From our ed’s desk: Why you have to buy our May issue

Blooming marvellous

Winter is well on its way, but the month of May has always been reminiscent of flowers for me… perhaps because my precious late dad was born in May and he so loved roses; and also because one of my favourite TV series when I was a teenager was The Darling Buds of May, starring a young and exquisite Catherine Zeta-Jones in the bloom of her youth.

Another reason I think of it as a month of vitality and rebirth is because May was named for Maia, the Greek goddess of fertility.

With this in mind, the F&HE team and our talented contributors have worked hard on delivering an issue that we hope will provide an effective antidote for the winter blues, along with hard-to-ignore inspiration for Mother’s Day spoils… the feast of edible florals (page 60) is certainly a good place to start on this note, and why not create a few of the cool and quirky vases in our upcycled craft feature (page 68)? And because we aim to be the gift that keeps on giving, our food ed, Claire, has come up with savvy ways for working moms to ensure that the dreaded question of “What’s for dinner?” is one that can be sorted in a flash, with minimal effort and fuss (page 78).

As it’s both Worker’s Day (1 May) and Mother’s Day (13 May) this month, we also felt that kicking back with cocktails was in order… but not just any old concoction – on-trend rum cocktails crafted by skilled Cape-based distiller James Copeland, who has worked hard over the last couple of years to deliver quality white rum (page 30). In case you haven’t heard, rum is the one to watch in the world of liquor, so make sure you get into the… ahem… spirit.

And why not double your chances of winning in this issue, with two fabulous bush getaways up for grabs! Feast your eyes on Kwa Madwala in Mpumalanga (page 52) and Hoyo Hoyo Safari Lodge on the banks of the Mluwati River in Kruger National Park (page 91).

May you have a magical month,

Andrea