Saturday morning we once again packed up the car and set off north to the town of Ascot, a little over an hour away from us near London. Sadly the M25 traffic hit us again and I thought Simon was going to burst the little vein in his temple it was pulsing so hard after we had once again spent more than an hour stationary on this our nemesis road.
Fortunately the drive and stress were all worth it as we were meeting Cayne, Linda and their girls at the home of Dave and Sarah Van Heerde for a bank holiday weekend braai. It was not long after our arrival that we were happy, relaxed and stress free enjoying the lovely weather out in their back garden, sipping wine and catching up.
We were joined in the late afternoon by William, Rachel and their family who were out visiting the UK for 3 weeks from South Africa - it was really interesting to chat with these frank and honest people about what life is like in SA now and I think they must have felt as if they were in the Spanish Inquisition at times so desperate were we all for news. So much laughter and friendship, a fantastic braai, wonderful dessert, a walk to the park and South Africa vs Australia on the telly - really what more can a person ask for.
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear and while our families relaxed a little (should be an advert for laptops), Lin encouraged (read dragged) me down to the laundromat to make a dent in my growing mound of washing as my washing machine has broken and I still had 7 days of holiday clothes to deal with. I kid you not when I say dragged, I tried to get out of it at least 4 times, but I am very glad she persisted, it was the easiest thing in the world and I am wondering how much washing I will actually be doing at home from now on.
The Mazoue and Viljoen families joined us for another braai on Sunday afternoon and again there were time when we all laughed till we cried. The children all got along well and I really feel like these "South African" weekends fill up my tank and help me to keep going.
Monday was the actual bank holiday and Rob and Kerry kindly hosted us at their home for a wonderful cream tea before Cayne and Linda started their journey home to Weston-Super-Mare and Simon and I came home to prepare for yet another braai.
Only this time it was a BBQ and was with my wonderful English friends to say an official farewell to the summer. Another stunning stunning afternoon and I found myself stopping at one point to look around and really just feeling so INCREDIBLY blessed to have had all these fabulous people in my life all weekend.
Such a high weekend - feel like it will carry me through just about anything for many many weeks to come.
3 comments:
oh what can i say - we had a fantastic weekend with you all and really believe that our TOGETHER TIME recharges our batteries untill the next time - thanks for everything.
Yes you and I are surrounded by wonderfull friends here in England - all that INTERVIEWING and FIRST DATE feeling was worth it when we stepped out to meet new friends!
jealous jealous jealous!!!
Wow...what a wonderful "South African" weekend you had....and the bonus is watching the Springboks kick ass!
Great fun filled photos Andrea.
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