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WHEN I VISIT IN EL -- STAY WITH BEN AND A MORNING RUN WITH THE ERIC GROUP ALONG THE BEACH FRONT
PARKRUN
LIFEGUARD DUTY
NEW REGION TO TAKE CARE OF IN TRANSKEI
RUNNING ROUTES CHANGE TO INCLUDE LANGENHOVEN ON MONDAY AND TARGET KLOOF ON THURSDAY
ALLY FOCUSSED ON HER EXAM STUDIES AND HER WATER POLO TEAM TRIALS AND PRACTICE
BARBARA FIXING THE OUTSIDE ROOM FOR TENANT MOVING IN NEXT MONTH.
As of 1 November I have to take care of the Transkei region again. We now have the "cash Retail" shops under our control. I lose the Graaff Reinet, Sterkspruit and most of the Queenstown Shops but take on an additional 18 Transkei shops around Mthatha.
Saturday Morning at 4:30 it is pouring with rain and so I bail from the morning run but the rest of the day is a beautiful day. I start off with a 5k parkrun myself and then I organise the Parkrun at Hobie beach. It is a bit of a disaster as the scanner does not scan the Finish barcodes. There are 183 finishers and I have to enter each one manually. Fortunately I have Elmarie Botha assisting me at the finish and she takes the barcode numbers down on the list. I spend most of Saturday doing the finish results for the parkrun.
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| MORNING RUNNING. THIS IS THE PARKRUN WITH ADRIENNE AND ERNA |
Sunday morning is my first time of doing Lifeguard Duty. It is a perfect day and I am there at 8am. Not much to report. Herding swimmers into safe areas.
Monday 4th
This week I am able to run every day. Feeling good! Just an irritating sore throat that will not go away.
Saturday we do a long run including Brickies and Target Kloof. Then the Parkrun. Rosalind gives me a package containing an Adidas tracksuite, t shirt, shorts and perfect fitting running shoes. Amazing.
Barbara and I drive to Plett for lunch with Ena. Julia is there and comes home with us.
Sunday 10th. I cycle MOFFET with Sjani, then Nippers coaching. Barbara and LENE do the Muck Run.
An unfortunate incident at Nippers when a boy is dragged across rocks and quite badly cut. I do a bit of first aid.
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| ON THE WAY TO FORT BEAUFORT I FIND THIS DISTANCE MARKER. IT IS BETWEEN GRAHAMSTOWN AND FORT BEAUFORT. SEEMS TO INDICATE 35 MILES TO GRHAMSTOWN. |
BETWEEN FORT BEAUFORT AND GRAHAMSTOWN THERE ARE TWO OF THESE WELL PRESERVED DISTANCE MARKERS. THIS ONE TELL US THAT WE HAVE 31 MILES TO GO TO FORT BEAUFORT
31 MILES TO FORT BEAUFORT
AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STONE WE SEE THAT WE NOW HAVE 15 MILES TO GO TO GRAHAMSTOWN. TOTAL DISTANCE IS 46 MILES BETWEEN THE TWO TOWNS -- AROUND 75KILOMETERS
Barbara and I spend the afternoon recovering (snoozing)!
Monday I tackle Langenhoven for the first time in a long while. And I am so pleased that I did this as it takes the mystery and fear of this route away.
Ally has exams and water polo training. Thursday evening is league polo.
Friday morning Adrienne, Erna and Cathy Pearse do the Parkrun 5k.
Saturday, there have been ongoing weather warnings but a small group of us meet at Hobie at 5;30. Adrienne, Annie, Ronel with Margie meeting us later. We run 15k heading into the nasty weather in an easterly direction, up Admiralty, right into Strandfontein and then around the airport. The return section is into a really tough south easterly. The Parkrun attracts 55 runners who brave this gale force wind, being sandblasted as they run past Summies.
This afternoon John and I fetch the bike rack from Lolo.
Sunday morning the rain continues and we bail from the Kinkelbos cycle. I go to Nippers for an hour in the rain.
LENE and family come over for Lunch.
This Sunday is my first Door Steward Duty at church. I regularly attend the evening service anyway.
Monday: Langenhoven drive for the second week.
Tuesday.
Wednesday. Ran in a strong wind. Short run with Andrew Barton.
This morning spoke to Tim HC and arranged to start plans for a self catering at home as part of our retirement plans.
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| THURSDAY MORNING RUN UP TARGET KLOOF WITH LISA; JACKIE; BENITA Thursday and Friday -- JHB meetings. Friday afternoon -- Ally leaves for Grahamstown with the Billsons. Polo Weekend. They play three games. Ally scores the first goal of the three. Our team wins the third match against a Border side.
  Saturday Morning. Early morning Run with Stuart; Adrienne; Annie; Elmarie; Margie; Ronel; John and Gerald walk. THen leave for Grahamstown where we spend the morning watching Polo Games. Both Barbara and I leave our phones at home by mistake. And we survived!
   
 In the last week of November 2013 I travel to Mthatha. I stay at the Oasis B & B with Merlene as the owner. Julia invites me to her Cell Group year end Braai. At the home of Kevin and Venny. I ran with Kevin many years ago when I first started to travel to Mthatha with Morkels. I take my MTB and am able to cycle around the B & B suburb on the first evening there. On Friday 29th Julia invites me to her home for Supper with Francois. Two very pleasant evenings. Julia and Francois always make me feel so welcome and wanted when I visit this area. We are opening three new shops and we drive to Mqanduli. Construction of the site is in progress. It is raining heavily and both I and the car become muddy. We also drive to Qumbu and Tsolo where we visit the shops briefly. My car starts to give trouble. It turns out to be a CV joint which is damaged. It cannot be fixed in Mthatha so I have a slow and careful drive home on Friday afternoon. Saturday 30th Morning -- first a run with the group at the beach and then we have our Saturday Morning Parkrun. 
RONEL; ELMARIE AND MARGIE ON A SATURDAY MORNING BEACH FRONT RUN
ADRIENNE AND RONEL ENJOYING STRANDFONTEIN ROAD
ADRIENNE; SVENJE DUFFIELD; CATHY PEARSE AND STUART BROWN LOOK LIKE THEY ARE NOT TRYING TOO HARD ON THIS SATURDAY MORNING RUN
THIS IS OUR GROUP -- PETER; SVENJE; STUART; CATHY AND RONEL
From: John Patrick Giddy [mailto:jpgiddy@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2013 5:27 PM To: Peter Giddy Subject: Fwd:
Hi Pete
Isabelle's news, what a busy person, she's tough! Off next week back to the sea, on another research vessel.
Meanwhile, we're going to Pmb tomorrow, lunch with Olga, visiting Neil our priest there at St Mary's, during the "show day": hope someone buys it!
Then on Friday is our drinks party at the bakery, and the baker, Adam, is providing snacky stuff, including oysters! He is a classic. You are invited.
Back to packing. The deadline looms.
Patrick
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Isabelle Giddy <isgiddy@gmail.com> Date: 23 November 2013 12:01 Subject: Re: To: John Patrick Giddy <jpgiddy@gmail.com>
Hello,
My goodness, you guys sound incredibly busy, although everything seems to be coming together! You are going to have to have a well deserved rest once you get settled in in Cape Town. It's a pity I can't come to your drinks evening. Sounds like fun. Good for stjohn about scouts :)
Life here settled into some routine after my first months of struggling with Portuguese. Everything suddenly became a lot easier and less stressful with a better grasp of the language. Thank goodness. This city is exhausting. It's far to big, I get tired just thinking of leaving the house. But one keeps courageous and enters into the bustle.
I have continued to work hard at my data analysis, which also has become easier for me...although, I continue to be working alone with little support from supervisors. In the end I am going to write a letter of advice for future students that they send across the seas. It's not clever to send an english speaking student to a portuguese speaking world and then leave her alone to do her thing because you are too busy! Anyway, I'm doing my best and am preparing to start writing finally - which will be more enjoyable that just computer programming.
We spent the night last night chatting at the house of a friend of mine (shes from bahia and her accent is rather difficult to understand, but I really like her). We have tentative plans to go to Bahia in january with her...some 2500km from here.
Today, Paulo and I are moving ourselves to live in Atibaia on Paulos dads little farm/large house with space for a little lake and horses. Atibaia is apparently a model city (little town), with the second best climate in the world. Don't know if I believe it. Our neighbours there are really lovely. The one guy speaks English..hes an ex-engineer and now an artist. I have been painting quite a bit. Anyway, so the plan is to stay there till we come back to SA. Its easier for Paulo to find gigs there and it's a nice quiet environment to write up my thesis :)
A week ago, we went to the north of Sao Paulo state to a beautiful beach for 4 days. It was really lovely to get into the ocean again. The place reminded me of a mixture of Indonesia and the transkei. Forest and ocean (full of mosquitos :/)
The agenda for the next bit:
So, this tuesday, Im going to that Yale meeting that marianne invited me to, then on thursday I have a performance with the oceanography choir, then friday we are heading to a beach house of a friends near Santos and on monday I leave from Santos to 34.5S for 17 days. Then when I get back we are going to Florianopolis until the new year.
I hope Patti manages to get to SA. Seems like she will get leave...so holding thumbs. I think Stjohn really wants it. Oh, yes..how is Ena? I'm going to send her a christmas card so can you send me her address? And about the cupboard..i believe its filled with my varsity books which need to be kept safe...and I can't remember where my box of special stones went? Anyway, if its there...that also needs to be kept safe :)
So, good luck for the next last fWe've got a drinks fiesta, 6 to 8, Friday at the bakery, Adam is making little snacks,but he's really at a high level of catering, starts with oysters! So far, coming along to the farewell party are AstraAlan and his parents and Geraldine, Brian O'Leary & Cathy (maybe Donavan too); Julia Clare, Adriano, Jack, Patrick, Yolanda (& Tim), John Collier, Marion Pape (all from work); Bridget, Mike, Pam, Timm our cousins; Joel Tunley & folks, not sure about Robert John & folks, from school and Janet & .. from scouts; and people we know through Tommy's existence - Sam & Andy (plus kids); Keren & Richard Pocock (plus kids); Manoushka & Greg (& Hazel); Dave; Delarise (& Weiss); Peter Barrett, Charlotte (from Science & Religion); Olga & Igor; Patricia Opondo from music;.. anyway adds up to about fifty. St John can only stay til 7pm because he's got his Scout farewell that evening too. Last night he gave his qualification speech on a great leader - he chose Pope Francis.
Another fifty boxes arrived yesterday to pack books. Handing over eight boxes of books tomorrow to Olga and to Fr Neil and Fr Gerry McCabe in Pietermaritzburg (mass with Neil early morning, then lunch with Olga), while the house has its second 'open day'. The first one was not very successful but there was an important rugby match on, unusually on a Sunday afternoon (SA vs Scotland), so that was partly the reason. Patricia Opondo expressed interest, and will come again this Sunday. Even more hopeful is someone coming this afternoon, who wants to make sure he gets in before the open day, hold thumbs, a nightmare if we have to have an unsold empty house in Durban in December etc. I'm taking a couple of boxes of books to the bookstore Ike's this morning, mostly books no one I know is likely to be interested in; and six or so boxes go to Carin wife of baker Adam and she'll display them at the drinks party for anyone who wants to take.
St John and I and dog are driving down with trailer on 5th or 6th, stopping for a few days at Ena. The Stuttafords van is also stopping there to pick up Ena's cupboard in the lounge! which understandably she wants to get rid of - it'll go into St John's room at the new house, 6 St David's Rd, a block away from Lis and Ian, which we are renting at an exorbitant price - all the other rooms have built-in cupboards but his room is bigger (the other two bedrooms, except for ours) are the size of St John's room at Menston Rd). I think the cupboard has mostly Julia's stuff (and some of yours): it will be packed in Ena's other cupboards - unless you want us to put your stuff in the trailer. Marianne & Tom & Lilly & cat are flying to CT, and then the plan is to fly back St John to meet Patti and Federico on 20th Dec and they drive the other car leisurely down to CT after Christmas. But so far as I understand it no tickets have been bought so time is running out for that to happen - problems with getting leave, I think, very tight with leave in the US.
Yesterday was packing packing, then, yay, did my taxes online (it was the deadline, Marianne had done hers, well got someone else to do so, in April), then an hour at the office, then tennis with M while Tommy had his lesson at Durban Girls High, then some gardening, then Carols and Readings at Clifton (exactly the same as last year, except for two lovely hymns by St John and the school choir), then took St John to scouts (changed in the car), then supper with Alan and Geraldine (never been to their flat), then pick up St John from the Scout lady Janet and her daughter... That was a late night for us!
Now have to tidy the house again for the potential buyer this afternoon. One has to remove all personal photographs, all stuff in the bathroom, clear all clutter so far as is possible, because viewers don't want to see your stuff, they want to imagine where their stuff is going to go.
lots of love to yourself and hi to Paolo, bye for now
Dad
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