Author: Soutie

A short message from the assistant vice-principal

Good evening fellow members.

You have no idea how happy I am to see Boadicea’s first evening comment appear on here.

It allows me to relax, with the different time zones I’m quite happy to park off and watch the site from round about 4ish ’till now.(Or a tad earlier if I’m home)

I can now (as I always do) move to the lounge and relax, I’m not sure if members here realise or comprehend the effort that has gone into establishing and maintaining this place, I perform the most minimalist of duties and find it sometimes burdensome, Bearsy a hat tip from me.

Women & cricket

I’m parking off (relaxing)  on Sunday afternoon watching the cricket and Mrs. S waltzes in and asks me if this is “still the first half”

Brilliant! Mrs. S has been to perhaps 50 cricket matches with me over the years but the analogy wasn’t “is this the first innings”

So, in the spirit of gender equality I now refer to the respective innings in one day internationals or 20twenty matches as halves, and why not?

I mentioned this to my mate Arthur today, he tells me about a Polish flatmate of his (a lady) who was introduced to cricket (via TV)  and became quite an enthusiast. Continue reading “Women & cricket”

Going home

Meet Lulu.

The children at the Quest School for Autistic Children wanted a classroom pet.

After much discussion with the educators and therapists it was agreed.

The class went shopping (Bloomingdales Pet Shop) after a funfilled morning decided on a Dwarf hamster, great, inexpensive (£5), we already had a suitable cage (donated) and perhaps another £10 for the sawdust, food and accessories. Mission accomplished!

Unfortunately, Continue reading “Going home”

Poachers – a sad ending

I wrote here on Monday about a female black rhinoceros being killed by poachers at Kwantu, one of our local game reserves.

I also mentioned that the slain mother was nursing a 12 month old calf and that the there were fears for the calf’s survival.

A report in today’s newspaper tells us that that a pride of lions found the calf before the rangers / trackers did.

Kwantu Wildlife Manager William Hofmeyr said “The sad thing is it shows the poachers didn’t only kill the mother, but indirectly killed the calf as well.”

Wildlife expert and Shamwari vet Dr Johan Joubert said the calf’s age would have made it very difficult to rear by hand, that may very well be the case but I would have liked the staff at Kwantu to at least have had the opportunity.

Poachers

Killed by poachers

Kwantu game reserve lost another rhino to poachers over the weekend. The reserve is a short drive from my house, the report in my local newspaper tells me that the horn, which is all that they took sells for up to S.A.Rand 700,000 (£60,000) presumably in the far east.

This female was still nursing her 12 month old calf, there is now concern about the calfs well being. She had successfully produced 2 calves previously, this is not just a blow to Kwantu and eco-tourism but Continue reading “Poachers”

World Autism Awareness Day

Today, April 2nd is “World Autism Awareness Day” it is unfortunate that this year it also happens to be Good Friday, our schools are closed for the Easter holidays and no events are planned for today.

Last year we had a concert, invited local and provincial dignatories and culminated with a party and a balloon release.

How do I recognise autism in my child or grandchild ? I hear you say, here’s a short checklist from one of our brochures:- Continue reading “World Autism Awareness Day”