I HEAD FOR SANITY IN JHB 16th JAN

I get my call at 05h40, which came before my alarm went off. I am up and out of there. We get to the airport at 07h00, where I book in and eat a scrumptious Wimpy breakfast. We board at 08h30 and leave 20 minutes early. The plane is almost empty. I land and am pleased to be on sane ground! How awesome it is to see my children again. Candice and Didier fetch me from the airport and take me to their house, where I can once again enjoy a long clean and water full, bug less shower, washing my hair at leisure and getting out of the shower onto a nice clean fluffy bath mat. They are taking me to lunch at Casalingas, to meet Didiers parents who are flying back to France tonight. I cannot wait also, to see my Grandchild. How awesome the lunch and time with everyone is. I go home and see Michael and Nikki. All is good at home and I cannot wait to get into my beautiful King size bed, with clean sheets.

THE LAST STRAW TODAY 15th JAN

It has rained all night and there has been a cow mooing outside somewhere close, since about 04h30. I feel like death. I go to make coffee and already there s an atmosphere in the home. I hear Don telling Cheryl that just because she has woken up grumpy, it doesn’t mean she has to have a go at him. I question Cheryl whether all three of us are going to the stables or just Cheryl and I. I am shocked at the response of “Well you can also stay behind if you like”. I see this is going to be yet another day in Paradise! I am dropped off to herd the horses. They are obliging and all 20 head for the stables with me in tow. We tack up for the ride. It is a small ride. I am riding Apollo. I am mounted and Cheryl has asked me to lead the ride. I am tightening the girth on Apollo at the launch pad and get told “If you move, I can mount”. I move towards Blaze who is standing at the end of the line to go out and continue to tighten the girth. I am told, “You need to go to the front”. I state I am just tightening my girth and I get a glare from hell. I can see where today is going!
We are not crossing the river due to the rains last night. I head for the gate which leads to the road. I am reminded I need to head for the road. I confirm I am. We get onto the road and I am waiting for all to come through the gate when suddenly my reins are in two pieces. Somehow the buckle has undone itself. I get told to walk on. I state I am fixing my reins when I am asked whether I would just prefer to not ride and return home. I ask Cheryl whether she would prefer I went out with 2 reins instead of 1? Cheryl is then on the phone to her daughter Luisa at full voice telling her how both Don and I have attitude today. Two things cross my mind. How a grown up chats to a 16 year old about issues like this and why the hell I should go on this ride. Nothing I have done for Cheryl in any form of assistance, from cleaning stables, to cleaning her car which is in a disgustingly filthy state to cleaning out the tack room, to guiding and helping any riders, is appreciated. There and then my decision is made. It is time to return home. I phone my kids to make arrangements for an e-ticket for me for tomorrow.
The living situation at home and the way in which I have been treated by Cheryl since the freak accident of 5th January 2009, is untenable. I now see, I have no choice but to return home. I question in my mind whether this has been her intention since the accident. She told people who were with us that she was amazed at the fact that I had not been prepared to accept my responsibility for the accident that occurred. What am I to feel? I however, have still remained civil and gone about the work expected of me plus more. I cannot take this anymore. We finish our ride. I say goodbye to Apollo and take my last pictures of him. Luisa and Janine arrive back from their trail with the Father and Daughter and untack and sort their stuff out. Everyone is told to round the horses up to the field across the road. As usual and as has been for the past ten days, I do all the rounding up with no one else in sight. I even comment at the top of the road abt the gate, that I will manage this all on my own. The client who has been on trail gets out the car to assist!
We return home. I pack up my suitcases and then go and tell Cheryl of my plan. I am told OK and enquire about a refund of some R8000-00 due to me and am told IT WILL NOT HAPPEN and I must see her web page which states NO REFUNDS. I advise Cheryl that this would no doubt apply under normal circumstances but her behaviour at making things at home so untenable have forced me to leave. I reiterate to Cheryl I attempted to talk to her regards the accident the previous Thursday and when I made a comment about the fact I did not like a comment I had heard her make, she had left the room defending herself that the comment was not made about me. Cheryl never returned to the lounge to continue with any further discussions. I asked Cheryl just how grown up was that response from an adult? I then advised Cheryl I will take this matter further to which she then threatened to sue me for the medical costs that Rudi was claiming from her for the medical bills of his wife. I told her to go ahead. I had signed no documentation accepting any liability for Mkulu Kei Horse Trails when I came for a working / riding holiday.
I returned outside to making other means possible for me to get to the airport, such as a shuttle so that I could leave on the 09h00, flight to JHB. Staying at the house till the next flight at 16h45 would be too unbearable. All is planned by 19h00 and I am pleased at the thought of going home. I shall get a call in the morning when the shuttle is turning off the N2 towards Haga Haga, to give me an estimated time of their arrival to fetch me. I scan the house to pack up the rest of any of my belongings. I go and shower and wait for dinner. After dinner I go to bed.

MY CANTER WITH NO STIRRUPS AND NO REINS 14th JAN

Cheryl and I head for the stables. She drops me at the field to round up the horses. I have 15 rounded up and wonder where the other 5 are. I see they have somehow got through a fence to the next field w here the colts are. I cannot fetch them and head the horses I have to the stables. They are good for me and kindly oblige without much ado. I am almost at the rugby field close to the stables when I see 2 development guys come through and ask them to go and fetch the other 5 horses. We have three kids and an experienced rider, Angie, with us to ride today. I take Gunstone out today. Again, the beach is awesome. Again, no camera with me today. We are going to all try and canter. I lead off. The 3 kids are battling. We try again and when we get them all going, Excalibur’s rider bursts into tears. She is 6 years old and too scared. She tells us she canters at her riding school but on a lead rein. Cheryl looks after her and we take the canter out again. The kid riding Captain is in his element. It is his first time ever on a horse and he is a natural. The rewards again are plentiful. We head home and on the first pathway running parallel to the road, Cheryl instructs me to take my feet out the stirrups and put my arms out like an aero plane. I give her a look of disdain but carry out my instruction. Well, what a feeling, what a miracle, what a life, what a feeling of accomplishment. I am so at peace and in my element, my own little world! I cannot wait to do it again! Yes, I get to do it again with our last canter home. THIS is exhilaration, if ever there is any. The adrenalin is pumping through me at a speed of lightening. I also ride Gunstone back into the stable yard, facing backwards!
We get home and I crash on my bed. Cheryl and Don inject the rest of the horses whilst I nap. I rise at about 17h00. We chill and then I go for my bucket bath. I just have to wash this hair tonight. Not fun with a couple of pots for your water! I feel better. Again, the issue regards the accident on 5th Jan surfaces as Rudi, the husband of the woman run over, has phoned to say he has not received a deposit from Cheryl regards medical fees he is claiming from Cheryl. Cheryl claims she is paying this out of goodwill to avoid negative publicity, despite Indemnity forms signed by clients. Every time this issue is raised, a huge cloud falls over the house. It seems that every time the subject is raised, I am expected to accept liability over this accident. I WONT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE FACT Cheryl does not have Public Liability Insurance. We are having peri peri chicken tonight. It is nearly 22h00. I am starving and shall enjoy my dinner. I am still gob smacked at my feat today and shall surely sleep well (and smug with myself).

LUISA AND JANINE HEAD OUT ON TRAIL 13th JAN

We head down to the stables to meet the clients for today’s ride, as well as a Father and Daughter who are going on a 3 day trail. Luisa is going to lead the trail with her cousin Janine. I am not impressed at the fact that I have not even been offered to take up on the trail, as a paying client. Nonetheless, life goes on. We tack up and head out. I am riding Apollo. I lead the ride today. Again, it is a beautiful beach and yet again I have not brought my camera. As we come into Morgan Bay, we see a pod of Dolphins swimming the waves. We head for the beach and Cheryl keeps 2 little kids back whilst we try to teach the others to canter. We go back and forth without much success. I suggest we change the order of horses so the two riders on Gunstone and Captain get to canter. Apollo will lead and now Zeus will push them from behind. Away we go and the riders experience their first canter and are in their element. There is such a sense of both accomplishment and satisfaction when you see their faces light up at their experience. It makes this all so worthwhile. Cheryl now wants Zeus to lead the final canter home. I am then told by Cheryl, to take my feet out the stirrups and place my hands out like an aero plane and have a canter like this. I am not keen but will try. And we head off. I am so, so pleased, when Zeus will in fact not canter. Shoo, that’s my bacon saved for the day!
We head back to the stables to untack. We are now apparently going through to the Transkei, a place called Seagulls, where the guys on trail will stay for their first night. We are dropping off their gear and horse feed. We get to Kei Mouth and do a small shop. I buy rump steak for dinner tonight and am questioned as to whether Cheryls food is not good enough! I’m not prepared to go there. We go off to take the Ferry over the river. We cross and head for the hotel. It is situated in a beautiful place on the Transkei Coast and is certainly a place I will consider going on holiday to. I am disgusted at being treated as an outsider when Cheryl meets up with the client. I am not even afforded the courtesy to join them for drinks. I decide to sit outside with the horses. They are unconditional! We get home after 18h30 and cook up steak, egg and chips. It is still a bucket bath tonight. Oops, I find another tick imbedded in me. This time, it is on my left breast. Wonderful. I pray the Tick bite fever will not return.

12th JAN

We are up this morning and once again, there is no water. Should have had that shower last night! We head off to the stables. There are 13 of us taking a ride, mostly children and beginner clients. I am riding Nsync. I am tail end Charlie and have 4 kids to look after and teach. We go on the roads and do not do much as far as trotting goes. We turn at Mitford once again as the ground is still wet and head for the beach. We will see if we can get the kids to trot on the beach. It is a success, although the kid riding Robin is battling a little. Cheryl looks after the novices and five of us head out for the canter. It is like a spring tide today. We don’t stay at the beach for long though and head home. We do not have an afternoon ride but will go home and dip and inject the mares and foals at home for the afternoon.
I meet Starlight, a 90cm Falla Bella (miniature pony), and her son, Stuart Little, who is much bigger than his Mom. Even I have to bend down to get to Starlight’s mouth to give her some concentrate feed! Joan of Arc and her foal, Zeena, are next on the list. Zeena is nervous for her injection. We get the needle in and the next minute she is out of her stable, having jumped the rope which closes it. She runs around the paddock still with the needle in her. It is starting to come out. We get her back in the stable just in time for me to push the needle back in. We let her settle down and then eventually get the injection done. We finish with all the mares and foals at 17h30. Drat, with no rain, there is no water. Bucket bath yet again tonight. I eat some left over curry and retire to bed. The rest are having Pork chops for dinner.

THE MASSES HAVE GONE AND IT’S TIME FOR MY CHOCOLATE CAKE 11th JAN

It is overcast this morning and cool, as is the atmosphere at home, yet again. We all rise and head for the stables. Luisa and I round up the horses and they go in to feed. There are 4 clients to ride, one of which is Joel. I love seeing Joel. He is always so happy to see us and very affectionate. I give him a big hug. We tack up. I am riding Apollo. As we leave it starts to rain lightly. The ground is wet. We head out on the road. It’s drier. Cheryl goes directly to the beach with Joel. She will try to teach Joel to post today, so we can get him trotting. The rest of us head towards the cliffs. We pass the Morgan Bay Hotel and turn around at the Mitford Hotel. It is too wet to go to the cliffs. We head for the beach. The beach is almost empty. We have a number of canters back and forth on the beach. It is now really raining but the canters take our focus off the rain. We are drenched and the horses soaked through. We head back to the stables, untack, say our goodbyes and head to the shops. We have no ride this afternoon. I grab some lamb to make a curry. Luisa grabs stuff to make my double layered, caramel topped chocolate cake. We can all rest this afternoon.
We get home and I get the curry going. We can chill for the afternoon. Cheryl has passed out on the couch. Don has gone to bed. Luisa is in her room. It is a pleasure to get on the bed and read a magazine. Luisa is now making my chocolate cake (I don’t do baking!). It is still raining and has become very chilly. Curry is good for tonight. We still have no Internet connection (for almost a week it has given problems). We eat and pig out on cake. I am too tired to shower and retire to bed.

10th JAN

And the heavens opened last night. We have a small ride this morning. I ride Apollo. It is a gentle ride as the ground is wet. We canter however down at the beach. The afternoons ride is bigger and we head out. I ride Nsync. The ground is still wet. We head to the beach. The tide is turning out. The beach is too soft for a canter. We head home. I crash for an hours sleep. We cook and eat dinner. I clean up the kitchen, wash dishes and catch up my blogs. I am off to bed now at 21h30.

AND DEBS IS BLINDFOLDED FOR HER FAREWELL RIDE 9th JAN

I am not in the mood to ride this morning. I am in fact feeling down and emotional. Debs convinces me to go. It is her last day here. We fetch the horses from the field. I am riding Apollo. We canter the beach and try to get clients cantering, without much luck. We try and try and try again. Some clients seem to think the horses will just break into a canter in the style of follow the leader. This is not so with Cheryls horses. You need to use the correct aids to tell them what you want them to do. We now take Debs for her last canter on the beach, as she is leaving tonight. She is blindfolded! Cheryl does this with the volunteers so they can realize how much their confidence and riding has improved. We are led by September on Royal, followed by Alex on Robin. I am behind Robin and in front of Debs, who is riding Nsync. Luisa is behind her. We are tasked with guiding her by voice. We head for the canter out and the canter back. Debs is in her element. I salute you Debs!
Debs and I are left at the stables whilst Cheryl, Don and Luisa go to the shops and home. They return and we set up for the afternoon ride. Don is taking Debs to the airport this afternoon. I am riding Apollo. It is a mix of Advanced to beginners. It is a full house with 20 riders in all. I take Joel, the Mongol child who came on Tuesday to ride, for his ride down to the beach. Joel is riding Alex. We meet his parents there. The advanced group and those who will only be trotting, have just got down to the beach. The clouds are closing in. We need to head home. We are half way back and the lightning and thunder is growing. Apollo is becoming fractious and nervous. I am walking him on quickly. We cannot trot as we have to take it easy for Joel. I ask the lead guy to quicken Alex’s pace. The rains begin. Cheryl, with those trotting, pass by us. We step up our walking pace. The advanced riders trot past us in a hurry. Apollo is not happy and wants to go. I ask Luisa to stay back with me. She tells me to go on ahead with the advanced riders. She can see Apollo is not happy. I release my reins on Apollo and he breaks into a canter with the next clap of thunder. We catch up to the other riders. The heavens truly open up. There are now 18 of us rushing to get home. We are over the moon when we get to the stables and have very quick dismounts and untacking of the horses. We get home and I jump in the shower to clean and warm up from our drenching. I can wash my hair for the first time since the 6th. We eat and I retire to bed early.

8th JAN

Not a day to write about. I retire to bed with no dinner. It has rained most of the night. It is good as it means we will get water once again, so we can shower etc.

7th JAN

Again, I have a night full of coughing. Sorry Debs. I battled to get up this morning. I managed to dress by 08h55 and had to put my shoes and chaps on in the car. Luisa and Janine went to round the horses up. Don and Cheryl were met by the husband of the lady who was injured in the stable yard. Debs and I went to prepare the feed for the horses. We had a fair size ride this morning. We start off slow and just with trotting. Cheryl splits us in to 2 groups at the beach, for those who want to canter and those who don’t. We head home after a good ride out. Time is rushing us, so we head to the shops to grab a pie and head back to the stables to prepare for the afternoon ride. I am told to take the afternoon off.
I fetch everyone from the stables at 17h45, come home and help to prepare supper. I shower and retire early after eating.

ALL GOES WELL? 6th JAN

I have had a bad night sleep and have been coughing all night. I am sure Debs is not pleased. I think the flu is coming on. Luisa and Janine go to fetch the horses from the field. Debs and I are to prepare the feed. We arrive at the stables and Debs inspects the area from the previous days event, to arrive at some further conclusions as to what went wrong. We enter the stables, which have clearly been raided by the local cows, who have knocked over a barrel of Creosote right into the entrance where the horses come in. Debs and I dig up soil to place in the creosote to dry out the area. Cheryl has invited a Mongol child to be her guest for the ride today. She will look after him personally. His name is Joel. We have mixed riders and Debs will take the kids. I am riding Apollo. The canter up the road to the cliffs is not pleasant, as Apollo is set on going farming. After a bit of hard work and coaxing Luisa and I manage to get him back onto the road. We enjoy the canter on the cliffs and head for the beach ride, which was enjoyed by all.
We grab lunch in the car and head back for the afternoon ride. I am riding Gunstone and will lead the ride. Luisa is taking Atlas out, who has not been out since Laura last came off him, having only been ridden twice. Debs will again take the kids out ride. Don and Cheryl will follow the ride in the car just to make sure all goes well with Atlas, so if there are any glitches, they are at ground level to sort it out. We have a good ride out to the cliffs and as we cross the bridge, Atlas is not too sure about this crossing. With a bit of coaxing from Don and Cheryl, Luisa gets Atlas over the bridge. We head for the beach and it has clouded over, the beach is nearly empty. We prepare to canter and enjoy a long canter out and an even longer canter back on the beach. Everyone has really enjoyed their beach ride.
We get home and Cheryl arranges for us to all go to Franks’ farm to bath, as we are once again out of water. Just whilst preparing to go to Frank, Cheryl gets a call about the lady who I landed on, from the previous days fall. Her husband is asking Cheryl to accept liability for the medical bills as apparently she also has 5 broken ribs. Our high spirits fall very quickly. It is not a good situation for Cheryl. It was a freak accident which occurred. We all go to bath and collect water for the house. We eat dinner when back home and I hit the sack early.

I, THE GERMAN, FOR TODAY, NOW WITH AIR BAGS! 5th JAN

The Knee

We bring the horses in for the morning ride and feed and tack up. There are 18 of us going out this morning. We tack up and start to get the clients mounted. I have tacked Buckle up and comment to Don how friendly Buckle is this morning, even helping me to put his bridle on. I tighten his girth and get the client to mount. I walk around Buckle to tighten his girth one more notch. As I lift the flap of the saddle, Buckle takes a bite out of my back. I am in shock and ready to boot the s%#^%$ out of him. I have to compose myself, as I cannot put the client at risk. I leave Buckle and retreat to the stables, to have my own personal cry baby session, with Nsync, who I am riding this morning. Debs and I take out the kids group, whilst the rest go on ahead with the more experienced riders. We meet up with the other riders, entering at the first gate. I see Don and enquire as to whether their group had met up with any Germans on the beach? With hindsight, perhaps not an appropriate question. We return to the stables, just in time to grab a bite and tack up again for the next ride.
We are taking 6 kids riding this afternoon. We begin with mounting them and start to prepare our own mounts. Cheryl has decided I am riding Hermes this afternoon. Hermes has only recently been backed and is a baby at 3 years old. I take Hermes to the “Launch Pad”, to mount him. Cheryl is giving the lessons to the kids. September brings Zeus out and is standing close by to me at the launch pad. One of the Mothers asks me whether we are going to put safety belts on the kids I have a quiet chuckle to myself and tell her not to worry, the kids are safe. Debs is already in the front of the line with Midnight. I put my foot in the stirrup and begin to mount, whilst Hermes decides to start walking off and then bursts into a gallop. I am not too sure what happened next! What I do realize though, is that I am on the ground, on top of a Mother of one of the kids going on the ride, about 10 meters away from the launch pad, and Hermes has gone with the wind. It is the Mother who had just enquired about safety belts….. and, she had been advising Debs on “Vichy Cream” for sunburn. Well, we have decided, having seen how the client had landed with her face in a cow pat, she was clearly referring to Sh876tty cream!
I decided not to continue with my outride and to return home instead, possibly to mend my dented pride and knee, which took a serious knock (possibly to the clients head). When the rest of the clan returned home, Debs doctored me with Ice packs and Myprodol. A few good laughs were had tonight whilst preparing dinner and recapping my attack on the client. She is in our thoughts however, having just been informed that she has been admitted to East Londons’ hospital, with concussion.

THE NORMANDY LANDING AT MORGAN BAY 4th JAN

The chocolate cake

We have a big ride this morning and a mixed one at that. Janine has arrived with her chocolate cake from when she fell off Maverick. Veronica and Jess leave this morning. Cheryl however, has lost her voice and delegates her duties to Don and me. Louisa has had dreadful asthma all night and is out of action. Don, Debbie, Janine and I trek off to the stables. I am tasked with introducing the riders to all the horses. Don is tasked with selecting horses for the riders. Janine and Debs help tack up etc. We head out. We have two German ladies with us, who are on Buckle and Midnight. I am riding Gunstone. Debs is on Zeus. Don leads the canter up the cliffs and the German ladies decide to swap horses as the one on Midnight is battling to get him going. The other German mounts Midnight and rides him perfectly. Debs is tail end Charlie and Janine is in the middle of the ride. We head for the beach and Janine holds back with a client on Alex. I am leading the canter off, with Buckle and Midnight behind me, followed by Robin and Nsync and the rest. As we get the canter going, I hear Robins’ rider shouting “Stop Robin, Stop!” I halt the canter and look behind me. I see a crumpled back pack on the beach – Wait, it’s NOT a back pack – It’s the German lady off Buckle. “Vot is she doing down dare, I am Vondering?”
We need to think out of the box. The client is in a state of shock and has hurt her ankle. Don gets those who still want to canter, on the move. We get Debs to keep the group of riders who do not want to canter, together. We have beach goers holding the three horses whilst I am trying to assist the beached Chairman and her Chairman friend. We get two young men come and offer to take the shocked German back to the Hotel. We now head home and get back just in time to tack up for the afternoon ride. We are waiting to feed. I open the gates of the stables to let the horses in to feed, and am grateful for the gate, which Buckle kicks when trying to kick out at me. I kick Buckle back! It is the only language they know. It is better to react to the horses in a way they understand, versus raising your hands to them.
We are pleased as we have an experienced rider coming and can clearly enjoy our afternoon outing after the mishap of this morning. I have decided to take Bliss! The client is taking Maverick. We canter up the hill to the cliffs. I am not enjoying my ride on Bliss, who insists in shaking his head or going farming. On the way down to the beach, the client offers to swap horses with me. I now ride Maverick, a 4 year old, recently backed. He is a good ride and we have a good canter on the beach. I watch the client on Bliss, who now gets competitive with Dons’ horse on the canter back, and in mid canter, Bliss strikes to kick out. Shoo, I am glad I was not on Bliss. Two minutes later, Midnight kicks out at Maverick and I, minding our own business. We head home. We all sit around together in the kitchen, in hysterics, going through the days events.

SO MUCH FOR AN EARLY NIGHT! 3rd JAN

What it is to be a kid again. All the “young” kids went out on a jol last night and left us behind. Well, so much for my early night! Debs came to bed last night and she and I relived our youth, giggling to the stupidest things on earth. The kids came home at one in the morning and decided to join us in our room. There was much singing and joking going on: Do the Macarena on Midnight! Eventually, at 02h00, we decided it was lights out time.
We were slow to rise but had to prepare for the ride and out we went. Quite a slow ride was had and it was rather windy. Cheryl is rapidly losing her voice!

OH THAT WAS SO NEARLY A CHOCOLATE CAKE 2nd JAN

Debs and I chatted for quite a while last night whilst I tried to brief her on the day to day procedures. We woke up this morning to a miserable morning with no electricity and no water. We all stayed in bed as long as possible and then we were off to the stables. The rain has stopped. The development kids had already moved the horses over to the stables yesterday, so we only had to feed. We had 2 clients this morning but 8 of us in total went out. I rode Nsync. We had some good fun and laughs and tried out some acrobatics too. I almost had to bake cake! Went home for lunch and were back for the afternoon ride. This time there were 4 clients and Cheryl, Don, Debs and me. I rode Gunstone this afternoon. We had an awesome out ride and managed some stunning long canters on the beach. I do believe that is Debs I see doing a dance with her arms, whilst cantering on Midnight! Oops, is she, is she, is she going to fall off? Is that chocolate cake I see coming? And the canter stops and there is no chocolate cake! Cheryl heads home and tells me one client and I can stay and have another canter on the beach. She is riding Royal. As we pass Don, I egg him on to join the Dames for an extra canter. We have stunning canters up and back down the beach. Such a feeling of freedom you cannot possibly enjoy any other way! I love it. I am in heaven. Thanks Cheryl for making this all possible and for reinstating my self confidence with the horses. We head home. Don manages to sort out the electricity and water. Hooray for Don! I shower and am ready for a good nights sleep.

A NEW YEAR UPON US 01st JAN 2009

Life is given to us 1 day at a time.
Don’t look back and grieve about the past,
For it has GONE!
Don’t be troubled by the future,
As GOD will provide!
Live each day and make it SO beautiful,
That it WILL be worth living!

A new day and a new year have dawned: Live life to its fullest.

We all seem to wake around 09h00, grab our first cuppa and retire back to bed. It is overcast and windy. We do not ride on New Years day. Don and Cheryl need to go to East London today to fetch a volunteer, Debs, arriving for the next 9 days. Debs is South African and has come home for 2 months from the UK. She is from Durban and has been home with her parents for a month.
In between having coffee and flapjacks with Don and Cheryl and all the kids, in their bedroom this morning, I stay in bed as long as I can today. We all seem to stroll in and out the kitchen during the day and each of us have a turn in returning the kitchen to normality, after last night. It starts to rain and the gale winds are blowing. Don, Cheryl and Debs return home. We unpack groceries and I am so chuffed Cheryl has bought a new potato peeler. Their existing one has such a large wide handle and was definitely meant for a man with large hands to use. We chill out for the rest of the day. I am sure the rest will do me good. I am feeling better today. Cheryl is cooking battered fish for dinner tonight. I am oh so looking forward to it. We shall all be in for an early night tonight. Predictions for the weather tomorrow are not good, but we pray for riding weather.