The Zoo

These are some photographs of Luke the spaniel puppy; Titus the Rotty and Jack the dog of mixed breed. jack belonged to friends who went back to the Uk and his name used to be "Puppy" but now he is called Jack which has more ' houding'.The lovely man with the long hair is Doug. The dogs see Doug as the boss and me as one of the dogs. mmm need to change that!

Fake Fur and other things.

My good friend Renette introduced me to a wonderful second hand shop. She has great fashion sense so when she recommended this funky, vintage seconds shop, well I had to visit it. Of all my experiences of buying second hand clothing, this one is by far the best. i think it is because the owners carefully select the clothing they put onto the wracks AND they keep the prices down. The least I have spent was a great R10 and the most R60 which was for a funky, stretch denim Jacket.
Today's find was a lovely earth coloured jersey with, and get this, a fluffy, fake fur collar. oooh absolutely fabulous. Baie Dankie my vriend!!!

A walk down memory Lane

On Friday night Dougie bought me a small gift. he knows how much I love music and he knows some of the old favourites I would like to choose to listen too. Bands like Simple Minds ; U2 ; The Pretenders and my very best Van the Man. But he did not arrive with any of these in hand. Rather he bought me "The Best of Niel Diamond" or something like that. I am not to sure of the title but the point is made.

Sadly, I was thrilled. Now I am really showing my age and my odd taste in music. Why do I like to listen to this strange mans music. Well, I happen to think he is a good singer and he has a very good voice. It is one of those smooth voices that has its very own recognizable sound to it. But none of these good reasons are why Doug bought me Niel Diamond to listen to. It has to do with memories. You see, when I was growing up, my dad used to play Niel Diamond a lot. he So the sound of the smooth operator and his Hot August Nights transports me right back into that place where every adult is taken back to at some point. Childhood. The thing is I absolutely adore my dad and so his love for Niel and ; Barbabra Streisand and Dianna Ross all fall onto me and I too love them. The memories of him laughing and singing and his smell all come back when I hear The sound of Barbara hitting that high note or Dianna asking " Do you know where you are going to?". Memories flooded with fun and smiles and deep sadness too. I often listen to these songs I love . I listen to them on high volume. I dance some; smile some; sing a lot and cry too. Then I pack them up and put them back on the CD wrack until the time comes again for nostalgia. Thanks my Dougie!! You know me so well.

The Books we love to read part 2

Tonight we read a whole pile of books. I love to choose these stories before the boys get to choose. It saves me reading the likes of Asterix which I love to read to myself but not aloud to them. That is a job left for Dad. I am also rescued from books that are the shortened version of some great movie such as "Cars" or " a bugs life". Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy these kids movies but I really do not like reading them. I have worked out that if I choose books to read first then we have more great reads and not to many of the ones I find a bit difficult to get through with enthusiasm. Someone once said though, " letting children read or be exposed to good and bad writing helps them to know the difference" . mmmm I am not to sure if this is true or not but anyway.... here is a few more of the Jethro and Samuel best reading list...

1. A Snowy Night and The treasure Hunt by Nick Butterworth. These are awesome books. We love the story which is so rich in humour and the illustrations which mirror the fun in the story. There is always a gentle and friendly element of surprise and always a happy ending.

2. We enjoyed " Ten Play Hide and Seek by Penny Dale which is also beautifully illustrated and although has a very simple story is still very much enjoyed.

3. We did not get to this book but I want to include it because I really LOVE this book. " The Pig in the Pond" by Martin Waddell. The drawings are by Jill Barton. Both the story and the illustrations are a delight and this book is never, never boring or dull. It is a must!!!

Thats that for tonight. Ill put together a list of books James and Thomas enjoy. This is sure to be full of the usual Like harry Potter which James devoured weekly until he was full and other authors too Like Jeremy strong. Check out his web site for fun!! www.jeremystrong.co.uk.

Enjoy and keep on reading!!!!

Welcome to the zoo!!

Welcome to The Falconer zoo. By this I do not mean the four fun, noisy and full of energy ; forever talking, singing or shouting. I am going to write about the animals we share the living space with.

Let me introduce you .

Titus or as our very friendly and sweet neighbour refers to him as Brutus. He is a 5 year old beautiful Rotty. He is huge. His mouth is huge. His head is huge. everything about him is .... huge including his appetite. Titus has helped himself on several occasions to large, hot pies; parts of birthday cakes; carcass of a chicken; rolls; loaves of bread and of course the other dogs food. He is a food thief and has no manners. But we love him and he takes care of us. Titus sleeps in our lounge. He has a bed on the floor like normal dogs but if the chance should present itself, he will sneak onto the couch and make himself very, very comfortable. Yesterday, Doug gave him a lovely, frothy bath. Boy oh boy. Did he love that.

The Books we love to read

I thought I would write something about our favorite books. I love reading and love children s books. When I was studying to be a teacher, one of the best parts of the course was all the interesting things we discovered about Childrens books and authors. So I came to parenting with my own personal favorites. Shirley Hughes and her dear characters and life like , beautiful drawings. Judith Kerr and the lovable ' Mog" the cat. Pat Hutchins and Titch or ' Don't forget the bacon" and of course the one sentences book of hers called 'Rosies walk'.

One of the best things about living in The Uk was the smorgasbord of books available. I thought I had landed in children book heaven. Needless to say, our kids have been surrounded by books since they were very very tiny and I mean very tiny. Poor things. They probably could not even focus and a book was placed in front of them. I was an eager mom!!!

Well, enough of that. I am thrilled to say that my children and friends have introduced me to many , many more fantastic books.I thought I would write down some of our most loved books and use it as a growing list for my memory and if you should stumble upon this blog, your interest.

1. Who has flown in on her broom into our busy day but none other than a witch on a broom in Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's " Room on the Broom. A fab book and a real fun read with my Jethro and Samuel.

2.This book is one that makes me feel right at home. Full of a gathering of family fun and many creatures including a couple of horses. "First there was Frances" by Bob Graham . A must for every child

3. Max Lucado and his " A Hat for Ivan" is a great read for children who can concentrate for a little longer. It is a great story line and a very sweet message about being who God has made us to be.

Doug Part 3

This week has been quite interesting in the South African Political arena. What with ET being murdered and all the intrigue surrounding that story and Julius mouthing off at a British Journalist , well I feel a little ashamed of being South African.This of course brings me to Part 3 of my husband as a person.

Doug the Political beast. I have to say that his left views and sometimes ( I feel) blind following of the left, comes shining out when we have a week like we have just had. Doug will fly into James Bond kind of "search and find mode" and he will as an example, trawl the net for information and ideas on why Race is a myth. He will read and think and talk and talk and talk some more about the why and were to from here and lets not forget his hopes and dreams for the future. I just love this about him . His love for the underdog and the helpless is one of the things that attracted me. It is a virtue to be a person who thinks about life and the meaning of it. It is also a virtue in our home for at least one of us to have more than hope for this staggeringly beautiful but tragically strange and sad Land of ours - South Africa.

Thanks Doug for helping me to see the good that has and is being done.

PS pity about finding the web site where the extreme right of South Africa blah blah on about why they hate other people based on outward appearances. I truly and stupidly thought these people might have withered, died and been blown away by a very strong South Easter. mmm How wrong I was. Having said this though They are lost and sad. So very, very lost and very, very sad.

May God have mercy on them!

How deaf are you really?

Last night we decided to make the trip into the Waterfront in Cape Town to meet Doug for a meal. It is the holidays after all. On the way there Jethro fell into a deep sleep. I carried him to the meeting place and fell onto a nearby bench to wait for Doug to arrive. Two young adults were seated next to me. They were chatting between themselves and I was half resting Jethro,s head against my arm as it flopped down, drawn by gravity and half watching the people of the Cape as they went about Friday evening business. I guess the Waterfront is fairly noisy but I had not noticed this aspect of it before. I guess I am a little deaf in one ear. Anyway, the one young Adult turns to me and says these words..... " your phone is ringing" . ............. Really. she must be mistaken. Not my phone. I did not hear it - I did not hear it at all. Not a beep. I rummaged through my overflowing hand bag and found the said phone and .... yes 2 missed calls. Which begs the question. How deaf am I really?

Dougie Part 2

Today was Saturday and turned out to be a typical Doug Day. A brilliantly sunny day with nothing at all planned. A great day to get chores done. And that is exactly what happened. The thing about Doug is that he is a fabulous DIY man. Oh yes he is! He can build almost anything he puts his mind to. Gifted with a neat and steady hand and the need to measure carefully and well dare I say it , perfectly, Doug manages to build and build. I am so grateful to him for the projects he has taken on. Nothing is to small and nothing too big. So what did he do today? He put up some shelves for James and rewired his lamp and radio player wiring and he put up a hook for James to hang his school clothes on. He fixed punctures and wobbly bike wheels.

In addition to these small tasks he washed the dogs ( all three of them) and read up on how to clip a birds wings ( which he was going to attempt but has been put off). He cleaned the water from the fish tube in the kitchen........

I think this is enough for today Doug. Doug my DIY man. I am so proud of you!!!

Dougie

This is a photograph of Doug taken while were on holiday in Sheffield. We have been very, very fortunate to get to holiday there over these past few years. More on that another time. This is not a post about Sheffield or about holidays. it is a post about Doug.

Last week we celebrated 15 years of marriage. We were married on April 1st at a pretty conference center in Johannesburg called Helderfontein. I am not sure it is even there any more, but at the time it was a lovely old Herbert baker building and some other buildings, built in a very stylish manner. We had a grand time on the day and hope everyone else did to. But this is not even a post about that.

15 years... wow! it seems and feels like a life time. A life time of great joys and deep sadness. I guess life is like that. The joy comes and so does the sadness and I would be lying not to describe it like that.

I have found Doug to be one of the most amazing perseveres I know. He just never gives up. I find this to be a great quality in him and over the years have come to really admire him for this. Through thick and thin , he never gives up. That does not mean he never wants to give up. I am sure he does BUT he does not give up.

I will write more about him but for now ... here it is. ....

The Things Children say

Thomas and I were having a conversation about star fish. The most amazing thing about a star fish is that if an arm should be cut off, well, another will grow. Thomas carries the idea onto another level....

"Mom, can a leg of a human grow if it is cut off? "
"No, no Tom. Thats that if your leg gets cut off"
"Well, I guess that means I better look after my legs then", says Thomas
" I guess that does Tom", replies an inward giggling mom

camping shots

The Falconer's camping Adventure

As I sit writing this, Il Divo is playing gently and I am enjoying a glass of wine. Kids are having some super while I write this. I was just reflecting on this weekends camping trip.

The Stuff

This is the first thing I write about because if you know anything about camping , you will know how important - The Stuff - is. We have a few tents and some other things that help make the camping experience work. I admit that if it did not work , I think I would not really want to go. I tend towards the home body kind of person. So this camping trip I have made a small list of things we could add to the stuff list. Things like....
1. a toaster and kettle ( welcome to camping in the 21st century)
2. a couple of ground sheets
3. a good gazebo
4. a good light

This list is fluid and continues....

We went camping with two families who have all the stuff. This is helpful when the heavens open up and declare the Lord of all sovereign.

The place

We went to a camp site called Skurwekop on the Breede River. it was astoundingly beautiful. The semi Karoo or nearly semi karoo shows the absolute care and creativity of our creator. I love the , bright blue sky as it contrasts against the rocky, rocky mountains. Thank you Lord!!

The Children

James , Thomas , Samuel and Jethro were so excited. They could not contain their excitement which is a delightful thing to share with a child. As we packed all The Stuff, I had to remind myself of this. Finally , finally we were on our way. Thomas had his legs folded double as we all squashed in with The Stuff. The De Toits Kloof Tunnel was on the list of highlights on the journey. we made good time and were soon at the camp site.

The Fun

These boys had fun being free. Free to roam and to ride bikes. Free to chat and read. Free to play cricket and to eat. It was grand! The best fun was on the river with the canoes and dingies. Doug came back twice looking like a drowned rat. Sam had his first and hopefully last near death experience as the canoe he was on capsized and he was strapped in.

The Food

All there is too say here is fire and food of all sorts!!!

The sleeping

James, Tom, Sam and Jet slept in a huge tent lent to us by our hosts. It was a fun tent and they were so good at settling in and geeing the job done. Doug and I snuggled in a 3 man tent until the snoring got to much and then Doug spent the rest of the nights in a bakkie!!!

Some Time

Thank you Sandy and Dave for inviting us and sharing this time with us. We had a great time. Thank you for looking after the boys so Doug and I could drive, drive ,drive. You guys rock!!! God bless you both!!