Music has become a big thing in our home and the Summer Playlist is being played a lot. Very loudly. Here's a selection from it:
1. Our undisputed family favourite song now isFlight Facilities "Crave You" and I've included the Go Pro video that got us so hooked. We all love dubstep. Well maybe not Tyler so much. He's so old school.
2. Every summer playlist has to have at least one Calvin Harris song: Summer to get you up in the morning.
3. Lloyd's "Get it Shawty' is great music but a good reason to send the boys to a boarding school in the middle of the Drakensburg and as far away from Los Angeles as possible.
4. We all need a little steel pan and island fantasy: Duke Dumont I Got U. No doubt this will be played on rotation at the 'Soggy Dollar' this summer.
5. Some R & B from Wale: Love Hate Thing. It has an explicit warning, but then most R & B music does these days. Love the fact that Emimem is now worried about his daughter dating chaps that grew up on his music. Hubris.
10. We all love The XX. It's a bit gloomy, but as a former Cocteau Twin/ Portishead fan, we sometimes need to be reminded of where we come from, don't we?
11.Mr Probz's 'Waves'looks like it was shot in Virgin Gorda. He gets stranded on a tropical island but never fear, we know that there will be a beach bar playing Avicii and a cell phone tower just around the corner.
12. Finishing up with some Lana Del Rey even if it's not the most sunny of songs: Summertime Sadness.
The full playlist is on my Spotify account if you would like to 'follow' me.
Georgie & William were both on the Principal's List at St George's
Summer has begun.
Last week was full of the boys finishing up school and graduation ceremonies. We were literally on our last legs: Lunch boxes were being duck-taped, shoes were being re-glued and William was even stapling his shirt together in the absence of buttons. We wouldn't have managed even another week of school in one piece!
Now it's 2 months holidays for Georgie & William and a whole 6 months for James, as he will not be returning to school here in September before starting boarding school in January.
James with his Gr 7 class at Cedar
In August the bakery shop will be closed although I will continue to work at Osiris. We are going to have some family holiday around the islands and go sailing and such-like. At the end of August James is off to stay in Ireland & London for 6 weeks. October, November and December remain unplanned - so if any one reading this has any good ideas or feels like hosting an engaging 13 year teenage boy in their part of the world for a few weeks, please let me know!
The Secret Project is nearly signed. We even did our first big order for stock today. A little bit exciting, but soon to be mad, no doubt.
We' are definitely shifting gears this year. This is our fourth summer in the islands and the boys are getting older and are more discerning in their choices and views. I'm conscious that next year things will be very different and that we need to make the most of our time now.
I'm pleased Tyler is back and he has promised not to go away again. Ever.
It was a hard week and I was left feeling quite un-hinged at times. Must have been something to do with the 4 jobs I was trying to do all at the same time. Me and the Coke Fridge have a special relationship these days. I have also joined the movement to ban bottled water. The high point of the week was being parked in every morning by the taxi's in the delivery zone at Riteway and the special negotiations that ensued afterwards. These always entailed being lectured at loudly for at least 5 minutes, despite the fact that I was actually doing a .......DELIVERY.
Summer is back with vengeance. The heat is seering and the humidity is up to it's 100% level again. Judging by the insane driving and everyday interactions (charming as always) the island is also feeling the heat.
I can now understand why it is necessary to have Crusades at this time of the year. The Almighty needs to be begged for mercy and some respite from the relentless toil and general misery that is our island lives. I just wish it wasn't every night at a million decibels and that the screeching mike could be sorted out. It also doesn't really matter that we cannot understand a word as we do get the general drift of the message anyway.
So, we've made a few changes in the bakery and I am really looking forward to getting back to my office job again. The kids are finishing up school this week and we have the Summer to look forward to. The kids have some great camps lined up, 'Wasabi' the new boat to fix and sail and a few months of boy-stuff. We will still be working but will also have time to do some sailing ourselves and spend normal family time together .
James is away at his last international Opti regatta, but judging by the results so far, his mind seems to be elsewhere too. He's going to be killer in Lazers. Georgie and William have worked hard to keep their Mum sane this week and were also indispensable in the bakery. We shall probably be getting a visit from Child Welfare soon, no doubt.
I'm going to spare you photos of children in boats and show you my gluten free bread instead, which I baked at 1am on Friday night.
Children in boats. William sailed in his first proper regatta last Sunday and got a medal
Life has become hectic again. The days pass by in a blur of children, bakery, heat, trust work, driving, shopping, cooking, frustration, school lunches, yet more shopping, online banking, queuing up in banks, Sahara Dust, even more shopping and yet more driving. I barely notice the beginning, hardly touch sides and only see the end when I hit the pillow. Who knew island life could be so....stimulating.
Tyler is away again on a charter and I am running solo. We're all just about hanging in there. The children hear far too much for their own good and get to see their mother in melt-down mode way too often for any future stability in their own relationships, but yet we all survive. We practice our deep breathing skills and try to remember some mantras that do not involve anyone's demise.
We are moving forward at a rapid rate and grind through the days as fast as the driver in front of us (20 mph) or the 6 week/never turnaround on emails. I received a response to an (urgent) insurance inquiry today made in November last year. It wasn't even the quote. True story.
We are now into the 4th week of the Carrot Bay Screaming Crusade which has left one without the will to live some evenings. We seemed to reach an almighty crescendo tonight of very hoarse frothing and ranting with feedback, only to have the sound turned down dramatically - so maybe someone finally reported the public nuisance. It wasn't even me. We give thanks for small mercies.
The kids are mid exams and tomorrow James is off to St Thomas for his final Team BVI international Optimist regatta - a slightly bitter-sweet reminder that he is growing up and moving on. I sadly can not make it as the bakery is busy on Fridays & Saturdays and there is payroll too. We're going to try and go through on Sunday, if I'm still standing.
It's just a matter of hanging in and holding on at the moment. The kids finish up school for the year next week and August is shimmering on the horizon. We're just trying not to lose sight of land or reality or sanity.
We are now into our 12th day of a very loud Crusade being held in our little village with it's perfect amphitheater acoustics. We are being spiritually harangued with fire and brimstone night after night and I must admit to a deepening sense of island fatigue. It is time to 'get off the rock" for some R&R. Tyler, the lucky B has arranged just this and is away filling in as a chef on a charter for 5 days. It is yet another long weekend and the boys and I are chilling at home, after a busy week which I am just about managing.
On Friday it was the 70th Anniversary of D Day. For the past 3 months we have sat gripped every evening for our 30 minutes of 'Great British Menu' on BBC and we watched it right to the end with the banquet at St Paul's Cathedral. I'm also currently reading an excellent but harrowing book called 'The Good Soldiers' by David Finkel, about US troops in Baghdad. It is similar to 'The Foot Locker' and reminds me a lot of Michael Herr's 'Dispatches'. I'm not a pacifist but I do hope never to have to send any boys off to a war.
My father would have been 92 this year, but died 9 years ago. I only found out this morning when I was chatting to my Ma that he was also part of D Day. As a first generation Post-War baby I've grown up with 'The War' very much part of my family life. My father volunteered as a 18 year old boy straight from school in 1940. He joined the Royal Air Force and became a wireless operator in 120 Squadron flying Liberators.
A Liberator wireless operator. This even looks like my father, but it isn't!
Like most veterans he rarely spoke about the war, apart from the odd anecdote. I knew he was based in Iceland and was a 'U Boat Hunter' in the North Atlantic/Baltic and later flew 'Special Ops' such as Resistance fighters (mainly women) into the South of France below radar at night. He always shook his head with wonder at how brave they were and was still in awe of them over sixty years later. He also told hilarious stories about spending most of his time either fixing his wireless or having his gun in bits, no use to man or beast.
Some old photos stuffed into battered boxes in the attic of his plane attacking a U Boat used to get regularly hauled out by me to impress my teenage boyfriends, which they never failed to do. Big chunks of my childhood were spent at RAFA family parties and I vividly remember my father making the decorations for the annual Battle of Britain Ball held every year at the Rotunda in Camps Bay. He wasn't a 'When We" type at all though and my parents used to find all the reminiscing quite boring. Even this morning, when I asked my mother where Daddy's medals were, she said a bit dismissively "even my mother got a medal. My dear, everyone got medals".
Coastal Command Liberators attacking a U Boat. We had photos just like this in our attic
I showed this amazing 2 minute Pathe movie with incredible footage about "what Grandpapa did in the War" (except these are Beaufighters not Liberators) to the boys and they were mega-impressed, whilst I was faintly horrified. Makes computer games look pretty lame by comparison. I knew that my father's skippers were awarded the DFC twice, so they must have done some pretty hair-raising stuff too.
Anyway, two days before D Day on the 6 June 1944, his squadron was moved down to RAF Stoney Cross close to Southampton to provide air cover for the landings, which they did for the duration. I'm busy reading up about it at the moment (God Bless the Internet) and am finding it all quite fascinating.
Even since I was a student I've worn his "flying scarf" which he had on his missions as the planes were unheated and noisy. Later in life he developed tinnitus as a result of the latter. I've realised today that the scarf must be about 75 years old already.
I'm struck again how we are the sum of our parts. Like my parents, I'm not a backward looking person at all but this is such a big part of me and I am rather proud of my father and his legacy. How lucky the boys are too, to have a real hero for a Grandfather.
My Fathers 'flying scarf". It struck me that it must be about 75 years old now
PS: All the photos of my father in the RAF are in Cape Town, so the minute I can update this blog with them, I will.
I'm very much up and about now. We even went to two parties last night! I'm doing a little bit of driving already and am working in The Family Office and planning stuff.
Boy do we have a lot of planning to do.
Summer holidays. Kids schools in SA. Passports. Bank accounts. Leases. Bakery expansion plans. New suppliers. The end of the Season. The start of the new Season. Christmas. Lists, lists and more lists. And forms. I've filled in a helleva lot of forms recently and scanned up a storm.
It's almost the end of school here, only another 4 weeks. The kids are tired and fractious after a long year which has had a few bumps along the way, but seems to have ended well. William & Georgie will go back to school until Christmas, whilst James gets to have a 6 month adventure. This also needs planning otherwise he will just lie in his room and read his book for 24 weeks.
James has definitely ended school on a good note. A new part of the school curriculum is 'experiential learning' through travel. Without wanting to sound churlish, but these must be some of the most well-travelled kids on the planet. We would have preferred for him to have stayed in the classroom and learnt some basic skills like cursive writing for example, but Lucky Jim got to learn how to scuba dive instead. Nice. He has, of course, taken to it like a duck to water. Maybe he should take up polo back in SA - adding it to his list of "world's most expensive sports I do" and we can then just plan a Lifetime of Penury and add that to our list.
Photo by Cedar International School
First dive as a qualified PADI. Next stop a Go-Pro for Xmas, no doubt
I'm also starting a bit of exercise this week. Not scuba diving, sadly, but gym. This is partially because the only thing I felt like eating for the past 2 months was Nutella toast which has had a rather devastating impact on the waistline, but I really need to get stronger again. The nerve damage has left some residual pain and a few weird after-effects which drives me to despair. Tigers, of course, don't cry - so I just need to get out there and fight this bugger. Plus I'm going to need as much energy as I can muster for all the impending moves and empire-building we're lining up.
