Back to a new normal - Covid times update

It is going very well with this clan! 

It's 2021 and the Virus is still with us. But the numbers are coming down every day, and the roll-out of the vaccines has started in South Africa. We know of people who died, and people who is still in ICU with Covid... Our immediate family is all safe and still healthy! But we are all wearing our masks, and things are looking up! We are more than surviving this!

The schools opened with a bang. It was a whole month later than previous years, but it is back to every day school for all the students. It was quite shock to our systems. 🤯For some reason, we missed the memo about every day. We thought the schools would continue the same as last year. One day in, one day work at home...

Miss Fine loved it at home, and would have happily continued like this. Luckily, Grade 7 turns out to being a great year. Miss Fine enjoys being part of the seniors at school, and they had a two-day leadership workshop with fellow students this past weekend. She got sunburnt quite bad, because it was held outdoors, but they had a ball. Miss Fine signed up to everything that's happening again at school. There's netball and Revue. There's also Voortrekkers (scouts), which apparently is going to be a busy year for the Grade 7's. Hopefully camps can start again? They are doing it a bit differently (because Covid) this year, but thankfully things are opening up with enthusiasm. 

The peer group is now definitely the focus, and what they do and think and dress are the bomb. We do not get viewed by the same regard of reference. It's all okay.😉 I love this stage! 

I am constantly in awe of Miss Fine and her friends. They are such awesome and beautiful human beings. (I should tell them that more often.) They still get excited about life and things, and happily shares it with us. Of course she thinks she knows better, but it's okay. Sometimes, I really learn new things!😜

I am still not sure about my word for the year? "Survival" doesn't really cut it! I need a more positive focus!

I have a job interview tomorrow. Hold thumbs. It is stressful times. 😁

What's happening with you?

Month 6 of the pandemic

Not only have we been slowed down in our way of living, but we have been incapacitated in every other way. Our thoughts, our being, our dreams, our physical selves... Everything has been impacted. Covid-19 has put us in survival mode. We are burning out, but there's still no end date in sight...  

I wanted to write more here, and create more memories about our experiences, but I was just... in stasis! Lock-down day 104 looks about the same as today. It's now Day 160. I know it's not only me that had the same experience, and I am in awe of people who could kept going, and creating, and doing things. And sharing their lives! I am still "hibernating".

Yes, sure, we go on. Because we have to. We have to work, if we still have a job. We go to school, every other day. We are still fine, and healthy! Thank, goodness! Every time any one of us sneezes, or complain of some sort of ailment, we first think we have the dreaded Virus. But so far, so good! We even missed the regular colds and flu's of winter, because of the masks, hand washing and social distancing. 

Happening right now: I have to work a full day, every second day. I am so grateful for my job, and that I can be of service in this time. Hubby has been retrenched two months back. We are hopeful that something will be around the corner very soon. He all of a sudden got two job interviews coming up today, so hopefully there's light. This has been very stressful.

We haven't been out that much, except going to the shops. We have seen my parents again, since Level 2 was announced. We are also slowly trying to see some friends again, but very limited, and when the weather allows us. 

Spring has come with another cold front, but hopefully by the weekend we can start enjoying the sun!

How are you coping?

Lock-down day 104

Social distancing 2020

Nearly three and a half months that has gone by in lock-down. We did not think it would last this long, and now we realise it is going to stay like this for quite a while. At least for another year... It's not the rest we hoped for, and not the sabbatical we wish we could always take.

I did not blog as much as I planned I would. I had time, but no motivation.

Things are not the same, and maybe it's never going to be?

What has been happening during these three months of lock-down? Some notes for future reference.

How Lock-down are looking right now:

- Miss Fine has been going to school for her second week. The first week was a full week, but from this week they are only going every second day. Her school is doing the Covid-19 regulations very well. The kids stay in one class, and the teachers rotate. It also helps with isolating Covid-positive risks, and minimise the impact to the whole school. Only the classes and children affected quarantine at home. Miss Fine loves seeing her friends again. She is enjoying school and her new teachers (they had shifted everything again). We are also very relieved to have her back at school, and not having to to constantly trying to get her to work at home. Which did not go as well...
Some days she goes through three masks at school, and some days one is enough. It helps to have a variety at hand.

- Hubby has been retrenched, as so many people we know. He is looking for a new job, and we are hopeful. No, we are stressed about it! He is a teacher, and a financial adviser. If somebody knows of a job opening?

- Our company is also retrenching, so that's an extra stressor. I am hopeful that our department won't be affected, as we are short-staffed already. But you never know... I still go in when there are requests, and keeping up to date with our collections. Luckily I have my own studio, and can keep my distance very easily at work. I feel very safe with the safety protocols they have in place with regards Covid-19.

- We miss the family. We miss the regular visits, and weekends braais (barbecues). We miss seeing our parents. That is the most difficult thing! We miss them!

- We miss spending time with friends as well. I know we will have get-togethers again, but it is difficult not being able to spend some quality time.

- We love our new lodgings. It's a rental, but for now it's home. I do not miss our house as I thought I would. We have unpacked, and made this place our new home. Even Miss Fine has settled in quite well. She does not like change, but given some time, she has adjusted. I bought some curtains online, when it was still not allowed to be bought in the shops. Half of the order was not what we expected, but it is hanging and we love it now. This move has made us realise how much easier it is to change, and take on new adventures.

We have realised that we won't do well with Tiny House Living, but we still enjoy watching all the Tiny House programmes.

- I still dread going to the shops. It is very stressful. Not only trying to avoid catching the dreaded Virus, but also trying to find the products that's now not available. Also, the costs have gone up quite a bit during this time.

- We wear our masks going out of the house. I do it out of respect for you, but also to keep myself safe, as well as anybody I get into contact with. I expect the same from anybody else, and judge people who don't respect the rule, or us.

How long are we going to live like this?
How have you been doing during lock-down?

Lock-down Day 55

Lock-down masks

I wanted to document every day, but here we are... It's day 55 of lock-down in South Africa. How did we get here so fast? It has been nearly two months, and we have apparently not yet reached the worst. We are hopeful that we are going to level 3 from June.

I saw this on Twitter today, and decided it's good enough reason to give me motivation to start again to write. To document these times for myself, and for future memories.

The New York Times shares why you should start a coronavirus diary—and talks with SAA member Dawne Dewey from Wright State University. https://t.co/jrNNRlXOHa

— Soc Amer Archivists (@archivists_org) May 19, 2020

I have been longing for everything to go back to "normal". Who would have thought that we wished each day to go into the office, and work a full day? To go back to school for our Tween... She can't wait!

Week 3 in lock-down - Covid-19 days in South Africa

Mask

We have totally lost count of the days. It was day 6 when I said it was day 5 on lock-down. It's day 19 here in South Africa. (I hope.) Nothing much is happening here. 

The days are the same. What gets me is how quickly each day goes. I have so much plans, and of course still packing, but most of the days we can only mark of made food and washed the dishes. Watching too much news, and too much of everything else. We have also caught up with most of the movies that we have always wanted to see. 

Our move has been postponed again. We have never felt so much out of sorts. We should have been in our new house, but now we are stuck in limbo... I know this is going to be a good story, but at this stage it is not funny. We have paid our rent for our new lodgings, and now we are expected to pay rent in our existing home as well. Which we don't have. We are hoping that everybody would be more gracious in their dealings with each other... We are all stuck! In the meantime we are living between boxes. 

I go into work when there is a request. I find it very scary driving through the empty streets, and driving past road blocks. Each time I have to suppress a few tears, and thinking about all the essential workers who have to go in each and every day. Thank you! So far I have not been stopped. But I have my letter, my entrance card and my mask at hand. I also feel very sorry for the beggars that are still hanging around. 

Miss Fine is getting a lot of work to do at home. It is not going well, as she wants constant reinforcement, and help. Which when we give it, is rejected. We have been battling (a much better word than struggling) the maths. She, Hubby and I have been trying to do Amesa maths which have been sent through. It is DIFFICULT! I have come to the realisation that I am very stooopid, and I don't know where I got the idea that I was good at maths at school? Or maybe we did a total other different version of maths? 

We realise she gets a whole lot more done when she is at school. Miss Fine says she can't wait to go back to school! (I'll keep this for future reference, of course.)

I have more nightmares than usual. It is normal for these kinds of days, but it is scary!

How are you coping?

Lock-down - Day 5

Bitmoji "Keep your distance"

Things have changed drastically for all of us. Here in South Africa we are in lock-down as well. Day 5. We can't even walk the dogs or go for a run. I am not saying this as a negative, as we all commend our government for acting fast and decisive. Our move is on hold, and although this could have been the first day in our new house, we are stuck where we are. We have more time to pack, and go through our stuff. Which is a positive during this time...

Who could have guessed that we would be contained in our own houses for three weeks? And most of us already expect that the containment will last longer. We are worried about the future and how this will impact all of us. I am getting a salary, but my husband's work in the financial industry has slowed down considerably.

I am on standby for work. This means that I make sure I am ready to go in each day. I have my "essential services" letter to show when I have to go in for work. I am able to access my emails, and keep a regular check-up for when a request comes in.

Miss Fine has been living her best life. She loves not having to go anywhere. She is also not motivated to do any school work, as her teachers told them they could enjoy their vacation, and could only expect them to start sending work when school was supposed to start. (She says?) We had a gymnastics exercise scheduled on Saturday, which she missed because we struggled with Zoom. Next week we are going to try again. The gymnastics' teacher sends them regular exercises and updates, which is very cool. But, we have yet to convince Miss Fine to do any of them. Any advice would be appreciated?

I want to give a huge shout-out to all the moms who keep their children entertained with school work,  exercises and arts and crafts. You rock!

The rest of us are just trying to adjust to a new normal.

These are strange times, and it will definitely go into the history books.

For my own records: It feels like the end of the world. Who could have known that we would look forward to normal working days, sitting in traffic, and wishing for that perfect cappuccino from our favourite coffee shops? And we are only on Day 5? We still haven't started with our exercise routine, although Hubby got the exercise bike working again. I baked banana flapjacks yesterday. We still want to bake a banana bread with the rest of the ripe bananas, but there's no baking powder in the shops. Hubby says he and two other men were searching the shelves in Spar today, and a lady was laughing at them, because none of them knew how baking powder looks.

How are you coping?

Disney Cookabout Season 3 - perfect to get us all out of the winter slump

Hosts Kirsten Mohamed and Mthunzi Ntoyi

Disney Cookabout Season 3 is launching with premiere episodes on Saturday from 27 July 10:15 am on Disney Channel 303. 

We attended the launch at The Good Food Studio yesterday. 

We now have a budding wannabe Cookabout contestant within our midst, because Miss Fine got a chance to display her culinary skills. She thinks she can take part in the next Season of Cookabout, as well! (Please notify us when you see the call for auditions? *big smile*)

In this cookery game show, set in South Africa, teams of two young chefs head out each week to explore where the food on our tables come from and then head back to the amazing kitchen to rustle up some tasty dishes. The hosts are Kirsten Mohamed and Mthunzi Ntoyi.

Tell the kids!

Take a shot left at Dullstroom Inn

Dullstroom street

We had brunch at the Dullstroom Inn a few weeks back. I was lurking on #TravelChatSA stream on Twitter tonight talking about all South African small towns. Dullstroom should definitely to be on the list of towns to visit. This town has so many stories and history to share. I have already written about Mrs. Simpson's and Wild about Whisky in Dullstroom.

Dullstroom Inn

The Dullstroom Inn also needs a shout-out!

There must be thousands of stories locked up in The Dullstroom Inn#AboutTheWeekend #TravellerTales#TheDullStroomInn#WeekendBreak#Dullstroom#DullstroomWeekend#WeekendTraveller#QuaintPlaces https://t.co/9PX8OnzpTX pic.twitter.com/CHNwxRBGus

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) September 10, 2018

Some more photos. It's not a Wordless Wednesday, but here goes...

Entrance DullStroom Inn

Warning with rugby showing in the background

Dullstroom Inn fire which burns the whole day

Dullstroom In bar

Dullstroom Inn Hotel

Great for a weekend away, and beckoning us to go back again.

Have you been to Dullstroom?

10 Reasons why I am staying in South Africa

Johannesburg weather this morning

South Africa. There a daily constant barrage of people/friends that's moving overseas, or are making their living already in another spot of the world. We have family overseas who are happy. Even my husband wants to move, but I don't. I love my South Africa. I love everything we have here, and I don't think people appreciate things that we take for granted here... I got such a positive feedback from a friend today who can go overseas because she has a passport already. She says she is staying. She wants to! It is difficult to stay (or staying positive about staying), but I know it is difficult moving as well. To each what makes you most happy!

This is my list of the things that makes me happy here in South Africa:

SnapnSave app review - It helps buying the end of month groceries!

SnapnSave app

It seems SnapnSave has been around since 2015, but I only heard about it this year! Our budget has been severely stretched this year, and we had to make use of all the opportunities we can get when buying groceries.

SnapnSave is an app that allows you to pre-select your grocery list on the app, and to get cash back on each of the items. It depends on each item, but it helps.

I wanted to wait until I had redeemed my first cask-back on the app before I did a quick review. I am pleased to report that is was a quick and easy process. The cashier knew what I was talking about, and I could just punch in the code that the app generated. We got groceries worth R150 this past weekend! Total score!

I would love for there to be more products to be booked on the app. Also the weekly groceries such as bread, milk and eggs are usually all booked out. But it helps to go back just before entering the shop. Or while shopping ticking off the products!

What I have also found is that I have bought items that I would not have previously bought. I booked some items that I knew we would be able to use, and now I am sold on Quorn and Fry's pre-packaged vegan and vegetarian option, where before I would not have know about it! (For example!)

The app is free to download. The SnapnSave website has an option to enter your mobile number and they send the link of the app to your phone! All the biggest grocery stores are included, such as PicknPay, Checkers and Spar. I see on the app that a total of 1044 shops in South Africa are included.

You can use my code Karend870 to get a free R10 immediately loaded on the app when you sign up.

This is not even for the frugal of us anymore! Living expenses are out of control!


Read more here: How it works

Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this review.

Related post: Five for Friday #1

The sun still rises every day!

It's been hectic!

I had taken 5 days leave to go camping with the Little Miss! I am censoring myself so much, as I do not want to say too much! Suffice to say that it was our last time camping in this way, and that I won't let my daughter go on a trip like this again! I am so glad that Hubby and I went along. Being eight years is definitely too young to send your child on their own on a camp! I am SO disappointed!

The children made art works over the weekend camping. The marble art (rolling marbles in paint and letting it roll over paper) was part of their projects.

This past traumatic weekend was magnified by our own family financial crisis! As if not enough, the country's economy took a dive which does not bode well for a rosy future in finances (personal and investment related)!

This is life! I know we will survive!
On the personal and broader level!

I just need to dig deep, go inside (as introverts do), and carry on!

The sun rises every day!
Even on a bad camping weekend!

The school holidays are in full swing, but we are still working! (The traffic is definitely better!) Lucky you if you are able to go away for a while!

Where are you going or what are you doing for the holidays?

Minecraft Education Edition in South Africa

Minecraft in Education. It's now in South Africa as well! I definitely should have been born later! The children are playing while learning! That is the best kind of learning!

The possibilities of using Minecraft in learning are huge, and according to the expert, Stephen Reid, there are options in every single subject to make use of the game!

Minecraft is "an open world game that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem solving in an immersive environment where the only limit is you imagination."

I was at the informal launch of  Minecraft Education Edition on Monday. 

Minecraft Education launch - with Tamzyn and Mariaan from FleishmanHillard South Africa

Stephen Reid is a Minecraft ambassador/creative consultant in education and director of Scottish-based company ImmersiveMinds. He spent the last ten years working with game-based learning, with the last six years focused on Minecraft.

The benefits of game-based learning are in creativity, collaboration and problem solving! All qualities that are so much needed in the careers of today and definitely tomorrow!

Stephen Reid

The benefits of Minecraft in Education: 

Student Engagement

Minecraft: Education Edition brings the classroom and curriculum to students in an environment they are already comfortable with. It offers the same Minecraft experience many students enjoy already, but with some additional capabilities that enable them to collaborate in the classroom, as well as support for educators to deliver learning activities within the game.

Collaboration

The game is designed so that students can work in teams to solve problems, or as a whole class to master challenges within the game. Engaging in work teams and learning environments that foster co-operation in the classroom helps prepare students for their futures. It has the same benefits associated with teamwork for teachers. One of the biggest perks is the almost immediate sharing of knowledge from teachers all over the globe.

Creative Exploration

Children learn naturally through a combination of observation, trial and error and play-based practice. An open-learning environment like Minecraft allows students the freedom to experiment and challenge themselves. Much like real life, there are no step-by-step instructions — students must try, fail and try again to achieve the result they want.

Tangible Learning Outcomes

To create a fully inclusive classroom, educators are challenged to create learning activities that cater to all types of learners. With Minecraft: Education Edition, educators are able to align projects and activities directly to specific learning outcomes and curriculum standards. What’s more, learning-by-doing gives students a sense of accomplishment when they can demonstrate their knowledge.

Brescia House girls on their experience with Minecraft

The Brescia House Teacher that was at the launch says that the  trick is not to claim you are an expert, but to learn with the children.

This note! 

Microsoft Minecraft Education Edition offers a digital version of the real world. It is a safe environment to make mistakes. 

The Minecraft Education Edition has extra applications for education. The support and the community are available on the website! The software needs a Windows 10 or Mac OS operating system, and work on mobile devices which use Windows 10. It is matched to the CAPS Curriculum.

Download it here: Minecraft Education 

Extramarks bagless learning in South Africa

Extramarks - - 360° solutions for comprehensive learning

I was invited to a breakfast by Extramarks at the Digital Education Show last week. They are starting to roll out "Bagless Learning" in South African schools. I was surprised at how well structured, hierarchical and easy-to-use the whole system looks.


It is no secret that I have a preferential tablet and operating system that I prefer! But Extramarks is definitely worth looking at as a holistic system to implement into a school, or use for homeschooling. Especially when the budget is low! They are not yet available on iOS, but apparently working towards it!

Extramarks started in South Africa about 18 months ago, mostly in private schools. They have 150 technology experts, and partnerships with Intel, Google and Telkom. The pedagogy is simplified into three steps: Learn > Practise > Test.

As soon as a learner walks into the school with the tablet, attendance is marked. All the learning is also available without connectivity! A great feature of the programme is a Career Assessment Programme. It is only available in English at the moment. There is also a preprimary-school programme available!

I am super impressed with the way they have implemented Extramarks into Dendron Secondary School, a rural school. I am trying to upload the video here.. (Come back later if it is not yet available. Sorry!)

Fun facts about Disney Cookabout starting tomorrow on SABC 2

Disney Cookabout on SABC 2

We are really looking forward to this! The whole family enjoys watching cooking shows, although we have only one GREAT CHEF (according to Little Miss/She is dead right! I am talking about her Dad, of course!) who cooks in our house!

Disney Cookabout  premieres tomorrow on SABC 2, and will be on every Friday at 15:30 from 5 August.
Disney Cookabout promises to be a comedic adventure game-show that uses food preparation, cooking and outdoor exploration to showcase South African ingredients and a fun-filled approach to healthy eating.

Behind-the-scenes at Disney Cookabout

The presenters are Mthunzi Nyoti (Self) and Kirsten Mohammed (Chef Kirsten).

Disney Cookabout presenters

Here are some Disney Cookabout Fun Facts:

Yum Yum!
- 31 tried and tested recipes were used while filming Disney Cookabout

All over the Western Cape!
- 21 locations were visited by the production, including organic farms, spice shops, food markets and more all across the Western Cape

Smile for the Camera!
- 6 camera were used during the shoot

Action!
- Disney Cookabout had 3 directors!

Pick me!
- Nearly 200 kids auditioned to be a cooktestant

Tuck in!
- 78 meals were cooked over the duration of the show

A month of fun!
- The entire production was shot over 32 days

All in this together!
- There were 68 crew members, 10 cooktestants and 2 presenters who brought Disney Cookabout to life

Reel hard work!
- All in all, over 500 hours of footage was shot during the production!


There are two groups of cooktestants! (love the word!)

Episodes 1-13 Disney Cookabout cooktestants

Episodes 14-26 Disney Cookabout cooktestants

Episode 1
The door in the magical kitchen takes Tshego and Lebo to Farmer Angus’s free range chicken farm in the Stellenbosch Winelands for their first adventure of the season. In this episode they will have to collect their own eggs for their recipes. While exploring the farm, they find chickens that roam free and live in egg mobiles and are treated like pets by farmer Angus. Will the cooktestants be able to collect enough eggs to complete this challenge and walk away with the golden spoon, or are there no eggs to be found?
Episode Ingredient: Eggs
Cooktestants: Tshegofatso Molopisane & Ana Adriaanse
Location: Farmer Angus Farm in Stellenbosch
Episode Activity: Experience the farming of free range eggs laid by free range chickens. These chickens live in eggmobiles and are like pets.

Disney Cookabout is produced by Penguin Films for Walt Disney Television.

The Blog drop - a decorative spoon? ;-)

Wordless Wednesday #307 - SA Voting

Smash and

The Eldest was involved in a smash-and-grab the previous weekend. She was coming from friends on a Saturday night at 10 o'clock!

Luckily she is very alert, and she was watching guys across the road which looked suspicious. The next moment there was this huge smash on the driver's seat window! She did not see them at all! She reacted automatically, and drove through the robot just before the robot turned green for the other side! The window was shattered, but it did not fell out! They could not take anything or hijack her!

She was very shaken when she arrived home and felt a bit deflated! Also very despondent about the "assholes" (her word) that dampened her evening!

So she had to go and make a  case at the police station the next day, and had to have the window fixed during the week. She had to pay in the excess of R500 which was also not planned for... All very unwelcome and a lot of schlepp!

She had to wait for the case number from the police, as we filed the case at another police station. The thought was there that we would wait very long or not hear from the police again.

But she got a phone call from a very concerned police woman who wanted to know if she is okay and is she got hurt. She was told that the crossing is a hot spot and that lots of people are being smash-and-grabbed there. It touched the Eldest that the police woman seemed to care. How many of these cases do they not get on a daily basis? It was not even a mentionable crime as she was not injured and nothing was stolen... The Eldest said it restored her faith in humanity! She also got the case number within a week, and was notified that a detective was assigned to the case!

She was lucky!

And The Mom wants to preach again about going out at night... (But I won't!)


On a totally different note: Check out the cool Prisma app which changes your photos into art works! The picture above was created by using the app.
It's available in the App store and the Google Play store! For free! (The server seems a bit unstable at times, but I can't blame it, as I've got to run through all the filters before I make a choice!)

Xander Apps in 6 South African mother tongue languages

Xander apps

We have been downloading Xander apps for a while now. It's the only apps I kept on my iPhone after we downloaded most of Little Miss' apps on an iPad. We love the fact that it's in Afrikaans, our mother-tongue language.

The apps are available in 6 South African languages: Afrikaans, English, Xhosa, Zulu, Tswana and Swahili.
Every now and again the apps go for free. On Mandela day this Monday they were again for free. They are available on iTunes as well as the Google Play Store, and most of the times for free or for a very reasonable price.

Xander apps have been created to meet the school curriculum requirements and to prepare children for school in their own language.
Learning themes include ABC, 123, Wardrobe, Shapes & Colours, Animals, Fruit & Vegetables and Symmetry; while also creating opportunities for children to practice skills including fine-motor skills, sorting, matching, rhyming, literacy, numeracy, pattern recognition and problem solving.

It is well worth downloading it!


Xander featured MomAgain@40 on their blog today: Xander Mom: Karen du Toit 


Have you downloaded any of the Xander apps yet, and what are your thoughts on it?

Apple in Education Awards 2015 - mind-blown!

The yearly Apple in Education Awards was announced on Tuesday night!
As always I walked away with a an inspired feeling of FOMO! I am definitely missing out!
I wish I was in education right now!
I wish I was a student again!

The possibilities! The creativity!

This year there were again entries from Grade R to Grade 12.
70 schools from 9 provinces participated.
1156 projects were received which were judged by local and international judges.

Here is one of the winning entries:
Exploring the Sciences in Everyday Life - Thomas Granig from The Ridge School
"Gravity and beyond"



You can check out the rest of the winners here: Apple in Education competition 2015.

Christine Greig from Parklands College won in the iPhoneography part of the competition with her "Selfiest Self" portrait! Stunning!

Judge Bernard Viljoen (from "I was shot in Joburg") with Christine Greig

Lindsay Durell from Parklands College won the iTeacher award, and it was not difficult to guess, because she was on stage with many of her students!

Lindsay Durell

The following are links to the rest of the entries. If you have time, it is worth looking at all of these! And wondering How The *Genius they did it!

- Expression Through The Arts: Gabriella Fedetto from St Stithian's College: Lovely

- Bring to Life Your Favourite Historical/Literary Figure: Matthew Thompson from St Andrews: Winston Churchill

- Shape of my world: Luca Genovese from The Ridge School: The Shape of My World

- iTunes U in the Classroom: Brett Udal from Hilton College


Well done to all the winners and the teachers who make this happen! You are stars!!


Which one of the projects are the most mind-blown to you?

Stuart Taylor with Bespoke the perfect antidote

@TheStuartTaylor with #Bespoke at Montecasino Theatre Studio 

I always love a comedy! The best way for me to unwind and relax is through comedy. That's why I was so pleased when the fabulous Wenchy invited me to Stuart Taylor's show Bespoke at Montecasino last night!

It was a real hoot! There are no holy cows left after the show, but as Stuart Taylor says: The Theatre is the safe space! I can't repeat what's been said over here! For it would not go down as well as he can say it!
But it's good! Staurt Taylor makes us laugh at ourselves as South Africans and at our idiosyncrasies and pervasive racism! I also love the parenting anecdotes!

The show only runs until 1 November, and The Montecasino Studio Theatre is not a big space. Book at your earliest!!

I had to capture the outgoing quote, because that is what "Bespoke" is all about:
"You can put any label on that shit, as long as you are happy with who you are!"

YOU define YOU!

"You can put any label on..,, as long as you are happy with who you are" @TheStuartTaylor #Bespoke @Monte_Theatre pic.twitter.com/JWtRrouzNS

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) October 15, 2015

Thanks Stuart Taylor for making us laugh at ourselves, and thanks Wenchy for the invite!

The Titanic is coming to South Africa - win tickets for the whole family

Titanic – The Artifact Exhibition - will be opening at the Zone in Rosebank from 18th September until 8 November, before it moves to the Watershed at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town from 27th November until March 2016.

I would love to show Little Miss this exhibition and tell her the story. (Maybe it is a good idea to show her the movie before we go?)

“Although the ‘ship of dreams’ met its demise over a century ago, the spirit of the Titanic and its passengers live on through ‘Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,’" says Nick Dreyer, COO of Expo RSA. The 1500-square-meter exhibit features numerous real artifacts from the Titanic and scale recreations of parts of the famous ship. The exhibit also features a re-creation of the freezing temperatures felt on that fateful April night complete with an interactive ice-berg. In addition, visitors can walk through authentically recreated first- and third-class rooms, with furnishings by the original manufacturers. Educational, emotional, and appropriate for all ages, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the life of Titanic, paying homage to the indomitable force of the human spirit in the face of tragedy. 

Tickets are available at www.webtickets.co.za
Titanic Dining Experiences are also available in Johannesburg and Cape Town.


I have received 10 tickets to give away. Please comment below with the number of people in your family?
(Because it is for the whole family, it will only be fair to take the children along as well!)

The first comments will get the prize, and depending on the availability of the tickets and numbers given, the remaining tickets would be dispensed.  And go!
(Unfortunately only open to South African readers)


More info here:

Facebook
Twitter: @TitanicExpo
www.titanicexpo.co.za