A Family Celebration

On the 29th April 2011, Dave (Ned's brother) and Colleen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Their son Andrew organised a holiday for the immediate family, and all but 2 grand-children joined them in Port Alfred for a week of special time together. It was a 'once in a life-time' sort of affair with all the children being able to join them from as far afield as England and New Zealand.
From left to right: Nicollette, Michael, Dave, Colleen, Natalie, Andrew

Dave and Colleen with 6 of their 8 grand-children.
Jessica, Lucia, Matthew, Aimee, Sarah, Joy.
Some of the extended family joined the holiday party, and celebrated in style together on the evening of 28th April. Long-standing friends and bestmen from their wedding came from as far as Cape Town to share in the joy and celebrations.
Life-long, faithful, friendships and shared memories are a joy to be treasured.

Richard and Liesel's Wedding

The 14th January 2011 was a day of joy and celebration. Richard and Liesel, after many months of planning and organising, were joined in matrimony, to the delight of both their families!

Ned and I are thrilled to have a second daughter-in-law!
The whole party looked stunning and happy. Inge and Heidi attended their bride-sister, and Paul, Allan and Ian kept their groom-brother on his toes.
The Donkin Drones (Ned, Paul, Derek, Richard and Tim) added their flavour to the enjoyment of the occasion.
How lovely it is to have an expanding family.
We are truly blessed!

Waiting

I had a seemingly frustrating day on Wednesday. My usual trip to the doctor to get prescriptions renewed turned out to be a whole morning affair as I was sent for xrays to determine the cause of various physical inconveniences. So, I spent time waiting in the xray place to go in to be 'done'; then waiting as my knees, hips, and back were adjusted in various positions for the xrays to be taken; then waiting to see if the xrays were alright or needed re-doing; then waiting for the developing and report to be prepared for my doctor. In the afternoon I visited the bank to make enquiries about changes and sort out my mother's account - and I waited to be served and attended to.

As I reflected while I waited, I realised that the frustrating thing was not so much the waiting as the fact that I had been unprepared to wait the length of time that I had to wait! I did not have a good book with me to pass the time, and the available magazines with empty/ superficial articles did not appeal to me. I also did not want to spend my sabbath waiting - I had other things planned, which of course, didn't get done! Then I reflected on how waiting is a factor of our lives, but we do not want it to be because it is not always comfortable for us to spend time in reflection - it is much easier to be distracted by busyness and to fill the time available with activities that keep our minds off ourselves.

The outcome of my day of waiting is that I am now setting more time aside to wait on myself and what is going on in my life so that, with the insights received, I can be more fruitful and effective in what I do. And while I do this waiting, I sit in such a way that my core muscles are strengthened and my posture corrected so that the vertebrae between which a disc has 'gone' are properly aligned and held in place and therefore less likely to cause pain and discomfort.

It's important for me to get this right so that I am not an old crock by the time I welcome my granddaughter into the world!!

30th Birthdays

I remember a young friend of my mother's turning 30 many years ago. For her it was a seemingly traumatic experience as I remember her crying and believing that it was the end of her life as she was getting so old now - crossing some sort of divide.

I don't remember my own 30th birthday - not surprisingly as I had a 3 week old baby (Ian) at the time. This is how I looked then! Note that I had very few gray hairs.

It is now 30 years later, and this 3 week old baby turned 30 in December. Ned and I went down to be with Ian and Juliette in Hilton for the weekend of 10th December.


This photo is of Ian in November just before his birthday - growing the Movember! He does not usually look like a mafia agent!

We had a full weekend of celebratory dinner at their home, breakfast at the Karkloof farmer's market, visit to the Karkloof Falls, lunch at Piggly Wiggly's, afternoon tea at home, evening braai with my sister Wendy and family in Pietermaritzburg, then church together on Sunday morning.
All this together with various friends and family.
It was truly a blessed weekend, and a good way to remember 30th birthdays!