Happy 75th, Ingrid

Yesterday afternoon/evening the clan got together to celebrate Ingrid's 75th birthday. After a main course of braaied boerie and other good things to eat we came up with some of the fine qualities of the clan matriarch, with ideas for qualities triggered by the letters of her name, INGRID.

Dear Ingrid,

On the occasion of your Seventy-Fifth Birthday, 

these are some of the things your family said about you, 

inspired by your name, INGRID.

I is for… 

INGRID - the most beautiful name I ever heard.

N is for… 

Netherlands, the land of your birth, and the rich cultural traditions that you have passed on to our children and grandchildren; and

Never gives up - when you believe in something.

G is for… 

Gentle woman; and

Gay and joyful, always ready with a smile; and

Grounded - keeping me in the real world, here and now.

R is for… 

Real; and… 

Reliable; and… 

Roman Catholic, religious in the true spiritual sense, but never pietistic.

I is for… 

Independent, as in the way you chose to follow Jesus Christ as a Catholic when you were still in high school; and… 

Inspirational - helping me believe in myself when I become discouraged; and… 

Indefatigable - overcoming every adversity with faith, hope and love.

D is for… 

Dependable - your word is pure gold

Congratulations on your 

Seventy-Fifth Birthday.

All my love

Terry

Congratulations on your marriage, Geoff & Miriam

Yesterday, Saturday, Geoff & Miriam exchanged their wedding vows in a beautiful ceremony in the United Church just down the road from where they live.

After a photo shoot in the old CAMH grounds...

...we all celebrated with a braai/barbecue in their back yard.

This morning, Sunday, we finished off with an Italian brunch at the Amore Restaurant.

Over the next few weeks I hope to get my photos grouped into albums. Please be patient.

August - One Hectic Month of Weddings

OK. Let's review where we've come over the last 3 weeks and what is still ahead.

Relatives from Holland - a

Relatives from Scotland - a

Son and best man from South Africa - a

Relatives and friends from Manitoba - a

Relatives from Saskatchawan - a

Friend from BC - a

Friend from California - a

Stag & stagette parties - a

First rehearsal - a

After rehearsal Portuguese BBQ - a

Luisa & Mark's wedding - a(beautifully)

Reception - a(great success except for the air conditioning not working)

Next day brunch - a(42 people in our little home)

A week of on-going partying with Luisa & Mark at the Penfold cottage near Perth - a

Ingrid and I were hoping to take a breather by going back to work this week but we'd forgotten that work is not like that...

Still to come...

Miriam & Geoff's rehearsal

After rehearsal dinner

Miriam & Geoff's wedding

Reception ("small" BBQ affair at their home)

Next day brunch

Finished. Klaar. Finito. Eindig. Fini. Phelile.

Photo's to follow.

2009 Holst Picnic

.

We missed last year but I am glad that Ingrid and I got to go again this year. As usual the pavilion was booked in case of rain but the weather was excellent. Of course if we did not have the pavilion then Sunday's downpours and steady rain would have come a day earlier.

Herb provided his usual half drum brickette BBQ which was more than adequate for the job. For the first time Ingrid and I did not have boerewors - and some people even noticed and commented. We had chicken sosaties instead.

Here is a link to the full 2009 Holst Picnic album - my first on flickr.

James has breezed back into our lives

I think the obvious place to start to catch up since February is with the biggest item of news first, which also happens to be the most recent. James has breezed back into our lives after totally disappearing off our radar for more than ten years. James, for those who do not know, is our adopted son, our sixth "kid", older than Miriam by three years. He will be the first to tell you that his policy has always been, "Don't call me, I'll call you." He backed this up by keeping his whereabouts secret even from the Security Police, CSIS, FBI, CIA, KGB... Nobody ever knew where James was except James, and God.

Last Saturday Aunty Bessie (about to turn 93 - has just memorised Pat Prinsloo's new phone number because she is pretty-well blind - don't ask me the number, I have it written down somewhere) asked me on our weekly phone call if we ever heard from James because she has been praying for him every day for ten years and it would be nice to know if her prayers were being answered. I told her I had not heard from him since before leaving for Canada in 1998 and at this stage did not expect to hear from him anymore. On Tuesday somebody named Steve left a comment on this blog telling me he has been trying to get hold of me about James. I replied and told him he had my full attention - I had been ignoring his "friend request" on Facebook. One email led to another. Apparently James had been looking for us and Steve tracked me down to this blog. On Friday Ingrid & I had an hour long phone conversation with James at the place where he has been boarding with Steve's mother for the last eight years in George in the Eastern Cape. Miriam and James were talking on Saturday; Mark took his turn today (Sunday). Everybody is very happy at the "reunion" - James so much so that he has given us all his contact info! Deo Gratias!

Other news...

Mark and Luisa "actualised" their Christmas present to Ingrid and me - a weekend of painting and DIY getting our house a bit more ready for all the relatives who will be visiting for the wedding in August. They did a great job and seemed to enjoy it; we enjoyed having them.

We all enjoyed getting together at Geoff and Miriam's for a braai (BBQ) to watch South Africa beat Australia in one of the recent Twenty/20s. Geoff has impressed us all learning the laws and terms of cricket as well as doing an excellent job with wors (South African sausage) on the braai. Afterwards they all jammed down in the basement where Geoff and Miriam have a really nice setup with drums, keyboard, guitars.

Final news item: it snowed. What's new about that in Canada you ask? Well, if you consider that the picture of the the mourning doves basking in the sun was taken March 1, and the pictures of the snow were taken April 6 & 7, then you can understand the communal depression that came over the people of southern Ontario as the snow hung around for another 9 days. Yesterday and today were just wonderful and I even saw dandelions. We'll be overwhelmed by weeds before we know it. Come on summer.