Woodburning Bliss!

Winter has been a bit stop start so far this year but we're not complaining as it's not been as cold and wet as normal (although the dams are surprisingly full). Having said that the weather took a turn for the worse today and it's been raining quite a bit with a strong and cold northwesterly wind blowing.

It's times like this we're really grateful for our woodburning stove!

Trail-A-Bike At School

I had the pleasure of taking our Trail-a-bike into school today to talk to Eli's class as well as Nursery and Reception.

Eli was my very able assistant and helped to show how the trail-a-bike works. The kids particularly like the flag at the back and guessed correctly as to its purpose. After discussing a bit of bike safety we went to the car park where I gave rides to those who had a helmet with them (thankfully only a few did so my legs were saved).

Bottlebrush Tree

Our Bottlebrush tree is finally back in bloom again. Last year it was a major disappointment with hardly any blooms so it spent most of the year bare and looking scraggy.

This tree isn't actually native to South Africa so we shouldn't celebrate it but we do because we like it. There's a big drive in SA to remove all plants known as 'alien invaders' as they have a detrimental impact upon the indigenous vegetation and the water table. Thankfully however the Bottlebrush tree doesn't have a big thirst so there's no need to get rid of it.

Here's some info from a horticultural website: Bottlebrush is a small but spectacular evergreen tree or shrub. Of the family Myrtaceae it is well known as Callistemon or Bottlebrush Tree. It is easy to grow and loves warmth, moisture and sun. Bottlebrush is native to Australia mostly growing in moist soil in open or woodland sites.

Eli The Stuntman

Jackass The Movie has nothing on us!

Bike Races

Here's a sight that warms my heart!

It seems like my boys haven't ridden their bikes for a while, partly because the weather hasn't been great but also because Eli's bike was broken and I only just got around to fixing it.

The weather was perfect this afternoon at 24°C (it was freezing this morning) so with their fixed bikes both boys were off charging up and down the drive on their bikes. I pity the neighbours as the boys don't tend to do things quietly especially when they're competing in their own bike races.

Dancing Skeleton

Joel and his Dancing Skeleton, additional silliness provided by Eli

Buttonquail Camping (sort of)

We've just had a wonderfully relaxing couple of nights away at Buttonquail Nature Reserve about 30 minutes from home. This was the prize dean won in the parents bike race at the boy's school recently. We knew Buttonquail was remote but weren't prepared for just how remote! As we began the descent into the valley we realised that simply popping back into town was not a realistic option so we felt forced to stay put. Shame! Amazingly in this modern age the reserve has no electricity other than a bit of solar generated stuff for night lights and there was no cell phone reception. Fantastic!!!!!!

Rainproofing Hokkies & Wendy Houses

The weather has improved in the last 24 hours so we've been able to do some essential weatherproofing work on two of our church members houses.

Both were leaking really badly in the recent rains making life for their occupiers horrible. One of the families suffered so badly that one of the children is now in Hottentots hospital with a respiratory infection.

Michael was an absolute star and joined me yesterday and today to do the jobs. I couldn't have done any of it without him.

Hope In Despair

I've been going into Chris Nissen Park for five years now and I love the place and the folk that live there. I've seen it in all its splendour and grottiness but today it was the bleakest and most depressing I have ever seen it.

Many of the houses are soaked inside because the construction is so poor the water seeps in through the foundations. The top soil from the gardens and surrounding land is being washed away leaving brown rivers flowing down the roads. It's impossible to walk anywhere in the community without getting very wet feet!

Whoops!

The driver of this car got into an unfortunate pickle yesterday while it was chucking it down.

Apparently the access road was so flooded it was not visible so the driver had to take a chance as to where the road might be. Sadly he made the wrong choice, much to the amusement of the garage staff.

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.

Pirate Experience

After a great morning in church we took the boys for a half-term treat to the Boswell Wilkie Circus Pirate experience just outside Cape Town. Wow, what a show! The boys were spell bound by it and were on the edge of their seats all the way through.

It was a real surprise for the boys and we smuggled along all their pirate dressing up clothes so they were able to get into role for the show.

Dean really appreciated the skill of the jugglers whilst we all marveled at the sheer athleticism of all the performers. If the circus is ever passing your way make it a priority to go and see!

Cape Eagle Owl

We quite often have an owl sitting on our roof just after sunset so this evening I was able to quietly slip out, set the camera up and get a photo of it.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to focus 100% but still got an OK shot. The shutter was on 10secs at f5.6 and an ISO of 800. The shutter was so long that if you look carefully you can see how he moved his head.

5th Blogoversary

We've been running this blog for exactly five years today at 3:11pm, see us at Blogoversary. When we started blogging we were aiming specifically at family and friends but beyond that we can't really remember what we were hoping for the blog or what it would end up looking like, but five years on we're quite pleased with what the blog has achieved and how it looks today.

Thicko - Not!

Just did this for a bit of fun:


Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

Go on, give it a go.

Paula's Birthday

This morning we celebrated Paula's birthday by going out for breakfast at Jenna Viva's a local coffee shop in Somerset West. We had a wonderful time and the food was excellent!

Paula celebrated with a glass of bubbles whilst the boys had huge bacon and maple syrup flapjack stackers. Eli ordered seconds!

Daddy settled for a full English breakfast and wasn't disappointed. The grilled banana added a slightly unusual dimension to it.

We both loved the loose leaf Rooibos tea which also came with an hour glass timer to ensure the leaves didn't over infuse. The boys loved playing with the timer.

We're Back

Our few days away in Greyton were fantastic for a number of reasons. Firstly, we're really jealous of our family time and guard it carefully. Secondly, we all relaxed very quickly and enjoyed just chillin' together, we really enjoy just being with each other. Finally, Greyton is a gem of a village with friendly locals and some of the best cafes and restaurants to be found anywhere in SA. The two highlights of our time eating there were Vanilla Cafe and Peccadillos Bistro both of which provide sublime food at very reasonable prices. Vanilla have hit it just right in how they cater for families and the more sophisticated clientele. The garlic soup at Peccadillos was amazing.

We're Off

We're just off for three lovely nights in Greyton, one of the overnight stops on the Cape Epic. Man we're all in desperate need of this break!

No more posts until we get back.

US Pastor Opens Church To Guns

I realise that it is often difficult to understand cultural differences and how the gospel fits within certain cultures. For example, working out the gospel in an animistic culture throws up a whole set of difficulties which aren't immediately easy to address. As such I may have completely misunderstood this article on the BBC news website, but I'd love for someone to explain just how carrying a gun for personal protection fits with the gospel and teachings of Jesus.

Weekend

Dean is finally feeling better so we had a lovely afternoon walk in the Nature Reserve after church. Thanks for your prayers for him.

Church was great this morning and we had a visiting preacher from Mitchell's Plain. Graham has spoken at Grace before and we certainly enjoy him. We had a few visitors again today which is great as word seems to be getting out that Grace is a church of integrity. One of our biggest joys about church is that our boys love it. This is such a huge answer to prayer!

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.

A Moment In Time

Over on our photoblog Finnie's In Focus we've been running a series entitled: A Moment In Time and at present we're up to Part 17 with several more still to come.

Hope you enjoy the series.

Flu Is A Real Swine!

Spare a thought or a prayer for Dean as he's got himself a bout of real flu not the pseudo man-flu blokes normally seem to contract. He's on a hefty dose of antibiotics and is generally feeling pretty rubbish.

Hopefully normal service will resume shortly.

Winter Solstice

June 21 is the shortest day of the year also known as the winter solstice and we're pleased that it has finally arrived as now the days can begin to draw out and we can head back towards summer. Winter here in the Western Cape is quite unpleasant as it is the only part of the African continent where it rains. Everywhere else it rains in summer or seasonally as in they have no real winter. Tanzania was one such place whereas in Zimbabwe the winter was quite cold with temperatures dropping as low as -2°C but with midday highs of 25°C. Here the temperature never gets as low as that but with the rain and the northwester howling the windchill factor comes into play. All this means we're longing for summer!

Project Fix It - Goes Large

Project Fix It was an initiative we ran whilst with HCC in which we sought to bless our brothers & sisters in Chris Nissen Park by fixing their homes up for winter to ensure they all had leak fee roofs, proper windows etc etc.

Now, we're in Macassar and we're aiming to go further and higher by replacing existing dwellings/hokkies with wendy houses and actually building homes where possible.

Father's Day

Joel's school celebrated Father's day this morning by inviting the dads to come and do some silly races followed by bacon & egg rolls.

It was good fun and everyone entered into the spirit of the event and had a good laugh. It was also good to meet some of the other dads, you begin to understand some of the kids a bit better!

Joel participated in a beanbag race but Eli couldn't be persuaded to do anything other than chase around after Daniel his best friend.

Do Not Adjust Your Set..

The last two weeks have been odd and just a bit frustrating as I've not been able to get on and do things I wanted and needed to do. This was compounded by the boys having a five day weekend with Friday, Monday and Tuesday off school. As such I was unable to do any visiting and couldn't get involved in the stuff I normally do. Thankfully Paula is now home and life is back to normal, at least for just over a week until the school holidays. I've felt like I needed to adjust the proverbial TV set but as the continuity announcer always says; "Do not adjust your set, normal service will resume shortly." Thankfully normal service is resumed.

Rape - A Way Of Life?

Here's a shocker from the BBC News website: South African rape survey shock. According to the survey one quarter of South African men have raped a woman or child. That is truly horrific!

The study was done by the South African Medical Research Council so it's not easy to dismiss its findings.

Palace Fixtures 09/10 Season

The new football season begins in August with the full fixture list being published today. As ever no-one is allowed to publish any fixture list because of some outdated and immoral arrangement between the FA, Football League and a data company. Anyway, there are ways around the draconian arrangement such as visiting the BBC who have a license to publish them.

Mummy's Home

Mummy got home yesterday morning. We were all excited to have her home again and the boys were delighted to see her plane land at Cape Town airport. we got to watch the plane taxi all the way to its berth which was quite cool.

Our family felt incomplete without mummy and whilst we were nowhere near a 'Lord of the Flies' scenario, life just wasn't the same without her.

World Blood Donor Day

Today is World Blood Donor Day. I had no idea there was such a day but am pleased to see that there is. If you want to know more visit the World Blood Donor Day website.

I used to give blood in the UK but after having malaria in Tanzania the blood service got all snobby on me and permanently struck me off their lists which is a shame as my blood group is Oneg. Thankfully the South African blood service have no such hang-ups and because their screening is amongst the best in the world (if not the best) they know my blood is safe.

Two More Sleeps

We're on the home straight now as we're only two sleeps away from picking mummy up at the airport. Needless to say Joel is really excited but Eli doesn't seem to get it all as he is a bit young.

Joel has really enjoyed his chats with mummy on the telephone and he seems so grown up as he chats away.

Unfortunately Joel's earache turned out to be an inflamed ear canal which seems to be getting worse. Our Dr was great and saw him just after church so he's now got some drops for his it. This afternoon he's had quite a high temperature so please continue to pray for him. Thankfully he's gone off to bed in fine fettle.

Farting Wellies

Once again the Helderberg Nature Reserve comes up trumps as the place to go locally. The weather was totally foul today but we went anyway. Our good friend Jo (in the blue car) joined us, I think against her better judgment, but we managed to have some fun. Somewhere along the line Joel managed to get a welly full of water (see piccy). He was so chuffed when it made a 'farting noise' when he took it off. We made it all the way to the 'climbing tree' where we stayed for all of five minutes before repairing to the cafe. As ever my boys demonstrated their 'uniqueness' by asking for ice-lollies on a cold and miserable day. They truly are odd.

Sciencentre

The weekend has started early for us as the boys school has decided to throw two teacher training days onto the weekend to make for a very long weekend which includes a public holiday on Tuesday. That means I've really got my work cut out as I can't escape during school hours.

Home Alone

Someone once said that being at home with daddy was tantamount to being left at home alone. Not sure who said that but I'm happy to report that they weren't 100% accurate, at least not here.

Surprise!

On Thursday Paula flew to Blighty for a very well earned and well deserved break on her own. Truth be told it was payback for the Cape Epic (in case you missed what that was all about, click here)

Much subterfuge went into planning it especially as we wanted her trip to coincide with the birthday celebrations for Stephen's 50th and Susannah's 18th, so many thanks to Sal for helping with the scheming!

Aunty M

I took a phone call from one of the home based carers last night asking me to come in to Chris Nissen today because the mother of one of our patients who died last year had just been taken into hospital. I went in to find a very classic situation of hopelessness! It seems that Aunty M has classic first signs of Alzheimer's disease. She is not recognizing family members, getting very confused and upset and is generally causing anxiety to everyone around her. The worrying thing is that she spends every day supposedly caring for her 3 year old great granddaughter.

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.

On A Hot Tin Roof

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".

Media Stupidity Pandemic

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!

Wobbly, Winter, Weird, Weather

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.

And The Winner Is..

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!!

God's Plans Are Far Bigger Than Ours!

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.