Surprise visit

Some of the team waiting to bat.

Yesterday it was my turn to go and watch our Grade 3 children playing mini cricket.These were the first matches they have beenable to play this term because of all the rain we have been experiencing. For the last 6 weeks it has rained every weekend. Needless to say everyone was very happy to be out there in sunshine.


Mark and Jack scoring runs

 

After watching the cricket and chatting to parents for a little while I left to go to school. School on a Saturday? I'm afraid so. I do not like to start the new week on a back foot so if I don't get everything done I go back to school over the weekend. Then I can start my week with a clear conscience and be fully prepared. Pity the parents don't realise that we don't stop working when the children go home! You would be surprised how many parents think teachers leave school when the children go home. Last week was a particularly busy one for me. On Friday I had to leave early to go to renew the license  for Ciaran's car. This involved a trip to the municipal offices - not a place you want to find yourself in on a Friday afternoon! Whilst sitting there I realised I might not have enough cash on me to pay for it - cash and cheques only are the preferred method of payment. When it was my turn I asked the lady to first tell me how much it was going to cost. I only had R610.00 in notes in my purse She told me and you won't believe it but after scraping together my small change I was able to make the R625.60 - only just! Add on another Rand or two and I would have had to return another day because by this time it was 13:50 and they close at 14:00. After that it was back to school but I hadn't finished what I needed to do by the time I had to fetch Chez, hence my decision to go to school on Saturday.

 

Anyway, why am I telling you this you may wonder. Well, whilst at school shortly before I was ready to leave, I had a phone call. I thought it was Chez phoning to ask when I was coming home and would I get something for lunch on my way home. It wasn't Chez. It was my brother Robin. He wanted to see if I was at home and could he pop in for a visit. We don't see much of Robin so I was delighted he wanted to visit. I told him I was leaving shortly and would be home in the next three quarters of an hour so he said he would see us later.

 

 

 

 

After finishing up I stopped off at the shop to get something for lunch and headed home. Robin duly arrived but with his arm in a sling. It turned out that he had been working on his motorbike and was testing it out on the driveway when on his last test run the front slipped out on a wet, muddy patch and he came off. It was then that he noticed his wrist wasnot looking like it should - there was a bone at sticking out ata very strange angle! His neighbours who were on their way out insisted he phone someone to take him to hospital. They waited with him and listened to the conversation to make sure he did actually get assistance. After that it was  trip to the hospital where they did not even need x-rays to confirm it was broken. He was sent home with his wrist in a cast and told to return to see the specialist on Monday. This he did and after x-rays to assess the damage he was booked into hospital for an operation to put a plate in that evening. I asked Robin if he had taken a photo of his arm after the accident - I mean, isn't that what everybody would do as proof of injury??? He was actually disappointed that he hadn't thought to do that, however, he informed us - I do have the x-ray and it's not pretty!

 

 

 

                   Robin - the baby of the family!



 

 

I was surprised that he was driving so soon after and he admitted that he probably shouldn't be but work had insisted he come back in so he had to drive to work. He also admitted that he had probably been doing a bit too much. His hand and fingers are still very swollen but if you know my brother, that is so typical him! Anyway, speedy recovery Robin :)  xx

 

                           

                                                                                Robin's work bakkie

 

 

 

 

 

 

This blog is like a diet!

Kyle, Emma, Ciaran and Caelen

This year it was my intention to stay up-to-date with my blog.........Well, you can see how that turned out!!!! Never mind, all is not lost. As with diets, we have our lapses but you pick yourself up and start over again - at least that's what I do, don't you? Seriously I have to be focussed and my mind has to be right if I am to stick to a diet and the same applies to blogging. My mindset is good for my latest (and final) diet attempt - more about that later - so why not climb back on the band wagon and start blogging again. I don't know if anyone will read this but if you do, welcome to my blog. No pretensions, just me, plain and simple.


My last post was in April after my son and his then girlfriend / now fiancee left to go back home to the UK. We had such a lovely time together and it was wonderful to see how Emma fitted right in with the rest of the family. The future brothers-in-law and father -in-law  had never met her prior to this trip. However, it was as if Emma had been with us for ever - she slotted right in - not that she actually had much choice! Such special family time - we really missed them after they left.



Chez and Emma

One thing I do not like about this global world we live in is the fact that so many families are scattered  around the globe. This is particularly true of South African families as so many young people leave the country to live overseas. Mind you, that is exactly what my own parents did all those years ago when they left Scotland with 5 young children under the age of 10 and settled in Africa of all places! I remember thinking we would be living in grass huts surrounded by jungle and wild animals and that all my friends would be black children - how wrong I was! Now it is only 1 brother and myself here and the rest back in the UK  - BUT not for long. One brother is moving to Australia and we are going to live in the UK, provided we can get DH in as he is the only one not on a British passport. That is another story which I am going to leave for another day.

What have I been doing since April? Working, working and working some more. During term time that is all I focus on because teaching demands all my time, effort and attention but I love it. I love being busy. I love trying new ideas. I am excited when I see my children make such wonderful progress. I love the challenge and the rewards. Every day is different. Being a Grade 1 teacher is demanding, exhausting, exciting but never boring! Job satisfaction guaranteed : ) 

This year we used a new approach to the way we teach reading and phonics and the results have been so exciting. It has been hard work but so worth it when we see what the children are doing this year in comparison to previous years. I am so grateful to the other Grade 1 teachers who have supported me in my drive to improve our literacy and maths skills. Thank you special ladies - you are the best! Also thanks must go to my Deputy Principal because she has backed me all the way and offered total support even though this approach goes against so much of what our parents expect - and boy, do they expect a lot!

On a not so pleasant note both of my sons were mugged in the same week. Caelen had been playing golf on a Monday afternoon when he and his friend were held up at knife point and the muggers demanded their cell phones and wallets. They wisely did not resist and were left unharmed. Ciaran and his friend were not so fortunate. They were accosted in the early hours of a Sunday morning on their way to buy burgers after a night out with friends. As they were walking to the Steers takeaway at a nearby garage, a person approached from the opposite direction. As he drew alongside he made a clicking noise with his tongue and a fellow assailant jumped out of hiding and attacked Travis with an iron bar. Ciaran put up a fight against the first attacker and the second attacker then turned on him and proceeded to attack him with the iron bar, hitting him repeatedly on the head while his friend kicked him as he lay injured on the ground. His cell phone and wallet were stolen and he was left bleeding copiously and injured after having rolled down a bank and landing up amongst some rocks. The petrol attendants at the garage laughed at them and refused to help. Travis still had his phone and managed to call his father who arrived and took the boys to hospital.
Ciaran ended up with 24 staples in the side of his head, 10 stitches on his temple and another 12 to the wound on the back of his head plus a fractured wrist.




View of the staples and behind them the wound at the back of his head which was a jagged mess before they stitched it up.

I always pray for protection over my boys when they go out and I believe God did protect them that night. It could have turned out far worse than it did considering the violence of the crime. I am happy to report that Ciaran has made a full recovery but he now has a permanent side parting!

Earlier in my post I mentioned that I had started what I intend is to be my last diet ever - a bold statement but one I want to prove to be true. Over the last few years I have steadily put on weight. I look at myself in the mirror and don't recognise the person I see there. Anyway, next year I am going to relocate to England so I decided I can't arrive there fat. One of my ex parents and her husband went on a diet and have lost so much weight so I asked her how they did it and she told me it was the Dukan Diet. I had never heard of it so I googled Dukan Diet and hey presto - there it was. I decided that was what I was going to do to lose weight. It worked for them so surely it will work for me too. Well, it has. I have lost 10.5kg in 6 weeks. I have lost weight every week even when I haven't exercised, been sick and cheated a teeny little bit!

I feel so much better. I can see the difference and so can other people. I am fitting into clothes that I haven't worn in 4 years! I still have a way to go but I am determined I am going to be at my goal weight before I go overseas. In fact, I may even reach it by the end of the year if I can keep on losing like this. I have started my walking again ( another story for another day here) and feel less tired and have more energy. My face is looking more like the old me and I feel inspired, even though it is hard going some days but I know the end results will be so worth it.

So, feeling positive I am going to be equally positive that I will post on a more regular basis. Watch this space!!! I might even be brave enough to add some photos with me in them. although I tend to be the one behind the lens.

Back to school tomorrow after a 5 day break ( Sorry, I don't call that a holiday). I know this term is going to go so quickly. So much to do...

Have a great week and I'll be back soon - anything less than 6 months is soon!

PheZulu

Next stop on our agenda was a visit to PheZulu in The Valley of a Thousand Hills. I haven't been there for years but thought it might be worth a visit. So off to the hills we went - Kyle and Emma, Chez and myself. Ciaran was working and Caelen opted to give it a miss - not quite his thing!. I must confess it was a bit of a hairy trip because I was worried about my car. The clutch is not right and I struggled a bit with the gears but we made it there and back safely.

The entrance

Chez checking out the entrance to the Zulu Village

It certainly has changed since I was last here. It looks very neat and orderly and they even do 4x4 safari rides.

Another of the buildings - they have accommodation round here

Kyle and Emma 

We began with a visit to the reptile section. There were some very large crocodiles basking in the sun.The oldest crocodile there was born in 1905 and weighs 600kg. The female wit him was 60 years old. They are not with these youngsters but have their own enclosure.

Getting a good look at the crocodiles

Wouldn't like to get too close to these two!

The two on either side of the middle one kept slipping in and out of the water. They are silent when they slip into the water and glide just below the surface. A trail of bubbles lets you know where they are.

Wouldn't fancy having a dip in here with this fella. I find crocodiles very sinister.

The entrance to the traditional Zulu village

In the first hut we entered our guide, Patrick told us about the daily life in a traditional Zulu household.

When we entered the next hut the women had to sit on the left side of the hut and the men on the right. Patrick explained that this was so that the men could protect the women from any intruders by throwing their spear with their right hand. 

You can see why they call it the Valley of a Thousand Hills

Patrick telling us how a Zulu courtship is conducted

The couple when they first meet and start the process

 The girl accepts the boy by placing a beaded necklace around his neck

 A sangoma (witchdoctor) and her apprentice

 Doing a dance after having been consulted by the groom to see what the bones have to say

The bride (the one wearing the hat) and her maidens dancing

 Now it's the turn of the men to celebrate and show off their dancing prowess

 More dancing to impress the maidens

Everybody is happy

It was very interesting watching the dancing and hearing the story of a traditional Zulu courtship. Nowadays things are very different. Many Zulus living in the cities have become westernized and Zulu is no longer their mother tongue. There are Zulu children in the school where I teach who cannot speak Zulu as English is their home language. Others have both and speak English at school and Zulu at home. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I will leave that for you to decide.

Hluhluwe/iMfolozi Game Reserve

My previous post did not include any animals for a very good reason. I took over 300 photos and decided one blog would be about where we stayed and the next one would be more about the animals we saw, otherwise the blog would be too lengthy. Plus I had to decide which photos to choose. We were very lucky because on our way from the gate  entrance to Hilltop Campsite we saw quite a few animals. Before we had even reached our destination we saw warthog, rhino, elephant, zebra, water buffalo and buck.

Come on - let's get going

Our first rhino

Our first rhino then went on to join these three as they made their way deeper into the bush

Not much further on we came across this mother and baby crossing the road

They too headed off into the bush

This fella was our next "spot" after the elephants - slight difference in size!

I forgot about these guinea fowl - a bit out of focus but they were on the move

Zebra and buck - we saw a lot of these two animals

I love how each zebra has its own individual markings - no two are the same

Blue Wildebeest

Warthog

How Ciaran spotted this little chap on our way to the hide I don't know - must have good eyes

Turned out there were a whole lot more!

Ciaran at the entrance to the hide - we did wonder about where the wild animals were. Thought this would be a great ambush spot for them!

Luckily Chez didn't spot this guy sorry, gal, above us. The guy is the little fella next to her leg.

As we came around a corner we encountered these two in the middle of the road. The one on the left was not happy to see us. If you look at his back right foot you can see it is in the air. He did a stamp and a jump as we stopped. They look like they have just come from a mud bath. We watched them for a bit but could see they were very edgy. They started coming towards us. We reversed a bit but they kept coming. Kyle was driving and I was next to him. Chez said just drive past them but I said no - I did not fancy being charged by two rhino! Right move - they got tired of us and disappeared back into the bush.

Come on - I dare you!!!

...and off they go

.....only to be replaced by the next group!

A totally unperturbed giraffe. There were a whole lot of them munching away.

Don't you love the markings? Each giraffe is different. I thought his were quite unusual.

This little chap was not happy to see us and made his displeasure known

Happy now that he has let us know how he feels

This one's bright blue plumage really stood out

A hoopoe

Another of Caelen's shots - not too sure what it is though!

...and he's away

Our final stop before heading home was a waterhole but as we approached this big baboon came bounding down the road closely followed by the rest of the troop. Change of plan - skip the waterhole and head off home! It was getting late anyway and the gates close at 6pm. so we had to be out of there pretty soon if we were to make the deadline.

...and here they come

Well, I must say we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the game reserve. I was glad that Emma got to see some of our wildlife. Something to talk about when she gets back home.