Holiday time!

After getting back from London, we had about 3 weeks until we left for South Africa! We flew into Joburg and stayed with Paddy & Jo for the weekend. We spent a lot of time with Matt & Corlia & little baby Max! It was really awesome seeing everyone in Joburg, as there are a lot of people there that we don't see often enough!

We left Joburg, and headed for Cape Town!

First stop (more or less);

We went to SA in July for Corri's birthday! We were also able to fit in Jackie's 30th though, where we drank some wine!

We stayed in Le Franschoek, as we got a great deal, and headed to Zorgvliet for lunch on the Sunday to celebrate with Corri and the family! Was a great day at a beautiful setting, if a little cold!

One day, while Sean had a meeting, I had lunch with the girls!

Of course there was bubbly!!!
One night at Bee's:

We met up with Derek and Brandon at Forries.

Karin and Kevin went to Namibia for a holiday, so we joined them for their first three nights at the Orange River, where we stayed at Frontier, and spent time with Adam and Maudie. It was such fun and relaxing! Just what we needed!

We spent some time catching up with a lot of our friends! A great holiday all round, really.
Sean went back to Spain, but I stayed on to work on the farm while Ben & Ed went to Indonesia for a surf trip. It was an extra five weeks, but a good five weeks.
Before he left, we joined Bee for her birthday dinner at Beluga

I went to Interschools, which I hadn't done since I left school!!!

The Rugby that we saw!

Fun day, fun night! Not surprisingly, I didn't do much the next day!!!

Then there was a lunch at G & C's where there were 5 kids in the bath!!

I had a divine luch at Le Quartier Francais in Franschoek with my school friends

I had lunch with Stefan & Talita

And I spent some time with Ben when he got back from his trip

It was a good trip all round, but I was glad to go back home to Sean!

Exam time again!

April was study time for me! I had exams coming up in May/June, 5 exams in 5 weeks, so that was what I was doing!
I went to London to write my exams, and stayed with Roz in Essex. What an awesome time that was! I really enjoyed spending time with them and the kids! Three kids is hard work!!!

I had studied hard, and it paid off, as I got four distinctions! I'm very pleased with that result.

Roz really helped me with my knee as well. She gave me great exercises to do, and by the time I left there, I was walking nearly normally!

 Love those kids!!!

When I went into London to write my exams, I met up with Eloise when I could. That was a really good time! After my first exam, it was such a beautiful day that we went to Hyde park, drank about 3 bottles of bubbly and ate strawberries! Good times!

After that, we went to the bar where Shana works, to say hello, and drank more bubbly, because that's just how we roll! Duncan joined us, as he was in the UK at the time, so it was a little cousin reunion! Really fun day.

The day of my last exam, Sean was arriving in London for work! I was very excited, as I hadn't seen him for four and a half weeks! I was supposed to leave the next day, but extended by trip to stay the weekend!
I met up with Michelline, and we had some cocktails! Actually, lots & lots of cocktails! Sean joined us a bit later!

It was a great night! I don't remember what time we left, but it was such fun!
I stayed with Sean at his hotel that night.
The next day while Sean was working, I met up with Eloise again.

We went to her old hood, and had the most delicious lunch, followed by macaroons by Pierre Herme! It didn't end there, we then had delicious Gelato's at a place in Soho! This was followed, of course, by some bubbles...

Excellent day!
I stayed with Sean again that night, and we went for dinner at the George & Dragon, where we had some typical English fish & chips!!

The next day was Friday, so I went back to Essex, where Sean joined us when he had finished work. We spent the weekend with Roz, Sam and the kids, and had a great time. Pauline and Toby joined us for one night, and it was great to see them too!
The weather was so beautiful that weekend!

Because I had extended my trip, I was able to make Michelline's 30th birthday party! Really excited about that! So Sean and I made our way into London for a bit of fun with Michelline!

The Sunday was so lovely, so we all went for a walk in the park.

What a wonderful time I had living with the Penneys! I really enjoyed spending time getting to know the kids better!

An update... FINALLY

So, it's been over a year since the last post! Terrible, I know, but we've finally got round to it!
After x-rays and an MRI, it turned out that I had torn my ACL. Completely! At least I didn't do half a job of it! So, surgery it was then! 5 weeks after the fall, I was in hospital for the operation. All went well (they even operated on the correct leg)! Sean came to visit me evey morning and evey night of the three nights that I had to stay there!

After bringing me home, he did EVERYTHING!! I wasn't able to put pressure on my leg for three weeks, I had crutches so at least I could make my own way to the bathroom! But what an angel he was, did all the cooking, cleaning, shopping! He looked after me like a star!

Recovery was slow, and, as they say in Spain, poco a poco! One thing I did do, was learn to study in bed!

At the end of March we had a visit from Terry & Pauline! A quick visit, but awesome nonetheless! They flew in on their way home from a cruise, and spent a night with us! It was so great having them stay here, and show them around our little town! Unfortunately, I did a bit too much walking on the night they got here, that I wasn't ablt to join them the next day in the village, as my knee was really sore, but it sounded like they really loved the town!

Camprodon January 2011

After New Year, Sean had another week of holiday before heading back to work. We spent the time pottering around the house, reading and relaxing. Went for a mountain bike ride once, which was really worth it! We did decide to go away for our anniversary weekend though. We wanted to go skiing, so off to the shop with us, and 2 sets of skis later, we were fully kitted out for a weekend of skiing. We booked the same place that we stayed in December, the self-catering in Camprodon. Drove up on the 14th when Sean got home from work. I had pre cooked us some meals, so we didn't have to do any cooking while we were there! We drank a bottle of bubbly in celebration, and had an early night, ready for an early start of skiing!!!

We arrived at Vallter 2000, bought our ski passes, and hit the slopes! We started on the baby slope, just to get back into it, but it wasn't long before we were on the longer slopes. And the slope that we thought was so steep the previous time, seemed to much easier to us now!

We skiied until 5pm, when they closed, then headed back to the place we were staying, for an early supper and an early night. We had decided to get the ski pass for the whole area for the Sunday, so we wanted to make an early start! 

We were at Vallter 2000 by 9am on Sunday morning. One of the first people on the lifts! After a few times down the bigger green slopes, we decided to tackle a blue slope. Unfortunately, there had not been enough snow, so the blue slope was closed, but the red slope was open!

So, after lunch, we took our chances, and went down! Slowly!

It was awesome! We went down twice, and can only imagine how it must feel if you can actually ski properly! Needless to say, while we were on the slope, there were many kids, looked to be about 5 or 6, who came screaming past us! We were so happy that we had done it though. It was getting quite late, so we ended up on the green slope again. By this time we had been skiing 8 hours on Saturday, and now nearly 8 hours on the Sunday, and this is how I was taken down the mountain!

Not entirely fun, but that's just what happens sometimes I suppose! I ended up crossing my skis to such an extent that I tore the ligament in the side of my knee. It's now in a cast, and I'm going to the doctor on the 28th so that he can take off the cast and see what's going on. I think there'll be no skiing for me for at least the rest of this season! I'll just have to sit back and watch while Sean skis! Sean has been waiting on me hand and foot - I couldn't have gotten a better husband!