Health, wellbeing, family and friends

Nana and Grandpa pop in for a visit to their
Great Grandchildren

It's been a while since we last posted an update on our blog, it sometimes seems easier to tell of our adventures to Africa and other wildish places than to speak about the day to day lives we lead in between times.

As always we know many of you are kept up to date with our comings and goings via Facebook and or email, but for once we wanted to post some of our highlights during our time back in England before we fly off to South Africa again this coming Wednesday evening.

End of the school holiday trip to Exmouth

With Bristol as our base we have been able to spend some time with our eldest son, his wife and our three adorable grandchildren. As the years pass you tend to forget the busyness of family life, we really do take our hats off to Chris and Claire as they juggle busy jobs with their three children, making sure that all three of them enjoy a varied mix of activities throughout the week, including ballet, cubs, beavers, football and rugby (they all play rugby even our dear little granddaughter). We miss them when we travel but treasure the times when we are with them.

Capturing the coastal path

We were blessed with a week of wonderful weather as we joined my sister (Tim's), her husband, our niece, my Mum and Dad as well as our middle son and his wife for a week of walking along the South West Coastal path, this time based just outside Falmouth, such a beautiful part of England. Not only did we complete some good few miles but also enjoyed some runs and even a dip (Josh and Haddy not me though!) in the cold English Channel.


I also had the opportunity of spending an afternoon in a single seater racing car, which was a present for my fiftieth birthday (in 2017), the event took place at the historic Silverstone circuit, home of British motorsport since hosting the first ever official Grand Prix back in 1950. 

Silverstone

I could bore you with the detail but just to say that to be in a car capable of around 150 MPH with little to protect you and your bum skimming over the tarmac as you lay almost horizontal is one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. It certainly gave me even more respect of the likes of Lewis Hamilton and my heros of yesteryear Jackie Stewart et al.

That's me that is.....

Over the last year or so we have become more aware of the effects that we are having on the planet, our fellow human beings as well as the animals we share this incredible blue ball with. 

We've read many books, listened to loads of podcasts and watched a number of documentaries as we try to further understand the issues such as health, wealth, happiness (of both ourselves and others) and the impact of our actions, that we used to take for granted.

As such we have taken on a mainly plant based diet, even considering buying leather goods and obviously the amount of plastic we use during our daily lives. We are certainly not advocating such a radical move by everyone, there are certainly people groups who have lived well for thousands of years in a sustainable ways, walking gently over the land which they have called home, treating the land and their animals in as best they know how, however within our mass consumerist society things have gone way off balance.

For now all we would ask is for you to also become more aware of how you are living, what the legacy will be for our children's children and what lifestyle choices you could make to holt or turn back this seemingly devastated world. 

We would encourage any of our readers out there to at least watch an Australian documentary called Dominion, be aware this contains some shocking footage, we had to break from it a couple of times, but looks at not only the food but sporting, fashion and pharmaecutical industries and the impact they are having on our world. 

We were also able to catch up with our youngest son and his girlfriend as they stopped off in London before flying off to Sri Lanka were they will be travelling, and also watching the England cricket team play. We can't say that we're not a little green with envy and wished that we could have joined them for a few weeks.....maybe another time.

Frances and Spencer!

One of the reasons for staying on longer here in England, rather than flying back to South Africa in early October was to attend the wedding of our good friends, Frances and Spencer who were getting married on the stunning island of Jersey. Frances had spent time with us volunteering at the Village of Hope, with Spencer and even her sister Katie joining her over Christmas one year. 

Not only did we enjoy the wedding but were able to catch up with old friends, Mel and Jess, also volunteers with us in South Africa, as well as Martin and Jackie, whom we had just returned from our time in Zimbabwe.

Friends at the wedding, doesn't Martin scrub up well.

During our stay we were hosted by a couple of lovely friends, Rebecca, whom I (Tim) used to work with in my old 'corporate life days' and Lisa, who once again both had visited us in South Africa. They are wonderful hosts and have a home right on the seafront where we were able to step out and walk or run along.

A motley crew

Another reason for being in England in October was for me to join some of my old friends at their bi-annual walking weekend, I was instrumental in setting up the first few but since our full time move to South Africa in 2008 hadn't attended one since. It was great to catch up with friends, share some stories and create new memories on the English lakeland fells just outside Grasmere.

That's enough about me!, so to move onto Maz for a mo, she has had time to have some headspace, she's been reading a lot, enjoyed some time with her sister and Dad and as part of our healthier lifestyles we have both taken up running, which we are both enjoying and as you'll remember from previous post have even raced in South Africa.

So all in all we've had a busy busy time, thanks to everyone who either hosted us or shared/bought us a meal and for the fun times and new memories we've made during our time back in England.

Prior to Christmas we will be in South Africa, where we will obviously update this blog with a few more stories before heading back to England for around a month before making return trips to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Madagascar where we will be working with those we have already invested in and which we are very excited to move on to the next chapter in the stories of those three needy nations and their peoples.