Whoops!
I received a fixed penalty notice this morning for speeding. At first I was cross about having been caught, but then I looked a little closer at the notice and realised that the registration is for a car I've never owned. I also saw that the fine could be viewed online, so I went online for a look and nearly fell of my chair laughing. Clearly that's not me! and my wife is a whole bunch better looking than that!!
We've been back almost a week and finally get around to posting some photos of our holiday. We had a great time staying on a really quiet farm called Ravenna Mountain Retreat which is about 30k's from Montagu on South Africa's famous Route 62. Apart from it being a bit too cold to use the pool right outside our cottage the place was perfect. The boys really enjoyed the jungle gym whilst mum & dad enjoyed the peace. On previous visits to this part of the Klein Karoo we've stuck around the Montagu area but this time spent more time in and around Barrydale. One of the highlights was Warmwaterberg Spa with its three hot pools. The boys loved spending half a day soaking in the hot water. we managed two mornings there and are really grateful to a couple we met half way through the holiday who told us about the spa. Most locals recommend a trip to the hot springs in Montagu but these have been colonised by a larney hotel which isn't great for youngsters. Warmwaterberg is much better and well worth the 30k's drive out of Barrydale.
Spot the Eli
Joel was very proud of his achievements on the jungle gym
Blue cranes, South Africa's national bird. These were seen on the farm each morning.
Our pool with stunning views
Nothing holds Eli back on a jungle gym
Peach and apricot trees just coming into blossom
Much fun was had at the garden sprinkler
Yummy fish & chips for lunch
Daddy enjoying a beer & burger for lunch
The boys at Warmwaterberg Spa
Breakfast to celebrate Daddy's birthday
Joel had a ketchup sandwich after polishing off his full English!
Inevitable photo that had to be done. Read more here
Joel finishing off another plate of prawns
Fun in another garden
"Stick 'em up!"
We're back from a wonderful 10 day break in the Klein Karoo on the local 'Route 62'.
I saw this set of signs at a supermarket whilst we were away and was amused at the thought that one is banned from taking one's porn collection into the shop.
I'll post something a little more edifying later.
It's the school holidays for a couple of weeks so we're away on holiday from this morning for ten days.
We'll post again when we get home.
Yesterday was Heritage Day (alternatively known as National Braai Day) so was a public holiday. We joined our new church family in Macassar for a braai and an afternoon of fun. The gathering was fairly impromptu and very informal and must be one of the most relaxed church events we've ever been to. It was such a pleasure to be with our new friends and to be so warmly welcomed. Our kids loved every minute of it and they get on really well with the other children. Joel enjoyed watching High School Musical on the big screen whilst Eli held his own on the cargo net hanging in the garden. Paula's card shark skills resurfaced after many dormant years and Dean fulfilled many 'manly' stereotypes by standing around the fire and pretending to help.
Eli about to climb onto the cargo net
Doing what men do best..braai-ing
On the cargo net
On the swing
Watching the film wihlst enjoying a burger
Mervin & Daniel playing dominoes
We've had a busy few days with trips into Chris Nissen, going to Joel's school and meeting with the lead elder of Grace church in Macassar.
Paula met up with Jenny today from the UK and spent the morning with her in Chris Nissen. Jenny has extensive medical experience from years as a nurse so she was a real blessing. It was great to have someone who could relate to the likes of Aunty Henna who regularly complains of her arthritis. Jenny could fully empathise and relate to Henna's daily struggle. This afternoon we spent some time just chatting with Jenny and had a great time with her. We both came away marveling at her spirit and can only hope that we get to her age we still have as much drive as she does.
Yesterday (Thursday) morning we went into Joel's school so that he could show us his work and take us around his classroom. We had such a good time and were really impressed with the standard of his work and amazed at what he can do!
Eli just continues to amaze us with his abilities to do things and go places most other 2 year olds would fear to tread. This is Eli at the top of the rope ladder which hangs from the tree in our front garden.
I got to take Joel to Shonny (our hairdresser) yesterday as Mummy was out. Whilst on our way Joel said he wanted a spikey haircut so I agreed as long as he told Shonny what he wanted.
Joel was a bit coy at first but warmed up and told Shonny exactly what he wanted. The result is a cool looking boy. Thankfully Mummy also thought he looked great, so we got away with it! Eli came along too and said he also wanted a spikey hairdo. Sadly for him that's never likely to happen.
This morning we had a lot of fun spiking up Joel's hair with some gel (neither of us have used the stuff in years) and he was delighted to be going to school with his new hairdo.
At seventeen years of marriage there is no traditional nomenclature for the anniversary, you have to wait for the 'china' of twenty years before you get into that again.
We've had a great day albeit a very different one to how we've celebrated previous anniversaries - no sloping off for a quiet weekend sans enfants!
We went to church as usual (for a Sunday) and then onto Cape Town with the boys where we visited the aquarium and then had fish & chips for lunch at Ocean Basket - the boys choice. Joel loved playing with the bones from Mummy's sardines and then scoffed a lot of Daddy's prawns. Joel even enjoys shelling them himself. Eli amazed us with his choice of dips for his chips, he chose raw garlic!!
Previous anniversaries can be seen here: 16th, 14th & 13th we seem to have neglected our 15th.
Eli & Mummy
As you're reading this I'll be out with a few friends enjoying an 80k road ride and hopefully Paula will just be having breakfast after a decent lay-in.
We're so proud of our boys at present as they're coping incredibly well in trying circumstances. Despite the difficulties they're both thriving in school & play-group which is great relief for us and they're really enjoying church which is a first in a long time for Joel. Sadly, they've both had quite nasty ear infections and it's looking like Joel may well have to have his grommets re-done. We'd appreciate your prayers for him as he can hardly hear a thing.
Thankfully the rain has abated for a few days although it is due back on Sunday/Monday for a few more days. We had hoped to miss the worst of the winter by being in the UK for June & July but this August has been so bad that we missed very little.
We're really enjoying this time of seeking God and seeing where He leads. There is no better place to be than trusting in Him. As we've said in a previous post, we're excited by church at the moment. We're going to Grace Community Church in the nearby town of Macassar. We won't say a whole lot here just yet, but we really believe that God led us to this church. For now we're really enjoying the authenticity of the church and the integrity which is so clearly evident in the lives of the leaders and members (we've known the lead elder for a few years now).
One good thing about difficult and uncertain times is that you really get to know who your friends are and who you can rely on. Thankfully we have a small but solid group of friends who are being really supportive out here and we're really grateful to them!
The photo above was taken yesterday when I managed to catch Eli completely off guard.
Joel had his Sports Day at school today and it looks like the kids had a lot of fun. The idea came about because SA only came home with 1 medal from the Olympics and the school thought it had better do its bit to train the future 2016 athletes!! Somehow, we don't think Joel will be in the squad, but he certainly had a lot of fun trying.
The little ones had their own half hour of fun and it was amazing to see how competitive the 5 and 6 year olds could become!
As the afternoon wore on, the middle and senior school joined in and it became a really good family time with braai's and selling of cool drinks etc. Thankfully, as you can see, the weather also decided to play ball and we all enjoyed a bask in the early summer sunshine (rain due back on Monday).
Dean spent a bit of this afternoon helping with the braai and has come home excited as he met a fellow MTB'er and together they made a plan to go through to Uniondale for the Karoo To Coast.
One of the races underway
Joel in his Backward Race
In joint last with his friend George
Racing George to the finish line
After a very frustrating week with no phone line and 10 days without internet access we're finally back online. Telkom sent an engineer out on Sunday morning to sort it all out, which we thought was quite impressive, although it meant I was an hour late to church. But we've got our phone back so must not complain!
In some ways it's quite liberating being unable to access emails and the web as it gives you so much more time to do proper stuff. I hadn't realised what a waste of time the web and email can be until it was taken away!
We're all OK but we're fighting the dog-ends of various colds, ear infections etc. with Eli suffering the most. The weather has been truly appalling over the last week with torrential rains leaving the garden flooded and the boys unable to play out - frustrating for them and us. The Western Cape has had more than enough rain this winter. All the dams are full and the water table is saturated, so at least we should get through summer (when it finally arrives) with no water restrictions.
The boys have been enjoying having Iza to play on Tuesdays as her Mum is struggling with a back problem. Eli & Iza are as thick as thieves and quite mischievous together, which is fun, whilst Joel just adores her. Iza is a real pleasure to have around and it's quite nice having a girl in the house, it changes things.
We've continued to be busy following up lead and contacts although some of these have been very poor at getting back to us. We've been spending some time with our friends in Chris Nissen, but as we don't have any spiritual covering at present we're not in there as much as we would have liked. We miss our friends there and feel sad that our involvement with the community is very likely to diminish a lot further.
On a more positive front, we've been going to a small church about 10 kilometres away and are talking with them about serving them and the community where they worship. We've been inspired by the leadership and their approach to church and amazingly the boys are getting excited about being in church which is a first. For the last four years Joel has been in amazingly well resourced and professionally run Sunday school but he was bored and didn't enjoy it. Suddenly, he's in a chaotic situation which is under resourced and run in an ad-hoc fashion but he's loving it. Personally, I believe that he's seen the passion and faith of the leaders and is responding to that. One doesn't realise what one has put up with and compromised on until one goes to something vibrant and fresh. More on that in the coming weeks and months.
The plot thickens with our phone provider. Telkom are the local phone monopoly and generally their service is good although very expensive. Apparently, on the 26th of August someone -it now transpires that it was our ISP- requested that our DSL line be cancelled. Very helpful! Then on Monday out landline went dead, yes the bill was paid on time. Following a few trips into the local Telkom office, several frustrating calls to our useless ISP we remain without phone line or internet connection. The explanations given for this debacle are complex, varied (in that they constantly change) and very very frustraqting as no-one seems to want to take responsibility for it. So, if you've tried being in touch and felt shunned, please don't take it personally.
The only positive to all this is that I've got to sit in a local coffee house using their Wi-Fi and abuse their Bottomless Hot Chocolate.
