2010 So Far
If last year was the year that we had to get used to Lauren being taller than both of us, this year is fast becoming the year that Guy does the same. Both have already overtaken their mother in shoe size (Fiona's busy eying some of Guys takkies that have now become too small and there seems to be a lot of confusion as to who owns what when it comes to clothing!)
2010 was of course the year of the World Cup and as a result, this June is the first time we have not taken a 3 week holiday. The world cup brought some unseasonal business which could not be ignored.We had a group 7 Swedish men varying in age from 22 to 45. The 22 year olds did their best to ensure that the 45 year olds never came home before 3am, but ended up failing in their plight towards the end of the trip.
We also had a couple from India who produced the saying of the tournament when the husband commented after Green's famous goal "Mistophelese could have done better than that!!!". He tended to take his soccer (and a number of other issues) very seriously!
It also helps to have a son who would gladly watch and play soccer all day every day if given the chance as well as a daughter who also plays and watches the game! As a result we have spent the last month mainly watching soocer - that is appart for some other un-planned for visitors.
Guy has been lucky enough to have been chosen for the Camps Bay "Centre of Excelence" U13 team. This is a new venture for the club and has involved bringing players for Imizmu Yethu (the local black township) and Hangberg ( the local coloured township) to study classes after school followed by soccer training. This has meant a radical improvement in the standard of play as well as a major shift in the culture of the team. This was noted (through the grape vine) by a Spanish NGO who decided to make a documentary reflecting how sport can bring different cultures together. Guy was chosen as the 'rich white boy' so we were decended upon by a group of cameramen, sound men, a producer and Carlos (whose job it was to make sure that things happened - I don't say according to plan as there was seldom a definable plan!). They filmed us having breakfast and going to school, and Guy at school; they filmed us watching matches, we had to film our visit to one of the matches, they arranged for Guy to meet the Cameroonian Goalee - Kumeni (although as it turned out he never played!) and they even contrived a tournament which was filmed. The grand finale was where all of the boys involved plus some other came to our house to watch the final match. So one day Guy will be a movie star.Lauren also had her fair share of camera time as much of the time had to be spent making converstation about the world cup and issues surrounding it.
In between we did get 5 days away at Betty's Bay. Lauren brought her (new) friend, Amy - daughter of the new headmaster and now living up the road from us - and Guy bought his long term friend, Luke. Bettys's has become our easy escape from Cape Town. Julie (nee Walters) and Lionel sadly left for Australia at the beginning of last year but happily left their cottage in Betty's bay behind. Its an idyllic spot with places to ride bikes, climb to waterfalls, sand board, and of course swim and surf. This is our second visit this year and we never tire of it. Needless to say, the visit didn't go down well with our Spanish film crew who had planned the first round of their tournament (officially without our knowledge) on the weekend we chose to go away!
The year started with a visit to Betty's bay in January and then all too soon we were in to the first term. Business with Marlinspike seemed to come in batches but we were consistently busy until around Mid April (after Easter) and from there things were relatively quiet until June. There is a noticeable trend towards people making bookings only a couple of weeks (or days) before arrival which can be quite un-nerving when you have a bond to pay.Fiona is in to the second (and hopefully final) year of her masters and is now working hard on the results. If all goes according to plan, it will be finished by February next year. She has had the usual ups and downs in the office and it appears that she just avoids the (serious) office politics wherever possible.
Lauren still has her art but over the last couple of years has also become a fairly serious sportsperson. She plays
soccer at school (where she is the team captain) as well as for the U15b team at Camps Bay (a team of all boys except for Lauren) and occasionally even gets some game time. She has also recently taken up guitar with Edi Nederlander and even after only a couple of weeks is showing progress. Sadly Edi has to go to Joburg for family reasons in September so the lessons will be short lived. Her dream is to have a set of drums - and learn to play them.
Guy plays wicket keeper for the Western Province Cricket Club U13 team (not Western Province team!) and goalie for the U13A team at Camps Bay Soccer. He has been playing piano for about a year now and is doing very well (when he finds time to practice!). He has also done well academically having come in the first 40 in a nation wide maths olympiad, but this is definitely not his passion!
Paul continues to run the guest house, as well as his computer company and the jumping castle business but it is the guest house that brings in the income. Attempts to sell it in a very depressed property market have not shown results so if you know someone who wants a guest house, please let us know!!
Otherwise life continues. The dogs have learned from Sammy (who left us last year) that the best way to get a beach walk is to annoy your owners every evening - which they do well. Soot finally succumbed to some dread disease and has left us for that great fish bowl in the sky. No more fish for now! Mischief will accept Mistophelese on her (meaning our) bed but there is still an ongoing feud with Victoria.
We had our first whale in the harbour (not the bay) on Sunday and the Monday newspapers reported that the flowers are about to bloom. Its a little early to be thinking about summer - particularly as we've had a mild winter with very little rain - good for tourists, not good for dam levels!
Hope that this letter finds you well and that you have a moment to drop us a line, but if not enjoy the rest of 2010 and hopefully we will fire another one off towards the beginning of 2011.
Cheers for now
Love
Paul, Fiona, Lauren and Guy as well as Ben, Cotton, Mistophelese, Victoria and Mischief.
Lauren still has her art but over the last couple of years has also become a fairly serious sportsperson. She plays
soccer at school (where she is the team captain) as well as for the U15b team at Camps Bay (a team of all boys except for Lauren) and occasionally even gets some game time. She has also recently taken up guitar with Edi Nederlander and even after only a couple of weeks is showing progress. Sadly Edi has to go to Joburg for family reasons in September so the lessons will be short lived. Her dream is to have a set of drums - and learn to play them. Guy plays wicket keeper for the Western Province Cricket Club U13 team (not Western Province team!) and goalie for the U13A team at Camps Bay Soccer. He has been playing piano for about a year now and is doing very well (when he finds time to practice!). He has also done well academically having come in the first 40 in a nation wide maths olympiad, but this is definitely not his passion!Paul continues to run the guest house, as well as his computer company and the jumping castle business but it is the guest house that brings in the income. Attempts to sell it in a very depressed property market have not shown results so if you know someone who wants a guest house, please let us know!!
Otherwise life continues. The dogs have learned from Sammy (who left us last year) that the best way to get a beach walk is to annoy your owners every evening - which they do well. Soot finally succumbed to some dread disease and has left us for that great fish bowl in the sky. No more fish for now! Mischief will accept Mistophelese on her (meaning our) bed but there is still an ongoing feud with Victoria.
We had our first whale in the harbour (not the bay) on Sunday and the Monday newspapers reported that the flowers are about to bloom. Its a little early to be thinking about summer - particularly as we've had a mild winter with very little rain - good for tourists, not good for dam levels!
Hope that this letter finds you well and that you have a moment to drop us a line, but if not enjoy the rest of 2010 and hopefully we will fire another one off towards the beginning of 2011.
Cheers for now
Love
Paul, Fiona, Lauren and Guy as well as Ben, Cotton, Mistophelese, Victoria and Mischief.
