With arms wide open
Well the big news this week is to tell you that I have new Niece and her name is Amber Faith Mather, she was born on the 21st of April (yes another April birthday in the family, Happy Birthday Dad for the 22nd of April) and weighed in at 2.9 kgs, she is healthy “as is mom Nicky” and we are all sooooooooooo happy to have her join the Mather/Bewerton/Dunkley family. Amber was born in the land of the rising damp “England”, so most of the family will only get to see her later this year “HOPEFULLY”. I know Tania is SO PROUD of her little sister and would have loved to be with Nici on this big day.
Douglas like all new dads (and correctly so) will be walking on cloud 9 at the moment and no child is ever as beautiful or as clever as yours and that is true as all children are special and different in their own ways. The birth of Amber made me think about when Gabby was born, I do remember calling everyone under the sun (those were the days that cell phones were the size of bricks and when you charged them up the national electricity grid took a dip) and telling them we now had a daughter. I remember all the family coming to see Gabby at the Hospital and then taking her home to see Granny and Grandpa, Nana and Ganga, uncles and aunts etc etc and eventually the long drive back to Malaga Hotel and walking in to our house for the first time as a “Family, our own little family unit” that also belongs to a larger family. I am sure that Doug and Nici felt the same when they walked in to their house. While we are sad that we could not be with them on the birth of their first child ”Especially Tania” who as I have said wanted to be with her sister, it does not detract from the fact that Amber is now part of a larger family that have had trials and tribulations, ups and downs but have always been there for each other and Amber this is a great family you have been born in to, I know I can speak for everyone when I say we will always be there for you and will love you unconditionally. “Amber it was great to see you on Wednesday over Skype, even though you would not wake up, hopefully next time you will be awake and be able to see a blur on the screen J) “No photos as yet, so cannot put on Blog”
So did you make your mark on Wednesday, I as well as millions of South Africans that “actually live In the country did” and for those who did not “you wasted a vote” Its great to vote in a small village as you don’t wait that long and even the IEC officials know you and say Hi. Was great to see so many Clarenites at the polling station. I don’t know about you but I thought that the national ballot paper looked like an old scroll, I had to fold it 5 times just to get it in the box. With 26 parties on the ballot it was a large piece of paper, now I am not sure how good your eyes are, but I had to have a good look to find the party I wanted to vote for, so goodness knows how those people with bad eyesight managed to differentiate between the different parties. In fact I got excited because I thought my favourite Heavy Metal, “sorry, Classic Rock” group ACDC was looking for votes but it turned out to be the ACDP. With all the parties on the ballot paper Surely some of the parties will lose their deposit as I had not heard of some of them and I consider myself a reasonably informed person.
Had Breakfast with our Clarens family “yep Kath and Mark” on Wednesday morning at the Artist Café before we voted and we had a good laugh at the old sandstone pillars in the restaurant as being “Regte” Vrystaat (for those of you who are English speaking “Real Freestate”) “Home Grown Tannies” pole dancing props, we actually have a “Home Grown Tannie” living at the moment in Clarens “believe it or not” (see the picture of the pole, not the tannie). I have heard but cannot confirm the tannie is also called “Fatty Pan” or “the good the bad and the FUGLY”
The second edition of Clarens Connection electronic newsletter was sent this week and was well received, just like the first issue.
Well the bottle store that is being sold is in fact the one in the village itself and there is much speculation in the village as to why it has been closed since last Saturday, “many rumours as to why and what is happening”. I am sure by next week the story will be out and I will advise what has actually happened and yes there are of those who do actually know what happened “ The truth will set you free”
Ryan, Kirsten and family arrived late Wednesday night after a long trip from PE, great to have them here and I will be going to Greytown on Friday with Ryan to attend the mighty men conference.
Just got back from the Mighty men conference and Wow it was big, I doubt that I will ever again see so many men together (mainly Afrikaans men) in one place and with no Rugby, Formula 1, Alcohol or Pole dancing involved. Estimates as to how many men attended range from 130 000 to 230 000, I do not know how many men there were on that farm Shalom, but I do know this it was Huge. I also have to admit that I did not shower this weekend either, firstly because the times were awkward and the water cold water only, secondly I did not feel like hopping around naked with a bunch of guys that I hardly know, but perhaps the clincher for me was that Tania had packed a pink towel, “pink towel, shower, naked guys, I am sure you get the picture”
The trip down by bike with Ryan was uneventful, with only the last 16kms on dirt road proving to be a challenge, 1200cc Triumph road bikes were not built to do dirt and forestry roads. We set up camp and the group next door to us invited us to eat with them, “What fantastic people” and we were really very fortunate to have met them. I am not sure if its true but to me it felt like the majority of the men there were white and Afrikaans speaking, this surprised me somewhat as I would have thought those attending would have been from English speaking backgrounds, especially if you take Angus’s heritage in to account. On the subject of Angus I am between and betwixt on whether or not he is as good as so many make him out to be, charismatic yes, but there were times when I felt that his talks were a little staged. “I also found it very strange not to see a woman over the weekend” and while I was not here to mingle with strange women, it just did not feel right to me, but again that’s just my opinion.
Ok So you did not like it I hear you say, “No that’s not entirely true, I do not think I had a life changing experience as many others may have had but I did enjoy the weekend and I am definitely not sorry that I had the opportunity to experience the 3 days. “So what did you get out of it”? “Ok let me count the ways and in no particular order”
1) I met 12 South Africans (Black, Indian and coloured) that just re-affirmed to me that I am correct in saying South – Africa is a great country and together we can make it even better no matter what our backgrounds, colour or political affiliations. Kevin and crew you have made me so proud to be South – African “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you”
2) I must honour and respect my wife more than I do and tell her more often that I love her and that I am proud of her. I should also tell my daughter more often than I do, that I love her and stop nagging her about small things.
3) I got to spend quality time with Ryan, “that was awesome” and while he may “perhaps” be a little disappointed that I have not embraced the whole Mighty Men concept, I did “well I think so anyway” make some headway with my relationship with Jesus. “Ryan I do know that I have a long way to go, but I need to thank you for inviting me this weekend, my eyes were opened to certain aspects that are missing from my life and I will certainly make an attempt to rectify them”
4) South Africans “if we work together and not just play lip service to wanting the country to work” can make a difference. This is perhaps the message that I took away this weekend. I am going to try and make a difference in my family this will hopefully make a difference in my community that in turn will affect the province and eventually the country.
On perhaps a negative note I have to wonder with so many Afrikaans men at the conference, why relationships between white and black South – Africans are not what they should be and why, with so many people who are supposed to be living by the word of God that we have so many problems in the country, perhaps I am being naïve, but these are thoughts that I did have over the weekend.
Well that’s it for this week and I hope that you have a great Freedom day.
Well the big news this week is to tell you that I have new Niece and her name is Amber Faith Mather, she was born on the 21st of April (yes another April birthday in the family, Happy Birthday Dad for the 22nd of April) and weighed in at 2.9 kgs, she is healthy “as is mom Nicky” and we are all sooooooooooo happy to have her join the Mather/Bewerton/Dunkley family. Amber was born in the land of the rising damp “England”, so most of the family will only get to see her later this year “HOPEFULLY”. I know Tania is SO PROUD of her little sister and would have loved to be with Nici on this big day.
Douglas like all new dads (and correctly so) will be walking on cloud 9 at the moment and no child is ever as beautiful or as clever as yours and that is true as all children are special and different in their own ways. The birth of Amber made me think about when Gabby was born, I do remember calling everyone under the sun (those were the days that cell phones were the size of bricks and when you charged them up the national electricity grid took a dip) and telling them we now had a daughter. I remember all the family coming to see Gabby at the Hospital and then taking her home to see Granny and Grandpa, Nana and Ganga, uncles and aunts etc etc and eventually the long drive back to Malaga Hotel and walking in to our house for the first time as a “Family, our own little family unit” that also belongs to a larger family. I am sure that Doug and Nici felt the same when they walked in to their house. While we are sad that we could not be with them on the birth of their first child ”Especially Tania” who as I have said wanted to be with her sister, it does not detract from the fact that Amber is now part of a larger family that have had trials and tribulations, ups and downs but have always been there for each other and Amber this is a great family you have been born in to, I know I can speak for everyone when I say we will always be there for you and will love you unconditionally. “Amber it was great to see you on Wednesday over Skype, even though you would not wake up, hopefully next time you will be awake and be able to see a blur on the screen J) “No photos as yet, so cannot put on Blog”
So did you make your mark on Wednesday, I as well as millions of South Africans that “actually live In the country did” and for those who did not “you wasted a vote” Its great to vote in a small village as you don’t wait that long and even the IEC officials know you and say Hi. Was great to see so many Clarenites at the polling station. I don’t know about you but I thought that the national ballot paper looked like an old scroll, I had to fold it 5 times just to get it in the box. With 26 parties on the ballot it was a large piece of paper, now I am not sure how good your eyes are, but I had to have a good look to find the party I wanted to vote for, so goodness knows how those people with bad eyesight managed to differentiate between the different parties. In fact I got excited because I thought my favourite Heavy Metal, “sorry, Classic Rock” group ACDC was looking for votes but it turned out to be the ACDP. With all the parties on the ballot paper Surely some of the parties will lose their deposit as I had not heard of some of them and I consider myself a reasonably informed person.
Had Breakfast with our Clarens family “yep Kath and Mark” on Wednesday morning at the Artist Café before we voted and we had a good laugh at the old sandstone pillars in the restaurant as being “Regte” Vrystaat (for those of you who are English speaking “Real Freestate”) “Home Grown Tannies” pole dancing props, we actually have a “Home Grown Tannie” living at the moment in Clarens “believe it or not” (see the picture of the pole, not the tannie). I have heard but cannot confirm the tannie is also called “Fatty Pan” or “the good the bad and the FUGLY”
The second edition of Clarens Connection electronic newsletter was sent this week and was well received, just like the first issue.
Well the bottle store that is being sold is in fact the one in the village itself and there is much speculation in the village as to why it has been closed since last Saturday, “many rumours as to why and what is happening”. I am sure by next week the story will be out and I will advise what has actually happened and yes there are of those who do actually know what happened “ The truth will set you free”
Ryan, Kirsten and family arrived late Wednesday night after a long trip from PE, great to have them here and I will be going to Greytown on Friday with Ryan to attend the mighty men conference.
Just got back from the Mighty men conference and Wow it was big, I doubt that I will ever again see so many men together (mainly Afrikaans men) in one place and with no Rugby, Formula 1, Alcohol or Pole dancing involved. Estimates as to how many men attended range from 130 000 to 230 000, I do not know how many men there were on that farm Shalom, but I do know this it was Huge. I also have to admit that I did not shower this weekend either, firstly because the times were awkward and the water cold water only, secondly I did not feel like hopping around naked with a bunch of guys that I hardly know, but perhaps the clincher for me was that Tania had packed a pink towel, “pink towel, shower, naked guys, I am sure you get the picture”
The trip down by bike with Ryan was uneventful, with only the last 16kms on dirt road proving to be a challenge, 1200cc Triumph road bikes were not built to do dirt and forestry roads. We set up camp and the group next door to us invited us to eat with them, “What fantastic people” and we were really very fortunate to have met them. I am not sure if its true but to me it felt like the majority of the men there were white and Afrikaans speaking, this surprised me somewhat as I would have thought those attending would have been from English speaking backgrounds, especially if you take Angus’s heritage in to account. On the subject of Angus I am between and betwixt on whether or not he is as good as so many make him out to be, charismatic yes, but there were times when I felt that his talks were a little staged. “I also found it very strange not to see a woman over the weekend” and while I was not here to mingle with strange women, it just did not feel right to me, but again that’s just my opinion.
Ok So you did not like it I hear you say, “No that’s not entirely true, I do not think I had a life changing experience as many others may have had but I did enjoy the weekend and I am definitely not sorry that I had the opportunity to experience the 3 days. “So what did you get out of it”? “Ok let me count the ways and in no particular order”
1) I met 12 South Africans (Black, Indian and coloured) that just re-affirmed to me that I am correct in saying South – Africa is a great country and together we can make it even better no matter what our backgrounds, colour or political affiliations. Kevin and crew you have made me so proud to be South – African “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you”
2) I must honour and respect my wife more than I do and tell her more often that I love her and that I am proud of her. I should also tell my daughter more often than I do, that I love her and stop nagging her about small things.
3) I got to spend quality time with Ryan, “that was awesome” and while he may “perhaps” be a little disappointed that I have not embraced the whole Mighty Men concept, I did “well I think so anyway” make some headway with my relationship with Jesus. “Ryan I do know that I have a long way to go, but I need to thank you for inviting me this weekend, my eyes were opened to certain aspects that are missing from my life and I will certainly make an attempt to rectify them”
4) South Africans “if we work together and not just play lip service to wanting the country to work” can make a difference. This is perhaps the message that I took away this weekend. I am going to try and make a difference in my family this will hopefully make a difference in my community that in turn will affect the province and eventually the country.
On perhaps a negative note I have to wonder with so many Afrikaans men at the conference, why relationships between white and black South – Africans are not what they should be and why, with so many people who are supposed to be living by the word of God that we have so many problems in the country, perhaps I am being naïve, but these are thoughts that I did have over the weekend.
Well that’s it for this week and I hope that you have a great Freedom day.
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