Post 16 Build it Journey

BLOG POST 16

The weekend was spent relaxing with friends and family after a long and productive week. It was heart-warming to see the Boks beat Argentina on Saturday but it was equally concerning to see how easily the All Blacks beat Australia and what ran through my mind was what it would take for us to be able to raise our game to be able to equal their raw power, natural talent and consummate skills. Greg reported shedding a tear when he saw Caster Simenya blowing away the opposition in the Rio Olympics 800m final, a magnificent achievement. Viva Caster, well done and thank you for making us so proud to be South African!!

I left later than usual this morning as I first had to pick up my beautiful Mum from her home and take her to hospital where she is fighting the bravest of fights against cancer. She is such a private person so I can’t go into detail but she is so positive and continues to make us all so proud that she is our Mum. In fact my Mum is an absolutely incredible person and us kids and the whole extended family have literally been blessed by God to have had her look after us our whole lives. It is indeed such a privilege that I have tiny moments when I can look after her. All credit to my sister Jane though who looks after my Mum the most and the best. My Mum is the most generous and kindhearted person in the world. Lots of love Mum and keep up the fight. We are so proud of you and love you to the end of the world and back.

After dropping Mum back off at home after her treatment I picked up Greg and we headed north again to resume our coverage of northern KZN. Our first stop was at the rural town of Stanger. We pulled into the parking bay of the Nebs Build It and while Greg did duty handing homeimprovement4u.co.za brochures to clients outside the store I proceeded into a meeting with Heile and Ravin. I really enjoyed the meeting and it was nice to chat to Heile who went to Maritzburg Girls High at a similar time to me. Thanks for the tea Helie which was most welcome and I am glad that your listing on our site is working so well for you guys. So great to meet you both J

We then decided to drop off our luggage at ‘Howela’ Beach House in Salt Rock owned by Greg’s cousins Howard and Pam Essery which was where we were going to be staying for the next few days while doing business in the general area. We were impressed to arrive at the large double story guest cottage situated right on the beach with an incredible view up and down the north coast beaches. A very big thank you to the Essery’s for allowing us to stay here! The view is simply breathtaking with waves crashing just a few meters from the cottages beautiful lawn. Stunning.

After unpacking and being shown around by the delightful cottage hostess Nozipho we drove to the stylish new Tiffany’s shopping center for a meeting at Salt Rock TrenDIY with Eleni and Allen. What an awesome store at the lovely Tiffany’s center as you take the Salt Rock turn off from the N3. If you have not visited a TrenDIY store you have too. The store was really awesome with the nicest owners imaginable. I felt really proud (in a humble way) to be involved in this homeimprovement4u journey as when we went onto their ‘Dashboard’ which shows a stores statistics we saw that Salt Rock TrenDIY has had 275 visits with no less than 120 ‘leads’ sent to them. Eleni and Allen could not have been more complimentary and enthusiastic. I have to be honest and say that in the very early days of this business myself and my awesome business partner Fiona  - whilst always positive – would wonder if all the hard work we were doing was making any difference. Well today proved that it has and is. With our statistics growing and climbing on every front literally every day we are now seeing the fruits of our labor and was so chuffed to sit with owners of such a great store and feel good together that our site is making a positive impact on their store. It was a really lovely moment.

After a very happy meeting, we did some shopping for our weekly provisions at the local Spar and then headed back to Howela to catch up on some admin. With the wind howling all thoughts of a beach walk were dashed and as its near 6 pm that I write this and can sign off for the day the light too is fading fast. What a great day after a magic weekend.