Life comes in all shapes & sizes.

We had a horrendous week last week, with my DH having one of his "loyal long working staff" caught stealing - leather hides. DH deals in leather so it was awful to hear about it, see the proof and then go to deal with the police (who were outstanding) and then have the police arrest him, go & search his house & find more evidence & then DH had to decide what to do ???
The staff member was put in a holding cell overnight & DH contacted his lawyer, then our doctor (who is a good friend) and then our minister at church ( luckily an ex policeman too) - well it was decided at a family meeting afterwards - the person needed to be charged & prosecuted, no jail as this is pointless (they come out hardened criminals) and a suspended sentence & his job back on conditions .... (this was hotly contested but we decided to go with the ministers Christian advice) well after DH bailed him out after one night it was terrible to see how scared and sorry he was and after the Friday of sitting at court actually going through the prosecution and sentencing it was awful BUT the correct thing to do. So it was over and done with & this morning a very bashful staff member was back at work and then had a hearing re his conditions etc.

Hopefully this week will be better and go well. DH is a great believer in people and he has been really badly affected by all this. So we go forward at a slower but more thorough pace and pray God gives us direction.

We spent the weekend at our friends farm in Harrismith & its beautiful, the cosmos are out all over, the blesbok are so stunning and they have 4 week old puppies - just 2 of them little jack russel puppies. We really would have loved to put them both in the car & kidnap them but no we didn't. So with the bad comes the good and life goes on.

Boys back home - Just another day in Paradise.

My boys are back home from a quick trip to our cottage in Mozambique, Tofo to be exact. They went up with a few other guys in the syndicate to do some repairs to the cottage. They are so brown from the beach & fishing & they thrive on it - I am quite envious after seeing the photos (some of which I have uploaded).

1. View from Casa Barry deck onto the beach.
2. One side view of & from our cottage.

3.Steven supervising the "workparty".

4.Steven's catch of the day on Friday 13 off his paddleski - oh wow he was over the moon.

Update & photo challenge.

Well life goes on so they say, it may go on but it always changes and we have to cope with and embrace the changes.

My brother is out of hospital & is being treated well and his recovery has been amazing (the power of prayer is awesome!). He still has a way to go but at least he's on his way.

Debbie has had a huge operation where they have got 95% of the cancer out and are hoping that the radical chemo she will have will be enough to give her 3 to 4 years!! I am amazed at how positive she is how her outlook is good and considering she is a nursing sister with oncology experience, she is great. She should be out of hospital this coming week & will have one lot of chemo done here and then take the rest of her treatments back to Mauritius. Debbie believes if this is God's will she will have a great 3 to 4 years otherwise if it is not she will still be with us for a long time. Lots of prayers please.

It made me think how often, woman in general tend to ignore pains & warning signs and we often leave it till its too late, please ladies lets have our check ups and listen to our bodies and care about ourselves. I am the very worst at that I may add.

Another sad thing was the fact that Debbie had been saddened at how the standard of nursing was so low, considering she used to nurse at the same hospital - that made me stop and sigh, our hospitals are modern and well equipped but our staff are really not up to scratch - not all of them obviously but really sad to think about.

Well onto more happy thoughts Andrea challenged a few of us to show our 7th photo in our 7th file so here it is. It was in 2007 at the Mothwa Haven ladies Christmas lunch we were preparing. Its an old age Haven run by volunteers (me being one) and every year we try & do something special for our 22 old ladies for their Chrsistmas lunch. Its held in the lounge & that year I took photos of each one and put them in stars I had been given, they loved it and after lunch all our stars were gone.

I am going to challenge Jenny to find her 10th photo in her 10th file - have fun.

Bad weekend & help required.

Well what a sherbet weekend.
Firstly my eldest brother had a heart attack, he is safe in hospital in Quatar where he lives. Trying to get information via the hospital - well!!!! His wife does not drive so there again a problem & being "far away" from all the support is really very difficult for everyone. Us sitting waiting for news & her trying to do what ever she can. This global village is a "pain" at times. Worst of all is that DH & I were discussing what to do if one of our very far spread family got ill or God forbid passed away, not so very long ago & its easy to talk about it but when it suddenly becomes real its not so simple......
Next my best friend Debbie has just been diagnosed with cancer & lives in Mauritius & will arrive in Duban tomorrow to see the specialist, so all in all not a great weekend.
So all of you with prayer lists or groups please add Ian & Debbie to them.

A question how do other people store there "old" printed photos, I am always trying new things eg in see through envelopes in the year or then in subjects eg Kylie - I just always seem to have a really messy lot of photographs & would appreciate advice. Scanning them lately has been good because I m trying to sort through them & get rid of blurry undesirables too - which does help a bit.

Son passed his exam & Kruger National Park Wow.

Yay our eldest son (middle child) Mark passed his second board exam & now we are very proud to have a CA in the family, Mark is just casual, great its over & real life (after arcticles finish in 10 days time) can begin. Anyway we are so proud of his achievement even if he is so nonchalant, seven years of hard work has paid off.

We got the news in Kruger National park so our mini break was really made special. KNP is water logged there has been so much rain, we were made to stay an extra day due to bridges being flooded & we were not able to cross them.( God is good - we loved it.) Will post some photos tonight, I am back at work & inundated with stuff!!! I already need another break LOL. It also made me realise how much I love the african bush its so rejuvenating.

We travelled back through Swaziland & I was so impressed with the fact that there is very very little litter - non on the road sides only in the main towns & everyone is so friendly. The drivers are super alert & considerate & we just were so so impressed. It was so "non" threatening - now I know only people who live in Africa will understand that.