Ornamental Cats and a Living Label Cat!

Every so often we have to take the long road to Malmesbury where we renew car licences or passports...there is always something! The queues can be maddening. On this particular day my husband was so kind to face the bureaucracy on his own and he left me and my daughter at the very delightful Kontreispens. This shop with fresh products and beautiful crafts has a spacious coffee shop. My quickly rendered little oil painting shows one tiny corner of the decor which is brimful with cats crafted in porcelain, wood, metal and cats on mugs, plates, posters, paintings!

Then, on leaving the shop after lovely cappuchino and apple pie, I bought a bottle of olive oil. The label had a black cat on it and the name "Kasteelkat". At home I was soon on the phone and learnt from the farmer who produces the oil that they always have the real black cat from Riebeek Kasteel (a foundling) around their feet, even when parading through the olive groves. "Kasteelkat" for short!

I hope you enjoy the little painting and the photos of my visit to the coffee house. Last, but not least, the bottle of Kasteelkat olive oil is photographed next to my own porcelain kitchen cat!

Olives, please!

203mm x 254mm

Oil on canvas

R1250, framed

In the Riebeek Valley, against Kasteelberg, nestle the sister villages of Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek-West. Kloovenburg wine and olive farm is always my first stop on the left, before entering Riebeek Kasteel. The 300-year old farm has the biggest selection of olive products anywhere in South Africa. Bowls filled with the goodies to taste draw me like a magnet into the large cool cellar.


Among my favourite products are olives marinated in a blackberry infusion, pitted dried olives which swell out when used in pasta or can be nibbled dry as a snack, and the large old-fashioned tins of olive oil. The oil is only chosen after dipping many little hunks of bread into many bowls!


Here, I usually buy for home use as well as products to give away, as the packaging is beautiful. and the products superior. My painting shows the walkway towards the cellar door. O, yes there are very good wines under the Kloovenburg lable, and olive oil soaps too....expect to taste and shop for quite a while!