Mixed greetings from Ireland

Saturday 31 August’13 Good day to all, Family and friends, First and foremost, our deepest sympathy with my brother Mendel and family in the death of Anke his wife, who has been very ill for some time! The Lord is merciful! The last day of summer in this part of the world, the wind is unpleasant but it is 19 ° and the sun shines! There are also some clouds passing by but thankfully with the wind speed they do not get a chance to empty on us! They roll by in quick succession. The swallows are still around and they are so friendly – greets us every morning – the house sparrows are plenty, all through the year present but our special friends are only 6 in number- and for a short few months,visitng our estate in Cranleymore! We have not seen the foxes for some time – they are not mad about dry bread and as I have not been back to the hospital they surely feel neglected. We have a very interesting situation with our own 2 kittens that are very brave and regularly chase the black cat away – he only gets a change to eat the left- overs when the Swapo Terrorists are asleep. Spottie and Patches has grown into beautiful cats, not house cats but estate cats-they know every inch of their territory and defend it proudly- They sleep between the flowers- refused to go into the porch area now for some time and we came to the conclusion that the wild streak in them is too dominant and to be locked up is not conducive to good behaviour! They are so happy, shining coats with very strong muscle development from climbing the trees! The garden has been a wonderful colourful enjoyment; the deep red gladiolas 24 of them are in full flower, in between a bright purple lot- , a feast for the eye! We planted biannual sweat-peas but are disappointed as they all have just one colour –very pale blue- will have to make a plan to get colour back on the trellises. Veggies have been plenty-full. Harvested the peas on Thursday and can say with confidence that it was a good crop! Carrots are now coming to an end and the potatoes are gone now for a good 2 weeks and we have to buy them at a very high price!. The grapes are starting to discolour – 20 bunches in all and we hope that there will be enough heat left during September to ripen them ,the same with the tomatoes! My first week at home absolutely flew and I cannot report on any moments of boredom or frustration up to now- I have so much planned – but some of it will have to wait for the weather to change as I find it difficult to sit in front of the computer hours on end if the sun is shining! Too much of a waste of the best thing in Ireland! SUNSHINE! I have a very fancy tumble dryer with a filter that needs cleaning regularly –if you slip up you run into problems, noticed during the week when I ran in from outside with the towels that the drying process was not up to standard. Yesterday was then the day ideal to clean the filter- the dryer with the filter is on ground-floor level and to be able to extract the filter I have to go down on my knees- now that in itself is not a good idea- but I pulled the little foot carpet nearer and gently kneeled in front of the dryer and took the filter out- disgracefully dirty –kneeling down was still ok but to get up was another story and in the process I twisted my left hip and now I have a left hip and thigh muscles in agony and on the right the knee that has to click into place when- ever I change position! Do not get old!!!! Fortunately I did my walk with Marthie while still in good condition on Thursday afternoon- doubt if I will be able to get out of the car! We also had a day in Dublin, went in by train –free passage – took a taxi to Francis Street –famous for antiques- and attended an auction of jewellery- just to find out what the prices of diamonds etc are in Ireland- it was an education! We did enjoy the day – walked many a mile, browsed in every shop, bought some lovely silver at a good price, Barry can haggle very well! And came home very pleased with ourselves! Saw Finbarr for a few moments on the station and that is always a bonus! There was no opportunity to visit the grandchildren as they were both in play school and crèche. We Skype regularly! Birthdays: Leané, your 8th birthday is on the 2nd, Michael Knight 5th, Cobus van Marle the 6th and Nanette and Brandon on the 8th! Happy Birthday to you all! We do remember those who are not well, all of you who have had operations, falls ,accidents, fractures and difficult recovery periods, Attie, dr & Rina Herbst, Cilna ‘s father, Brandon and Nanette and all those that I do not know about! Tomorrow is the best day of my week and it is my turn to play the organ after one Sunday‘s rest- I love it and put everything I have into rejoicing with Paul Jesus Christ crucified! I hope that Gerlof and Sandra ‘s return journey will be good and others that were away from home over the holiday period- will return home safely!” We greet you with a reminder that safety is surely one of the most important aspects of your daily lives- take care and protect yourselves and your families! With Sunny periods, intermittent cloud cover and scattered drops of rain We wish you well Barry & Christina