Family Update

We decided to brave the wet and cold and spend a few hours in the Nature Reserve yesterday with the boys! We were the only people there apart from those actually climbing the mountain, so it was a bit weird - but great for us! The Nature Reserve is really beautiful at this time of year. The proteas are out in all their glory and look beautiful against the dark greens of the surrounding foliage and the dramatic dark skies.
One of the best ways to make inroads into a community is to get stuck in and help with practical needs. So this week I've been trying to get more involved in this way. I spent some time with Aunty Florrie this week and with some help from Michael managed to stop two major leaks on her roof. The rains are due back over the weekend so our handy-work will certainly be tested.

We're also looking at how we can practically assist some of our other members especially one young couple who have three kids and no home of their own. Hopefully we can tell you more soon.

Inter School Sports

Joel & Eli's school (International School of Helderberg) has two 'sister' schools in the Cape so today they held their annual Winter Inter-IES sports event with three main events of Football (or soccer as they insist on calling it here), Hockey and Netball. Eli is too young to compete, but Joel was involved in two football matches against Hout Bay International School and Blouberg International School. They won the first one 3-0 and lost the second 4-2.

Miles 4 Smiles Assembly

This morning I had the privilege of attending the special Miles For Smiles assembly at Joel & Eli's school.

The total raised this year was R40,375 (£3100)which is an amazing amount of money for such a small school. Last year as a school we raised enough to pay for four cleft palate operations so this year we should be able to pay for seven and a bit which is fantastic!

Fresh Herbs

Paula has been wanting to grow her own herbs for a while so having successfully killed off a tree in the pot we decided to give it a try.

We planted Basil, Parsley and Rocket for starters and we plan to move onto Coriander next. Amazingly, despite our best efforts the plants are thriving and we've used a little bit already.

We just need to convince Eli not to play with his diggers in the pot which is no small undertaking!

Bakkie

We're very pleased to present our new bakkie which we were able to purchase with the very generous support of St.Andrew's Oxshott, Queens Road Wimbledon and some friends in Cheadle.

Dirk

This afternoon I had an experience which would probably scare the life out of most South Africans but somehow it seemed quite normal to me.

I was out and about with Michael and whilst he was in someone's house a guy called Dirk waved to me and then came over and got into my bakkie. Thankfully I've known Dirk for a few years and trust him. Anyway, he started to tell me that today was the day that he finally got confirmation that God is alive and well and he wants everybody to know this.

Feeding Programme

Our feeding programme in CNP continues to go well and As has become custom over the last few years, once a month we deliver food to some of the neediest folk in the community. Today we bought the food (made possible by the Phillipi Trust and St.George's Weald) for our 13 HOPE home based care patients. This is a monthly venture and really blesses the families concerned, particularly in these days of huge price rises. It is quite a big task, but, together with our local supermarket, we are finally getting a system together that runs like clockwork! We then use the bakkie to pile all the food in before taking it off for house to house deliveries - you should see the smiles on people's faces and hear their thanks!! It's very humbling.

Home Improvements

Michael has been making the most of the break in the weather (the rains are due back tomorrow) to get some work done on his 'extension' at the back of his house. I've been helping him over the last few days as he's been able to get some zinc roofing sheets and a 'wendy house' panel which we were able to cut to size and put up as the front of the extension. We then set about putting a window in and below you can see the finished article. I don't think anyone would rush to employ me for my building skills but it has been a lot of fun working with Michael. Maybe we could start a company and call it 'Bodge it & Leggit'.

Mother's Day

Ben 10 is alive and well in our house! A couple of months ago we had no idea who he was, then we succumbed (or at least mum did!) and got DSTV, now we are responsible for propagating his future!!!

As you can imagine, Joel and Eli were delighted when a friend of ours recently returned from the UK with 2 pairs of matching Ben 10 pyjamas for them! Joel couldn't believe his eyes and questioned mum for ages as to where they had come from - knowing he hadn't seen them in the shops here!!!

Miles 4 Smiles

This morning was a big one for the boys as they proudly donned their Miles for Smiles T shirts and set off to complete as many laps as they could in 2 hours to raise money for operations for children with cleft palates. The event was once again organised by their school and the boys had been looking forward to it all week!

Eli got off to a flying start (literally!) and took the little ones race by storm whizzing round the coned off track. The only trouble was that he didn't know how to turn corners, so we had to do a bit of quick coaching!

Chickenpox

For the last few days Joel has been lethargic and complaining of not feeling too well. Today he broke out in spots and the Dr confirmed the obvious... Joel has Chickenpox. He's actually quite proud of it, especially as it means he gets to stay at home tomorrow instead of going to church and will probably miss most of next week from school. Joel decided he likes the smell of the calamine ointment but doesn't enjoy the application as it's "too cold".

It's always alarming to see how quickly an epidemic can become a pandemic. scarily though this particular pandemic transcended the normal route by skipping the epidemic stage and going straight into the full-blown pandemic status.

This is a pandemic that really should have the world seriously concerned! We've seen many ridiculous media events and stories over the years but the speed with which this Media Stupidity Pandemic took hold has truly broken any previous record!

Winter has arrived with a vengeance. Gone are the clear blue skies and nice sunny days only to be replaced by angry looking dark clouds, strong northwesterly winds and lots of rain. Such will be our lot for the next 5 months. Thankfully we got our winter firewood a while ago so we'll be getting the wood-burner going soon.

Joel has been very excited over the last few days as one of his teeth became very wobbly and eventually fell out on Tuesday evening just in time for the tooth fairy to come. Thankfully Joel had been prepared by Charlie & Lola so he knew what to expect.

Was this a foregone conclusion or not? It was argued that for the first time in South Africa's democratic history there was finally a solid opposition to the ruling ANC. Sadly such optimism was unfounded as COPE slumped to a miserable 7.42% of the national vote whilst the DA were confirmed as the main opposition party with 16.66%. 

Election Day

As the govt in the UK unveil another budget, the people of South Africa have even bigger issues to decide as they go to the polls in the presidential elections.

This election has been billed as the biggest and most important since the end of apartheid and not without reason. Firstly, there is now a credible national opposition party*  in the form of the COPE (congress of the people) which is made up of disaffected ANC party members.

Alive & Kicking

Proof that we are still alive!

It's been a while since we last posted anything, but to be honest blogging isn't always the first thing that comes to mind. Also, sometimes it's simply better not to say anything rather than say something and get into trouble.

Cape Epic

Dean & Paul aka Bizweni Bundu Bashers finished the ABSA Cape Epic on Saturday in 46 hours, 29 minutes & 21 seconds having ridden for 743km's climbing a total of 16650 metres (almost double Mt. Everest). Their overall finishing position was 278th out of 598 starting teams.

To see more about their Epic Adventure see Dean's mountain bike blog. He'll be updating it over the next few days with more facts, figures and recollections of the event.

For now Dean is delighted to have completed the TOUGHEST mountain bike race in the world and to have finished in the top half of the 598 starting teams. No mean achievement! He's even happier to be at home with Paula & his boys!!
Today I drove with Lizbeth, one of the HOPE carers to our local hospital to visit one of our patients who was admitted on Saturday. Both of us had visited individually prior to this, but it was so good to go together and really have a good chat as well as taking some essentials to A. A is one of our classic patients who is too scared to admit to why she is really sick. This makes it difficult when she is admitted to hospital. This time however, she has suffered a stroke; has TB and pneumonia, all of which has caused her body to swell up, so she has been in quite a bad way.

And They're Off

Dean's Epic adventure started at 09:52 as he and Paul rode the prologue of the Cape Epic this morning.

Visit his bike blog for more info: Epic Adventures With A Mountain Bike.

6 Years Old!

Joel was up bright with anticipation just before 5am this morning eager to open his presents and tell the world that he is at last 6 years old!! Unfortunately, mum sent him back to bed until a more civilised hour - well, that's 6 am in our house!

He was absolutely thrilled with his presents. He loved the surprises and was so pleased to get a couple of things that he has been asking about for months and months!!

6th Birthday Party

Joel had his 6th birthday party today and was really proud to have his friends round. Inevitably the theme was pirates so all the games had a pirate twist to them!

Much fun was had by all with plenty of gold coins and pieces of eight being given out as prizes.

We're Still Alive!

Keeping the blog going has taken a bit of a back seat recently (you probably noticed) and that probably won't change for the next couple of weeks so we apologise in advance. The main reason is that it is I (Dean) that does most of our blogging and I've been very distracted by a little bike adventure coming up at the weekend. Somehow it overtook so much and became a bit all consuming of my/our freetime. You can see more by clicking here.

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.

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

Pranked!

We're all really well and enjoying the height of summer. The temperature is well into the 30's most days and we've had a few days of 40° heat which has been great and it looks like we're in for a few more days of glorious weather.

Joel pulled a blinder on Dad today. He came home from school with some make-up on as he'd been chosen with several other children for a promotional photo for the school. So Joel decided to paint the rest of his face red to be a "bloody pirate". As he came out of his bedroom he complained to Daddy that he was "burning up". Daddy fell for it, got into a bit of a state just in time to realise Joel was laughing his head off. Nice one! Cracking sense of humour which we'll be nurturing.

Garage Worship

This morning was a bit of a different gathering as we were unable to meet in the community hall due to the voter registration taking place. Despite having booked the hall two months in advance and paid for it!

Regardless, Daniel and Mervin did a great job of rallying the troops and making sure as many members as possible knew that we would meet in Davey's garage instead.

Down On The Farm

One morning this week I had the privilege of spending time with Davey (he's Daniel's dad) as he took me around Jamestown just outside Stellenbosch. Jamestown is an amazing little community which was started by some missionaries many moons ago and it was pretty much left alone during the apartheid era which means today it's a close knit and vibrant community with few of the hang-ups of some other communities.

Time seems to have flown over the last three weeks whilst Grandad & Lesley were with us.

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...

Off To Big School

Joel started back at the International School this morning as a big boy in Year 1.

He was so excited to be going back (as were Mummy & Daddy!) and seeing his friends as well as starting in Mrs Tinsley's class. Joel was also excited as Grandad went with him and Mummy to school this morning.

This year is also a bit different for Joel as Eli is joining him at the International School so he's very proud of being the big brother.

Grandad Arrived

We've not had much time for blogging as Grandad & Lesley arrived shortly after New Year and we've been having a lot of fun since then. The boys are loving having them around.

We've been out and about a fair bit as well as having lots of fun at home. One of the highlights so far was our trip to the Cape Town museum where Joel was really excited to show Grandad the sharks and dinosaurs.

We've also been availing ourselves of our friends swimming pools which is always enjoyed by the boys. Both of them are showing a huge amount of confidence in the water and we're able to relax with them around a pool as they both know what to do if they get into trouble.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! to all our readers, supporters, friends and family.

We're two hours ahead of Blighty so will be fast asleep by the time Big Ben chimes, so don't call us ;-)

Hopefully 2009 will be a great year in which you all draw closer to our awesome Lord. We certainly pray that for ourselves.
I've not been posting Palace Results this season for a few reasons, but mainly because I've been too busy. So, to make amends here's Neil Warnock's review of Palace in 2008.

Best Match - The 5-0 defeat of Burnley at Selhurst Park. That was special because we had to get the win to get in the play-offs and it turned into a special afternoon and night time. We worked so hard to get there from the start we had.

Worst Match - The 2-1 defeat to Bristol City in the first leg of play-offs at Selhurst. I thought we should have won the game if we played like we could. The heat and the kick off time were against us and to equalise but lose concentration and concede straight after made it very difficult for us in the second leg.

Landscape Gardening

The boys are enjoying having some time to play with their toys and Eli particularly is in paradise with his gardening set. He got a wheelbarrow, gloves and a gardening toolkit with a trowel and mini fork and he has now set about a touch of landscaping as he redesigns bits of the garden.

Joel is still 'in heaven' aboard his Black Pearl pirate ship. It really is quite an amazing thing and we have to stop ourselves from having a bit of a play too! Paula took him to the mall today to buy his first proper school shoes -black lace up jobs! 

Christmas Day Fun

We had a great day yesterday and the boys had lots of fun opening their presents. It started with a stocking at the end of their beds followed by their main presents after church. We went to Christ Church in Somerset West for their Christmas service and we really enjoyed it. It was quite nice to have a bit of tradition on the day.

Despite the seemingly huge number of presents we managed to slow things down a bit and told the boys a bit more about Jesus and what Christmas is really about. Joel seems to get it although he was really desperate to get on with opening presents.

Happy Christmas!

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a very blessed New Year!

Christmas Eve

Like any other children our boys are REALLY excited about Christmas and can't wait for tomorrow to come. Joel has put a glass of milk and a cookie out for Santa (Dad suggested he might prefer a beer but Mummy reckons he'll be too busy for that) and they've both gone to bed clutching their stockings. Sweet!

1000 Posts

Whilst preparing another post for the blog I happened to notice that we've hit the unexpected milestone of 1000 posts (this post is the 1001st). Wow!

We can't find Brussels sprouts anywhere this Christmas so will do the unthinkable and have a Christmas dinner sans sprouts.

In the absence of enjoying real sprouts we'll have to settle for this amusing story in the news: Farting gorillas force Brussels sprouts off zoo's Christmas menu.

Water Babies

Eli recently went on a 2 week crash course in swimming and as in all things he took to it with natural aplomb and excelled. Enid the swimming teacher said she'd only previously seen one other 2 year old with such a natural aptitude for swimming.

Birthday Boy

Eli celebrated his third birthday today and managed it in style! we've had a lot of fun and lots of people have made a real fuss of him which is great. Having a birthday so close to Christmas isn't great for a number of reasons but despite that he's had a lot of fun today. Eli was delighted with his presents but the skateboard from Jo seems to be the biggest hit. Joel is really smitten by the pirate set from Grandad and needs to be reminded that it's Eli's!

Longest Day

There's a lot of stuff on the news websites we like to look at about the winter solstice and it being the shortest day today.

We'd just like to say that we're enjoying our summer solstice and as such our longest day. The weather is gorgeous, the sun is shining and the day is long.

Oh happy days!

Oh yes, it's also Eli's 3rd birthday!

Caption Competition

It's Friday afternoon and you really should be finishing off that crucial bit of work to meet the deadline, but somehow you strayed onto the web and ended up here.

So, whilst you're here why not get involved? Enter our Caption Competition and see if you can make us laugh.

Give it your best shot, see what you can come up with and leave your entry in the comments bit below.

No prizes, just a bit of fun.

Inappropriate comments will be deleted.
Over on his blog, Terry Virgo posed the following question about this picture:

"If you were around in 1919 (just before prohibition started) and came upon the following poster………

I mean seriously, would you quit drinking?"

I think I would probably start drinking!

Friends On The Beach

Yesterday we went to the beach where the boys had a fantastic time jumping in the waves and giggling themselves silly as they got knocked down by them.

Our main reason for going to the beach was to spend some time with our old friends Pete & Ash. It was such a privilege to spend the day with with them whilst they are down from Jo'burg on holiday. We know Pete & Ash from our time in Zim when Pete led River Of Life Church in Mount Pleasant. These days they live in Jo'burg where Pete leads GodFirst Church where amazing things are happening - check out their website.

Time is precious for Pete & Ash and obviously they want to make sure they have as much time together as a family so we felt very privileged to be able to spend so much time with them on the beach.

Weekend

We can't quite believe that another week has slipped past, it really is quite scary thinking about where the time goes.

This week was quite monumental for Eli as he's doing a two week crash course in swimming and on Friday it all came together and he swam an entire length of the teacher's pool. He's taken to it like the proverbial duck and even the other parents are amazed that a lad so young can be so physical.

Saw this police car in the Strand this morning and was amused by the inscription 'visible policing' on the side.

I guess that probably differentiates it from the usual invisible policing service most South African's complain about.

Maybe the 'visible' service is a premium service?

Christmas Tree

Joel helped to put the Christmas tree up this morning and did a really good job. It was amazing to see the difference over the last few years. After the first time (2 years ago) we spent most of the evening sorting the tree out. Then last year we need to move a few baubles just to balance things out, but this year Joel had a really good eye for where each decoration should go and he really enjoyed having that time alone with Dad to do it.

To see how he's changed over the three years, click the following links: Christmas Tree Last year & Afternoons And Coffee Spoons The year before (2006).

Weekend

Another fun family weekend slips past as the days warm up and the year counts itself down. That can only mean two things; Eli's birthday and Christmas are just around the corner. Somehow we can't believe that Eli is only turning 3. He's physically bigger than most of his peers but developmentally he's way ahead of most of them too. We often have to remind ourselves that he is actually only 2 (just) and shouldn't expect too much of him. However, Eli is more than capable of doing much of what Joel can and in some areas he shows Joel how to do stuff.

Number 21069

Runner 21069 was out and about on the streets and Lourensford wine estate in Somerset West doing her first ever 10 km road race! Yes, it's official, Paula went and chose the hottest day of summer so far (maxed at 38°C) to face her biggest challenge in the Run For Life Road Race/Half Marathon! Having trained for nothing in particular for the past 6 months or so, she was never going to be convinced that she could enter this sort of thing alone, so her dear husband decided to enter her instead.

Eli's Birthday Party

Today Eli had his 3rd birthday party and had a lot of fun with his friends running riot around the garden. Having got over the fact that he couldn't have an exclusive invite just for Iza, he seemed happy to have the rest of his friends there to share the cake, the party food and the fun.