No kids, no phone, no internet, no interruptions. Just great company, lots of great food, French wine (still the best by a long way) and some of the best sights of Europe.
Do Not Disturb!
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The Finnie family in Blighty, December 2021
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Dean and Paula pastor The Gathering together -
The Gathering -
Baptisms at The Gathering -
Preparing to serve at The Gathering's Soup Kitchen -
Soup Kitchen Welcome To 2022 lunch
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Serving hands - the heart of The Gatheirng -
Thankful Thursdays -
HOPE Home Based Care Team -
Gathering Ground -
Staying fit as a family -
The Helderberg - The prettiest of the mountains we face
Showing posts with label places. Show all posts
Showing posts with label places. Show all posts
Disney is best seen through the eyes of a highly excited 8 year old!
We had a great time with family and it was good for Joel & Eli to spend time with their cousins as this is a rare treat. I also enjoyed spending time with Bethy, our middle niece, as we made the most of the late night rides to go on the bigger rollercoasters that the others either couldn't ride or wouldn't ride.
There's not much you can say about Greyton except... it is a little bit of heaven on earth! We absolutely LOVE it, and this holiday was made all the better because the boys were a bit more mobile. They really enjoyed going out on the roads with Dad on their bikes and even trying a bit of off-road too (it's a slippery slope!!). There is absolutely no need for a car in Greyton, which was heavenly for mum and dad who seem to spend most of their time in a car. We walked to the shop, walked to a coffee shop/restaurant, walked generally and then just lazed around in the lovely house we had rented. This was the same house we used last year and it is paradise for the boys. The garden is big and full of hiding areas, ponds, little pool etc, so they literally spent 90% of the time out there making up adventures and - well Eli anyway - swimming!!
We had a lot of fun today as we went into Cape Town and spent ages in the South African Museum and Planetarium. The guy on the door gave a knowing smile as the boys shouted "DINOSAURS!" and ran off to the dinosaur gallery. Guess where we spent most of our time.
the boys were inspired to ask to go to the museum again after watching Night at the Museum 2, it's a really good fun film and certianly fired up their imaginations.
Afterwards we strolled up to Long Street which is full of great cafés and pubs and we had a cracking lunch.
Montagu is a little taste of heaven on earth and that is exactly what we enjoyed as a family last weekend! We have loved staying at 'Farmer Koos's' farm over the years and the boys definitely treat it like a second home.The weather was perfect - 29 degrees in the winter! - beautiful sunny days. Joel and Eli spent the whole time outside making up adventures on the rocks which they could now climb, playing with the animals that roam freely around the farm and enjoying braai'ing and eating Dad's beef potjie!
We also enjoyed a great meal out together on Sunday night at Jam Tarts, a restaurant we have got to know. They cannot do enough to make us welcome and Joel, in particular, enjoyed his garlic prawns - which the lady knows to make, despite them not being on the menu!!!
Today was a really satisfying and rewarding day in which I can't help but feel tremendously blessed by God.
Through Facebook I recently 'reconnected' (don't you just love social networking speak) with Vanessa a friend from my days at Town Church Sevenoaks. I've known Vanessa since 1984 but last saw her sometime in the late 80's. Paula knew Vanessa from Girl Guides and being baby-sat by her. So after many many years we met up again in Cape Town of all places.
One of the things I've always enjoyed about my role in Chris Nissen and now in Macassar and Firgrove is that I get to spend a lot of time sat with folk enjoying a good chat and a cup of tea (although I only drink Rooibos these days).So on Friday morning it was a real pleasure to watch two worlds collide (not literally) as Ernest came to our house for the morning and Michael joined us too. They got on really well and were swapping plenty of stories about their days as skelms (rogues).
Fantastic show with Jezza on top form form rudeness and crass comments. Priceless!
We were some of about 6 English folk but we certainly made our presence felt when England scored during the 'football' part of the show.
All in all a great show and a must see if you get the chance.
This morning I attended the Senior Leaders Training hosted by Jubilee Community Church in Cape Town. To be honest I didn't really want to go but thought I ought to given that I've signed up for it and paid.
As I was driving into Cape Town I was really struck by the beauty of where we live. One of the highlights of the drive is Table Mountain as it starts of quite small in the distance and just keeps getting larger and larger the closer you get. What a privilege to live somewhere so spectacular!
The training was great, as ever and really helpful. I always enjoy listening to Steve Van Rhyn but this morning it was listening to Lex Loizides that really spoke to me. Steve had spoken about the Sovereignty of God followed by Lex on Our Authority in the Supernatural.
As I was driving into Cape Town I was really struck by the beauty of where we live. One of the highlights of the drive is Table Mountain as it starts of quite small in the distance and just keeps getting larger and larger the closer you get. What a privilege to live somewhere so spectacular!
The training was great, as ever and really helpful. I always enjoy listening to Steve Van Rhyn but this morning it was listening to Lex Loizides that really spoke to me. Steve had spoken about the Sovereignty of God followed by Lex on Our Authority in the Supernatural.
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.
The boys love the freedom of being able to roam the farm safely as well as playing on the jungle gym and the occasional dip in the (freezing) pool. We on the other hand simply enjoyed the peace & quiet being in the middle of nowhere which forces one to chill out.
Much time was spent on the beach, eating, drinking and visiting a variety of the stunning attractions to be found locally.
The boys have really enjoyed having Grandad around as they don't get to see him too often and may not see him again for another 18 months or so.
Sadly they returned to Blighty yesterday but here are a few highlights from their time with us...
Please pray for safety as we travel and for swift exit through the airport once we arrive. We've checked-in on-line so don't have to worry about that side of things. Also, although we're only traveling with 4 big bags and 3 pieces of hand luggage the main luggage still weighs around 120kgs. Thankfully we've got two people meeting us at the other end.
It might seem like we've disappeared as we haven't posted anything for a while but in actual fact we're hiding out in a corner of south-east Spain close to the town of Cartagena, a beautiful old port town dating back to 1BC. We're on holiday as a family with Grandad and Lesley and having a really nice time. the boys are really happy to have a swimming pool all to themselves and are really enjoying having Grandad & Lesley to spend time with them. We're also grateful to Grandad & Lesley for giving us a bit of space to get out on our own.
It is always good to have a natter with Sal too and we enjoyed tea and ice cream half way through the morning. We'll see them again tomorrow when we go to the farm for tea. Special times and sadly all too rare!
The boys were really excited about the castle and enjoyed romping around the grounds and climbing on the various bits inside. Joel was a little too scared to go looking for Princess Fiona in the highest room of the tallest tower in case he saw the dragon but despite this he still enjoyed the castle.
Grandad came too which was great and the boys always enjoy time with him as they don't get to see him as often as we'd like.
Family time like this is such a blessing in the midst of our hectic schedule.
Today was a bit of a mixed day for the boys. It all began with a trip back to Interhealth for the second lot of rabies and typhoid injections. The really bad news is we've still got to go back once more! They were both very brave as the 'horrible' nurses jabbed them in both arms.Shortly afterwards we had a trat lunch in Mc D's followed by ice cream on the Southbank by HMS Belfast.
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