Hilton's Carolyn Dean, owner of Carolyn's Creations has become a favourite supplier at the Shongweni Market every Saturday morning where she sells hand painted linen items for the home. Count yourself lucky that as a resident of Hilton you can buy local and support our Hilton artist without driving all the way to Shongweni!

Call Carolyn on 033 343 4446 to arrange to pop over and view her range. We are also looking forward to telling you more about the fabric painting workshops Carolyn is eager to host in Hilton, KZN during 2013! Watch this space for details coming soon.

Rose Van Staden lives in Winterskloof where she has enjoyed tending an extensive and beautiful garden for many years. This extremely talented lady also spins, dyes and knits beautiful wool creations and is a healing therapist qualified in reflexology and crystal therapy.

Her latest collection of Intuitive Art is currently on exhibition at MACS in Pietermaritzburg. You can see a sample of her recent work in the gallery here.

The paintings are inspired by Rose's deeply spiritual nature and she has a lot of fun painting. All the art on display is the result of her 2012 efforts and Rose's enjoyment of expressing her intuition in art comes through in the vibrant colours she has used.

Rose is pictured here on the left with a fellow MACS enthusiast. Book your next healing session with Rose at Rose's Rainbows soon as she is looking forward to spending time away with her son during December.

Looking for an office lunch venue, try the new spot at 39 Hilton Avenue. Rusty's Sports Bar have a feel good deal for you. Having recently spent some time at the Pietermaritzburg Childrens Home, co-owner, Chantelle felt a tug on her heart strings and has followed through with a thoughtful Office Christmas Lunch offer. You will find more details in the image below.

In a nutshell, if your company books a table for this Christmas Lunch deal, Rusty's Sports Bar have pledged to donate 5% of the total bill to the Pietermaritzburg Childrens Home. This money will go towards providing uniforms and stationery for these children.

The menu looks delicious and is good value too!

Business coaching is not only about the serious stuff. Here Mike Olivier of East Coast Radio and ActionCOACH business coach Patrick Greenaway share a light moment at a 6Steps to Better Business seminar at Kloof Country Club on Friday November 9, 2012.

Heidi Lee of Blush Skincare Clinic, Les Lee of LP Lee Dairy Solutions and Gareth Hampson of Crocworld were among those who attended the ActionCOACH 6Steps to Better Business seminar at Kloof Country Club.

News and images supplied by ActionCOACH based in Hilton at The Quarry Centre.

We would like to share two timely reminders in from Kim, owner of WEALTH Action in Hilton, KZN. The crisis looming in the USA is vaguely disturbing but be cautioned that missing one or both of the following deadlines could create intolerable financial and administrative pain for you personally, so read on and avoid your personal fiscal cliff hanger.

The first deadline coming up on the 30th November 2012 is your final tax deadline. Get those important papers together now for SARS. Including but not limited to; RA tax certificate, Medical aid contribution certificate, Vehicle log book and medical bills especially if you have had considerable expenditure.

The second important deadline you need to consider is that of Medical Aid Schemes. The window of opportunity to upgrade your Medical Aid will close at the end of November for most providers. If your work, family or health position has altered you may find yourself stuck in a costly tier beyond your affordability or in a position where the package you have no longer meets your requirements.

Have these deadlines set alarms clanging? The solution could be as simple as a phone call to WEALTH Action, if you take your finances seriously then it may be time to consider some professional assistance. Click here to read more about their services.

Congratulations to Guilo Beltramo who is in Grade8 who has been selected for the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Orchestra. Guilo has performed at a number of functions at Hilton this year and we congratulate him on this outstanding achievement in being selected for the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Orchestra.

News and image supplied by Hilton College.

Sharing a meal with local author and chiropractor Bernie Preston and his family was a highlight in a busy week. This Hilton College old boy has written 6 books, the first three comprise a collection of mostly comical accounts derived from his consultations and life experience over the years.

Writing under a nom de plume and inspired by James Herriot, Bernie shares entertaining, amusing and occasionally serious anecdotes from the chiropractic coalface which have a wide appeal. His writing is light-hearted, has an easy flow and illustrates his taste for seeing the funny side of life.

Jokes aside, Bernard Preston of High Whytten also has a passion for the environment and in particular sustainable living. When he is not consulting or writing he may be found tending his vegetable garden, enjoying his carpentry hobby or gliding above the midlands of KZN.

With his first three books published, Bernie was compelled to set his hand to a new trilogy 'A Family Affair', this series is about modern life and tackles topics that society still has issues with at varying levels. While the focus of this story hones in on a more serious side of life, I am guessing Bernard will not have been able to resist his bent for humour and thereby succeed in providing an enjoyable balance for the reader. The proof will be in the reading, hopefully on a Kindle which I have now been convinced, by Bernie, who is or at least was a similarly hardened lover of real books, takes all of three minutes to adjust to!

I have tucked into both 'Bats in my Belfry' and 'Frog in my Throat', I recommend them as delightful stocking-fillers for anyone with a fun loving nature. You can buy Bernie's books at www.bernard-preston.com, these collections make for delightful bedtime reading.

House-hunting in KwaZulu-Natal just became a whole lot less stressful with the introduction of a new on-line property directory.

Launched by Harcourts Hilton and covering the whole of the province and beyond, WhatsOnShow? promises to take the hassle out of finding a new home to buy or rent. Melissa Line, manager of the new service said: "Instead of waiting for the property section of the weekend paper to appear, prospective homeowners or renters can go on-line to plan their weekend of house-hunting. When they find a show home that interests them, they can simply follow the link to the home listing on a particular agency's website to find out more."

Estate agents pay a monthly fee to sign up with the website which offers them the ability to update their listings as often as necessary. "We will also update the directory once a week, which means that home buyers are assured of only fresh properties on the site. Individual agents can remove a property at any time ensuring that there are none on-line that have actually been let or sold, thus avoiding disappointment for clients," Line said. The directory carries properties for rent, and for viewing by appointment only, with the main focus on those on show.

The website offers prospective buyers additional services to smooth out what can be a bumpy road to finding a home. These include an e-mail and sms link to the agent selling the property, the facility to download and print a Google map to find the house, a facility to draw up a shortlist of likely properties, and, in case browsers see a home they just know will interest a friend, a link to forward the details to them.

WhatsOnShow? has been in a testing phase for several months and the response from agents and buyers has been positive so far. "With the major shift to on-line sales and advertising in business generally, we felt the time was right for a service like this in the property industry. We have registered the URL nationally and internationally so that we can expand our coverage as the idea catches on and demand for it grows. We look forward to expanding into other provinces and in time across the globe," Line said.

For more information go to www.WhatsOnShow.co.za

Thimbles 'n Threads at the Lower Quarry Centre has a new owner, Alta Gous. The path that led Alta to become the owner was interesting. She first came upon the shop as a customer and fell in love with it, after chatting to her husband about it he said, "Well ask the owner if she will sell to you?"

Alta continued to pop in and shop at Thimbles 'n Threads but never felt bold enough to ask. After about a year the shop was still on her mind and paging through a PEARL magazine she came across an advert for the shop. Alta took this as a sign that she should wait no longer.

The call to Rose (the owner at the time) was made, on meeting the two discovered that they had both been praying over this transaction, Rose for a buyer who would be right for the shop to free her up to spend more time with her husband and Alta to become the owner. A deal was made!

Alta loves her shop and the Hilton community who have been very welcoming and in turn Alta welcomes all crafters who enjoy knitting, sewing, crochet or embroidery to keep in touch and join a morning work group suits them!
When we asked about plans for the future Alta said, "I believe that if something is not broken it does not need to be fixed, so no big changes are planned. I will just add a range of imported yarns like bamboo and banana leaf wool, a few modern patterns and the embroidery thread that I use as clients have been asking for that. We will host a 'Blooming Flowers' crochet course and some holiday knitting for children."

HiltonVillage.co.za extends a warm welcome to this North-West lady who now proudly cheers for the Sharks!

Above is a photo of the team at Thimbles 'n Threads, from left to right Sindi, Alta, Nelly and Dee.

Helping Pat Kanzler (left) to load her car with one of the three car loads of clothing that Laddsworth Primary School pupils in Hilton collected for the Siyabonga Aftercare Centre in Edendale are Olivia Warwick (left) and Josh Haasbroek. Kanzler is the manager in charge of the centre, which offers after care and educational programmes to 600 children from Edendale and Imbali. In addition to the clothing, Laddsworth pupils also collected R2 500 towards toys as Christmas gifts for the children.

Hilton based Way Ahead Life Coach, Christel Rohrs recently ticked a helicopter flight experience off her bucket list and had this to share, 'I teach others to find their wings and fly, yet I still wanted to climb aboard a helicopter and fly, soaring over everything and anything beneath me. So, this past weekend in November, that wish came true. I ticked it off my list.

A new-found friend in Hibberdene owns a helicopter. When I told him I had never flown in one and it was on my bucket list to do so, he offered to take me. So my friend and I flew on Saturday. Oh what an exhilarating experience! The excitement building up to it was like waiting for a blind date. The engine warmed up, our earphones went on, we communicated through our microphones and waited patiently. Was it going to be a thrill like a roller coaster ride?

It was not a roller coaster ride but it was a ride I will never forget and would do again. Now I know why the birds in Hibberdene sing all day!'

Click here to read more about Way Ahead Life Coaching.

Recently the Form Is and IIs wrote the South African Natural Science Olympiad. As a school Hilton came second in the Form I(Grade 8) category and first in the Form II(Grade 9) category. Read more about individual achievements.

Congratulations to:

Christopher Walley who came tied 3rd in Form I
Tristan Meyer tied 1st in Form II
Vishal Vijay tied 2nd in Form II
In the Life Science Olympiad:

Nicholas Loxton tied 2nd in Form III
Cameron Beetar tied 3rd in Form III

Pictured here: Front (L-R): Vishal Vijay and Chris Walley
Back: (L-R): Tristan Meyer, Nic Loxton and Cameron Beetar

News and images supplied by Hilton College.

It's that crazy time of year again! With the festive season a mere four weeks away the mall becomes mayhem, town is in turmoil and parking is a nightmare! Yet, you want to complete your shopping early this year. Well, Howick Hospice has the perfect solution....

Please join us on Saturday, 24th November from 9:00am to 13:00pm for a relaxing morning of shopping and entertainment in our lovely, country garden setting. There will be plenty of bargains to be found at the Hospice stalls and our charity shop. A wide variety of quality stallholders will also be selling their wares, so you are guaranteed to find something for everyone on your Christmas list.

We have entertainment organised for both the young and the young at heart. At 10:30am the Dinkie Choir from Howick Preparatory School will be playing near the tea garden. Father Christmas arrives at 11am and Robbie the Robot will also make an appearance. Our famous egg and bacon rolls, wors and salad rolls, tempting teas, pancakes and other delicious cuisine will be on offer. And don't forget the cake sale! Please support Howick Hospice's fair, we hope to see you there!

Congratulations to the Hilton boys who have been selected for the various KwaZulu-Natal Cricket teams. They will represent the province at the various provincial cricket weeks in December and we wish them all the very best.

U 19 KZN Inland
Bantu Futshane
Lungi Ngidi
Luc Maingard

U17 KZN Inland
Marc van Wymeersch

U15 KZN Inland
Matthew Dahl
Thushen Naidoo
Gianluca Radesich

Pictured here from Left to Right in the back row are: Luc Maingard, Lungi Ngidi, Bantu Futshane and Marc van Wymeersch.

In the front row are: Thushen Naidoo; Matt Dahl and Gianluca Radesich.

News and image supplied by Hilton College.

Congratulations to the Hilton boys who have been selected for the various KwaZulu-Natal Cricket teams.  They will represent the province at the various provincial cricket weeks in December and we wish them all the very best.

U 19 KZN Inland
Bantu Futshane
Lungi Ngidi
Luc Maingard

U17 KZN Inland
Marc van Wymeersch

U15 KZN Inland
Matthew Dahl
Thushen Naidoo
Gianluca Radesich

Pic (L-R) back:Luc Maingard, Lungi Ngidi, Bantu Futshane, Marc van Wymeersch
Front: Thushen Naidoo; Matt Dahl, Gianluca Radesich

eZali Spa have put together an exceptional special for the months of November and December. Their head to toe package they had in August was so popular that they have decided to run a similar package.

The Half Day Mini Spa Retreat:

4.5 hour treatment
60min Full Body massage,
60min Hydrating Dermalogica Facial,
Hydrating Pedicure,
Nicolson's Mushroom onion & Feta tartlet with salad
and ended off with a Wash & Blow Dry with Kirsten at the Hair Salon!

What to expect...

When you arrive, you enter the dimly let treatment room where you'll have your 60min full body aromatherapy massage. The ultimate way to begin your journey of relaxation with us!

Your second treatment will then be followed with the 60min Dermalogica Hydrating Facial, an opportunity to correct and treat stressed out skin.

Your third treatment will then be followed with the hydrating pedicure that includes a foot mask to nourish dry skin.
At the end of your treatments with us, you'll be served with Nicolson's Mushroom, onion & Feta Tartlet accompanied by Fresh greens tossed in a Tangy Tomato Tarragon Vinaigrette and a choice of fruit juice! We'll have a table beautifully arranged especially for you outside in our garden.

Your experience will end with a Hair Wash & Blow Dry with Kirsten of The Salon at Garlington!

Now isn't this just the ultimate and deserving Mini Half Day Spa retreat to indulge in?

The cost?

Everything, this entire Half Day Mini Spa Retreat at eZali Spa, exactly as described – at a special and unbeatable price of just R850, with a massive saving of R500! Take a friend along with if you wish and indulge in this amazing treat with them!

Book early to avoid any disappointments! This special ends on the 31 December 2012 and is also available as a Gift Voucher which will only be valid for 3 months from date of purchase.

Kindly note that the meal from Nicolson's may be subject to change.

Jean Allen HR Consulting celebrates one year of being based in Hilton. This established consultancy moved to Winterskloof in October 2011 and to celebrate this first anniversary, Jean is offering a FREE HR Health Check to the first 10 local businesses who sign-up for their newsletter on the Jean Allen HR Consulting website's Home Page. 

• Do your employees have contracts?
• Are these employment contracts compliant?
• Does your team have Job descriptions?
• Are your HR related policies up to date and relevant?
• Are you registered for UIF and CIODA?
• Are your employee records current?

The areas mentioned above and more will be considered within the FREE HR Health Check after which you will receive a written recommendation.

'All of this may seem mundane, yet all of these criteria are essential for effectively managing your staff and many are legal requirements. Make sure you sign up for your FREE HR Health Check and ensure compliance!' says Jean Allen.

At a recent meeting, a Committee member who travels extensively in the Worlds View Conservancy came across a concrete plinth with an old map of trails that used to exist in the 60's and 70's.

Due to the extensive use of the area for plantation – tree farming – these trails fell into neglect and the maps were destroyed by vandals. However, with fresh enthusiasm Committee members decided to resurrect these trails so more people will enjoy the Conservancy.

The Parks and Recreation Department of the Msunduzi Municipality was contacted and told of our plan and they searched the storerooms and found 6 complete maps – we are now on our way!!! Plans have been made to get 6 more printed and local businesses will be contacted with a view of sponsoring the cost of these signs.

The actual signs are very dated, with HUGE cars and transistor radio's (I'm sure the youth of today have never seen one) which add to their charm. There are no plans to upgrade them at all.

This project has been held up somewhat with the continual rain we seem to have been having here at Worlds View. The track is very muddy making it difficult to get around. Also the logging at the bottom of Dunstan Place hasn't helped. We have started though, at the Look Out. Plinths have been painted with new maps placed on top and a map will be posted in the Notice Board. If you prefer you own map, please contact me and I will email you one. Hopefully, this project will be completed within a couple of months.

We also wish to establish some picnic spots along the way so, if you have an old concrete set or wooden bench set you would like to "donate" to the Conservancy, please let us know. We will come and collect.

These revived trails will be a welcome addition to attractions in Hilton.

News and images submitted by Pat Wilkinson of Maypers Bed and Breakfast for Worlds View Conservancy.

The Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business (PCB) is renowned for giving company owners and employees the opportunity to take time out for a bit of fun. And if you don't have the time to play, ActionCOACH will show you the way! Here Vanessa of Foxtrot and Olivia of ActionCOACH get into the spirit of Halloween at a PCB networking lunch last Tuesday.