It is said that a change is as good as a holiday. What happens when you have a break and a big change? Do you come back doubly refreshed and full of vigour? Well, our family breaks were almost always to self-catering places because we needed a change from food-cooked-for-us to us needing to do […]
Our children are all at boarding school and people often exclaim about how hard and lonely that must be… Well, the hardest time is when they all go back after the holidays and our house is dreadfully quiet. We work longer hours and try and keep busy so that the days will fly by. And
Dear Jill and Joe Public Yes, unfortunately we have had to close our gate to day visitors. This was after very careful consideration and after just one-too-many problems. What is interesting is that our regular guests have supported this move entirely. So, why would we seem to be so unaccommodating and so inhospitable? After all,
When you work in a family business, the tasks get divided up between the siblings and at times allocations happen because there is “no-one-better-suited”. Not because you’re good at it, but because the others would be dreadful. And so I have landed with the task of always talking to crowds of people (which makes me
Dear Friends The shorter winter days have arrived but fear not! These are brilliant days for hiking and enjoying the mountainside, for snuggling up in the lounge next to a raging log-fire and for quiet sips of gorgeous red wine in our beautiful cellar. Yesterday we had a lovely older, mature, grey-haired couple (97!! Driver
Scolopia mundii is fruiting prolifically, and is a scene of conflict. The yellow fruits are too big for small frugivores, but the Glossy and Red-winged Starlings are arguing the toss. In fact most forest trees in colder areas produce “soft” fruit in winter. This is because omnivores would ignore them in summer when insect life
Marvellous May was always a peaceful, serene time of the year. That was until we started a school which needed massive fundraising so that we could provide a quality start to the little people… how things have changed. The worst part is that I keep wishing the weeks away. Once this is over, it will
Firstly I’d just like to start with a huge CHEERS to Megan, to the teachers, the porters, the guides, the waiters and all The Cavern staff and to Les, Hilton & Peter who all work incredibly hard to make today such an incredible event. So let’s just raise our glasses in a toast to them.
Winter has definitely arrived. The best possible proof is the appearance of the Fairy Flycatcher, our famous altitudinal migrant from the top of the Berg. Two were dashing about in newly regenerating forest just below the swimming pool. Although always called a flycatcher this is a bit misleading because its behaviour always suggests a warbler,
