The Longest Week

Kathy, Boys & Flora

A lot happened last week: In fact Tuesday already felt like a Friday and by Friday we were practically into next year, except it was the first official day of the Summer Holidays.

So in quick descending order of appearance:

1. Flora the potcake arrived on Monday. She is already an 'inside' dog - something of a novelty in our house. She's also a very picky eater. In fact she doesn't like any form of dog food (a true progeny of the Foodie Blake household) and she's clearly a gourmet - except we don't seem yet to have discovered of what precisely.

2. On Tuesday Kathy arrived after the requisite marathon 30 hour flight. We must have forgotten to mention that it's now Summer here which means 100% humidity and about 36 C, so she did unfortunately succumb the first day or so to both the overwhelming beauty and heat. You can see however (picture left) that she is already beginning to recover. 

3. On Wednesday William finished up Kindergaarten, which means the Dawson Family is now done with Kindy forever. No more 'the cat sat on the mat' or squiggly paintings of indeterminate subjects with titles like " whales go for a picnic in the sun", which seems a pretty significant family milestone from where I sit. William still likes to watch Charlie & Lola and has Octonaut 'fests'  (when his brothers aren't around) but otherwise he's working quite hard on becoming a rock star. 

4. On Thursday we had another significant family educational milestone as James finished up primary school.  He has done very well academically and really is an all round Fabulous Boy.

5. Georgie finished up Grade 3 on a high note after a good year. He has become a Gymnastics God in one term and also got to bring the class hamsters home for the summer holidays, who then promptly had babies the next day. I've refused to become a grandmother and won't even visit them. I'm not sure if it's easy to spot a pregnant hamster, but I will have something to say to Mr B next year. 

On Thursday evening we had lovely farewell class drinks at Nanny Cay where we screeched 'congratulations' and 'well done' and fantastic' a lot which is a bit of an in-joke, so I wont even begin to explain (as we live on an island, remember. I know that's a boring excuse, but I actually have to live here so am not going to give up the quiet life for your entertainment just yet. Maybe when we have our second home in a few years time).

The Rugby Hero is on the left hand side, still smiling

6. On Friday Tyler had a mini mid-life crisis (it's the stress of the bakery not opening) and played RUGBY for the first time in 22 years. I almost couldn't watch although the Barbarians won and Tyler didn't completely embarrass us. He even managed a few hard tackles (it hasn't rained here for about 6 weeks) and was a Bakkie-Os-type in the scrums (he played prop). He was then replaced in the second half by 'Fats' Fatiafola, (which he was inordinately proud of) and despite three dislocated fingers and his subsequent inability to move, seems rather too keen to carry on. Lawd have mercy on my seoul.  (Memo To Self: Check medical insurance for middle-aged stupidity). On the same evening we were also having drinks with good friends who are leaving the island and we also had to fit in a spot of rugby cup glory at the local sports pub. I think Kathy may think this is how every weekend is, which is only partly true.

7. Saturday was an interesting day: We were very lucky to 'inherit' the entire contents of the Blakes pantry, fridges and freezers. My Soccer Mom car was packed to the gunnel's with the most amazing food imaginable such as Confit de Canard, cavair, 4 different types of fish sauce, Poulet de Bresse, fermented mustard greens, screwpine flavoured paste, fresh wild crab, sorghum syrup (Abigail is a Southern Gal) and enough hot sauces and tins of clams to keep this household very happy for a long, long time. It was so extensive, I actually wrote out a full list - mainly as I had  to look up half the things on the Internet.  It's a sad gift but I now feel we have a bountiful larder and can continue to cook in honour of Abigail and Bones.

Shannon, James & Georgie

Oracle 2010 Americas Cup

 On Saturday evening we had a fundraising evening with the (hottie) Antiguan Americas Cup sailor, Shannon Falcone at the Yacht Club. Shannon races with the Oracle Team, who are ranked # One. James races with his brother Rocco in Opti Blue Fleet and it was altogether a fascinating evening. The Americas Cup is becoming the Formula One or Tour de France (which we are now glued to every night!) of sailing.  He was a lovely chap and answered endless Little Boy Sailor questions patiently. Tyler cooked very nice Fish & Chips for everyone (so if all else fails we could always open a Chippy). 

On Sunday we had friends around for a braai and a Saffa commuting friend to stay for the night. As if this wasn't a busy enough week, James also had the FIFA U12 Finals to play on Sunday afternoon, which went on to a penalty shoot out and extended play. The boys finally got home about 8pm.

Luckily for all involved Monday was a public holiday, although I had forgotten to switch off my blackberry which promptly woke me up at 4:45 thinking it was a normal weekday. We had a lazy breakfast and an even lazier day, although Tyler did take Kathy for a Tortollan driving lesson, which then required Sundowners at Sopers Hole - for both celebratory and medicinal reasons.



We all felt like this by the end of the week!