Sunday, 6th September

Well...almost a month since I last updated the blog. The nice thing is that it feels like much longer which means the days are busy.

No great shakes or much to update on Jimmy.  He is still on Cortisone but this has now been reduced over the last month.  Firstly from 12 to 10 a day and then 9 and on Friday when Jimmy had his bloods done the dosage was reduced to 8.  He is still having his bloods done once a week and everything is good except for his platelets which are still low.  I have stopped recording them now as they tend to go up and down all the time, Friday's count was 92 but he is still not displaying any symptoms of a low platelet count.  And the good news is that they have not dropped dramatically as a result of the Cortisone dosage being lowered.

I would say the only side effect that Jimmy is experiencing at the moment is bloating as a result of the Cortisone.  His face especially is very puffy and last night I noticed that the left hand side is more puffy than the right so I will give Olivia a call tomorrow just to check up that this isn't a concern.  Shame, Jimmy keeps saying that he needs to go on a diet but not much is going to help until he is completely weaned off the Cortisone.  I think he really misses his once or twice a week run of squash to keep his fitness levels up but unfortunately he will not be able to play again.  He is thoroughly enjoying playing golf again and plays most Saturdays now.

We are into September already and I can't believe how the year is flying. Loren and Shannon are busy writing mock matric and Emma starts exams next week and then it's school holidays again at the beginning of October.  We have had a glorious few days of weather with temperatures in the high 20's, it really has felt like Spring has sprung.  But as I type the wind has picked up, the temperature has dropped considerably and I can see the cold front coming in off the sea.  For the next few days anyway Winter is back and we're expecting quite a bit of rain.  I really can't wait for Summer to arrive.  A bit unfair that we were teased like this with warm sunny days and no wind.

You might remember that we had planned a trip up to Zimbabwe, Botswana and Chobe last year in October to celebrate Jimmy's 50th birthday, which was in September, but we had to cancel due to his illness.  We had to make use of the airline tickets we had originally booked by the end of September this year as they could not hold them out for us any longer without us losing the money so we decided to go up to the Kruger National Park for a week.  We left last Thursday and got back on Wednesday.  We spent 4 nights at Simbavati Lodge and 2 at Buhala Lodge.  What a treat...

We left a windy, cold 15 degree Cape Town to land at Kruger Mpumalanga Airport in a sweltering 32 degrees.  We had some amazing animal sightings on the game drives and enjoyed beautiful meals on the decks at both places.  Simbavati Lodge overlooks a watering hole in a very dry riverbed and Buhala Lodge is situated on the banks of the Crocodile River.  We are very fortunate to experience the most beautiful sunsets here in Noordhoek overlooking the beach but there is something about a bush sunset.  We were lucky enough to see Leopard 3 times as well as a pack of 16 Wild Dogs.  And a first for us was seeing Honey Badgers in the wild.  We came across a herd of about 400 Buffalo which was amazing to see.  At Simbavati we went on a morning and afternoon game drive each day and at Buhala we arranged a game drive with their ranger.  What a delight.  We were taken by a retired lady ranger called Pam and it was just us on the game vehicle.  She picked us up at 5:30 and we only got back 6 hours later having enjoyed a lovely bush breakfast too.  We also had an amazing ranger, Rex and a tracker called Daniel at Simbavati for the 4 days.  It always amazes me that it doesn't matter how many game drives you have been on or how many times you see a specific animal, you always learn something new from a ranger.

It's Jimmy's 51st birthday next week so I need to sort out a special present for him, not like me to leave things for the last minute!  I also need to collect my mom and my visas tomorrow.....just one month till we leave.  I have a long list from Megan of things she wants me to get and bring over for her.  Loren's matric dance dress is done so we also need to sort out all her accessories.  And next weekend we'll be going up to Lutzville for the Komatsu golf weekend which of course we missed last year so we are looking forward to see everyone again.

I started golf lessons myself 3 weeks ago which I am thoroughly enjoying (I know....but if you can't beat them join them!).  We have a lovely group of ladies and enjoy a good laugh.  I had attempted playing golf about 8 or 9 years ago but found that the girls were still too young and I didn't really have the time.  I can't wait to have a round of golf with Emma and I am very competitive so Jimmy had better watch out.  I was very spoilt last week as Jimmy came home with a new pair of golf shoes and a rescue for me.

I am going to pop a couple of our holiday photos here but will upload them all into the section down the right hand side of the home page called 'Getting away from it all'.

A BIG, BIG thank you to all our friends who put money together for Jimmy's 50th birthday present last year.  We were told to go away somewhere special and that is exactly what this holiday was.  It was a very special time away together and we made unforgettable memories.  We count our blessings each and everyday.



Breakfast on the deck overlooking the watering hole
and Simbavati Lodge



Buhala Lodge