And then it was December, and Irma, myself and the kids were waiting for the lot from Denmark to arrive. It was so nice to have them home for a little time, as I just did not know their two kids, the one now about four years old, and very wise for his size, they told me.
But they had some very good news, and that was that Jan had a good chance of securing a job with a French firm in South Africa, and they would be moving back in a few months if it worked out right! I was elated, but also felt sorry for Nina's parents that would be losing them. But although they would reside in South Africa, I would still only see them a couple of times a year, as they would have to stay in Pretoria or Johannesburg, the firm being situated there, and that is a thousand kilometers away.
We had a wonderful holiday, kayacking on the river, our own, as well as the wide one in Bo-Kouga, and we barbequed, and went to the beach at Knysna through the very dangerous but beautiful Prince Alfred pass starting at Avontuur, and winding over and between huge mountains, the dirt road very narrow! Scary stuff, as the holiday makers from Gauteng was not at all courteous, or cautious, thinking that the whole road belonged to them, and there were quite a few incidents where two vehicles scraped the paint off each other, or removed each other's side mirrors, and with nothing to prevent them to drop down into the depths below, I was horrified that they could drive like maniacs with their families in the car, which was usually one or other huge 4x4!
Xmas eve we first had a visit from Santa, before we had dinner, for the kids to get their presents before bedtime, after which out came the dice for the grown-up's chances to secure a few nice presents. We do this every year, as the family just got to big to buy decent presents for all, we each buy five or whatever number we decide on, inexpensive, but nice objects, which we wrap up and put on a heap, then the person throwing the highest number on the dice has a chance to pick a present. If somebody throws a six, he can claim any present of the rest, and that made for a lot of laughter and squabbling! That night Stephan was the lucky one who threw six after six, and after I procured one of the presents from Irma that I knew contained something I wanted, he of course took that off me right away, but I won it back, and lost it straight away again. He did give it back in the end, as the whole concept is just for fun, and we always swapped until all was happy! It was a wonderful night with all the children and grand children, and we later lay on the grass watching the stars. The next day we drove to a picnic spot in the Prince Alfred pass to cook breakfast on an open fire, in the middle of nowhere, and the children splashed around in the many pools.
That night we made a big fire, and had a barbeque, after which more wood was put on, and we sat talking till the early hours of the morning. As the apricots were again ripe, we made jams and chutneys during the next week, and I tried to again get some apricots dried without my family pilfering it all, and of course I tried my level best to fool the birds, ants, flies, and other beasties eyeing my treasured delecacies!