Notes

A night with Bill Ashton OBE

13, February 2012

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BP ASHTONS OBE

If you were having dinner at Augusta de Mist last night you would have heard the soft crooning of a septuagenarian after the dessert course, first in English and then in French. The singer was Bill Ashton, a living jazz legend and the song was one he composed for his gorgeous wife of 40 years, Kay. She smiled right through both versions and gently reminded him when he mixed up a few words. It was magical. Best of all was when Bill surprised us by giving us a copy of the sheet music, which he dedicated to us and signed it. He also gave us a copy of his latest cd, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra...

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Barrydale Cellars does it again

04, February 2012

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JosephBarry

We discovered this little gem a few days ago, an answer to our prayers if you will, because just last week I made a mental note that we need to get grappa urgently as my last drop of Dalla Cia Grappa was finally had. Enter the team at Barrydale Cellars Building on the Klein Karoo's legendary distilling prowess, Barrydale Cellars launches Joseph Barry Husk Spirit, a welcome addition to the region's rich bounty. “Husk spirit – or grappa as it’s known in Italy - is gaining ground world-wide as a trendy lifestyle drink,” says Riaan Marais, CEO of Southern Cape Vineyards. “That’s...

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Canadian Bach

29, January 2012

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1327773379_500

Thanks to their abundant tunefulness, exuberance and virtuosity,Bach’s concertos for solo keyboard and string orchestra remain widely popular with audiences and performers. Written originally for harpsichord, they are performed today equally often on modern piano. From 1729 to 1741, Bach was director of the Collegium musicum in Leipzig, a student musical society, founded by Georg Philipp Telemann in 1703 and run before Bach by Balthasar Schott. The Collegium musicum often gave performances at Zimmermann's coffee-house. It was for these occasions that Bach produced his harpsichord...

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The view down our road

28, January 2012

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Wow - what a wonderful image- this was taken from right in front of Augusta de Mist, down Voortrek Street in the direction of the Dutch Reformed church. You can clearly see the gate to the church as well as the Cottage (ex Koornlands). 'Devoted principally to agricultural and pastoral pursuits, the thriving little town of Swellendam wears an air of rural repose and serenity, apparent in the above representation of its main street. It cannot, however, be characterised as a dull town, as it possesses musical, dramatic, gymnastic, and other societies , besides cricket and football clubs. The Cape...

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When Auntie Liz visited Swellendam

28, January 2012

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This image has been around for a while, and I only recently got verification that it is indeed authentic. Their Royal Highnesses Princess Margaret Rose and Princess Elizabeth, (now Queen Elizabeth ll), with The Rt. Hon F.C. Sturrock, (South African Minister of Transport), on the footplate of the Royal Train engine at Buffeljagtsrivier, near Swellendam, Cape Province, during the Royal tour of South Africa, Feb-Apr 1947. Princess Elizabeth sounds the whistle of the Beyer-Garratt locomotive. The three month long British Royal Family tour of South Africa in 1947 saw the ordering of eight...

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