Fresh olive oil?

This morning Nick took a bit of a tumble, coming back from Jacob’s Ladder via the mountain path. He was gathering too much speed apparently, and tripped, falling onto his hands and rolling onto his side and back. His hand was quite badly skinned in one small spot, and a few more grazes on a finger, but his other hand is a problem, where he says it feels like the bones of his ring finger and pinkie squashed into each other and are pinching everything in between now. He can’t play guitar, and battled with the typing today for his bible study. I hope it heals up quickly. School was quite okay today, and Nick took over the Maths for a while so I could make coffee for him. I think I’d far rather have coffee duty! At least now he can see the frustration of sitting watching Aaron go off on a daydream instead of filling in a worksheet. Nothing else to report about the morning, except to say that it rained quite a lot today, and for most of the day. Bible study was very good tonight – we had a full house, including the Governor and his wife. People seemed a bit taken aback when they walked in the door and saw the Governor seated in our lounge, but I don’t think they were too inhibited on the whole. I had to play guitar all on my own which was quite daunting, especially as I usually play mandolin and am rusty on guitar, but seemed to have gone okay.

Yesterday Aaron and I wandered around town looking for olive oil and tomato sauce, neither of which is in any of the shops at the moment. I found a little bottle of olive oil at the shop under Wellingtons, but it was reduced as it was outdated – I asked how outdated it was, and when I saw it was February 2006 I thought better of it!

Not a Haven for Caleb!

At the moment of writing, 18h41, it’s pouring with rain. It started at about 5 pm, and has been pretty wet since then. The day has been very good – it was a combined service today, so Nick has been home with us all day! The morning was extremely relaxed and pleasant, since we weren’t doing a tea today, so there was no extensive setting up to be done – just the bulletins and getting the songs ready. I made a new dish for lunch today, as I had the right ingredients available for a Hawaiian chicken but couldn’t find any one recipe that suited me, so I concocted my own using a combination of recipes – the end result was delicious and very easy. Church itself was good, I think – lots of people, and a lot of visitors too. I went out for Sunday School so can’t comment on the message, except to say that it was Nick’s last one in his series in John. After church there was a brief interlude during which people stood in the street and chatted – actually a much more sociable event than having tea in the schoolroom – and then we were due at the Haven at 3.30 for a short service for the old people. During this time, Caleb, Aaron and Kieran were playing outside on their own, and Caleb ran into the sharp corner of a window frame, so his head opened up and blood issued forth. It was quite a small hole, actually, but we could only see the size of it once the nurses had cleaned him up. Caleb was not happy about being nursed – not that he was crying, but I think he didn’t like all the fuss, and also kept trying to dodge the nurse who had to apply the wet cotton wool quite firmly.

Odd Friday and unusual Saturday

Yesterday was a bit of a strange day…we finished school at 1 pm! We also started off a little unusually, by watching a video of St Helena which Wilson has either lent or given us, I’m not sure which. It’s quite an old one, so some things have changed, but it was very interesting to watch. This happened straight after breakfast as Nick happened to put it on so we all watched. Then I helped Caleb build some Lego, and only then got to my bath. We still started school on time though. The first part of school was normal, with actually less work to get through as it was a Friday – there seems to be less stuff scheduled. I got the boys to finish off a Maths worksheet before tenzees, and Aaron actually beat Caleb!!! I was thrilled that he managed to work so quickly, and fairly neatly too. During our post-tenzees school session, we had three interruptions, although pleasant ones – firstly, we were blessed with a big amount of groceries from one of our generous and caring church ladies, then our salary was delivered, which meant making a cup of coffee for the bearer and having a social visit before I had to politely throw him out so we could continue with school, and finally a lady to collect some dishes left here from our arrival lunch. The boys were hanging around during this time waiting for school to continue so it could get finished – it felt so wrong to finish so late!

This morning Caleb wanted a ring made, as he found an old metal spring which he was wearing on his finger, but wanted it decorated. So out came the wooden beads again, and some invisible thread, and the thing was done. Then Aaron came in, and of course also wanted one, so I threaded up a little elasticated one for him. Good News Club was quite fine, with a teaching on Mary and Martha. After the club, Keisha, one of the girls, came home with me while Nick took the boys swimming again. Keisha usually has to wait for some time while Enid goes to town for a bit of shopping, and then she gives her a lift home, picking her up from the schoolroom on the way up. It was fun to have Keisha here as she’s a keen crafter, so enjoys spending time in my room.

During the late afternoon we had tea at Plantation House, as well as a tour of the rambling, old mansion. It was a super afternoon of good Christian fellowship.

There's a friendly Star?

Our first activity in school this morning was to go outside and write with chalk on the concrete, as a fun way of going over the week’s spelling words. Then we had another little activity of definitions, where they had to define objects properly – so for “cat”, instead of saying, “it’s something that is furry and says meow”, they should say “it’s an animal which is furry and says meow”. Then I described an object to them, which they had to write down – eg “for baseball you need a ball and ….”. All the answers were, of course, also our week’s spelling words. Then we had the phonics workbooks, handwriting workbooks, some essay dictation, and some retelling of a story told to them. After tenzees we did maths, which was still easy, then the reading, history and Charlotte’s Web. We finished at 11.40 today, a good 20 minutes earlier than any other day. I hurried out to town after lunch, as I needed to go to the police station to renew my drivers’ license, but got there while they were on lunch so couldn’t do it, and to the Archives department in the Castle, but they were also on lunch. Took a quick walk up to the Emporium for a few school goodies, and walked past “The Star” – Solomon’s grocery shop in Jamestown (otherwise known as “The Spar”) has been renamed, in keeping with the Jamestown heritage and something something. Yesterday the signage still said Spar, and today there is already a new sign up. Quick work, since it was only announced last night! I was home again by 1, and then had to get stuck in with the preparations for today’s craft class, which took me the better part of the hour – I had to score fold lines for their paper bags, to make them easier to fold. At 2 I went for the class, and it was really such a good one today. The kids are well behaved for the most part, and managed fine with the craft. We all did one together, as I showed them step by step what to do, and then they made another one, two, or three by themselves, depending on how quickly they worked. I was so pleased that they got on with them though, without needing too much help after that. They seemed to enjoy it! Home shortly after 3, then had to quickly get the prayer meeting notes ready for Nick to take, as he left early this evening – instead of leaving at 5 for bible study, he left at 4 to be able to do a visit beforehand. His supper was a snackwich.

Giving God the glory

School this morning was again better than yesterday. We’re opening each day with a bible reading and prayer, which really helps with my patience, as I’m reminded that God is present and I need to work on those bad attitudes! So, instead of freaking out when the boys forget things, I just explain them again. Also, I keep on reading the same thing in all my coursework reading, that repetition is the key – and if you child doesn’t get it until the 100th repetition, then so be it! I guess that’s helping me relax about things a little too. The good news of the day though, is that I have acquired a second desk for the boys. The original intent of another desk was so that they could each sit at their own, but this new one is quite a lot bigger, so they can still sit together with a lot more space around them. I will now be able to have my schedule in front of me as I’m teaching, instead of popping up and down to check it on the diningroom table.

Saving scheme

School was slightly better today than yesterday, although took three hours! We started promptly after the nine am news, then worked until about 10.15, and only took a break long enough to hang up the washing plus five minutes, so about 20 minutes, then started again and only finished at 12. Granted, we took a bit of extra time studying the calendar and sticking on little stickers to mark out our birthdays and so on – Caleb asked how much time that had wasted, but I said nothing was wasted when it came to learning! He’s much too clever. The first writing we did this morning was on huge pieces of paper, with coloured kokies. The curriculum suggests that we vary the writing, as the point of this section is to get the spellings into their heads – so instead of writing on the same boring paper every day with the same boring pencil, we do fun stuff as well. Tuesdays therefore is the day for writing it big. The maths was fairly straightforward – no new concepts yet, and they’re enjoying the novelty of each having their own books to write in. After lunch I went to town for a couple of things, with Aaron with me as usual. I was pleased to be able to buy cremora again, at long last! Aaron saw a plastic piggy bank at the Emporium which he wanted to buy for Caleb, as thinks that Caleb always has money which needs saving. Also, we had read a story about a girl who had emptied her piggy bank to buy bibles for the people in Africa, so it seemed appropriate! We bought the piggy bank for Aaron to give to him for his birthday, but I don’t know how long he’ll be able to keep the secret – although I think he’s already forgotten about it!

Clevely Academy opens for 2008

First day of school today was not at all bad. We opened with a bible reading and prayer, and then launched into the language arts. It seemed a bit disjointed though, with a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and a lot of the boys sitting around waiting while I figured out what the next thing was to happen. But it was fine on the whole, and the boys said it was better than they thought it would be. After tenzees we continued with the history, reading, and read-alouds – we’ve kicked off with Charlotte’s Web which the boys are really pleased about. For memory work we’re learning Psalm 1 over the next six weeks, so just verse one for this week. The plan is to get some people together, like Steve and Maureen perhaps, and then get the boys to recite their portion in front of them – as a public speaking assignment. School finished shortly before 12, by which time I was fairly exhausted from the effort of being nice and patient, so I was glad to get out for a while to go to Lorna for beading! From Lorna I went directly to Tammy to collect the recording equipment which Nick is borrowing, and then briefly to town, before coming home at about 3.30.

Getting ready

Yesterday morning was back to normal with the Good News Club. Quite a few kids were missing, although hopefully they’ll start coming again over the next few weeks. I guess a staggered start isn’t altogether a bad thing! Nick W did the teaching, about reflecting God’s character and being like Him. The games were the usual variety of dodgeball, twister, or for the less active, drawing. I played a sort of game with some of the kids called “tell me something about yourself that I don’t know”. I’m going to keep it up with them – at first they were stumped, but as the facts started flowing I found out all manner of things about their siblings and parents and home life. After the club we headed to town for the afternoon’s DVD and some lunch – Spar had some fresh pies, which we bought and ate at home. After lunch and the DVD, which was an old Walt Disney movie about a boy who was shipwrecked and hunted by pirates, Nick left for his afternoon of music at Tammy. They made good progress, and since Tammy now has all her sound equipment, they can record each week. They’ve finished two songs now of the 13 for the next album. While he was out I spent the afternoon finishing the mini-album, which is now completely and absolutely done, including a little title page to go in the window on the cover and a schedule of all our arrangements on the back page. That took most of the afternoon, but I had a little time left over before Nick came home to start with sorting out school books, putting last year’s books onto the downstairs bookshelf.

This morning was time to sort out the diningroom in earnest. I unpacked, cleaned, and rearranged cupboards, dusted windowsills, vacuumed, and brought out the books we will be needing for tomorrow. The boys watched their DVD again after tenzees, and then I got some of the reading done for tomorrow, so I know more or less what to expect.

Thief

This morning I found a curious thing in the kitchen, as I was putting the dishes away – for Bible Study on Tuesday, Jean had brought a selection of Roses’ chocolates, and of course there were several left over, which we put into a little container and then forgot to put away in the cupboard last night. So, this morning, there was a still-wrapped chocolate in the draining rack. I puzzled over this a while, until I took a closer look and saw the tell-tale nibbled corners, and shredded foil wrapper also lying about. Evidently during the night, a sneaky little mouse had chosen one out the open tub, then run with it all along two lengths of the kitchen counter, before settling comfortably in the draining rack behind a dinner plate, where it had most probably delighted in its unexpected find. Sadly, it was one of our favourites!!

My priority for the morning was to get my craft prepared, as today I was back at the school. Fortunately I still had the necessary supplies left over from the first group’s card making session, so I just had to cut the cardboard in half, score fold lines, cut out some other bits of paper, and punch out various shapes in a variety of colours. The boys were hovering while I was busy, and then asked if they could also make cards, so I gave them some board and whatever other supplies they needed, and let them loose. They had a marvellous time cutting up miniscule bits of paper and gluing and stapling them together in a most unusual arrangement! We were due at the coffee shop at 10.45 to meet with Maureen and Elza. Although the boys were bored mostly, I enjoyed chatting with the ladies. In sympathy for the boys we didn’t stay too long, but left again at about 12ish. I dropped both of them off at home on my way to Half Tree Hollow for bread and a few goodies – at last got hold of some onions, as well as more chicken breast fillets, and some rolls and 35p (reduced) caramel aeros. Then it was home and lunch, after which the boys wanted to make new necklaces, so that kept us busy until I had to go to the school. We finished both necklaces – a masculine combination of antique gold findings, and bone beads, on brown cord. The craft class was really not too bad today. I have a new group of children for the next 10 weeks, so of course I can just repeat the crafts I did with the last lot, saving in planning if not preparation. The boys went to play outside while supper was in the oven, amusing themselves by throwing sand at the tree where all the bees live. Why on earth they decided to do that is beyond me, but they came in for their bath absolutely filthy, but thankfully unharmed, and in very high spirits.

Appliances make nice homes

I started the morning, after what I would call my usual walk except that it hasn’t been very regular since being back, and a bath, by cleaning the kettles. I thought this was a necessary and urgent action because I found a cockroach, belly-up, in the less-used kettle, the one that has been standing in the cupboard for the last 8 weeks while we haven’t been having bible study. Unfortunately I found the cockroach after we had served tea, which means that I gave our guests cockroach soup. I noticed an off smell, but wouldn’t have thought it was coming from the kettle! So, post-haste I vinegared it and cleaned it all out. After lunch, which was sandwiches for Caleb and me, leftover pies for Nick, and the remains of a package of 2-minute noodles for Aaron (the rest of the packet was sprinkled liberally on the lounge carpet by Aaron, who had been carrying the closed packet around with him since we bought them yesterday, and had finally managed to accidentally open them, spewing out much of the very crushed contents), I played a few rounds of hide-and-seek with Caleb, as he is complaining that he never sees me – all this because they spent three days at the holiday bible club last week, so now need to make up for lost time. Then I thought that it would be a good time to see if we could get Caleb’s laptop working using a South African adapter rather than the American one we have, which restricts him to using it in Nick’s office where he can plug it into the transformer. Very cautiously, Nick and I plugged it in and switched it on, ready to turn it off at the first sound of any crackling or evidence of fired, and it actually works. This is really great, because now both boys can use their laptops anywhere in the house. I bought a two-point multi-plug in SA, so they both plug their adapter into that, then that goes into a British/SA adapter, and finally into the wall. While I was busy with the final supper preparations which involved frying parboiled potatoes on the stove and supervising the boiling of vegetables, Scilla came by. She arrived back here with the ship this morning, for her three-month optometrical stint. She will be here until 11 April. It’s great to have her back – this is the third time she has been since we’ve been here. She stayed and chatted in the kitchen right up until supper was ready, although declined an invitation to stay to dinner as she had a lot of unpacking to do, to get her equipment sorted out and set up.

You break it, you buy it

After a morning of tidying, sorting and scrapping, and then beading at Lorna, I scooted off to town in the afternoon to look for some drinking glasses as we only have about four decent ones. After some walking about from shop to shop, I found nice ones at Queen Mary’s, but they didn’t have any price. I waited a long time while they ambled about looking for a price and eventually forgetting about me, so took the glasses to the till to try pay anyway, and hopefully speed up the process – but while I was holding the box, one of the glasses fell out and shattered on the floor. Oops! I took the rest of them to the till and explained that I would buy the set of five anyway, but they still couldn’t find a price so I said I would return tomorrow.

Sunday Blues are Back

Today has been back to the usual blah Sundays – all the worse after the holiday and happy memories of braais and lunches! I made a cheesy mince and potato dish for lunch, along with fresh green beans in my new steamer. I also boiled (steamed) some eggs while the beans were going. My non-vegetable-eating boys were dreadfully unhappy about having to down the beans, but Nick stood by me in insisting that they eat all of them. I told them a funny story about an old friend who once stuffed his mouth full of beans, not wanting to first bother with cutting them up, after first making sure that his mom and I were looking in the other direction! They thought that was quite funny. Anyway, all the beans were eaten and no smacks were administered. In the afternoon we did our own thing – Nick rested, the boys played, I crafted, and then Nick took the boys for a swim later on.

Back to Wrangham's

It’s been a hot day again today, with mostly clear skies. To take advantage of the weather and the fact that Good News Club hasn’t started yet, we went out to Wrangham’s Forest again today, this time armed with a camera. We needed to stop in town first for a few things, and then we had to pay a quick visit to one of our elderly Baptist ladies, whose son died yesterday or today – he is unknown to us, but was 58. We didn’t stay too long, just chatted a little and then Nick prayed. From there it was onto Wrangham’s. We walked through to the backyard, and then on into the forest part, which was quite extensive. After walking a downhill path for a while, we stopped and had chips and juice, and took a family photo, and then decided to head back since the path seemed to just go on pretty much the way it was – we had seen enough! I like circular routes, not ones that keep going in one direction.

Still getting sorted

While the boys were out at HBC this morning, I met up with Maureen and Elza (and Steve) at the coffee shop, where I had an iced coffee and chocolate cake. They still have their Thursday morning coffee every week, so when I’m on school holiday I like to go as well. It was great to catch up and chat. During the afternoon the boys rode bikes for a while, and then came home and played, while I did some more tidying and sorting, and then together we tackled their room and their toys. I asked for their input as to how to arrange things, so together we sorted things into different categories and got them all packed away neatly. That’s a fairly big job off the list. Wilson came by during the morning, to say hello and deliver two items we had ordered from the States last year, which he brought with him when he left Ascension – one of them being “The Last Sin Eater” DVD, based on the novel by Francine Rivers. A very moving and powerful story!

Homecoming

We sighted the island around 10 am yesterday morning, as a landmass through the fog. It was already quite high and wide by the time it came into view – surprising, as one would think it might start off as a dot on the horizon. Took another two hours to actually navigate around the island and then finally into James’ Bay. We anchored officially at 12.15 pm, four hours later than originally scheduled. We were anticipating that families with young children would be given priority in disembarkation, so we didn’t bother trying to get to the front of the queue to see the customs officials, but unfortunately this was not the case, so we ended up being on the last boat off. The boys were dreadfully bored, as were we all, so it wasn’t really a fun wait. Finally we donned lifejackets, walked carefully down the gangplank onto the pontoon (there was a bit of a swell, so we had to wait until the platform rose to meet the stairs again before hopping on), and then into the Gannett Three. The run from the ship to the wharf steps was actually surprisingly long – the RMS really anchors far out! Stripped of our lifejackets, we found space on a mini-bus and were driven the short distance to the customs hall. We were surprised to see a major project on the go at the docks, such that the place where people congregate to welcome passengers has been moved quite far back, even beyond the swimming pool, and there were containers lined up as far as that. Apparently this is the rock-stabilisation project, so instead of the containers being offloaded further down towards the wharf steps, they are now coming right up into the parking area, thus making it unsafe for the general public. Anyway, once we had been through customs and put our hand-luggage through the x-ray machine, we walked along to where people were waiting, to see if anyone had come to welcome us. Steve and Maureen were waiting, along with Elza and her son who is visiting, and Vincent, Joyce and Enid. It was lovely to see them again, of course. We didn’t tarry long, as Maureen asked whether we had had lunch (which we had, an hour previously), and informed us that lunch had been prepared at the manse. They had brought our car down to the docks, so we drove home in our beloved 942, where a large number of our congregation were waiting for us – not just town folk, but some from Sandy Bay as well. They had gone full out with a lunch, the usual way – lots of food and lots of variety. We didn’t eat much, but hopefully looked very grateful anyway! Thankfully the leftovers were plenty, and will serve as our lunches and suppers for the next few days. A great effort had been done with cleaning the manse, so everything had been dusted and vacuumed, and even all the windows had been washed!

Today has just been a lot of unpacking and sorting. The boys are at a Holiday Bible Club being run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which they will attend tomorrow and Friday too. It’s probably the only time of the year that I am at home without the boys for any length of time! I had to go to town for a few goodies, and it was a pleasure to walk down the road and be greeted and welcomed home by so many Saints. I can honestly say that we are pleased to be back! The old familiar sights and sounds of the island are much beloved – silly, everyday things like watching the Fairy Terns swoop and glide in their pairs; having a sea view all day; the traffic on the main road outside our window and people talking as they walk by – and even the DJs on Saint FM!

More from the ship

Last night the ship started rocking, and the weather changed to grey skies. The rocking was worse during the night, and this morning I was feeling a bit green. Nick and the boys were fine, mostly, although Caleb also said he thought he might vomit. We decided to bypass breakfast in the diningroom, and headed instead to the sun lounge, so that if need be we could dash outside with our puke bags. Fortunately we were fine, and managed to get some cheese scones, yoghurt, and juice into us. I did a load of washing and tumbledrying during the day, but for the most part I was on my bed. The boys are having a marvellous time playing with the kids onboard, mostly in the playroom. Caleb told me the other day that the best moisturiser is Dove. He says he can tell me lots of things because he watched a lot of TV ads in SA. During the morning, we discovered the reason for the ship’s sudden instability – the stabilisers had been lifted out the water yesterday! Apparently this helps with the speed, as they are trying to make up a bit of time. Presently we are scheduled to arrive in James’ Bay on Tuesday noon. However, the stabilisers were put down again during the morning, and so it was a lot smoother again. During the afternoon we actually sat outside on the sundeck – there was hardly a breath of wind other than a mild occasional breeze, and it was warm and delicious. We took our tea outside and read. I’m reading an excellent book by Ginger Plowman, “Don’t make me count to three” – which deals with discipline, and training the hearts of our children. I was wondering what had happened to my two lovely, compliant boys over the course of the holiday, but realized that Nick and I were the actual culprits – we have let our hands-on parenting slide! Apart from neglecting devotions, we have also not been exercising proper biblical reproof and correction, so it’s no wonder that they were getting more and more out of hand. This is currently being remedied.

On we go!

So far we’ve been faring very well on the ship. It’s been an extremely smooth sail, with a very steady horizon and very little pitching. We haven’t felt in the least bit seasick, although Caleb claims to have a headache and a bit of nausea. Our cabin is roomy and comfortable, and has an en-suite bathroom – definitely more luxurious than the c-deck accommodations we had on our outbound voyage. The ship’s water, because it goes through a desalination process, is inclined to draw the iron from the pipes as it goes along, simply to try getting some minerals back into itself, so it comes out the taps looking orange. After a shower the towels are orange. The food is as good as always, although last night we had the Captain’s Cocktail party beforehand, so weren’t much inclined to a large meal afterward. Nick only had soup and dessert, while I still did my best to finish a grouper fillet. We have two ladies with us at our table, who certainly make very interesting dinner companions.

Let me get back to Thursday, our departure day. It wasn’t nearly as traumatic as I thought it would be, although I think the rush at the airport which cut short the goodbyes helped with that – we were severely overweight with our extra luggage, so had to request an extra allowance at the airport, which was awarded us with not too much trouble. After retrieving all our luggage in Cape Town, we had to wait a few minutes for Nick’s friend Greg to arrive. Then we went to hire a car, a Getz – very nice to drive. I got landed with the driving, as the credit card is mine and so I had to present my own drivers’ licence. Greg had all three boys (ours plus his own, Caleb’s age), and we had all the luggage. Amazingly it fitted in the Getz with the back seats down. We went straight to Greg’s house in Observatory, offloaded all the luggage, had a cup of tea, and by about 10.15 we were ready to go to the Waterfront for some final shopping. We decided to reload all the luggage and take it with us, as Greg said it would be safe in the covered parking at the Waterfront. We had to just take his word on this – not something we would have done in Joburg! I did the shopping while Nick and Greg supervised the boys in a play area. It was a lot of walking to find a vacuum cleaner, pillows, and some shoes for the boys. Back in the parking lot, we quickly boxed up the bulk of our purchases, then found our way to the Mission to Seafarers, our meeting point for embarkation. It was now 1 pm, and our hire car was due for return at 1 pm. However, all the luggage was in the car, and the Andrew Weir people weren’t on hand for luggage receiving – what to do! The trailers and kombis were waiting for the hold baggage, but it hadn’t been tagged yet. No problem, we just amended details on our original cabin tickets, crossing out “Cabin” and writing “hold”, and changing the cabin number. That apparently was fine. Then offloaded the rest of the luggage to a spot in the shade, where Nick was left in charge, and Greg and I sorted out getting the car back. Once that was done, we waited for about half an hour before getting on a kombi that took us right to the gangplank of the RMS St Helena. Finally we were on the ship! All the stresses over, we could relax at last. We sailed at about 18h10. Our usual supper arrangements hold, with the boys eating at 17h30 and us at 18h45. This works so well. By the time we get back to the cabin after our dinner, the boys are soundly asleep, even though the sun hasn’t yet set. Last night we watched the sunset, which was at about 20h10. Will be getting earlier as we head further north.

2008 greetings!

A very happy new year to you all! For those of you who know God as your Father, may His blessings rest on you this year. For those who don’t yet call him Father, perhaps this will be the year that He calls you into a relationship with Him!

Our holiday has drawn to an end now, as we leave early tomorrow morning for Cape Town, and then board the ship later in the day. Lord willing, we arrive back on our beautiful island next Tuesday, the 8th. This is assuming that the engines don’t fail us, or bad weather delay us. We have had an awesome holiday here, with so many occasions to see friends and family, and a healthy dose of laughter. Our new years’ eve was a memorable evening, with the same crowd of friends that gathered three years ago at the Martins’ home. Those three years have seen three of the six couples move to different parts of the world, and three children born. It was wonderful to be together again, perhaps for the last time as more emigrations are pending!

The obvious question now is, how are we feeling about leaving here and returning to the island? Well, we’re actually quite excited about getting back. The holiday has come to the yucky part of packing up and getting a million little things into suitcases – on the ship we have a large luggage allocation, but we are restricted by the kulula flight. Therefore, we are keen to get back home and get settled in our own home with our own routines again. I know that my parents especially are relieved that we are feeling upbeat about our return – it would have been a pathetic little figure saying goodbye to her parents tomorrow morning if she were unhappy at the thought of another stint on St Helena! Until next Tuesday then, I bid you all goodnight – I’ll be back blogging regularly soon...

The BIG holiday!

Dear Blog Readers,

My apologies that the blog has not been updated since mid-November! As you all know, we are now on holiday in South Africa. To date we have been so busy with shopping and social engagements that we could almost long for our peaceful and boring life on the island! But no, we are very much enjoying our time here, and it has been wonderful catching up with family and friends.

Our voyage from the island was unfortunately not a smooth ride – seasoned travelers said it was the worst they had experienced the ship. We were pitching AND rolling, as we had a lot of wind, to the extent that chairs would slide across the lounge floor, with someone seated in them! Our toiletries kept falling off their shelves in the cabin, and at night, instead of being lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking motion of the ship, we were rocked from one end of our bunk beds to the other. The photo, of the sundeck on the ship, must have been taken as we approached Walvis Bay, when the weather calmed substantially and it was comfortable enough to spend time outdoors. We were relieved to dock at Cape Town, albeit a day late, and get on to solid ground. Our sea legs, though, kept us off balance for a few days. Not that the trip was altogether unpleasant though – the food was up to the usual high standards (although difficult to enjoy sometimes on an unsettled stomach), and we saw a large school of dolphins shortly after leaving the island. The reunion at the OR Tembo airport was joyful, as some of my family were there to meet us, and we caught up with most of the rest of Nick and my families at my parents’ house on the night of our arrival.

So, with another 3½ weeks remaining in SA, we are hoping to find time somewhere to actually have a holiday! Of course I don’t want to give out phone numbers on the blog, but you can reach us at my parents’ e-mail, philsalz@absamail.co.za.

Lynn

Ready, steady, pack!

This morning the boys were up before six again, although thinking that they had done us a favour and slept really late, which of course they hadn’t. They went downstairs quietly and played anyway. After Good News Club we watched “The Nativity Story” on DVD together. It was truly wonderful and very close to the biblical account. It really was quite an eye opener as to the life and times into which Jesus was born. Highly recommended! When that was over, it was time to start on the big plan of the day, which was the packing. The boys have been looking forward to this day for ages, although I’m entirely unsure why – perhaps the holiday is more real with the suitcases standing open! I had to clean the cases very well as they have accumulated two years’ worth of dust. Once they were clean, and we had decided which cases to bring, the boys pulled clothes out of their drawers which they thought they would need – their entire winter wardrobe. Hello, summery South Africa! Had to pack most of those away and advise what the correct attire would be. Shame, they were so keen to help.

In the late afternoon, Nick drove up to Gavin and Tammy’s house, as Gavin has bought Nick’s black electric guitar and an amp – the same amp which we had so much trouble with after cutting off the American plug and attempting to fit a UK one, thereby blowing a part of it, and waiting a long time to get it fixed. With the money made from the sale, Nick has bought himself some other musical synthesizer thingie, which plugs into the guitar and can generate almost any instrument – so you play your guitar but it actually sounds like a didgeridoo or violin or piano. I say he’s bought it, but the buying is more of a process which has been initiated – it will be ordered by some chap here who goes through Richard James International, and will come from the UK. Tonight Nick and Tammy and the band are at the radio station, using their soundproof studio to record vocals and keyboards for one of Tammy’s songs, to release a single.

Bookings, school fun and preparations

I was up at 4 am yesterday (that’s Wednesday), because before nearly making a flight booking for our return journey, we received an e-mail from Kulula advertising a special, whereby if we booked any flight between Joburg and Cape Town on 7 November, it would be R299. The booking had to be done yesterday, and the sale started at 6 am SAST. Not wanting to take any chances on the tickets being snapped up, I set the alarm, and by 4.05 or so had bought our tickets. Yippee!!! Our flight leaves Lanseria at 6 am on the 3rd January. I am thrilled at the timing, as I hadn’t been waiting for anything specific before making the booking, and could well have made it weeks or days ago, thereby missing the special – I see God’s hand at work here!

This morning, despite a mild sprinkling of precipitation, we went walking, but saw no whales. School was pretty good. We had some fun in maths – you really had to be there to appreciate the moment, because I tried to explain to Nick afterwards and he just didn’t get it. It had to do with the filling in of the worksheet, and Caleb writing an answer in the wrong place and then getting it confused again, and then still writing another wrong answer in the box – it was just so funny the way it happened though, where Aaron and I could see what Caleb was doing wrong, so we just looked at each other and started laughing, and then laughed and laughed. Aaron’s laugh was so funny – not a silly one, or even a giggle, just a pure laugh of absolute mirth. I laughed until my eyes were streaming. When we finally managed to explain to Caleb what on earth was going on, he thought it was funny too.

I had the craft class at 2 pm. It was a very simple craft, making finger puppets with felt, which just involved stitching the sides together and drawing faces on them. Boy, did they struggle! They couldn’t thread their needles, didn’t know how to make a double stitch to start and end, and some couldn’t even do the simple running stitch! A couple of kids got on just fine, and made three or four, but some struggled with just one. Often though it’s the attitude which is the problem, more than the actual ability. They were somewhat hyper today, so I had to keep quietening them, and even sent one boy out the class for a while. He was only a half a degree subdued when I allowed him back in. All in all it was a good hour. I made puppets for the boys when I got back, and Caleb tried to do one of his own later – he actually managed better than some of the boys in my class! He didn’t finish it though as he was battling to get the needle through the felt, but at least he got the hang of the in and out of the stitching.

There is much activity on the island in anticipation of the Governor Designate’s arrival on Sunday. He will be inaugurated on Sunday at 9 am, and immediately following will be the Remembrance Day service. A lot of the government buildings have been either washed or painted – I noticed scaffolding up at Plantation House the other day when I was there. A platform has been built on the courtroom stairs, and bunting has been strung up along the waterfront. It looks pretty good, really.

Yes, we really do have an IT department!

I was back at the dentist today for some more work on the same tooth, as last time was just the start of it. I thought that last time was the start and end, and that all he was going to do was a proper filling, but alas, out came the needle and the drill. Fortunately the anaesthetic wore off after only about two and a half hours, much quicker than last time. It wasn’t really too bad. At 3 pm Nick brought the boys back up to the dentist, for their little checkup. The dentist really just looked in their mouths, at all the teeth, and said their teeth are very good. Caleb will need to go back early next year for a fissure filling, which the British Dental Health Board recommends – something new that they do with the rear molars (Caleb’s adult molars are erupting at the back), to flatten out the surface to prevent cavities. Sounds like a good idea to me. Hey, it’s free – why not! At 4 pm I was at the IT department in town, where I had arranged to take the laptop to download the anti-virus program I have bought. Instead of simply renewing our subscription with Norton, I decided to actually purchase the upgrade, which you simply do on the internet and then download the software. Unfortunately though it was too big for me to download on a dial-up and would have taken hours, so I asked the IT department for help. They couldn’t do it as the laptop had already grabbed part of it, so I had to physically take the laptop there. It was really great being on the internet via a network – such a fast connection! The boys had been riding their bikes in the schoolroom for most of the day; I think they have forgotten that they have a back yard to play in as well.

Whale spotting

WE SAW WHALES!! Nick and I went on our walk this morning, and while sitting on our favourite step on Jacob’s Ladder, we saw them – a mother and her calf. They were as far out as where the RMS usually anchors, but although they were fairly far, we could see them well. They were at the surface for about five or ten minutes, then disappeared, and surfaced at a different spot. We could see the water spraying up as they exhaled through their blow-holes, or whatever it is that they do – so awesome!

School passed by in a blink this morning, and then we all went to town to sort out our travel and medical insurance. It was very easy, really, just to fill in a form, discuss what cover we wanted with the girl behind the counter, and then she calculated the amount which we paid at the bank straight away. After getting a receipt from the insurance office, we went next door to shipping, but they will only issue our ticket next Wednesday. While in town, we bought spray paint for the boys’ bikes – red for Caleb and blue for Aaron – their choice, with some guidance.

Boys and bikes

One of our church members passed away this morning, aged 87. The Lord took him peacefully from his home. Although we mourn with the family, we praise God to know that Joe is in glory!

During the morning, John and Cindy came to deliver the bicycles we have bought from them – kids’ bikes, for the boys. They are very pink, so we will be spray painting them soon. The boys are very pleased with them. Caleb’s is quite a big one, and he can just reach the ground, sitting on the saddle, on tip-toes. Aaron’s is quite a bit smaller, but well sized for him. Both bikes have training wheels, so while I was making lunch, Nick took the boys and bikes to the school room and they rode around, getting used to the pedals and brakes.

During the afternoon we went to the pool. Caleb is getting good at swimming underwater without his armbands – I think if he fell into a pool now with no armbands, he wouldn’t drown! Aaron apparently jumped in the other day with his armbands on his feet, which quickly came off, but managed to get himself to the side without any troubles, so he might be okay too. Probably next year when we start swimming here again, we’ll start teaching him to swim properly without armbands too.

Futile teaching?

Well, today was a beautiful day, with blue skies and just a few clouds. The boys were up before 6 am, so I got up around 6 as well, since I had such a lot of stuff needing doing, including my prep for the Good News Club. I asked Nick this morning if he thinks the kids are actually learning anything, and he said no – not from any of the four teachers. I think they sit and wait for the lesson to be finished so that they can play! I’m sure something goes in, but for most of them, it doesn’t even go in one ear. The boys attended a birthday party straight after the club, at the Mule Yard.

Wait a moment or 7,200

School passed by cheerfully this morning. I had to carry Aaron downstairs because his foot is still very swollen. He was up twice during the night, once for a wee and once for water, so both times I got up as well and carried him back to bed. Otherwise, he can get around by limping, which he does if I’m not available for transportation! It bothered him a bit from time to time, and he complained about it being itchy or sore, but he managed to get his shoe on before lunch time and said it helped him with walking. Nick was out the whole morning at the Knollcombes Chapel, working with Nick and Vincent to start getting the church cleaned up. They apparently got quite a bit done, with moving pews, carting out rubbish, and painting a few rafters. He only got home at 1.10, just as we were considering walking up to the hospital for our 1.30 appointment for Aaron to have his medical checkup for travel insurance. I was pleased that he arrived home so we could use the car! We arrived shortly before 1.30, and eventually at 3.20 we were seen. The boys were getting extremely bored and restless, despite playing I Spy, ching-chong-cha, memory games, and reading a book. It was an awfully long wait! All that for the doctor to examine him for five minutes to confirm that he is healthy.

Bees really sting

The news of the day is that both boys were stung by bees, one each, in their feet. Poor Aaron wept in absolute pain, while Caleb had a bit of a cry but then was fine. This was Caleb’s first sting, and we are relieved that he had absolutely no reaction. Aaron, who has been stung five or six times (lost count), has a very swollen foot. How did they get stung, you ask? Well, we had some left-over jam tarts from Bible Study on Tuesday, which no one was going to eat, so I threw them out on the lawn for the birds to eat. It was very funny, actually, because I didn’t throw them properly so they would have all landed at my feet except that I used the container as a bat to spread them a bit further as they were falling, and two fell into the bucket of water that catches the drips from the geyser overflow. The boys laughed at that. But, unbeknown to us, the jam had spread itself on the grass, so while the birds ate all the big pieces, the bees found the jam. Late in the afternoon both boys were playing outside, barefoot, and Caleb was stung as he tramped on one of about 20 bees in a confined area. Aaron came shouting that something had happened to Caleb, so I went dashing downstairs, and when I got there Aaron had gone back to check on him, and he also stood on one. Caleb was sitting on the ground examining his foot and wincing a bit, while Aaron started howling straight away. I eased the stings out and then got them inside for ministrations, which involved anti-histamine syrup, cortisone cream, chocolate, and a video!

Globally puzzled

The boys did the scheduled developmental activity of finger painting with a spatula after school. Nick came down and did a painting too, using some stamps, and Caleb ran out of inspiration after spreading some blobs about, but Aaron spread the paint all over his hands and the paper, not caring much for using a spatula! The clean-up took longer than the actual activity had. I started doing the new Global Puzzle we had ordered as part of our curriculum, and spent the rest of the afternoon engrossed in it. When Nick arrived home from his guitar lesson (to which none of the pupils had come), he put Africa together, and the boys managed to get a few pieces in too. It was a difficult puzzle, because the pieces didn’t really interlock for the most part, since the pieces are shaped like the countries, but it was very educational!

Happy birthday dear Nick

This morning, being Nick’s birthday, the boys came through bearing a yellow bag with a few presents. We had bought him a long-sleeved t-shirt and aftershave, a mini alarm clock with time projection, so you can shine it on your ceiling at night, a pen and pencil in one, and a plastic cockroach to scare him with. I used the cockroach last night on the boys – Caleb was busy making another birthday card at my desk, because he had misplaced the original one which he hid too well, and Aaron was watching over his shoulder, so I threw the giant toy on the desk and gave a shriek. The boys jumped back and stared in horror at it for some time before realizing that it was fake! Hee hee… After that, the day was pretty normal, except that we went out for lunch – takeaways from Sally’s which we ate at Castle Gardens, enjoying the rare sunshine. Before going home we went by the docks, just to see if any containers had been opened, or to enquire when they would be if they hadn’t – wanting to get the other box of our curriculum stuff. It was therefore exciting to see many of the containers standing open, with a lot of contents unpacked! We hunted around a bit and found it. Unpacked it all at home, and everything that we ordered has arrived.

Nick has borrowed a sound desk from a chap on the island who has just recently acquired this piece of equipment but doesn’t know how to use it. He came around last night and Nick gave him a basic run-through, as Nick has learned from watching the manual on DVD. The desk is the exact one that Tammy ordered and which didn’t arrive, so in the meantime, they have arranged to use this one. So Nick actually had a very enjoyable birthday, with his office now being transformed into a studio. He lay guitar, bass and drums tracks this afternoon for one of Tammy’s songs. This is a really big thing for him, as music is one of his strong passions.

The Pastor is appreciated!

We had a combined service with fellowship tea this afternoon, and there were a number of guests, encouragingly. Nick and I had an unexpected surprise – October is apparently Pastor’s Appreciation Month, of which we’ve never heard, so Anthony, who was leading the service, read a poem for Nick and thanked him, and then Iva read a poem for me, about being a pastor’s wife, and then presented me with a bouquet of roses – I got a bit emotional! It was a really lovely gesture on their part. We had 12 kids in Sunday School, the biggest crowd we’ve had.

Curriculum and Carnival

Today was a really big day on our calendar, with two momentous events happening: the first one was the arrival of our 2008 Sonlight homeschool curriculum, and the second was the carnival, which the boys have been anticipating for weeks.

We couldn’t find our box at the docks on the first go, so had coffee with Elza and Sarel who were headed down that way. While there, the new surgeon joined us, who is completely German, and knows the town of Salzwedel. We had a brief exchange in German. He has only just arrived on the island, and will be here until May. He tried to escape from East Berlin, but was imprisoned for 1½ years before being released as a political prisoner – very interesting background! Also at the Coffee Shop, the ship’s doctor and her husband joined us for a while – they are South African and Afrikaans, and live in Cape Town. Very nice people. It was a great time of chatting! Our second try for the box was still unsuccessful, so we had lunch at the Mule Yard, and on our third visit to the customs hall, we found the expected box! Went straight home, to unpack the box…well, what an impressive collection of books! We are all very excited about next year’s school journey. We could only collect one of our boxes which came with the ship, because the other one is in a container, which were all still closed today, so we will likely get it on Monday or Tuesday. But the box we got today was the bulk of the books, so we could get a good feel for what we will be doing next year. We were so thoroughly engrossed, all four of us, with the new library, that I got a shock when I looked at my watch and it was 1.40. We had to be up at the hospital at 2 pm, and there was still a lot of organizing to be done with getting the car to the docks, us dressed, and to the hospital! Mad rush, got the necklaces and things into the car, which fortunately were all ready and waiting to go, got the boys into their costumes, meanwhile Nick drove the car to the docks and walked back up again, while I quickly got dressed and made up, and then the boys and I started up the road to the hospital, Nick catching us up on the way. We got there shortly after 2, and there were quite a number already assembled for the parade. The fire engine came shortly after, all dressed up with a live band. The parade eventually started at about 2.45, and it was certainly a crowd. It was no easy task trying to keep the boys with us, although they really would have been alright on their own. They had a lot of fun in their ghost costumes, and thoroughly loved the parade, although it was perhaps a bit overwhelming for Aaron and shame, he looked so small. We stayed with the parade until shortly before our house, and then broke away to go ahead and take some more pictures and video footage, and then we made our way quickly down town to the carnival area, to quickly get the stall ready. No sooner were we all ready and set when the first paraders came through! My stock sold fairly well – just over half the things were sold, earning a total of ₤92. I manned the stall from about 3.30 until nearly 5.30 – at that time we felt that the market was worn out and it was time to pack up. The intention was to have supper there as well, but after waiting in a non-moving queue for quite some time, we thought it best rather to go home! I made snackwiches for the boys after they’d had a bath, and we were all still looking at books by the time it was their bed-time. Caleb, entirely of his own accord, picked up one of the reader books, a Dr Suess one about a fly going by, and read the entire thing, out loud, just to himself. I was sooooo pleased that he did it! He is reading more and more without it actually being work, a chore, school, punishment, or forced. Yippee!! A love of reading is one of the most important things we want to foster in them, obviously aside from a close walk with God! Well, that ended the carnival day. We’ll have to wait to hear the news next week to find out how many people were actually in town, and how much money was raised towards cancer support and awareness.

Need a holiday

Lately our days have been so busy, and today was no exception. The first thing to happen was that the washing machine flooded again. I had manually switched on the water, and then should have been listening for the machine to start the actual wash cycle once it had filled so that I could switch off the water, but I was so engrossed in school that I forgot. Called Nick down, and together we mopped up all the water with towels and the floor mop. I switched on the water again for the rinse cycle, but noticed that it stopped running in briefly before it started up again, and wondered if it had righted itself. I listened carefully to the next cycle, and it did in fact stop filling at the right time. Strange – the programming had obviously gone amiss, and seems to be fixed now. We don’t trust it though – if it happened once, it can happen again! I’m going to have to just switch off the water in between washes, to be on the safe side, and especially when we go away on holiday! Imagine it decides to simply start filling up by itself, and there is nothing and no one to stop it!! We had a fine time in school, and not very much work scheduled for yesterday, so even with the washing machine episode, we were finished well before 12.

At 1.30 we were ready to go to town. Nick had prison ministry, but I had a long list of things to do. We all went to the museum together first, where Nick wanted to donate an ancient communion set which was found at Knollcombes (with the deacons’ approval, of course). Lucy was delighted to have the stuff, as well as a very old pulpit Bible, which she put straight into a cabinet. I showed Lucy the latest page, which she was delighted with. Cindy and the girls were there, doing a special activity which the museum offered during the school holidays, which was painting white mugs. I had heard about this activity, but thought it would only be during the mornings, when we have school, but as it worked out, the boys were able to do one each as well. While they were busy, I quickly popped across the road to the library to return books, and then to the police station to collect my vetting certificate. Dashed back to the museum, where the boys had finished their mugs and were waiting. We left there and went back across the road to collect the library pockets (I hadn’t wanted to wait around for them), then to the post office to send off a birthday card for a friend, and to Warren’s to buy a present for Nick from the boys, for Tuesday. Then across to the Emporium, for some birthday candles, and we were walking down the road back towards the prison to find Nick, when we saw him on the pavement, chatting to someone. The four of us walked all the way up to the Rose and Crown for the weekend’s DVDs, then to Tinkers for bacon, to Thorpes for some refreshments, to Brown’s to check on their DVDs, down to Sally’s, and then finally to the car.

On air again

Emma-Jane confirmed yesterday that I am not permitted to sell necklaces at the carnival, because of not having a work permit. I am not allowed to earn any money! I decided though to still sell necklaces, and just donate the proceeds to charity. Emma came up with the brilliant idea that the charity I make my donation to, could actually be our church if I so desired. Isn’t that great!! So any money I actually make on Saturday will be going straight into our church’s coffers.

For Caleb’s reading, he read a poem I read to them yesterday, which I read again this morning by popular demand. It’s a flowing poem which can be read quickly, about a meadow, and an old mother toad and her little toadie one, winking and blinking in the sun, and all that sort of thing. Caleb was thrilled to be able to just read the wonderful poem, and nothing else! We learned about Pablo Picasso today, and they found one of his paintings very amusing, wherein you can see a girl’s profile and both eyes, on the same face. His style of painting is called cubism, where all shapes in a form are reduced to basic geometric shapes and angles. We also learned about mountains, and the earth’s crust, and volcanoes. It’s always fun learning about volcanoes, and how mountains are formed, since we are on a volcanic island! After lunch I settled down to pick songs for the radio show, which took me up until the time I had to leave, to be on air at 2 pm. The show went very well. Tammy had a surprise guest, which was quite providential – this week is cancer awareness week (hence the carnival, which is a fundraiser), and the guest on the show is a tourist, who is a cancer survivor and recovering alcoholic. He shared a bit about his experiences, and could see straight away some of St Helena’s big problems – bad diet and drinking and smoking being some of them, which are a large cause of cancer on the island. It’s ironic – the government gets a lot of money from taxes and duties imposed on alcohol and tobacco, but most of that money goes into medical expenses, which are incurred from alcohol and tobacco abuse!! I didn’t really have much to say on the show, other than a bit here and there when I was introducing the songs. It was fun though, and not nearly as stressful as last time! Nick left at 5 for bible study, and then after washing the remainder of the dinner dishes which Caleb didn’t do, I baked a cake. I want to surprise Nick for his birthday on Tuesday at Bible Study, so had to make the cake tonight, which has gone into the freezer. It flopped somewhat though – it didn’t rise! So it is about 1.5cm high. I made it in a big rectangle, so have cut it in half and when I ice it, I will make it into a layer cake – but still, it’s very little and flat! I don’t know what went wrong, as I followed the recipe carefully (other than getting a bit of egg yolk into the white bit which has to be beaten, but it still went frothy). Oh well… Of course I had to wash and pack away all the baking goodies, otherwise Nick will know.

Coming in threes

We had a series of unfortunate events this morning…while I was busy with school, Emma-Jane phoned from the radio station – she is the main organiser of the carnival – to ask whether I had a work permit to sell jewellery. I confirmed that I did not, but since I had already confirmed this with her, and checked whether I would need one, I didn’t think there would be a problem, since the stall holders don’t need trade licences, being covered by the carnival’s general licence. Now there has been some query though, so Emma is going to investigate a little further – but I might not be permitted to sell them after all. Then, I had just got off the phone, when the boys started calling to say, ‘what’s going on here’ – the washing machine was flooding the passage. Nick and I went rushing downstairs, switched off the machine, mopped up a lot of water, and wondered what to do next. While we were busy wondering, the machine was continuing to fill up, so it seems that the programming which tells the machine to stop drawing in water, has gone awry. Managed to get it all out by running a spin cycle, and stopped the flow of water, but at the moment we will have to manually stop the inflow during the cycles – rather on the awkward side. Teddy has given us the name of someone to phone. While that was going on though, Tammy phoned to say that not all the long-awaited recording equipment arrived with this ship, as it was supposed to. There is one part, the major piece, the desk, which was missing from the order, despite being ticked off on the invoice. Poor Tammy said she felt sick with the disappointment. They were hoping to start the recording of her new album as early as this weekend, I think. We were wondering what terrible thing was going to befall us next, but thankfully, nothing did!

After lunch I went out to the museum to take a photo, for a layout, of a model carrack they have on display – a ship which Jaoa da Nova Castella would have used when he first discovered the island in 1502. Then I went to the seaside to collect some sand, which I will be incorporating into the page. At 2.45 we all went to visit Tammy, just to see what was there already, and had a cup of tea. She had cheered up considerably, and can see that God’s hand is in the timing. Fortunately she managed to sort out the whereabouts of the missing piece, which actually was never sent – the shop was out of stock at the time, so because they didn’t alert anyone to the fact that it wasn’t with the order, they will kindly post it all the way to St Helena at their expense. We are all just so relieved that the sound desk didn’t go missing or get pinched along the way – valued at nearly ₤700, you can’t easily replace it! We were there for about an hour – the boys played outside with a go-cart, and also watched the cat chase a mouse around the garden. The mouse wasn’t really intending to catch the mouse, or certainly not kill it – it just wanted to play. It was really funny and interesting to watch.

Morning ramble

This morning was a gloomy morning, but Nick and I went on our early morning walk anyway, despite the threat of a bit of rain. I took the camera, and we went around the side of the bayhead again, and this time I went with Nick to the battlement or whatever you call it – we were really hoping to get a good picture of a fairy tern, as there were so many about last time, and very close. But terns are notoriously camera shy and today was no exception! They didn’t really even come very close to us like they normally would. Found a cute little cave around that area too. Got home and just managed to fit in a bath etc before it was time for school! I felt tired, but we managed well nonetheless. It’s a bit difficult to stay motivated, as we only have four weeks of school left, and feels like we should be winding down for the end of year. I think we will have finished our maths syllabus by the end of the second last week, so our last week will be really slow.

Rugby...very patriotic...and tomatoes

Nick said he was tempted to invite ourselves to some friends to watch the big World Cup rugby game, but I wasn’t really keen – the fact that it was such a biggie doesn’t really change my dislike of watching sports! I encouraged him to phone someone to tape it. After trying three people, who all couldn’t tape the game due to some technical problems, we decided to invite ourselves to Sarel and Elza anyway to watch, with the promise of carrot cake as compensation! This arrangement was made at about 6.45, and we were there at 7. We put the boys down straight away, and then Elza and I chatted and made tea during the first half, and watched the second half, more or less. Well done South Africa! Not a very exciting game, but at least we can say that we watched it – who knows where we will be four years from now to watch the next one!

We harvested our first small crop of tomatoes during the week, which are unimpressive, but considering the fact that there is not a tomato to be bought in the shops, and likely won’t be until the ship returns from the Cape in a few weeks, this is better than nothing!

Crafty Thursday

After lunch I was wondering what I was going to do with my afternoon, as I had it all stretching before me. Then I remembered I had the craft class! I had prepared everything already, so just had to keep reminding myself not to forget to actually go to it. The class went well, making the Chinese dragons. Nick had left to go to Sandy Bay to visit a lady while I was out, and after that he had a guitar lesson scheduled in that area, and then bible study.

Tomorrow morning I can expect Aaron to be awake before 6 am, and then to come into our room to share some maths fact with me. This morning’s was, “do you know what 7 plus 3 equals?” I always let him give me the answer, and he correctly stated 10. I don’t know why he likes to do sums in his head at that time of the day, but he almost always does. He obviously lies in bed mulling over numbers, and gets so excited that he has to share it.

Dentist and big BIG sale

I made it to the dentist just on the dot of 8.30 this morning for an emergency appointment, but there was a waiting room full of patients with emergency issues, so I had to wait until 9 to see the dentist, and since he’s a locum, I had to explain what the problem was – emphasising that my pain was so severe that I nearly vomited this morning – and where I thought it was, which was difficult to do as the entire left side of my mouth was in pain. The anaesthetic was so effective that it reached all the way up to my eyelid, so that when I was blinking, my left eye was still dry. I had to manually blink that eye for a while! Very uncomfortable and unusual feeling. Fortunately it worked well in my mouth. After that ordeal was over, I had to go home to fetch money to pay the princely sum of ₤1.20 for a course of antibiotics that I have to take, to sort out an infection. I also went to the hospital, having bought my antibiotics, to make an appointment for Aaron’s medical examination, which he needs for travelling on the ship. Not very pleasant having to deal with strangers with only half a face in working order, but I smiled my best smile and explained that I had just been to the dentist. Getting home and looking in the mirror, I guess that fact would have been evident, unless people thought I’d had a stroke. I was finally home again at 10 am, having missed the entire first section of school, and just in time to give the boys their tenzees. Aaron asked if I would have to smile like that forever, sounding very concerned about it. We had just started with the reading part of school, when Tammy phoned to let me know about a big clearance sale happening at the Malabar. The Malabar doesn’t normally function as a shop, but Solomon’s was using the space to sell off a lot of old stock foodstuffs. We ditched school again, and the boys and I hurried along to shop. I was amazed at what I found – packets of biscuits for 20p each, tubes of Pringles for 40p, tinned foods for 15 or 20p a can…really very cheap. Quite out of date, mind you – some things expired in January, some as recently as August – but for that price, it’s not too bothersome. Things like biscuits still stay pretty good. Since we go through biscuits so quickly and spend so much money on them usually, I bought quite a lot. The boys each had a basket, until they got tired of holding them, and then just stood in one spot guarding them. It was really fun! After loading up three baskets, I went to pay, and it all came to only ₤11.20. Once that was all packed away we could carry on with school - all we actually did was the history reading, and the science reading. I couldn’t pronounce most of my words properly, so decided to leave Winnie the Pooh until tonight, where it could be a bed time story. That took us up to lunch time, which was 20p blackcurrant jam sandwiches.

Nick has been fixing the old pump organ he found at Knollcombes yesterday – he took the entire thing apart, cleaned it all thoroughly, and reassembled it. Some of the keys are still sticking though, so he will have a further look at it. When I got home from the dentist at 10 am, he was still in his pyjamas, as he was so involved in his job that he hadn’t taken time to bath yet! He seems to be having fun with it though. After his guitar lesson at Prince Andrew he took the boys swimming. The sun had only just started shining after a cloudy morning, so he deemed it suitable weather. They were home again about half an hour later, the boys almost blue, and went straight to the bath!

Supper tonight was our favourite grilled smoked chicken breasts, and I made a potato salad. We haven’t had potato salad for well over a year, I’m sure – either no potatoes, or no mayonnaise, or no opportunity! There is a big potato shortage here at the moment though, and apparently won’t be better when the ship gets back from the Cape, as the Cape has had a wet winter so potatoes are in short supply there too. Islanders are speculating that they will cost in the region of ₤10 for 10kg. Fortunately I bought a pocket of them some time ago, which I’m still using, and they have been very good. I only have about 12 left, so will need to go easy now.

Knollcombes 'treasures'

After lunch today Nick had a site visit at the Knollcombes chapel, where he and Teddy wanted to inspect the building and see what needed to be done as far as maintenance goes. The re-roofing project is finished there, but the inside is a complete mess. The pews are stacked one on top of the other, the pulpit has been dismantled, and there is dust everywhere. Nick and Teddy basically discussed what would be painted – which are the rafters, walls and floor (ie everything!). They are going to set about recruiting the prisoners to do the job. It’s free labour, and it gets the men out of the prison walls and doing something useful. Nick took the boys with him, and they amused themselves by playing with their trucks, going for little walks on their own, Aaron tells me, and even playing inside a little bit without bothering Dad. “Well, we bothered him a little bit, okay?” I was happy (very happy) to have the house to myself. I sorted out the craft for Thursday. It’s fun to make up a shopping list of the supplies I need, and then go across to the school to pick them out, and not have to pay for them! Hee hee! Once back from the school, I cut up bits of paper and got all the stuff ready, and then made the actual craft – the Chinese New Year dragons that I made with Caleb and Aaron. Nick and the boys came home just after 3, armed with a carful of old stuff they found at the chapel, needing fixing or cleaning. There are beautiful antique oil lamps which Nick washed, and I tried to brasso a bit, but they didn’t really buff up very well. They also found a “füssball” soccer game, which the boys cleaned themselves with pink superwipes, so they could play with it. It’s pretty cool having a game like that!

Last stretch of school

Back to school today, and now into the last five weeks of our school year. I took 36 plastic teddy bears out of the maths manipulatives kit, and set five of those aside, explaining to the boys that the remainder showed how many weeks we’ve done, and how many we have left. They were suitably impressed, as was I! We had a good morning together, and I think I actually rather enjoyed being with the boys in that way again. It amazes me how they can do some of the addition and subtraction mentally. Can you imagine little Aaron sitting with his head to one side, his eyes heavenward, as he contemplates 42+3, and then comes up with 45? There is a number line in front of them to help them, which means they simply have to count out the jumps, but both of them prefer the challenge of doing it in their heads.

Three Crosses

Nick said the chapels this morning were really full. Sandy Bay had all the regulars, and a lot of family members of the man who recently passed away. It was so providential that they were there, because Nick preached on Luke 23, about the three crosses. This was the same portion he had shared with Preston before he died, and Nick actually shared the story of Preston in his message. Apparently there was a good response from the congregation – some tearful eyes! Head o’Wain was also nicely full, and our chapel tonight was also really full. I’m sure the Lord orchestrated that there were so many people present, at this very important message. It was very good and very moving, how one of the thieves saw his sin, recognized that Jesus was the Saviour, and on his ‘deathbed’, believed and was saved.

Wow, a bird

At 3 o’clock this afternoon Nick said he was going to climb Jacob’s Ladder and then swim, and I was to take the boys down after their threezees. Can you believe the weather was good enough to swim?! We got there at about 20 past, and Nick came in about 10 minutes later. I paged through a craft magazine – still too cold for me to consider getting in the pool! The boys love swimming, but shame, they do get cold quite quickly. They lay in the sun for some time after, getting nice and drowsy. For supper I made chicken burgers, which we took to the docks to eat. It was quite windy at that time, but still great to see the sun. We took some extra bread to feed the fish. Saw a really big fish come right close up for the bread – a weird looking thing.

You wouldn’t believe what made the news here last week: a large bird was spotted at the seaside and identified as a white stork. Seriously, this really happened. The reason why it was so newsworthy is because we don’t really get stray birds. The birds that are here pretty much stay here, and we don’t get new ones, other than arctic terns which migrate from the South to the North pole and back every year, and stop here for a rest. So, seeing an entire new species of bird was very exciting. Another white stork was seen at a different part of the island, but no one has established whether it was the same one or not.

Make cake

Nick had to go off to the funeral of the man who died during the week, this morning. He wasn’t conducting it, but had been asked to read the tribute. I decided to get some baking done, as the cake tin has been sadly empty of late. I’ve always thought that carrot cake was quite complicated and best left to the experts, but I found a really simple recipe and tried it. I was really pleased with the results! We did our usual Sally’s at Castle Gardens Friday lunch, as the weather wasn’t great but was okay to be outside.

Blow in for a cuppa

This morning the boys and I left here at about 9.30 to go to town, to get a few things before meeting Elza and Maureen at the coffee shop at 10.30. We went firstly to the Emporium for the dreadful ghost masks, which the boys thought were super, then to a few places to look for plain white t-shirts or vests for the boys to wear under the ghost outfits. No luck at two places I tried, but we made our way down to the police station and library. I needed to renew our drivers’ licences, wanting to get it done before we go away, so as to be super-organized. It was only when I was actually at the police station and the lady in charge was already writing out a receipt, that I realized our licences expire a month later than I had thought, since we were late in renewing them in January this year. Felt very silly. We will have plenty of time to get them sorted out next year then when we get back. Also had to get a vetting certificate from the police station, to say that I have no criminal convictions and am okay to work with children at the school. This is sort of a legal requirement for the school, although they haven’t really been pestering me for it – it’s just something that should be done. I can collect the certificate tomorrow, for a price of ₤2.50. Then we went to the library to return books and get a new batch. The boys spent their time looking at Beano comics, while I chose the books. We got to the coffee shop at 10.30, and sat shivering under the umbrella with the wind howling around us. It definitely isn’t spring weather here – I’d say our announcement that spring had sprung was a false alarm! I went ahead and ordered our things, since Maureen and Elza weren’t there yet. The lady brought my café latte and almost got it to the table before the wind whipped the froth off the top and deposited it all over the table and me. I instructed the boys to eat their carrot cake very quickly before it got blown away! Fortunately it wasn’t raining as such, just drizzling a bit, but the boys had warm hooded jackets and I had a beanie. Elza blew in at 10.45, asking why I was so early, and I asked why she was so late! She said the arrangement was actually for 11, so I had got my times wrong. Doh. Maureen arrived shortly thereafter, and then Cindy happened to be walking along that way, having done some shopping, so she joined us too. It was a good time together, with always plenty to talk about. The boys and I left the coffee shop at 11.30, since we still had things to do – we went from shop to shop looking for t-shirts, which we eventually found. Not exactly like popping in to Pick’n’Pay to buy R15 cheapies!

I had my craft class at 2.00, but got there early enough to get some more paintbrushes from the store room, and then set up. We were painting the models today. It was a really good hour, which I was pleased about – I was expecting a bit of trouble and mess with the paint, but they all did theirs really well and no one painted anyone else’s clothes.

Bridge the gap

I have spent most of the day today in my craft room, happily engaged with sewing, and then some computer stuff in the afternoon. I finished the boys’ costumes for the street carnival coming up on the 27th, as far as I could without the pinking shears which Maureen will be lending to me, and the boys are very pleased with them. They are just long white hooded tunics, which I made from a book I borrowed from the library. The costume calls for masks, which I would have made, but when I tried the rough draft on Caleb it made his eyes water, because it’s touching his eyelashes – his eyes are extremely sensitive. If you even make him look at you for too long they’ll water. Mostly it’s psychological. So, because of that, we’ll be buying some ghost masks from the Emporium tomorrow. I saw them there today, and they’re dreadful, but will work.

Nick had been visiting a chap in hospital, the brother of one of our church-goers, who had stomach cancer, and lately was doing very poorly. Nick visited him specifically to share the gospel, and it would seem that this man had received forgiveness and salvation. He died last night. It’s a staggering and sobering thought that Nick may have been standing between him and hell. One can’t say for certainty that he wasn’t a Christian before, or that he definitely was one before he died, but there was strong evidence to suggest so.

Still more fun and excitement

It’s been another busy day for us here. I’m wondering if I’ll actually have time just to enjoy being on school holiday, without filling the days up with all kinds of things! The first thing to do this morning was to finish sorting out the boys’ clothes. Once we had tried on, assessed, and packed away yesterday’s washing, we moved on to the suitcase of too-big clothes. After the clothing activity, and tenzees, we tidied and cleaned the boys room thoroughly. This involved emptying out all the toy boxes on the floor, and then sorting everything into their right places again, finding a few odd socks, throwing away bits of broken toys – it’s always one of those things I dread doing, because it takes so long, but glad to have done. After lunch we made Chinese New Year dragons, which they boys spotted in a craft book I have on loan. Seems like a good craft to do with my Thursday afternoon class!

The fun we get up to on our holidays

School holidays for us this week…and time to get started on some to-do’s before the BIG holidays. We started with the sorting of clothing today, as I need to do a full inventory of what the boys have in their cupboards, and what I think they will need for the next two years. Clothing on the island is limited and sometimes expensive, so I am going to take the opportunity of holidaying in SA to stock up on their wardrobes. The boys were very good about it, not complaining once about trying on a thing, taking it off, trying on a thing, taking it off – for every item of clothing in their drawers and cupboards. It was difficult trying to guess how much they would grow during a season, and where long sleeves or pants would be up to at the next season! Surprising to see how many things they’ve outgrown. We didn’t quite finish the process, as it was heading towards lunch time. After lunch I went to Lorna. Getting the car out of the school yard was a challenge…not the driving part, but simply walking up the road to the garage without being blown away. By the time I had walked up the road, reversed the car out and parked it in our driveway and then walked up the road to lock the garage and down again, my hair was such a mess that I had to go upstairs and comb out all the knots and redo my plait.

Hospital visit II

Last day of school today, as next week is a holiday for us…yippee!! Caleb and I went out to the hospital during our tea break, to visit one of our Good News Club boys who fell off a swing on Thursday and hit his head. He was hospitalized to have x-rays and things – apparently he couldn’t move his head. Nick and the boys had gone to hospital on Thursday afternoon while I was at the school but couldn’t see him as he was busy with the x-rays, so we tried again yesterday. I couldn’t take Aaron out in the cold as he’s a bit sick, but shame, he was heartbroken at being left behind. The promise of a DVD for the afternoon cheered him up. Caleb and I saw Kieran for about two minutes, who was sitting up on his bed looking like nothing had ever happened. We give thanks and glory to God that it was nothing serious, or that he recovered so quickly!

Fourth week at Pillings

This morning we were greeted with rain again, so I skipped my walk again – rather spending the time on the Flax page for the museum, which I managed to finish (to a point) during tenzees. Nick was as excited about it as I was, wanting to know when I would be taking it to the museum to show the curator! He was all keen for me to go then and there, but I didn’t want to rush out, and especially not throw school out.

I had my craft class at Pillings in the afternoon, and got there early enough to set out all the little packets of clay and modelling tools, and then the kids came. I didn’t enjoy the class today as much as past days, because the activity didn’t engage them all as fully as I had hoped. Some of them, the girls particularly, spent the whole hour carefully crafting their pieces, while others rushed through it, and some of the boys had hardly started by the time the class was over. So because they weren’t busy, they got up to nonsense, getting out of their seats and throwing the clay around and generally being bothersome. I was glad when it was three o’clock! When I got home, negotiating three baking trays laden with the craft things which need to dry now, and my in-tray with the supplies, through the wind, Nick started asking when I was going to the museum…he seemed to be taking a break, so I suggested we all go. The page, the first offering towards the book for the museum, was deemed very acceptable by the curator.

Expensive bread!

I’ve been trying to teach the boys manners – despite that Caleb hasn’t mastered the basic ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ yet, we’re now moving on to specialised boy-manners, so we did a lesson yesterday on pulling out chairs and opening doors for ladies. Since then, the boys have been pulling out my chair for me at breakfast and dinner, it’s really cool. Caleb opened the front door for me yesterday after I had been out, and with a sweep of his hand, invited me to ‘please come in’. I’m sure if I keep reinforcing these manners, they will eventually be very courteous men! Nick, meanwhile, had been to St Paul’s Middle school to take the morning assembly, where he did the 10 Commandments and got them to sing a few action songs. He asked how many kids knew the 10 Cs, or Moses – can you believe that only one or two of them actually even knew who Moses was? Very sad reflection on what kind of religious education is taught in school – a smattering of all the religions of the world. After our school, I went to the HTH Spar for my weekly bread, counting down how many more weeks I would have to go all the way there for sliced bread (6 more after today). Two loaves of bread cost me ₤9.48. But that was because I also bought ham, tuna, one 14p fanta and one 69p fanta (the cheaper one was old stock reduction, and the more expensive one is just the standard price for a 330ml can – I was horrified), two apples, a box of reduction chewy bars, 6 9p chocolate bars and cheese, which was cheaper there than Thorpes. I was really pleased to find proper Yellowfin tuna in their little fridge, especially since I had opened the fridge expecting it to be empty. The Yellowfin is particularly nice because it slices into steaks so well. Supper was the usual tuna meal of steaks, chips and beans. Always very acceptable to the fussy Clevely males. It was going to be baked potatoes with cheese sauce, tuna, and cauliflower, but Nick pleaded the males’ case and mercy prevailed over nourishment.

Magic modeling

School this morning was pretty good, really. Since we’re not doing a new letter this week, I decided to review by dictating a pageful of three-letter words, one at a time, to be sure the boys have their vowel sounds down especially. It goes much quicker than waiting for Aaron to get through a page of writing on his own. After lunch I went across to Pillings for my craft supplies, selecting modelling clay, tools, paints, brushes, etc. We will be making door name-plates on Thursday, and then painting them the week after. As soon as I was home I started making my own thingie so I would have something to show the kids. The clay is really awesome – it’s extremely lightweight and almost rubbery, doesn’t stick to hands or table, but sticks to itself very well, and is self-hardening. Nick also came in and had a go at his own creation, sculpting a little man praying. He just did it for fun in about 10 minutes, and said I could squash it and reuse the clay, but I’m going to keep it! He was also amazed at the texture and feel of the clay. It’s just something that we’ve never experienced!

Our discovery of Wrangham's Forest

Our Sunday has been an interesting and varied one. Nick wasn’t preaching today, but still needed to be at Head o’Wain to lead the worship. The boys and I went with him though, just for a change. It was bitterly cold and windy out that way, so we were all glad of warm clothes that Nick had advised us to wear! We had to go almost all the way to Sandy Bay to take someone home, and saw a road which we hadn’t explored before in the area, which led us to Wrangham’s Forest. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised to come upon a beautiful old stone house, neglected although not in ruins. We weren’t sure if it was inhabited, but since there was grass growing higher than the front door threshold, we assumed it wasn’t! We took a good look around the front and back, feeling sad for this beautiful double-story house standing empty. It has a garage and two wooden sheds, and is surrounded by huge trees and hibiscus bushes, and a mass of flowers at the back. It must be maintained by somebody, surely, just not very often. There was a path around the back leading into the woods. It was really absolutely beautiful. We plan to go back there, definitely with the camera this time. I was kicking myself for not having taken it!