Caring Through Training

Today was very special as the HOPE home based care team, prospective carers and spouses of some of our patients received customised home based care and HIV/AIDS training from Nicky Welsh. This is something that Paula has been wanting for over a year now and it has taken this long to 'pin down' Nicky and make the most of her excellent training skills!! We had loads of fun as well as refreshing (for some) our knowledge and skills base and having the ability to further customise the training for our final session next Friday.

Wounded Soldier

Eli was whisked off to the Emergency Room for the first time this afternoon as he needed three stitches in his top lip.

Initially we thought he'd fallen off his bike trying yet another daredevil stunt but it turns out Rosie (the dog) bit him. Daddy's first response was to get rid of the dog but the Dr that treated Eli reassured Mummy that this is quite a common injury and not to be too harsh on the dog.

It turns out that Rosie had just been given a bone and Eli bent down next to her to pick up a ball but Rosie thought he was going for the bone. The rest as they say is history.

Wiersbe Quote

"We have two ears and one mouth, which ought to remind us to listen more than we speak."

One of my favourite quotes from Wiersbe which I feel is particularly pertinent to those of us in church leadership. I'm convinced more leaders would at least look wise, even if they're not, if they exercised Wiersbe's advice.

2010 SA Blog Awards

Our blog has been nominated in the Best Personal Blog category of the 2010 South African Blog Awards.

This is pretty neat after 6 years of blogging, thanks to Jo for the initial nomination.

Please click on the image and cast your vote for Facing The Mountain

PS. Voting opens on 1st September closing on the 17th.

Blissful Weekend

Montagu is a little taste of heaven on earth and that is exactly what we enjoyed as a family last weekend! We have loved staying at 'Farmer Koos's' farm over the years and the boys definitely treat it like a second home.

The weather was perfect - 29 degrees in the winter! - beautiful sunny days. Joel and Eli spent the whole time outside making up adventures on the rocks which they could now climb, playing with the animals that roam freely around the farm and enjoying braai'ing and eating Dad's beef potjie!

We also enjoyed a great meal out together on Sunday night at Jam Tarts, a restaurant we have got to know. They cannot do enough to make us welcome and Joel, in particular, enjoyed his garlic prawns - which the lady knows to make, despite them not being on the menu!!!

Snowing In Africa

As we were driving home yesterday morning we were amazed by how much snow there was on the Grabouw side of the Hottentots Holland mountains. Sadly I completely forgot to take a picture of the snow until this afternoon when I was on my way into Chris Nissen to deliver the maize meal and sugar to Tiny Bubbles Créche from the boys school.

Zantedeschia

Zante..what?

Zantedeschia is the proper name for this beautiful South African flower more commonly (but wrongly) known as the Calla Lily. They say you learn something new every day and that's what I learnt today. Anyway, the point is that this beautiful flower is growing in our garden which I'm delighted about, though it seems the dog is too as she ate one of them!

Another Average Day

From what I know of most other folk serving in a foreign culture far from home, from time to time they get asked something along the lines of  "What does a typical day look like?" That's a tricky one to answer but here's a great post by Hazel on the subject: Two Days, One Life. What I also know from reading the various blogs and websites of other folk serving in a foreign culture far from home is that this is a bit of a dreaded question. In part because trying to explain running around in ever decreasing circles isn't really very edifying and telling folk that you drink tea or coffee all day whilst talking to locals isn't really deemed to be work by the good folk back at base. Added in to the mix is the need to justify to supporters why they should carry on supporting and it all becomes a bit sensitive.

I would like to pretend that I am above such things but in reality I sometimes feel the need to justify my existence just like anyone else...

Eli Learns To Skateboard

Here's a few of Eli's earliest attempts at learning to ride his skateboard. He's desperate to go to the local skatepark and judging by his progress so far it won't be long before he's there. One senses a trip to the ER might be in the offing.

It's Life Jim, But Not As We Know It

Tuesday mornings are always busy visiting mornings for Paula in Macassar. Today was no exception and a good example of why we love our work so much. No two days are ever the same and quite often we do not know what we will find when we get to people's houses. Most cannot afford to run a cellphone, so quite often we will arrive and find no-one at home because something has come up and we can't be informed - frustrating but that's life!

Wheels Coming Off

If like me you like spending a bit of time watching stuff on Youtube you may well enjoy the stuff where people get hurt. I'm particularly fond of the faceplant clips of cyclists going over the handlebars, but to be fair, I'm happy to watch just about anything that involves someone else getting hurt through their own foolishness. As the old (or perhaps more modern) adage goes; life's only funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious.