Weekend

We had a lot of fun at the Nature Reserve on Saturday. Once again the boys led the charge to the 'climbing tree' and are getting bolder by the week! Joel has discovered that the bit of water he once considered a river is, in fact, a tiny stream and very good for paddling in!!

The exciting news for the weekend for Joel was the loss of both his front teeth! One fell out on Saturday and the other on Sunday, so now he looks very different. He has been waiting for this for so long and the tooth fairy did not disappoint him - although we had to do quite a lot of explaining that that amount would not buy the next Star Wars lego!!!!

We also enjoyed a very nice curry cooked by our good friend Charmaine. It was great to go to her house 'en famille' and to enjoy time with her and our friends Gary and Nicky too. I don't think Joel stopped bending anyone's ear about Star Wars though - sorry guys!

Rain Rain Go Away!

Whilst the rain is seasonal and desperately needed I fail to share the average South African's view that it's a good thing. I guess my Britishness has taught me to loathe the rain from the first drop to the last. However, the dams are very low so we need a lot of rain over the next couple of months to prepare for summer.

One of the things I don't get here is that life virtually shuts down for so many folk. Certainly my cycling buddies think I'm mad as I'm willing to ride in all weathers. But as I often explain, in Blighty if you let the rain stop you from doing stuff you'd never get anything done.

The two leaks in our roof seem to have stopped, we're wondering whether they were exceptional leaks as the rain was coming horizontally on the wind at times. Time will tell.

Runaround

Whilst Paula was visiting in Chris Nissen with the HOPE home based care team I took the boys for a runaround in the Nature Reserve. We ended up there for almost four hours and Paula joined us for lunch after she had finished in CNP.

This is such a favourite trip out and we all really enjoy it. The weather was a bit better than it has been so far this week so we were able to walk about a bit.

On Fire - Yet Again!

We awoke to a bizarre kind of orangey light streaming in through the bathroom window this morning. It was very strange and we couldn't figure it out at first, but then we began to realise that the air was thick with smoke - again!

It was when we went outside however that we began to realise how bad things were. The garden looked like it had been sprinkled with snow but in actual fact it was all covered with ash.

Helderberg On Fire - Yet Again!

The Helderberg on fire once again!

This one started a few days ago and the fire crews have been battling to get it under control for a while. Sadly, despite using helicopters to water bomb it they don't seem to be winning. Thankfully the wind has dropped a bit which should help. The mountain is largely obscured by the smoke during the day and the air is thick with the smell of it.

Previous posts on this: Feb 08 & Oct 07

Helderberg In Cloud

The weather has dramatically turned here today, having gone from 35°C yesterday to about 28°C raining and thundery today. Needless to say this creates some spectacular views locally.

Weekend

We've had a lot of fun this weekend mostly chillin' out at home. Dean went riding on Saturday morning so Paula took the boys to the gym for an hour and then onto the Nature Reserve so they could watch the emergency helicopter loading up with water before heading onto the fire on the Helderberg again. The helicopter filled up every 7 or 8 minutes so the boys were in paradise watching it coming in so closely. Sadly Dean had the camera with him so no photos of that.

Emyezweni Christmas Party

On Friday I had the privilege of entertaining the children at Emyezweni Pre-School in Lwandle. This seems to have become a bit of a tradition but it's a lot of fun and the children really appreciate it. This year I had my fire clubs fixed so I was able to juggle with fire too. As you could imagine it was a real hit and the children requested that I juggle fire again at the end.

Fire On The Helderberg - Again

Some idiot/s started a fire on the Helderberg late in the afternoon and firefighters have been battling all night to put it out. From our house it looks like their just about getting the upperhand, but their not being helped by a very strong Southeast wind. I'm not into corporal punishment, but when these arsonists are caught each resident of Somerset West should be able to beat the c**p out of them for 5 minutes, that would deter them.

Nomzamo Fire - Unsung Heroes

Following last weeks fire in Nomzamo, our local rag the District Mail ran the above article on the ladies who have been working tirelessly for the community, co-ordinating donations and sorting them out ready for distribution. Sindi (back row 2nd from right) is a former church member of ours and we still work very closely with her, she's worth her weight in gold!

Hadeda Ibis

The Hadeda Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) is a regular over our house and can usually be heard long before they're seen as they make a right racket. However, they are spectacular birds and it's a real privilege to have one stop on your house like this.

To see more visit our PhotoBlog

 

Mission Incredible

On Sunday evening we had our invitational service at church entitled 'Mission Incredible'. As explained during the evening, we couldn't call it Mission Impossible because with God, all things are possible! However, the Nativity is incredible and actually deeply shocking (we'll not expound on that right now). The evening was great and as ever at such events we were left marvelling at the sheer array of talent we have in the congregation. Wesley gave a short, simple but punchy gospel presentation so hopefully some of the many visitors will respond to the gospel at some point.

Monkeys & Mountains

Having just had our worst ever weekend in terms of behaviour and boundary pushing, things seem to have settled down again and life is a lot of fun once again. Joel lost the battles and after refusing to eat (and generally behave) he's rediscovered his appetite! Thankfully, Joel & Eli generally play very well, especially when they're in Joel's bedroom. Both boys adore books and Eli quite often slopes off there to rummage through Joel's collection.

Emyezweni Christmas Party

We were invited to attend the Emyezweni Christmas Party today, mainly so that Dean could entertain the kids again, but also because we try and support the work as much as possible, although in truth we don't do anywhere near as much as we'd like to for them.

As usual the Christmas party was a lot of fun, Debs, Rach' and the staff really do put a huge amount of work into it and the whole event is brilliant.

The photos tell their own story, so we hope you enjoy them..

Mountain Biking

I generally manage to go twice a week and sometimes manage three rides. On a Tuesday and Thursday I go with some friends up Sir Lowry's Pass, following the railway servitude road. The ride is great and there is a fantastic stretch of downhill on which we once clocked 75kph!

Snow On Hottentots Holland Mountains

We know that many of you don't believe us when we say it is cold here in winter, so we posted a picture of ice in the garden once. Well now we have real proof of just how cold it gets here... below is a photo of the Hottentots Holland mountains and you can clearly see a sprinkling of snow on them.