The Mielie Lady

Another summer sound of Joburg, besides the Icecream men, is that of the Mielie ladies. They tramp the streets with bags of mielies/mealies (corn on the cob, or maize) either on their heads, or as our local saleswoman does, in an old dilapidated shopping trolley. They all seem to have voices like foghorns, that you can hear coming six streets away, and carry on fading for the next six, shouting MIIIEEE-LLL-IIIIES! over and over. They have been immortalised in the comic strip 'Madam & Eve' by Stephen Francis and Rico, which appears in our Mail & Guardian newspaper, where the granny makes it her mission to chase the poor woman with a slingshot. I found our annual vendor taking a break on a wall across the road from our house, and asked if I could sketch her. I don't think she understood me, as she watched me very suspiciously, but cracked a smile when I showed her the quick line drawing I did - I worked on it some more later as I didn't want to prolong her unease. And scribbled another one as she pushed her trolley off up the slope, finishing the surroundings after she'd gone.
Then there are the broom and feather-duster men, who you also hear coming for miles, as the neighbourhood dogs frantically start barking and egging each other on as the salesmen whistle and yell and ring everyone's bells. Sometimes they're parked on a nice grassy street corner, displaying their wares, and if you need a feather-duster, you know exactly where to find them! I sketched this in my new moleskine, which I'm not familiar with - and tried to put a watercolour wash over it. Oops, mistake...