Flowers Through The Homes

Flowers through the homes

Eastern Cape Floral Art Associationis bringing Flowers through the homes to St Francis Bay next week.

As part of a collaboration between the Eastern Cape Floral Art Association and St Francis Animal Rescue, twenty two or so Floral Artists will be arriving in St Francis Bay on Friday 11th August, together with baskets of flowers, branches, twigs, leaves – and whatever else they may need to create exquisite floral displays. Some of these artists are local but many will arrive from Port Elizabeth, Humansdorp and Jeffrey’s Bay to participate in the ‘Flowers Through The Homes’ event taking place in our village on Saturday 12th August and running from 10.00 am until 16.00.

The event has largely been organized by our very own Les Brent – an extremely active floral artist involved in demonstrating, exhibitions, teaching, workshops, functions and weddings,. Les is also a SAFU National Judge and Demonstrator for the ECFAA,and over a career spanning thirty years, has Les Brentwon countless awards and medals, including a Gold Award for the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show.

Once they arrive in St Francis, the floral artists will be divided into working groups and allocated one of the three houses on show. Each team of artists will spend the day, creating distinctive and imaginative floral displays designed to capture the essence and enhance the decor of each house.

The following day – Saturday – visitors who’ve purchased their R150 ticket to this event, will be given a map detailing how to reach each show house – one in the village, one on the canals and another overlooking the St Francis beach.

Visitors will explore these homes at their own pace and stop at ‘House Morrison’ when they’re

ready to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and a choice of a slice or two of the many delicious, freshly baked cakes on display. There are raffles offering stunning prizes in each house – and an opportunity to win lovely floral designs created by the artists.

All proceeds from the ticket sales will be shared equally between the Eastern Cape Floral Art Association and St Francis Animal Rescue who are committed towards sterilizing the dogs and cats of Sea Vista, the local informal community in St Francis, through their ‘Open Your Eyes & Sterilize’ campaign.

If you wish to purchase a ticket to this event from Port Elizabeth, contact Floral Artist, Gail Tavener, on 082 651 1391.
In St Francis Bay. Tickets are being sold at Kouga Print in St Francis– and also via Les Brent on, 082 490 6936.
If you come with a friend who has a ticket – you can purchase a ticket on the day, at one of the houses on show.

St Francis Animal Rescue

 

Good News Bad News

A reader commented yesterday there is not enough good news and how much bad news we publish on St Francis Today. We must agree for it seems the past weeks have been filled with nothing butterror, death and destruction. The London Bridge terror attack; the Cape storms and the horrific scenes of the destruction of the Knysna fires followed by our very own fires around Kouga and NMB that saw further destruction including severe damage to the iconic Woodridge College.  And just when we thought it was at an end we had the absolutely awful Grenfell Towers disaster where the death toll climbs by the day with more bodies stillexpected to be pulled from the ruins of what was once home to hundreds.

Surely there could be no more bad news but then news of the 60 souls lost in the fires in Portugal and the van running into a crowd leaving a Mosque in London followed the same day with the Champs Elysees attack on the police. Then the hostage drama in Mali where four tourists were killed to say nothing of the ongoing human tragedy being inflicted by ISIS on the citizens of Mosul, Raqqa and others not forgetting the seven sailors lost in the USS Fitzgerald collision with a container ship and the passing of US student Otto Warmbier held so long by the North Koreans only released when he was at death’s door.

My goodness the bad / sad news seems endless but hopefully some good news on its way!

With the weather predicted to be somewhat inclement for the next few days it may be bad news for some but for others who love nothing better than diving under the duvet with a good book, possibly it is good news for some. If you are looking for something to warm you up you really should rush to Get-A-Fix for a dish of their really delicious tomato soup with feta and garlic roasted croutons. I had a plate yesterday and all I can comment is ‘absolutely delicious’, just enough to warm the cockles. While there pick up a take-away of one of their lasagne’s. I had their spinach and feta for supper last night, scrumptious!

Of course today is Tuesday and that is good news for us oldies with pensioner offers at Spar, the Butcher Shop and for the ladies, a pedicure and mini manicure for only R120 at Pop-In Beauty & Nail Bar.

Good news for furry friend lovers, St Francis Animal Rescue has being doing some wonderful work at finding homes for unwanted pets, some misplaced by the recent fires, so if you are looking for a furry friend be sure to visit the SFAR Facebook page rather than going out and buying a pet.

St Francis Today will make an effort to find some good news going forward so if any readers have anything to share that is good news please mail us on news@stfrancistoday.com.dedi358.cpt4.host-h.net or Whatsapp or call us on 082 554 0796.

Shar Pei

In photo Kirsten Doyle with the Shar Pei rescued after having been tied to a stake with fire approaching in Thornhill. It has been re-homed by St Francis Animal Rescue with Johannesburg resident Alexandra Williamson who has two Shar peis (plus a Husky and Pitbull), and lost her heart to this boy’s tragic story.

Shar pei

Shar pei soon after being recued from his frightening ordeal

 

Healthy Mind – Healthy Body

Dr Kaz to give two talks at Dune Ridge

St Francis Animal Rescue through their Open your Eyes – Sterilize campaign have over the years invited some truly inspiring guest speakers covering a range of interesting subjects from kayaking in Iceland to the power of hypnotherapy.  Well next week they have invited Specialist Kinesiologist, Health and Life Coach and medical practitioner Dr Kazalette Kiepiel (MB.BCh, MF Hom) (aka Dr Kaz) to talk. In fact Dr Kaz will be giving two talks – Healthy Mind – Healthy Body in the morning and  should not be missed, (men & women including sportsmen and women). The second talk in the afternoon is aimed at mothers both young and old.

Who is Dr Kaz?

Dr Kaz

She is a reputable, Durban-based GP who is also an Holistic Healer.

What makes Dr Kaz unique is her ability to heal at emotional, physical and spiritual levels.

Dr Kaz is also a wife, mother, animal-lover and environmental activist with the experience, depth and drive to help us heal ourselves.

This powerful, widely sought after voice amongst medical practitioners is visiting St Francis Bay on May 11th when she will be giving 2 different talks at Dune Ridge Country House on behalf of St Francis Animal Rescue.

The first talk is at 11 am when Dr Kaz will be discussing the concept of, ‘Healthy Mind – Healthy Body’
Tea, coffee and delicious snacks will be served after her talk.

The following talk takes place on the same day at 5.30 pm and this is aimed at mothers – both young and old – when the doctor will be talking about “Healthy Mother – Healthy Children’.
Champagne and canapés will be on offer after the talk.

Tickets for both talks are selling now at Kouga Print and Toffee – at R150 each.

All proceeds from these sales will be used to fund the St Francis Animal Rescue ‘Open Your Eyes & Sterilize’ campaign, which aims to neuter and spay the cats and dogs of Sea Vista and improve the quality of their lives.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear what the renowned Dr Kaz has to say about attaining optimal health for yourself and your family.

More about Dr Kaz

Dr Kaz has personal experience of the debilitating impact of chronic fatigue. Many people suffer from fatigue, and it is important to understand the underlying causes. It could be a serious medical condition that requires an allopathic intervention, it could be stress related , a symptom of  depression, or you may be suffering from chronic fatigue.

Dr. Kaz is an Integrative medical practitioner:  “Integrative medicine and health reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic and lifestyle approaches, healthcare and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.”.

Dr Kaz on FATIGUE

If you want to listen to a little of what Dr Kaz has to say on fatigue there is a podcast on ECR

or visit her website http://www.doctorkaz.com/

Your support is appreciated by all those volunteers who work for St Francis Animal Rescue.

St Francis Animal Rescue

Great Easter Weekend

Great Easter weekend in St Francis

The weather certainly didn’t do our many visitors any favours although Sunday afternoon cleared to present those who have never visited our tiny hamlet with just an inkling of how wonderful it can be. Monday dawned and some must have wondered if we ever enjoy sunshine in these parts but after an almost cloudless summer stretching from October through to the Thursday before Easter, we hardly saw a cloud, the rain was most welcome.

The freezing rainy weather on Good Friday would have kept many under their duvets including this scribe who had every intention of attending Haydn’s 7 Crossroads but chose to keep his nose beneath the covers. Classical musical lovers no doubt, at least those who braved the cold, must have revelled in the performance of the quartet from NMMU who hopefully they will return some time in the future. Maybe a little Mozart next time around?

Saturday’s weather thankfully cleared sufficiently for the market not to be washed out and oh what an attraction this has become. Those who visit the market regularly cannot but have noticed how it has improved in both quality and quantity over the past six months or so. The organisers, St Francis Tourism with others, have truly made this a highlight on our monthly calendar.  There really is something for everyone and with the added choice, even those who have regularly offered their products over the years have benefitted from the bigger crowds. Certainly it was a holiday weekend so bigger crowds would be expected but the market at the end of March was equally busy and illustrates that the organisers are doing it right.

An interesting addition to the exhibitors on Saturday was St Francis Property Owners where several of their committee were available to explain the ins and outs of the proposed SRA that has dominated the minds of many over the past months. Armed with copies of their recently released newspaper ‘St Francis Future’ they were undoubtedly able to set the minds of some of those who could not make up their minds on their vote at rest.

Another newbie at the market was St Francis Animal Rescue with a stand selling doggie treats and paraphernalia. In addition to their market stall SFAR also held a street collection that according to SFAR spokesperson Sue Rae Fox was a huge success and perfectly illustrates the generosity of the St Francis community who support the efforts of SFAR in reducing the number of puppies being born every month with their “Open your Eyes – Sterilize” campaign as well as the work done at their weekly Thursday clinics. Something worth noting is that every member of the SFAR team is a volunteer and every penny raised in their fund raising efforts is spent on sterilising cats and dogs or on treating animals against parasites and purchasing much needed inoculations to prevent canine illnesses spreading to the pampered pets of the village.

It what was rather a dog day weekend SFAR also held their popular ‘Mutt Strut’ at St Francis Links on Easter Monday. Unfortunately the weather played foul and although several ardent dog walkers arrived, they chose not to walk but did donate. As the rain cleared a few late comers arrived and did take the walk through the links following the 5 kilometre Park Run course.

And not to be omitted from the weekend’s events was of course the annual ‘King of the Kromme’ paddling race but more on the race later in the week.

Weekend in pictures

St Francis Market

Garth Perry of Bushbuck Gardens

St Francis Animal Rescue at the St Francis Market

St Francis Animal Rescue street collection.

After market gathering

 

 

Animal Rescue Shelter project gets kickstart

Great party at Cape St Francis Resort for animal rescue shelter

Cape St Francis Resort rocked to the great old sounds of the 60’s and 70\s omn Saturday night when the Grosvenor Road Band along with Port Elizabeth based Joe van der Linder, wound back the clock and entertained an audience of Rock ‘n Rollers, young and old, to some great music from the era. Although most chose not to dress for the occasion a few did and without doubt Vanessa Johnson really looked the part and deservedly won a voucher from TOFFEE for her efforts although Bev Mortimer certainly deserves a mention for her getup. The best dressed man prize went to James Parker who won the use of a self-drive boat for a day kindly sponsored by Little Venice.

The evening was made possible through the generosity of Fiona and Fasie Malherbe of Cape St Francis Resort who so kindly sponsored the event for St Francis Animal Rescue to kick off a fund to create a foundation funding for a much needed Animal Rescue shelter and clinic in St Francis. One of the big differences to the evening’s event that was unlike so many other fundraising events was that there were no auctions or raffles to further empty the revellers pockets for Fasie and Fiona and Cape St Francis Resort paid for all the food, bottles of wine, red and white, on the tables, the décor, the cost of the band and a lot more allowing every penny made from the door to go to St Francis Animal Rescue.

Riekie Minnie, F&B manager at the resort, along with her staff went the extra mile with décor setup and a lovely touch that brought back memories of one’s younger days was the Chappies bubblegum decorating the tables along with the bottles of wine. Well done Cape St Francis Resort and “The Space” really is a great venue for anyone looking to hold a similar function. Dinner for the evening was fun fare with hamburgers and ice cream in true sixties style.

Before the band rocked the guests onto the dance floor the inimitable Jo Brown introduced the purpose of the evening giving a background to the work being done by the St Francis Animal Rescue team of volunteers. Jo really does have an amazing talent as an MC and will always raise more than a few chuckles with her Manchester turn of humour.

Unfortunately this scribe had not been well for a few days so left the party before it got into full swing and so sadly missed what was apparently a highlight of the evening when the band performed a trilogy of music by recently deceased Leonard Cohen. Certainly one of my favourites, let’s hope they again include this trilogy in other gigs that they play at in future for by all accounts it was brilliant.

St Francis Animal Rescue stalwart Susan Rae Fox had this to say. “Thank you so much Fasie and Fiona, the Cape St Francis Resort and of course to everyone that supported the event and to those that continually support us in our effort to improve the life of the animals that so need help.”

More information of the work done by St Francis Animal Rescue can be viewed on their Facebook page

NOTE FROM THE ORGANISERS

“For those that still need to pay for their tickets (R195.00) or wish to make a donation, thank you for your support and apologies for not being able to offer credit card facilities:”

St Francis Animal Rescue bank details are:-
St Francis Animal Rescue
Standard Bank – Humansdorp
Branch: 050015
Business Savings Account
Account Number: 186532814

Below is a slide show video of the work done by St Francis Animal rescue and the plans for the animal rescue shelter.

 

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