Monday, July 6, 2009

Wow! Time flies! & Low Season News


Phumla is happy! she is going on leave soon meaning she will see her little boy who is living with her mother on the Wild Coast. Low Season in South Africa means May June July we are very quiet in the Guest House; fortunately we have had quite good business in Rafters Restaurant and the Tsitsikamma Mountain Spa. But it is a good time of year when we have a chance to do things that are impossible when all our rooms are full of Guests so painting, walls etc - not canvases! spring-cleaning , fixing etc takes precedence. Our loyal Staff go on holiday.
Johan and myself are busy tackling projects, such as a new edition -long overdue- of our very successful Armagh in Africa Tsitsikamma Recipe Book. The new one will be bigger with more pictures and a wee bit of a travelogue. The design and initial set up is Johan's responsibility, and I rush in with the additional recipes we have introduced since our first book was released way back in 1998. What a success it has been! - with some of the proceeds going to our local school feeding schemes, we feel really happy that our Guests by purchasing are so interested in supporting these endeavours.
My main task, and what a pleasurable exercise it's proving to be! is scrapbooking the Guest House since we built in 1994. Now I know a trip down memory lane is guaranteed to reduce stress levels mightily!! One pores over shoe-boxes full of pictures. I begin to think that the more bling one throws at this craft the better it is! Never thought I would take to it but already I have plans to tear apart the family albums and force them to undergo a reincarnation also! If only there were more hours in the day.
On the sport front we have just witnessed a very successful British and Irish Lions' Tour and indeed we did benefit here from the tour with some lovely lads from the ould country coming for Breakfast and others coming to stay. What fun they were!
I really am going to try to write more often in this blog as there is so much to say and I know many out there are reading and catching up with our news in South Africa. So I promise I'll be back soon!!