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.

Visible Or Not?

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.

Lesotho Aids Diary - Joseph's Day

As part of World AIDS Day the BBC News is running a photo journal entitled: Lesotho Aids diary - Joseph's day.

This gives a great insight into life in some of the more rural places in southern Africa. It also highlights how the likes of Joseph are the real unsung heroes of the battle against HIV.

World AIDS Day

Did you know that today, 1 December, is World Aids Day? Sadly this day often gets lost in the busy’ness of the season or, more tragically, because people don’t see the point of it.

As you know, either from our blogging or from hearing us speak in England this summer, the effects of HIV/AIDS are a crucial element of our life and ministry here in South Africa.

Emyezweni Christmas Party

It hardly seems possible that a year has slipped past since I last entertained the kids at the Emyezweni Christmas party in Lwandle, but that year has shot past and here we are posting about it again.

I really enjoy being asked to entertain the kids and count it a real privilege to invest a tiny amount in the lives of these kids.

As ever they were a fantastically appreciative audience and certainly know how to make one feel good! The simplest tricks continue to be the most appreciated. The fire juggling is a huge hit, but the unicycling and diabolo are also popular. Climb the string is the simplest of diabolo tricks but probably the most appreciated. Throwing the diabolo is also great, the higher the better! Each year I try to do something different, so last year I used my fire clubs for the first time and this year I used my juggling rings which went down very well. Next year could be a bit tricky.

The Biggest Loser

On Wednesday, Zelda launched our 'Biggest Loser' competition to help some of the overweight folk in church to lose some weight and reclaim their health. Sadly, obesity is almost as prevalent in SA as it is in the West. There is a R1000 prize up for grabs and the members who signed up for it are very excited.

Family Time

As every parent knows, trying to make time for your kids in the midst of the busyness of everyday stuff is not always easy and is an area of life all too easily overlooked.

We're far from perfect in this, but we do try to make sure we spend at least part of the day with them and now that summer is here it is so much easier as we can spend the early evening out in the garden.

Joel The Dolphin

Joel has been having swimming lessons for a while now but recently he seemed to click and it all came together for him. Suddenly he's very confident, prepared to try new things (such as going upside down) and loves spending as much time as possible under the water. We're thrilled that he's overcome his fear of the water especially as summer is here and many of our friends have pools.

Weekend

This weekend was a bit different to the norm (whatever that is). Dean left at 4ish on friday afternoon to get to Swellendam for the Double Century 205k race on Saturday morning. Click here to see how he did. Meanwhile Paula was entertaining the boys at home. They had a great time visiting a friend and chasing the ducks before chilling out at home with a borrowed DVD - The Emporer's New Groove. Joel took his responsibilities as 'man of the house' very seriously!!

Preaching Class

We're really enjoying being part of a church that values its members and cares for them as family. Wow, how we've missed that for a few years! One of our greatest joys at present is being drawn into the life of the church and particularly into the leadership side of things. I'm particularly encouraged that after a barren and almost desolate few years at last I'm beginning to stretch my wings and fly again.

One of the ways this is happening is through the core group of guys that Daniel has gathered together in Grace Community Church. This is a small group of guys who he feels have the potential to be effective leaders within the church. I feel very privileged to be a part of this group and I'm loving the fact that my lead elder is taking time to get alongside me and draw me in.

Weekend

This weekend was slightly different as we welcomed Pete, Steph and Caleb into our home. Pete is one of the elders at Queens Road Church in Wimbledon. It's always a pleasure to host friends and they were a pleasure to have around.

We spent a bit of time at Delheim as well as plenty of time at home, chillin' and chatting. On Saturday evening we abused their presence by ducking out to a friends 40th birthday party, the theme was 1968 and most people made a great effort to get into costume.

Pirates vs Ugly Sisters

Somehow, the monsters got hold of a marker pen (thankfully not a permanent one) and then disappeared into Joel's bedroom for ten minutes whilst they 'made themselves up' to look like pirates.

Thankfully after a long soak in the bath and much scrubbing most of the marker had come off.

Eli really does look to be cut-out for panto, ugly sister anyone?

Baptisms

We like to do things a bit differently at Grace Community Church and it's always great to mix regular Sunday fellowship with fun, laughter and lots of food. So this morning we had our service in Daniel's garden and baptised four folk in the swimming pool. It was a real privilege for me to be doing the baptisms with Mervin. We started with a time of worship before the dunkings and after the formalities the adults decamped to the rest of the garden for food whilst the kids colonised the pool.

Weekend

We're all well and enjoying a bit of warmer weather. Apparently it's going to be over 30°C tomorrow and we can't wait! winter was too long and the rain is still lingering, we had 20mm of the awful stuff on Thursday.

The good news is that we managed a night away sans enfants on Friday which was bliss. Some really good friends looked after the boys and very bravely took them camping (which involves a long story which culminates in the tent falling down at 4am!). Anyway, we had no such dramas, just a very relaxing evening and a lovely slow drive home stopping at all the farm stalls enroute. It really is a rare privilege to be able to peruse these places at leisure without being hassled for sweets or a toy.

Who Did You Vote For?

Over on the BBC News website there is an article about the US election entitled: Who voted for Obama. It makes for some very interesting reading and tells you quite a lot about modern America. One of the things that struck me from it is the fact that older whites are generally pretty scared of anything resembling change, especially if that change is represented by anyone other than an old white man.

A Brave New World

This morning I've got to express my sense of pride in the American people. By electing Obama to the presidency, they have given the Republicans a 'bloody nose' and said 'enough is enough' to Bush and his cronies. This election result also says a huge 'no' to war. Forget the history of the first black president, this result is about change and the fact that the ordinary American wants to see things change big time.

Michael

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Michael & Hayden in Chris Nissen Park yesterday. Michael was showing me how his 'extension' is coming along and Hayden really wanted to be held by Michael.

We sang Michael's praises whilst we were on mission education in June/July. He really is such a quality guy who has grown in his faith an amazing amount. I love the way so many folk in the community seek him out for advice, help and even just a chat.

Caption Competition

The weekend is just around the corner, it's Friday afternoon and you should be working but the internet has a far greater appeal. Anyway, you've ended up here, so let's have some fun.

Leave a caption for this photo in the comments bit and we'll post the best one. No swearing and nothing filthy, thank you!

Tiny Bubble Registration

We heard some really good news from Sandra at Tiny Bubble créche today. After several months of much frustration, form filling and scraping before officialdom, the créche is now officially registered.

This is great as it means Sandra and her staff can now seek some financial assistance from the education and social welfare departments. They will also be able to seek help with wages as presently they work voluntarily.

South African MP's Chair Mishap

This is SO worth watching on the BBC: South African MP's chair mishap.

Hope it brightens up your Friday and makes you laugh as much as it did me.

PS. Also available on YouTube.

CNP Update

We're in the final stages of working out exactly what we're going to be doing in Macassar with Grace Community Church as well as thinking about ways in which we can best serve the church. We're really enjoying church life again and it's great to be involved in something fresh and vibrant.

"THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD"

I had to laugh when I saw this article on the BBC website: 'No God' slogans for city's buses. My amusement stems from three aspects of this 'advertising campaign'. Firstly, I love the use of the word 'probably'. One always needs to hedge one's bets just in case.

Farewell

Last night we officially left HCC. To a certain extent it was a mere formality and a box ticking exercise. It certainly wasn't an event we were keen to attend. Not because we'd done anything wrong but simply because we've moved on and are already seeing God at work in our lives and in Macassar and we're really excited about the future! To return to HCC and dredge up the past simply wasn't an exciting prospect.

Poverty - A Personal Rant

Poverty - Part of Blog Action Day

Whilst the Bono's of the world rant and rave about poverty -a subject they know little if anything about- the poor just keep on getting poorer. It's very easy when one lives in comfort to feel moved and send a fiver to whichever charity happens to spring to mind, but to actually get up and do something practical about addressing poverty, its underlying causes and its symptoms takes real commitment and dedication. You don't see many Bono type figures living and working amongst the poor! It's all too easy to sit in an ivory tower and pontificate.

Speeding Fine

Whoops!

I received a fixed penalty notice this morning for speeding. At first I was cross about having been caught, but then I looked a little closer at the notice and realised that the registration is for a car I've never owned. I also saw that the fine could be viewed online, so I went online for a look and nearly fell of my chair laughing. Clearly that's not me! and my wife is a whole bunch better looking than that!!

Holiday

We've been back almost a week and finally get around to posting some photos of our holiday. We had a great time staying on a really quiet farm called Ravenna Mountain Retreat which is about 30k's from Montagu on South Africa's famous Route 62. Apart from it being a bit too cold to use the pool right outside our cottage the place was perfect. The boys really enjoyed the jungle gym whilst mum & dad enjoyed the peace. On previous visits to this part of the Klein Karoo we've stuck around the Montagu area but this time spent more time in and around Barrydale.

"You Can't Bring That In Here!"

We're back from a wonderful 10 day break in the Klein Karoo on the local 'Route 62'.

I saw this set of signs at a supermarket whilst we were away and was amused at the thought that one is banned from taking one's porn collection into the shop.

I'll post something a little more edifying later.

National Braai Day

Yesterday was Heritage Day (alternatively known as National Braai Day) so was a public holiday. We joined our new church family in Macassar for a braai and an afternoon of fun. The gathering was fairly impromptu and very informal and must be one of the most relaxed church events we've ever been to.

It was such a pleasure to be with our new friends and to be so warmly welcomed. Our kids loved every minute of it and they get on really well with the other children. Joel enjoyed watching High School Musical on the big screen whilst Eli held his own on the cargo net hanging in the garden.

This Week

We've had a busy few days with trips into Chris Nissen, going to Joel's school and meeting with the lead elder of Grace church in Macassar.

Paula met up with Jenny today from the UK and spent the morning with her in Chris Nissen. Jenny has extensive medical experience from years as a nurse so she was a real blessing. It was great to have someone who could relate to the likes of Aunty Henna who regularly complains of her arthritis. Jenny could fully empathise and relate to Henna's daily struggle.

Spike

I got to take Joel to Shonny (our hairdresser) yesterday as Mummy was out. Whilst on our way Joel said he wanted a spikey haircut so I agreed as long as he told Shonny what he wanted. Joel was a bit coy at first but warmed up and told Shonny exactly what he wanted. The result is a cool looking boy. 

Thankfully Mummy also thought he looked great, so we got away with it! Eli came along too and said he also wanted a spikey hairdo. Sadly for him that's never likely to happen. This morning we had a lot of fun spiking up Joel's hair with some gel (neither of us have used the stuff in years) and he was delighted to be going to school with his new hairdo.

Wedding Anniversary

At seventeen years of marriage there is no traditional nomenclature for the anniversary, you have to wait for the 'china' of twenty years before you get into that again.

We've had a great day albeit a very different one to how we've celebrated previous anniversaries - no sloping off for a quiet weekend sans enfants!

We went to church as usual (for a Sunday) and then onto Cape Town with the boys where we visited the aquarium and then had fish & chips for lunch at Ocean Basket - the boys choice. Joel loved playing with the bones from Mummy's sardines and then scoffed a lot of Daddy's prawns. Joel even enjoys shelling them himself. Eli amazed us with his choice of dips for his chips, he chose raw garlic!!

Previous anniversaries can be seen here: 16th, 14th & 13th we seem to have neglected our 15th.

Family Stuff

As you're reading this I'll be out with a few friends enjoying an 80k road ride and hopefully Paula will just be having breakfast after a decent lay-in.

We're so proud of our boys at present as they're coping incredibly well in trying circumstances. Despite the difficulties they're both thriving in school & play-group which is great relief for us and they're really enjoying church which is a first in a long time for Joel. Sadly, they've both had quite nasty ear infections and it's looking like Joel may well have to have his grommets re-done. We'd appreciate your prayers for him as he can hardly hear a thing.

Thankfully the rain has abated for a few days although it is due back on Sunday/Monday for a few more days. We had hoped to miss the worst of the winter by being in the UK for June & July but this August has been so bad that we missed very little.

Sports Day

Joel had his Sports Day at school today and it looks like the kids had a lot of fun. The idea came about because SA only came home with 1 medal from the Olympics and the school thought it had better do its bit to train the future 2016 athletes!! Somehow, we don't think Joel will be in the squad, but he certainly had a lot of fun trying.

The little ones had their own half hour of fun and it was amazing to see how competitive the 5 and 6 year olds could become!

Back Online

After a very frustrating week with no phone line and 10 days without internet access we're finally back online. Telkom sent an engineer out on Sunday morning to sort it all out, which we thought was quite impressive, although it meant I was an hour late to church. But we've got our phone back so must not complain!

In some ways it's quite liberating being unable to access emails and the web as it gives you so much more time to do proper stuff. I hadn't realised what a waste of time the web and email can be until it was taken away!

We're all OK but we're fighting the dog-ends of various colds, ear infections etc. with Eli suffering the most. The weather has been truly appalling over the last week with torrential rains leaving the garden flooded and the boys unable to play out - frustrating for them and us.

Good Excuse For A Bottomless Hot Chocolate!

The plot thickens with our phone provider. Telkom are the local phone monopoly and generally their service is good although very expensive. Apparently, on the 26th of August someone -it now transpires that it was our ISP- requested that our DSL line be cancelled. Very helpful!

Then on Monday out landline went dead, yes the bill was paid on time. Following a few trips into the local Telkom office, several frustrating calls to our useless ISP we remain without phone line or internet connection. The explanations given for this debacle are complex, varied (in that they constantly change) and very very frustrating as no-one seems to want to take responsibility for it.

Curry Night In

On Friday night we enjoyed our long anticipated 'Curry Night In' as part of Paula's ongoing birthday celebrations. we had 22 of our good friends around for a sit down meal in the lounge and were catered for by a mum of one of Joel's school friends who happens to be Indian and a very fine cook!

The evening was a lot of fun with everyone mixing well and having a relaxed but superb meal.

Internet Down

If you've emailed us recently or tried to make contact then we must apologise as we currently have no internet. I'm sat in a local coffee shop (hard life) using their wireless network to post here.

Unfortunately on Wednesday last week Telkom (like BT) cut off our DSL line as apparently we requested the service be cancelled. Then on Monday they very helpfully cut off our landline. Brilliant! Yes the phone bill had been paid.

We're now trying to get it all back but things are rarely simple so all we can do is sit and wait.

Ho hum.

Planning Ahead

About two weeks before we were due to leave SA for Blighty, our line manager at church informed us that they were terminating our contract with them. This came as a bolt out of the blue and the timing wasn't great but that was the reality we had to deal with. Sadly over the next two weeks things were said and information was made public which never should have been and this lead to a lot of hurt on the part of our friends here who (like us) simply didn't understand the reasoning behind the decision. For our part we didn't agree with the decision and were very unhappy with the way in which the situation was managed. However what has been done can't be undone so we've tried to act as graciously as possible and attempted to ensure our words and actions remained honouring of the gospel. If we've failed we can only ask for forgiveness.

School Run

So here's the latest mode of transport for the school run. The boys are really excited about this new contraption (it's a Raleigh trail-a-bike), especially Joel as he'd outgrown the child seat a while ago.

I've been taking Eli to play-group on the child seat for a while now and Joel has been desperate to go on the bike again as I used to take him on it to school quite regularly.

Top Gear

We're alive and well but don't seem to get much time for blogging at the moment so you'll have to excuse the silence.

Just to prove we're still here, here's a photo of Joel playing 'Top Gear' (a well known TV program in the UK), he's re-enacting the episode in which the Hamster races a Bugatti Veyron against a Eurofighter Typhoon of the RAF.

Routines

We've been back for just over a week and it feels like we've hit the ground running in terms of following up on contacts, establishing new contacts and working out a plan of attack as to what we do, where we go and who we see over the next few months.

The boys have slotted back into their routines smoothly and they're both delighted to be back with their friends at school & playgroup.

Home Again

We arrived home safe & sound on Thursday morning after a great flight. Everything went very smoothly from the clear M25 to Heathrow to getting the luggage (all 120kg's) dropped off and getting something to eat in the airport. In fact, as we were eating our plane started boarding so we took a leisurely stroll to the departure gate. The plane took off on time and landed about 20 minutes early. Customs left us alone and Jo was waiting for us when we got through. We'd also arranged for Andy to help as we had a lot of luggage. The boys were great on the plane, Eli slept the whole time and Joel slept a bit and watched quite a lot of TV.

We're glad to be home and settling back into our routine. The boys are pleased to be back at school/play-group and we're glad to have some space again in the mornings. On Sunday we went to NewGen in Somerset West and enjoyed the service so we'll visit there again.

We're both back into our fitness regimes with Paula back into the gym 3/4 time a week and me back on my bikes. I've managed one MTB ride and one road ride so far which is great.

We'll post some photos of our time in Blighty and Spain in the next day or two.

Flying Tonight

A quick post before we leave for Heathrow tonight. We fly out at 9pm tonight and arrive in Cape Town at around 9.50 local time, it's quite a long flight.

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.

Can't Wait To Go Home

You know it's time to go home when your kids start telling you just how much they're missing their special toys. This is Joel's pirate ship which was a Christmas present 2 years ago from Grandad. Joel lives on board in his fantasy world and he's spent many a happy hour sailing the seven seas and fighting off other pirates whilst also trying to out run the Acheron as Cpt. Jack Aubrey.

Hiding

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.

Mission Education Visiting - Christ Church Parkwood

Today we were at Christ Church Parkwood in Maidstone. Dean preached and we followed this with our Powerpoint presentation, lunch and our photo presentation.

The morning was quite chaotic, one of the qualities we really love about Parkwood. The church is as unpretentious as is possible to be and yet the Spirit of God is so clearly present! We love it!!

Birthday

We had a nice family meal out at The Bottle House Inn in Penshurst last night to celebrate Paula's birthday.

Lisa had gone to town with some decorations (sadly not visible in the photos) and left a cake there too which was brought out after the meal.

The birthday celebrations just keep on coming and will continue once we get home to South Africa and we can celebrate with friends.

Left to right: Ian, Jo, Susannah & Paula

Fun At Penshurst Place

We spent a lovely morning at Penshurst Place yesterday with Richard and Sal, Joel's Godparents. We managed to dodge the showers and the boys had a great time playing in the amazing wooden playground. As always, Eli was very pleased with his exploits and, not to be outdone, Joel soon followed along and enjoyed a few of his own 'achievements'. It was lovely that Richard was able to take precious time away from the farm to join us. Eli and Richard seem to have a special bond - we think he will probably be Richard's size and build one day!

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!

Christmas Day

Thursday night was Christmas Day!

On our way back to the UK, Joel had asked if we were going to have Christmas dinner at Lisa's and he was particularly keen to have the prawn starter he clearly remembers from last Christmas. So the ball was set in motion and Christmas dinner was mostly prepared and sorted by Lisa with a bit of help from Paula & Grandad. I made some mulled wine.