10 Commandments

It’s 3 pm on Saturday, and a very quiet day we’ve had, other than Good News Club. As you know, Nick’s been doing the series on the 10 commandments, and did the 5th one today. The whole series is having such an impact on the boys that they are incorporating them into their daily prayers…”please help me not to lie” etc…it’s very funny to hear Aaron asking God to help him not to commit adultery.

Caleb is very much improved today. He’s walking around a lot, albeit slowly and a little hunched over, but there is a huge difference since yesterday. He slept well, only waking up once to ask us to turn him over as he had found his way onto his stomach and couldn’t roll over. I haven’t seen what his belly button looks like yet because it’s all covered over, and he doesn’t want us to have a look.

Still at the Hospital

Caleb’s take on yesterday: “For one night I was at the hospital and I was waiting for my cut in my skin to heal cause I had an operation and my belly button’s got inside now and not outside anymore and mom was at home and dad and Aaron were at home and I was at the hospital with the nurses and the nurses looked after me. And I’m feeling better now.”

Nick dropped me off at the hospital shortly after 7. It was raining and very windy this morning so I didn’t want to walk up. Caleb was looking so much better. He was just sitting with the bed propped up, looking like his normal self. I helped him have a wee in the potty again, and since he’d had a drip in the whole night, there was lots of it! A nurse came and unhooked the drip and capped off the plug in his arm, leaving the drip attachment in. Caleb was concerned that this shouldn’t stay in his arm very much longer, certainly that it should be taken out before we came home! Svetlana, the anaesthetist and fellow-Pretorian, came in to see him at about 8.20 and chatted a while, then Dr Kardam came after 9 to check on him, and declared him fine to go home. We have to go back to the hospital on Monday for the dressing to be changed, and then again on the 18th to see the doctor. The stitches are on the inside, and will dissolve away. So then we got the drip thingie taken out, which made him cry because the tape was stuck fast to his arm. I got him dressed, and then we spent the rest of the morning while waiting for Nick, reading, chatting, and playing with the little things I had bought for him. Nick came at 10.45 and carried Caleb to the car, and from the car to the couch. Caleb’s only walked about four steps since the op because he says he can’t. He’s being quite dramatic about the whole thing and isn’t moving around very much at all, which is a good thing, but will get rather tiresome! Anyway, we’re watching another video this afternoon when Nick gets back from prison ministry. Aaron has become his right-hand boy, fetching things for him and doing what Caleb commands, though quite reluctantly.

The really strange thing about hospitalization here was the lack of cost. Everything was free for Caleb, being a British citizen. Therefore there was no admission process, we were just shown to the ward, and no discharge clearance either – we just walked out when we were ready! All very nice. I was fed quite well during my day yesterday too, with beef and rice for lunch, with pudding, and tea and sandwiches during the afternoon. So my impression of the hospital is positive. The nurses have been excellent too, giving Caleb a lot of attention and care.

Tonight is the night of my dad's 70th birthday party. I am so sad to be missing it.

Caleb in Hospital

All about the Op

We got to the hospital at 7 am this morning, and had a bit of a wait in the waiting area before we were shown to the ward, where we picked a bed and Caleb sat on it. The nurses came around eventually to do the blood pressure and heart rate checks, weighed him, all that stuff, and then they smeared cream on the tops of both his hands, which would help with the pain of the drips going into his hands (not sure why they did this exactly, because he was under anaesthetic when the drips went in). Then they put a sticky plastic covering over the cream to keep it there. Caleb was handed a hospital gown which came to just below his knees and made him look rather angelic. He didn’t want his shorts removed, so I kept those on him. All this took until about 9 am, and then we had to wait some more. Eventually the orderly came for him at about 10.15. Up until now, Caleb had been happy and not at all scared, but when we walked through the theatre doors, the drama began. I think it started when the orderly said I wouldn’t actually be staying in the theatre with him, but could stay until he was asleep. We had been telling Caleb that I would be with him the whole time, so that might have thrown him. Then of course he saw all the machinery and the doctors standing by, and it became a little too real. Unfortunately no pre-med had been given (long story), so it was straight onto the operating table with all his faculties intact. He almost escaped out the theatre doors because confusion and chaos set in – Caleb screaming in terror, all the doctors and nurses giving conflicting instructions, me unsure as to whether they wanted me to put him on the table, or remove myself altogether…finally the orderly picked him up, pinned him onto the table with sheer brute force, and they quickly applied the gas mask. By this time I was in a state, but fortunately the gas took effect very quickly and Caleb calmed down and was out, though he was still drawing in big ragged breaths from all the crying. I was then firmly told that he was asleep and I may leave. Eventually he came back to the ward at 12.00 – I thought the op would only take about 40 minutes, so was getting quite concerned by then, but as it turned out the surgeon was just very slow, and the operation was successful and uncomplicated. When Caleb came around from the anaesthetic, he cried a lot from the pain, and cried off and on the rest of the day. They had given him a suppository in theatre, and then gave him a pethadine injection back in the ward because he said it was very sore. He also needed to cough, and the coughing made the pain worse, which made him cry more, which made him cough more…quite bad. He vomited a little from the pethadine. At one point in the afternoon Caleb realized that he was wearing neither shorts nor underpants, and looked at me in horror and asked why they were off. I explained that they had to take them off during the operation, and he was so upset that I quickly put just his underpants back on. I think for him it was the gravest indignity imaginable. I had to leave at 4.30, for Nick to get to bible study. Poor Caleb was desperately unhappy that he had to stay and begged me to let him come home – heartbreaking, but it wasn’t my decision.

Aaron was completely happy the whole day and unaware that his buddy was missing. No wonder, he had been watching videos all day! I expected him to at least be a little bit sad, but the only time he registered anything was now at bedtime when I said we must pray for Caleb who was sad to be sleeping in hospital, and then he realized that he missed Caleb and wanted him home. But still not overly upset.

I was called back to the hospital at 7.30 tonight, because Caleb had been vomiting, so they needed to give him a suppository, but wanted a parent present (I don’t know why, they really should be able to handle that sort of stuff, but I guess they were anticipating a fight). I quickly phoned Steve who came to babysit Aaron, and I half walked, half ran up to the hospital – good thing I’m getting plenty of exercise to be fit! When I got there he was chirpy and bright and playing with some toys the nurses had found somewhere. I got him to have a wee in a potty, and then they gave him two supps. I stayed for about 40 minutes and he was fine when I left, though still wanting to come home, but did manage to blow me a kiss. It was good for me to see him then, because I am more at ease as to his present condition and frame of mind. He said that the people (the nurses) kept coming and going and he was trying to rest, so eventually he made them all go out. I asked if he had been polite and he said no, he just said “stop talking” to them all. Oh dear.

Rain and petrol

We’re all systems go for Caleb’s op tomorrow. He’s a bit scared I think, and says he doesn’t want them to fix his belly button anymore because he doesn’t want them cutting his skin. I guess up until now it’s all been very theoretical, but now that we’re explaining what they’re going to do, it’s a bit too real. He’s also worried that he’s going to feel it, despite our reassurances that he will be put to sleep, because he says that you only don’t feel things when you’re dead! I had to go to the hospital today to meet with the anaesthetist, so she could do a quick check-up to see that he’s healthy for anaesthetic, but waited for an hour, after which time the surgeon saw me, had me sign a consent form, and sent me home. The anaesthetist, Svetlana, happens to live in Pretoria and is here on a locum - small world. She was busy with other anaesthetics, so said she would just do all the vitals tomorrow morning. So a bit of a wasted hour, but no worries. Anyway, who should come calling at about 7.45 pm but Svetlana! She was on call at the hospital but came down to do her checks on Caleb. How’s that for service and care!

I was overcome with joy to find a sellotape dispenser, which I’ve been needing for ages. Wrapping presents is a real hassle when you have to cut little pieces of sticky tape and stick them to something while you’re holding down the paper around the presentation object. I might even go back and buy another one for downstairs, since it was only £1 and came with five rolls of tape! Aaron came wandering into my room when I was gazing contentedly at my dispenser and asked what it was. So I tore off a few pieces and stuck them on him. He looked at me with such indignation and almost shouted, “I’M not a present!!!” I laughed and laughed.

In the news lately is that there is an island-wide hosepipe and sprinkler restriction. Apparently the water situation is critical and there are reserves for only another 50 days, if we have no rain. Surprising, because there has been some good rain lately, but I guess it’s falling in the wrong areas and the island doesn’t have proper catchment facilities. The price of petrol has just gone up by 20% and is now something like 96p per liter. Hearsay is that the airport will definitely not be finished by 2010, if anything by 2012. It might actually get started in 2010.

Nick has a very busy week ahead. He is preaching at all the easter services – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday (sunrise service and normal services), bible studies, hospital visitation on the 15th, drug awareness talk on Friday…it’s non stop until the 17th, then it’s Caleb’s birthday, then a Good News Club outing on the 19th. He’s going to be plumb tuckered out! He’s busy with prep at the moment, trying to get Sunday’s sermon finished, then tomorrow he can start on next week’s Bible Study, and so it goes. Last night he started his series on Samuel, starting off with Hannah. Very good, and fresh content for me. We had a full house last night, and so much food…but they are not bringing as much sweet stuff anymore, so we had nice left-overs for lunch today – pizza, fishcakes, quiche, pies, eggs…quite a feast.

How not to cook chips

Caleb did so well with his reading this morning. He is remembering almost all the flashcards now, and some words which had him puzzled he is getting. Poor Aaron gets a little neglected because I can’t actively teach Caleb and amuse Aaron, so usually have to send him into the lounge to occupy himself with library books. Sometimes Nick will read to him or do a puzzle with him. Had a disaster with the chips for supper as the oil was too hot and boiled over when I put the chips in, so had to turn off the gas, clean up all the oil, remove the few chips that had gone in and started cooking, reheat the oil and start over. Fortunately nothing caught fire. Just delayed me though, so I had to type Nick’s outline for tonight during supper. I’m really feeling so tired today, I think from this morning’s bout of exercise. My legs are a bit sore, hopefully they won’t be too bad tomorrow. I went further up the ladder than previously, so obviously had further to come down which I think is the part that makes stiff muscles.

Surprise!!

Nick went off this evening to a deacons’ meeting this evening – he had to leave at 4.30 to fetch someone, to be in time for the meeting at 6. Imagine my surprise when Vincent and Vilma arrived at about 5.50 for the meeting, and me still in my painting clothes, the lounge a mess…fortunately I knew it wasn’t at our house and they had gotten their wires crossed, but they eventually convinced me that it was being held here this evening…so a very quick tidy-up followed! It just didn’t occur to me that it was being held here, as sometimes it’s at the Sandy Bay Chapel, and Nick forgot to tell me! Ha ha ha.

Last night’s service was good; Nick preached on the Samaritan Woman.

Today I finished off the peach painting. You can see it in the photo. I had to redo a whole wall, and cloud it instead of having it solid, because it was oppressively peachy. That took about two hours, but thankfully it’s done and looks better and brighter. Also popped out to town very briefly, and then just spent some time cleaning the house (clearly not the lounge) and other odd jobs.

Braai and my darling little thief

We had quite a heavy shower of rain this morning, definitely the most we’ve seen in one go on the island. It rained solidly for about an hour, after which all the clouds went away and it turned into another hot and sunny day. Good News Club was in our diningroom again, and it was fine. We introduced a few new songs in the hopes that it would take up more time, which it did – we had no outdoor activity planned because everything was still wet. Nick is still busy with the 10 commandments, and today’s was the 4th, about keeping the Sabbath day holy. He was very pleased at their attentiveness, although I felt that generally they had shuffled around a lot (the wooden floors make a nice noise), but he said they had been listening.

We had a braai at the Sandy Bay chapel today. We didn’t bother taking very much because we assumed there would be a lot of food anyway, and we were correct. There were loads of chicken drumsticks and pork chops, and some pork sausages too. Most of the stuff had been pre-cooked, then the ladies drench it in marinade or BBQ sauce and it gets heated up on the fire, which makes for a very delicious piece of meat. Nick was about to give thanks for the food, with everyone quiet and heads bowed, when Caleb, on his own initiative, gave the thanks. There are no water facilities anywhere at the church, so it made washing hands and drinking water quite a problem.

I was reading a library book to the boys earlier, and Aaron was looking a little strange. Every time I looked down at him, he said “nothing” and acted suspicious. Eventually I pulled his hands out from their hiding place behind his back to find a banana sweet which he had helped himself to, clutched in his fist. He was obviously waiting for an opportune moment to eat it, while I wasn’t looking. I had to laugh.

Boerey Rolls

I walked to the library with the boys this morning, I’m trying to walk down a lot more with them rather than driving. It’s good exercise for all of us, and they are getting better and better at the walk. After the library I smelled boerewors rolls being cooked, and since it was rather close to lunch time by then, I phoned Nick from town and he drove down to join us, so we had our rolls at Castle Gardens. Yummy! Walking back down to the car, which he’d parked at the docks, we had to pass by the ice-cream truck (it’s a little shop on wheels, you know the sort), so Nick and I just had to have a caramel dipped soft-serve each.

Just peachy

I spent the greater part of the day, painting. There is now a shockingly large surface area of peach. I can’t decide whether it’s pleasing or not, but Nick seems happy enough with it. The boys watched the whole of Mary Poppins in the morning, and then I put on The Incredibles for them in the afternoon. They don’t normally spend the whole day watching videos, but I had to keep them out of my hair. Since it’s not a regular thing, I don’t feel toooo bad! I had to pop out for more paint this afternoon, but I had checked when I bought the paint that they had more in stock!

Nature walk(s away)

After my morning walk (and my legs are not so sore today), I got myself ready and took the boys to Plantation House – just for something interesting for them to do. They are at home most days, so sometimes I feel sorry for them (and feel guilty), so we take a drive. They ran around the field, we had a little picnic, did a bit of school by way of Caleb reading from the library books I had brought, then I read them two books, and then they played some more. It’s nice for them to have the run of the field. Two of the tortoises were mating…or at least, the male was trying to have his way while the much smaller female kept walking away. Very interesting to happen upon that bit of nature though! The male has quite a loud voice, I discovered. Then we took a walk through Plantation Forest, the first time I’ve just done it with the boys. I wasn’t nervous to start with, but I can understand now how woods can be really scary, particularly at night on your own (not that I was). It was the first time I’ve actually heard trees groaning and creaking, and then the occasional branch would snap, and bamboos were rubbing against one another, and looking up to the tops of the trees I got the feeling that they wanted to fall over, they were swaying so severely. Our walk was of the longer variety, probably at least 1 km, maybe more, but very good. I told the boys to look for interesting things, and they found moss, bark, flowers, roots, and many sticks for hitting trees with. All in all, very educational.

Nick decided that he was going to help me with the painting and wanted to get started right away, so that’s what we did. We finished a big upstairs section – the part outside Nick’s office – and wow, what a dramatic difference. That whole area is so bold and bright, it’s quite a deep peach when it’s on a wall, but really looks good. It went very quickly with both of us doing it. Caleb likes to be involved in “making plans”, so when Nick mentioned that he’d like to get a sign for his door, Caleb quickly went off to make one (not quite what Nick had in mind). It says “prst nec”. You have to sound this out very carefully…p ar s ta – get it?

The boys with Jonathan

Next project about to commence...

Let me see how much I can type now before anyone finds me. Lasagna is in the oven, and the kitchen is a bit of a mess, but time aplenty later for sorting that out.

Today was certainly a better day than yesterday, after I prayed for extreme measures of grace to get through! Some days are just better than others, in terms of patience and energy. I am in pain today because of my exercising yesterday (uh oh, Aaron’s calling me), so I’m hobbling up and down stairs and feeling very bad! It’s good though, at least I know it’s doing something. I did my walk this morning, though part of Jacob’s Ladder has been closed off for repairs, so I couldn’t come down it. We made date and banana squares, which are fairly healthy and fairly tasty. No sugar or flour in the recipe, but there is oil (and oats, bananas, dates, nuts, vanilla essence). The boys sort of helped. After lunch I took Aaron out with me to the shops to try buy some more things on my shopping list, and I was delighted to find Fattis & Monis macaroni, as well as Cross & Blackwell mayonnaise. Then I went to the Rose and Crown and bought paint (oh dear, now Nick’s calling) for the stairway wall. It’s peach, I think quite a deep shade. Should look good. (I’m not joking).

Nick took apart the non-working binoculars and extracted all the magnifying glasses. He found two very interesting triangular ones which can be used as spy glasses, and they do all kinds of interesting stuff with flipping images and mirroring them. Now all three of them are sitting in my room here. So much for hiding out.

Shopping NOT fun

Aaron has gotten into the habit of answering his own questions, in the negative. “Can we have another biscuit, no.” “Can we watch a video, no.” It’s quite funny. He’s picked it up from Caleb who phrases his questions in the negative, “we may not have some juice now, hey?”

We all walked down to town and had lunch at Ardees. Nick slowed his pace today, being a Monday, although he doesn’t officially take a day off. It was good to all be together though and not be rushing. This afternoon I did most of my grocery shopping, but it’s a thoroughly depressing and discouraging experience. The shelves were so poorly stocked, it was almost funny – at Spar I got hold of about four different items out of the 15 or so I had listed for Spar, so ended up getting most of my supplies from Thorpes. Still have to get most of the cold or frozen stuff, I couldn’t even get cheese today! I’m sure they’ll have it in again soon, as I’m fairly certain it’s locally produced.

Flippers make quick glengths

We had a very good service this evening, specifically for Mothering Sunday. It was a guest service at all three locations, and very well attended at Sandy Bay and Jamestown. Jamestown wasn’t full, but there were more people (women) present than usual. Nick’s message was from 2 Tim 1:5, the influence and heritage of a godly woman. Very encouraging and challenging, on a mother’s role in shaping society through their children.

Today was a very quiet, at home day. I had an enjoyable morning, reading a bit to the boys, cleaning the house and doing a bit of computer stuff, and cutting Aaron’s hair. Hairdressing week is now over!

We went to the pool at about 3.15 and had a good time swimming, the water still being warm enough to enjoy it. The boys remembered that there were two pairs of flippers in the workshop, so they took those along, but they were much too big for them and fell off in the water. One pair was my size though, so I did four quick lengths with them on. I couldn’t believe the boost they gave! Nick and I competed, and he only just beat me, where normally I wouldn’t even be able to finish a length (‘glength’ as Caleb calls it).

Sledding at Knollcombes

Island Living

Phew, I’m tired! Long day, but nice. Good news club, at our house again, with 16 kids, was good, just tiring! Then off to Knollcombes to go sledding down the steep slopes on cardboard boxes. Caleb has been wanting to do this for a while, so we said we’d go today. It was great, so much fun going down on our bottoms, we got a few video clips on the digital camera. It was so great out in the country. It was slightly cooler than in town, and quiet, with only the sound of birds singing. What a pleasure. I listened to the rest of a John Piper sermon while I finished putting together the chocolates and notes, and then Caleb came wandering into the lounge, so I let him listen to the sermon too. More out of interest, to see if he would listen, and he sat through about 15 minutes of it, which I was quite amazed at. Piper has a very soothing voice, and I think Caleb dozed off once or twice.

For all its disadvantages, St Helena is such a marvelous place to live. We don’t have poverty, haven’t seen a beggar on a street corner once. We don’t have crime (other than pot plant theft and obeying the call of nature in public view and that sort of thing). We have this beautiful scenery everywhere we go, and we have a community of people who all know each other. It’s a vastly different way of life to anything we’ve grown up with or ever known existed. As much as we love and miss SA, we’re going to hate it when we go back. Nick and I were chatting about it last night, and we decided the only real draw to go back there is our families and friends. We had this brief discussion in the kitchen while we were making tea and coffee for the people who came to the games evening last night, and agreed that if our dearly beloved friends and family were here, there’d be no reason to go back. Even the shops, as horrible as they are, wouldn’t be a driving factor to go back! I realized that after being here, we’re never going to really love living anywhere. Here, we complain about the shops and food shortages, and lack of take out places. Going back to SA, we’re going to complain about the crime and stressful lifestyle and the people, and anywhere else in the world would never match up to the good things we’ve experienced in other places. Only in heaven will we be fully satisfied! I’m sure it will look a lot like here, but we’ll be able to fly around and swoop into the valleys and glide over the peaks. How fabulous! The sea can be heard in different ways in different places and at different times – at the docks here, there are sometimes waves, so you hear them crashing onto the steps. Other times it’s quiet and calm and you hear a gentle lapping on the rocks. At Sandy Bay, and even at Ruperts, I think, the rocks are a lot smaller, so as the waves recede they drag pebbles back with it, so you hear them all knocking together and it’s wonderful. It’s not like when we’ve been on holidays to Ballito or Gonubie and you are constantly aware of the roar of the sea, but it definitely does speak its own language.

Nick found caramel Kit-Kat chunkies at Thorpes. They’re a limited edition here, and very delicious. Normal kit-kat, with runny caramel between the wafer and the chocolate. Very good, but at 60p each, we won’t be having them too often!

The boys on the Ladder

This morning I did my half of Jacob’s Ladder again. I noticed some slight stiffness in my hips (hip muscles, rather) from yesterday’s workout, which is good. I am listening to sermon’s on the IPod (MP3 player), so it’s a really enjoyable time out. Yesterday’s sermon was a load of nonsense by Tony Campolo, about homosexuality and equal rights, but today’s was excellent, by John Piper. I didn’t finish listening to all of it, so will pick it up again on Monday. The boys really wanted to try Jacob’s Ladder too. I suppose they think that if I can do it, they can too…Nick’s example didn’t do much for them, they obviously consider his exercises out of their league! So after getting ready for the day, and a very short bit of schooling, we set off and they climbed as high as they could. I was your typical worrying mom. I had to go up with them, which was a bother, doing it the second time, and Caleb got almost as far as I go, without seeming too tired. He says his legs were shaking though. Maybe they’ll feel it tomorrow. It would have been disastrous if they’d lost their footing coming down, and since the steps are quite big, I was anxious. If Nick takes them up it will be better, and I’m sure Caleb could even get all the way up. Supper was the last of the bullseyes, flaked and cooked into a pasta / cheese sauce dish. It was quite tasty, though a little dry since I didn’t make quite enough sauce. Good flavour though, my own recipe. The sage did it. (I’ll leave you to ponder that ambiguous statement.)

We drove up to the hospital for our 10.30 appt for Caleb. We had to wait about half an hour to see the surgeon, who had another quick look at his navel, then gave us a new date – 6th April. This time I had the presence of mind to ask if Caleb would still have a belly button when she’s finished, and she reassured me that it would look fine!

I started putting together the chocolates and little messages for Sunday’s special “Mothering Sunday” service. I got hold of individually wrapped coconut bars. I also accidentally bought non-individually wrapped ones, so I had to return them to Thorpes and get the right ones. But returning something, oh my goodness. They didn’t know how to do it. At first the cashier said I couldn’t, but then the cashier next to her explained how to, but even then she couldn’t do it. I waited for about 20 minutes for them to work it all out. Won’t be trying that again!

Jacob's Ladder

Exercise

Today I tried a new exercise routine. I walked down to the bottom of town, walked up Jacob’s Ladder to almost halfway, where I exited and walked down a side path on Ladder Hill, which brought me out at Victoria’s, then walked up the hill home. I timed the various sections – going up Jacob’s Ladder only took about 6 minutes, and I stopped to rest briefly twice, I think. I set off at 07h20, and it was so nice to be out at that time, even though there were already quite a few people about. If I get very fit, I’ll go all the way up Jacob’s Ladder then come down again halfway, and get off again at the side path. I might also reverse the order, so I have more of a gentle walk uphill and walk down the steps. Hopefully this will burn away my new squishy, chunky look.

This afternoon I took Aaron out to the Half Tree Hollow Spar - I needed an egg for supper. When I got home I realized I didn’t have any flour at all which the recipe needed (sweet potato balls), so had to substitute scone mix for it! I was supposed to dredge the balls in flour and breadcrumbs but couldn’t do that either because we had just thrown all the old bread to the birds, and they ate it very quickly. All that aside, they turned out fairly well, though they weren’t balls, more like crispy grated potato bits.

The incident of the workman’s accident in the schoolroom has been on the news for the past few days. Nick has seen him a few times, and apparently he’s doing better. He might have to go to SA for special attention on one of his wrists, which was shattered. The work on the roof continues though. I think the skylights are going back in, which is a pity because it’s going to cost more, but it has to be done.

Nick has started a new series in bible study now, the Spiritual Gifts. It’s a good one, because he’s really emphasizing the fact that the pastor is not supposed to be doing all the work while everyone else has little involvement. We need some children’s ministries to be started, but Nick should not be the one to bear the burden…there are others that are capable!

I think we should buy putty

After my funny little story about how hilarious it would have been if I’d dropped the pumpkin, tonight’s supper actually did end up on the floor, and it wasn’t quite so funny as I would have thought. Supper was left-over meatball pasta, left over drumsticks from bible study and whatever tin of something I had yet to get from the pantry. Somehow I fumbled the bowl that had been in the microwave, so the pasta landed all over the floor. I had served about four meatballs before I dropped it, so at least we had those. Nick suggested takeouts, which would have been a lovely idea if anything had actually been open! I could have cried. I hadn’t had a very good day up to that point, so this just topped it off. I’ve started studying through Philippians with an Elizabeth George study guide, and today’s was the introductory lesson about Paul and Timothy being servants, and having that servant attitude, and joy in all circumstances, and grace and peace which are ours. Well I’m sure today was a day of testing and I failed in every way!

I cut Caleb’s hair today. After Nick’s shearing yesterday, Caleb wanted a cut too to look like his dad. I left a bit in the front, but it’s quite short. (The pic of Caleb on this e-mail was before the cut). It looks cute but a lot of the blonde is gone and it looks more strawberry, so the sun will have to work on that. I also finished off scraping the residue off the window and rehung the curtain, so now phase 1 of the stair/window project is complete. Phase 2 is painting the walls, and phase 3 is making decent curtains. We may get to phase 2 before you arrive, but definitely not the final phase as you will be bringing supplies for that one! I battled with one pane of glass because it was loose on two sides (not just loose, actually completely free-standing) and I don’t know how sturdy the other putty was. Some of the panes are being supported by nothing less than Prestik.

Napoleon's Tomb

Napoleon's Tomb

The first big thing that happened today was not a nice way to start the day. One of the workmen working on the schoolroom roof misjudged his position on the roof, stepped onto the asbestos and fell through the roof onto the floor below. It must have been about a six or seven meter drop, onto concrete. He broke both arms very badly, and we don’t know what else. His two shaken coworkers came to the manse to use the phone for an ambulance, which arrived in less than five minutes. The fire station also responded, and it wasn’t long before the St Helena Media van was also out front. The poor guy was rushed off to hospital and they would have operated on him today after stabilizing him. Nick was appalled at the way the emergency services handled him. After about three or four attempts to secure his neck with a brace, they gave up because they couldn’t get it on. Nick had to tell them what to do and how to do it, to warn them not to let his arms flop over the edge of the stretcher and things like that. Very worrying. I think the surgeon will be more skilled.

Apparently the government building committee was going to meet this morning in connection with the skylights, but we haven’t heard the result yet.

We cut Nick’s hair today. All of it, all off. It had been growing since before leaving SA, and I had only trimmed it once, so it was really getting quite long. I wanted to see how it would look longer, and this was an ideal opportunity, but we decided that it wasn’t really working anymore, so today was the day for it to go. I think people are going to be quite surprised to see his new hair-do! We shaved it on a #4 all over, so it’s really short.

I took the boys to Napoleon’s Tomb this afternoon. I hadn’t been before at all, so wasn’t entirely sure of the procedure, so when I got to the entrance off the road, I drove the car all the way down on the grassed driveway, but ended up getting into trouble for it because no “machines” are permitted down there. Well how was I supposed to know? The man who keeps the gardens in Sane Valley (the tomb’s site) was the one to rebuke me. I asked if I could just go and take some photos quickly, and then we’d be out of there, to which he agreed. He really wasn’t very happy. But wow, the setting of the tomb is so beautiful. It’s in a green valley with very well kept gardens.

Schoolroom Skylights

It’s been extremely windy today! I hope this isn’t ushering in a very windy autumn, we don’t really know what to expect. It feels like it should be just about to rain, but apart from a few drops earlier there hasn’t been much.

The golf refused to start this morning, so if we wanted to go anywhere it was on foot. Nick had planned to do a hospital visitation, so he had to walk there too. The boys and I had a very pleasant walk down to the market to return a DVD, then to Spar for bread. Caleb boldly squeezed my little half loaf of bread in front of about 30 others. Walking back we had a bit of rain, but because it was so windy, the drops dried before we were even home. It was fun, actually! At some point during the day, the second Ford was returned to us, although the golf is now also still sitting here, but thankfully now we have a reliable car. Steve and Maureen popped on late afternoon to give a report on the schoolroom roof…some comedy drama has gone on there – there are skylights in the roof, which originally were going to come out and be replaced by a Perspex sheeting, so the whole roof would be flat…then it was discovered that because the church is a ‘listed’ building (historically important to the island), and because the schoolroom is attached to the church, any structural changes have to be approved by the council and the ‘agency’. Therefore the skylights were going to be left in and redone. Anyway, today when Steve and Maureen popped in on the building to see how it’s progressing (because they’re on the building committee), it was discovered that the builder had happily removed the first skylight and had already put the timber in place to hold the Perspex. They didn’t know whether they should be delighted or distraught, since they (and Nick) had wanted only the Perspex, but there was some doubt, and long stories…but now it’s been done and can’t be easily undone. So we may have to put in a retro-application or something for it to be approved! What a muddle.

I spent a large part of the afternoon cutting up a pumpkin. Here’s a little story of how to have fun in summer: take one pumpkin. Get someone else to slice it open because you don’t have enough strength to do the first cut. Then proceed to slice and peel and pip the pumpkin in a hot kitchen on a hot day, thereby working up a sweat and almost blistering your hands. Then accidentally cut your hand with the sharp serrated knife, while your children come in and say “I don’t want that”. Then cook the pumpkin and drain it in a colander, but run out of time to do anything further with it, so subject your family to pumpkin in its mashed state for supper. Then, finally, drop the bowl of cooked mashed pumpkin on the floor. Isn’t that a good way to have fun? Fortunately this story does not describe my experience to the end, but wouldn’t it have been funny if I had actually dropped the bowl? The pumpkin is now in the fridge and ready to be frittered tomorrow.

Scenery en-route to Sandy Bay

AGM and more beautiful scenery

We left at 1.30 for Sandy Bay (church started at 2.30), after a quiet morning at home. The service was very good, and the little chapel was packed. Nick preached on John 3:17->, on “Those who love Sin”, “Those who love Man” and “Those who love Jesus”. Very challenging message about the three responses to Christ - those who make excuses, those who have other loyalties and those who truly are serving God. It was quite hot in church. Aaron kept nodding off. Nick kept the service quite short because of the heat and the AGM to follow. The church didn’t have an AGM last year, so this was the first big meeting in two years. Nick chaired it and did very well. Five new members were welcomed into membership (Steve and Maureen included), and deacons were elected. One deacon, who had been so for fifty years, had stepped down, and the six remaining deacons (and deaconesses) were re-elected, with one new one. The AGM finished at about 4.50, after which we left the church, and took a scenic drive home through Greenhill (you’ve heard of Bluehill…there is a Greenhill too, which is green, and it’s a hill). It was a new part of the island for us and we were amazed at the scenery. Photos can’t really capture it, but we did try. The depth of canyons, the heights of mountains, the greenness of the plant life, the amount of vegetation…it was spectacular. The drive to Sandy Bay itself is also extremely beautiful. There are loads of Potato Bushes (I think they are Potato Bushes – they have a purple flower) intertwined with other vegetation, and growing abundantly on their own as well, so you have this incredible greenery punctuated with purple flowers. Wow. We continued our long drive home, and went past Redhill (which was a little red sand hill), and also saw a sign pointing to Silverhill. I don’t know how many other colour hills there are, but wouldn’t be surprised if there is a Brownhill too. We encountered a ruin and a HUGE tree. We arrived home at 6 pm, and then the boys had a bath while Nick and I made tuna snackwiches for supper. Aaron was practicing his winking, which he can do quite well, and chatting away, so Caleb told him he’s full of nonsense. “Noooo”, he said, “I’m full of food.”

Cars and walking

On Thursday night it rained a bit, and Nick, while driving from one bible study to another, had a slight mishap in our loan car. He applied brakes and turned the steering wheel while going around a sharp bend, but the car didn’t respond appropriately and so he drove into the bank. He wasn’t going fast, but one of the front lights is broken and the bumper was also damaged. Nick had to take it back to the garage yesterday though so they could fix it up. As it happens, the Golf has been sitting at a garage about two doors up from us, so we went along to see if it would start, and it did, so we’re using that car again.

We had to have the GNC in our house this morning, gulp, because of the schoolroom reroofing. There were 23 kids in our diningroom and then outside for some games. It was rather chaotic and we will be glad when the schoolroom is available again!! We had to shift all the furniture (except the table) into the lounge this morning, and back in again afterwards. Nick is still busy with his 10 commandments series.

After lunch at Ardees we went to Spar to find something in the picnic line for later, but all I bought was a packet of biscuits. There were no packets of chips, and only half-tubes of Pringles which I don’t buy anyway because they are so expensive. Popped home to put on walking shoes and collect hats and jerseys (just in case), and then left to meet up with Emma and Guy at White Gate for a little walk. They arrived shortly after 2, and we drove to the entrance of the George Benjamin BEM Arboretum, not quite in Bluehill but in that direction. What an incredible walk it was!!! It was absolutely beautiful in there, and shady in most parts, and quiet and lush. A bit of a steep incline to begin with, but not too strenuous. The boys ran on ahead with Bethany; it was very safe for them. Excellent views from the top there too, we could see right down to the Sandy Bay Chapel. The walk was fairly short, so then we went to Rosemary Plain for a picnic. We all played a bit of Frisbee then the boys (Nick and Guy) played cricket for ages. Came home, changed into costumes, then off to the pool. Aaron is now absolutely loving jumping into the pool and being thrown around in the water, same as Caleb.

Walking through the George Benjamin BEM Arboretum

No potatoes, how sweet

It’s been a stinker again today, so the slight dip in temperature must have been a once-off! The lady at Brown’s Video asked me today how I was handling the Saint weather, and I said that I was fairly used to it, because it’s only up to about 27 where in Pretoria it was into the 30s, but the humidity is the big thing. I never feel like I can’t breathe because it’s stuffy, it’s just that it’s sticky weather. Gross.

Not much happened today to report, other than that there are no potatoes available for purchase in the shops. There was a write-up about the potato and onion situation in last week’s paper, that not enough were imported and there are apparently not enough local ones to go around. I walked down to the Market this morning with the boys (they wanted to walk, and it was before 9 am so still a lot of shade). Had to wait around for a while because the St Helena Growers Co-Operative Society was still closed (that’s the place where the farmers sell their produce), so we sat on a bench inside the market and had a chat. Caleb’s favourite topic to chat about is Jesus, and Aaron always adds that he died on a cross, and Caleb reminds him it was for our sins. Then we chatted about smoking, but I don’t think I explained it very well, so maybe one day he’ll try it out! Anyway, asked for potatoes at the co-op and they only had sweet potatoes, so I got some of those. I have some recipes in the St Helena cookbook so I’ll try them out.

Science can be fun!

Bullseye success at last

Caleb showed a big improvement on his reading and dipthongs today. He remembered ar and sh, and all the others I taught him yesterday. He can read words like “church” and “thirsty” now. First thing this morning I had to go to the schoolroom to take down all the paintings and HBC posters that we had put up. The schoolroom is going to be reroofed, starting on Friday, and since it’s an asbestos roof at the moment, everything has to come out because of the poisonous spores. Did an exciting science experiment with the boys after that, which involved vinegar, bicarb, dishwashing liquid and a volcano! After lunch Nick went into the schoolroom to take down the really big picture, the top of which I can’t reach, and then he also cleared out one of the little back storerooms, and found all kinds of interesting stuff, like more computer paper, and boxes of linoleum tiles, and 10 lunch box/juice bottle sets (the boys quickly acquisitioned one each, to their glee), and a dismantled jungle gym, which has been reassembled in our back yard. Nick and the boys went for a swim, and the plan was for me to walk down to the pool after I finished all the washing up and cleaning of the kitchen after preparing supper (see next paragraph…flies are a real problem), but by the time I got there, it was feeling a bit cold (the sun had gone from the pool) and Aaron was already out, and Nick and Caleb were about done, so I didn’t bother.

I took bullseye # 3 out the freezer this afternoon, and then found a recipe for “American Fish Pie”. Actually it was a great success – the cooked flaked fish gets mixed with white sauce and put into a casserole dish. Then hardboiled eggs are sliced and layered over that, and then a tomato sliced and layered over, followed by mashed potato and grated cheese, and then baked - drop me a line or comment if you want the recipe! It was delicious and the boys even loved it. Aaron finished before Caleb, which says a lot. The boys really enjoy fish, and they stood around like little vultures while I was flaking it, waiting for a nibble.

After supper we took our pudding to the top of Ladder Hill (we drove around, didn’t climb up Jacob’s Ladder) and watched the sun set over the sea. Not as spectacular as South African sunsets, but lovely all the same. It’s unusual to watch it setting over the sea. If we got up early enough and drove a little way, we’d see it rising over the sea too.

Jonathan the Tortoise

Knollcombes Meander

I took the camera and the boys to Knollcombes this morning, after getting an early start to the day with school, at about 9.30. Managed to snap two fairy terns who were flying just above me, having a good look at me – one of them has its head turned to the camera, and it’s really quite a good photo although not as clear as it could be…it’s difficult trying to focus on moving objects! After Knollcombes we drove through Francis Plain and back up to Plantation House, to get more pics. The Knollcombes/Boer Cemetery outing is a nice little walk, nothing heavy, but very scenic. There are a couple of good walks through Plantation Forest too. It struck me today as I was walking through the woods at Knollcombes, how safe it is. There is no way that I would venture out with the boys in some secluded spot in SA, but here there was no question as to whether or not it would be wise. We are taking it for granted that it’s so safe here, and that if I had encountered anyone, I’m sure we would have had a very nice exchange of pleasantries! It’s good to stop and remember those blessings.

After a quick joint-effort tidy up of the house, we all went swimming, but the water is getting colder these days. In the country this morning, it was almost chilly, but not quite. Just cool enough that Aaron wanted to wrap himself up in the picnic blanket. He jumped into the pool today without any announcement or fanfare, it was so funny. He doesn’t close his eyes when he goes under the water, so comes up with his eyes open and a dazed look on his face.

School has been a bit frustrating lately, especially with Caleb and reading. I’m trying to teach him “ar” and “sh” dipthongs, but he keeps on forgetting them. I don’t know why it isn’t sticking, but I’m just drilling it in all day, every day. He also hasn’t quite figured out what comes after 19, 29 etc…that “twenty-ten” is actually thirty! Dot-to-dots are still a patience tester for me, because he doesn’t really concentrate on where to go next, so 34 can come after 25, no problem, which leaves you with a drawing of a man with half a leg or whatever the case. But we press on.

Today the boys were singing “Onward Christian Soldiers” but it’s usually “Ho Ho Ho Hosanna” or “I may never march in the infantry” completely out of tune and wrong words, but very heartily. Caleb said that Christians can’t really be soldiers (all the killing and stuff), so I explained the concept of us fighting the devil, even though we can’t see him, and how Satan comes to attack us by telling us to do naughty things, and we have to fight him by saying no. We’ll see what comes of that.

Interior of Spar, well-stocked after ship's arrival

Painting tips and Cricket

Today was very much an at-home day, other than a brief visit to Spar, where I finally bought mince. Also bought some brown bread for a change, but it’s definitely not as tasty as white. Supper was spaghetti bolognaise, with two batches extra to freeze. What a relief to have mince again. I cleaned up the whole downstairs window, scraping off the masking tape and then using turps to get the sticky bits away. It took about two hours to do that, but the turps worked well. A note to all would-be DIY homemakers - if you use masking tape on your windows and they get a lot of sun, take off the tape as soon as possible after painting. Leaving it there for two months while your country has a paint shortage is not a good idea.

My dad sent a very descriptive e-mail about yesterday’s very exciting SA/Aus ODI cricket match. We wish we could have seen it!! Congratulations to the Australian side on their record number of runs, but bigger congratulations to our home team for beating it and making such a history for themselves. Can imagine the excitement back home.

There's a friendly Spar wherever you are!

A good description of the island?

Masking tape disaster

It’s Sunday afternoon and Nick and Caleb are out swimming, and I’m sitting in the lounge with the laptop on my lap (fancy that), and Aaron is lying on the couch watching a video. I guess you could call what he has a cold, but his nose has only starting running today.


Today’s been okay, “not ta baaad” as the islanders would say. Nick left at 8, and I only got in the bath after he left. Had a leisurely time getting ready because I thought I could use up more of the morning that way, but the boys starting banging on the door saying I was taken too long. So, we had a short Sunday school lesson and sang a few songs, then made marshmallow cornflake thingies. The boys wanted them blue, but they came out slightly green. They were supposed to set and get cut into squares, but instead I rolled them up into little balls and coated them with icing sugar. They look like little green vegetables, but are very tasty! Then we started playing with Lego, which is when the phone started ringing…it was good to hear Ray’s voice, and then my parents. Then Wilson, the sender of our snack boxes phoned from Ascension, and he always enjoys a chat, so we spoke about the airport, racism, Nick and I getting fat, the weather and the change of seasons worldwide.

I took up the masking tape from the stairs today and the windows, and it’s a disaster. The masking tape pulled away varnish on the stairs, and also some of the paint, so there are bits where the green is visible again. In other places, the paint crept under the tape so there is white paint all over the place. On the windows, because the tape had been there so long and the windows get full afternoon sun, all the stickiness is left, so I’ll have to try use turps to clean the windows. What a mess! Almost wish I had stuck with the green… The walls now look even dirtier with the fresh white paint surrounding it, so that will have to be the next project. Nick is going to have to get involved on this one though as there are tricky bits going up the stairs.

Church tonight was disappointingly empty, but it was a very good message on John 3:16. To conclude, Nick said that Jesus is God’s best, the best that God has to offer. To reject Jesus is to say that God’s best is not good enough. Actually, he mentioned “to spit on it”, and to offer God our highest insult through our rejection of His Son.

Painting continues

It’s raining! It’s just started, and it sounds like it’s quite heavy. I got home about five minutes ago from getting a DVD from town, so I made it back just in time. Wonderful, lovely rain. Today the mercury sat at about 27 most of the day, even into the late afternoon after the sun had gone down. It doesn’t seem to cool down much in the evenings.

Today we took lots of photos. Nick drove to Bluehill and back, and I stood in the car looking out of the sunroof, and we took almost 100 pictures (deleted about half!).

GNC this morning was nice, Nick did the lesson on the Rich Young Ruler, as part of his series on the 10 Commandments, and the kids listened. Caleb answered questions as they were asked, and he does us proud with his knowledge of stuff! Then we coloured in a picture, and then played some balloon and paperplate races. 19 kids came, which is still a good number.

After lunch I set to work painting. I thought that I may as well get it over with, it’s an unpleasant job (I never enjoy painting with enamel). I finished in about two hours, maybe a little more. Tomorrow I will be able to take up all the masking tape and try to clean up all the paint drips that managed to find their way onto the steps. I was quite careful, but I guess it’s almost inevitable. The big problem comes when you forget there is a paint splot and stand on it, and then transport more little splots, gradually fading, onto other parts. Wow, it’s really raining quite heavily now.

Our article in the St Helena Herald

Newspaper Fame

Our HBC article was featured in the St Helena Herald. I thought it might get some good coverage, but didn’t expect it would get a full front-page, full colour prominence! There it was, the cover story in today’s newspaper. We were quite excited to see it there.

Apart from that, today was quite ordinary. Did school with the boys, then went to town to pay our telephone bill, look for white enamel which I found, so I can finish my painting project some time soon, over to Spar for bread and mince, neither of which they had, then to the docks to collect our photocopier toner. Then up to the Half Tree Hollow Spar to see if I could get lucky with bread, since the bakery is right there. I was lucky, even got six very fresh rolls, so lunch was salami, cheese and tomato rolls. Made a stew for supper during the early part of the afternoon while Nick was out at prison, then we all went swimming at 4. The water was cold today though. It’s been exceptionally windy today, and last night, and the temperature has dropped by about two or three degrees. It was still hot, but not sweaty, sticky hot. We didn’t stay at the pool too long.

Coming into town from Half Tree Hollow, down Ladder Hill, my ears have to actually pop because it’s such a steep descent. Kind of like when you’re coming down to land in an aeroplane. Our car goes up the hills so nicely, and it’s a novelty having a hooter that works. Still no word on the golf, and apparently the lawnmower is kaput, but Teddy might be able to organize a new motor for it.

Cable - yippeeee!

After five months of waiting, our camera cable has arrived. Certainly I am learning patience through living on this island! Not only did we get the cable, but we were on our way to the docks this morning to collect a parcel which was sent to us from Ascension, when we were flagged down by a stranger who asked if Nick is the Baptist Minister, and on confirmation, handed us a package of biscuits, which were actually addressed to the previous pastor, but since there is not much we can do with them otherwise, we had to just accept them. Collected our package from the customs hall (third time lucky, actually – I went early this morning but not all the goods had been unloaded off the ship yet, then Nick and the boys came back with me a little later, but still nothing. We must have looked a little desperate). We are now fully stocked up again with chocolates, chips, biscuits, puddings, hot chocolates…not that we are complaining, but how is one supposed to exercise self-control in a house with so much edible stuff?! Collecting things from the docks is really funny, there is basically no security there, but everything is safe. We’ve collected someone else’s parcels on a few occasions, and no one checks whether we are trustworthy and if we are actually going to pass it on to its rightful owner – we just take it. Anyone could do the same with our things, but I think there is a certain element of trust among the islanders. I went to the post office after 3pm, when they had finished sorting the 83 bags of mail which came from Ascension, and had to collect two parcels at the counter. One was the cable, which is now a highly treasured possession, and the other was a SonLight Cook Book. SonLight is the company that produces the homeschooling curriculum I will be using. Well, the curriculum hasn’t arrived yet, but since this free gift of a recipe book has made its way to the island, I’m sure the rest will follow within a month or two. We also received a letter and photos from Nick’s grandparents in Scotland, posted in November. It’s interesting that much of our mail has arrived via Ascension, and so late!

I took the boys into the schoolroom this morning and we did some painting. Actually we made wrapping paper by blowing paint through straws on brown paper. It was fun though I think the boys were nearly passing out from all their blowing. Then I started tidying out the Good News Club cupboard which was a mess and filled with junk. Sorted through crayons, felt tip pens, pencils, paints, paper and loads of other stuff. Didn’t throw away too much, but just reorganized and now the doors can even close.

Caleb is getting very good in the pool – he can now do a somersault into the water, and nearly drowned himself trying to do a backwards somersault with his armbands on. He got his head under water, but then didn’t know what to do with the rest of his body, and it took him a while to get orientated. Quite funny though. Aaron is happy to drift around in the pool with his armbands on, but doesn’t like to be thrown around as much as Caleb does.

Luncheon, darling

I bought a thermometer today, I have been curious as to what the island’s temperatures are. This afternoon it was 29 in the shade and 31 in the sun. Nick and I have spent some time this evening, from about 8 pm, sitting outside drinking tea and chatting, and it was 26 degrees. I bought a very basic thermometer – not that I had much choice, it was the only one the Emporium had – and doesn’t give the day’s highs and lows and that sort of thing. Serves the purpose though. The problem with the heat here is the humidity. Today there was no rain and it was a dry, blistery heat, but usually it is a suffocating sticky heat.

Now let me tell you about lunch today. It was at 12, and I arrived at Ann’s Place (a restaurant in Castle Gardens) promptly, along with some other lunch ladies. I was relieved to see there were quite a few ladies I knew, and I sat next to Alison, the Public Solicitor’s wife, who we met on the ship coming over. Lindsay was opposite Alison, and then next to them were Elsa and Estelle, two South African Afrikaans ladies. Elsa is the lady I met at the coffee shop a while ago, who I spoke to in Afrikaans. On my other side was a Saint I had not met before, and on her other side was Claire, the Governor’s wife. Opposite me was Margaret, a British lady who leaves the island tomorrow, whose husband works for DfiD (government thingie). The wives all seem to go by their husband’s profession, so when I introduced myself as Lynn, Claire looked at me for a further explanation so I had to say “The Baptist Minister’s Wife”. We’ve all lost our own identity! She said she had heard very good reports about the “bible holiday school”, so I spoke about that for a while, and how happy we were about how many kids had turned up, and how excited we were to see kids responding to the teachings which was the whole point, and that sort of thing. I alternated conversions between the five ladies on my left (Alison and co) and the four on my immediate right. There were about 25 ladies altogether, and a complete mix of islanders – some ex-pats, some locals, all professions and walks. Very nice. The food was good, we had tuna salad, cold meats, baked tuna, chicken drumsticks, salad, peas, carrots, roast potatoes, rice and curry. Pudding was fruit salad and ice-cream, yum!

Nick had a guitar lesson from 3-4 at Prince Andrew School, and we went swimming after he got home. The pool was quite busy, but it’s really fun – you see all your friends at the pool so it’s this big social thing. Emma and Guy were there with the girls, and some girls from holiday club, and some other people we know. Aaron has still been running a slight temperature today, but we thought a swim would cool him down nicely. The ship came back from Ascension today, and although it only docked at 6 pm, we could see it on the horizon from about 5:10. Ascension is north of us, and since Jamestown faces North, we can see the ship coming in. When my parents come, they will approach the island from the South East, and sail all around it until they come around the top corner and see Jamestown, so unfortunately we won’t see the ship coming from a distance. Tomorrow we will collect our parcel from the customs hall. We’ve seen pictures of Ascension, and it looks much the same as here except that they have white beaches. Apparently not a very nice place to live though because there’s nothing to do there, and the people who live there are only there for work. I don’t think anyone is allowed to own land (there’s been a whole big thing about it in the news – right of abode). Their shops are probably not too much better than ours, although they do have air access so would have regular supplies.

Poor Nick is sleeping on the bed in my craft room now, he’s so tired. I know he’s sleeping because his foot keeps twitching. It’s only 21h07 now.

Roly poly jumps

“Granny and Grandpa, um, um, I did jump in the pool and I did a roly poly jump, you know how? You do a roly poly half way when you not in the water yet when you still in the air jumping and you also do do a roly poly half way when you are in under the water in the pool. Love from Caleb.”

I wasn’t at the pool to witness Caleb’s amazing jumps, but Nick says he is doing a somersault into the water. Aaron is sick again, running a temperature today, but otherwise his normal self. He still ate well and was cheerful, but we didn’t think swimming was a good idea.

Tonight we had battered tuna and chips for supper, because Aaron asks for fish and chips every night. Such a delicious meal. I bought fresh tuna today, and it was so fresh that the raw flesh was flaking apart when I was cutting it, and it was superbly tender. I added a cut-up tomato to my plate as well, which no one else thinks is a treat, I can’t understand why.

A quieter day

After all the activity of the past three weeks, today has been almost boring! But not really. It’s been quite a nice day, really. We’ve had some rain today, starting off early this morning, then a bit more at 8 am, then a light drizzle at 9 am, and a bit more drizzle around lunch time. Has been a bit cooler today because of it, but as soon as the rain stops and the sun comes out, it’s boiling again! Anyway, got an early start in the shops, heading to Spar to see if they had any mince yet, but still nothing new in the frozen section. Someone from the St Helena Herald had phoned Nick while I was out, and asked him to do a write-up for the paper about the holiday club, since they have the photos. That was quickly passed on to me, which I duly did, and took it to the newspaper offices after lunch. Sewed new net curtains for our bedroom and the boys’ room, the material for which I’d had for a few months, but was just waiting for a “round tuit”, which I got today. Nick did some visiting today, accomplishing two visits, and taught a guitar lesson to an 8-year-old today for half an hour. Caleb is dead set on learning guitar as well, so he sat in the doorway of the lounge watching everything that happened. Aaron, as usual, just wanted something to eat. I don’t think it’s that he’s always hungry, but he just likes to eat stuff, mostly sweet things.

I’m having lunch with the governor’s wife on Wednesday. It’s a buffet lunch at Ann’s Place, so I can safely conclude that it won’t be just me and her. I received a very formal invitation under the door last week, and since I hadn’t RSVP’d yet, I was phoned today from the governor’s office.

Church Service

I’m sure you’re keen to hear how the service was this evening. Well, it was packed! There were over 30 kids from the HBC, and many parents, grandparents and aunties came too. The church was absolutely full, it was wonderful to have so many people there, although very hot. Nick had to more or less shout the whole way through because there was a lot of extra shuffling and whispering from the kids who occupied the first few rows of pews, but he preached a clear gospel message. The whole service got a bit muddled towards the end because Nick changed the order of service mid-stream and left out the notices and offering, so tacked it on to the end and had two benedictions. But all in all it was a great time.

Our day was super. I spent a lot of time on the laptop this morning while the boys amused themselves, then Nick popped home for tea between services which was a nice surprise. Lunch was left overs from the braai, and I made a pasta salad and cut up a tomato (another whole one for myself), and we set up a table outside and ate on the patio. After lunch we mucked around outside for a while, and chatted, and the boys went for a sleep. Then later we drove to Longwood because we had communion this evening but I hadn’t bought the grapejuice (I thought it was next Sunday, see), so we were hoping that the shop at Longwood would be open. Unfortunately it was closed, so we had to use a pineapple flavoured juice concentrate, which was orange even after adding some red food colouring. Oh dear. After Longwood, and a bit of time at the playground, we went to the pool. Since it was overcast I didn’t consider it to be swimming weather so I read the newspaper instead. News of importance is that the ExCo is reconsidering the decision not to screen migrant workers for HIV. At present St Helena is thought to be AIDS free, and there is a big concern that the flood of workers for the airport will change that. Initially it was decided not to screen, but there has been a hooha so now they might. They jolly well should, if they want to protect their young people! Other news is that the Hutts Gate Store is falling down. Oh, I forgot to mention that a chap from the media services came to the HBC on Friday during the last half hour to take photos, so those will be going into this Friday’s paper.

Caleb drew a picture of what he dreams about when he cries – a page full of monsters. There is one particularly nasty looking one with big bunny ears and a big hand with 13 fingers. No wonder he is in such distress!

Nice hat

A long week has finally ended and now it feels like things can go back to normal. I’m still trying to sort the house out after the HBC and the braai and there is just so much disorganization everywhere that it’s taking a long time. Yesterday I was cleaning out the pantry a bit, and found a dead mouse on the floor, which had been hidden under something. I tried not to freak out too much but it was pretty gross. Caleb discovered me in my distress, and I asked him to please tell Nick so he could take it away, but Caleb came back and said that daddy said he can do it himself. So he did. He carefully picked it up by its tail, and having been dead for so long, the mouse was thoroughly stiff. “It’s crispy” Caleb said in delight.

I’m considering starting a discipleship group for young girls – mainly the girls from the HBC, who seem to be bored anyway and would probably welcome the opportunity of having something to do. If we do it, it would likely be on a Friday afternoon for an hour. I’m praying about it still. I’m just so concerned that they are going to flounder in their faith if there is not enough input, and I don’t think the Good News Club is going to meet their needs, although they did enjoy it yesterday.

Some tourists arrived on Wednesday with the ship, and there is one lady from England who we have seen at the pool a few times. She must be at least 80, with a very posh accent, and she thinks the boys are the most precious things she has seen, wonderful, darling, angels, so adorable, and so good. And you know the boys, they love chatting to all and sundry, so they will have a chat to this lady about anything, which puts her opinion of them up even more. She has 10 grandchildren, I think 8 of them boys. She wears a shower cap when she swims, and the boys think it’s very funny and they ask her about her hat. Caleb says he thinks it’s because she has washed her hair, so she doesn’t want it messed up in the pool. She just laughs. There is a definite “pool community” – you tend to see the same people at the pool at about the same time every day, and you become friendly with them.

Apples and tomatoes

I’ve just finished doing the bulletin, and now it’s photocopying. Our copier is running low on toner, and we are expecting another one from England soon, but until then we have to keep an eye on it.

Last night was our bible study braai (barbeque), which was a great success. I think in all we had over 30 people, including kids. The food was good, and the conversion was merry, although I didn’t join in much, being too tired. At one point Nick and I were both sitting here in his study while everyone else was downstairs enjoying pudding, and since some people were inside and some were outside, no one noticed that we were missing. We debated going to bed and letting them lock up on their way out, or having a rest and then reappearing when they showed signs of leaving, but we didn’t go with either plan. Eventually got to bed around 11 pm, but then Caleb was crying in his sleep again so that kept us awake a while longer. But it was good to sleep in this morning! We only had to be up at around 7 am for Nick to get ready for the prayer meeting, so that was really great. The boys got to bed at 9 pm last night, but Aaron was awake and ready for the day at his usual 6.30. Caleb only woke up at about 8 am! I asked Caleb if he remembers crying in his sleep, and told him that he must stop this nonsense because it is keeping us awake. He thought about that for a little while, and then apologized for it! Shame, that took the wind right out of my sails.

Today, then, I rushed off to Spar shortly after 9 because Brenda had mentioned that they had finally unpacked their fresh fruit, and it was going to be like a gold rush. Well fortunately it wasn’t too bad, but everyone was very excited about the fruit. I bought four apples only, because the peaches looked a bit green. 20p per apple. I went back to Spar later, on our way to the pool, because they had unpacked their tomatoes then too, so I picked up six firm ones from SA, and only 56p for all of them, which I thought was very reasonable, especially when compared to the 17p I paid for that horrible local one some time ago! Good News Club was at 10, and as we had hoped, a lot more kids joined than usual. We were happy with the numbers. Nick is doing an 11-part series on the 10 commandments, so that takes the pressure off the rest of the teachers for the next while. Some of the girls hung around again after the GNC, which we didn’t mind tooo much, although they never seem to know when to leave, so they just stay and stay until one of us really has to be firm and kick them out. It gets annoying, because one really does want a start time and an end time to ministries. Still had a lot of cleaning up to do, both from the HBC and last night’s do, so really wanted to get stuck in.

Too hot

We had a good final day of the HBC – 52 kids! They have really enjoyed it, and it was good to wrap it up properly. We did thank you’s to the leaders and helpers, and gave out prizes for those with perfect attendance (31 kids attended every day). Many of the kids have said that they definitely want to come to the good news club, so it will be interesting to see how many actually come tomorrow. Went swimming this afternoon, and it was nice to see some of the kids from the HBC. We definitely feel like we have gotten to know some of them. We look forward to Sunday night, with the guest service. The kids are about 95% outsiders, ie completely unchurched with unchurched parents. That is why it is such a good outreach ministry – get the kids in, and thereby attract the parents.

The Saints are complaining about how hot it is – which is good in a way, because it means that this heat isn’t something they’re just used to, which means that they don’t live with it all year round. We are definitely looking forward to autumn and winter!! The nice thing is that it’s really pleasant to sit outside at night, which we are doing tonight at our bible study braai.

Two conversions

Two names have been added to the Book of Life today!!! Praise the Lord. I shared the gospel with two girls after the club today, they were just hanging around and I was trying to get rid of them because I needed to get home to feed the boys and so on, but eventually we got chatting about death, and I said they might die today and not when they’re 60 years old as they said, and then I asked them the EE3 question, if you were to die today and Jesus asked you why he should let you into heaven, what should you say? And that was my starting point. I asked if they wanted to hear the gospel, and they did, so I shared it very simply. Then one girl asked how to become a Christian, so I explained all the steps (acknowledge you’re a sinner, believe in God and Jesus his Son, accept Jesus’ death for your sins and his gift of life), so then she wanted to know BUT HOW – so I prayed with them both. They were both very excited, and as soon as Nick came back after dropping off people, they told him too. I am so excited. We will have to wait to see if this has been a real conversion experience though by the fruit of it, but I have encouraged them to come to the Good News Club on Saturdays, and to church, and to read their bibles and pray.

Other than that, today was hectic as usual. We had 49 kids today! The craft today, which was pompoms for the two older groups, was a bit of a disaster because some of them just couldn’t do it, and their wool tangled, and they ran out of time, but some others managed fine. The youngest group, which I have in the middle section of the day, did seed mosaics which was great, just finished quite quickly, but then we played hiding sheep. Nick’s activities were mostly water based as that is what the kids enjoy the most – water balloons, or throwing water soaked sponges at one another, that sort of thing. His t-shirt was completely mud-spattered by the end of the day, so is in the wash now. I believe Caleb contributed a great splat to the back of it.

I went to the shops this afternoon to buy final supplies for tomorrow. They don’t have any fresh produce yet, or any of the frozen stuff. Apparently the frozen stuff is only getting offloaded tomorrow, probably the fresh things too. What a bother! Had to also go to the docks to collect more rocks, and the sea was coming up quite high, so Caleb and I had to watch the waves and be sure we didn’t get in the way. I did feel the water as it was receding though, and I think it’s the first time that I’ve actually felt the Atlantic Ocean. It was warm. I was tempted to take off my shoes and stand on the stones a bit further down, but I thought better of it – didn’t want to slip or cut my feet open or anything! Nick’s toe is very sore (the one he dislocated yesterday). His foot is a bit swollen. He’s pretty sure it’s not broken though, because he’s had a broken toe before and this is nothing like that.

Popped toe and missing ring

Today’s HBC was good, 43 kids came. Another 6 new ones, so in total I think we have had about 51 kids come through the doors. They are really enjoying the singing, and getting louder every day. I was worried about my crafts for today, which was melting marshmallows over candles and squishing them between marie biscuits for the two older groups. It could have been a disaster with all the little candles and wax and flames, but I found extra volunteers (rather, the Lord sent an extra helper today), so all was well controlled. The last group took all the candles home with them, I guess they all want to try it out at home! Nick’s activities went well too, although he is battling to keep the youngest group entertained. I guess the teaching slots are also going well, haven’t had too much feedback about those.

This morning we didn’t get off to a good start. Aaron lost my engagement ring, and no amount of beatings would get out of him where he lost it, so we spent about half an hour searching fruitlessly. Then, Nick caught his little toe at the top of the stairs and dislocated it, and he had to actually pop it back in place. This was more or less an hour before we were due to begin. Nick thought maybe we were under attack! Had to really pray for God’s grace today, and He got us through. We are getting to a point in the HBC now where we are building up a rapport with the kids, and they are becoming more than nameless faces in a crowd. On Sunday night we are having a guest service, and we are going to draft a letter for the kids to take home to their parents to invite them to come to the service. We will incorporate a few songs from the week, and get the kids to stand on the stage, so hopefully it will encourage the parents to come. A lot of what we are doing we have made up as we go along. It’s been a growth curve! Anyway, after the club ended, we came home for lunch and I searched for the ring again, and thankfully found it in Nick’s office. Such a relief.

Can you believe all the shops are closed, on the day the ship finally comes back. You would think they would stay open on a Wednesday afternoon if there are a whole bunch of tourists who have just landed, but no. I was hoping to get a nice plump tomato, or at least a loaf of bread for tomorrow. So I still can’t come up with anything decent for supper. Last night it was vegetarian viennas on bread, sort of a hotdog gone wrong. Actually quite tasty though.

Oh, we now have another different car. Now I can get more confused. Now it’s an 1800 Ford, hatchback thingie, with a sunroof and electric windows. It’s a bit of an upgrade. We should be getting the golf back soon, if the ship brought all the correct spare parts. What it didn’t bring was a camera cable, but by now I’m not expecting it anymore, so no great disappointment.

Lynn the would-be car thief

Second day of holiday club down, three more to go. Today we had 42 kiddies, although six were new, so some didn’t come back, but might come again tomorrow or the next day. I guess it depends on the parents’ schedules too. We had a good day again, although Nick’s activities for the youngest kids (Caleb’s class) flopped a bit, and my craft for the middle group didn’t work too well, it seemed to be too difficult for them. They were supposed to make an elephant out of cardboard, but the group leaders and I had to basically make all of them. But other than that, it was great. The singing part, yesterday and today, was really good, they are learning some new songs and singing loudly and enthusiastically on songs they know. Nick used the mic and also amplified his guitar, which made a big difference, and helped in that he didn’t have to strain his voice. We’re still finding that we have too much time to kill, so tomorrow we might show a veggietale video, which will be appropriate to the theme of peace.

I nearly stole a car today. I think I have mentioned before that no-one bothers to lock their cars, the windows are all open, and security just isn’t a problem. Well, off I went to town after the HBC today to buy some more supplies (biscuits) and stuff. I came back to the car (the temporary Ford), put my shopping onto the seat through the open window, walked around to the drivers’ side, got in the car, and when I tried to start it, the key didn’t want to turn. I thought maybe the steering wheel had locked, so fiddled a bit, when suddenly it dawned on me that actually I wasn’t even in my car. How embarrassing. I picked up my parcels, got out of the wrong car, and walked further down the parking bays to get to the right one! It was really bad. I don’t know how many people saw, but there was one chap who gave me a very odd look as he was driving down the road while I was sitting in this car. Unfortunately he was driving up the road in the other direction when I was walking to the right car, and used the opportunity to give me another strange look.

First day of Holiday Bible Club

I am writing as a very tired person after a looong day! Praise the Lord, we had 39 kids at our first day of bible club today. We were encouraged by the numbers, and it seemed to all go off very well. A breakdown of the day:

Woke Nick up at 5.30 so he could have a short quiet time and be ready to leave home at 6.30 to fetch people at 7.00 am. This all successfully accomplished. The boys and I were ready for the day by the time he returned at 7.30. Then it was all the last minute setting up to do, which took us right up until 9 am, when it started. We kicked off with about 8 songs, then everyone split off to the various stations, according to their age groups. We found that the first session was too long and time hung a bit heavy – fortunately there is always colouring in as a backup for the craft, and Simon Says is a great activity! The snack time was also too long and everyone started getting a bit out of hand, from our perspective anyway, although perhaps the kids just enjoyed the freedom to run about and play with their friends. Then, off to the second and third stations, by which time we had readjusted the time slots and trimmed down the allocated time for those sessions, but they turned out to be too short. We closed with some more singing and a five-minute video on some farmyard plants and how they grow (provided with the SonHarvest material). The kids then left at 12. The leaders stayed behind for a quick feedback session, and all felt the times were a bit of a problem, but other than that they enjoyed it and felt it was a good start. Nick did very well as the co-ordinator, I can’t believe he doesn’t enjoy children’s ministries as he is quite funny and the kids respond so well to him. (He’s giving me that patronizing face with a fake smile while reading this…)

Then, Nick had to take some people home again, while I got some quick lunch together for the boys and myself, and then did a bit of cleaning up in the church and schoolroom, then I had to drive to the radio station to pick up a mic stand for the rest of the week, so Nick doesn’t have to strain his voice (it’s feeling quite sore after today’s shouting and very loud singing), popped in at the Half Tree Hollow Spar to do some grocery shopping (month end, but I only managed to get about 10 items from my list!), got home, did more cleaning up and preparation for tomorrow (set out all the craft goodies I need), then off to Thorpes to do the rest of my shopping, after first dropping Nick and the boys off at the swimming pool. Got a lot of shopping done (yippee, Jaffa Cakes were on the reduction shelf as they all expired earlier in the month – down from about £1.50 to 90p – bought two boxes of those!!). Then fetched the swimmers, came home and unpacked the groceries, then made supper which was bullseyes (groan) and chips. Not altogether bad, but I could have cooked them for longer, because I had to leave some flesh attached to the bone which wasn’t prepared to flake off nicely. The small boys thought it was fine as it was. The bigger one wasn’t too sure, he detected that there were some chewy bits and reminded me that he doesn’t like sushi. After supper, I had to wash up quickly because the 20-odd flies in the kitchen were about to carry the left-overs away, then I had to hang up a load of washing, put the boys to bed, and do a spot more cleaning up. So this is really the first time I am actually sitting down to relax all day. Tonight we are watching a DVD. Nick has to try squash in all his bible study and sermon prep in the afternoons which is quite hectic, but we are both so tired at the moment that there is no way he could have done anything constructive tonight.

Nick introduced the call of the Jahobadee da-de-da Minithnithne Bird today at the bible club. The call of this bird sounds surprisingly like half of a recorder blown into with much force, which produces a loud screechy noise which is effective in getting the attention of lively children. They laughed every time he said the name and they just couldn’t get it right. His activities were very funny, he did a lot of variations on the ones that the book suggested – like pulling pews around in the church to create a maze, which they had to navigate through tied together in pairs, with a balloon! The kids all seemed to enjoy the bible story time, and my craft, which was making cups with soil and seeds (hat hair ladies, which should have been grass hair men but for the lack of grass seeds in the shops in town) also went down well. Caleb and Aaron particularly are quite excited about it, and it was good to be able to show the kids the one I did last Monday which has just started sprouting little green shoots. One girl even got an earthworm in her cup, which provided a good biology lesson for them (hee hee, Lynn the Homeschooling Mother!).

Swimming progress

As you can guess, we have spent some time in the schoolroom over the weekend, doing some final touches. I covered over the two craft tables I will be using with white paper, so that it doesn’t matter if paint or wax crayon gets on the tables. Nick brought in our wheelbarrow, pitchfork, spade and some watering cans, so those are in front of the barn scene, which is the main assembly area. He also mowed the lawn and cleaned up the yard and swept, to make it nice for the activities. We had a bit of a music practice with Steve before Good News Club, but didn’t cover much ground. We are going to have to have daily practices (he is playing the violin, Nick is on banjo and I am the guitarist). The three instruments blend very well together, particularly for the country/farm feel we have going! It was so hot yesterday, and especially after being in the schoolroom, where the temperature must be at least 30 deg inside, so we went for a swim. We haven’t been swimming together since the boys were sick, so it was nice to be back in the pool.

Yesterday we took a drive to the radio station by St Paul’s to see if we could borrow a mic stand (very last minute), but there was only one person there and she was in the studio, so for tomorrow we will have to come up with a plan, and then see if we can borrow one for the rest of the week. It’s just that we’re teaching them some new songs, and it’s very difficult to sing loud enough for them to hear, above the instruments. If we can get Nick amplified, it will make things very much easier.

This morning we did a bit of Sunday School, then the boys played while I made a batch of crunchie-style biscuits with a Smartie on top of each one. They turned out very well, but already most of the batch has been eaten! After lunch, we all did our own thing while Aaron was supposed to be sleeping, and I did the songs for the HBC for the week, putting them onto overhead transparencies or typing out the chords etc. Those are now all organized.

We went swimming again today, and Caleb swam without his armbands for a little while, and didn’t do too badly. He wants us to teach him how to swim properly now, so despite begging us to put them back on (I’m not sure why we want him to swim without them at this point, but anyway), he will be begging us NOT to put them on in future. Aaron, not to be outdone, took one of his own armbands off and went down like a lead pipe. Fortunately Nick and I were both quite close, but I don’t think he’ll be doing that again too soon!

The Barn

Mealie Patch

Aunty Dot's House

Bees live where??

These are the three big murals we have done for the holiday club. Unfortunately perspective is lost without one of us standing next to them, but the biggest one, the barn one, is about twice my height. Our quarter-page, colour ad went into the St Helena Herald today (on the very back cover), and a presenter of Radio St Helena came by the house this morning to interview Nick for a radio broadcast tonight, all about the holiday club. It’s had some good publicity! Please pray for us for next week, we are excited about it and trust the Lord for His work in the kids’ lives.

Today has been a good day, other than hot, despite a few showers of rain. The rain and clouds don’t seem to make any difference to the air temperature, although every once in a while there is a cool breeze. I vacuumed the house this morning quickly, and then did a science experiment with the boys (conduction this time). We did some puzzles and a bit of reading too. When doing the puzzles, Aaron was doing a little one of matching animals to their houses. Nick happened to be helping at the time, and he said to Aaron, “where do bees live?” Aaron’s limited experience with bees resulted in the answer: “In windows”. Ha ha ha. We saw more dead bees in the window at Spar after that, which made me think that Aaron’s onto something!

Some very exciting news – last night one of the older ladies in Nick’s Sandy Bay bible study professed faith in Jesus. She has been attending church for many years, and lately bible study, and over the last few weeks has been praying for conversion. Nick went to visit her on Wednesday, and she said then that she now believes she is saved. So at the bible study last night she made it public. Praise the Lord!!

Nick was given a huge tin (935g) of ground coffee, for the filter coffee machine. It’s quite a nice brand, and I suspect it’s going to last for a very long time! We pay over £3 for a little 100g packet of coffee, so this is quite a significant saving. I think it’s an American product.

We are now finally finished all the chocolate supplies we had in the house. Not one single piece of chocolate remains. This is the first time we have had no chocolate on hand since arriving!

Please can we get takeouts?

I made my first pompom last night, it was actually quite cute and I think I must make some more…you know, as more samples…different colours and sizes…but only because the kids should have lots to look at…you know. [Five months later Mrs Clevely was found dead under a pile of pompoms which had fallen out of a cupboard as she opened it, thus suffocating. Eye witnesses confirm that she had spent many days and nights pompomming, and that there were, in fact, several more cupboards filled with these woolly creations. It was a baa-d and unfortunate demise.]

After all the housework this morning, which started at 7.30 am, and a bit of painting with the boys (we made blobby paintings and then folded them in half to make symmetrically squishy blobby paintings), I took the boys to town, to finish off buying supplies for the crafts. I am now reasonably confident that other than things like soil, stones and twigs, I have everything I need.

I have really been battling to cook anything lately, simply because I have run out of ingredients, because there is not much of interest in the shops and it’s month end. Last night’s was packet macaroni cheese (you know, just add water and milk and boil it) with tinned viennas. Not very nice, mainly because the packet of macaroni cheese expired about a year ago, and the powder that had gotten inside the pasta had gone hard, and stayed that way during the cooking process, so the end result was crunchy macaroni with a crunchy filling. Nick didn’t really think I should try it again.

Aaron’s regular prayer has increased from his usual three phrases to about five or six now, something along the lines of “Djar Jesus, please give us more rain, and you must be good, and it’s nice to pray, and help us do good stuff and not be naughty and Amen.” He likes to point his little index finger at us and say “Jesus died on the cross for your sins.”

Hooray, the paintings are finished!

The ship is arriving next Wednesday and should be bringing spare parts for our golf, which is now just sitting waiting, so we have to continue using the Ford, sigh, what a bother. Also our new Defy 4-plate gas cooker should be coming. And maybe even fresh fruit!! Yippee, such a lot of lovely things to look forward to. And who knows, maybe even white enamel paint so I can finish off the skirting job I started about two months ago.

I spent about three hours today finishing off the outlining in the schoolroom. Nick and I are both happy to say that all the paintings are now FINISHED!! Phew! I was awake for ages last night thinking about the HBC and all the supplies I still have to buy, which actually aren’t that many, but wondering how I was going to buy the right amount of packets of seeds for the grass hair men (which will actually be flower hat ladies because there are no grass seeds available), and if I would be able to return any surplus, and what about the catering, and those thoughts just went round and round in my head. Nick solved the seed problem for me this morning in about 2 seconds – he said if I buy too many seeds, we’ll just plant them in our garden!


Right, I’m going to make myself a cup of tea, have a stale rusk, and make a pompom. I have to make samples of all the crafts this week so I have a finished product to show the kids next week at the bible club.