DISGRACEFUL!

Can there be any other way to describe a totally inept display by a rubbish team? England fully deserved to lose and lived up to that expectation. Having been gifted an easy final game following Israel's win over Russia, beating Croatia at Wembley really shouldn't have been a tall order, especially when a single point would have sufficed.

Blooming Weather!

Late November is a bit of a strange time of year here. People are either frantically trying to get things sorted ready for the Christmas/Summer shutdown or they're cruising along just running down the clock until the Christmas shutdown. Either way it's not really a good time to be starting new things, which is just as well because we're not planning to.

However, we are once again in the process of organising Christmas Hampers for the needier folk amongst us. Last year we distributed 35 hampers but this year we're planning to distribute 62. We're away for most of December so won't actually do the hard physical work this year but we will oversee the planning of the operation. Last year the hampers cost R150 each, this year they will be R248 for exactly the same items. Apparently food inflation only runs at 10% so either our maths is dodgy or 'official figures' aren't quite as precise as they could be.

Playball

Joel had his last Playball session of the year today and is very proud to be showing off his envelope containing his report card and fab certificate! Playball has been brilliant for him for the past 2 years. It focuses on gross and fine motor skills with balls in a very fun and exciting way. Joel has certainly struggled with some activities, but he absolutely loves it and adores his 2 coaches, Matt and Toni. Playball has really helped him to persevere with things that he finds difficult because it is all done in such a fun way. We hope that he can carry on with Matt in a new group from his school next year.

Dragonfly

This stunning Dragonfly was on our doorstep this morning. It was obviously on its last legs as each time it tried to fly it landed on its back and struggled onto its feet.

Joel was delighted to see such a stunning visitor.

Gone Fishing

Fishing has never held a great appeal for Dean having only fished on a few occasions and thankfully never caught anything, so he's never had to handle anything slimy. However when Rod rang to ask if Dean & Joel wanted to go fishing this afternoon they leapt at the chance. So off to Grabouw they went with enough kit for a small army for a couple of fun hours fishing and chatting with Rod and Nathan.

There are worse ways to while away a few hours!

SS. Jolly Roger

Daddy's bakkie has been renamed the SS. Jolly Roger and apparently can be seen sailing the seven seas in search of treasure. A lot of fun was had this afternoon, especially when we went for a walk in the local park and spent a good hour on the 'pirate treasure island' throwing stones into the river. Unfortunately the camera battery died after the first photo.

Cpt. Trumpet Trousers ordering his deckhand around

Christmas Pageant

On Thursday evening we enjoyed Joel's Christmas Pageant at school (it was held early as the Reception teacher leaves today). Nursery, Reception together with years 1 & 2 participated to make a great evening.

Our Back Garden

On Saturday we spent the afternoon in the Nature Reserve and as ever had a great time. The tortoises are all out of hibernation so the boys were delighted to see them again. Eli is developing the same curiosity about them as Joel used to have. The ducks and 'Spikey' the porcupine remain their firm favourites in the reserve. The Reserve is definitely an extension of our garden.


Lollipop time in the Nature Reserve

Life Goes On

It's a while since we last posted here, but that's not to say life's been dull. Far from it! We've had Richard, Sal, Josh & Isaac for a couple of weeks, but they've now returned to Blighty. It was great to have them out here and brilliant for the boys to re-establish their adoration of Sal! Our boys got on great with josh & Isaac which was a real blessing and means that they'll have some friends when we're visiting family at home over Christmas.

Hot Or Not?

Whilst checking out the football scores yesterday I came across the unusual job variations advertised on the Croydon Guardian.

Hot or not?

You decide!

We've not updated this Blog for a while but will do soon. In the meantime check out the new photos on Finnie's In Focus.

Rub A Dub Dub..

..Three men in a tub or at least a hammock.

The weather is really picking up and today it's 29°C and a little overcast so we're having lots of fun in the garden.

Unintended insult of the weekend goes to Liz, our baby-sitter on Friday night. As she was putting on a DVD she noticed the David Gilmour in concert DVD and said "You'd get on well with my Dad." Thanks for that!