Radio Nick

Nick was invited to do a live radio interview with John Turner this afternoon, on John’s rock music show. He took a look at Nick’s music taste in the rock and heavy metal genre, and the journey he’s taken from there to now, after becoming a Christian. Was a very interesting show, which I listened to on my portable radio in the kitchen while I made supper for the boys and me. He included a lot of Christianity and the changes the Lord had made in his life, and played some good Christian music!

Nick's genius story of the day

I was looking for the small plastic measuring jug, and after questioning the boys, gave up the hunt. When Nick came into the kitchen I asked if he knew where it was, and he said no, but “check the dustbin”. I mentally dismissed the idea as ridiculous, but something prompted Nick to have a look, and sure as bob, he produced the missing, dirty, jug. Why was it there? Well, the milk in the jug was finished, so in his scatterbrainedness, Nick threw it away. (You do know about Albert Einstein, the genius, pulling up to someone else’s house, thinking it to be his own? Apparently genii are known for their utter inability to master the simple things in life – like painting windows and chewing dispirins).

Caleb no longer a teetotaller

I forgot to blog Caleb’s wine-tasting experience yesterday. After jumping on the jumping castle at Harry’s birthday party, he had worked up a thirst, so wandered over to the food table and found a plastic glass with what he supposed to be juice in it, but actually one of the parents had simply left their cup of wine unguarded. Not knowing whose it was, he took a sip anyway, and swallowed it before realizing that he didn’t like the taste. Nick and I saw him spitting as he walked away, so Nick questioned him and discovered what had happened. We could only laugh.

Concluding church service

We invited the Holiday Club children to participate in tonight’s service, and invite their parents to spectate, the same as we did to wrap up last year’s Club. We had a fantastic response! The church was fuller than it usually is for a combined service…only the front three rows or so were unoccupied, the rest of the church was packed. We had the kids up on stage to sing two songs, and at a guess there were about 20 kids there, which is definitely more than we were hoping for. For his sermon, Nick did a summary of what we had been doing in the week, which amounted to the gospel – creation, sin, judgment and salvation. It was very clear and compelling, and then he urged the parents to encourage their children to follow Jesus as their Saviour – to help them build a solid foundation in Him which would then help them avoid the many pitfalls in life. A couple of people spoke to Nick after the service, just to say that it was very good. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback generally about the week. Gary from Radio St Helena, the father of two of the girls who came for the week, was in church to record some bits – not the whole service, just the kids singing, and then after the service he tried to interview some of the older girls from my group, but they were all too shy to say much, and then he interviewed Nick and me, and that will be broadcast on the radio some time this week. All in all, it was an excellent church service and we are very blessed and encouraged. This has wrapped the week up so satisfactorily for us.

Finally, at last, it's over

We ran a parrot-naming competition during the week – this was completely last-minute and unplanned, as on Monday morning during the warm-up I had been naming the animals but omitted the parrot, so when they asked for his name, I said he didn’t have one but they could offer names, and thus sprung up a full-blown competition. We had 62 entries, 13 of which were “Polly”, but the winning name was from Kieran, of “Lynick Do Do”. We weren’t sure if it was supposed to be an insult to Nick and me, but it was the most creative name anyway.

This morning we started at 9.30 and ran until 11, so it was a compromise between HBC and GNC. I’m not sure of the exact head count, but I think there were about 30 kids only. The program for this morning was different of course with the shorter time, so we had the opening assembly and singing, then prize-giving for perfect attendance. The story was the lesson of the sheep and goats, so for the warm up I put some Rice Krispies and some Strawberry Pops on the overhead, and then asked the kids to try separate them. Of course they didn’t know which were which, the point being that only I could separate them as only I could see them. Nick then did the actual lesson which was very good, and straight after the lesson he did something unusual, which was to get them to close their eyes and bow their heads, and then he prayed “the sinner’s prayer” with time in between each phrase for the kids to pray in their hearts if they wanted to become Christians. Nick asked that if anyone had prayed it, that they spoke to one of the leaders, but no kids spoke to us afterwards. We don’t know if there has been any fruit from the week, but we don’t know what will happen to the seeds that have been planted. The fun sheets followed the lesson as usual – every day there has been a worksheet with a variety of crosswords, word search, code words etc. Then it was juice and biscuits for everyone, followed by the craft, which was a whirlwind of paper and glue, and tricky to co-ordinate with so many kids all at once! At 11 we officially ended, but with voluntary “watersports” afterwards. Since they had so much fun on Wednesday with water, we decided to do it again today, but make it unofficial and after the lessons, because it takes so long for them to organize themselves with changing into dry clothes at the end. I didn’t venture near the schoolyard, but those who did were doused and dirty. There were wet sponges, which fall in the dust and make a lovely mess when thrown at each other.

Get on board

Today is officially the start of winter here. As I write, Nick has taken the boys swimming. Yes, on the first day of winter, they are swimming.

Today’s session was good again, with 43 kids. My group starts with their craft every day, then after the snack break, we have our activity – today’s was sliding under the pews from the back to the front, collect a card, then slide all the way back. It was great! After the activity we go to our Bible Story, which they least enjoy, and look at me blankly, or stare at the walls or whatever else is available to look at. The bible lessons have been very good though, strongly focusing on God’s pending judgment, and salvation. Yesterday’s story was Noah, and how people laughed at Noah then – I asked the kids if they would like to be on the ark if they knew a flood was coming. They all nodded their heads vigorously, so I told them there is a “flood” coming – God is going to judge the world one day, and they need to be on board the “ark” which is Jesus.

"Watersports"

47 kids today, and wonderful weather, praise the Lord! We had our water activities today, and told the kids yesterday to bring extra clothes in case they got a bit wet. We weren’t expecting that they would actually throw water at themselves, just for the pure enjoyment and fun…any games with water are a big hit. One girl sat down under a running tap, fully clothed. “Us gonna play with water ballooooons?” is one of our favourite rip-off sayings, and sure enough, they said it again this year. Loads of fun. The first group to do their games came in soaking wet and muddy, so we moved that activity to our back yard where it would be cleaner and give the grass a good watering!

The Brown Dispirin Story

Last night Nick and I were both feeling a little “coldy”, and in need of medication. Nick, alone in the kitchen, found some Dispirin for children, with a picture of some kids on the front. When I walked into the kitchen he was still chewing on it, which I thought was strange because Dispirins are not chewable, even the kid’s type. Then after some more chewing, he spat it out, saying it tasted like Marmite. I thought it was hilarious because everyone knows you have to dissolve them in water first. He tried again, taking another one out its foil wrapper, and was amazed to see that it was white, as the first one had been brown. So not only did he chew a non-chewable tablet, but it was off and vile-tasting!!! This can go down in the annals of Nick Clevely duffs right there with painting windows!

Today we had 43 kids at the HBC, with 16 new ones. A couple of yesterday’s kids didn’t return, but most did. It was a good day again, and the Lord has provided all the necessary helpers! It’s a bit chaotic and hectic, but it’s working. This morning’s lesson was about rebellion and the Fall of Man, so for the warm-up I came in with a mouse trap on my foot, and had to confess that I had snuck into the pantry to get a chocolate quickly, but got caught in the trap – I gave in to temptation!

In the afternoon I went to town to pay Nick’s income tax – that was a simple procedure whereby I had to go to the bank and do an account transfer. The teller provided the government’s account number and everything. Of course she could have just put in her own account number and I wouldn’t have been any the wiser, but that kind of thing doesn’t happen here!

Let the games begin!

This morning was the first day of Holiday Bible Club. At 8.45, we had four kids – our two included. By 9 am we had about six kids, but they slowly trickled in until we had a goodly number when we were ready to actually start at 9.15. Once all the kids had been registered, we had 29. (Today has been a public holiday though, so we think there will be more children tomorrow). We kicked off with a time of welcome, prayer, singing, explanation of what the week entails etc, memory verse learning, then a ‘warm-up’ before the lesson. I will be doing the warm-ups. This morning I baked a cake with imaginary ingredients, mixing everything together, and produced…nothing! The point was that only God can create something out of nothing, and then we broke off into our various groups. The lesson for the day was creation. We had the groups divided into 5-6 year olds with Enid, 7-9 year olds with me, and 10-12 year olds with Nick. But, when we saw that the bulk of the kids were in the middle group (my group) and mostly rowdy boys, Nick and I did a quick last-minute swap, so I have ended up with the older group who are all girls. This is the pyjama party group of girls plus one or two others, and so we already have a good rapport. The various age groups went off to do their craft, or bible story, or activity, then we all had a cup of juice and biscuit, then off to the next thing, so that each group does one craft, has a story, and plays a game. After the three sessions, we came back together for a quiz and then a final time of singing and wind-up.

Father's Day

Early this morning the boys gave Nick their cards and presents for Father’s Day, which were a music stand (nice sturdy one I bought locally), a battery operated toothbrush, a tube of Pringles (traditional Father’s Day gift) and a packet of Wagon Wheels, which I don’t think you can get in SA anymore. Aaron’s card, which he reread for Nick, said “Dab” – he only realized when he read it today! He felt a bit embarrassed I think. Caleb’s said “Hotweels” all over it. Then we proceeded to breakfast and the day as usual. Lunch was chicken burgers and onion rings which we took to Steve and Maureen’s empty house, as they have asked us to keep an eye on it while they’re away. The boys took their box of plastic animals and played with them on the very thick carpet/rug while Nick went over his lesson for tomorrow and I read “Chasing the Dragon” which I started a week or two ago – about a single missionary lady in China in the Walled City. Very good book.

And the winner is...

...not Nick. As we thought, the country song won. Nick was placed as the first runner up though, thankfully he beat the other song about the world’s climate change and not jumping in your car. He wasn’t disappointed, although the boys were a bit, but he still won a cash prize which he’s going to put towards a drum machine (not a set of drums, this is something different).

We finished the backdrop on Wednesday, which gives a good feel to the main section of the schoolroom. The kids are sure to like it!

Goat's Meat Curry

No problems with school this morning, other than waiting for 10.30 to listen to the radio. It was the final elimination round today, taking the contestants down to the top three. Guess what? Nick is in the top three! The other two are a country song about “walking with my grandson” in a real American drawl, and a song about “walking a little more instead of jumping in your car.” But on the island, where you have smash hits about goat’s meat curry, any lyrics go! Nick’s lyrics are more poetic. After three years of hearing the song off and on, and now a week of hearing it three times a day on radio, and after actually asking Nick, I finally have the first line of the verse figured out: “Walking under winter’s lighter skies I delight in the mellow blues, cloudless skies and expanse touching textured fields of golden hues” – this to a very complicated tune that you can barely hum along to, let alone sing. I still can’t sing it. Its downfall might be that it’s not catchy, although you can easily listen to it over and over again without getting sick of it. Well, we just have to wait for Friday now!

Aaron is trying to read a lot now (writing on bottles and boxes, that sort of thing), and spelling things out to himself all the time. It’s exciting to see that he’s taken such an interest in literacy! Caleb has become a terrible mumbler, but it’s actually not just a mumble as much as it is picking up the Saint accent. Both boys say things like “hee-ya” and “fowa” instead of “here” and “for” every so often. I don’t know how they have managed to pick up this accent as they are mostly around Nick and me; I suppose from their friends and the radio. There are a couple of dreadful radio personalities who don’t pronounce their words, they sort of skip over them and the words run into each other in a very indistinct way, which is exactly what Caleb is doing. Caleb is sick again, with his usual chesty cold. Shame, it really knocks him hard every time. He coughed a lot today, and we decided to nebulize him – I popped up to the hospital to ask for some medicine for our own nebulizer, and after explaining the situation with Caleb, they were very happy to hand over the plastic vials, 10 each of the two kinds I need to use. No forms to fill in, nothing to sign, no wait, nothing to pay – so easy!

HBC prep and Idols

Nick and I started painting the backdrop for next week’s Holiday Bible Club this afternoon, but it wasn’t long before he remembered he had a deacons’ meeting tonight, so he had to go and prepare for it – not much painting was done today! Pop Idols this morning – another elimination day, and Nick is still in. We are down to four contestants now, and another one to go tomorrow. It’s quite exciting sitting listening to the radio, waiting to hear who stays and who goes! He doesn’t think he will win, and I don’t either, based on what the islanders like and their biases, but he still is the best of them and should win! It will be nice if he places in the top three though.

Winter Sun

The boys went to Callum’s birthday party this afternoon, a lunch-time affair. After dropping them off we came home to get lunch ready for ourselves. But since the boys weren’t with us, there was no particular rush to have lunch, so instead we had coffee and wedding cake (Sharon gave a piece of boxed cake to Nick this morning at church) and chatted outside, and then made ham rolls which we took to Castle Gardens. The weather in town this afternoon has been perfect – a mild breeze, the sun comfortably warm, the sky blue with a few clouds. We took the picnic blanket to the Gardens, and the doves wanted to share our lunch, so we broke off bits of roll for them. They are obviously very accustomed to people, as we got them taking crumbs from our fingers. Nick brought his guitar out and I read a book, and then we chatted, and it was so nice. I haven’t had so much vitamin D in a long time – one either avoids the summer sun, or the winter rain. Not much winter sun. Funny though, because Nick’s song is called “Winter Sun” – written from a South African perspective! The doves continued pecking at crumbs – one brave little one even walked right over my legs. We had a good talk about the state of the church on the island, and what needs to happen. The conclusion is that a revival is needed! In 20 years the Baptist witness could be dead on the island, as the church consists of people mostly over 50, with the handful of younger people who would be the next generation of “the church” not being very serious about their attendance.

There was a tragedy on the island yesterday morning, when a parked car rolled over the edge of the ladder hill mountain, bounced a bit and fell into the sea. Two young people were killed. There is much speculation as to what happened and why, but since it was a boy and a girl in the car, people are drawing the obvious conclusion. We don’t know the identity of the people, but apparently it was a difficult identification for the police to make, as the bodies were badly battered in the fall.

Dinner Guests

Nick is still in the running for Pop Idols – one more contestant was eliminated yesterday, but it was not Nick. The next elimination is on Monday. Last night we made a start to the backdrop for the Holiday Bible Club, which is running from 18th to 23rd June, putting together big sheets of paper, getting it up on the wall, and then outlining our picture from OHP. We started painting this afternoon, and made a big dent in about two hours, so it looks like we will easily finish that with not too much stress.
We had John and Cindy to dinner this evening. She brought a cremora tart for pudding, but she used a different recipe, and to her embarrassment it didn’t set. We’re one-for-one with flopped puddings now (my trifle didn’t set when we had dinner at their house!). The kids ate at their table, so the grown ups could have a decent conversation, and it really was nice. We chatted about all sorts of things and laughed a lot in between. Cindy had a tension headache, so after giving her two Comprals, I suggested we pop out to the Emporium where I had seen heating pads (the automatic type where it heats instantly, and then afterwards you reset it by boiling it) quite inexpensively. Unfortunately we got there at 8, just as they were closing, so no luck. We wandered about town a bit after that, looking at the clothes in Warrens, where I remarked that “die klere is lelik en duur”. Nice to talk in our ‘private language’!

Dentistry

I started off the morning with a trip to the dentist, as a temporary filling she had done a few months ago has come out, and I was finding myself in pain by the end of the day. I phoned for an appointment, but the earliest I could get was in July, so the receptionist said I could just come in between 8.30 and 9.30 which is when they have emergency appointments, for her to reapply the filling. It was very quick and virtually painless, other than when she blew air onto the tooth which was very sensitive. For this dubious service I was charged no money, so I guess you get what you pay for. She also had an x-ray taken to see what needs to happen next. Unfortunately, she can’t do crowns or inlays on the island, so the only options are to either keep redoing the temporary filling, or pulling the tooth. Of course the latter is not to be seriously considered. I was home again before 9, so school kicked off at the usual time after the news.

Nick still in the running

Pop Idols continues, and today was the first elimination day, where two contestants were voted off. Nick was not one of those. There are now 6 left standing, and the next elimination will be on Friday. It’s quite exciting – we wonder how far Nick will go! There is a country song among the bunch, which, although not very well sung, is a country song after all and may well get the winning vote.

School stuff

It has been raining and cold today, I’m sure it might even have hit 20. I felt really cold this morning and my hands were purplish, but did I put on another jersey? No! I thought that sooner or later the sun would come out and I would warm up, but it happened later rather than sooner. Anyway. School was a bit bumpy this morning with the Maths, as we are now learning to count in 5s. Aaron struggled with it somewhat, but we’ll keep on revising it. I am doing spot tests where I get them to write a number I say, as they both don’t have their teen numbers under the belt. It’s quite fun and they enjoy it. We’ve got a new game called ‘Silly Simon’ – Simon says “put your hand on your head”; “Simon says wave your feet in the air”; “Simon says walk on the ceiling” – to which they will reply “Silly Simon” if it’s something impossible to do. It’s so funny the way they reply in unison with harmonised intonations and a lilt at the end.

Pop Idols

St Helena is running its very own version of Pop Idols. Nick has been very involved with the project, writing some music for the songs, and playing guitar for most of the recordings. He submitted one of his own songs too, which he recorded in SA, but we weren’t sure if it had been accepted. The competition officially started today, with the 8 contestants’ songs being played on the radio. We sat glued to the radio for the half hour the programme ran, and were very excited when Nick’s song came up as “Contestant Number 2”. Of course his is the best of the lot – and I say that with only a slight bias, because really, the other contestants are not too good. Nick’s guitaring can be heard on all the other songs too. He entered it just for fun, so whether he wins or loses is not that important to him. The competition will run until next Friday, with a contestant being eliminated every few days until there are three left in the final.

The weather today has been on the chilly side – I forgot to look early in the morning at the thermometer, but it was right down to 21 (J) when I checked later in the day, with intermittent showers. I’ve been wearing a jersey most of the day, and Nick’s had on two layers of long sleeves! Still some sun in the afternoon though, for which we are grateful.

A lesson on fish and deep thoughts

This morning Lloyd and Njori arrived just after 8 for their lift to Sandy Bay, bringing with them six or seven bullseyes for us. Nick brought them back from church shortly after ten, and after a cup of tea, Lloyd very kindly filleted the bullseyes for me, outside. He showed me how to do it, so if I ever have a whole fresh fish again, I’ll know what to do. His method did not involve chopping heads off with axes! I didn’t have to prepare lunch today, as we had been invited to Anthony and Elaine for lunch. We ate a hearty lunch of veggies, cauliflower in cheese sauce, gammon and drumsticks. Pudding was chocolate peppermint stuff and a peach flan, all very delicious. The conversation flowed around church topics mostly, and Anthony is very keen to improve the worship. They also have an idea to open a coffee bar in the schoolroom. A discussion of the role of the Pastor’s Wife always seems to come up, as in years gone by the PW was very active in the community, church life, and various ministries. I always maintain that the PW is not employed by the church, and there should be no expectations put upon her, other than the expectations of any normal church member to be involved in ministries. It bothers me that there is this undefined and unsaid rule that she is a Super Member and should be doing more than the Regular Member. But then I always have to wonder if I should be doing more, and what I should be doing, and where I will find the emotional energy after a morning of homeschooling! My role as a PW is to look after and help the Pastor, which I am doing (the Pastor concurs). If anyone has any thoughts on this, drop a comment on the blog!

Last night we had chicken burgers for supper, and did one of our favourite things, which is to take our supper to the docks and eat while we watch the sun set. It was great, definitely something we’ll miss one day. We sat on top of a big flat wall next to the cannons, with our feet dangling over the edge. Caleb climbed onto the wrong wall, so I instructed him to climb down and climb up again on ours, cautioning him “not to even think about jumping across”. “I’m thinking about it,” says he, “but I won’t do it.” Our supper finished, we walked further around the docks and threw some bread out for the fish, but the sea was very rough and we didn’t see fish. Then Nick and the boys clambered over some rocks while I sat watching the sea. It’s intriguing how the waves keep on breaking over the rocks with such force, and have been doing so for centuries, and will continue to do so as long as the earth remains. Not quite an infinite cycle, but very long anyway. As I was sitting there, watching, I realized that I had been staring mindlessly at the sea for some time, just enjoying it, and not getting bored, and then I thought about heaven. The fact of its infinity is a scary thought, but probably because we’ll be enjoying it so much, we won’t think about how long it’s lasting.

Work party

This afternoon we have been at the Boer Cemetery and Baptist Cemetery since about 11.30 with a work party, chopping out roots, cutting down tree branches, and replacing fence posts. The work party was smaller than we anticipated, with only Vincent, Nick, Nick, Stan and Mervyn (pictured) and me working. My job was with a machete, hacking down small overhanging branches which were obscuring the path a bit (which I interspersed with lying down, in typical Saint fashion – work a bit, rest a lot). Unfortunately my axing technique wasn’t correct, so although it got the job done, it’s left me with a sore elbow and paining muscles! Nick was tasked with chopping roots out of the path which he tackled with vigour, leaving him quite tender afterwards too.

Gone fishin'

I am pleased to say that I can add “fishing off a yacht in the Atlantic Ocean” to my list of life’s experiences. We made contact with a New Zealander and his wife who have come to be on the island via yacht, who are Baptists and wanted to know about our Sunday services. This morning, these Kiwis, Lloyd and Njori called by the house briefly to invite us to dinner on their yacht!! We didn’t need any persuasion. We caught the ‘taxi service’ from the docks to their yacht, for ₤1, and boarded their beautiful vessel at about 5.30 pm. Wow, what a stunning boat. It has a covered deck at the back (I’m sure I should call it aft or starboard or something) and a trampoline at the front, and then a lounge/kitchen area with comfortable seating and a big table, and then on either side of that section there are stairs leading down towards the cabins, of which there are 4, all en-suite. Very luxurious and still very new. On board were Lloyd and Njori and their daughter Tania, 34, and another Kiwi couple who are actually the sailors, Keith and Bianca. It was a very relaxed evening of conversation, indoors or outdoors, and dinner was a delicious chicken curry. We watched the sun set and admired the vivid reds in the sky. After supper, we tried to spot some fish, throwing some breadcrumbs and left-over rice overboard, but there wasn’t much action near the surface, although we could see the occasional silvery glint of a mackerel. Since this wasn’t very fruitful, Lloyd and co got some fishing rods out, baited up the hooks, and let them in. Njori tried for a while, then handed the rod to Nick, who had been holding the torch, while I was sitting watching. Nick had a few tugs but didn’t catch anything, and then handed the rod to me. I’ve never held a baited rod in water before, and it was pretty exciting letting the weighted gut run down to the seabed, and then slowly clicking the handle back to pull up a bit. Keith showed me what to do, and said that as soon as I felt a tug I was to pull up and reel in. I felt the bite, and quickly zinged the line in as fast as I could, although it was surprisingly hard work as the fish was putting a lot of tension on the line trying to get away! Eventually it broke the surface, and I think it was a mackerel, probably about 30cm long (and that’s not a fisherman’s lie). I was so excited about catching my first fish!! I was screaming and laughing, but at the same time wondering what to do next as I didn’t want this writhing thing touching me. Thankfully Keith caught hold of it and took it off the hook, but we decided to throw it back in as I didn’t want to take it home, and I guess they can catch bigger fish themselves. Sadly, by that time the taxi was back to relay us ashore at 7.30, so we said our goodbyes and left. (Nick later confessed that he gave the fishing rod to me before risking catching anything himself, as he doesn’t have the stomach to take a live fish off the hook with its mouth gasping for water around his fingers, and it wouldn’t have been as appropriate for him to scream “don’t bring it near me” as it was for me.)

Another year, another birthday

This morning, the boys woke up early as usual, and then I heard them discussing that they must get my presents and hide them, which they duly did, creeping quietly down the stairs and then coming back up to tell me I could come and look. With all the help, I found all the presents easily. Nick gave me a beautiful Swatch, which he had commissioned friends in SA to buy for him. He also bought me a CD-card – the CD has music from the 1970s, and the card is a “1974” history card with events that took place in that year, for example UN excluding SA because of apartheid, and things like that. The boys went shopping with Nick yesterday, and Caleb chose the present which was a little ceramic bath ornament with some bath pearls in it, and they each gave me a card with a hand-written greeting. It’s so gratifying looking at their “from Caleb” and “From Aaron”, knowing that I’ve taught them how to do that! After lunch, and after getting my watch strap adjusted at the home of a man who does that kind of thing, we went to the Coffee Shop at the docks for coffees and milkshakes. Caleb took the photo of us. It’s handy having a child who can take pictures!