Fidler in the ‘Hood: Back in the saddle again

Greetings! Many thanks to the reader(s) who contacted me to ask if I was okay, noting that my column had ‘gone missing’ the last week or two.

Sandra Smith-Enticott of Hibberdene sent me a WhatsApp, asking the same thing, adding that she was a ‘regular reader of my rubbish’, and was I still around?

Somewhere in there was some kind of back-handed compliment, I guess.

Who’s Gene Autry?

Yes, I’m still alive and kicking and, as cowboy Gene Autry sang many decades back, I’m ‘Back in the Saddle Again’.

It was the first time in 275 editions that I had missed the deadline, sorry, folks.

Actually, there a simple answer to my ‘gone fishing’ absence: David Rush, editor of the Herald was on leave.

So, whilst the boss was away, the child ‘played wag from school’, taking time-out, too.

Add a lovely dose of ‘flu into the mix, and there you have it, friends. You are not rid of me yet.

It’s a race against time as to whom will not be needing my services: The CO, the Herald or Manchester City, who just might be the death of me if they continue the way they are playing these days.

On with the show.

A Voice From The Past

I referred to Sandra Smith-Enticott above. Sandra and her late husband, Vince, were dear friends many moons ago in Ye Olde Salisbury, Rhodesia.

We go back a long way, but so is Hibberdene to Uvongo. In six years’ residing on the South Coast, after imploring Sandra to cross the river and drive down to Uvongo, she has steadfastly refused to budge.

Save for a chance encounter over the bananas counter at one of our well-known fruit and veg emporiums, the lady is not for turning.

The Smith-Enticotts followed the well-trodden path from Bristol, in then jolly old England, to the exotic confines of Kempton Park, where Vince was employed at Atlas Aircraft as an engineer.

Vince had worked on the prototype Concorde aircraft, before transferring his skills to SAA. Then onto Salisbury, living there for 20 years till it was ‘time up’ in Zimbabwe.

Vince was something of a legend in Salisbury, with his gentle, soft-spoken voice. As a BSAP reservist, it was said that when Vince barked an order, he could be heard in Enkeldoorn or Kariba.

Legendary Hospitality

Generous to a fault with their hospitality, the Smith-Enticotts’ home was a favourite watering hole and social centre, and there was always a ‘spare bed’.

Based in Que Que (Kwe Kwe), Friday at 4pm. petrol rationing notwithstanding, the writer would hit the road to Harare, ‘check in’ at their home in St Andrew’s Park by 6pm; a quick shower, and be in Reps Bar, Avondale, by 7pm, to make sure he was ‘fixed up’ for the weekend.

The Smith-Enticotts gave me my own key; I came and went at leisure. Nostalgically, they were halcyon days.

Sandra, now widowed, moved from Pretoria to Hibberdene some 12 years back. Getting Sandra to cross the Umtentweni river is one of life’s mysteries.

Something about ‘bar duties’ keeps her in isolation. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Pirates in the Caribbean

Sandra and Vince raised two beautiful blonde daughters, Donna and Leanne.

Donna and her husband Kevin Dawson are languishing in the Grenadine Islands in the Caribbean, sailing their yacht between the islands, and leading an idyllic life, although the Covid-19 pandemic has not escaped them in the West Indies.

Fortunately, they keep in regular touch with Sandra, via today’s mass media wonders, giving updates on their adventures. Nice work if you can get it.

Leanne, of “Me and Mrs. Jones” fame, lives in Pretoria, near to her only daughter, Kylie.

Leanne comes down to the South Coast regularly to check on her proud mum. Time marches on.

Social Scene Lift-Off

The social scene is certainly in ‘lift-off” mode. Shafts‘ popular get-togethers is holding its meet-and-greet braai at the South Coast Striders clubhouse in Uvongo this Sunday (25th) at noon.

In more great news, Moondeckers is back! After at least a 10-month hiatus, Moondeckers will be celebrating the Return of the Full Moon at the Ramsgate Conservancy on Saturday, 31 October at 5.30pm.

See you.

Rob.

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