"Jubilee Home Fun Day"

Early Saturday morning everyone was off doing their bit for the Jubilee Home Fun Day.

First the Jumping Castle was set up then the rolls collected for the hot dogs and of course the long awaited Face Painting Station manned by the grand kids.

From the start we kids lining up for their Face Paint and keeping us busy on the Jumping Castles.

We had to keep an eye on them at the pool as well so there was no rest for the wicked.

Midday the munched on Hot dogs until not a crumb was left and we kept the cold drinks

flowing throughout the day.

Just after lunch a very special lady arrived from Heart Filled Parties with her sweet machines and set up her station with a real Christmas feel. Christmas decorations and balloons adorned their kiosk and they even wore their Father Christmas hats while they served the kids.

The kids could eat as much as they liked - Candy Floss - Pop Corn - Snow Cones. All going down very well with people that really understand children.

We have one more surprise for them and on Christmas Eve we will arrive with a Special gift pack for each of the children.

The draw for Nan's Quilt No 14 was done and a big thank you to Mr. Keith Faulke from the Wattlespring Gun Club that supported us. You are the owner of our quilt.

We would like to say some special thank yous to the people that made this day very special for the children of Jubilee Home.

First the the Basics Group: Our main sponsor for the day. Thank you very much, without you this day would not have been possible.

Vaugh Hatting

Wendy and Trevor from Heart Filled Parties.

All who bought tickets for our raffle

May you all be Blessed - Have a wonderful Christmas - and once again, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Due to pending court cases that the children are involved in we have had to be very cautious with exposing the identities of the children but I sure hope you get the feel of the day from our pics, it was great fun for all.

Jubilee Home & Nan's Quilt No 14

Tomorrow is our big "Jubilee Home Fun Day"
Thank you to all who made it possible, we are very excited to do this for the children.
Everything is set and all we are hoping for is good weather for the children to enjoy the day outdoors.
Jumping Castles, all the food, drinks, treats, party packs, etc are ready to be delivered in the morning and set up.
Our draw For Nan's Quilt No 14 will also be done during the day.
SO - WATCH THIS SPACE

Quad Day Ride for Sunfields Home

We have not been on a quad ride for a few months so we had to make time for this one.

It is a very special ride that Family Adventures puts together to raise funds and goods for the Sunfields Home for Handicapped People.

We arrived at Fortuna Resort near Balfour just after eight in the morning to check in and deliver our grocery parcel for the home.



Glenn Foley and his team always do a great job and everything is always super organized with tickets for lunch, making sure you have emergency numbers at hand and smiles all round from the guys that have been at work since early hours of the morning.

Once everyone had unloaded and geared up we set off on a mass ride to Sunfield Home where the kids awaited the Bikers.

They were super exited, not only for the bikers but Father Christmas was arriving.

After a few Christmas carols and a thank you from the kids we were off on our ride

Two routes today. One into the Koppies and one to Balfour, then also some fun loops near base camp in the quarries and hills.

Even the rain added loads of fun to the ride.

Lovely buffet lunch where we ate way too much.

We always enjoy this, so thank you Glenn Foley and Family Adventures for a super year of
riding. May you be greatly Blessed and have an awesome 2014.

Golden City Shooting Club

Saturday saw the last club shoot of the year at Golden City Shooting Club.

Normally we shoot both Saturday and Sunday but this was a one day shoot only so the shooters were double what we normally are.

Just a short shoot of 6 stages - 114 shots but loads of fun once again.

In our detail we again met guys that we had not shot with before.

Thanks Justin, Kristy, Grant, Alex - you were real fun to shoot with.

Salvation Army Creche

We had loads of fun again today.

We did lunch at the Salvation Army Creche in Benoni.




We loved sharing the day with all the busy little chatterboxes that had so much to tell us.








We will be seeing you again 

Classic Arms Gun Collectors Auction

C 006 and C 008

The day of the long awaited Classic Arms Gun Collector Auction arrived, much to the delight of Richard.

He now fancies himself as a collector since he received his collectors certificate.

Only the Further competency License still has to arrive.

Auction day is exciting as it reminds me of the cattle
auctions we used to attend.

There must have been in excess of 500 lots to be auctioned.

Now it is down to the business of getting the paper work done for each of the firearms.

 

D 001 and D 002

There are loads of forms to fill in and motivations to be prepared but I am becoming an expert in this so I think from now on I will have to charge Richard for my services.



Here is the start of his collection.

D 129 and D 131

C6  Egyptian Hakim Rifle Bayonet. In original & excellent condition, complete with original metal scabbard.

C8 .303 No. 9 Bayonet For No. 4 rifle. Bowie type blade. Good condition.

D1 9mmp Artillery P-08 Luger Pistol Ladder rear sight in front of the breech which is stamped 1917.Toggle marked "Erfurt" under a crown. All matching numbers to parts. Some light dings to chequering on grips, high % original finish with some loss of finish to high spots. Overall good to good plus original condition.

D 052

D26, 35mm Mauser WTP Pistol Mauser WTP model 11. Left side of slide marked "Mauser-Werke A. G. Oberndorf an N" and the Mauser logo. Right side of slide marked "W.T.P.-6,35-D.R.P". Rare & collectable, the WTP11 was only produced in 1938 & 39. Serial Number 63954. Pistol is complete with original magazine, in very good & fully original condition. Bluing worn on edges of slide. No cracks or chips to grip plates.

D52 6,35mm FN "Baby" Browning Pistol Serial Number 70017. 2" barrel, 6 shot. Very good plus to excellent condition.

D129 6,35mm Ortgies Pistol S/N 183883. Popular with Nazi officials. Squeeze grip safety. 6 shot magazine. Plain wooden grips, expected wear to original finish. Good overall condition

D131 7,62x25mm CZ VZ52 Service Pistol Roller cam operated locked breech system with 4,5" barrel, good bore. Brown bakelite grips. Good plus original condition. Scarce.

F 104

F104 .410 British" Walking Stick" Shotgun The best example, the bore is good and there is a sensible muzzle plug, easily removed to fire the gun. Rotate the brass ferrule until the trigger appears. Barrel is 26 1/2" and in fairly good shape though the ban on 3" Magnum cartridges remains! Good condition.

We had a super day

Nan's Quilts No 14 and Jubilee Home Fun Day

The wheels are turning and we are getting sorted with the "Jubilee Home Fun Day"

Money for the Jumping Castle has been donated.

The Raffle has so far sold 43 tickets and that is just after one meeting. The draw for Nan's Quilt No 14 will be done by one of the children on the "Jubilee Home Fun Day"

Just to keep everyone in the loop I am posting the raffle tickets sold so far and will keep this up to date for anyone wanting to check this out.

Thanks so far to all helping with the arrangements, we know it is difficult to put in the time especially when the holiday season is approaching.

Maglite Shoot at Wattlespring Gun Club

Getting Set For The Day

You Are Never Too Young To Start Shooting

Back to some Clay Target Shooting which I have really missed and what better way than to take part in a Maglite shoot

There is always good camaraderie so therefore there is always a good turnout.

On The Range

If I am not mistaken there must have been in the vicinity of 65 guns for the day.

From the gerasics to the youngsters. Good to see.

Good scores were posted once again and lovely prizes up for grabs.

Thanks Maglite and Thanks Wattlespring Gun Club.

Golf Ball size Hail

This is our first full summer back in Gauteng in the past thirteen years and we had forgotten about the electric thunderstorms that the Highveld has.

Tuesday early evening we one such storm accompanied by golf ball size hail.

Quiet scary but beautiful

Cafe de Cirque

On Sunday after the church service we decided it was time to get a good practice run in on
the Harleys.

With our intercom systems now perfected it is super to travel and be able to chat to each other.

We set off and one of my biggest worries was how I was going to hand some of the big highway interchanges. Giloolies Farm Interchanges is one of those that is busy no matter what the time of day and when all the highways converge it is a made rush to change lanes for all traffic.

I came out tops there and it gives me much more confidence to tackle the peak hour traffic.
We travelled out to Cafe de Cirque which is past Alberton and on the highway to Vereeniging.

We stopped off for a cup of coffee at Cafe de Cirque which is lovely with all the tables under enormous oak trees and umbrellas on the lawn. I actually thought there would be more bikers but it was pretty quiet.

Back home safe with about 160km trip under the belt.

We had a super day

Golden City Club Shoot

A Tiny Slit To Shoot Through

Whoop Whoop - One of my favourite days.
We received notification for the club shoot with the heading "Balls to the Wall"
6 Stages and you need 240 rounds of ammo.
Normally with a 6 stage shoot we would need between 150 and 170 rounds so this sounded like we were going to do some serious shooting.

RO Keeping a Watchful Eye

There were 6 stages of 40 rounds each.
The stages varied with poppers and targets. There were swingers and disappearing targets.
But the secret of the shoot was the strategy that you were going to use with the magazine changes.
Each shooter had a different outlook on the stage.
I loved the long stages and am really pleased with my STI 40 now that my jams are sorted out.

Pennington

A Drizzly Last Night

Friday morning we woke up early and started to pack.

The Long Road Back

We are getting fairly organized now that we get away on a regular basis.
Packing up didn't even take half an hour.
It was Richard's birthday and he had to do the drive back home - lucky he enjoys driving.
We travelled all the highways back home and we reckon it is not much quicker than when we drove down to the coast because the highways are so busy with big transport vehicles.
Sometimes we had to travel as slow as 80 kph.
Arrived back home all safe and sound at 3:30 quickly got the washing mashine on and prepared a steak with some good wine for Richard's birthday.
I even did the candles for him.
We really had a good time.

Pennington and Oribi Gorge

Yesterday was a lazy beach day.

The sun was out and one of those days where you just lap up the sun.

We had a late luch at the "Village Pub and Grill" and ended up having ice cream for supper. Our excuse for this is - " We are on Holiday"

Today was a bit overcast and windy and when we got down to the beach we aere staving.
Must have been the ice cream supper.

We had breakfast at the Beach Bistro and just relaxed with our books.

We went off to Oribi Gorge which is absolutely beautiful.
Oribi Gorge is situated along the spectacular forest-cloakedMzimkulwana river just west of Port Shepstone which itself is 120 km south of Durban. Oribi Gorge is the eastern gorge of two gorges that cuts through the Oribi Flats (flat sugarcane farmlands), southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The western gorge was formed by the Mzimkulu river. At the base of the cliffs of both gorges there are rocks over 1000 million years old while the cliffs themselves are formed from sandstone deposited about 365 million years ago. Below the gorges is a large surface mine producing cement. The road through Oribi Gorge was built by Italian prisoners of war.
ravine of the

It is also lovely travelling when it is school time and there are hardly any tourist around. No queing at a supermarket, no waiting for a table at a retaurant, no noisy kids on the beach.

Tonight is our last night so we will eat out and thendo a bit of packing.

Pennington Waves

Monday night after supper we rolled up the blinds and crept into bed.
No alarms - no message - from the gate - all mobiles switched off.
During the night we heard the soft drizzle but we are on holiday and as always nothing much upsets us. We are quite OK to take things as they come. Rain or shine.
When we eventually surfaced it was eight thirty.
Took a shower, explored the neighbourhood and then checked out the beach.
We decided to have a pasta lunch (and a glass of wine since we are on holiday) and then

see which way the weather turns.
The sun broke through the clouds just after three and we headed for the beach. We are really quite jacked you must see us. We have our cooler box and our bag with towels and goodies for the beach and our deck chairs all loaded on our shooting trollies and get about with such ease. No lugging heavy thing. With age comes wisdom.
We had supper at the same local restaurant again, we have not found another one yet. Had steaks and lamb chops.
No rain so it looks like Tuesday will be a good day for the beach.

Natal Midlands and Pennington

The Beauty of the Country Side

Yesterday we woke up to a drizzly beautiful morning.

We were still off the beaten track all day exploring the back roads. 

The roads are not bad once you cross over into  Kwazulu Natal.

Along the Midlands Meander

I have not been to the Drakensberg area for forty years and cannot remember anything about the area. There are so many changes I do not even recognise the names. You know all names have changed here in South Africa. I feel sorry for our school kids doing geography trying to keep up with the change of names of towns, cities and airports.

It was so educational to travel off the main highway just to see what was going on in the hills of Natal.

It is beautiful and lush and in these small towns there are no squatter camps like in the cities.

Lounge in our Apartment

We went into Howick to find the restaurant where we had the fabulous duck and pork belly dishes last time we were there but it is under new management and the menu is now just plain burgers and steaks.

This made us decide to hit the road to the coast and we called Pennington Waves where we

are supposed to book in on Tuesday and see if we can arrive a day early and EUREKA they have our apartment ready so tonight we are at the seaside.

Our Bedroom

We will be at Pennington Waves for the rest of the week. It is like home away from home. An entire apartment with three bedrooms two bathrooms lovely kitchen, lounge with big screen TV, dining room, air-conditioning, you name it we have all the luxuries.

Had pepper steak and lasagna for supper at the local restaurant which we had to wait over an hour for but was worth the wait.

This is Natal and the people are very laid back – no hurry here

Sterkfontein Dam and Winterton

Sterkfontein Dam

Yesterday morning we attended the morning service at Northfield Methodist Church and then

loaded the car because everything was packed and ready to go the night before already.

Ten o’clock and we were on our way – Richard promising that this was going to be a leisure drive with no speeding. He kept his word and even he enjoyed all the back roads we took.

On to the N3 up to Harrismith where we veered off and took the R74 to Sterkfontein Dam.

R 74 - A Main Road

An amazing dam lying between the mountains with pristine blue water. No smog in the air. No industry polluting the waters.

Only if you are a South African can you appreciate what I am about to tell you.

On the R74 between Sterkfontein Dam and Bergville there is a thirty kilometre section of the road where only one half of the road (and this is a road you would use with no hesitation if you are looking at the map as it shows as a main road) can be used. We had to come to a dead stop and then go through the potholes because they are so many and so deep. Advancing and oncoming traffic have to rely on some good manners to give way.

Apparently the government ran out of funds to pay the contractors so they packed up their

The Bridge Hotel in Winterton

tools and took off but it looks like the contractors didn’t know what they were doing.

“Only in Africa”

The scenery through the passes is absolutely spectacular and tonight we overnight in Winterton. It is Sunday and everything closes at two o’clock. Lucky the lodge closed at 4pm so we at least have a bed tonight.

It is real comfy and homely but all the restaurants are closed so we will have our left over chicken from our braai the previous night.

Prof David Block at Northfield

On Wednesday evening our long awaited evening with Prof David Block did not disappoint.
His views and knowledge of on the universe is so interesting that he kept us captivated for two and a half hours with his presentation.
He himself loves Gods creation to such an extent that he stands in awe of the photos that he took and this he carried over to us.

Professor David Block was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of

London at age of 19.
His first research paper, on relativistic astrophysics, was published in London, by the Royal Astronomical Society, at age 20. 
Professor Block has been a visiting research scientist at the Australian National University, the European Southern Observatory in Germany, Harvard University, the California Institute of Technology and the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, amongst others.
Professor Block’s latest accolade is the prestigious National Science & Technology Forum-BHP Billiton Award for “his outstanding contribution to science, engineering, technology and innovation through communication for outreach and creating awareness over the last five years.”

This is how world-renowned US astronomer John Kormendy describes the career of Professor Block:
 “David Block is to South Africa what Carl Sagan was to American astronomy – his pioneering discoveries are reshaping astronomical paradigms, and his imprint on human culture is a legacy to all South Africans as you build your future in the technological 21st century.”

Nan's Quilt No 15

Nan's Quilts No 15 is finished and this quilts goes to our newest grand-daughter Logan.

May you have great joy from your quilt - I sewed loads of love into it.

Love you Baby Girl

3 Gun Shoot at Golden City Shooting Club

Shotgun

My Favourite Hobby - You guessed right - Shooting!

Rifle

Saturday was the 3 gun shoot and we went along to see what it was all about because Richard would love to shoot this.

3 Gun is a hand gun section, a rifle section and a shotgun section.

There are different categories in each section which I will still get more information about.


We shot the hand gun secsion with members of the Dave Sheer Shooting Club and then observed and scored the rest of the day.

Handgun

There is so much to research and learn about the 3 gun division that we will only make a decision on what to shoot after much thought.

Thanks to Demi, Arthur, Leon. Michael, Seekunder and Shuabe for making it a
most interesting day.