2025 has been a good year for Liz at Lancaster. Fiona joined the team as my stand-in locum while I was away for an extended time in July/August seeing family in Canada and the UK. She and all the team managed brilliantly. It was made clear to me by both guests and the staff that I was not missed at all and could travel extensively whenever I wished! Fi continues to work a few hours 2 days a week just to keep up to speed so that she knows guests and their needs and has got her head around all the detailed work that the admin of this kind of business requires. Meanwhile, guests continue to give glowing positive feedback about the excellent service from Team Lancaster – professional, helpful, unintrusive, with nothing being too much trouble. This is reflected in our reviews – on Tripadvisor, Google and AirBnB, Booking.com, etc. (But please always book directly with us and NOT through third-party booking sites. It’s cheaper, quicker, easier, and with immediate direct contact.)
Tagala (aka Mr T.) has been busy with a poultry and livestock training course with Thulisipho Projects. He assures me he isn’t retiring yet to go farming, but is upskilling himself to manage his small holding with cattle and livestock more professionally. Knowing Mr T. he will grow his cattle and goat numbers and be providing livestock and vegetables to the surrounding area within a very short time.
Candice, Catherine’s daughter, is flying. She is in her third year of study for a business course at a private college and has been achieving top marks with multiple distinctions. She has been working after hours for an American company capturing data on-line for member medical benefits. Here she is below in her office. We are so proud of her – she is a self-starter of note.
Thandie’s daughter Courtney goes into senior school at the start of 2026, while Kayla is starting school – going into what we call, Grade R (or Reception). Thandie continues to manage single-parenting, traveling by public transport to get to and from work, holding down 3 jobs (2 days a week she continues to work for other people in the area), while being reliable, dependable and always gracious.
Alick who once likened gardening to “holding a baby“, still insists on working one day a week, although long retired. We have known each other for 40 years. In March I posted a photo of Alick’s grandson on his first day of Matric, reposted below.
Lethabo has now finished matric (results come out in early January).
Elliot (aka Mr Fixit) is constantly busy with ongoing maintenance: fixing broken taps, repairing leaking roofs and window glass after hail damage, painting, welding skew hinges, and generally performing his magic and problem-solving a whole host of problems, both large and small.
And so it just leaves us to say a very happy Festive Season to you all. May it be peaceful, safe and happy and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Those of a certain age will remember the annual frustration of tangled Christmas tree lights when ONE faulty globe meant NONE of them worked. The big “switch on” was as stressful as waiting to see if your password is accepted. Gone are those days. Our tree lit up immediately and continues to blink festively with its strings of small LED lights.