Poetry Tea Time...

After supper one evening in early August, we had one of our traditional poetry tea times. This is when we read a story or a poem while sipping hot cups of tea and eating a few yummy treats. It's one of our fun family traditions. I read one of my favourite childhood stories, Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain, by Verna Aardema. :)

Reading the story to the kiddos. :)

Family poetry tea time selfie. :)

Camping at Spring Mill State Park...

We camped at Spring Mill State Park recently. (31st July - 1st August.) We were meant to stay for another night, but unfortunately Riaan came down with a fever and so we left early. We had a fun 24 hours, though, despite the frequent thunderstorms!

Cup of coffee while camping.

Riaan standing near the flooded pedestrian bridge.

The flooded creek.

Eliza and Riaan loved all the puddles!

A "cake" of foam caught in an eddy.

A close-up of the foam.

Riaan at the entrance to the flower garden.

The historic grist-mill.

The cog mechanism for the wheel inside the mill.

Riaan and I walked up to Hamer Cave - where there are a couple of staggered dams and from where the water that feeds the mill flows.

Selfie with Riaan.

 

View of the swollen creek and the mill.

We put up our tent (to dry it out) in the living room once home. The kiddos had a blast!

Braaiing Fun...

We had a lekker braai (nice barbeque) in our back garden at the end of July. Braaiing is a South African tradition and I need to do it more often! :)

 The children watch the fire burn down.

 Meat, garlic bread, and potatoes (underneath) cooking on the braai.

Toasted sarmies - yum!

Rusty keeping an eye out for any scraps! :)

Sights on a Bike...

I've been enjoying several cycle rides around the area lately. A nice 22 kilometre (14 mile) loop takes in the beauty of the countryside south of Washington, including the historic Round Barn, which dates from 1908. (Pictured here.) There are also some lovely rides in all directions around us.

It's awesome how you can take in so much more of the area on a bike as opposed to in a car. I've loved discovering new routes, too!

I cycle to work when time and weather allow. :)

 

One of my favourite big trees north of us was recently felled by a storm. :(

 

 Inquisitive juvenile cows stare at me.

Pretty display windmill.

 

 The Round Barn south of Washington.

Giant Sunflower...

We planted this sunflower earlier in the summer. After a slow start, it really shot up and is now taller than some of the shingles of our roof. It is the tallest sunflower plant that I have ever seen!

The sunflower on the south-west corner of our house.

The front of our house.

The sunflower well above the level of the gutters.

The sunflower opened in late July.

Several days later it had reached its full size.

The leaves were massive!

It's a GIRL!

We found out the gender of our new baby back on Friday, 17th July. (The photo at left is of us in the waiting room before our appointment.) Baby number three is an active little girl. We are beyond excited for the arrival of Anya Joy at the end of November! Her name, Anya, is taken from Anastasia, meaning Resurrection, and it is an incredibly meaningful name for us. Both her and Eliza are little miracles that almost didn't exist after Candace's emergency. (Riaan, of course, is a little miracle too!) Candace was given new life and her uterus was spared, and both Eliza and now Anya have, in turn, been given new life from a dark situation. We are so thankful!

Zithulele Book Launch...

I had the privilege of attending a virtual book launch on Wednesday, 15th July. Dr Ben Gaunt was launching his book, Hope, A Goat, and a Hospital, and it tells the story of how God called him and his family to serve at Zithulele Hospital in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa, and their subsequent fifteen years of service there. It is filled with inspiring stories of hope in the midst of challenging circumstances - something that is particularly relevant during our current situation with COVID-19. 

Candace and I served with the Mercy Vision (now Grace Vision) Eye Care Project at Zithulele back in 2013, and we have fond memories of this place and the Gaunt family. We made wonderful memories with their family, including pizza nights, lovely pancake breakfasts, and communal church services in their living room during our time there. We even house-sat for them (them not really knowing us at all!) when we first arrived and were waiting on our accommodation to be completed. His book is available on Amazon here! :)

Dr Ben and Taryn Gaunt at their book launch.

There were a lot of people in attendance for the book launch. :)