Wedding pics

Whole family, brother & sister & families.

Hayden (firstborn), Deena, Antony,Chloe (second born) & baby Darren.

Deena & Antony. 26 March 2011.

Prayers are answered, these are of my nephew & his bride for the second time & their family.

We could not be there as it was in Keri Keri New Zealand.

They are small but it was so great geting them as we love them lots & miss them tooo much.

Off to Joburg & the Cape

Well I so enjoyed sleeping in this morning as its a public holiday & we are packing for a business trip to Joburg & then off to the Cape via Bloemfontein. Its a long trip but DH & I stop & look, have coffee & cake breaks & just enjoy the time together. I am the one who books accomodation etc & plans the mileage etc & generally it runs smoothly - of course we have had a few surprizes along the way but we both have a sense of humour & adventure - helps a lot.
I am so blessed to be able to travel with DH & always remind myself of this when, he's in a meeting that tends to go on & on, he is busy packing leather etc. I always take my journal, camera & a book or two.
Bon voyage.

Update on life in Durban

Its hot & humid, really hot !!

Our friend with the emphysema is coping really well & surprising all of us, I am glad for her but still worried. Her youngest son is in the British Army & is going back to Afghanistan in April, he doesn't need this in life & we are trying hard to be totally unbiased - not easy believe me. Her hubby on the other hand is fretting & missing her terribly. It has made me realise that when we have someone whom we love - love them everyminute & tell them too.

Debbie is busy with chemo & its not good news, the blood tests are not good so now we wait. I must admit to sometimes forgetting God has the master plan & I do not. My DH calls me Mrs fix it !!!

On the other hand there is good news, my nephew & his ex wife are getting remarried at the end of March so we are so pleased & thankful. Thy have had an on off, divorced etc relationship & now its been ten years and they have decided to commit themselves.

Sad tales

Its the 2nd of March 2011, not only is the year flying but i am really having a hard time with everything right now. Coping with 3 financial year ends is not helping.

A couple who we have been friends with for over 25 years are in huge trouble, their two children are the same age as our daughter and eldest son. Well on Friday night everything blew up & they are now seperated, it was ugly & devastating. The wife just locked the husband out - unfortunately she has emphysema from smoking all her life & can hardly do anything (20% lung function.) from bathing to making a cup of tea. Its been devastating because she has always been such a motivated energetic person. She has for the last 6 years been so depressed but will not take medication & wallows in this which has made her bitter & difficult to be around. To the point that my DH told me it was even affecting me when I spent mornings with her. Her hubby is dear, he adores & loves his wife & its tragic. I don't know what to do & its difficult my DH & I are trying not to be biased but its difficult. I want to fix it (yes I am such a Pollyanna) but am struggling with the ugliness.

My best friend's cancer is in late stages & I am finding that harder especially with the distance between us (Mauritius) & I am even finding it hard to chat to her because all I want to do is cry & right now thats not what she needs. I am praying for a miracle as are lots of people but its devastating to see her going through yet another bout of chemo & probably radiation, her hair is again falling out she is sick & the cancer is query not operable this time. Her family are devastated, her two boys are the same age as our two boys & they are so dear. Yesterday Damien told me to come & stay in Mauritius because his Mum listens to me when I talk to her & I help her, needless to say its heartbreaking. Please pray for Debbie all those who believe.

My DH & son are on a business trip & will be back on the weekend, I really can't wait but of course won't upset them either so just put the brave face on whenever we speak.

Life goes on regardless though.

Life is good today 17 Feb 2011

Loved this sign !!

My kind of boat !!

Today is Maddie's birthday (DS girlfriend) & she is lovely, so happy happy birthday Maddie hope it was a day of dreams.

The only thing that drives me nuts here in our little bit of paradise is mozzies ! They bite me not hubby why who knows. I have tried everything, at about 4pm I get about 8 lots of mozzie repellant coils & start burning them - I think they make no difference. So anyone with answers or tips please help. They even get under the mozzie net.

Inhambane Town

The rain coming in

We ventured into Inhambane this morning, to get gas, electricity vouchers (we have a meter here) fresh pau (local bread) and some chocolates of course.

Inhambane is a town recovering from a long drawn out civil war, there is a feeling of hope & progress here, the people are so happy & friendly. Our cottage fridge has given up the ghost after 14 years not bad & there is no one to fix it that we can find so we went looking for fridges too not expecting much. Well we were pleasantly surprised the local chinese and a couple of indian shops had some. We eventually narrowed it down to a defy for 17500 mets - the exchange rate today was 4.29 rands to the met. We emailed the committee to get the go ahead - still waiting. In the meanwhile we are using one of the freezers as a fridge and we are fine.

The sun shone brightly this morning but at about 2pm the wind picked up and turned the sea on its ear & the rain squalls began - we had got a touch of sun this morning in town walking around and of course in the pool after town so I had a lazy afternoon sleep woken up by hubby with coffee.

Last of the fresh fish tonight with chips & salad & we are going to enjoy chocolate ice cream later mmm no wonder we love relaxing here.

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Back to Mozambique

We left on Friday morning, travelling up to Blue anchor inn just 50kms outside Maputo. It was such a lovely trip & the borders were a breeze both Swaziland & Mozambique side. We left Blue Anchor early 4.30am on Saturday morning & were at our Tofo cottage by 10am unpacked & relaxing.
We had bought a fresh baracuda from the rowboats on the beach by 12pm - its fantastic to go down as they come in & buy fresh fish. Needless to say fresh fish & salad for dinner.
I love Mozambique, the scenery is gorgeous, the sea & Tofo bay is wonderful, the beach sand squeaks as you walk on it & its very hot, very hot - we are blessed to have a small pool & we live in it if we are not on the beach or swimming in the sea.
The local Mozambique people are lovely & laid back & happy. We support the local market for fresh produce & of course the fisherman in the boats & we have got to knw a few quite well.

The best part for me is only hubby & I here, so I get lots of me time - its quite & peaceful, I can read, scrap & walk on the beach for miles just swim when you get hot and relax. Its just so blissful & I must admit it restores me. I love the time for me to read my Bible when the sun is coming up or going down - its incredible.
I know we may not get up here again this year because we want to visit the Kalahari but still I just make the most of everyday.
Well off to stir fish curry for dinner & a nice cold drink will be great now. Its hot but the wind is picking up apparently there is a cyclone hitting Madagasgar which means we will get the bad weather too.