Extramurals

Today was the last day of ballet and chess for this school quarter.  The schools close on Friday.

Every last Tuesday of the school quarter the parents are allowed to watch the ballet to see the progress.  It is amazing to see the difference in what they can do in such a little time.  It is never major things because ballet is constantly building muscle, strength, balance and 

Suzelle had her last lesson for chess today as well and even though we are allowed to be there every week, I took the camera for the first time!  It is quite something to see their level of thinking and strategic planning!  I can not even do it!

The photos are not good because my camera so not function well in low light but here they are anyway!  

At last! They're here!

We were blessed this weekend in so many ways and want to share them with you!

Firstly my sister, Elizma, who lives in Londen, came for a short visit arriving Thursday, 11 am and leaving again today at 1 pm. It was so nice to have her and her precious baby boy here for the past 3 days! He is gorgeous and qute and fun to be around and she spoiled us rotten! The girls are absolutely in love with their 10 month old cousin, Liam. We wanted to go for a picnic int the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens on Friday but it was raining and ended up staying home. On Saturday was Elizma's wedding anniversary and her husband asked me to get her some chocolates. When I heard she was up at 6 am (babies tend to make you get up so early!) Suzelle and I took her the chocolates and us girls celebrated her anniversary by having chocolates at 6 am! We went for a walk in the servatude across from us and Liam got so excited! You can see it on one of the photos. Later we went for coffee at Dulces in Durbanville and the girls enjoyed climbing in and out of a large wild fig tree! They also enjoyed pushing Liam in his pushchair and giving him a push on the swing for which he rewarded them with very loud giggles! It was sad to see Elizma and Liam go today and we all shed some tears but are greatful that we had the opportunity to visit with them!

Luzaan had an island party on Saturday and enjoyed it very much! They had to wear island/beach clothes and take their swimsuits and she chose to wear a dress her aunt Danita bought her and had a frangipangi flower in her hair.

On Saturday night we had a "Sacred Concert" at church and it was called that because it was partly an evangelistic outreach as well as it was meant to be God glorifying. Our pastor's wife organised the concert and sang many songs herself and it was obvious why she chose those songs by just listening to the words! What an experience it was! It was amazing to see so many people using their talent for music to glorify Him and to spread the Gospel! As someone who is saved already it was such a comforting evening and it brought peace to my heart! For those who might have attended who were not saved it was a wonderful call to come to the Lord! Our choir also sang and I can not wait to receive the DVD to hear what we sound like to other people.

This morning at church we had the induction of our new pastor as the church planter pastor we had is moving on to other church plants. It was quite and emotional event and we are so greatful for our spiritual family and home! The Lord truly blesses us through them and we find comefort in their love when we are far from loved ones! The Lord is Gracious and Loving and Kind to us even though we do not deserve it!

See the difference!!!!!

Well it has been 2 weeks since we started really watering the garden from our borehole and the difference is amazing!

It feels like freedom being able to just let the water run all the time and think that it is not costing us money! The biggest visible difference is the lawn that has gone from a dusty brown to a luminous green in places! I have included one of the photos I took while they were still busy so you could see the comparison between then and now because just seeing the now will not be very impressive if you see it on its own.

All the water makes the weeds grow faster as well though and David had to spray them this morning before they get too big! It is very obvious that where the grass is thick and more established the weeds are not doing so well, but it is going to take time for the grass to cover everywhere.

We are thankful for the water we are getting and it is not an ocean full but more than enough for our garden and so clean that we can drink it! We can constantly spray for 3 hours (the max time we have had at once to time it) and all you need is enough to spray 10 minutes a day! At the moment we are waiting for our pump and Gordon has fetched his to test another borehole, so we will not be able to water this week. David is going to try to make a plan today, so that we can at least water some things without having to use municipality water.

Busy but BLESSED!

Well, my birthday turned out to be quite exhausting and blessed at the same time!

Tuesday is usually not a good day for me because it is so busy. Usually I have to cook supper in the morning because in the afternoon we are so busy with extra mural activities that there is no time to even think about supper!

David took 2 days' leave yesterday and today to be with me and take the children to school. It is such a help and I am much more relaxed when he is home. He wanted to take me for breakfast this morning but yesterday my friend Rista phoned and said that they have organised a tea for me this morning. It would have been too much of a rush to go for breakfast and still make it in time for tea because after taking the children to school he waited in town for someone and only got back home at 09h45. So the breadfast got cancelled and we decided to have takeouts for supper since I would not have time for that as well.

The tea was lovely and it always amazes me when I think of God's goodness and grace in my life through so many wonderful, loving and kind people! I am truly happy today and know that that is only because of God's work in my life and the lives of the people around me. He blesses me through so many things that they do for me and the love of the Lord that shines through them to me! Praise the Lord with me for His greatness and loving kindness!

We ended up going to our favourite restaurant tonight because the weather did not permit the takeouts and picnic we planned. As always it was lovely! These photos were taken there in the restaurant!

Thank you so much for each and every one of you who blessed me through messages, emails and phone calls with your love and encouragement! Miriam, thank you sooooo much for your lovely email and short email to my phone! I know how difficult it is for you to do so and it made me smile to think that even though you are so far your love is so close that it can touch my heart! Sorry to those of you whose calls I missed! Know that I truly appreciate the fact that your thoughts were with me today! I am truly a very rich woman!

May the Lord bless you for your kindness and may He be glorified in the world when others see the love we have for one another! Each one of you are disciples of Him and to this I am a witness today!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
1 Thessalonians 5:23

Looking better!

Well, it has been a frustrating and disappointing week as far as the borehole is concerned! It is amazing how impatient one gets when something does not go as quickly or smoothly as you want!

The drilling continued through the rock this morning after we were disappointed this weekend about the small amount of water we got! It was a bit irritating though since we organised a tea for someone's birthday at our house this morning and then he was making a big noise with the air pressure drill. I prayed this morning that he would finish early with the drill but instead the Lord organised it that his drill would have a leaking pipe. Gordon stopped drilling because of it just after the tea started and only came back after fixing the leak as the tea ended! God is so gracious!

Well, from the photos you can see that there is definately more water now and Gordon said he is impatient to get the drill pipes out so he can start pumping to see how much water there is! If he is so excited that he is impatient, it means that we should have enough water and the exercise was not for nothing!

Borehole update

We are now at 28 metres down after a long frustrating battle!

Here Gordon is putting in the pipes (sleeves). They have been cut on the sides to let the water syphon through.

He thinks it is 500 litres per hour but for the weekend we are pumping the water out at intervals of 30 min to get any dirt out and to see if the water gets more. If the water does not get more, he will come drill again on Monday.

So we are still waiting!

As promised - the after-camp-photo

Borehole update

This has been a very interesting but frustrating process for us and for Gordon! He battled to get through a layer of stone just underneath the surface that went down until 2 metres down.

These photos were taken at 10 metres. The yellow in the water is a different kind of stone he is drilling through. Quite a nice colour!

It is actually frightening to see how quickly he is spending our money since breaking through the rock because we are paying per metre!!!

The Great Trek!

Suzelle and her grade 3 friends are off on a school camp this morning.

The excitement was quite something and the lively vibe of energy hanging around them contagious!  They are going to a campsite in Bainskloof, Wellington for an overnight stay as part of their educational activities.

I must say:  hats off to the brave teachers who are taking +- 130 children on and overnight trip! To top it all the weather forecast for today is 45 degrees Celcius for Wellington.  I am praying for a safe journey and that they will enjoy every minute and not let the heat get them down!

This is a photo taken before and I will post the after tomorrow after they came back!