A new year, a new dawn

Dear friends,

Today is not only the start of a new year, but the start of our holiday to South Africa for a few weeks!!! Some sunshine, blue skies, fishing, swiming, relaxing with family... and taking loads of photos!!! What better way to start a new year?

I hope and pray this is a happy, healthy and peaceful year for you and your loved ones.

I do look forward to returning and writing all about it... and catching up with all your goings-on in January. Till then, take care, keep smiling, and God bless!

Jen (and her scrumptious other half!) x


These photos are from our last trip home, sitting in a bird hide
alongside a waterhole ~ the best place to spot game!

A personal letter to me

South African sunset

I received this wonderful letter from a Christian friend of mine, A.
During times of trials and uncertainty, having friends, true friends, is so crucial. Not all my good pals are Christians, or have the same beliefs as me, but they care for me and love me, as I do them, and this transcends everything. But to have a close Christian friend means the world to me, as we look to the same Father and Word.

The letter
The day I wrote my email to you I went off to church and thought of you all the
way through our wonderful pastors sermon who seemed to be talking exactly with
you in mind!

I would say the biggest thing is seeing/believing/understanding the awesomeness
of God/that is God - feel a bit teary thinking about it - He is almighty and
awesome - our Creator - and they are more than just names we give Him - those
names are like verbs as well - understanding to the depth that He is - that He
is Sovereign - he cares and is with us to the littlest things - and in my walk
with Him Ive been flabbergasted that He seems to be get involved in the tiniest
little things to show and teach that He is here with us individually and knows
and cares and sees to not just the big things - but those littlest things that
are us - when we are told in His word he knows what we need before we even ask -
he knows what we need in what we want and what we think about and care about
and desire - our desires are His desires and its intertwined with His desires are
our desires - we when we are close and get closer and closer to Him what we are
wanting is what He is wanting and He cares to plant it to complex and yet so
simple.

And as so cutting and awful as it can be to be told in the world something that
cuts at what is your and Lances deep desires - remember the Lord who knows and
cares and is and is the Creator of all of so much amazement and wonder - things
that man cant create - the littlest thing - look down way at the bottom of deep
oceans the beauty down there - He cares about beauty and creating those things
down there - for His pleasure I really bet! He gets pleasure from His creation -
His design - and He gets pleasure from relationships with us and being our Lord
and being our answer and being the helper in our crises and our needs and our
anguishes.

He sustained me in the amazing situations. I can never ever say now hes not
amazing in what He does and wants to do - He is the fairy godmother that those
out there who dont know Him keep wishing for - so keep seeking Him for your
answers and your guidance and your counsel - He of course keeps blessing us
with people who come into our lives at the right time and so on, because a
relationship with the Lord is an active and dynamic one - but He has the answers
for the way He wants you to go - He has plans and purposes for you and me -
plans to do us good and not harm. he puts desires in us for reasons. not to
hurt us and let us down. He is indeed a truly and amazingly good and wonderful
God - like any relationship the more we get to know Him and the more we want to
know Him and more opportunities we take to be involved with Him we will get
closer and closer.

So have a wonderful time back home, and yes a gift from God for sure to be
blessed with a strong marriage - but also a 3 stranded cord is hard to break -
hes that 3rd cord that gives that strength I believe that verse is telling us -
and enjoy being home with your Mum and your family - but do keep asking the
Lord for His guidance and his desires and plans for you guys and trust him that
His answers will be the best answers and the right answers as He knows you
the best that anyone possibly can!

Also the verse 'not to put our trust in man' - I believe this is where we cant
get our final answers from man - its the Lord the final answers come from - He
can do anything He wants to do!

So do have a wonderful time back home - and yes I will feel very privileged if
you have a toast to me too tomorrow night! and I will keep praying for you both
too!

xxx And all the Lords blessings and peace and joy in the wonderful Holy Spirit
who is our helpmate in our wonderful bodies that are temples of the Holy spirit
with you both in the times ahead!!

A

Tin, clay, porcelain, wood, glass, wire

My Christmas tree decorations!
They come in all shapes and sizes and colours, and hail from England and the United States. I have collected them on our travels, always looking for clever crafty ones, not kitsch or too garish. I never did this in South Africa, but will start doing so when I return.

Tin Santa present to me from my sister - not sure if she got this in the UK or SA... hmmm

Wooden star and clay Santa and Angel from The National Trust Shop (we are members of the National Trust) Painshill Park, London

Present to us from sis in law and brother in the States (NC), which their church gave out to their members on Christmas Day. A very special baubel!

Ice skates from the United States (NC)

Snowman from New York, The United States... a teeny tiny little Christmas shop on 7th Avenue, across the road from our hotel. What do they sell the rest of the year I wonder? Same things, for the tourists, as The Christmas Shop in Stratford-upon-Avon does?

Tin animals from The Pier, England. Sadly, it looks like this retail chain is going to be the latest in the retail collapses in the UK. How very sad... they have Morroccan and Middle Easter type ornaments, linen, glassware, candles etc. where we have bought many frames, our crockery etc.

Porcelain figurines from Stratford-upon-Avon, England. This Christmas Shop is literally across the pedestrian road from Shakespeare's birthplace. What a stunning shop - I could have bought so much more... but I restrained myself!!!

Star of the tree, from The Pier, England. Crafty and different = appeals to me!

Nativity from ebay UK, rustic and something different.

Variety... all from England - Painshill Park, The Pier shop

From the The Pier shop, England

Wooden reindeer from the United States (NC), the Cracker Barrel to be exact! We had breakfast thereafter! We enjoyed the breakfast, except for the grit, which I am given to understand is an American thing. Well, as the English can keep their brussel sprouts, so can the Americans keep their grit. hehe

A message from Toasty :)

Below is a message from Toasty... and I had to post it here, it is so very special!!!
Thank you Toasty x

Thank you for your Christmas message to me. It was wonderful watching your children laugh (and one wondering "What's going on with THEM?") and watch for Santa's arrival. May your life and the lives of your loved ones be richly blessed this Christmas and throughout the New Year, and your visit to South Africa be a warm and blessed one.

Here is my Christmas gift to you. It is something that I wrote several years ago. I call it "Seeing with clarity".

• Trust God.
• Learn to love the world.
• Every life has a story, every story is important.
• Don’t judge others, love them.
• Don’t try to be profound, just be true.
• Treat everyone with dignity and respect.
• There are no ordinary people, there are only extraordinary ones.
• Remember to laugh and to see humor in everyday things.
• Be a servant.

Blessing and peace to you all,
George Polley (Toasty)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

(This new adaptation is by Casting Crowns)

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on earth good will to men

And the bells are ringing
Like a choir they're singing
In my heart I hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

But the bells are ringing
Like a choir singing
Does anybody hear them?
Peace on earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men

Then ringing singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men

And the bells they're ringing
Like a choir they're singing
And with our hearts we'll hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

Do you hear the bells they're ringing?
The life the angels singing
Open up your heart and hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

Peace on earth, Peace on earth
Peace on earth, Good will to men

Poo!

What was your weirdest/oddest/funniest Christmas pressie?

Mine was elephant poo! Yes, you read that right... I can make paper with it, but don't quite have the setup I used to... so it'll remain safe in it's lil (brown) box. For now.

What was yours?

The unwrapping of Christmas

On Christmas Eve we had a quiet and restful evening together, with a (rather large) plate of crackers, thinly sliced salmon and a variety of cheeses; Brie, Philly, smoked Bavarian, cranberry cheeses. Oh, and the obligatory bottle of wine of course! We toasted absent family and friends and listened to Nat King Cole's Christmas CD.

Usually we are at the Christmas tree (no, we dont have kids, this is us.. two grown ADULTS!haha) by 5am, tearing through our gifts. I think we grew up this year. We lazed in bed, had a coffee and a waffle... then nonchalantly opened some gifts. I got a lovely beaten leather handbag, a couple of BBC period drama DVDs (bless my husband he knows how much I love them!) and a super soft flowery towel. Hubby got a remote control aeroplane, a Choclate Shop chocolate in the shape of a greek god, with 'My Hero' on it... corny I know, but hey! He also got some old war DVDs and a brown leather wallet.



We had a lovely, festive Christmas lunch with my sister in law and husband in Kent. It was a cold drive but a warm welcome. Starters were smoked trout, prawns and cold salad. We kept room for the main course of gammon, lamb with mint sauce, carrots, pumpkin, turkey stuffing (although no turkey, which suited me down to the ground), potato with gravy, yorkshire pudding and of course, the very English tradition of brussel sprouts! Ugh, not something I personally enjoy and I left it (I only took one!) on the plate... I ate a tiny bit, promise!



Pudding was traditional pudding with piping hot brandy custard. This was particularly tasty! After dinner it was pressie time - and then we said our goodbyes. All-in-all a superb day, chilled and relaxed with good food, wine and company. We do not see my sister in law very often so it's a special treat to see her.



We got to chat to family in South Africa and United States which was lovely as usual. I miss my family so much and over birthdays and Christmasses this becomes particularly hard. We happily only have one more Christmas in the UK and then we will be back in South Africa. The last cold Christmas.

Today we awoke late and pottered around in our pjs and furry slippers (okay, that was me in the slippers!). Lance made a tasty gammon with swede mash and tomato basil rice for a late lunch, with some Chilean wine. We did loads of laundry and started packing for our holiday! Only 6 days to go! Got the malaria tablets, sunscreen and fishing gear, camera equipment, pressies for family and board games... the important stuff!!!

*The reason for the season*

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

What a funny joke!

A joke some did not get...

Our Christmas Nativity!

Watching out for Santa's sleigh...

Oh I do hope you all have a joyful and fun Christmas, where your bellies will be full and your hearts warm with loved ones around you. My heart goes out to those that might be spending it alone, in the cold, hungry. Please do spare a thought (and a prayer) for those millions less fortunate than ourselves. At this time we remember God's greatest gift to us, of His son, Jesus. Jesus has brought so much to my life, and my family's.

A blogger called Toasty

I have started following a lovely blog by Toasty today.

His personal blog is about 'commentary on life, popular culture, the news, politics, politicians, religion, language, violence, nihilism, environmental issues, and whatever else happens to cross my desk, screen, and life at any moment. I will also list my favorite books.'

I particularly enjoyed a post about a program he and his wife watched on the telly, about a war-time story he saw on Japanese TV. You can read it here.

My comment on his post is below. I have pasted it here as this post really made me THINK. Not just chuckle or wryly smile as so many other blog posts do, but really made me think. Digest what I was reading. I'll be back for more Toasty, thank you!

'Toasty, what a moving post.

My husband was in the South African army (one of their last conscripted youths in the late 80s), and the stories he has told me are blood curling and chill me to the bone. Seeing people set on fire with a tyre full of petrol round their neck all those years ago remains with him today - the images and the screams... oh the screams... He is a dear man, my gentle and faithful partner, and has been through things no wo/man should. Humankind is so inherently wicked so often.

It's stories like this in your post that remind us that we are all human, we are all real and that we all matter... no matter what background, creed, religion or race we are. Our hearts all beat the same beat, our eyes cry the same tears, our lips crack the same smiles.

Thanks too for your lovely comment on my Christmas post. My hubby took me out for an all English breakfast in the local Wimbledon Village this am and all the shops are busy (even with the credit crunch surprisingly), for me Christmas is all about family and Jesus.

Take care, God bless, and have a wonderful Christmas Mr and Mrs Toasty!'

Christmas time in London

This has been one busy month thus far!

As family leave London early for sunny shores down south, we have started Christmas early with Christmas celebrations - a family lunch, 2 dinners, a ball, and a couple of kids parties. We will be having Christmas in Kent and then head to South Africa for a belated Christmas the first 2 weeks in January, in the Drakensberg Mountains, with family, then onto Mpumalanga and Johannesburg for a week and a half. Will add photos as and when it all happens!