Cove Rock Country Estate
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Cove Rock Country Estate Cove Rock Country Estate Grapevine October 2014 - Number 52 “The Cove Rock Grapevine” is a newsletter for residents of Cove Rock Country Estate. It is published every month and your input is welcomed. The aim of the newsletter is to: * Inform residents of happenings around the estate * Share advice and general information * Talk about the wonders of the environment we live in * Get to know fellow residents through residents profiles – a resident will be featured in each edition. If you have some input or would like the newsletter emailed to other residents or family, simply send an email to Werner Illgner at [email protected] or call him on 083 6020296 / 043 736 8980/011 787 2953. Website: http://coverock.pbworks.com facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/coverockestate/ Know your neighbour Meet the Sparg family Angelique tells us a little about her family . “Shane and I started building our home 10 years ago, at 374 Zaminyama drive, on the Estate. At the time Shane owned his own business in the footwear trade, and I was Branch Manager at Incredible Connection. We moved in with our 3 year old son, Joshua. Shane and I have known each other from birth! His uncle and my dad grew up together in Umtata, so often on holidays at the Wild Coast, Shane and I played together. It was when I was 16 and living in Grahamstown, that Shane and I realized we were soul mates. He has lived in East London his whole life and went to Selborne College. After school I went to Europe where I worked as an au pair in the Netherlands. Upon my return, I moved in with Shane, who was living and working in Umtata at the time for his family business, Sparg Supermarket. I have worked for Game and Incredible Connection, and eventually moved on to own my own ladies boutique stores in East London and Hilton Kzn. HR, IR and business management were my studies and career for a long time. We were blessed with another addition to our family when my daughter, Rebecca-Jane, was born in 2008.That is when I stopped working for Corporate and opened up my own boutique. Due to the poor economic situation and personal reasons we decided to close our business half way through this year. Joshua was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome when he was 8. He was a pupil at Selborne at the time. Anyone with a child on the Autism spectrum knows how demanding such a child can be. With Joshua, no one can touch him (the last hug I had from him was 4 years ago), he is very particular about what he eats, where he sits, etc. The school environment was just not conducive for his condition, so in 2013 I decided to home school him. He was doing grade 6 at the time. I am and will continue to home school him, as I feel he has adjusted better and copes more with his day to day routines. I would also love to get into contact with any mommies on the Estate who have special needs children of their own. I am now selling most of my stock from home, and Shane has joined the corporate world again. I specialize in Matric farewell planning, as well as most other events: from getting the right clothes and make up, to hair, right down to the limo service. With great contacts and a whole list of suppliers at my fingertips, I can make nearly every Matric dream come true. I also do Image consulting, design my own label called Shangelique, and am a personal shopper. I have also recently joined Eaza IT consulting. This company sells prepaid IT services, with call out fees at R250!! So for all the business owners out there, give me a tinkle for more information. You don't want to go into the festive season without us! We have been blessed with all these opportunities. It really is true, when God closes one door, He opens another. We love living here, because it reminds us a lot of the freedom we had as children. I love the fact that my six year old and her bestie, Haley, can ride their bikes together, and walk to each other’s houses. I love seeing other kids being free to walk around the neighborhood. No matter how stressed our day was or is, the minute we come through the main gate, and go around the first bend and see the beauty of the ocean, you cannot help but just take a deep breath and relax. In the past months of being at home, I have come to know my neighbors better. It is actually a disgrace that we have lived next to these wonderful people for 10 years, and only now are getting to know them. It has occurred to me that there are a lot of lovely crafty ladies on the Estate, as well as a few entrepreneurs. Thus I started the Cove Rock Diva's page on Facebook. I would like to see all the women of Cove Rock join the page, and you will be welcome to sell or advertise any of your goodies or services on there, or swapping of recipes, helpful hints and such. I am looking at starting events at the clubhouse for the ladies as well (who says only the men can have it to watch sport?)” Ed. A family looking for the positives in life - well done! All about our environment Cape white-eye Cape white-eye (Zosterops virens) is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. It is native to southern Africa and often seen in Estate gardens. Taxonomy There are two subspecies. The western nominate group is now treated as separate species; the Orange River white-eye (Z. pallidus) and the Cape white-eye (Z. virens). The latter can be further divided into two subgroups, the south-western capensis subgroup and the eastern virens subgroup (the so-called green white-eye). All subspecies interbreed where they come into contact (including members of the nominate group with members of the capensis group of both subgroups in Free State). Identification This species is about 12 cm long with rounded wings, strong legs, and a conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eyes. The upperparts are green, and the throat and vent are bright yellow. The members of the nominate group have a pale yellow central belly with peach-coloured flanks. The members of the capensis subgroup have a grey breast and belly, while the virens subgroup have a greenish-yellow breast and belly. They are very vocal, and constantly keep in touch with soft trilled pee, pree or pirreee callnotes. The song consists of repeated long jerky phrases of sweet reedy notes, varying in pitch, volume and temp, usually starting off with teee teee or pirrup pirrup notes, then becoming a fast rambled jumble of notes, which may incorporate mimicked phrases of other birdcalls. Behaviour This is a sociable species forming large flocks outside the breeding season. It builds a cup nest in a tree and lays 2-3 unspotted pale blue eggs. The eggs hatch in 11–12 days, and fledging occurs in another 12–13 days. The peak breeding season is September to December. The Cape white-eye feeds mainly on insects, but also soft fleshy flowers, nectar, fruit and small grains. It readily comes to bird feeders. Distribution It is found in a wide range of densely to lightly wooded habitats in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland. Most populations are resident, but some perform minor seasonal movements. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– COVE ROCKERS SUPPORTING CLIMATE AWARENESS Last month, an international climate awareness day was hosted all over the world. In East London, the “go green” walks were held in Nahoon and at Kidds Beach. A couple of us decided to support the cause and joined the climate march at Kidds Beach. We all dressed up in green and joined some other awareness supporters on a walk through town to the beach, where we all formed a giant green heart that was photographed from a plane. It was a fun outing for all and it was great to be able to make our kids aware of how we should live and what we can do to preserve our beautiful planet. As one little boy expressed himself on his placard: “God made this planet, please no more lettering” – he might not be able to spell, but he made his point ! Peace and stay green!! ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– South Africa’s Rhino Poaching Apocalypse Update released by the Department of Environmental Affairs, 11 September 2014 Our thanks to Roy Hickman for this fantastic picture taken during the recent storm….. A Touch of Inspiration Patience, Persistence and Mastery by Philip E. Humbert, PhD Like most people, I get excited about things that are "new and improved." Anything that is bigger, faster, better and cheaper, gets my attention. I love new technology! But, while it can be great fun, it can also be a path to failure. Recently, I spoke with the owner of a martial arts training center who has achieved financial success by providing classes for people who want to learn self-defense in a short amount of time. He loves his success, but has also discovered a level of sadness in it. He said that "in the old days," students spent many years mastering a small number of basic throws, punches and blocks, practicing them many thousands of times, until they became a type of mediation and the repeated practice created a sense of inner peace.