Confession time: today I turned 34. I had a super day, and was certainly quite spoiled. The day started a little too early though, when the boys came in before 7 (it was still dark) with their cards. I had to look at them by torchlight! After breakfast I listened to the song which Nick wrote for me, which he had recorded, so we sat and listened together. It is very beautiful. Then it was the usual stuff – Nick had prayer meeting, and then we had Good News Club. He used my birthday as an object lesson (inspired at 4 am Saturday morning when the rain thudding through the ceiling into the strategically-placed dustbin kept us awake), teaching about being born again and having two birthdays. He had a moment of silent prayer after the lesson, inviting anyone who wanted to be reborn to ask God to forgive them and make them spiritually alive. It was a very good lesson. He asked the kids to guess how old I was, and most of the answers were somewhere in the 20s! After GNC, the real fu
n began. Nick and the boys took me shoe shopping, as gifts from the boys. I had in mind to get a pair of casual shoes, which I wear constantly in winter. We went first to the shop in China Lane, but there was nothing to be found there, so hopped it off down town to Y&T, which we thought was the most likely place to find something good. We did find something – I found two pairs that I liked and couldn’t choose, so Nick said I should get both, which I did (one pair from each boy!). That done, we went to Ardees for lunch – the boys shared a cheeseburger and chips, Nick had a cheeseburger and chips, and I had the fish, which was outstanding. We saw Harry and Jenny in the market, as Jenny was selling some of her confectionary – toffee apples, koeksisters, fudge and cakes. Nick chatted with them for a while and I browsed the bookshop in the market, buying a little book for the boys. On getting home, we watched a DVD together, then we just had a little time to kill before going out to the Cuttings. Steve and Maureen were already there. It was a wonderful afternoon – Jennifer had made a cake, beautifully iced, which I was made to cut (Nick tried to get a photo of the two of us standing behind the cake, but the photo here was the result – she was camera shy and couldn’t be persuaded!). She also provided chips, sweeties and more koeksisters. We sat around the diningroom table having our tea, and then the ladies and gentlemen separated – the men into the lounge, Jenny into the kitchen to start on supper, and Maureen and I in the diningroom where we could still talk to Jenny through the serving hatch. It was very relaxed and companionable. The boys played outside mostly, but also looked at their books inside and chatted to the grown-ups a bit. After a not-long-enough gap, supper was ready, which was pork chops, t-bone steaks, chips, sweetcorn and salad. Jenny is an excellent cook, and very relaxed about everything. We couldn’t manage any pudding, which was a tipsy tart, so had to bring the whole thing home with us, along with half of the birthday cake which we couldn’t finish at the time!
Going back to yesterday (Friday), I needed to be at the dentist early, but even so I was seen last as I hadn’t let anyone know I was there, so they didn’t get the order right. Didn’t really matter, since I had a book to read and I tried not to mind that we would miss a chunk of school again. He had to drill out part of the existing tooth to get something for the filling to hold on to, and in order to do that he had to numb my gum. This he did by means of three separate injections, all of them painful, and one of them into the gum where the tooth meets it! It seems that it’s worked this time though – as Roger said, he feels ‘in his waters’ that this is the keeper! I saw him on Saturday morning in town and he asked after it; I also saw his assistant who asked how I was! Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a little village where everyone knows everyone’s business…then I remember that it’s not a village, it’s a town, and everyone does know everyone’s business!
Caleb and Aaron took the initiative of starting up a ‘meeting’ – they have been listening to way too much Secret 7. They invited four of their friends from the Good News Club, who dutifully turned up at our house today for the meeting. The agenda was something along the lines of pray, discuss what is happening with the mountains and the rock stabilization project, see if anyone else had any other comments, and then play. They couldn’t meet in the back yard though as it was raining, and I certainly didn’t want six boisterous boys romping in the lounge, so Nick took them to the schoolroom. Agenda forgotten, they spent the next hour throwing Frisbees around and riding scooters up and down the length of the room. They had loads of fun, and I assume this will be a regular play slot for them. I’m impressed that they dreamed up this scheme by themselves; more impressed that the other boys remembered!
n began. Nick and the boys took me shoe shopping, as gifts from the boys. I had in mind to get a pair of casual shoes, which I wear constantly in winter. We went first to the shop in China Lane, but there was nothing to be found there, so hopped it off down town to Y&T, which we thought was the most likely place to find something good. We did find something – I found two pairs that I liked and couldn’t choose, so Nick said I should get both, which I did (one pair from each boy!). That done, we went to Ardees for lunch – the boys shared a cheeseburger and chips, Nick had a cheeseburger and chips, and I had the fish, which was outstanding. We saw Harry and Jenny in the market, as Jenny was selling some of her confectionary – toffee apples, koeksisters, fudge and cakes. Nick chatted with them for a while and I browsed the bookshop in the market, buying a little book for the boys. On getting home, we watched a DVD together, then we just had a little time to kill before going out to the Cuttings. Steve and Maureen were already there. It was a wonderful afternoon – Jennifer had made a cake, beautifully iced, which I was made to cut (Nick tried to get a photo of the two of us standing behind the cake, but the photo here was the result – she was camera shy and couldn’t be persuaded!). She also provided chips, sweeties and more koeksisters. We sat around the diningroom table having our tea, and then the ladies and gentlemen separated – the men into the lounge, Jenny into the kitchen to start on supper, and Maureen and I in the diningroom where we could still talk to Jenny through the serving hatch. It was very relaxed and companionable. The boys played outside mostly, but also looked at their books inside and chatted to the grown-ups a bit. After a not-long-enough gap, supper was ready, which was pork chops, t-bone steaks, chips, sweetcorn and salad. Jenny is an excellent cook, and very relaxed about everything. We couldn’t manage any pudding, which was a tipsy tart, so had to bring the whole thing home with us, along with half of the birthday cake which we couldn’t finish at the time!Going back to yesterday (Friday), I needed to be at the dentist early, but even so I was seen last as I hadn’t let anyone know I was there, so they didn’t get the order right. Didn’t really matter, since I had a book to read and I tried not to mind that we would miss a chunk of school again. He had to drill out part of the existing tooth to get something for the filling to hold on to, and in order to do that he had to numb my gum. This he did by means of three separate injections, all of them painful, and one of them into the gum where the tooth meets it! It seems that it’s worked this time though – as Roger said, he feels ‘in his waters’ that this is the keeper! I saw him on Saturday morning in town and he asked after it; I also saw his assistant who asked how I was! Sometimes I feel like I’m living in a little village where everyone knows everyone’s business…then I remember that it’s not a village, it’s a town, and everyone does know everyone’s business!
Caleb and Aaron took the initiative of starting up a ‘meeting’ – they have been listening to way too much Secret 7. They invited four of their friends from the Good News Club, who dutifully turned up at our house today for the meeting. The agenda was something along the lines of pray, discuss what is happening with the mountains and the rock stabilization project, see if anyone else had any other comments, and then play. They couldn’t meet in the back yard though as it was raining, and I certainly didn’t want six boisterous boys romping in the lounge, so Nick took them to the schoolroom. Agenda forgotten, they spent the next hour throwing Frisbees around and riding scooters up and down the length of the room. They had loads of fun, and I assume this will be a regular play slot for them. I’m impressed that they dreamed up this scheme by themselves; more impressed that the other boys remembered!
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