Bro

I don't get to see much of my brother even when I'm in Blighty so it was great to see him last night and this morning as we celebrated his birthday.

We had a great time in the village pub followed by a couple of real ales back home. All in all a very pleasant time!

Joel also really enjoyed some time with Andrew and was thrilled with the Ben 10 toy he was given.

Packing Nightmare

A sense of foreboding and panic is sweeping over me as I begin to fully comprehend the size of the task facing me and the little amount of time left to complete it. I'm about ¼ of the way through the final packing (see below) but as you can see from the pile of boxes that's not really very far.

Fun At Spier

Paula & Eli joined our dear friend Jo today at Spier for some silly fun.

Given that Joel & I were 6000miles away you'll have to rely on the photos to tell the story.

What is abundantly clear is that Eli had a lot of fun which probably means Paula & Jo did too.

Joel had a lovely morning going shopping with Lisa (Paula's older sister) . He was reluctant to go, just as he was yesterday but he warmed up after a few minutes and really enjoyed the precious time with Lisa.

Great Day!

I managed to complete Phase 1 of the shipping in that I've got everything out of the attic and had a cursory inspection and sorting of each box. I've had one testing but ultimately successful trip to the charity shop and the rest of the stuff now awaits its formal unpacking, sorting and repacking ready for freighting to South Africa.

We had a lovely 'Christmas Dinner' with Lisa and the family which was a lot of fun. Joel adores the prawn starter and did quite well with his main meal. I simply adore Lisa's roast potatoes! Thanks Lisa!!!

Good Day Ahead

Today should be a good and productive day. I'll be cracking on with unpacking, sorting and repacking. It's starting to feel a bit relentless but it will be so worth it. This morning I came across loads of photos from the '80s, Oh the shame!

Productive Day

Today's been a great day for Joel & I.

Joel got to spend the day with Sal which he really enjoyed. He adores Sal and really enjoys time on the farm. Also he had real fun chasing around with Josh after he got home from school, as they were shooting each other and causing chaos running around the house.

Exhausted!

I'm exhausted from the flight, a disturbed sleep and some physical labour this afternoon. I can see that Joel's also desperate to get to bed so hopefully he'll be there shortly.

Having been been back less than a day and having had to hit the ground running I'm quite pleased with what I got done today.. I had planned to get all the boxes down from Brian's attic (he's my father-in-law) ready for sorting over then next few days but in the end I only managed to get 2/3 of them down but was able to sort them in terms of freight, charity shop & bin which was far more than I'd expected to achieve.

Surprise!

The cat is out of the bag on our well guarded secret. Joel came to Blighty with me and was in on the plan to surprise Grandad and the rest of the family. Grandad was at the airport and I'd got Joel to stay behind me until the last moment so that he could jump out on Grandad. Now that we're here I think Joel will be thoroughly spoilt and well cared for which is great.

The flight was great and as there were no personal TV screens Joel actually slept quite well. He also ate the food on the plane so he's definitely growing up.

Smart Cover

This morning I finally got a secure top fitted to the bakkie which is a great relief. Our previous bakkie had a roll-top which was great but it was non-removable. This new top by SmartCover is secure but also removable when I need to utilise the full load-bed of the bakkie.

This now means that when in Chris Nissen or Macassar we can leave stuff in the bakkie in the knowledge that it's safe. This will also help when we do our feeding programme deliveries as we'll no longer need to be on tenterhooks worrying about bags of food being knicked from the bakkie.

26" Unicycle Anyone?

Does anybody have a 26" wheel unicycle they want to get rid off or know anyone who might have one they no longer want?

Please let me know, Ta

Eli Does Parkour

Swimming Lessons

Our boys have been having swimming lessons for a few seasons now and they have really paid off. So much so that when Eli recently fell into a swimming pool by accident he knew exactly what to do and saved himself. He actually emerged from the pool laughing. We weren't there at the time as he was at a friends house, needless to say our friend wasn't laughing!

Bodgit & Leggit

I had a great morning today as I was helping Michael to fit a huge window into the side of his hokkie.

It turned into a much bigger job than we thought, involving lots of cutting and banging as we got the hole for the window just right but eventually we got it into place.

Michael is really chuffed as it's a huge step towards getting his hokkie finished and he really needs the extra space as he & Joyce having just taken in a young mum with her daughter. He really does make me so proud!

Dude, Her Head's Bigger Than Her Pelvis!

I'm a fan of PhotoshopDisasters a blog which showcases some of the best (or should that be worst) examples of Photoshop cockups.

Recently Ralph Lauren ran a campaign with this pic which is clearly very disturbing.

PhotoshopDisasters and a few other sites picked up on the campaign and understandably criticised it. Ralph Lauren then threatened legal action against the ISPs which hosted the image. Pathetic!

I'm only posting this to assist in proving the Streisand Effect and to support PhotoshopDisasters.

See also Boing Boing and The Huffington Post

We're Back

We've just had a wonderful 10 days away during the school break. We went back to Ravenna which is mid-way between Montagu & Barrydale on the scenic Route 62 in the Klein Karoo.

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.

Library Challenge - A Family Of Winners!

Recently the boys school held a Library Challenge in which the pupils and parents were encouraged to read as many books as possible within a specified time-frame and then write a brief review of each book. The lower school pupils just had to write about why they liked each book and what they learnt from it.

The challenge was taken very seriously in our house with Joel really enjoying reading more than normal and Mummy getting quite competitive!

It seems to have paid off as today at school it was announced that Joel had won 1st prize in the Junior Challenge and Mummy had won 1st prize in the Parent Challenge.

Apparently Joel was totally surprised by his win and had to pick his way through the assembled mass in assembly to collect his award from the principal. We're also told that he was really proud that his Mummy had won the parents prize.

Feeding Programme

One of the joys of being involved in the stuff we are is that we get to distribute food to some of the most vulnerable and neediest people in Chris Nissen Park.

Each month the food is provided by St. George's in Weald, Paula's home church and the Phillipi Trust here in Somerset West.

The distribution is specifically targeted through our home based care team; HOPE with the most vulnerable patients being at the top of the list. Amazingly, the usual gossip and jealousy which has often dogged feeding programmes in CNP and other places seems to be diminishing in CNP as the community are beginning to recognise how and why the food is distributed.

For us it's a real privilege to be able to bless some dear folk with desperately needed food which makes a massive difference to their daily lives.

Prayer Request

A brief prayer request if you've got a few minutes over lunchtime. We've got a meeting at school today at 2.30pm in which we'll be meeting with Joel's teacher, the special needs coordinator and the principal to discuss the way forward for Joel. We know the school want the best for him as do we so it would be great if we were all singing from the same hymn sheet. We really value the school's support for Joel and we appreciate the good relationship we have with the staff.

Without going into too much detail, there's a strong likelihood that Joel may repeat Year 1 and whilst we're not totally against the idea (especially as he is actually a year younger than most of his classmates) we'd need to know that the school has a plan in place to ensure that he doesn't become bored and disillusioned with school particularly as it's not his favourite activity!

To Rent Or Buy? That Is The Question

Today is a day we've been dreading and hoping wouldn't come. Our landlady gave us 2 months notice so we have to be out by the end of November. The timing isn't great from our point of view given that we're just about to go away for 10 days in the school holiday and I'll be returning to Blighty for 10 days next month.

On the other hand the timing feels right as we've talked a bit over the 3½ years we've been in this house about buying it. We're in the process of getting figures but right now it would take a financial miracle to allow this.

Eli's Antics

Here's Eli's latest routine in the garden

Wonders Never Cease

WOW!

I was stunned this morning as immediately after switching on my cell phone an SMS came in from Home Affairs of all people.

When we applied for our ID books we were asked for our numbers but never really thought that we'd hear from them, based on previous experience!

However, here we are with an SMS telling me that my application is already in Pretoria and is on its way through the system as they process it.

Hopefully it will be ready by mid December as they promised.