This blog has been on holiday. I blame it on summer, Brats being home all the time, and a broken ankle.
The Brats are now back to school/travelling/have moved abroad. The ankle is still broken – that is: it’s been operated upon, fixed with several spare parts, and is not to be used for walking for another 4 weeks. Yours truly is moving about in a borrowed wheelchair, as crutches leaves one with no hands. No feet is quite enough, thank you!
I insert a pic taken on the occasion – for the squeamish amongst you: please don’t squeam, just scroll down.
And now, one taken 5 days later, after op # 2. (scroll on, scroll on…)
That was one summer well spent, I can tell you! This happened 3 days before our scheduled holiday, so I was popular with the Brats for a while too. Luckily, I was cooped up in hospital for a week and a half, so I avoided the ritual beheading that is fitting in those circumstances.
We’ve sent #2 Brat off to Denmark, together with a carload of stuff, most of which had no practical use, but loads of sentimental value. I remember the feeling… She’s now installed with her mattress, tiny table and sewing machine in a big, empty room. She has a kitchen with applyances, and a bathroom, so the basics are looked after. She also has to manage her own finances. Did I mention that I remember the feeling?
#1 Brat left for Kenya on Sunday. She is 20, so I had left most of the investigating to her. The result was that I got a name and contact number from her co-travellers at the airport… Back home, I googled the name, and found an amazing woman, Sarah Ngotho, who runs the Joy Children’s home near Nairobi. Please take the time to read her story, and about the home itself. # 1 Brat will work there as a volunteer for 4 months, while paying for her room and board. I believe this is one way these homes (and there are many of them!) manage to keep financially afloat. She’s worked all summer to be able to do this. Anyway – she’s arrived, is safe and sound, and probably in the midst of the experience of a lifetime.
What else? Hubby has a new job. He’s released from the slave labor camp he was in, and has got a job for a company who helps people to get back into the workplace. The pay is OK, and the hours are wonderfully adapted to family life. The bonus is that our little farm may be involved too. We have toyed with the idea for some time, of offering the use of this place for rehabilitation through activity/farm work/socializing. It looks as if this is now going to happen. Fingers crossed.
# 3 Brat has started his apprenticeship to become a carpenter, and # 4 has just started her first year in our equivalent to High School. # 5 is in second grade, and # 6 has just turned 3, and is insisting that he’s being home schooled…
That’s about it from here, I think. Oh, yes – it’s been a wet one.
Stumble it!
