Summer is here at last. Winter dragged on and on this time round. Maybe it's because of losing my mom end of October last year but this winter's been incredibly long.

I haven't been very good at updating the journal. Eish, sorry about that!

Here's  list of major happenings:

I got promoted at work in January 2006.
My dad Piere came to visit me here in Britain for a month in May. He's just recently returned to SA after a lovely trip. I know he enjoyed it hugely.
Jakes visited SA for the first time in 3 year, for two weeks in May. He had a lovely time with his parents, went to the coast for a few days, attempted to do some bow-hunting (unsuccessfully!  ) , got a really bad case of the flu and came home!
Both of us plan to come to SA in December over Christmas - book now to avoid disappointment if you want to see us while we're there!!
Jakes has ordered me a lovely new Chek-Mate recurve bow, custom-made, should be here in the next few weeks. He ordered it in December 2005!
The girls are doing well, naughty as always, but generally falling into the category of good fun to be had by all.

More later - watch this space!

The days are slowly shortening and Autumn is definitely in the air. Though we have had an Indian Summer, we can feel the slight chill in the mornings already. Today the weather is overcast and drizzly and slightly chillier than what we have grown used to the past few months. Can't believe it is nearly middle September already.

We've discovered the wonders of SKYPE! For those of you who don't know about this marvellous FREE telephone service, go to www.skype.com and FIND OUT!! Our ID is Nellinejx - you  download and install the free software, plug in your microphone and speakers / headset / USB telephone and CALL US! Incredible sound quality and best of all: FREE!

We enjoyed having Augenette here for a scant 24 hours but she is happily visiting in South Africa with friends and family.

My permanent contract has come through at SITA so I am now in full time employment with them. Yay Pension-scheme, Yay Life-Insurance, Yay quarterly bonus scheme, Yay investment opportunities and Yay knowing where my next paycheque is coming from. Yay in general. Yay.

Here, for your general enjoyment, is Ouma Meelbol (alias Audrey in a turban):

Well we are heading towards the end of August even faster than I thought possible. Our holiday in Turkey is over - we had a great time, see the photos and story posted on our website at Two Staffords and click on Turkey

One photo to whet your appetites - the view from our balcony!


For those of you wondering, the new Toyota is going even better than we'd hoped. Really cheap to run as we're getting about 17 km / l in traffic and it seems to improve daily as the engine settles.

Jakes and I have recently visited a local shooting club and now we're hooked on clay-pigeon shooting! We're hoping to apply for our own shotgun license soon so we can buy our own gun.

So it's not just archery now, but shooting too!

It is Sunday afternoon and I am waiting for Jakes to come back from work. He seems to work even longer hours these days as they are terribly understaffed and the work is pouring in. Good news is that another South African is joining the lab in a month or two - Etienne's work permit has been approved and he will move his wife, Debbie and two small children, from SA to the UK in a few weeks time.

Jakes' sister, Augenette, will make a flying visit to our humble abode in a couple of weeks time. She is flying to SA from the US, to renew her visa, and will make a stop-over here. We are so looking forward to seeing her and cannot wait! She'll only be with us for a day or so but we plan to cram a lot into that time.

I bet you've been waiting for this - here's a photo of my most marvellous TOMATOES! They're growing so incredibly well, it's unbelievable what putting dead fish in as food, will do for a humble vegetable!
Here they are a few weeks ago:


And here is a more recent photo:

Believe it or not the tallest branches are higher than I am... Yes Yes, I know I'm a shortie!

It's a Toyota Yaris, 3 door, 1.0 litre special edition (i.e. the interior is more fancy than the basic model with CD player, electric windows etc), crystal silver in colour. First time either Jakes or I have ever had a brand-new car! We're picking it up on Monday as the insurance and tax details will be sorted out by then.

More later... I have just returned from a trip to Birmingham (work) and am thoroughly bushed. We're off for a meal at the Swan inn!

The weather has really been superb the last few days, cool, but not cold, the occasional shower (it IS the British Isles after all!), sometimes windy, but mostly plenty of sunshine! Really gorgeous. The girls have benefitted from some really nice walks, too! On my birthday we visited Rowberrow Warren, and stopped for a meal at our favourite pub, The Swan Inn, afterwards. Here are the girls in front of the pub:



What's news: I have ditched teaching for the corporate world.  Most of you will know I have been employed under contract by SITA, a major waste disposal company, in the Treasury department - but also being a bit of a Jill of all trades! Recently I decided to try my hand at credit control and SITA offered me a permanent job, on the proviso that I will be moving on to something a little more exciting later in the year! Watch this space!

As I'd said, my birthday came and went, Jakes bought me a really nice '64 Bear recurve bow:

A really sweet shooter and I'm crazy about it.

Jakes has been really busy with some projects, he is getting together all the equipment needed to start building his own bows! Below is a photo featuring his new bandsaw!



The girls really enjoy the warmer weather - they are real sun-lovers (what would you expect from two SA Bred pooches?) and hunt up all the sunny spots in the house during the day-time, especially the ones with a view! The top of the stairs is a favourite as it also has a window from which they can people-gaze at all passersby!


All recent photos can be found at our website so please visit!

We had a lovely braai today (Barbecue, for you heathens out there! ) with some pork steaks, and HOME-MADE SOSATIES (kebabs, again for the benefit of the heathens! ).

Feels like only yesterday we were starting out on this great adventure.  Who can believe that we've already been in the UK for a year and a half now??

As you already know, we moved from Wales to the South West of England mid October 2004. Jakes really enjoys his new job in Weston-super-Mare and I have started a new job in town as well. I now work in the Treasury department of a large recycling company called SITA. And NO, I don't go out on the garbage trucks!
I prefer it over supply teaching for various reasons, not the least of which is a regular income unaffected by school holidays! My office building is about a mile from Jakes' lab. so we car share every day. Well, since we only own one car, it's a moot point! However we hope to buy a new car (the Ford will then become a 2nd car!) after I come back from a mini-holiday in South Africa in March.  Irene, my sister gets married on 16 March this year and I will fly down to SA on 11 March to attend the wedding.

Weather's been pretty torrid, although never very cold, which is a pity as I love snow! Well, I don't like DRIVING in it, but I do love PLAYING in it! I started some skiing lessons at the local ski centre as well and am getting on allright. I don't fall over half as much as in the beginning and I do a decent snow plow and semi-decent turns!

We were lucky enough to have Hester, Jakes' mom, over here for a week  towards the end of last year. We had a great time! Also, our brother-in-law, Leon, visited over New Year's as he had a 2 day long stop-over on his way to the USA. Augenette and Leon will move to the USA in May this year. We hope to visit them there pretty soon!  When we took him back to Heathrow on 1 January, we gave him a lightning tour  of some of the major tourist attractions in London. We drove past Knightsbridge, Harrods, The Ritz, St James Park, Big Ben etc.

Santa Claus brought me a lovely leather jacket for Christmas!

The girls are doing really well, they enjoy long walks even in the dark! They have flashing pink "halos" around their necks to warn oncoming traffic AND so we can find them in the dark! As most of you know, Audrey was really ill with pyometra and had to be spayed.

Nightfall is already coming noticeably a little later in the evening. I saw the daffodils are already poking their tips out of the ground - goes to show how mild the winter's been, temperature-wise, so far. A sharp frost will kill them, though.

After February, we should really be able to look forward to the coming of Spring!

I am ashamed to say I have been VERY lazy! Maybe, VERY busy, rather. But that's no excuse for not having made a journal entry for so long! So hold on here we go:

Audrey and Magenta are finally out of quarantine and back home with us! We have done plenty of things together - been swimming in the Ogmore, on the beach, on long walks, fishing with Jakes, to different pubs and plenty of lazing about the house! Photos and even movie clips of them swimming in the river can be viewed on their website.

I have been to South Africa to see friends and family, but back home safely again. A new school term has started and although work has been slow up to now, it promises to pick up rapidly!

Maybe the biggest change has been the fact that Jakes has handed in his official resignation. Yes, we are moving to England. He starts his new job in Weston-Super-Mare, North Somerset (near Bristol) on 18 October. We are frantically trying to find a rental which is proving to be quite difficult as people are being silly about the dogs! Not to worry, we will find someplace and hopefully, it won't be too long before we can buy our own place! At least the area we are moving to is quite a pretty part of the country as well. Weston is a typical sea-side town, nothing much in the way of beauty to recommend it, however, the countryside around is very beautiful - Cheddar and the Cheddar gorges, Bath not too far away and even Midsomer Norton, where the series "Midsomer Murders" is based!

Audrey has been entered in 3 championship shows so far, the first of which is this coming Saturday. So hold thumbs! Not that we expect these to be anything except orientation for both of us...

 

Today is Magenta's third birthday!  And all she wants for her birthday is a cuddle from her daddy, some "tackle-ball" play with him and maybe a new Kong!

I have been very lax about Journal entries the past couple of weeks, we have been extremely busy and it's been all go! I have been covering full time in a school all term, Cymer Afan North of Maesteg - you will remember it is the same school I covered Science for a few weeks at the beginning of the year. This time, I was doing IT and it has gone well. Today is my last day though as it is nearly the end of term.

I fly to South Africa on 15 July, will be back on 11 August. The girls get out on 10 August, we can hardly wait!

Jakes and I have been busy on the "outside activities" front as well. We haven't been doing a lot of flyfishing as the weather has either been extremely windy and unpleasant, or so hot, no self-respecting fish would even glance at our fly-offerings! We have, however, been doing plenty of Archery. I sold my starter recurve bow and bought a traditional flatbow (longbow - American Indian style). It is taller than I am!! I also bought Jakes a new hunter one piece recurve for his birthday (24 JUne). He now has that, a flatbow and two other recurves! We had a lovely meal at the Pelican to celebrate.

We visited the Gower Peninsula on the other side of Swansea a couple of weekends ago. It was just soooo beautiful, we want to go again and again and again! Less than an hour's drive from us as well.

Pierre and Adeline have a lovely litter from Katie - 8 boys and 1 girl! 1 boy sadly didn't survive, but a litter of 7 boys and 1 girl, all healhty and beautiful, is a blessing indeed.

 

 

We are off to Devon / Cornwall for the weekend. Meeting Melanie at the station tonight, tomorrow we drive to Salisbury to see the girls and have it out with the kennel owners, then, a leisurely drive down to relax and have some fun. I am told it is beautiful down there. Of course, it's started raining again, looks as if the fine weather of the past few days are a thing of the past!