Back to reality...

 The holidays seem to have come and gone in a blur of poor health.  We started off happy enough, even though Jake battled on and off with a mild temperature and snotty nose.  The first week of his holidays, saw Jake spending much of his time visiting eye doctors and eye therapists.  He's begun his eye therapy and his therapist says she can already see changes.  So, after 2 weeks of not feeling great, the rash finally broke out during the second week of his holidays.  I also picked up some kind of bug and ended up having to take 2 days off work (shock & horror).  I had a temperature and such swollen glands in my throat I could barely swallow.  Poor Jake, he did little else besides watch TV.

These pictures were taken on the second day after the rash broke out... 

 Despite being contagious, Jake was a superstar, hardly complaining at all, besides to say that he was itchy.  Since we'd all already been exposed to the virus, it was pointless keeping him completely confined at home.  We did avoid shopping centres and tried not to spread his germs too far.  We spent most of the long Easter weekend at Danie's house.  The weather wasn't great and we did a lot of lazing about, playing games and eating too many hot cross buns and Easter eggs.  Jake did some fishing in between the rain...

 The big egg hunt was a little disappointing this year, since the weather was bad and we had to do it indoors.  The bunny did leave a few eggs outside on our stoep and "he" was quite creative inside.  Jake found an egg in the draw with his wii things just yesterday.  Because he wasn't feeling 100% yet, Jake actually slept in until 7:30 on Easter morning and enjoyed a few extra minutes in bed with us before dashing around the house like a mad man.  I love that he's still so excited about things like this, one has to wonder for how much longer though...

Hiding places are hard to find at our house...

 Delighted with his Galaxy Bubble egg.  Thanks to the UK Emporium, he was lucky enough to get some special imported eggs.  I wonder if he's eaten that one yet, it might still go missing...

 After coffee and toasted hot cross buns at our house, it was off to my parents for another egg hunt with Corky.  It's so hard for Jake to understand that not all the eggs are for him and that Connor's not as fast.  We kept having to remind him to slow down and to leave some hiding for Connor to find too.  They had a ball...

 Corky had a new winter outfit on...

 Bi was there too, hopefully next year she'll be able to join in the fun...

 Jake was still a bit off colour and he's still not 100% right yet, even though he's not contagious (as of Monday, just in time to go back to school on Tuesday).  He's still very bunged up and he's not doing any sport this week.  I like this photo.  He looks little... 

 While the boys were dividing up the eggs (fairly with my help), Bi snuck off and discovered an egg hiding inside my handbag.  We caught her trying to stuff it in, paper and all.  She was so excited to find another one a little later...

 Precious girl...

 She did a good bit of walking for her Easter eggs too.  It's the way we should all have been trained.  Exercise so that you can enjoy some of the good stuff too!!  She managed to do something like 23 steps for this egg...

 Connor ran to her rescue when she plopped down... 

 Princess looks just like her mommy...

 But she wants more eggies!  Keep walking, Bi...

 As a last holiday treat, we took Jake for a little cruise on the Marina on Monday evening.  Jake was revolting, a total brat, but I guess you have to take the good with the bad, it can't all be sunshine and roses...

 Laila came with us in the boat.  She loves the boat, but climbs all over you and hardly sits still.  She did come and cuddle me for about 2 minutes though.  Power nap...

 And so the holidays came to an end.  The rain has cleared up and we're back up to 30 degree sunshine this week.  Crazy... 

Looking forward to catching up with some great friends tomorrow night, hope every one's well.

Love Sue XXX

A crazy time...

Life just isn't meant to be "normal" in my part of the world.  I almost don't remember what it means for it to be calm and relaxing and enjoyable.  One would think that having the luxury of having a half day job, would give me hours extra to slow down and take time out, but it just doesn't work that way.
So, school's closed for the Easter break on Friday, 23 March.  I'd made an appointment for Jake to go to an behavioural optometrist last Monday and he picked up that Jake does have a few problems with his eyes.  Jake's vision is excellent, so no problems there, but his muscles in his right eye are weak and he apparently has problems merging the images that each eye sees in his brain and so sees double up to nearly a foot in front of his face.  Part of the assessment included taking photos of Jake's retinas, which showed lesions on the retina in Jake's right eye.  The optometrist also wasn't happy with the marks and we were referred to an ophthalmologist from there.  He also recommended that Jake start up with their eye therapy programme, which we did and he began the therapy following day.  After lots of anxious phone calls, I managed to get an appointment with an ophthalmologist for Thursday afternoon.  We were obviously very concerned about the marks on Jake's retina; "lesion" is a scary word.  The ophthalmologist confirmed that Jake has scars on his retina probably caused by a virus at some stage or other.  The scar tissue shows no sign of growth or of being active, so she only needs to see him again in 3 months time.  Even that is sooner than I'd have liked; I find the whole thing frightening.

Added to all of that, Jake developed a cold and suffered with fevers on and off during last week and finally broke out in a rash on Sunday morning, which has since been confirmed as Measles.  I have also been off work for 2 days this week, with a temperature, swollen glands and just feeling plain sick and unwell.  I have done soooo much sleeping and I am just hoping and praying that I don't catch the Measles from Jake.  And, to crown it all, I woke up this morning with a gorgeous fever blister! I've never had one before and they are not pretty or comfortable or nice.  And my lip is covered in thick white cream.  So, basically, I feel lovely.

Other than that, it's always amazing to see how many people care when you're sick.  We've had visitors and phone calls and people bringing/making us meals (thanks moms) and offers to do grocery shopping; we are lucky and blessed and it's just so nice to be so loved by everyone!

That's our news.  Not the greatest school holiday for Jake, not by a long shot. I might actually have to let him just stay off for one extra day since he's been such a brave little soldier.  Maybe...

Love,
Sue

Corky is...

3 today!  Happy birthday to my gorgeous, mischievous, busy, talkative, affectionate, train crazy, sweet little nephew, Corky!!!  It feels like Corky (aka Connor) has always been part of our lives.  I almost can't remember a time when he wasn't around and yet, he's only been here for 3 short years.  He has crept into our hearts in the most beautiful way and his cheeky smile can light up a room.  He loves everything about Thomas the Tank and we all have train names, which he uses often.  I am Duck, Jake is Duncan, Danie's Cranky (a crane), Jo is Henry, Paul is the most random Neville, my mom is Thomas and my dad Percy and Connor is Gordon.  When asked to show off his cross face, Corky turns his nose up and wrinkles his forehead, just as Gordon does when he's upset.

Jo (and Paul) threw "Gordon" a Thomas party again this year.  He had one last year, but with a Edward cake (train number 2).  This year, he had a Henry cake (number 3 train) and perhaps next year he'll have a Gordon train (number 4 train).  Jo really went all out and their home was transformed into a Thomas heaven...

 They even had this cool board for the kids to pose behind as the engine driver.  Jake's sadly starting to feel silly about doing things like this, but I managed to get him to pose for one snap before the other kids arrived.  They grow up far too fast...

 Of course, Bianca was there too.  She's a total party queen and loved every moment of the action.  And there was a lot of action.  My dad in his metro sexual shirt.  Very hip...

 The gorgeous table - what I wouldn't give to be a kid again...

 Princess Bi, getting in on the action...

 I don't know where Joanne got this jumping castle from, but it was amazing...

 Corky and his cake.  I don't think he felt much like smiling, this was the best I could get out of him.  I guess it's all pretty overwhelming for a little guy... 

 Telling Jake which piece he's going to eat.  These two have such a love/hate relationship at the moment.  They are always so excited to see each other, but it invariably ends up with a fight with Jake teasing Connor, or Connor not wanting Jake to play with his toys.  Then, when it's home time again, they don't want to part and Connor cries if Jake goes off without giving him a hug and a kiss on his forehead... 

 Candle time...

 Corky the Engine Driver...

 Hey, who invited these two clowns???  (by the way, the corner's not missing, the wall's in the sun)...

 The whole jumping castle and all the protective mommies watching that their monsters are playing fair...

 Ag no!  You again... 

 Jake and Danie normally manage to get Connor to strike a funny pose for the camera.  Like this...

 Or this, which isn't his cross train face, by the way...

 Back inside and out of the wind, Princess Bi had made her way across to the now deserted kids party table, to feast on their left-overs.  Nobody saw her getting there, we only saw her standing on her own, pigging out.  Hey, Bianca, here's a lesson you're going to have to learn early in life: A moment on the lips, forever on the hips.  Be warned...

 OK, if you smile at me like that with a jelly tot in your mouth, you can eat it all, I'll love you even if you have huge hips one day (but please try not to have)....

 mmm-nommm-nommm... what did you say...

 Connor partied till he couldn't any more.  By the time we left, he was so tired, he was just completely past humour.  I'm sure he slept really well on Saturday night...

I have other things to post about, but today's not the day to be serious.  Today's a day for celebrating a very special little man's birthday.  Happy birthday Connor!

Love Sue X

Harvest time...

I have been promising Jake and promising Jake that I'll take him to Buitenverwachting to go and help with their harvest, so with a little more than 2 weeks left to their harvest, we've finally made it down to the farm a couple of times to take part in their busy season.  Our first visit was rained out and during our second visit, they were harvesting on another farm.  This time, despite the public holiday, the pickers were out in force.  They had two big blocks of chardonnay to get in before they could go home and enjoy the rest of the day off with their families, so they were working fast and it was great for Jake to see them rushing through the vines, picking with such speed.  There are so many new faces on the farm and yet, amongst the harvesters, there are so many who recognised Jake and I and who came to say hi.  One even told Jake that she could just see that he was Jacques' son.  They made him feel really special and you could just see his chest growing with each hello.  I think he likes to know that they still remember his dad and he likes to be somebody important on the farm.

Anyway, he was handed some pruning shears and set to work.  This young guy (I didn't get his name), took the time to show Jake how to go about picking the bunches of grapes.  He was Jake's teacher and Jake enjoyed working quietly beside him...

 It's generally pretty festive in the vineyard, especially when they're working fast and I always enjoy watching them working.  They weren't too happy yesterday though and the two groups of workers were arguing a little with each other over the crates they use to collect grapes.  You see, in the cellar, they were pressing whole bunches of grapes, because the quality was so good.  The cellar work is slower than the vineyard work, so the empty were being held up in the cellar.  Jake thought their arguing was funny though... 

    See my precious boy working hard over there. He just made himself at home. Part of the team...

Look at him go!  He got the hang of it pretty quickly, not that it takes much brain power.  It does take quite a bit of physical skill to cut through the vine though...

Proud as punch with his perfectly picked bunches of grapes...

Grapes ready to be squished into wine.  In my humble opinion, Chardonnay grapes are nicer than Sauvignon Blanc grapes (Jake even nicked a bunch to take to school in his lunch box), however I far prefer a crisp, fresh Sauv Blanc over a thick heavy Chard...

 Towards the end of the row, Jake started to get bored and declared that he wanted to go by tractor back to the cellar to help make the wine...

The full crates were all staked up and ready to be loaded onto the tractor, to be taken to the cellar.  Jake was rushing to get to the tractor before it left without him...

These guys are strong.  Those crates weigh about 20kgs each.  And they don't just carry one, that's their job for the day...

Finally, on the tractor and ready to go to the cellar...

I tried to snap some pictures of the views on the way down to the cellar, but it was quite a bumpy ride and we were wedged between two pallets and I was trying to hang onto Jake, so didn't get too many.  It was quite nice to see things from a different angle though.  This is a block of Sauvignon Blanc in front of the manor house (it's there behind the tree)...

Back at the cellar and ready to be put to work!  By the way, I think the tractor ride was possibly the highlight of Jake's morning on the farm.  He kept asking me if I thought any of his friends were doing anything so cool with their day...

Once the grapes arrive at the cellar, they are taken off the back of the tractor with a forklift...

And stashed outside the cellar until they have space inside for more grapes...

Inside the cellar, the guys are working hard to process the grapes and to get them into the press.  Like I mentioned before, they were working with whole bunches, so it's a much more precise, time-consuming job than when the grapes are mashed up as they go through the de-stalker as per my previous post.  It gives the guys a chance to take out any leaves and bugs that would otherwise end up in the wine...

For about 3 months of the year, the cellar is a noisy, busy place to work.  The guys are exhausted, working through the night sometimes.  Once the grapes have been picked, they're under pressure to get them pressed and the juice into the tanks.  The white haired guy in the corner is Peter.  Pete's the farm manager and he is beyond ecstatic with his harvest this year.  Last year the Chardonnay block they harvested on Wednesday gave 4.9 tons.  On Wednesday, with 10 rows still to be picked, they were already up to 6.5 tons.  And the quality of the grapes is exceptional.  He's a happy guy and now it's up to the cellar team to look after all his hard work...

Jake's showing you where the wine goes to from the press for fermentation.  It's always a juggling act to make sure that they have enough space for the new wines.  Fun and games...

A peek through the restaurant and into the vineyards beyond.  The head chef is an Austrian chap, Edgar, who can only be described as a perfectionist.  He is passionate about his food, which is always beautifully presented and his seafood is sublime.  And don't get me started on his desserts.  My favourite is their chocolate variation (not that I've eaten there too many times), which I don't see on their current menu...

Another view of the courtyard.  Tasting room and cellar up ahead and restaurant to the right...

We stopped back past the cellar, just in time to see them start the press up on it's 2 hour cycle.  Jake was thrilled to see it going, even though it's really not that exciting from the outside.  Herman was thrilled with the juice coming off the grapes, so smiles all around.  The kid on the left is Justin, he was a cute, chubby 3-year old the last time I saw him; now he's a fit, trim, rugby-playing 11-year old.  How time flies...

Danie met us at the farm, he'd been for a ride up in the mountains.  We headed back to his house for a small boerewors roll braai for lunch and lots of lazing in the gorgeous sunshine.  Jake spent the entire afternoon fishing and was thrilled with his catch of the day...

Other than that, schools are closing today and only go back on 10 April, after Easter.  I think I'm looking forward to the break from routine more than Jake is and I'm pretty sure back to school will come far too quickly for me.  The kids go back in winter uniform, so I need to get Jake's wardrobe sorted out again.  He can't wait for rugby season to start too, so hopefully the second term will be a better one for him.

 

I'm getting my new skylight fitted in my lounge this afternoon and Jake and I will be spending some time working in our garden over the weekend.  We've begun digging out flowerbeds, which is seriously tough work, but we are excited to be doing it all on our own too.  Hopefully the results will be good.  I'll take some photos for Monday.

 

Enjoy the weekend and be good!

Sue X