Being with family is a wonderful thing! This weekend we had
the opportunity to spend some time with Dieter’s extended family and it was
fun. Ouma co-arranged a surprise birthday party for Aunty Joke who is turning
75 this week and family came from George, East London, Port Elizabeth and
Johannesburg to be part of the celebrations. We all gathered on Aubrey and
Riana’s plot just outside of Plettenberg Bay and waited in great anticipation
for Aunty Joke’s arrival. She was totally surprised to find us all hiding in
the house when she arrived and overwhelmed by the surprise, coming close to
tears when she saw all the siblings, children and grandchildren who had made
the effort to be there.
Aunty Joke is the oldest of 5 siblings, the mother of 4
children, grandmother of 7 and great-grandmother of one baby boy. I’ve come to
know her as an incredibly generous woman who loves welcoming people into her
home and cooking up a storm to share with them. She’s a very strong and
independent woman and was recently seen cleaning the gutters on the roof of her
house – no job is too big or small for her, and she very seldom asks for help.
When I first met her nearly 17 years ago she was living on a farm in the Crags
near Plettenberg Bay and Dieter has many wonderful memories of family holidays
on the farm when he was growing up.
Soon after Aunty Joke arrived we had coffee and cake. I made
our family-favourite Beetroot and Chocolate Cake, Aunty Ria made some spekulaas
(a delicious, spicy Dutch biscuit with almond paste) and Ouma made a fridge
tart. Ouma also bought a milktart in puff pastry and an apple tart – it was a
feast! Ethan and Aimee helped Aunty Joke blow out the candles on her cake and
we sang so beautifully for her.
It was lovely to see all the cousins and aunts and uncles
we’ve met over the past few months and it was especially wonderful to see Uncle
Coen and Aunty Ria who live in Johannesburg and came down for the weekend to be
at Aunty Joke’s party. As family made short speeches honouring Aunty Joke I
took lots of photos as I tried to capture the moment. It wasn’t long before I
was crying uncontrollably – the heartfelt words spoken by her brother and
daughter were very touching and honouring! I felt very privileged to be part of
this family and this moment!
Jeff put together an amazing fire of logs and pine cones and
dazzled the children by throwing acetone on the wood before lighting with a big
flash! It got colder as the day went on, but the children and a small group of
adults gathered around the picnic table next to the fire where it was toasty
and warm. Boerewors, Steaks, Kassler chops, kebabs and toasted sandwiches were
all cooked to perfection and accompanied by an amazing spread of salads which
could have feed a hundred people. We ate far too much and it was very easy to
sit playing card games at the picnic bench for hours.
Driving home through what is by far the most beautiful part
of South Africa we were spoiled again by the amazing sea and mountain views. We
were exhausted and staying awake took real effort but I felt sustained by joy
of being with family.
Uncle Coen and Aunty Ria spent a few hours with us this
morning before they headed back to Johannesburg at lunch time. Thanks to a very
generous gift they gave us when we first arrived in South Africa earlier this
year we have been able to finance the beginning of our Baby Food business and
it was wonderful to be able to thank them in person. We lounged around laughing
and chatting and swopping photos of the weekend’s festivities before enjoying a
wonderful meal of Pea Soup and Beer Bread that Ouma and Dieter made.
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