SUNDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2005 GIDDY FAMILY

Sunday 4th December 2005.

Last evening we had the Achilles annual Year-end supper and Dance at the Old Cash Store in the Sardinia Bay road. Ally had gone off to Mike & Lene earlier and we collected Tim, Suzanne and Jessica. We dropped Jessica off at a friend with whom she was planning to go to movies later. Then it was off to our party.

We ordered a few drinks including a sherry with Peppers. I said to the bar-lady that we would try it. Big mistake! It was disgusting and so I had to order a second sherry for Barbara. We found ourselves a table that could accommodate ten people and were soon joined by Duane and his wife. But when I asked them to join us they said they were waiting for Casey. So it was the four of us for the evening. We had been told that there were some starters of Pate, soup and salads so as soon as we had waited a polite period we made our way to the eats table. Our table just happened to be the closest to the eats. The starters were excellent. A delicious soup as well as Rooster Brood and Pate.

Shortly after that Geoff made his very short speech. Heidi was back after a nasty encounter with a Boerbul dog that attacked her while jogging and had left her arm and leg scarred. Heidi told us that the left hand had no feeling but that she was now able to move her fingers and joints. Martin had also recently had an accident while cycling.

As soon as the speech was over we again lead the team of hungry Achilleans to the eats table for the main course. There was a huge amount of food on display and the problem was choosing just the right amount of each dish so as to not over fill the plate but also to be able to get a taste of all these delicious looking treats. Back to the table and settled down to devour as much as possible. The band had by now started to play. This was a great pity as up to this stage we had been able to chat but the volume of the band drowned any possibility of conversation. I am sure that this suites some people but not me. I saw a few of the braver Achilleans do some jiving on the dance floor but decided that it was now Pudding time. So again we led the procession of people to the pudding table. There were some delicious tarts, Ice cream and jelly. My favourites! By now we were all quite stuffed but still we managed to drink the compulsory cup of coffee while cracking the Christmas crackers. I saved ours for Ally.

At about this stage I think that the band was becoming quite irritated with us as no one really responded to their efforts to get us to get onto the dance floor en masse. So they turned the volume up a few more decibels. For me that was the signal to look in the direction of the door. I glanced across to Tim, Barbara and Suzanne and saw total agreement. We said our good-byes to Keith who was the main organiser and headed home. Just as we got into the car Jessica phoned us to say the movie was finished and would we fetch her. Talk about perfect timing! So that was the end of the evening for us. We collected Ally and then Jessica, Dropped Tim & Family home and did not last long before we were in dreamland.

I had arranged to meet Tim and Ron for a cycle on Sunday morning so was up at 04.30. I always try to have the bike and kit ready the previous evening. So was ready at 04.45 and met them at 7th avenue at 5.00. We decided to take the Buffelsfontein road, over Mount Pleasant and left at Heron road. The Sardinia Bay road past the restaurant where we had spent the previous evening and the down to Schoenies for the Marine Drive section. We had a short Jube Jube break at Willows and then it was our next little adventure as we passed the university a man in an old Mercedes hooted behind us as we were riding three abreast. Tim saw fit to get into an argument with this man and so there was quite a bit of “Argy Bargy”, no actual hitting with fists but plenty of word wars. After that little incident we headed home. The ride this morning took us about 2.30hours including the interruptions.

Barbara was due to sing in the music group at church and Ally did not feel like church so I stayed at home. When Barbara got back we packed up for Nippers and headed down to the beach. It was a perfect PE day. Not extremely hot, little wind and flat seas. We decided to give the U10’s a real lesson in water sports. We started off with the Malibu Boards. A few of the Nippers were confident in the Malibu Boards but many of them had hardly used one before and it was really great to see them quickly develop confidence as we sent them out in small groups. There were enough coaches to give them individual attention as soon as they looked nervous or as a big wave loomed ahead.

It was the first time this season, apart from the Plett Carnival, that the conditions allowed us to give them this training. The next item was the boogey boards. Again we sent the Nippers out in small groups and they were soon able to surf back to the beach on waves that would have scared them earlier. And they were actually asking to be allowed to go out a second, third and fourth time. Finally we swam out and around the buoy before packing it up for the morning. The Nippers seemed quite surprised that Nippers was over but they had been at it from 11.00 to 13.00 and those two hours had flown. We could see that they were becoming quite exhausted. Each one of the Nippers was rewarded with a Chocolate or Chips.

Donald had made a Disc of the photos that he had taken at the Plett weekend. We had seen these at the Awards evening the previous Thursday where Ally was awarded with her Certificate. We all agreed that this was one of the best Nippers sessions that we had had this season. Chris is a very good coach for these youngsters as he gives them a bit of technical training on the beach and then confidently sends them into the water.

We washed and packed away the boards and headed off home. Ally got stuck into watching the photo disk and I washed the car. A little later we went over to the Gendalls for tea. They were polite enough to watch the disc of the Plett Carnival while we bragged about Ally.

On Monday morning Ally starts a Soccer week. It sounds like it should be fun and she is looking forward to the activity. Especially seeing as how she has never played soccer before.

And that just about sums up Sunday the 4th December 2005.

Peter Giddy
4.12.2005.