Prayer Request

We've got an important meeting with the Principal at Joel's school at 10am to discuss which class he'll be in next year. School are keen to hold him back to repeat Year 1 but having solicited the views of many teacher friends who know Joel well we're keen for him to progress into Year 2.

Please pray that whatever the outcome Joel's needs and interests are put before ours or the schools.

Gross Weather

Being quiet on the blog is probably linked to the extremely gross weather we've been enduring for the last week. It has been raining here pretty much non-stop for the last five days which dampens the spirit never mind the ground and makes things very miserable. Apparently things aren't going to improve this side of the weekend. Great!

Dean preached on Sunday and once again really enjoyed doing so. He spoke about Faith with two main points being Simplicity of Faith & Strength of Faith. It seems to have been well received. Particularly later on Sunday evening after most of the church had been to Love & Grace in Mitchell's Plain for a celebration meeting. Dean received some very positive comments afterwards about how the sermon there had been a bit of a follow on from his in the morning. High praise indeed as the preacher was one of Dean's favourite local preachers.

Joel has had an interesting few days at school and on Tuesday he ripped up a task as he refused to do and told his teacher it was boring. Sounds scarily like his dad! Other than that things seem to be going well and his homework suddenly seems to have become a pleasure rather than a burden. He's learning to tell the time at present which is quite tough.

Eli's loving school so no change there. Once again we find ourselves having to plan his birthday party for a month before the actual day as so many of his friends will be away over the Christmas/summer holiday. That's a bit of a downer about a Christmas birthday out here. There are just over four weeks left until the end of the school year which is quite a scary thought!

Testing, Testing

Test post.
Please ignore.

Freight

I heard from our freight company today that our shipping consignment has been packed on to two pallets weighs 800 Kilos & measures 3.732 M³. It has been shrink wrapped in plastic prior to shipping from Southampton on the 9th of this month and the estimated arrival date in Cape Town is the 30th so hopefully we'll have it by the end of the first week of December.

New Smoking Laws

South Africa is very progressive in many areas and its anti-smoking policies have been at the fore of the action much to our delight, so we were pleased to learn that as of the 1st of October the anti-smoking laws took a new tougher stance.

Here's a summary of the New Smoking law which came into force on 1 October 2009

It is now illegal for adults to smoke in a car where there is a child under 12 years of age.

Fines up to a maximum of R50,000 will be handed to owners of a restaurant, pub, bar or workplace who breach the smoking laws and R500 for the individual smoker.

Smoking is now illegal in “partially enclosed” public places such as covered patios, verandas, balconies, walkways and parking areas.

Smoking is not permitted on premises, including private homes, used for commercial childcare activities, or for schooling or tutoring.

The tobacco industry is no longer permitted to hold “parties” or use “viral” marketing to target young people.

The sale of tobacco products to and by people under 18 years is prohibited, as is the sale of confectionery or toys resembling tobacco products.

At last we can sit outside a restaurant and not have to share someone else's cigarette. Fantastic!

A Different Sunday

This morning was a bit of an odd one as we couldn't get the municipal hall in Macassar so most of the church joined with HCC.

I was really disappointed not to be with my family at Grace, so we decided to invest in some quality family time and went to Cape Town for some fun. The boys chose to go to the aquarium which remains a firm favourite of ours.

We had a great time looking at the usual favourites like the sharks, crabs and the octopus, but today the boys really enjoyed the kids play area where they made some stuff and then just ran riot doing their own thing with no grumpy adults telling them off.


BeenThere.tv

In the absence of a puppet show Eli decided to do the honours

The sandpit was a great distraction

What a handsome boy!

Joel being attacked by his shark

Back Home

We arrived home bang on time after a great flight with SAA. I'm still annoyed it wasn't with Virgin as there was no entertainment on the flight and Virgin promise loads of the stuff. Just to add insult to injury, a Virgin jet landed at Cape Town from London 8 minutes after us. Never mind.

Whilst dropping the bags off in Heathrow, I asked the lady at the check-in desk if we could move from the very back of the plane to the middle and she very kindly gave us a row of four seats to ourselves. This was great as it meant Joel could really stretch out and have a good sleep. In fact Joel was a star the whole way and even the flight staff commented on how good he was and I was amazed when he ate the chicken curry for dinner.

Early on in the flight Joel asked if could listen to my MP3 player so I let him and we entered into a discussion as to what he could listen to. Joel wanted David Gilmour's live version of Comfortably Numb with David Bowie but I didn't have that. I offered him some Roger Waters Live or a bit of Paul Weller and he settled for Waters version of Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The woman behind us had heard our conversation and leant over to enquire whether she'd heard right as she was amazed a child so young could know such quality music. My boys make me very proud!

We had a great time in Blighty. I was able to get done the job I set out to do and in the end had a bit of free time for the last day and a half. Joel got to spend quality time with some of the most important people in his life, especially Grandad & Sal as well as other friends and family members

All in all a great and worthwhile trip!

Boys Will Be Boys

For the first time since arriving in Blighty I managed some time on my own with Joel this afternoon (I've missed not having much time with him) and we had a lot of fun. After the inevitable trip to Barbara's shop for some sweets we went to the swings where Joel got bored because there were "too many girls" there. So we went for a walk and I was able to intorduce Joel to the wonderful British pastime of Blackberry picking. Initially he was a bit sceptical about picking a berry from a bush and eating it but after watching daddy do it he gave it a go and was an instant convert to the delights of blackberries. Joel then decided that each time a car came past we would have to freeze on the spot and pretend to be trees. We even ended up with leaves in our hands to give it some authenticity. I'm not sure who had the most fun being so silly.

We're both very excited about going home and I'm a bit more relaxed than I was on the way out as we've managed to check-in online this time. Phew! We've both missed mummy & Eli and can't wait to see them on Friday. Paula will collect us from the airport and then at lunchtime Joel & I will go and get Eli from school. Joel has it all planned.

Grandad & Lesley with Joel at PizzaExpress where we had a really nice meal this evening.

Farewell Freight!

Much to my relief our freight was collected at 10.30 this morning by a very cheerful chap from the shipping company. I had estiimated that the freight was 4 cubic metres at most and he seemed to agree which is a bit of a relief as it all fitted into his van very easily. I think he was grateful for the extra help in loading up too.

I was up 'til 2am putting the finishing touches on the boxes, packing a couple of pictures and then making sure the boxes were all clearly labelled. Then this morning I finally got the packing lists done. In fact the last sheet was printing just as the van rocked up.

When I started this job I really wasn't sure I would get it done in time but now that it's gone I feel it was a worthwhile exercise.

The thing we're most excited about is having all our books with us and also our photographs. You never realise just how much you take for granted having such things around. A lot of what we're shipping will be passed on to our friends in Chris Nissen and Macassar, but the rest of it will live in our new home when that's finally sorted. After 10 years of being fairly itinerant we'll finally be able to live with our knick-knacks cluttering up the place just like they do yours.

Our jolly collection man


Closing the van doors. We won't see those boxes again for several weeks. Hopefully they won't go via Somalia!

A Big Day Out - For Joel

Joel has had another fun packed day with Grandad, Lesley & Jo. They all went to Bodiam Castle where they had a picnic lunch before taking a steam train ride on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.

Joel had a lot of fun and was exhausted by the end of the day.

Big thanks to Grandad, Lesley & Jo for looking after my boy!

I managed to get a lot done and have now completed the packing and labelling of the 48 boxes and crates. I estimate it to be about 4 cubic metres in total so I'm interested to see what the actual figure is.

All I need to do tomorrow is type up the packing lists for customs before the freight is collected at some point tomorrow. I'll be glad when it's all over!

Joel wasn't overly amused to be in the stocks


Loving being in the castle again


With Grandad & Jo about to have the picnic