E - Vida

The rest of December has been busy too, but not quite as incidental! For those who read my last post and thought it to be a little light on detail, I would agree with you. My reason for this was not to make light of the big happenings, at all. Instead, it was rather to give you a bit of perspective without dumping an information overload on you! The last month was probably the craziest month of the last year. Maybe even of the last 3 years combined! From exciting new beginnings to scary reminders of how precious our family members are to us and how quickly a situation can change from every day occurences to what just happened? ! And that's how we head into the Festive Season of 2014...

After a very busy month, the curse of load-shedding that's been rocking our country (again) is almost a blessing in disguise - at least in some cases you are forced to just sit quietly in the dark and catch your breath! Let's start at the beginning of November, when we moved house...preceded only by the big packing day week before. BEFORE AFTER Simultaneously, we helped P-J's folks and Gran Jean move too. Before we'd unpacked even half way, we welcomed Simon back to Cape Town, with his new wife Dorothee. We welcomed them right into our now more 'accommodating' home...It's the least we could've done after they patiently helped us on the official moving day! Give or take a few days, and I was off to Swellendam for the Coronation Double Century event, and this time, with Andel and his cronies following closely behind, leaving P-J with the kids and the boxes. ETA Team 1 By the following Friday, the Klaasens made their big rev...

I have never met a prouder birth group of people than those born in October. Not proud in a cruel, egotistical sense, rather more in a celebratory style! Remember last year when P-J's birthday gave me my first, ever grey hair? So for starters, I made it clear that I was in no way aiming to better the deal this year. Said with all the love in the world, of course. Inspired by the fresh air and fantastic farm food that we'd enjoyed in the past 3 months, we decided on a family picnic at the Green Point Urban Park.  It was touch and go initially, with the steady stream of visitors flocking to the park... Fortunately, our contingent looked solid, and we scored ourselves the perfect spot under a big tree on the grass with 'firm but not-so-forced tactics.' Armed with picnic snacks, (mandatory) easy  coffee, birthday cake and bicycles...we settled in and enjoyed the sunny afternoon.  "Happeee Bird-day, Peejayy!" White chocolate and almon...

It's hard to believe that i'm writing this blog post from my office desk in Cape Town! After 30 + hours of travelling; an emotionally charged drive from Vermont to Boston, then our first leg from Boston to London, camping out in Heathrow Airport for the day, flying from London to Johannesburg and then after our baggage was delayed and we almost missed the connection, finally flying from Johannesburg to Cape Town...we were back - and nogal on Braai Day too! Before all of that happened though, back in the little Town of Hartford, we quietly went about our usual routine and P-J even reported to the fodder house for one last time. The kids busied themselves, playing with whatever hadn't been packed into the suitcases and I moseyed around in my pajamas - until I found my wedding dress and absolutely had to try it on - much to Jorja's delight! After all of that fun, we took P-J for a drive to the Quechee Market to show him the scene of the scream attack (aka where t...

As it turns out I was a little premature about the changing of the seasons – Not only was today’s weather beautifully balmy but a few last Summer attractions were still open for business. On our way back from Taftsville, Darlene took us to the Quechee Market on Route 4 and we got to ride a replica of the Woodstock Railroad Train (twice) with whistle toots  to warn the cars and bell dings to warn the people of our two carriage crossing their path. I admit, I didn’t expect this only about head high train to muster up as much speed as it did! When Ethan spotted the horse carousel after disembarking, there was no stopping him. He sought out the tallest horse that he could find, asked me to help him hike up on to it and then shooed my hands away as if to say, “I’ve got this Mom.” At long last, a horse ride – albeit of the plastic variety. When the ride started, I felt him tense up and I reached over to support his stance. But it seemed that I had misread the situation…...

On Saturday we enjoyed our first day of perfect plumbing after Dale and his team entertained us with an excavating expedition right outside the kitchen door! A little digging on the right side of the house, outside Jorja's window, turned into the entire uprooting of the main sewerage system to sort out the tree roots that had interfered with the pipe. Ethan was much more interested in this live show than any Disney Channel episode which was nice for a change. Speaking of which, this particular mission knocked out the satellite and so after we cheered for the fact that we could now do the laundry, wash the dishes, take a shower and flush the toilet...we also learnt that we no longer had cable television. A decent weaning process perhaps? Saturday was also the second day in a row that the kids went down for a nap very late  in the afternoon...resulting in almost - midnight madness working off supper by doing laps in the play room on the farm and still looking energised!...

Between the two of us, P-J packs a better suitcase hands down. In our younger days, when we did SU Teen Camps together, he'd casually grab a duffle bag and walk past his shelves - just before it was time to head for the Training Weekend! P-J is the guy you want to pack a snack bag. This is where his Chef really shines - since he isn't a snack kind of guy - and yet he knows what will make a good snack for others. He's the guy you want to have packed your padkos for a road trip. He's also sworn off egg mayo rolls, so you know you're safe! Over the years, he has also demonstrated an increasingly high level of Tetris-style packing capabilities. Ask the crew that went with us to Knysna last year - 8 adults, 3 kids, 4 bikes with enough food, blankets and clothes for a long weekend. This guy knows what he's doing. And whichever way he packs...he always has exactly what he needs, plus what he wants, and a little bit extra still. Just ask me how many pairs of sho...

...And then there are those days when you do nothing spectacular, but stay dry, fed and breathing; The kids eat cereal for lunch and skip their nap, your cake doesn't quite rise like you'd hoped it would (so you turn it into a layered pudding), you do some reading, some laundry, the dishes... And despite all of these non-spectacular  instances, the day is very good. Later you sit quietly with the whole family, enjoying dinner without fuss or interruption the entire time. The cherry on top? Finding my little guy passed out cold by 8.20pm and then getting to tuck Jorja in with my full attention - for the first time in a long time.

As the days left here become fewer, we hit the road after lunch down Route 4 to Quechee Gorge. Not sure of what to expect, we were relieved to find that the walk down to the bottom of the Gorge was less than 1 mile downhill. Note to self: for every downhill, there is an uphill. And I'm just speaking literally here! The tall trees created a lot of cool shade as we head down the path but keeping up with Jorja and Ethan's wayward wondering and bursts of pace kept us warm enough. I think the legs of parents work doubly hard when they're hiking with minors! We sat at the bottom for a bit and watch the water whirl around the rocks. The soothing sounds made the kids ask if we were going to get in for a swim... But instead, we pumped them with a sugary shortbread biscuit so that we could make the trip back up the hill towards the bridge. For some strange reason, Jorja and I jogged it. Perhaps my reasoning was that a few minutes of strain would be better than ...

The icy cold wind has let up just a little today and it was enough for us to venture outside for more than just transiting between the car and front door. With that said, there still wasn't enough heat in the sun to dry the laundry! After a mid-morning Skype to Ma and a second breakfast of eggs and ham, we took a drive to find some socks for Jorja...and ingredients for tonight's dinner dish. Jorja has had more than just a couple growth spurts during our time here. Our latest discovery is that she now wears a size 13 shoe! I'm beginning to wonder how she walked around for most of the Summer in her size 11 and 12's ...then I remember that she spent most of it in those liberating slip slops! Coupled with a need for larger shoes is the need for longer socks. Fortunately, a bulk pack of standard cuts and colours is easy to come by here. On the menu tonight was St Croix Lamb - four cheese - lasagne with farm fresh vegetables. What a pleasure to watch from the youngest t...

Take a look at the photos of the last 24 hours: A trip to the mountains retreat in Plymouth. We arrived just after 1.30pm and P-J got straight to work on setting up the fire. As you can see, Ethan didn't waste any time in finding all the toy animals and then lining them up on my leg. " Make them warm, Mommy " he suggested. Animal daycare  Jorja opted to kick off the visit with a celebratory dance... And while she was doing this, Ethan found another stray animal that was looking for a hug! After unpacking we ventured outside into the crisp afternoon air in search of blueberries that were ripe for picking. After only a few minutes of bundu bashing, Ethan announced that he would stand by the gate instead! Once we were back inside, the kids enjoyed ice cream treats and P-J showed me how to play Battleships. When he realised that he was going to lose...again!  Following that  victorious game, it was decided that we get started on s...