Today

Today has been spent mostly on the stoep enjoying the winter sun and our beautiful surroundings. Bliss :)

Welcome back Kayleigh :)

Inspired by Mdumbi's beautiful creations

Two old friends, Mel and Max, came up from Grahamstown to visit me and we stayed at Mdumbi backpackers for the long weekend. We had so much fun catching up and having a bit of a break. Above, Max tackles the sea on a fishing expedition.

Mdumbi beach and river
I loved all Mdumi's rustic arty functional creations. Cool bench on stoep:

Birds on driftwood ornament
Driftwood banister

My favourite: shelf unit

I love these mosaiced bathroom floors

Bathroom walls complete with Xhosa bathing words

Hut decoration

My new bed

I have been sleeping on Kate's beautiful double brass bed frame for the last year or so (because it didn't fit in her new room). So when Kate left Zithulele and took her bed with her, i had to decide whether to revert back to the single bed i used in 2009 when i stayed in the nurses' res or to make another plan. Having slept on a double bed for almost my whole life i wasn't so keen on the single bed. I should add that Kate only took the bed frame, the mattress belongs to "the hospital" (whatever that actually means) so all i needed was a new frame. Enter Roger....

Roj has been teaching himself woodwork and produced some beautiful creations from recycled wood. Living out here makes it difficult to find furniture and to transport it back (especially when u have a small car and want a big bed). So i decided to ask Roj to design a bed and commission him to build it for me. I had two main criteria: a nice headboard, and space for storage under the bed. So the bed was designed and construction began.

With Brian's help, Roger quickly built the bed. I decided i wanted it dark so he used 4 coats of woodock. The bed is really solid weighing a lot more than i do, and took 3 men to get it into my bedroom. There was a little concern (or a lot of Roger's part) that the bed wouldn't fit through the door, but fortunately it did. I am delighted with the end result. The heart cut-out is becoming Roger's trademake and i think it finishes it off perfectly. I love my bed :)

My most exciting book

I read this book ("Red Moon Rising" by Pete Grieg and Dave Roberts) twice while I was at varsity and both times it made my so excited, it gave me goose bumps. It has been a landmark book in my life. At the moment, I'm busy creating a prayer room at Zithulele and wanted others to catch the vision, so I decided it was time to purchase my own copy. Kalahari.com is a wonderful invention for rural dwellers! This book tells the story of 24-7 prayer movement rising up around the world. The movement inspired us, as a bunch a UCT students who hardly knew each other but were united in passion, to embark on a journey of prayer like never before. A definite highlight of my varsity years and an experience of passion and unity I have seldom seen since.

Read it! And be inspired!

Creative storage solutions

I was getting fed up of all the clutter and disorganisation in my bedroom - especially my rapidly- growing creative stuff collection. I sorted my stuff into cardboard boxes (from the hospital pharmacy) that fit the space available. I covered the end of each box with wrapping paper and contact.

Above, is the top shelf of my wardrobe looking very neat. The butterfly boxes on the right are my fabric collection :)

Bedside unit looks better too. Both boxes are also sewing stuff! I am happy with the results :)

The joys of living with a doctor (part 2)

Very similar to part 1: Another experience of an unusual surprise when I opened Liz's fridge

Unfortunate incident

An afternoon of baby-sitting

Pierre-Andre and Berdine (comserve doctor and his wife) rescued two little abandoned puppies and nutured them for several weeks. They really had to work hard, waking up to attend to them several times every night. Anyway, one friday afternoon, they wanted to go shopping in Mthatha but realised the puppies wouldn't do very well left alone for so long, so i offered to baby-sit them.

The puppies required constant attention as my garden is not fenced in and I was terrified they would eat someone's plants and get ex-communicated from the Plaza (our housing compound). Thankfully, after about an hour of running around they would calm down and sleep for an hour. Then they would go crazy again and the cycle would keep repeating itself.

At some point during the puppy-sitting, the children arrived on the scene. Then the puppies would require extra attention as they are a little rough and the kids need protection from getting mauled. The kids also wanted to me to play with them - which I was very keen to do, but it was rather tricky keeping an eye on 5 kids and 2 puppies at the same time!

Puppies and children were all just too cute and needed lots of pictures. No pics of awake puppies as they don't keep still!

Beans
Lily
They may be hard work, but they are super cuddly!

Lesson of the day: I don't want 7 children!

Mpako adventure

2o of the Zithulele gang headed to a community-run campsite near Port St John's for an awesome weekend of fun in the sun.

Tetris packing: can you see Jack?

Epic 4x4ing. We drove 4 cars in convoy - the scenic route :)

View from the deck (above)
Beautiful sunsetSun downers :)

Karen taking advantage of Angela's dirty car, while we wait for Ian to negotiate a tricky bit on the road home.

Good times at Nzulwini clinic!

Sewing skills put to the test

Pressure garments are something OTs are supposed to make to prevent scarring after a burn. They are made out of a special fabric (dont ask me what its called) and have to be extremely tight and perfectly fitted. Fortunately the fabric is stretchy which makes it easier to get a tight fit, but an intracite pattern still needs to be designed specifically for each patient. This is my first ever pressure garment which would not exist if it wasn't for Kate rescuing me when i was freaking out because i didn't have all the measurements and didn't know what the pattern is supposed to look like. A huge step-up for my newly-aquired sewing skills!

But it turned out pretty well. The pants actually look almost like r

egular clothes: leggings :)

Ironically, after not making any pressure garments for 2 years, I ended up making 3 in one week!

Number 2 is this vest which gave me a lot of trouble with the shoulders and armpits. By this stage in the week (also trying to finger out PG 3: a glove!) i enlisted some help in the form of Julia and Elizabet (2 Sweedish Jabulani volunteers). So they helped with many adjustments needed to get the vest tight enough. Again, a happy result:

Can hardly see he's wearing it under his T-shirt :)

(by the way: the children's heads are cut off for confidentiality purposes, not because i cannot take a proper picture)

Gracie's birthday

Grace is turning 5 next week! (seemed like the other day it was 3!). Daddy Ben has a tradition of making his children's birthday cakes (well actually Taryn bakes them and Ben decorates them and gets all the credit). This year Grace chose a sweet shop.

The children were entertained with balloon hats...

but it seems like the adults were having more fun!

The birthday girl and Emma in their pretty dresses