Speckled Bean

26/01/2026

EX UNITATE VIRES – IN UNITY, STRENGTH

Once we had crests that whispered politely. This one roars after its third Klippies and Coke.
A dinosaur on the roof, teeth white as church crockery, fire in its belly, saying what we’ve always known: alone we shuffle, together we stomp. Ex unitate vires. Unity is not agreement — it’s shared hangovers, shared work, and shared victories.
Monday, meet your new emblem.

19/01/2026

Your weekly supercharge. www.speckledbean.com

15/01/2026

Ficksburg Tourism

Speckled Bean – January Digital Issue Now Available
The January issue of Speckled Bean Digital Magazine is now live — and it’s a strong one.
Inside this issue you’ll find fireside stories from the Free State, thoughtful reflections on our landscapes, rivers and wildlife, and pieces that slow you down just enough to notice where you are and why it matters. It’s a mix of travel, culture, humour, and local observation — written from the stoep, not the boardroom.
There’s a QR code in the bottom left-hand corner. Scan it with your phone and it will take you straight to the magazine, where the January issue is available.
By supporting Speckled Bean, you’re supporting local writers, local businesses, and a small independent publication trying to keep good stories alive in difficult times — while also opening a window to international readers who are discovering our part of the world.
Early feedback has been encouraging. Now the focus is simple: get it out there, grow readership, and keep the wheels turning.
Thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting local - GB

07/01/2026

Speckled Bean – January Digital Issue Now Available
The January issue of Speckled Bean Digital Magazine is now live — and it’s a strong one.
Inside this issue you’ll find fireside stories from the Free State, thoughtful reflections on our landscapes, rivers and wildlife, and pieces that slow you down just enough to notice where you are and why it matters. It’s a mix of travel, culture, humour, and local observation — written from the stoep, not the boardroom.
There’s a QR code in the bottom left-hand corner. Scan it with your phone and it will take you straight to the magazine, where the January issue is available.
By supporting Speckled Bean, you’re supporting local writers, local businesses, and a small independent publication trying to keep good stories alive in difficult times — while also opening a window to international readers who are discovering our part of the world.
Early feedback has been encouraging. Now the focus is simple: get it out there, grow readership, and keep the wheels turning.
Thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting local - GB

04/01/2026

Ticks, Truth & a Bit of Bite
Tonight on SB WEB, Baxter chats to editor GB — funny, blunt, and deadly serious about ticks. It’s a laugh, yes, but poor land management has turned these little freeloaders into a real problem. Baxter knows his stuff. Plug in and listen:
https://speckledbean.com/podcast

16/12/2025

ONE QUESTION. ONE ANSWER.

Baksteen says the trouble started when Wagter scanned the square off Pieter’s phone by accident and the whole Eastern Free State fell open like a tin of pilchards.

Tant Sarie tried it next — off a laptop — and declared it witchcraft until it showed coffee, food and things to do. Then she wanted two copies.

The Dominee, already on his third bottle of Very Late Harvest, toasted the square and announced that if the whole congregation carried screens instead of hymn books, donations would arrive faster than his sermons.

That’s when Baksteen understood it.

The square isn’t paper.
Paper is just where it rests.

Screen. Screen. Screen.
If there’s light, it reads.

Point. Scan. Done.

Even Wagter knows that.

Speckled Bean / SB WEB

16/12/2025

ONE QUESTION. ONE ANSWER.

I’m in my rocking chair when someone hands me an A4 sheet with a square on it that looks like it was stitched by a nervous spider.

“Just scan it,” they say.

So I point my phone at it — the same phone I use for sunsets and dogs — and instantly Clarens opens up. No instructions. No fuss. It works like a light switch wired by someone who knows their job.

And suddenly the question answers itself:

“I’m here… what is there to do?”

Food. Coffee. Tours. Adventures. Arts. Crafts. Even dinosaurs — because this is Clarens and we don’t do half measures.

This is the Speckled Bean / SB WEB Tourist Poster.
One A4 portrait. Print it at home. As many times as you like. Hang it in your shop, guesthouse, bar, restaurant, or reception.

When the question comes, you don’t explain — you point.
They scan. The phone opens. They’re sorted.

The poster is free. Free to download. Free to print. Free to use.

Alongside it: a Christmas special — R50 per month (R600 per year) for a simple A4 landscape advert with WhatsApp contact. Example blocks shown only.

Not marketing.
Co-operation.

Print it. Hang it up.
Let the paper do the talking.

Speckled Bean / SB WEB

11/12/2025

Happy Birthday, Irene Rugheimer!
Today the whole SpeckledBean family stands up, claps hands, whistles loud, and pops a few champagne corks in your honour — because someone like you doesn’t quietly blend into the background. You arrive like sunshine on a cold Free State morning: warm, bright, and absolutely impossible to ignore.

For years you’ve poured heart, soul, and stubborn SpeckledBean determination into every project you’ve touched. You do it without noise, without fuss, and without ever asking for applause — but today the applause is yours whether you want it or not. You’ve been a rock for us, a spark for us, and on more than one late-night deadline, the miracle we didn’t know we needed.

So here’s to you: to your loyalty, your laughter, your unstoppable drive, and that wonderfully mischievous grin that tells us another good idea is about to land. May the year ahead bring big joys, loud victories, quiet moments of peace, and more reasons to celebrate than we can count.

From all of us at SpeckledBean:
Happy Birthday, Irene! Keep shining, keep laughing, keep going, babe — we’re right behind you.

11/12/2025

Speckled Bean Launches Its First Major Podcast Featuring Blom of the Clarens Camino Walk www.speckledbean.com

10/12/2025

Well, folks… this is the one we promised you. Our very first true Speckled Bean podcast has landed — and what a beauty it is. The Camino Walk with Blom in Clarens is no ordinary stroll. It’s a slow-paced soul journey through golden grass, old paths, and whispering mountains, guided by Blom’s easy stories and quiet wisdom. We’d love you to watch it, share it, and walk it with us. And yes… you’re up next.

07/12/2025

BOXED-IN
Title: The Cow, the Ballot, and the Fire
Late Sunday afternoon lay across the farm like melted butter on hot bread. I sat in my rocking chair with the fire nudging my shins and the smell of lamb fat drifting through the yard like a hymn nobody had written down yet. Baksteen stood barefoot near the coals, the light licking gold onto her calves, when she asked it—softly, but straight through the chest.
“How,” she said, “does a man farm and govern at the same time?”
The question landed like a stone in a tin basin.
Pieter nearly folded into himself. His hands started trembling like laundry on a wire in a berg wind.
The Dominee, as solemn as a waiting storm, adjusted his very late-harvest OBs as if the bottles might answer for him.
Tant Sarie arrived with her jewellery-made bread wrapped in cloth—each loaf baked with more care than most men give their promises.
I watched the fire chew at the logs and thought: a farmer argues with rain the way a politician argues with the truth. One of those that always answers back.
Baksteen broke bread the way generals break maps. “A farmer,” she said, “negotiates with frost, bone, mud and bad luck. Every mistake answers immediately.” She held the loaf up. “No minutes, no meetings.”
Tant Sarie snorted. “A cow,” she said, “does not listen to speeches.”
The windmill groaned once, slow and judgemental.
The Dominee said quietly, “Some men own farms like mirrors. They only stand where they can see themselves.”
Nobody looked at Pieter, but he shrank like a man apologising to furniture.
So I rocked and watched the fire scratch sparks into the dusk and understood it plain: one man works so the land will remember him kindly; the other works so people will forget quickly.
And the cattle, standing dark against the last copper light, trusted only the hands that fed them.
Now you have a great week ahead.
GB

06/12/2025

Clarens is where mountains, art, and quiet rhythm meet. Clean air, wide skies, cold water, warm fires, and real community draw people to live slowly and breathe again. Visit for the hikes, craft beer, galleries, and stars—stay for the feeling. www.speckledbean.com
Go to our podcast. And enjoy now.