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November
2005 |
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Dear
Blanco Guests,
It is that time of year again when we would like to give
you all an update on the happenings at Blanco over the past
twelve months. Firstly, we would like to start by thanking
all our superb guests who have visited us this year for their
ongoing support. Without you Blanco would certainly not be
the place it is.
2005 has been a rewarding and fulfilling one. We sat down
the other day to reflect over the past year and came to the
conclusion yet again that we are very blessed to be part
of such a magnificent place and business.
We have continued our upgrade project and albeit slowly,
things are starting to fall into place. As we mentioned at
the beginning of the year, our intentions are to give the
Old Lady a face-lift but not to change any traditions that
define what Blanco is all about i.e. we intend to leave a
few laugh lines! Our upgrade project is a long term one and
will happen gradually but rest assured, one day our vision
will come to fruition.
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We have now
completed 16 of our 30 rooms. Our budget does not extend
to the “fancies” as Chris would put it but the
basic facilities have been refurbished. We will continue
with the rest of the rooms in 2006 and hopefully have completed
them all by the end of the year.
Chris has been putting his first love (farming)
into practice and has begun his dream of having a little
animal farm by demolishing as many of the old fences as he
could and re-fencing practically the entire farm. Our neighbours
should be most excited about this as they no longer have
to give us daily calls to remove our cows from their rose
gardens. We have not got all the livestock we would ultimately
like yet but do have a few new additions. The bunnies are
also back for your littlies and to date have done nothing
but cause great chaos every time they break out, which is
daily. Watching Chris’s entire farm staff team chasing
after a bunny is quite an amusing affair.
Talking of the “team”, Chris has
managed to go an entire year without chasing anyone away and
we still have our lovely bunch of friendly staff with us for
2006. Gwynie, as usual has been my saving grace in the office
and Ruben has been cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Johnny
and Irene (our two Xhosa Chefs) are still slaving away behind
the scenes and producing the best roast potatoes in the world.
Maggie and Liza (2 of our oldest waitresses) have unfortunately
retired. They do help out from time to time over very busy
periods so most of our in-season guests will get to see them
again. They have been incredibly loving and loyal staff members
and we are going to miss them dearly. The younger waitresses
who have replaced them are of course simply the next generation
down, so hopefully we will continue the tradition of having
uniquely special staff. |
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Now, talking of adding and subtracting
from Blanco, we do have another very special addition
that will be arriving at the beginning of December
and that is little Laubscher junior Number 2. Some
say that we don’t have TV and some say it is
the fresh mountain air, Chris says it is just because
he is such a stud! We are looking forward to the arrival
of our second baby in December. Our timing could not
have been worse but nevertheless, we are excited to
be sharing this special time with so many people who
mean a great deal to us. For her Daddy’s sins,
this little one also has a dingle instead of a dangle.
So, all you guests who have eligible son’s-in-laws
to help Chris run Blanco one day, start paying respects
now and for all you guests who’s sons are devilishly
handsome, be prepared to be black listed.
The countdown to Christmas is not long and we are looking forward to a very
festive season. For those of you who won’t be with us over this time,
we wish you a smashing Christmas and New Year. Please remember to have fun
but at the same time to take care. |
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| Below are some photographs of what our crazy
September guests got up to. For those of you who have not yet
seen the photographs I posted at the beginning of the year,
just click on the archive tab and have a look at the photo
gallery. I have also posted some photographs of the Laubscher
Wedding that was held here in February this year. We would
like to put out a challenge to our various groups of in-season
guests to see who can get the most entertaining set of photographs
onto our website. Talking of entertaining, it is a great pity
that my digital wasn’t handy in July this year cause
rumour has it that the “Flying Club” took wings
again one dark and dangerous night in the Blanc “O”!!!
Being pregnant at time and very sober, it was quite a sight
watching a group of middle aged, well-rounded men in nothing
but distasteful undies heaving themselves onto a bar soaked
in dishwashing liquid and sliding across onto the floor on
the other side. Far too many drinks later, Chris was very easily
persuaded to join in and fitted the scene rather well. Needless
to say, that night Chris went to sleep in a cane induced bliss
and I went to search for our public liability documents! One
would think that seeing as Blanco is a lovely family guest
farm, the responsible adults would have stopped there but alas,
further displays of student like behaviour were encountered.
If anyone would like to hear more about the “Superman
Club” just give Ritchie Morris a call. Ritchie, we all
send our condolences to your knee and to Mary-Jane. |
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 SOME
OF THE MAGNIFICENT SCENERY TO BE FOUND ON AND SURROUNDING BLANCO. |
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A new rule has been
created at Blanco and for future reference, no man or woman
weighing over 100 kilograms is allowed to fling his or herself
off the bar counter after midnight. Now, once again, one would
think that this is surely where it would all stop but no, the
grand finale to the antics came in the form of guests doing
the haika against each other in the main “adult dining
room” whilst our waitresses stood by with plates in hand,
wide eyed and terrified. |
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On a less drunken but certainly not less amusing note, we would like to thank
Guy Thompson for keeping the tradition of the Blanco Olympics alive. It is
always thoroughly amusing watching grown men and woman lay eggs!!
Our April guests, although less hooliganish,
were certainly not less entertaining and the talent displayed
at the Pop idols concert was unbeatable this year. We would
like to thank them also for their ongoing generosity to our
staff over the traditional soccer match between Blanco Guests
and Staff that they started.
Needless to say, what all of this denotes
to us is what a wonderful sense of comradeship seems to form
amongst the guests at Blanco. It is like mined people who
fall in love with this place and our long standing motto’s
hold true; “if you love Blanco, tell your friends about
it and if you hate Blanco, tell your friends about it”.
And, most importantly, if ever you see someone at Blanco
without a smile, give them one of yours.
We would also like to thank the various
groups of guests who raised funds over the course of their
stay with us for the upliftment of our staff community. We
are always so touched at the generosity that is always displayed
in this regard.
Well folks, till next year!! And, thank
you all once again for your support throughout 2005. With
great anticipation for a fabulous 2006.
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Kind
regards,
Chris, Kim, Cody and the Blanco staff |
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