Farewell and here we go again!

Last night we bade farewell to Richard, Dale, Andy, Ryan and Kiara at Heathrow terminal 5. It all came upon us rather suddenly and Tuesday was instantly Thursday as we lost a day packing and reorganising them into 5 large pieces of luggage and several dozen so called “hand luggage” items as well. [We foxed that airline we did!]

The word from Johannesburg is that all have arrived home safely to be collected in convoy by Dad in his bakkie (for the SAffers) Ute (for the Ozies and Kiwis) and mom in her sedan. Apparently the weather is scorching hot in JHB and the kids were instantly in the pool.

Rich nabbed the added bonus of a first class upgrade thanks to Cousin Nick (Thanks Nick – what a beauty!). We are left with a hole in the fabric of our lives in Oxford. Our house is much too quiet and it has stayed tidy all day. How does that work? We are forlorn without the boisterous noises of two boys [competing for every syllable in the collective sentence] - and the calm, sweet declarations of princess Kiara, laying down the sibling law without any fuss. It’s just the way it’s goanna be boys!

The lodge is blanketed in frost today, with a high of 1 degree and a low of -7, it won’t melt at all. The fields all around are serene and white, and we are lucky not to have a breath of wind to add chill factor to the mix. Kate and I are ensconced in our nest with the boiler boiling away and the tea flowing.

We are trying to catch up on weeks of ignored email and pretend that we are busy enough without the others and the fun and activity that has made up the rolling and repeating cycle of eating, kitchen cleaning, logistics planning, eventing, conflict resolving, bathing, sleeping arrangements, and more of the same all over again of the past 6 weeks…..boo hoo it is lonely on our own.

We are however putting the time to good use. You will be pleased to hear that Kate is lying on the couch wrapped in my Kiwi wool blanket (thanks Anne!) and pumping the phone to all points in the Cederberg - - - for accommodation information for the guests attending the NEXT BIG EVENT (A.K.A the ZekeandKateWedding dot com). I am readying the information and copy for a complete revamp of THE BLOG.

True to form, as many of you know, we have failed to post the invitations we prepared in May last year, and as time thunders towards our date (May 2, 2009 – for those still wondering) we have decided to build on the success of the kidney blog and use it for keeping everyone in the loop for the wedding. We still intend to send the invites – heck they are printed – but knowing us, an electronic solution MIGHT actually reach you.

PLEASE NOTE: the Blog’s address is going to change and we will list it by this evening and post the directions here for all to see. This means you will need to re-register to follow it – sorry about that – but hopefully in this world of upgrades it will not be too much of a chore.

So it’s goodbye to needles and catheters and onward to alters, veils and bouquets! See you there!