Greetings from a winterish summer in Cranleymore

17 June’12 Good day to all, far away and much nearer, It is Monday already- I did not have a chance to write a letter over the weekend as I worked all weekend. Wonderful how the absence of a letter get people to react, - no there is nothing wrong just lack of time! We are both well. We experience winter in summer with night temperatures dropping so low that there is a warning out for ground frost- unreal! Our day temperatures for the day are lower than your winter temperatures. We are approaching the longest day soon but with the weather in disarray there is not much hope of enjoying it. The rain that fell during the last week would have any dam in SA within overflow-120mm over 36hrs! We are not the only ones that have suffered (the weather man is just saying there is hope for a little sun tomorrow Hurray!) Our wild bird life were disturbingly effected, We lost 3 nests of baby birds some weeks ago and on Saturday Barry found the swallow dead in the donkey house – no sign of struggle , no feathers –just gone. The eggs in the nest seem to be abandoned- and the other nest although lined and enforced, also empty. The swallows are around but does not enter the donkey-house at all! With continuous rain the foxes have not been seen and professor now officially missed. Blackie visits every 24 -36 hrs and sleeps in the shed on the straw, always on edge and ready to run.. His coat is looking better and he has been fed lately on Whiskas, spoiled rotten I would say. Since we started feeding the birds again we enjoy many more birds than before gold finches, green finches, bull finches and then the hedge sparrows in abundance- Since the robins abandoned the eggs we have not seen even one robin in the garden. We are enjoying a garden filled with colour and flowers everywhere! The roses are beautiful and the Clematis out of this world. I took videos on my phone of the garden but when I wanted to off load it onto the computer the connection said –only for charging. So you miss out! The vegetable garden looks good the potatoes are in flower, we are eating the spring onions and the carrots looks good, peas are growing well. The goose berry bush is covered in fruit. We still have 14 pears on the tree the rest have fallen –about 20 apples left- all our hope of having a crop of fruit, gone! The grape vine still growing and we hope that the bunches of grapes come to eating level later in the summer. The soccer has been a fiasco and the lot who spent every little bit of credit on their cards now have to return poor and disillusioned. The Eucheristic Conference which took place here with many delegates from over the world brought the child abuse scandal to the front again. It brought some revenue to the country and I think that was about the best part of the conference. Greece has made their choice and now we hope that this man can put together a good coalition parliament to get the better of their disastrous financial, situation and also important for us who are dependent on the survival of the Euro. Here on the island the Member of Parliament with the problem of tax evasion is now under investigation from all sides. The sewerage tank registration lies ahead and another lot of boycotts and rebellious behaviour is on the cards as the deadline is approaching. The minister that brought the tax in has disappeared from the lime light since the household payments were only paid by 2/3’s of home owners. We have our bi-annual barbeque due this Saturday coming I have boere-wors in the freezer and hope that it will be as popular as the last time when Barry did not even got a piece himself. Last time I had to help out with the cooking as the man behind the grill had no idea what to do with the boere-wors. Beef sausage from the farm in other words, in Ireland they do not have any beef sausages – only pork! Our church-minister is still on sick leave and we pray for his recovery in earnest. Joy and I make turns playing the organ –she takes my turn when I have to work and vice versa. Birthdays: 18th Isabelle Cooper-2yrs old! Sue Parsons in Canada May both of you have a lovely day – I am sure that Kathleen Tim and the grandparents of Isabelle will make sure she enjoys it! The year is at an end for the students in Ireland and England soon –those who are still studying-everything of the very best and for those awaiting results- it will soon be over! The 10th last Sunday we had the pleasure of Finbarr, Amanda and Lukas visiting. Lukas is a character and act well to get your attention. Fascinated with his shadow (those photos are on my phone) I found him standing near to the wall looking at what I wondered, when I asked him he told me ‘My shadow Ouma!’ It was one of the rare days where the sun and the clouds were playing hide and seek but we could stay outside most of the day and enjoyed every minute! Barry did his arranged cardiac stress test this afternoon and he seemed to have passed it without a problem –we will get the result in 2 weeks time. Lovely to hear from all of you especially those who are in touch regularly. I have given up on some of you and hope you are keeping well! This is then the end of my writings for this week and I hope that those who have been sick, injured and waiting for operations are keeping well! We think of Devlin who had an eye injury and has not received permanent damage and we are very thankful for that. Also thinking of Jacomien in Vryheid and hope that she gets through the stent removal without a problem! Take good care of yourselves and remember to be careful at all times – on the roads, work and at home. Warm greetings from a chilly Cranleymore Barry and Christina (Stien, Ouma)