Jan and Miekie's Journal

Look who is walking now!

2011-03-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

Janita gave her first steps just before 10 months. Very soon she stopped crawling and started to walk everywhere. Initially she held her own hand or her dress, but now she almost runs, waving her arms about. These photos were taken when she was nearly 11 months.

“Koppie klim!”

2011-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

A while ago, Franco and Gert climbed the koppie (hill) behind our house. Franco couldn’t wait to go up again, so the next weekend all of us went up – except for Oupa who manned the telephone in case someone phoned in connection with a puppy (we had just advertised) Hendrik was still at church and Frans at work.

The horse trail at the foot of the koppie.

Dorette with Janita and Thelwyn with Sandy

It is quite steep uphill and tough for little ones, so I took Franco by the hand – end of pictures of our way up! Leading someone up the hill reminded me very much of the about 20 months that I led my mother up the hill: She had her crutch in the one hand, and held onto me – her walking tree – with the other. I got to know every stone and tree: where to get her to step and where to hold on – her eyesight was very bad. We used to chat all the way up and i have precious memories of those times - I’ll cherish them forever.

On top of the hill – standing by the plaque Ma unveiled on her 90th birthday. We had celebration prayer times here on her 90th and her 91st birthdays. She died two months before her 92nd birthday.

Janita got out of her carrier and also paid her respect to “Oumagrootjie se plaat”.

Hello Oupa!

We phoned Oupa Jan to come out of the house to wave at the children.

Janita had had enough of family photos!

Time to go down again – Gert only carried Franco across an opening between the rocks – for the rest they walked down on their own two feet.

Rustyd. And no, Martelize is not sitting on the edge of a cliff – this is just a rock next to the path.

My precious blue eyed Franco!
Thank you God, for such a precious koppie and such precious times that we have spent – and will spend- there.

Janita got grommets

2011-01-06T23:39:00.000-08:00

A while ago Janita got an ear infection that simply would not clear up despite 3 courses of antibiotics and stuff to drain mucous. The ear nose and throat specialist decided on grommets. Here are some pics of operation day. It happened on her 9th month day! Gert stayed at home with Franco who wasn’t feeling too well himself and only wanted to be with his dad.

Dorette and Janita were at the hospital at 6:00 and I joined them a few minutes later – but we were told to wait in the reception area as the ward was not open yet. Janita was in good spirits and fortunately no one in the vicinity was eating or drinking!
She was intrigued by all the stuff in the ward, especially the drip stands on wheels. The cot had nice bars to grip.

Soon it was time to put on the hospital gown – can’t crawl about in that! She loved chewing my beads and even went into the theatre area with them. (The staff there thought the L’s were Catholic and that the beads were some kind of rosary…)
Janita was very upset when she woke up and threw a proper tantrum – she did not want to eat or drink, but once Dorette nursed her, she settled down for another nap and afterwards she was fine. I’m so proud of you Dorette, that you still breastfeed her a little bit - al is dit net vir ‘n trosie. Daar is darem niks soos ‘n mamma nie!

The best toy ever is…

2011-01-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

Borrowed list

2010-12-31T21:57:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this list from Arnold’s mommy, but added the clothes item myself.

End Of the Year Survey

Where did you begin 2010? At home with the children and grandchildren.
Did you have any encounters with the police? No, fortunately none that I can remember. No accidents, no speeding tickets.
Where did you go on vacation? Umhlanga Rocks (when I swam the Midmar) and Cape Town for our anniversary.
Did you know anybody who got married? Our twin nephews: Martin and Sharon and later Hendrik and Stella. Both Kwazisabantu weddings…. oh no those were 2009!
Did you know anybody who passed away? Tiemie, Anne’s sister in law. She died of diabetes. What a shock! Missed her at our family reunion.
What concerts/shows did you go to? We went to the opera once…. La Traviata.
Where do you live now? We’ve been living on the farm for 16 years.
Descr ibe your birthday I went to the zoo with Thelwyn and Dorette and the little ones. Dorette was still on maternity leave, but Thelwyn took a day off. GREAT, GREAT FUN! Had lots of SMS’s but could not reply – new phone and memory was supposedly full! Very frustrating! Jan and I had dinner at Pachos. Wish I had a photo of that.
Did you get any tattoos or piercing? Nope. But I was with Dorette when she had her ears pierced.
What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2010?
Agree that Tammy start Grade 10.
What has/have been your favorite moment(s)? Janita’s birth. Outings with and visits by family and friends.
What's something you learned about yourself? That I (I!!) have high cholesterol and that my uterus needs checking.
Any new additions to your family? Yes! Gert and Dorette’s Janita and Hendrik and Stella’s Jean and Martin and Sharon’s Luca.
What was your best month? May – when we had our umteenph honeymoon in the Cape.
What music will you remember 2010 by? Waka-waka – the world cup song.
Made new friends? Yes. We joined a house church. Very rewarding.
Favourit Night[s] out? Our anniversary and birthday dinners.
Any regrets? Yes, for wasted time. But Jesus forgives me, so I can forgive myself.
What do you want to change in 2011? I want to lose 1.5 kg (at least), I want to be an EXCELLENT teacher. I want to get involved with a local cell group.
Overall, how would you rate this year? On a scale from 1- 10 I would rate this year a "9".
What would you change about 2010? I wish I had gone to church more often.
Other than home, where did you spend most of your time? With Tammy.
Any life changes in 2010? No much, but I learned a lot about nutrition and have banned aspertame and margarine from the house. Since eating the right fats and other cholesterol lowering foods, I have lost two kilograms. I haven't had been sick at all in 2010.
Changed your hairstyle? No, but am trying to grow grey gracefully now!
Get a new job? No, I continued homeschooling Tammy for the 3rd year.
Do you have a New Year's resolution? Plenty! A blogpost full. More New Year’s prayers than resolutions.
Do anything embarrassing? I tripped on the parking lot of a shopping centre and fell really hard – felt very stupid!
Be honest - did you watch American Idol? No – I watched the semi-finals and finals of " South Africa’s got talent“ and now and then “Strictly come dancing” (BBC – we haven’t had that for a long time in S.A.) and now and then America’s “So you think you can dance.” I’m not all that into reality shows.
Are you happy to see 2010 go? Yes, what is done is done. I look forward to 2011. Lots of exciting projects.
Been snowboarding? I wish!
New clothes?
I got high rise jeans. Jeh! I got a turquoise and a red dress and I love them both. And two turqoise tops and a black top to match my turqouise and black skirts. 2010 was my turquoise year! And practical walking sandals - less tiring than flip flops.
Been naughty or nice?
I think I’ve been more nice that naughty.
What are you wishing for in 2011? That’s another blogpost!

Family Reunion 2010

2010-12-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

We had our annual “De Vos” family reunion on Gene and Lalie’s farm, Goodland in December. I missed my mother. She was such a practical woman and planned these events very well. To have a place where we, as a family, could get together is the reason why she bought the farm, where we now live, in the first place. However the family has since grown so large that is far more practical to have it at Goodland, where there is lots of space for everyone. We are now the “old people” and our children the “adults” and the great grandchildren the children. It makes one realize how short life is! It feels like yesterday when my sisters and I were the mommies of little ones, constantly busy taking children to the toilet, helping them in an out of swimming things, rubbing on suntan lotion and wiping sticky hands!
I did not have my camera with me on Saturday when the L’s and Wally and Jessica were also there, but here are some pictures of Sunday morning.

We had our Sunday “service” at 10:00 in the hall. We started by singing Ma’s favourite hymns and then Ruth and Dirk shared their horrific experience three months ago and how it had strengthened their faith: In September Ruth was in a hurry to get to work and she asked Dirk to help her to get the bakkie (pick-up) started. Their nephew, Matty, had come unnoticed out of the house. The bakkie jumped and Matty was squashed between the wall and the house. At first he seemed lifeless, but his grandfather, the missionary Erlo Stegen, picked him up and walked with him in the garden and prayed… he soon seemed much better and they rushed him to the hospital. There a series of miracles happened: he was not going to survive the operation, but he did; his leg seemed white and lifeless and they were told it would have to be amputated… but after prayer, the leg was pink again…. and yet in the end he died. The answered prayers were God’s way of saying that He is in control. Scripture that Ruth had received (Ps 139) said “When I was woven together…All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” This gave them great comfort. Matty’s parents gave a thank you letter for all the prayers and support they had received. The scripture they mentioned in the letter was 1 Peter 5: 6-11: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” We were all humbled and amazed at their faith and love and especially their determination to “LOOK UP!”

Elsabe and Koos with some of their grandchildren. (Their 11th and 12th grandchildren arrived this month. Jean on the 14th morning and Luca today, 29 Dec 2010. Hendrik en Stella, Martin en Sharon: Veels geluk met die kleintjies. Hoop julle is almal by die volgende familiefees!)

Koos, Jan, Cobus with Carien and Netta.

Martelize, Hendrik and Thelwyn

The family lining up for coffee and brunch after the service.

Birthday boy Jan (Cobus and Netta )with his new train. Abia (Nelia and Jopie ) asleep in her pram.

Carien (youngest of Cobus and Netta) busy on the floor of the hall. Below: Urielle (Jopie and Nelia) and Elsabe (Cobus and Netta) with party plates.

Below: Dirk and Ruth’s 4 children: Arno, Ria, Josh and Rudi.

Eugenie and George. (Are we hearing wedding bells??)

Ethie and Jansie (our 7 highway girl)

Last goodbyes on the stoep. (The French don’t greet when they leave. The Afrikaners don’t leave when they greet.)
Family, I love you! You are all so special. I’m looking forward to New Year’s Eve when some of us will get together again! Hurrah for family!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

We had a very blessed Christmas with family. On Friday night the F’s came over – at least 5 of them as this year was “in-law” Christmas for them. The whole F and B clan will come together for our Symbol event on Old Year’s Eve – a twenty three year old tradition that we normally keep on Christmas Eve.

Janita in her party dress Martelize in her party dress

Trying to get a group photo of our grandchildren, but with wriggly Janita and camera shy two year olds, it was not too successful!

It was a lovely warm evening so we sat outside on our new extended stoep.

We usually use practical wine red or dark multicoloured tablecloths, but for this occasion, we decked all the tables in white. When I was in the material shop I saw a bride rolling down white flimsy fabric with silver glitter and I thought it would give the tables a Chrismassy feel. Later I realised the mommies would be uncomfortable to let the little ones eat at such a fancy table, so we got transparent plastic to cover it- my fancy white table, but practical and no fear of spills and smears.

We started the evening with a nativity “puppet show” . Martelize immediately wanted all the animals out of the stables: she wanted “Jessica” (the horse) for herself. They loved the Bethlehem star.

Janita trying out the gift of gold… and soon Mary was without a headband….

On Christmas morning, Gert’s brother, Hannes (left) joined us. He brought his smart camera: we planned to have lots of family photos taken, but sadly it did not quite materialize the way I had hoped. We’ll try again another day!

We all dressed in red and blue…. but some red clothes dissapeared before the photos could be taken! But I did get a few precious moments for my collage to be. (Hopefully I’ll get even better ones from Hannes and Frans.)

Most of our gifts were wrapped in newspaper – it’s cheap, fun to tear and very easy to clear up!

What is that?

Martelize trying out her new make-up.

Our little engineer busy with bottles and gravel stones.

Martelize got a trampoline from her parents. Fun for all!

Oom Deon and Oupa Jo watching Martelize’s antics.

While everyone else had a nap, the little L’s had a splash.
Wrapped in their new swimming towels. (Not the most practical colours, but that is all the material shop had – sorry Dorette!)

Supper for a hungry girl!

“Bring ‘n lappie asseblief!” This is why the plastic was a good idea!

Some more hopping on the trampoline.
Thank you Jesus that we could celebrate your birthday with such joy and happiness.

Mountain Expedition

2010-12-13T12:39:00.000-08:00

We had lovely rains over the weekend. The family were all here for Sunday lunch and we had…PANCAKES! Gert and Hendrik did most of the baking.
Little children cannot stay indoors all day, so in between showers Martelize and Franco went out to play. And outside there was a big heap of gravel, left over from our stoep expansion project.

For a long time two little mountaineers climbed up the mountain and rolled down, climbed up, rolled down, climbed up, rolled down…

A man’s nose must be clean before he starts mountaineering.

The expedition begins.

Nearly there!

“Kom neef!”

High five from the summit!

Look at the view!

Franco rolling down - too fast for the camera!

“…. and Jill came tumbling after!”

Uphill again!

This time Franco reaches the summit first!

A very grubby little boy, getting grubbier by the minute! (The gravel was pretty wet from all the rain!)

Then it was bath-time for the grubby cousins, but at first Martelize did not want to get into the bath at all. “Wil nie bad nie!” I wondered how Thelwyn was going to dryclean such a dirty little girl! In the meantime the two L’s were having a whale of a time.

However, it was not long before Martelize also wanted to join in the fun and quite willingly started to undress.

My three darling grandchildren watching Tannie Dorette singing “Rol op die tolletjie…!”

Bath time is play-time! Very few squabbles about toys.

“Sit down Janita! A foam bath is a slippery bath!” Janita is at the crawling and standing and walking along furniture stage!

“Uitklim!” But Martelize is not ready to get out yet! Bath-time is such fun…!

Please God, let the children always be such good friends and let them have memories of the farm as a fun place to be at!

Jolga update #1

2010-12-10T04:52:00.000-08:00

About two hours after number 9 was born, number 10 was born! A white pup! So now she has five black and five white gorgeous "labradortjies". If you want to see what Jolga and Joris looked like when they were pups, check here! Except that Jolga is too young, the timing could not have been better: I'll still be home for another month and next week the rest of the family will have holiday too.

Birthing day

2010-12-10T03:16:00.001-08:00

Our first puppies in more than 14 years! Jolga is only a teenager (20 months) and wasn’t supposed to have babies still for a long time. When we realised she was on heat, we immediately placed her in kennels…. but we were too late! A while ago it became clear that she was very pregnant indeed.

Last weekend Jolga cut the back of her front paw very badly and Thelwyn took her to the vet to be stitched up – a mere R1500. (We were in Utrecht, so many thanks Thelwyn!) They did this delicate operation beautifully, but of course the bandages had to stay on – which already meant two more trips to the vet to have her wound cleaned and bandaged.

Our dogs normally sleep outside, but Jolga was kept inside – it was raining outside and the wound had to stay as dry as possible. I even made a “sock” to go over the bandages to keep them clean. Yesterday it stayed on beautifully.

Last night the power was off, but Hendrik woke around 4:00 and got up to switch off the light in the scullery where Jolga was sleeping. He found the first pup lying on the floor, still covered in its sack. He pulled off the sack, but Jolga would have nothing to do with it, so I kept it warm under my T-shirt. Meanwhile Thelwyn redid Jolga’s bandages that came off during the night. Poor pregnant (and in labour) Jolga, having her leg bandaged.

Jolga had to go out for a wee, and she had the 2nd one, a white one, in the front garden, but she left him for Hendrik to pick up and rescue and headed straight for the damp, sandy spot under our railway container behind the house. She had her 3rd pup there, but also abandoned him and disappeared. So another one for my tummy incubator. We were getting very worried. The pups seemed healthy, but they had to drink.

To make a long story short, Hendrik eventually found her under our trailer and put her in one of our bathrooms. At last she settled down and allowed the pups to drink. We left her, thinking it would be best to leave her alone and to let nature go its course. However, when I returned I found a cold white male, still covered in its sack by her tail. I pulled off the sack and she started to lick him, but he looked pretty lifeless for a loooong time! I rubbed him and “incubated” him until I could feel him move a little. He seems fine now. When the next pup appeared, she again just ignored him, but we put him by her front paws and she started to lick him – and did the same with the rest! It is almost as if she is not aware when a pup is born, but if you give the newborn to her, she knows what to do.

Hendrik is doing maternity duty now and I have to go and relieve him. She has 9 (NINE!) pups: 5 Blacks and 4 whites. They are all beautiful, big and suckling well at the moment.

Our beautiful pregnant fairy, just dying to go outside

The first pup: he is lucky to be alive. If Hendrik hadn’t got up to switch off the light, he probably would not have made it, but he is big and strong and kicking.

Bathroom scenes. (The “fluffy” one isn’t really fluffy – he was still damp when the picture was taken.)

We bought a beautiful huge kennel for her and tried to persuade her before B-day that it was hers, but as yet, she has absolutely not been interested in her R1650 kennel. Hopefully we can move her and her brood out there some time later.

Praise the Lord that it is holiday and that we could be at home. (I was going to go to meet Thea today, but had to cancel because I had not succeeded in uploading “Photoscape.” She was going to show me the ropes. Just as well, Thea. God knew why I had to stay at home today!)

Right now my head is feeling fuzzy and I think it’s time I washed my face and combed my hair. (It’s already 11: 45!) What is it to be a midwife/ parent of babies! You should have seen me, trying to tidy the house and to eat some breakfast, “pregnant” with a puppy under my T-shirt. (Jan is in an all day planning meeting – bet he is having a hard time trying to focus, after the 4:00 am birth of number 1!)

P.S. Today is our “moving to the farm” 14th anniversary. Can’t believe we have been living here for 14 years already!

Franco’s long awaited gift!

2010-12-03T03:11:00.000-08:00

Gert and Dorette had a special climbing frame made for Franco. They researched various climbing frames and in the end designed their own and had it custom made. Of course they also asked my input. (They did not dare not too! : –) This preschool teacher is a very firm believer in lots of gross motor activities. In my concert days, a climbing frame on the stage was part of it and I’m so proud that Inkululeko still does it! I want to go and show Inkululeko’s DVD’s to my grandchildren’s schools to inspire them to do a bit more…)

Anyway, the end result is a great frame and the company that has made it, has now added it to their collection and it is their flagship frame! There are various ways to get to the top: a ladder, a rope ladder,a fireman’s steel pole and a steep incline with a rope. They can add a hanging knotted rope next to the steel pole later…. (Sorry, I get carried away again!)

At the top there is a shaded platform and a swinging bridge. There is also much scope for strengthening the shoulder girdle: a trapeze, gym rings and monkey bars (a horizontal ladder) to swing from bar to bar.

Franco loves his gym and Janita likes the swing. The pics will describe his glee better than I can:

Look who can hang from his arms!

But it’s a good thing Dad is there when those little hands start to slip!

There is more than one way to get to the top. Franco on his way to the hanging bridge.

Almost there!

Nog net oorklim dan’s ek op die hangbrug!

Made it across the bridge!

Down the pipe!

Time to check out the new swing!

Janita’s turn to try out the swing.

Hold on Janita!

A safe swing for Janita!

Afterwards Franco helped his dad cook supper in the kitchen.

Meanwhile Janita (just turned 8 months) insisted on walking. (She crawls everywhere and walks along the furniture or when you hold both her hands. Eager Beaver!)

And where are the pictures of the swimming? Sorry, didn’t take any – was too busy enjoying myself in the water!

Ek kom weer kuier hoor!

Have halter, will saddle up

2010-11-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

Martelize was trying her best to put a halter onto Joris, our Labrador, but without any success. She was getting pretty frustrated so Thelwyn decided to help her. Thelwyn's German Shepherd Sandy proved to be more co-operative.

To all our American friends: HAVE A VERY BLESSED THANKSGIVING TOMORROW!!

‘n Hartseer dag… maar wat ‘n mooi dag.

2010-11-19T23:07:00.001-08:00

My sister Anne’s sister in law, Tiemie, recently died after a sudden diabetic coma. What a shock! The two widows had been living together for years and Anne will surely miss her companion and cook and bottlewasher! Tiemie was such a friendly serving Martha – always willing to help others on the quiet.

The service was so positive: 2 Tim 4. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that Day. Children of God always have hope. The departure is sad, but we are glad that she has finished the race Tiemie now has the victory that was bought by Christ on the cross. We can follow her example.

She was buried on the farm where she grew up – next to her mother’s grave and the other graves and memorial stones of her brother, her father and grandparents.

Most of the guests have already departed, but the family hangs around while Anne gathers the notes on the flowers.

On the way to Tiemie’s cousin’s house for tea. What a beautiful summer afternoon in the Free State!

Sterkte Anne en al die Frasers. Ek weet julle gaan haar baie mis.

Neither rotten nor good

2010-11-13T00:27:00.001-08:00

I bought a box of green avocadoes a while ago and was very disappointed when they all had black spots before they were fully ripe and useful. On cutting them open, most were still edible. However with the green flesh dotted with small black marks, it looked very unappetising- certainly not presentable to guests! Serving it would certainly bring no honour to me!

I looked at the rest of the box: what would I do with them? Throw them all in the green waste bin or try to salvage them by cutting out the black spots? What a chore! Would it be worthwhile or would the avo’s turn black and unusable immediately, forcing me to throw them out anyway and without receiving any “fruit” from them?

It made me think…am I a “usable avo with clear spotless flesh” or am I dotted with black spots? Am I useful? Can’t be if I’m dotted with black spots!

God, please do not give up on me! Don’t throw me out – please cut out the rotten pieces. I cannot do it on my own: I need your grace! I want to glorify you!

The rock climbing frame is a huge success

2010-11-07T09:08:00.001-08:00

Martelize was still asleep when the L’s arrived. As she already had had a very long nap, Thelwyn decided to wake her, but Sleepy Head did not want to wake up until she heard that Franco was here! Immediately she was wide awake and eager to see him!

It was a glorious spring afternoon and of course the best place to play was outside. Franco was climbing onto the braai stand (not an interesting climbing frame), so I suggested they climb on the rocks instead. (These are the rocks that emerged when the swimming pool was closed up and which the front end loader dumped on our lawn.)

As first the little ones were a little bit hesitant to stand up on the “high” rocks, but they soon gained confidence and made a game of moving from rock to rock!

Kyk waar staan ek! En kyk waar staan ek!

En kyk waar staan ek ook! Volgende jaar klim en klouter ek ook!

Universiteitsoord’s birthday and My list of Songs

2010-11-01T20:45:00.001-07:00

This year my childhood and young adulthood congregation, Universiteitsoord, celebrates it’s 50th year. Last Sunday was the one of the many celebration Sundays. Ds. Madder Steyn preached – he was one of the student preachers while I was at university. He preached about Phillipians 4:4 and that is when I remembered that there actually is a spiritual song starting with F in Afrikaans!

People who were at the corner stone unveiling 45 years ago, were invited to light a candle. (Soon invited anyone who wanted to, was invited to light a candle – sadly the church was not nearly as full as I remembered it!)

I was deeply moved when I lit a candle, remembering how much the church had meant to me in my growing years and what wonderful times we had there. I went to “kinderkrans” (a get together organisation for primary school children) in the big old house that was later demolished to make space for the church which was built there in the sixties. Our catechism class was the second group to be confirmed in the new church and we had our first communion there.

This picture of Universiteitsoord was taken circa 1967 – trees and plants have since grown high!

While we were dating, Jan and I went to church there: the church was always packed to capacity in the evenings – about 2000! (And during exam time, it was fuller than full!) After three years we were married there. The reception was in the church hall. Many songs, like Psalm 18 and the “Aandlied” (Aan U o God my dankgesange) , specifically remind me of that time and these songs are included in my list below.

After the celebration service, it was wonderful to talk to our previous (all old and retired now) ministers and their wives: Ds Kobus Potgieter and his wife Mercia, Ds Andrie du Toit, Ds Dirk Oosthuizen and Tannie Linda. My father was an active “ouderling” (elder) and all the ministers remembered him well and therefore us too!

My father always made notes of all the sermons he listened to. After more than a hundred sermons, he analysed them, finding that the church preached far too little about love. He wrote to the “Kerkbode” and spoke on the radio about it and the situation has since changed. Long after my father’s death, Ds. Madder wrote in his biography “Prof. Dirk, ons het jou soort so nodig vandag!” (Prof. Dirk we need your type urgently today!)

A while ago I wrote about how I play the ABC game to count lengths as I swim. This is my list of songs: More than one song for each letter, just in case! I am not 100 % sure of the words of all the songs (how sad is that!), but I know most and am inspired to learn all of them well.

A	Aan U o God my dankgesange (562) Alle volke klap jul hande (547)
B	Besing die Lof van Jesus saam (215) Bring lof aan die Vader (205)
C	Christ the Lord is risen today
D	**Dank Vader dank vir die genade (562 :3) Diep, o God, diep neergeboë (232)
E	Eer aan die Vader wat alles gemaak het. **Ek het U hartlik lief, o Heer! (Psalm 18)
F	Fillipense 4 vers 4 sê verbly jou in die Heer Father we adore you.
G	”God is liefde!”juig ons harte (334) Gees van God wat in my woon (442)
H	**Heil’ge Jesus wat my lewe (271) Heilig, Heilig, Heilig
I	In die stad van Koning Dawid Is dit, is dit my koning?
J	Juig al wat leef (Psalm 100) Jubel o nasies dis die koning wat aankom.
K	Jesus neem die kleine kinders (293) Kom dank nou almal God. ( 188)
L	Laat ons sing van ons Verlosser (219) Lei U ons, lig (511)
M	My enigste troos (292) Majesteit (175)
N	Neem my lewe, laat dit, Heer (308) Nader my God, by U (512)
O	Ons Vader wat woon in die hemel (266) Op Berge en in dale
P	Praat ek mense, eng’le tale (530) Prys die Heer met blye galme (Psalm 146)
Q (V)	Voel jy soms of die Here te ver is 518 ’n Vaste Burg is onse God (476)
R	Here, Redder**, groot en magtig (280) Ek roem U naam, ek wil graag sing. (Groen boekie 9)
S	Soek allereers die koninkryk van God (471) Soek in God jou sterkte, kry by Hom jou krag (513)
T	Twee ogies om Gods werk te sien. Loof Hom met die tromme. To God be the glory

The songs marked with red, are the ones I “sang” this morning while training– some were not even on my list, or a favourite, but they’re the ones that came to my mind… I guess God wanted me to sing them! My favourites are masked with asterisks – and I did not even sing my favourite, favourite “Here, Redder, groot en magtig” (Guide my, O my great Redeemer)!

Do you have favourites? Would love to know what they are!

Rain at last!

2010-10-28T12:13:00.001-07:00

This spring has been extremely dry. Every now and then our hopes would flare up, only to fizzle out within minutes:

A few times we had sweltering hot afternoons with very pregnant dark skies…

and rain that started promisingly, but soon stopped after a thunderclap. Every time before the pavements even got wet!

We heard about Johannesburg and Pretoria getting lovely rains, but here on the farm this was all we got!

On Sunday we had a special gathering to pray for rain and when we woke up in the middle of the last night, we could hear soft rain.

This morning the farm roads were wet! No really muddy wet, but 7.5 mm wet! Praise the Lord!

Jurielle and Abia’s birthday party.

2010-10-25T07:07:00.001-07:00

My sister Lalie’s granddaughters differ 13 months, so they had a combined 1st and 2nd party. It was great fun!

Oupa with the two birthday girls: Abia and Urielle

Thanks for a great party, Nelia and Jopie!

The A.B.C. game and counting

2010-10-16T14:19:00.000-07:00

I have started to train for the Midmar mile. For me, training boils down to swimming one mile per week. (When I asked another swimmer in the dressing room whether she swam often, she replied that she swam 120 minutes every day, because she swam all the open air miles! Every day…!! One hundred and twenty minutes?! No wonder my time for swimming 1 mile is at least minutes slower than hers!)

Anyway, so far this “season” I’ve only trained in the gym swimming pool. As it is only 20 m long, I have to swim 80 lengths. That means I have to COUNT the lengths. The two previous years I meditated on Bible passages in a specific order to help me to count and to while the time away. (Ps 1, 2, 3 etc or Matt 1, Mark 2, Luke 3 etc.)
This year I decided to count 4 sets of 20 lengths and to count with the…. alphabet. During the first 20 lengths I meditate on whatever comes to mind – I believe that the Holy Spirit guides me here:

A : arbeidsaam wees (work diligently), aandag gee (pay attention).
B: bely, (confess), bid (pray) beplan (plan)
C: Be calm, creative, cool
D: doelgerig (goal orientated), dadelik (immediately, i.e. do not procrastinate…) dissipline
E: eerlik (honest)
F: fluks (diligent)
G: Gees vervuld, geduldig, goed, (filled with Holy Spirit, patience, goodness)
H: hulpvaardig (willing to help)
And so on and so on until I get to the letter T. (I substitute Q for V as there are many more things to meditate on that start with v than with q)

Mostly God tells me to work smarter and to check my temper and to be more helpful. Invariably when I get to N, I am reminded to be "netjies" (neat) and "natuurlik" (natural) - a bit of a contradiction here or is God telling me that to be neat should be part of my nature?

For the 2nd set of 20 lengths, I pray for family and friends and often people I do not even know e.g. C: the miners in Chile. (My blog friends are also included in my prayer list.) I know lots of special people whose name starts with A: Alta H, Alta M, Alet, Annemarie, Anne F, Anne J etc. etc.
I only know two people and one organisation whose name starts with an I so can pray a little longer for them. When I come to V (in place of Q) I pray for an old school acquaintance. I wonder what has become of her?

For the third set of 20 lengths, I “sing” hymns and other gospel songs:

A: Aan U of God my dankgesange, U wil ek in my aandlied prys
B: Besing die lof van Jesus saam.
C. Christ the Lord is risen today
D. Danklied (Thank you) and so forth.

The first time I tried to “sing” according to the alphabet, there were letters that I could not match to a song. When I got home, I fetched the new song book of our church. I now have more than one song for each letter. (There are no Afrikaans gospel songs that start with F, but there is "Father we adore you..." and my favourite "Our Father who art in heaven". in English.)

I do not know the songs well enough to sing them off by heart, so I checked the words. So sad, that the words of so many hymns that I have known more or less, have changed . What do I do now? Do I check in the old books and use the older, better known words, or do I learn the new words? I am still in the process of looking up songs and have found real gems.

I loved the A.B.C. game when I was little when we all tried to come up with a boy’s name/ a vegetable/ a car/ a flower etc. that started with a specific alphabet letter. I now enjoy this mind game even more than before! This time because it fills my mind in a positve, healthy way.

Any suggestions for prayer, meditation or hymns and gospel songs?

Two nephews and a niece came for a visit

2010-10-12T08:12:00.001-07:00

Recently the H’s of Natal came to visit. The elder son, Evan, had been chosen to participate in an athletics competition in Pretoria, so it was a good occasion for them to visit the farm again and for the children to …..ride horse!

My “good” camera had gone missing – can you believe it! Knowing that the “old” one often let me

Technorati Tags: Family

down, my heart was not in taking pictures, but there were a few moments too good to miss! I am just so sorry that I did not get one of Hananiël! Sorry, Han! But come again in December and I’ll make doubly sure I get you in a picture!

Here are a few snaps of the weekend:

Almarie getting to know Martelize and Franco in the sea-sand container.

Thelwyn and Janita looking on.

“

Martelize called “Heaven, Heaven…!” “(Evan, Evan). He was her hero!

Franco also wanted his feet covered with sand!

Evan pushed the two little girls on the swing while…

the moms chatted on the stoep around the remainders of the “Braaidag” lunch. If you wonder about the green and gold – it was Heritage Day! Hendrik thought it was for Brazil. Hoe kon jy dit nou vir een oomblik dink! If you wonder about the stacked chairs: they make wonderful high chairs for the little ones.

Meantime the men folk chatted inside… Note Gert’s shirt!

And the two girls went on swinging!

End of an Era

2010-10-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

As I have said before, my own children loved swimming and swam A LOT when they were little. We did not have a swimming pool, and most of the swimming happened in the farm’s “swimming pool”, i.e. a pool without a pump or filter. Sadly I have very few photos of the many happy hours of swimming that happened there:

Thelwyn, about 18 months, in the background with wings. Jansie in the foreground. When Jansie was a toddler, she was a bit afraid of the water, but Lalie and I got her to “swim” between the two of us, making the distance longer very gradually. We did the same with many other little ones. Those were the days.

Thelwyn floating on her back – 19 months old. In those days it was the “in” thing to drown proof your child.

Anyway, all that swimming and drown-proofing happened a very long time ago… In the meantime the pool got into serious disrepair: the walls and the floor of the pool kept on cracking and because the floor had a dip in the middle , it was a MAJOR job to clean the pool! (Water cannot drain upwards – it has to swept out, leaves, mud and all!) After Ma had bought the property next door with its proper and practical pool (it hasn’t got a deep end), the children always went there to swim. (The property now belongs to the F’s, so the children can still go there to swim.)

A swimming pool in disuse is an eyesore:

View from my kitchen.

Closer view of same swimming pool.

So we decided to close it up and turn it into a road:

The logs were removed and the last thin branches were burnt. (No-one is allowed to burn anything in the dry season and I was worried that the smoke would get anxious neighbours complaining!)

Early in the morning before the front end loader was due, Jan and Hendrik removed some railway sleepers nearby.

Then the big push began!

After little more than an hour, there was nothing left to be seen of the pool.

But… I got rocks for my rockless garden! They surfaced as the walls crashed and the strong machine could easily dump them for me close to our stoep: a farm “climbing frame” for the little ones. I love rocks – it would have been a shame to bury them, wouldn’t it?

Two trees by the pool were pushed over too – very sad, but there was no other way!

Die plek lyk soos ‘n slagveld! Not only were the two trees close to the swimming pool, pushed over, but the big machine also pushed over some other dead ones, saving us a lot of manual labour! But right now all these dead and uprooted trees look awful!

In the afternoon the big machine returned to level seven loads of soil. (Mmmm, this is starting to cost a lot…)

Eric lent a hand in filling the big hole by the outlet of the pool:

The vista has been opened up! Come rain! (How Ma would have loved seeing her garden so beautifully opened up!)

Now all that’s needed are some new trees… to hide the Escom tower that was not so “in your face” before! (One of the uprooted bushes hid it before!)

Thank you God for this beautiful place that we may call home!

Technorati Tags: Ermelyn

Buffelspoort and a first swim!

2010-10-02T08:54:00.001-07:00

Gert and Dorette had to attend a wedding in Rustenburg recently and they asked us to babysit. (The children had been invited, but they thought it wiser not to take them along – clever parents.) So off we went for a weekend at Buffelspoort.

We arrived late Friday afternoon. The L’s had already settled in and were busy getting the children ready for supper and for bed.

On Saturday morning we had our first swim. It was a bit chilly, so we opted for the indoor pool. The water was a bit hot, as you can tell by the flushed faces, but both children (and all the adults of course) enjoyed it immensely.

This was Janita’s first swim ever.

Look at my pretty Kitty costume – a bit big still, but it was the smallest one the shop had!

Little babies relax so easily in the water, that it is quite simple to get them to float on their backs. Thelwyn was “drown proofed” when she was 18 months old and that’s where I learned the technique – although I certainly did not go about it in the rather traumatic way poor Thelwyn was taught!

This is a picture of me and Dorette when she was 5 months old. (We were quite the talk at the resort then, with both children happily floating on their backs beside me.) We nearly got Janita to float like this as well, but time was a bit short!

Dorette and Gert in their finery, off to the wedding of a close friend.

Franco wasn’t too happy to see them go, but Oom Hendrik took him for a walk and like any activity with Oom Hendrik, that was great fun!

Meantime, Oupa Jan fed Janita carrots. She is a good eater! She is already wearing a plastic bib – loves playing with it too!

In the afternoon Franco and I fed some ants outside the rondavel. Conclusion: they prefer chips to sugar water – and the birds prefer ants with chips too. Many different birds swooped down to rob the ants of their chips! Interesting afternoon, while Oupa watched Curry Cup.

Afterwards we took the children for another swim before bath and supper. Again only squeals of delight! (Franco was not very happy when Oom Hendrik went down the super tube, so Ouma decided to postpone going down the super tube herself… did go the next day, though, and it was great fun!)

After supper, I first put a seemingly wide awake Franco in his “bed” (mattress on the floor). We read a Bible story and said good-night and we never heard a sound from him again till the next morning! Janita was fed, had a bottle and also still seemed wide awake! I put her in her cot, nonetheless, and like Franco, she fell asleep very soon – no fuss, no bother. no tears. Looking after them was as easy as pie!

Martelize has a new costume, and I can’t wait to see her in the water! I think the best place to start is a heated pool, but when to go?

Abia’s Consecration

2010-09-30T06:05:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, Jopie and Nelia’s 2nd daughter, Abia, was consecrated. Abia is Urielle’s sister. Jopie is my sister Lalie’s son and they are very close and dear to us. Unfortunately the H’s couldn’t be there for the occasion, but we and the L’s were there in full force. I was so busy chatting to everyone that I did not take many photos, but here are a few snaps of the big day:

Janita in her party dress.

Franco, sporting a hat on this glorious Spring day.

Guess from whom Franco got his blue eyes…

And guess from whom Janita got her brown eyes!

One of these days Janita will no longer fit on Franco’s lap – we took similar photos a few weeks later, and could hardly see Franco behind Janita!

And Ouma can’t get enough of Franco’s blue eyes.

Urielle, Abia’s sister, sharing a moment with Franco. She was nearly two when this pic was taken. Urielle and Abia differ 13 months and the two sisters are great friends.

Urielle with her dad.

The party girl finally woke up! She wore a beautiful long dress in church, but did not like it and Nelia changed her just after the ceremony. At 11 months, she enjoyed the chips and other lovely eats at the party.

Baie, baie geluk Abia! Ons bid jou ‘n baie geseënde lewe as ‘n prinses in God’s koninkryk toe!

Janita at 5 Months

2010-09-29T06:34:00.001-07:00

These photos were taken more than a month ago…!

Look who is sitting already!

Look who has discovered her toes! What bliss to be barefoot!

Ouma se mooi, slim kind!

Like Great Grandmother, like Mother like Daughter!

2010-09-15T08:50:00.001-07:00

(I’m quite a bit behind with blogging – this is an attempt to start to catch up…!)

One Friday evening Martelize insisted on going to the stables and her wonderful uncle Hendrik obliged… much appreciated by her exhausted mother, who had just returned from work! However, they soon returned! Hendrik said that Martelize had been absolutely adamant that she wanted to ride. “Op, op!” And of course Hendrik could not let her ride all by himself! Frans had not been keen on Martelize getting on a horse so young, but if it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood!

All three my children had their first ride on a horse while still very small. All three of them (years) later became competent endurance riders, but Thelwyn has always been the most horse crazy of the three. She and her husband took over the Arabian stud from my mother – another horsemad horsewoman! (About my mother’s horsiness, one could write a book: she started riding when she was 60, won the Fauresmith National Endurance Championship when she was 66, raised many, many horses, including two hand reared foals – the 2nd one when she was 91 years!)

Anyway, the next morning, Martelize had her first ride on Jessica.

Waiting anxiously for Mamma to finish saddling Jessica.

Here we go!

Finally on the horse, but it’s a little bit scary! The horse is very high!

It’s time for the horses to go grazing, but madam does not want to get off! “Nog, Mamma!”

For safety sake, Thelwyn bought Martelize her first “crashy”. Rule nr 1: no going to the stables without your crash helmet and your gumboots – and that goes for Mamma too!

A thank you kiss for Mamma.

Afterwards, Martelize waits in Jessica’s food drum, while Thelwyn takes care of the tack.

Hay for Jessica and the other horses too! Martelize knows all of them by name!

“Toemaak!” Martelize closes the gate.

“Klaar!”…. Till tomorrow, when we go riding again!

A Day in the park

2010-09-13T11:19:00.001-07:00

When the H’s moved, I looked after Martelize. We spent the morning at Irene Farm and afterwards went to the L’s. Here are some pics of our outing to the nearby park.

Franco is very protective towards his sister.

Martelize can never get enough of a swing!

Franco’s favourite favourite is this aeroplane climbing frame.

What it is to be an ouma! A see-saw bumps quite hard!

Martelize’s 2nd Birthday

2010-08-22T02:54:00.001-07:00

Guess whose birthday is it? Martelize started her 2nd birthday in her parents bed – thanks for sharing the photos Thelwyn!

Her first present – a wagon from her Mom and Dad. Frans and Thelwyn had planned to put in a day’s leave to take her on an outing, but both of them had to go to the office for urgent work. And in the afternoon, they still had to check that their vacated house was spotless for their first tenants. The H’s had finished moving to the farm the day before!

Supper was with us on the evening of Martelize’s birthday. She pranced about cheerfully – very aware that it was her special day. Here she is opening her gift from Ouma and Oupa.

Her first reaction to seeing the doll was “Dummy! Dummy!” A doll with a dummy – what joy!

Next in line was the doll’s pram – the real present!

The next day was Saturday and Martelize’s birthday party.

The birthday party table with the Heidi cake and party boxes on their front stoep. Gert and Dorette’s animal biscuits were very popular once again.

View from their front stoep: The jumping castle was ready and the first guests arrived.

The jumping castle was great fun! There were no big and wild children!

Franco thought so too!

Martelize blowing the candle on her Heidi cake. We let her practise before to blow out candles and she knew what to do, but whether she or the wind blew out the 2 candle in the end, I do not know.

Nieces Urielle and Abia and cousin Janita were there too.

The little ones got busy with their boxes and the grown-ups helped themselves to tea in the kitchen.

Prezzie time! But once Martelize opened the L’s gift – a school bag with wheels like Franco’s- she wasn’t interested in opening other presents. She just had to play with this bag first.

The adults came to watch the big opening too.

Daddy joined the fun on the jumping castle.

Roi, Marius and Lisa’s 18 month old little girl in the foreground.

“Wat maak Oom Gert?” Martelize waiting her turn to…….

bollemakiesie!

The day ended with a braai. Jan and I looked after Franco and Janita because Gert and Dorette went to a gospel concert. Martelize was very intrigued by Janita and here she holds her on her lap. Franco was exhausted after all the jumping and went to bed soon after his bath. In fact he fell asleep while eating his supper – face right into his plate like Hendrik used to do.

The next day was also special as Martelize opened the rest of her presents through the day’and played with Franco. Ouma Jo and Oom Deon were both still there too.

And of course playing with the new toys was GREAT fun! (Note the beads, Tannie Dorette!) Martelize walked all the way down to the horses to show them to Poppie, then called Oupa, gave Poppie to Oupa and wanted to climb into the doll’s pram herself!

Thank Heaven for little girls!

My Birthday at the Zoo

2010-08-09T01:21:00.001-07:00

July was a very busy month – not much time for blogging, but today I’ll try to catch up!
I had a very special birthday: Thelwyn took a day’s leave and she, Dorette, the little ones and I had a marvellous day in the zoo. In the evening Jan and I went out – the perfect end to a wonderful day. (My only frustration was my new cellphone which refused to let me reply to my S.M.S’s – to anyone who wondered about my rudeness – it really was the phone. I took zoo photos with my cell to show what we were doing, only to find that the “memory was full” and I did not know how to fix that. Neither did the guy at the MTN shop! He told me to erase all my emails. Fortunately another I.T. bloke came to the rescue a few days later!)

“Kyk, Ouma! Olifant!”

At three months, Janita was for the most part oblivious of the animals, but she thoroughly enjoyed the outing in the fresh air.

The lions were a major hit! They roared in their under the road “cavern” and their ominous sounds vibrated and echoed through the whole zoo! We suspect a female was on heat. At first Franco and Martelize were a bit frightened, but soon started to mimic the lions.

Most of the animals obligingly came closer so that the children could get close up views. The giraffe stayed far from the fence and we did not get to see the hippo’s, but the pigmy hippo was cute.

Another animal biscuit anyone?

Janita and Martelize both wore the same colour scheme, but before I could get Martelize to sit still to be photographed with her cousin, she managed to get her pretty home-knit jersey full of black jacks and Thelwyn had to take it off – before she too got covered in black jacks!

Guess who were the centre of attraction during our lunch picnic?

Martelize wanted to wear Franco’s halter and ride in his push chair (which used to be Gerts’!), but fortunately Franco did not mind riding in her push chair! Both children were very good and never quarrelled.

Janita also never complained – not even once – but we lifted her out of pram every now and then to make sure she stayed contented and felt part of all the excitement!

“Martelize, kyk vir Ouma!” Nee, wat! Martelize was far more interested in the animals than posing for a camera!

A last feed for Janita before we headed home. It was already 15:00 and neither Franco nor Martelize had had a nap, but both were still very cheerful and bubbly till the very end! However, both fell asleep within minutes after being strapped into their car seats!
It was a wonderful outing for 2 year olds! They appreciated everything and learned so much: from the mud covered pig to the monkeys and elephants. From the bridge across the river to the leaves on the trees and a picnic on the lawn. The zoo is really a magical place!
Dankie nogmaals my kinders vir ‘n WONDERLIKE verjaarsdag!

Janita’s special day

2010-07-10T05:17:00.001-07:00

The L’s had a special, private consecration ceremony for Janita in the entertainment room of the company where Dorette works. It was a very relaxed, happy occasion. Janita wasn’t too thrilled while we were still setting the cups and trying to get the urn to do its job, but once fed and dressed in her christening (consecration) robe, she was her usual calm and friendly self.

Janita’s table at the entrance.

Jan led the consecration service. He talked about what it means to be blessed.

The happy L’s.

Afterwards it was time for tea and lots of visiting. (The decorations were not our choice, but one day Janita will know that her special day happened in the middle of the World Cup!)

I did not remember to take a photo of the tea table before it was ravaged, but we had quite a spread: from meringue cake and cheese cake to the usual koeksisters and vlatert. We had lots of savoury stuff too: from popular sandwiches and soup to savoury tart and sausage rolls. The most popular eat among the children were animal biscuits which Gert had baked. ‘n Treffer!

Ouma Elna and Janita in satin.

Say “Cheese…!”

Janita did not inherit her dad’s and Oupa Frans’s blue eyes like Franco did, but she has her mother’s brown eyes.

Janita wore the dress I had made for Dorette’s christening from my wedding dress material. Like 3 1/2 month old Dorette, she also slept through the proceedings with a dummy in her mouth.

Janita never seemed uncomfortable in the long dress, just smiled and cooed at us.

Mmmm, what have we got here?

Koekieeee!

Njam!

It was just impossible to get Martelize to stand still so that I could snap her. At first she flatly refused to put on her new dress, but she was willing to take it to show to Janita. When Janita got dressed, she finally allowed Tannie Dorette to dress her as well. The rest of the day she seemed very thrilled with the swaying pink dress and happily danced and ran about.

It was just as difficult to snap Franco, but here he sat on the chair for one second… no smile for the camera though!

Haven’t I been a good girl? But maybe it’s time for a nap now.

Technorati Tags: Consecration

My new toy

2010-07-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

i am trying to blog from my new cell phone. Not too successful...Had a marvellous day. Watch tthis space!

Shopping with Janita

2010-06-29T21:26:00.001-07:00

Sunday will be Janita’s special blessing day: she will not be christened, but the L’s will have a special private ‘inseëning” (blessing) for her. Their church is big and the blessing of infants is during the week, with only a mention of the occasion in the church on Sunday. For everyone to go out at night during the week is rather difficult: there is little time to visit, take pictures etc. The little ones are not at their best in the evening – Franco sometimes fall asleep before 5 o’clock! And taking little ones out in the bitter cold is asking for trouble!

So the L’s decided on a private Sunday morning affair – with Jan leading the proceedings for his namesake. Dorette and I are having fun planning the eats…! I am even trying out new recipes and I’ve bought cake tins! (Haven’t tried out anything new for years!)

On Monday Dorette and I went shopping for something for Dorette to wear on Sunday and shirts for Hendrik – he is off to Kwasizabantu mission tomorrow. Janita was as good as gold right through the shopping trip – did not cry once and often gurgled and smiled… but not for the camera! She studied the flash light very seriously: these pics were taken in the fitting room while Dorette was trying on some tops.

You are so special Janita and we can’t wait for Sunday!

Weekend in Limpopo

2010-06-26T07:19:00.001-07:00

Last week we spent two wonderful days with Jan’s sister, Alta, and her husband. They live on a farm in Limpopo, so we seldom get to see them and it was great fun catching up on news .. and I got a whole lot of new cake recipes as well. (Alta has stacks of recipes all neatly sorted and pasted into books.) Alta and I have been friends since grade 1, so I have known her longer than I have known Jan. She also teaches handicapped children, but unlike me, who now only teach Tamerin, she has to cope with big classes and varied disabilities. Imagine having to prepare handiwork or a reading lesson for a class where some are deaf, some are mentally disabled and …and all 22 of them, with their wheelchairs and walking frames, are squeezed into a tiny class with no assistant! I take my hat off for you Alta! It was great to share our experiences.

We were so busy chatting, that I forgot to take photos, but here are a few:

Alta’s son with his daughter, Juandri (pronounced Johandrie)

5 Month old Juandri enjoyed chocolate cake!

Henry’s wife, Driekie and Edwin

Jan, Alta and Anneliese

On Monday morning we left before the crack of dawn – we decided on the spur of the moment to come back home via the Kruger Park. We entered through Punda Maria gate and left through the Phalaborwa gate.

Here are some pics of animals we captured (or tried to capture).

In the far North one gets to see lots of Baobab trees – and this one had lots of interesting nests in it.

Our first elephants…

The next elephant was MUCH closer and he was having a ball splashing himself with mud.

Our leopard… he is really there left of the tree… We first saw him right next to the road, but before we could zoom the camera, he was gone…! We also saw two baby hyenas, but they disappeared into a culvert before we could even lift the camera!

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Next elephant…

Last elephant, obligingly next to the road.

The Kruger Park remains one of the best places on earth to be! We expected the park to be very full, it being high season and World Cup and all, but it wasn’t really. But we did meet a Landrover with a Portuguese flag and lots of enthusiastic Portuguese guests, and a Spanish bloke who had seen everything except hyenas. In Steers in Phalaborwa some Argentinians, sporting light blue striped shirts, were ordering lunch. They had quite a chat with the waitress, who wanted to know if they drank beer in Argentina. It gives one a nice fuzzy feeling to know that our country is being appreciated for more than just the World Cup.

So far the World Cup seems to be a great success! Maybe the Italian and French guests will leave prematurely, but I think we can expect an influx of Japanese and U.S.A. guests! Viva South Africa!

Our “Feel it, it is here!”

2010-06-13T00:50:00.001-07:00

The past week, the whole country has been abuzz with vuvuzela’s blaring, yellow T-shirts, and flags everywhere: every second car sports small S.A. flags or side-mirror caps, on every major intersection flags are being sold and there are flags on poles on all the main streets. (Generally very festive, but some look rather pathetic, like the vertical hung flags in Zambesi Drive, which simply get twisted around the poles… Can’t SOMEONE do something about that? It’s a major embarrassment!)

On Thursday Tamerin had her big World Cup Celebration – she made another BIG speech for which we practised very hard. The day was a great success. (See www.homeschoolingaspecialchild.blogspot.com – part of my bloglist)

On Friday our school closed. (“Our” because public schools closed on Wednesday.) We wore yellow ribbons for water aerobics. One ardent German woman even made herself a swimming costume in the German flag colours. The water aerobics class itself was different and great fun with group activities. All to get into the spirit of things. Afterwards I took Tammy to buy herself a new costume – she worked hard this term and I felt she really deserved it. Along the way, we enjoyed the pulse of the streets. Tammy knows all the flags and countries.

After school I went to the L’s for the opening of the soccer match and of course the big match. Here are some pics:

Gert was chuffed with the a real Bafana-Bafana T-shirt he got from his work. Like a lot of other people, he got stuck in a traffic jam at 13:00. Nobody who could help it, was going to work on Friday afternoon. Jan is a civil servant and they too got the afternoon off. Sadly taxis were suddenly very scarce: in Atterbury and Lynnwood Roads there were queues of people (in yellow T-shirts) waiting for transport, lots of them carrying heavy bags.

Anyway, World Cup or no World Cup, Gert has to see to their pool every Friday.

He is fortunate (?) though to have the enthusiastic help of Franco. Here he is filling the pool with the hose pipe – watch out Gert!

“Ouma, kyk! Kyk, Ouma!” “Ouma kyk, my liefie!”

Gert got the beeny from his work too, and had to wear it to work on Friday. Big upset in the L household, because Franco insisted on wearing it himself. He offered his own hat to his father, but absolutely insisted on the Bafana-Bafana hat. Some children have been wearing the real thing to school, it seems.

All work an no play makes Jack a dull boy. Gert and Franco played soccer while Dorette, Janita and I watched the opening of the World Cup. It was quite good, but short and had too many videos – boring we thought. It ended rather abrubtly – I was still waiting for the World Cup song, speeches etc. when S.A.B.C. switched to sport commentators.

Franco doing the diski dance.

Franco sitting still for one blessed moment, so that I could snap him in his yellow clothes. Martelize had an ear infection, so they couldn’t come to the party. Jan and Hendrik joined us later – they first had to stable the horses: the farm hands had the afternoon off.

Dorette making pizza for supper. Njam!

Thanks for a great day! And thank you that Bafana-Bafana did not lose despite a very wobbly start! (You did us proud Bafana-Bafana – you nearly won… and for that matter very nearly lost, but Itumeleng what a goalkeeper you are! Wow!) Thanks Jesus for letting them keep the hopes of our country alive! Thank you for the unity and joy the country is experiencing at the moment… !

Technorati Tags: Sport,25 months

Super 14 Rugby Final (May 2010)

2010-06-12T01:30:00.001-07:00

Most members of our happy family – at least we have all three grandchildren in one picture!

Like last year, we all gathered again to watch the Super 14 Rugby finals, and like last year, the Bulls won again! Go Bulls! Here Franco is trying out Oom Hendrik’s vuvuzela.

That’s how you should hold it – now all you have to do is blow it! (Notice the blue clothes!)

Franco was much more into rugby than last year! Click here to see the previous Super 14 posts

Two enthusiastic flag wavers. Jan bought them each a South African flag – we all suffered from World Cup Fever already!

Janita in her sporty tracksuit and tackies.

Dorette having a tea party with Martelize. Both little ones are into sorting colours. Here Martelize puts the yellow cup onto the yellow saucer and a yellow spoon inside the cup -not on the saucer, mind you, but in the cup. Martelize doesn’t know saucers! She knows that boiling water should go into the cup though, and brings one of her tea-set cups to be filled from the kettle, but here Ouma draws the line. She likes to pour milk into her mom’s coffee, and if she is is not quick enough, the whole jug gets poured into her cup with messy results!

Franco and Martelize bathed together, and afterwards enjoyed riding on Oupa’s back. (Martelize had never wanted to do this before, but she was not going to be outdone by her cousin. Monkey see, monkey do.)

Then it was pack away time…

and a final hug… till a next time.

All afternoon and evening they had been as good as gold: no fighting over toys (except for a little squabble over the potty), na tantrums, no tears, but instead lots of laughter, calling each other by name, mimicking each other, playing happily alongside each other.

The past weekend we attended my niece Jansie's feedback on their Highway trip from New Zealand through several countries until Pakistan. Hendrik joined her and her friend in Bangladesh and he and Jansie travelled from Bangladesh through India to Pakistan in less than 2 weeks. Anyway, the little ones were also there, and during interval both insisted that I pick them up simultaneously! (That should make my arms strong!). They would not be put down, unless the other one was also put down.... lots and lots of giggles.

Thank you God, for two such darling individuals. Thank you that they play find so much joy in each other, for all the laughs and giggles. They are such a blessing.

P.S. My apologies to people receiving this blog via E-mail for receiving posts twice. There were problems with the photos when I published these photos just now, but hopefully the problems are now sorted out! Thanks Sandra and Thea for the blogging tip! Live writer is so much easier!!

Technorati Tags: Rugby,21 months,23 months

Janita at two months.

2010-06-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Two month old Janita.

(I struggle with the alignment of the pictures - Blogger does not quite do what I want it to do - and the published previous post did not look like my edit at all... Does anyone else have this problem?)

P.S. Have you seen who has blogged again? Check my favourite blogs "We have been blessed". Dorette has published some precious updates.

Some more old news: Franco's 2nd Birthday

2010-05-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Franco turned two years on 23 April 2010. The birthday party theme was "Noah". Franco is very much into animals. Dorette and Gert made lots of homemade goodies and Ouma Elna and I also pitched the day before and on the birthday to help. Great fun!(Janita was barely two months, so the L's still had their hands full!)

Franco with Noah's ark - Ouma Elna's and Gert's handiwork.

Chicken and cheese elephants and very popular homemade animal biscuits.

The party in full swing with lots of busy tots and moms and dads.

Opening of gifts: Franco received three sets of tools! Anyone who knows him, knows that he loves to work. These tools have since been put to good use. Franco immediately loved his new hat and wore it the rest of the day!.

Thelwyn with Martelize and other Tiny guests.

The big attraction of the day: The L's provided lots of easy cleaning sidewalk chalk and the children loved having their outlines drawn on the paving. Thelwyn had to draw Martelize over and over. Older children became very creative, while the little ones scribbled away. (Big fun for Franco was to hose it all down after the party.)

Some old news for the record: Easter Monday

2010-05-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Proud Mom of two week old Janita - back in her jeans. Janita was still very yellow at that stage.

So much has happened the past weeks. I have been busy with new projects (still sort of a secret) and sadly neglected blogging. I also rediscovered Sudoko. (Darn!) I found that I started to take fewer and fewer pics. And in the meantime I miss out on much of our new little baby girl! Sorry Janita!

On Easter Monday we went to Irene farm to have a good look at the cows. The weather was rather miserable, but the children enjoyed the cows and afterwards we had "kaal" coffee - we couldn't order muffins or such - you had to order a full breakfast @ R99! So we gave breakfast a skip. Fortunately the mothers brought the little ones some snacks. Martelize particularly enjoyed her hard boiled egg.

Martelize and Franco getting acquainted with the cows. Franco was very brave and did not mind touching them at all.

2010-04-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Janita is now 8 days old. Both she and Dorette are doing very well.

Here she is lying on my hand and holding my finger and staring at this funny old woman with the camera....

What red lipstick you're wearing Ouma!

Maybe I'll have a nap now.... Janita was very relaxed and calm: did not cry once while I was there. When she became a little fretful, Dorette went to fetch her dummy, but before Dorette had returned with it, she was fast asleep.

Her only "trouble" is that she only has 2 gaps between feeds with one longish one of 4-5 hours somewhere within 24 hours. We pray that she'll soon learn to stretch these gaps! She is gaining well: by 7 days she had already passed her birthweight with 900 grams! Go Dorette! Go Janita!

Now who can that interesting little baby in the mirror be? Janita is still slightly jaundiced, but remarkably more pink than when I last saw her.

Franco is thrilled to bits with his sister and goes to her cot first thing in the morning. Like other newborns, Janita does not like bath time yet and it upsets Franco terribly if she cries, so Dorette tries to bath her when he's asleep or at school. We gave him a doll and although he does not play with it for long spells, he gives his doll a bottle and puts him to bed. Last night he did not want to go to bed himself, but he was willing to rock his doll to sleep and of course was sleeping soundly himself in no time.

Thank you God for the love between brother and sister that is alreadly evident!

Ouma Day with Martelize

2010-03-31T23:25:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was Ouma and Oupa Day at Martelizes school. Martelize was happpy to see me, but expected to see her mother there as well. When she realized that her mom was not coming, she was happily sat and my lap, but did not want to dance and sing with the other children. (Usually she is very fond of dancing.) She showed me all there toys though. In the afternoon I took her to a small zoo in Simon Vermooten Ave.

Here she is all ready to go!

Feeding the cock from the safety of her push chair. At first she was a bit hesitant to walk about herself.

Gradually she became more confident and the many tortoises walking about were no longer so very frightening.... as long as they did not come to close. Here she makes a Hansel and Gretl path of labbage leaves for this tortoise to follow.... which he very obligingly did.

She loved the Dassies and called them "Dassie" very audibly. The jackals were other favourites.... "She tried very hard to say "jakkals".

Afterwards we went to the L's and were just in time to see Franco swim. After school, he walked around and around the netted pool and kept on saying "swem, swem", until his Dad opened up the pool for a quick splash, but the water was a bit cold after the earlier rain. Their pool is solar heated, but of course not really warm, warm.

Franco feeding his new doll. He was willing to let Martelize play with his new pram and doll, while he mowed the lawn, but then he too wanted a turn with his pram....!
When Janita woke up, he showed off his sister to Martelize: both of them stood on the poof next to the cot and patted her very excitedly. (I'm not so sure she enjoyed all the enthusiastic attention, but she did not really complain either. Poor 2nd children have to take a lot of "rough" from the older siblilngs, but then older siblings are so much more interesting than adults!)

And now we are four! The happy L family.

Janita was still quite jaundiced then. When I wanted to hold her, Martelize got very jealous and would have nothing of that - after all it was her Ouma day!

Easter Drama 2010

2010-03-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

This evening the children of Salvokop performed their Easter Drama (see previous posts). The children were sooo committed. When we started with drama in Salvokop 10 years ago, we practised for weeks and weeks. The children then were very unruly, stole sweets and toys and were just generally very difficult to work with.
Now the children are ... well still noisy children, but there is generally much, much better co-operation and good manners and lots more enthusiasm.
God is working there and angels abound....

Here we are all dressed up and ready to start the Easter Drama.

Pastor Joel welcomes the people, because it is already 17:15...

But where are the people? The parents in Salvokop do not really support their children. I pray that these children will one day support their children. (My mother never attended any of my ballet lessons, but I made sure that I very regularly attended my children's classes and certainly all their performances! It takes a community to raise a child, and a generation to really make a difference.)

Tannie Lalie explains what this drama is all about.

Joyful, joyful.... (The highschool girls did two beautiful dances)

"King of King and Lord of Lords... "the Junior boys await the coming of Jesus to Jerusalem with gusto.

"Jesus is coming!" (You will never guess who is sitting in the back row! What a pleasant surprise Retha!!)

The devious religious leaders scheming on how to corner Jesus.

Eat this bread, it is my body... Sabatha (with brown head cloth) was Jesus for this part. She has been part of Inkululeko since she was 3 years old and is now in Grade 7. All the other children in the picture had been in the pre-school while I was still the principal there.

Shaen, Tamerin's brother and my niece Eugenie singing Panis Angelicus. Eugenie also sang other background music and Shaen was a pillar of strength at the computer and C.D. player! Thanks Shaen! Thanks Eugenie!

The tired disciples sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane.

"We found this man misleading our people!"

(Dimakatso, the priest, was still a preschooler, alone in their house when it burned down. Later their shack burned down too. His mother was convinced they had been bewitched.)

Jesus walking down the streets with the cross bar of his cross.

A willing Jesus being nailed to the cross by zealous soldiers.

"When I survey the wondrous cross..."

Christ the Lord is risen today... Halleluja . (I coached the disciples and this dance and what a joy it was!)

Celebrate Jesus!

Joyous celebration from the stands.

Vigorous gumboot dancing, celebrating Jesus.

At least the hall is fuller now...

Jesus is alive today - this man was shot, but because he carried a Bible on his chest, he was not killed. (A skit by boys from the shelter across the street of the Community Centre.)

Thank you Jesus for being there tonight!

May you all have a very blessed Easter. Our Easter has already started on a very high note!

Drama Jitters

2010-03-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

I have so much news. Last week was Martelize's Ouma and Oupa day at her school and in the afternoon she and I had a lovely outing.... ending at her meeting Janita.
I have been too busy to blog (or to read blogs): Tomorrow is our Easter Drama at Salvokop! We are no where near ready, but the children are sooo positive and committed.
Please pray that their parents (or someone) will come and support them. Several of the children were the "underachievers" while at the Day Care Centre and they probably are still underachieving at school... but in the drama they too can be SOMEONE and they eagerly participate.
Dear God, please bless all the drama children. Please let their parents allow them all to participate tomorrow.... (Carmen did not come today, because she had to clean the house!) Please let no-one be sick, and please let the parents support them and come to watch the drama. And most importantly Lord, please let the children meet YOU in all this!

She's here!

2010-03-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

When we heard the telephone this morning about 6:30, we knew it was news from Dorette. I expected to hear that she was on her way to hospital - only to hear that her baby had been born already! We did not hear the telephone in the night! (We lock all doors and the telephone in the bedroom does not work. Good thing we were not the ones to go and look after Franco.)
Of course I couldn't wait to see my new granddaughter, but first I had to pack my laptop etc. for Easter Drama practice in Salvokop this afternoon. Although yesterday was Dorette's due date, I convinced myself that the baby would only arrive after her next doctor's appointment, so I was not really ready when the big moment arrived!

Here I am with the precious little bundle, just after her first bath... which she did not like at all.

And here is Janita Elsa L. Just 5 hours old! She is named after Oupa Jan (gift of God - same meaning as Dorette) and Ouma Elna (Grace of God.) She arrived in the early hours of the morning.

Look how wide awake I am! I weigh 3.3 kg and am 50 cm tall.

Dorette had a 100% natural birth: no drips, no painkillers, no suction or tongs - not even a doctor. The nursing sister couldn't get hold of the doctor (mixup about whom to phone - Dorette's gynae was enjoying the long weekend)and so she had to deliver the baby herself. She was not as handy as the doctor when it came to stitching , but did a good enough job and according to Dorette the birth was more relaxed than before.

Hello Mamma!

Janita nursed well soon after birth, but seemed a bit nauseaus and only nursed properly again about 12 hours later. She was often awake during the day, but did not cry once. So far no problems with wind or colic or hunger or anything.

She slept soundly for hours. Ouma couldn't resist opening the covers to see the cute little tiny body in her cute pink clothes.

The world is a wonderful place... (Note her blanky - its the one I knitted on our Russian tour - so its from Russia with love.)

Wellcome in the world, Janita!

Ons het so lank vir jou gewag en gebid en nou is jy hier!

PRYS DIE HERE VIR SO 'N GAWE UIT SY HAND!
Dankie, dankie, dankie Here!!

Last farm visit without "Sussie"

2010-03-20T12:19:00.000-07:00

Today (Saturday) the L's came for a visit. The last time they were here, was for the baby shower. In the meantime, Gert has been very ill and he has lost 5 kg off his slender frame! After weeks, he finally had a blood test and only got the results after days and several phone calls to the doctor: he has glandular fever and should take it easy at work (Ha!) and not sit in the air conditioning! (Ha, ha!). He should get plenty of sleep and no excitement! (Ha, ha, ha!) With "Sussie" due any moment lots of rest and no excitement will not exactly be possible! "Sussie's" due date is tomorrow, but I doubt she knows that and will make her exit whenever. Dorette's body has been practising contractions for weeks, so Dorette is pretty uncomfortable, but she looks very well - no bloating or swollen feet.
Franco was still a bit drowsy from his nap in the car on the way here and at first just wanted to sit and snuggle against Dorette's comfy tummy. "Sussie" got several hugs and kisses and lots of pats.

Soon after, however, he was his usual active self. His big smile says it all!

Oom Hendrik is the best uncle in the world!

Martelize also thinks so and she has started to call him "Hennik". She calls herself something like "Marte"and Franco sometimes calls her "Lies" (Lize - not Lies as in untruths). He calls himself "Fanco". Both of them say "Ouma"and "Oupa" very clearly. Franco sometimes say "Oupa Jan." He is fortunate to have all four grandparents alive and all living closeby.

Martelize and Franco walking and walking on the treadmill. Later they sat next to it and put their hands on the slow moving belt. Great fun. Then Franco got up, and several times walked to the top, tried to climb back on and slid off. What an exciting slide for a very active little dare devil.

At home his latest "toy" is his father's aluminium ladder. It is quite a big thing, but he carries it about and makes up his own games: first he lies it flat and steps in between the rungs, then on the rungs, then he opens up the ladder and runs under it! Other favourite toys are his father's tools, including a 10 pound hammer! He will be 23 months in 4 days time.

.
"Dis lekker op die treadmill" (See video clip for Franco's happy shrieks.)

Martelize saw her old baby car chair, pulled it down from the shelve and got in. Franco was happy to rock her, albeit it a bit on the wild side. Hope he doesn't rock "Sussie" the same way! (Hy het die hele tyd "Af, af!" gesê. Nie baie seker wat hy bedoel het nie: "Op en af" of "Martelize klim af"?!)

Franco and Martelize enjoying an early supper of left overs (mince and rice) in the kitchen. Franco did not care much for Ouma's food, but later both he and Martelize tucked in again when we all had supper at the dining room table (chicken). Martelize on the other hand ate all her food, plus Franco's left overs. Her favourite food is fruit and today we had mango and grapes. Yum! Thelwyn said she ate so well because she did not really eat any lunch. What a thing to say to the cook. Of course it was because she couldn't resiste Ouma's wonderful cooking! (Ouma prefers to forget that Martelize did not want to eat a bite of the same dishes the previous night!)

A freshly bathed Franco hugs his baby sister. "

"Sê vir haar dis tyd om uit te kom Franco!" "Uittom...!"

A goodnight kiss for Sussie. (Franco knows her name, but we don't know it yet and he won't tell...!)

"What is in your cup?"

Martelize "feeding" a willing Franco.

"Sit, sit!" And Franco happily obeyed Martelize and sat down next to her on the steps.

A Day of Blessings for....

2010-03-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Another project that kept us quite busy recently:

A "quilt" cake with a 0 candle - Thelwyn's handiwork.

So what's that and my best tea cups doing on the dining room table?

What are Dorette's cousin and nephews doing on the farm? Why is Dorette looking so flushed?

You guessed it! It was time to bless "Sussie" with gifts and blessings. Sussie's name is still a big secret, but according to Dorette, she has a name. Each guest was asked to bring a written blessing for Sussie, which Gert and Dorette will share with her later on.

We started the day with a Sunday lunch. Franco used to be a very good eater, but lately he is not very much into food.

The menfolk were busy chatting and not into photos, but at least I got a photo of my three girls - I mean my four girls. How lucky can a mother (grandmother) be? (My own grandmother used to say "A girl in time saves nine!")

Martelize in her pretty party dress. My couch is not supposed to be a climbing frame, but oh well...!

Martelize with her "bersie", which I had knitted for her. I knitted a very soft "bersie" for Sussie as well, but a spoegdoek (cloth nappy) would make a more sensible blanky than the one I knit.

Martelize still hanging on to her bersie.

Oom Hendrik pushed the two around on his desk chair and this provided me with the chance to snap the two - they never sit still, so it is difficult to take photos of them. My camera is a bit too slow for them!

A photo of material in a shop for Dorette - I did the pre-shopping and Dorette met me at the shop to give the final OK for material for the cot bumper, nappy (diaper) holder, laundry bag etc. I bought the material, but Ouma Elna made the stuff, so its a combined Ouma effort. (Dorette chose the middle pink polk dots - not too pale, not too bright.)

And while I'm blogging - another photo of Franco and Martelize in the water. (The pic of a very pregnant Dorette undressing Franco just got deleted by mistake and I do not know how to get it back.)

Typical poses of Martelize with a flower in her hair.

A very busy Franco in the park. I sometime fetch him at his school when Dorette has to go to the doctor and this time we played in the park.

Small brave pilot in big aeroplane. When we stopped at the park, he ran straight to this aeroplane. I flew the aeroplane with him. Clever of them to have two steering wheels.

Martelize busy with another typical activity: feeding the dogs. She is wild about animals: like mother like daughter.

God, please bless our darling grandchildren! Hold them in the palm of your hand and keep them safe.

Long time no see

2010-02-27T00:59:00.000-08:00

We've been rather busy! Here are some of the things that kept us busy.

45:32 (!) That's how long it took me to complete the Midmar mile this year. (In case you don't know, the Midmarmile is the biggest outdoor swimming event in the world.) I swam a minute slower than last year and I was (am) much fitter this year than last year! I mean, I actually trained a bit in December and January and I have spent a whole year religiously doing water aerobics at least 4 times a week!

Why the dissapointing time? I never looked at my watch once during the race - I thought it would discourage me. I had a good time swimming, even though the water was a bit choppy and I swallowed quite a bit of water and got the usual amount of kicks by other swimmers. I talked to God and He talked to me all the way as I reflected on specific chapters and or verses for about 100 metres each:
Matthew 1
Mark 2
Luke 3
John 4
Acts 5
Rom 6
1 Cor 7
11 Cor 8
Matt 9 (The books after 11 Cor do not have enough books so I started with Matthew again.)
Mark 10
Luke 11
John 12
Acts 13
Rom 14
1 Cor 15
11 Cor 13 (11 Cor does not have a chapter 16)

The adrenaline to compete and to push myself never really kicked in, and I am dissapointed in myself for not trying harder, but very, very grateful for good health and the ability to still swim a mile.

Jan and I stayed in Umhlanga Sands and had a glorious time of rest. I took some photos but they are not blog material.

One of the things God said to me while I was swimming was to give more of myself. So I phoned the principal of Inkululeko to see where and how and I could be of assistance. Inkululeko is the preschool where I was the principal for the first 7 years of its nearly 10 years existence. It is part of the community centre in Salvokop, a very poor dilapidated residential area in the C.B.D of Pretoria. Besides uplifting children, the school has also given many of the staff members a chance in life to improve their own lives. The now principal, Thelma, was originally appointed as a cleaner there. She is now busy with her degree in foundation phase education. The middle group teacher, Josephine, was also a cleaner for several years. She is also busy with E.C.D. training.

Anyway, even before Thelma and I had a meeting, Lalie phoned to ask me to help with the Easter drama (passion play) at the community centre. So that's part of what has kept me busy: first of all to prepare a dance for my group - ballet nogal! And secondly to start practising the dance and script with the girls. Quite a few girls turned up on Tuesday for drama practice and I was thrilled at their eagerness and DISCIPLINE. Lalie and I did the first of several Easter Dramas exactly 10 years ago. We had more than 70 eager, but very noisy and naughty children! They used to steal, fight and generally not listen to us! And now! What BLISS! I could talk to the children in a normal voice (no shouting to make myself heard) and they concentrated and generally were just sweet and good. Most have them have been at Inlululeko when they were preschoolers (the eldest is now in Grade 7) and know the ropes. HURRAH FOR INKULULEKO!

Watch this space! More to follow about the Easter Drama!

Weekend Pictures 1

2010-01-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

Two angels on Oupa's lap

Let the fun begin! "Dis lekker op Oupa se skoot!"

Nog Oupa!

Hoe later, hoe kwater!

Oupa, jy's die beste!

And this is what they did: "Op 'n stappie, op 'n draffie, Gallop, gallop, GALLOP!"

A thorn in my flesh

2010-01-16T22:57:00.000-08:00

I've had this thorn in my flesh since I can remember, but it gets worse as I get older. I suffer from restless legs: an incontrollable urge to move my legs, as soon as I sit or lie down to relax. It is not really painful, but very irritating and uncomfortable. Attacks mostly occur in the evening, but I sometimes have them even early in the afternoon and they are worse when I am tired and desperately want to rest.

I have tried various remedies through the years. Long ago mild painkillers were enough and I used to drink paracetomol before we went to the movies for "just in case." Later on I started taking Rivotril - a drug for epilepsy, but it mostly just made me very sleepy. For years I slept well, but the restless legs attacks kept coming.

I started taking Pexola , a drug for Parkison's Disease, but soon had to increase the dosage - and still found that it wasn't 100% effective. I was really getting worried - how bad was it going to be in future? My grandmother and my mother also suffered from it. My mother had a particularly bad attack the morning before her death - I helped to walk for a little because movement relieves it a bit, but it returns as soon as you sit down again.

I searched the internet and found that an iron shortage is one reason. I started taking some of Jan's iron pills and immediately had a big relief, but this too did not last long. (I am thankful though that it helped me on the Russian tour and I had no restless legs - even on the aeroplane!) I searched the internet again and bought e-books. The one suggested that salt is the cause: this could be true, because I used to use a lot of salt and loved smoked, salty food like ham and bacon, not too mention biltong.

No salt was almost like a death sentence to me, but I found ways to make food palatable without lots of salt: real mayonnaise has little salt,(much less than light salad cream0, real cream cheese and some low fat cottage cheeses have low sodium content, and Black Cat peanut butter is also on the list of may-haves. Tuna is fish oil is OK, but not tuna in brine water. (Most of my food choices nowadays are low in salt, still tasty but fattening!) I find myself looking at rice cakes and corn cakes: the ones without salt have more kilojoules than the ones with salt added...! Which should I buy? I buy both kinds and resolve to eat one of each instead of two of the same packet and so hope to balance too much salt and restless legs versus getting fat! (Bread and margarine, by the ways are no-no's)

Another ebook suggested this was all nonsense - one needs salt. According to this book the cause of restless legs is a bladder that is not emptied completely. So now when restless legs start, I go to the toilet, drink extra magnesium... and then drink Pexola anyway.... but at least I am down to one Pexola a day!

Ah well... (What a boring post - but just had to get it off my chest! Maybe someone knows of a better way to deal with this thorn in the flesh?)

P.S. Another thorn - not in the flesh, but still. I found in previous posts, that the spaces I put in between paragraphs disappear when the post is published. This time I put in extra spaces, in case you wonder why the spaces are so big... or in case there are no spaces again. And does anyone know how I can change the font of my heading and blog description? One can barely read it now.

A little bit of news

2010-01-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

We got our new camera and below are some of the first photos. Now I just have to figure out how to save photos on Jan's computer. I couln't find a way to create new folders in his "Pictures", so I tried Picassa - but now I do not know how to upload photos from Picassa onto the blog. I selected photos and clicked on "blog this" and this is how I got the photos below onto this post... but other photos went to other posts - don't know how to get them all onto the same post. If I try to upload images by clicking on the image icon on the New Post toolbar, it doesn't open Picassa - I am so dumb and I do so miss my old computer!! I hope I get better software than this Vista - it just doesn't do it for me!

Martelize watches intently as Thelwyn spreads a slice of bread with peanut butter.

Then she tries her hand at "spreading" and "cutting" .... puts the knife in her mouth, takes it out and says "Eina!" ("Ouch!")

I often get to see Martelize, as the H's are living on the farm for the time being (long story with farmhands having had to go back to Malawi very unexpectedly...). We regularly see Franco too, but of course not as often. I looked after Martelize on Wedenesday when Thelwyn had to the doctor and then looked after Franco the next day when Dorette had to go to the doc. What a privilege to be able to do it - but I admire the moms. It's hard work looking after a toddler! Both of them are very, very busy - but what a joy they are. Here is a little bit of news - I could go on forever, but will try to contain myself:

Martelize:

New words: Especially animal sounds like "Wat sê die hadeda?" "Ha!" "Wat sê die duifie?" "Krr, krr"; " Wat sê die leeu?" "Gg". "Wat sê die perd?" "Prr, mmmm, prr" She is very obviously an animal lover and like her parents, horse crazy. She chases the dogs from the scullery: "Uit! Uit!" (Wonders where she gets that!)

Food: She loves fruit, especially watermelon. Insists on getting her share of whatever is in your plate or glass, but knows that coffee is "Sjoe-sjoe!"

Playing: She likes to play with her teaset, keys, telephones, the hosepipe, to walk on the treadmill (more especially to push the on and off buttons), to put fit Ouma's electric curlers on their pegs, to close anything: doors, bottles, tupperware... "Toe, toe!"

Franco News

New Words: At 20 months his speech is improving with the speed of lightning! Lifts his shirt and points to his tummy and says "Baba". (To the unenlightened: Dorette is 7 months pregnant.) Names a lot of things, but not yet the magic words "Pie-pie" and "poef". He is being pottytrained now and he seldom has an accident: dutifully does his thing in the potty, but Dorette has still to guess when to take him, he does not say yet.

Food: Franco does not like fruit at all - on the other hand he eats vegetables without any problem - loves beetroot and spinach! At the moment very much into finger foods like chicken fingers.

Playing: Very fond of anything to ride on. Favourite place to play: the stairs in their house! Bruises and scrapes on his legs indicate his wild ways on the climbing frame. Also fond of building blocks, posting forms and play dough. Loves to mow the lawn. Has recently started to "swim" on his own, i.e. he swims with his life jacket type swimming aid, without anyone having to hold him.

He is also very fond of tidying up. He has loved brooms for a long time. Recently he has started to throw washing into the laundry basket - even took out clothes out of his cupboard to fill the basket! Potties belong in the bathroom - promptly took it back when Dorette dared to put it in the kitchen! He pushes in chairs after meals or "working" at the table.

What a joy to watch both of them grow! What a privilege!

Tidy up!

2010-01-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

The assessor of the insurance company was here yesterday and luckily there were no problems. Hopefully I'll soon have a new computer and Jan and Hendrik their new cameras! Jan must get a quote for his hairclipper today, so that he can buy it before he needs a haircut. His ring was stolen, so we can get shop for a new ring too. That should be fun. We can get married again!

Going through all the warranties and instruction booklets, to get proof that we owned these things, I realised that the study was due for a major overhaul, so this week
I tried to tidy the study!!
I sorted a pile of papers on Jan's desk into 17 different files yesterday.

Jan seemed very grateful last night and will now also drill a hole through the desk so that the spiderweb of cables can be tidied up!

My own "now" files with titles like "Addresses", "Blog and Internet", "Book", "Health" and "Overseas Holiday" I keep on their backs in a pigeon hole above my desk, so it is not difficult to shove papers into them. My desk is also cluttered most of the time, but never with such a pile of "deurmekaar" papers! Today I want to figure out a way of how to make filing and keeping tract of papers easier for Jan and I need to check the contents of some of my files - especially one marked "Recent Receipts"! We regularly keep book of our expenses and then immediately throw away the receipts, but I keep ones of things that I might have to return like small appliances, car batteries and the like.

Thanks Frans and Gert for my pigeon holes: they work well!

Making new calenders and a new Excel bookkeeping file also took up a big chunk of my last week of holiday. My last back-up was Feb 2009, so at least I did not have to do it totally from scratch, but still.

Other small opuses this last week of holiday was to really get the smaller mats clean - they never look good, even after a lot of vacuuming. I discovered that the magic broom - the green one that they advertise on T.V. does wonders to lift hairs and stuff out of the mats. I was so surprised to see how much hair accumulates in such a mat. We do not even have pets in the house, so I guess a lot of the hair is my own! Yuck. Anyway I am really chuffed with my clean mats, especially in our bathroom and bedroom. I loosen the hair with the broom or handbrush and then vacuum away. Last night Jan lengthened the cord of the vacuum cleaner with 5 metres. What a difference - no more "gesukkel" with unrolling extention cables and plugs that get caught around every nook and corner! Thanks Jan!!

P.S. I have started on the filing cabinet and came across 2000 (the year) Pretorium Trust statements: Shoprite amounts were mostly R30 - R40; big Shoprite amounts were between R250 and R300 and the monthly total for Pretorium Trust (including several tanks of petrol circa R150) was between R2000 and R3000 a month... and those days we still fed three students! Our latest Pretorium Trust total is R8168 - without any petrol. Generally Shoprite and Spar amounts are above R100 and a big one at Menlyn Hyper was R1,785.24! What will our Shoprite shopping trips cost in 10 years time?

Christmas and New Year

2010-01-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

As always we and the F's got together on Christmas Eve to share with one another what Jesus has meant to us this year. We have been doing it for years and we find very enriching. What made it special this year was that Jan's sisters Louise (with hubby Marthinus) and Rina joined us. However, it was sad that the L's could not be here - again! Last year they spent Christmas with Dorette's inlaws and this year - our Christmas - Franco had chicken pox! He had been immunized, so it was very slight, but it was chicken pox nonetheless.

On Christmas Day the H's went to Frans's mother for the day and we went to the F's for Christmas lunch. The L's came over later the afternoon so that we could give Franco his gifts: a motorbike and a lawnmower. Both gifts turned out to be real hits and he was beaming - "mowed" the lawn until he was red in the face. A pity it wasn't a real lawnmower! I hope he'll be as enthusiastic once he can really take over from his dad!

Martelize's gifts were a teaset and a rocking horse. She loves fitting lids and she is mad about horses. Like mother like daughter! (Wat sê die perd? Prrr...mmm....prrr)

On the fateful day that they broke in and stole my computer, Thelwyn, Dorette, kids and I went shopping for decorations for "Sussie's" room. Dorette is expecting a little girl in March. It was great fun and the little ones were very good, but I realised again how difficult it is to go shopping with a little one! Sterkte Dorette vir die inkopies met twee kleintjies! Been there, done that with three under four years, but that was nearly 28 years ago!!

After the shopping spree, we swam in the L's solar heated pool - great fun, but Martelize was not so happy in the big pool. Franco on the other hand is turning into a real water worm - almost "swims" completely on his own. He wears a swimming jacket because wings are still too big, but this little jacket works very well.

On the 31st the community had a big operation to search for criminals and Jan and Hendrik were the watchmen on our koppie - very, very hot work! The community effort led to the arrest of one thief who had the stolen DVD player in a black bag with him.

On New Year's day the L's came for a braai. When I wanted to peel a mango for a salad, I discovered that my whole box of mangoes (a gift from my sister in law), was missing. I couldn't understand how a whole box could dissapear in thin air, until I remembered that they had also broken in next door and stole the kettle and the pineapples!

Thief (thieves) I forgive you, but why could you not have left me at least one mango? Why did you take my half-used toothpaste and soapholder out of my toilet bag? Thanks for leaving Hendriks wallet on Jan's computer.... and thanks for leaving the cash in his drawer... but please you can have the cash if only you will return Jan's wedding ring... and his camera... and it would have been so nice if you had made a back-up of my hard drive, before you took off with my laptop. I guess by now you have realised that it is useless without its power cable...! And please, why did you break TWO security gates?? I saw Jan's Bible was among the stuff you left at the front door - You know, the Bible would have helped you more than the Disprin you took out of my medicine bag...!

Anyway, after lunch, Franco and Martelize splashed in cool water and afterwards, Franco followed Martelize and Thelwyn all the way up to their house (about 35 metres)... he wasn't going to let his cousin be taken away from him...! I tried to take photos, but my camera is very slow (sport setting??) and most photos are just a blur because the little ones are not still for a second! Here are a few of the better ones:

Martelize on Old Year's Eve. (I have trouble with my camera, but a dark pic of her smile is better than none...)

Martelize (17 Months) and Franco (20 Months) eating dried fruit on New Year's Day: they have to sit still while they eat and are generally very good. (Thank you Nursery Schools for insisting on good manners.)

New Years Day 2010: Franco 20 Months. (It is difficult to get Franco to sit still long enough for my slow camera to snap him. )

An exhausted Hendrik after doing Community duty as watch on the koppie.

Cooling off after lunch on a very HOT New Year's Day. (Video does not want to upload?)

Thank you God for such precious little bodies and the wonderful way in which they develop! Help us to teach them your ways!

A Sad Day

2009-12-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Well, Hi there! Here I am again! I stopped blogging because I was very busy/ lazy /pre-occupied etc. etc. My pre-occupation was with trying to make a book of my blog with Blubber.com. I struggled a bit with this as I chose the wrong format for my book, but anyway I was well underway with books about the grandchildren when they were babies and toddlers. I started to make photo books for the little ones with photos of Mamma, Pappa, Ouma, Oupa, Oom Hendrik, baba, Franco, Zaran (the dog), perd (horse) etc. etc. I also wanted to put the videoclips together to make a special video for them..... all these good intentions that came to an abrubt ending yesterday because:

They stole my laptop!

My books, financial statements, work etc. etc. are gone and so are my PHOTOS AND VIDEOS!!

Moral of the story is: keep photos in cyberspace - I had the cutest Christmas photos of Martelize and Franco: she had on a pretty pink satin dress with lots of sequins and all Christmas Eve she danced about like a princess. Franco was so taken with his new lawnmower that he was all smiles when I took photos of him mowing the lawn. And now all those photos are gone! So sad!

Anyway: here is my New Year Resolution: to blog regularly and to immediately put the pics in a blubber book as well and to make weekly backups of this too, so that for next Christmas I will have a photo book for each child.

I just might blog again before New Year, but probably won't: the thieves left our house in a terrible mess and now I have to tidy up before I can clean up and I feel sort of "Where do I begin?" (With some more coffee and beskuit?) Anyway, if I don't blog again before New Year:

HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!

MAY 2010 BE REALLY BLESSED AND MAY NO THIEVES BREAK IN AND STEAL OR DO WORSE!!

Martin and Stella's wedding

2009-10-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

In January I blogged about Hendrik and Sharon's exceptional Kwasizabantu wedding. (Cousin Hendrik - not our Hendrik). In August his twin brother, Martin got married in the same way. Same way, meaning marrying purely, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, without ever having had a relationship of any sort with the fiance.

The big difference between Hendrik's and Martin's weddings was that when Martin got married, the burnt down auditorium had been rebuilt and they did not have to get married in the Aquelle factory shed, like Hendrik and Sharon did. Here pretty Stella makes her entrance down the aisle.

While Martin stood waiting... with Hendrik at his side.

The choir sang beautifully in this massive auditorium that seats thousands every Sunday. This wedding was on a Saturday afternoon and not part of the Sunday service like the others, so the church was not packed to capacity, but there were still many guests. You can read more about their wedding here.

After the service, photos were taken in this beautiful garden. Here is our Hendrik with my sister Elsabe, the mother of the groom.

Father of the groom, Koos, with Anne and Netta in the background.

Wally's wife, Jessica.

Jan and Elsabe Pienaar, Netta and Kobus' children.

Ethelwyn and her children Evan and Almarie.

Tiemie, Lalie and Tannie Babs. Tannie Babs is the only one left of my father's generation. She is 86 and still very sprightly.

Almarie Hanekom.

The beaming couple.

I copied this picture from the Kwasizabantu website.

The whole De Vos side of the family. Tannie Babs, next to Ria, is not much taller than her brother Arno (7). Apparently she wears boys clothes age 11.

Ria, only daughter of Dirk and Ruth.

One of the dainty bridesmaids in her light green frock.

The bridal table.

Hendrik and Martin are keen hunters and hunt especially wild boars - in fact Stella is the daughter of the man on whose farm they often hunted.
Sabe's daughters wrote a poem about hunting and all her grandchildren (except the two babies and Almarie), enthusiastically recited this long poem to the guests at the reception. Jan, in the camo suit in front, was to shoot at one point and he missed his cue, and said, "Ek het nie geskiet nie" to the great amusement of everyone. (See video) But he was not put off and here he aims and shoots.
On the pic is Josh, Ria, Arno (behind Elsabe), Elsabe, Evan, Jan and Hananiel.

Congratulations Martin and Stella! We had a great time at your wedding!

Our Russian Evening

2009-10-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

No photos this week - I was just too busy. Last night we had lots of wonderful friends and family over for our "Russian Evening". Generally it went very well, but I have to confess something that let me hang my head in shame...! But let me start at the beginning!

I had planned to welcome everyone with bread and salt as we had been welcomed on board our ship. Unfortunately my fridge was very full, so the (bought) bread dough was left outside and by the time I wanted to bake it, it had fallen flat! So no Russian bread welcome! (I baked the bread dough this morning and actually it was fine! Too bad I hadn't done it yesterday! I could have treated my guests to wonderful warm bread and let them experience "Russian" hospitality!)

I never got round to making the herring and salmon snacks I had envisioned, so the guests had to make their own snacks while I was still running around. I hope everyone got something. I'm not the best hostess - if you don't help yourself, you'll go without something to drink.

We are fortunate to have two houses on the farm: my mother's house and our house. We arranged the furniture in the top house in rows for the slide show. Thelwyn had organised a computer projector for us - thank you Thelwyn! It was fun to relive our Russian tour and to see our new friends Gert and Maria again. Thanks for the video and the DVD and the picture and...and!

After the show, we had Russian food, or at least my version of it. I had made

Chicken - my own recipe. I think it was something like what we got served on the ship.
Vareniki (filled dumplings) I probably will never make it again. Not bad, but too much work and I do not think really worth the effort. But more than half of the dish got eaten up, so either our guests were just polite, or they actually liked it. (When I had made a trial batch, Hendrik did not think I should include it in the menu, but since it forms a part of Russian New Year celebrations, I included it anyway!)
Bitochki: meatballs with mushroom and sourcream sauce. I seldom use sour cream - too expensive and too many calories - so the sauce was too thick and I had to thin it down with plain yoghurt. I'm not wild about meatballs, but these were quite good. I'll just make the sauce with plain yoghurt next time.
Kidney bean salad with rye bread, grated apple, olives, cheese and mayonnaise. This is one of my favourite Russian recipes, but there was a lot left over. On the other hand, I did not really see any left on the plates... but on the other I did not scrape the plates either, so I do not really know whether the guests liked it, but this is a recipe I'll make again - if only for myself!
Carrot salad. I did not make it with sour cream as my Russian recipe suggested, but I did put in the chopped dried apricots and it was popular.
Beetroot: I cheated and used box beetroot, but I drained the beats and added walnuts, raisins and mayonnaise- as the recipe stated. This dish was very popular and I definitely will make it again.
Cucumber salad with hardboiled egg and sour cream dip. This salad was far more popular than Thelwyn (she made it for me) had thought it would be and we should have made more.
Russian picnic potatoes: a stirfried mixture of parboiled potato strips (chips) and mushroom and onion. Since our Russian tour I have made it a few times and will continue to make it. If you come to visit, you are likely to get it! I can recommend it.
Poppyseed rolls, strawberries and icecream for dessert. This is another "recipe" I can really recommend. We had something like this on the ship and this is my version: you unroll a room temperature roll of flaky pastry. (NB. it takes a long time to defrost, so take it out of the freezer, the day before.) Spread it with a good quality chocolate spread. (The cheapest variety turned out to be like chocolate sauce and did not work too well when I had tried it before.) Sprinkle poppy seeds on top of the chocolate and roll up the pastry again. Pinch the edge to make sure it doesn't unroll while baking. Cut in slices and bake for about 20 minutes - but watch it. I made this for earlier this week when my sister Anne 'crashed' with us for the night and it burned!! What a pity. Anne thought it might have been the oven pan, so for the party I made sure I used a ceramic dish.

Of course we had to end the meal with КОФЕ and ЧАЙ. We had an urn, mugs, various coffees, tea, sugar and milk set out and invited everyone to help themselves... I was busy chatting, and covering left overs - I couldn't let do over zealous guests do that on their own - so I never made myself coffee. Anyway I only drink hot water, so I doubt that I would have noticed that something was amiss. When guests started to say good-bye, I said, "But you haven't had coffee yet." And they all assured me that they had already had coffee thank you....! No one told us that actually the coffee was undrinkable! It was only after everyone had left, that we realised that the milk was sour... not just sour, nearly thick! (Whoever put that bottle in the fridge?) Jan had put the fresh milk in the fridge in the other house, because ours was too full....

So to anyone reading this: thank you for coming. It was a memorable way for us to end our tour of all tours. But next time, please tell me if something is amiss! (Sour milk is not likely to happen again: I'll make sure I'll taste it from now on!!)

Без перевода. (Goodbye)

Before and After, or Why I must have a pony!

2009-10-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

Hello Oupa en Ouma! Ek's wakker en ek het die koord ontdek....!
We looked after Martelize this weekend, while Frans, Thelwyn and Hendrik went off to an endurance ride. (Hendrik was the only one who rode this time. He rode Pula and both horse and rider did very well!)

Kyk hoe mooi kan ek by die trappies afklim.

Ouma se kas is 'n lekker speelplek.... ek kan al die groot laaie oopmaak, maar dis 'n goeie ding ek kan nog nie soos Franco skroefdeksels afdraai nie, anders was Ouma in die moeilikheid. Haar kalsiumpille is 'n lekker ratel vir nou.

Kyk hoe mooi lyk ek nadat Ouma my aangetrek en my hare gekam het.

Ek kan die proppie op my "No more tangles" bottel pas. Ek's mal oor bakkies en potte met deksels.

As jy mooi kyk sal jy my nuwe tande sien. Ek is 14 maande oud en het nou twee tandjies... en 'n paar ander wat pla! Ek hou daarvan om aan 'n appel te "kou" - kan nog nie stukkies afhap nie!
Like mother like daughter... Thelwyn was nearly 15 months before she cut her first tooth!

Ouma het na badtyd my hare drooggeblaas en 'n ander haarstyl probeer. Sy speel so lekker met my hare.
A hairclip also does the trick. Martelize never tries to take these hair things out of her hair, but apparently the other babies at her creche do! Guess who threw tupperware on the floor and who loves playing with the vacuum cleaner!

Slaaptyd!

This weekend was really busy. On Friday we had supper at Dorette's with two of Jan's sisters. Franco and Martelize were so cute, but I was so busy that there wasn't time for photos. I hope to get a new one of the two together soon, but with both of them running around, it is not so easy!

Urielle's first birthday

2009-09-28T09:08:00.001-07:00

It was niece Urielle's first birthday the other day- and great fun to see the three "cousins" together again. They had great time - and so had we.

Ouma Lalie made sure there were enough push toys for everyone. Franco particularly liked this pram.

Urielle wasn't quite walking yet, but she easily pushed around this wagon.

Urielle enjoying her cow birthday cake.

Our two one year old guests watching the candle blowing intently.

Martelize couldn't wait to also tuck into the birthday cake.

Franco wasn't so much interested in the cake, but the BALLOON! He quickly ripped off the balloon from his chair and was far more interested in the balloon than the yummy goodies on the table.

Urielle opening her presents. Her baby sister is due in a month's time.

At first Martelize wanted to help to open the presents, but then she decided climbing into this crate of toys was more interesting.

Franco's only interest in the toy opening was when his uncle put in the screws of a new toy for Urielle. Screwdrivers are very interesting! However, he soon went off exploring the big garden and climbed on everything in sight.

Thelwyn had to go to another function and left Martelize in Dorette's and my care. Martelize, uncharacteristically took a fancy in a teenage guest and wanted to be on her lap for ... well for a long time. However, when I later walked past them, she held out her arms for her Ouma. (Sy het ons darem nog nie afgeskryf nie!)

Gelukkige verjaarsdag Urielle! Mag God jou seen!

On our way to Moscow: A few perceptions about life in Russia

2009-09-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

My perceptions are based on what I heard and saw in Russia... of course we only saw a little bit of Russia and was there a very short time and spoke to only a few Russians, so maybe they are warped, but here are some of my impressions:

Russians are not big on maintenance: many of the boathouses we saw along the river were pretty dilapidated and the same can be said for many buildings in St Petersburg.
However, everywhere we went everything was CLEAN - no littering and the rivers, lakes and canals that we traversed seemed chrystal clear.

Many dwellings along the river were uninhabited (no lights at night)... apparently their owners have already left these "summer houses".... So some people do have summer vacation houses.

Many Russians are poor. We heard the average income is R5000 per month. 28% live under the breadline , but this is a big improvement since Gorbachev's time when it was 58%! Apparently some people can never leave their dwellings in winter, simply because they do not have enough warm clothing. However, we saw very little indication of this massive poverty. We saw three toothless women with scarves selling small bunches of flowers and a woman singing for passing tourists, but only one begging outright... few considering the poverty level. (In S.A. there are beggars/ windowscreen washers /dancers on nearly every main city intersection.)

This looked like a good idea to us: a chain to the ground instead of a gutter.

Some people are apparently very rich: near Moscow we saw impressive houses and fun parks.

The Russian diet is very healthy: lots of vegetables, berries and fish. There was even cucumber in the breakfast buffet. All the soups we had were very tasty but clear with chopped up vegetables. Many recipes, from bread to salad, feature apples. Hard boiled egg is another favourite.

Our pretty waitress who donned traditional clothes when traditional food was served. (We all wanted to bring her back home - for our unmarried sons.)

Our tour leader, Olga, bringing a cake to one of our tour members for her birthday. In the background are younger staff members: they were all very well groomed and very slim. According to Olga, looks are very important for young girls and often bely the fact that they have very little money and may not have had anything to eat.
We saw many fashionable, slim girls strutting down the streets on very high heels.... and sadly often smoking a cigarette. I can't recall having seen an obese person. We heard that alcoholism and drugs are big problems in Russia, but never witnessed anything - did not see any "bums".

Our trim little guide in Uglich, taking us through the monastery. These young guides all seemed very proud of their country, but they often made jokes about life in Russia - and especially about politicians like Breshnev and his sickly successors.

Two very old wooden churches. Why two next to each other? The bigger (cooler) church is (was) for summer, and the smaller one for winter, because it is easier to heat the smaller church.

The inside of the smaller church, decorated with typical Russian icons. The churches are still (again) used, but it is difficult to say how many true believers there are. I got the impression that church is important for festivities like Easter and Christmas, but that people did not really go to church otherwise.

Traditional embroidery: the pictures have meanings and testimony of many superstitions.
I was amazed at how many superstitions are upheld e.g. in traditional cooking: On 7 January they celebrate New Year ( pretty much the same way we celebrate Christmas) with a Grandfather Prost in a blue coat and granddaughter Snow Maiden , handing out gifts to children. They make dumplings and put spices or objects inside e.g. if you get a dumping with a sunflower seed inside, it means you are going to have a baby! A ring means you will get married, pepper indicates crying, salt indicates effort - you will have to work hard etc.

Our energetic guide explaining the importance of the stove in traditional farm houses: of course it was used for cooking, but it had a niche underneath for the chickens to stay warm, a shelve where you could leave milk to curdle or dough to rise and old people and small children could sleep on top of the oven!

Jan outside a Vodka museum at Mandrogi. Alcoholism is on the rise and killing Russian men - one of the reasons why there are far more Russian women than men. Gorbachev tried to prevent it, by prohibiting the sale of alcohol in his time, but it only led to the making of "moonshine." After the fall of the Soviet Government alcoholism has spiralled out of control and people drink anything with alcohol including cologne and anti-freeze! Vodka is no longer so cheap. (Jan and I did not buy any - we don't drink any alcohol besides an occasional beer or wine - so I don't know the price!)