Fairlady May 2015

Before I finally gave up on writing the Mills&Boon that was going to make me rich, I hit a huge snag in the plot. Assuming Nick and Sophie were completely crazy about each other, what would stop them from just getting on with the happily ever after bit of the story? (I apologise for the boring names. They should obviously have been called South and Marlowe, or perhaps Breaker and Kale, according to the list of Hottest Names 2015. No wonder they were so difficult to deal with…). Anyway – the issue for me was to create an impediment that stood in the way of their uncontrollable passion. And it was surprisingly difficult to do that in a world with Tinder and Growlr in it. As Liesl Robertson writes in…

winning letter In response to ‘When things fall apart’ I could completely relate to ‘When things fall apart’ (December 2014). My husband was involved in a serious motorbike accident when I was 11 weeks pregnant with my son in 2009. Sometimes I look back at that time and feel like it was a bad dream. I thought I would be a single mother, but because of my husband’s iron will and my determination, we made it through in the end! The many weeks of physiotherapy and having to dress and wash my husband, while pregnant, was taxing – but it also strengthened our relationship. Our beautiful son was such a blessing after all that had happened. It’s strange how sometimes the worst situations can make you realise who you really…

Tip A scented candle is the ideal gift – they promote serenity and can really change a room’s energy. We love soy candles as they are also environmentally friendly.…

The idea hit me that when we harvest kidneys for transplants, we should also harvest the penis for a penile transplant. So in 2010, I started on a pilot study which took one and a half years to be passed by the Stellenbosch University ethics committee. I’m sure they thought I was crazy, but they did pass it – with strict guidelines. I had to meet with community leaders and do cadaver studies, which helped tremendously. I interrupted the study for a year to improve my research skills. So I did a masters in clinical epidemiology, which focuses on different research methods. That’s where I learnt the technique of depth interviewing – extracting information from patients that they might have forgotten. This project is not about me. It’s about the…

BUSINESS: ONEOFEACH Who? Pauline and Tamburai Chirume Start-up costs: ‘We are very proud to say that we started with only R1500.’ Profit: The business is doing really well. Profits are variable. ‘Working together is not a decision that we made, it is just that our relationship has evolved to add another element to it – which happens to be business,’ says mother and daughter duo Pauline and Tamburai Chirume. With Pauline’s three decades of experience as a fashion designer and Tamburai’s fashion retail and styling background, it made perfect sense for them to take on the fashion industry together. Their business is built on their common love of Africa. ‘ONEOFEACH specialises in leather handbags and accessories – using African print fabric that we source from different regions across the continent.…

‘I used to watch this terrible TV programme called I didn’t know I was pregnant and I’d sit there in horror, wondering how these people could be so stupid! There is no way you wouldn’t know you were pregnant, right? Well, I’d be proven wrong. It was Sunday 4 January. I was due to go back to work the following day so my husband and I went out to do a big grocery shop and enjoy the last of our holiday. I had woken up with period cramps, which made sense because I was due to get my period, but they just got worse through the day. By the time we got back home I was in a lot of pain, so I did the usual – bath, hot water…