Something happened on Friday that reminded me of similar events in my life.  I was struck again by the way life happens in circles.  Or is it spirals?  Going ever deeper?

When I was a young mother with a career –I had this dream.  I wanted to start a crèche at the government department where I was working for all the working mums like me.  Mothers juggling family life with helping the family stay afloat by earning a salary.   I moaned and whined a lot about how unfair it was that I had to work, but the positive part of me reached out for a solution.

Here’s the thing though…  My colleagues were so amused by my conviction and fervour that they took to teasing my about my desire for what they called “corporate baby grows” .  I was very involved in transformation, internal communication and the re-designing of the culture of the organisation and was associated with branding and constantly trying to whip up espirit de corps .  So I suppose it was no wonder they were convinced, should the day care ever become a reality –their tender offspring would be kitted out in apparel that enhanced our collaborative spirit!  We could all see the new logo festooning the colour co-ordinated crowd of young people .

I never got to see that dream fulfilled, but years later when my family was farming in Tulbagh an experience brought back my colleagues’  ragging.

Once a month we would take our farm workers out to one of the bigger towns (Wellington mostly) for a day of shopping.  This outing was preceded by my admonishing all and sundry that they were representing our farm and as such needed to behave accordingly!

Imagine my delight when one of the young mothers chirped that she thought we should get matching outfits for the young’uns from Pep Stores to show off our team spirit.  We stopped just short of that, but I remember thinking ..ahhh..there are those corporate baby grows again.

Working with a small and dedicated staff here Witvoets Kloof it seemed like the right thing to do.  Jan & I bought t-shirts, golf-shirts, sweaters and caps and had the Fynbos Retreat logo embroidered on them.  We paid for these items ourselves thinking that the business couldn’t afford these luxuries yet.   Delighted with our “uniform” we wear it with pride whenever the whole team work together to cater for guests.  I have also made us fynbos patterned aprons to wear.  The sight of Jan in this gear never fails to delight – especially the lady guests.

Staff member, Ziyanda, reminds us all if we forget to look the part .  She has been asking me to have name badges made for a while now.  There just hasn’t been time.  On Friday she handed me a personalised name badge for each of us.  Made from Fynbos Retreat business cards and paid for from her own pocket.

Circles, spirals and themes!