What a month the 7th one was! Overseas trips, officiating (me) and judging (2+3) at the iAwards, and much more besides. Some of it I’ve already shared; the rest follows!
We returned from Australia to find that we pretty much skipped Spring and went straight to Summer, with daytime temperatures hovering around 29C. The garden that had been slumbering towards the end of August, was ablaze with new leaves and blooms in mid-September.
The change in weather meant we also needed to plant our Summer garden as quickly as possible. Beds were cleared, plants were acquired, and a flurry of activity has ensued.
It wasn’t all gardening and savouring Spring. I delivered my first face-to-face South African eCommerce Masterclass to a group of businesses at “eCommerce Live”, part of the “Leaderex” expo. The subject? Selling online to Aussie consumers. A great time was had by all, especially me!
We hosted our monthly ” Salieri” opera appreciation gathering at our house for the first time (and watched Bellini’s “Norma”), I presented an Asia Pacific ICT Alliance Awards info session to potential Aussie nominees (encouraging them to enter the December competition), and I interviewed the remarkable linguist, Quentin Williams.
We had the great pleasure of attending a stellar performance by a former colleague and old friend, Amanda Strydom. Amanda’s “Incredible Journey of Tinkerbell van Tonder” is a tour de force! There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, or a funny bone that came away untickled.
We also made our way back to the bustling metropolis of Cullinan. (You may recall our visit there some months ago to apply for new South African identity documents.) Well, this time we sat under a tree, waiting to collect our brand new green books.
And lo and behold …!
While in Cullinan – home of the very famous diamond – we took a drive through town and visited the mine observation point. Actually it’s a very quaint and pretty village, despite being a bit neglected. And the mine? It’s a mine!
We’ve just celebrated our first ever South African Heritage Day. Once known as Shaka Day (for the infamous King of the Zulus), this day is now reserved to celebrate all that makes South Africa and its people unique.
We started the day with a little community service. Along with 10 other volunteers, we pulled water hyacinth (a noxious weed) from the Hartbeespoort Dam. It may have felt a bit like spitting into the wind, but the 200+ bags of this green horror we removed is now no longer in the dam, reproducing at a rate of knots!
I leave you with a uniquely South Africa service advertisement …
Until next time, sala kahle!
African Scatterlings 
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