinterest, BlueSky. I also create funky Friday Bags – one way of balancing the work-life see-saw.