Even though I’ve been unofficially retired since 2018, I somehow still tend to respond to questions about ‘what I do’ by saying SAP Consultant or IT Consultant, depending on the context of the question. I have now taken the bold step of deleting my LinkedIn profile in order to end the regular calls requesting my CV to be submitted for some project. It wasn’t an easy decision, deleting all history of my working life. But it was a relief once done. Now I am officially retired…
My March hike was on the 6th at Groenkloof Nature Reserve.
The annual EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) breakfast was held at Silver Creek Gorge on the 12th of March. A fun-filled, hectic weekend as always. Roger was very busy showing incoming aircraft where to park, meeting and greeting and just generally mingling with the other pilots. The boys just never get enough of each other’s stories, experiences, latest modifications and more.
Calm eventually returned to the estate, and we had a quiet evening at Sean and Anthea, eating left-overs and ruminating about the events of the day.
We were up early on Sunday morning to join Sean on his favourite Sunday morning activity: playing around the hot air balloons.
It was a beautiful morning for flying, so we went to ‘buzz’ Francois and Adri who live near Hartebeespoort Dam. They were sleeping in, so we joined the others at Aviator’s Paradise. Their restaurant no longer had an espresso machine, so we decided to go and find good coffee at The Joint. For that we landed at the Skywalk Paragliding School and then took a short walk across the road. Again, we were disappointed; The Joint was closed, apparently sorting the place out after an invasion the previous week. We eventually had to settle for an exorbitantly expensive filter coffee back at Aviator’s Paradise. Oh well, our fault for not wanting instant, I suppose…
We left the Hilux in the hangar and came home with Ufudu in order to go to the annual Wakkerstroom Music Festival (WMF) the next weekend, 18th to 21st of March.
I had booked a show for Friday evening (La Traviata), two for Saturday (Double Trouble and Pots and Pans and strings and things), two for Sunday (Virtuosic music for the Classical Guitar and Twenty fingers and one piano) and one for Monday morning (It takes TWO). We thoroughly enjoyed every show but were especially impressed by Double Trouble, the WMF’s special project showcasing local talent of disadvantaged primary school children performing marimba music.
The festival brought many people to town, all eager to resume some degree of normality after two dry years thanks to the pandemic.
Our friend Ansie and two of her friends also attended the festival so we had coffee together each day. Ansie had somehow left her vanity case containing all her medication and cosmetics at home, so she was not a very happy camper. Roger went out of his way to try and get it to her before the end of the weekend but unfortunately the best laid plans don’t always work out. Besides her vanity case her other, perhaps bigger, problem was that she had recently switched to Telkom Mobile, and she had zero signal. How we have become dependent on that instant connectivity…
We took Ufudu back to Silver Creek the next weekend and had a belated St Patrick’s day celebration at Sean and Anthea’s. As always, Anthea had gone full out and all the food, drinks and décor was green. It did, however, give me a rare opportunity to wear my leprechaun-green goat’s leather jacket. Roger received the leather as a gift while in Sudan, on their way to England with a Dakota that the South African government donated back to the British Government.
Kevin and Lucy came to visit for a few days at the end of the month. Their visit coincided with a dinner that we had planned to host some old and new aviation friends; some local, Aldo from Botswana, Derek from Malawi and Oliver from Italy. It was a great evening with stories abound about experiences, places and surviving crashes…
Kevin and Lucy flew back to Cape Town on the 31st. We were up early and had breakfast together before they left. Because of all the activity of the past week both of us forgot that it was our wedding anniversary! Roger was the first to remember and sounded very relieved when he realised that I had also forgotten! He made a last-minute booking at the Clico Restaurant which is about two blocks away from where we live, yet we’ve never been there. It’s rather more ‘upmarket’ than our regular eat-out places, but it was a special occasion and most enjoyable.
Eugene and Marlene’s plans of relocating to the West Coast are taking shape. They’ve been there since mid-February, staying in a self-catering cottage in Jacobs Bay. Their office is in a container on their plot in Trekoskraal. They will be there until at least mid-May while sorting out fencing, house plans, business plans, etc. They love it there.
