Notes on a journey

Thursday on my mind

2007-01-25T10:41:00.000+02:00

It's Thursday evening and we are spending the night at Felicity's sister's place at Klein Brak river. Yesterday morning we handed over the keys of our Johannesburg home to the new owner, did one piece of last minute shopping and handed Felicity's car over to a company that will keep it and make it available to us when we come up to Joburg, before setting out for the coast. Joburg offered one last special traffic jam from the airport to Gilooly's interchange and we eventaully cleared 'big smoke' at about 10:30. We had the two dogs in the back of the Pajero and we had been worried about how they would travel. Jethro has, in the past, been very vocal when he has travelled, yipping and yapping at every thing he sees. It turns out that the trip with them has been very easy. We have stopped every couple of hours to give them a chance to take a drink and do their thing, and they have pretty much slept the rest of the time.

Last night we stayed at Wolvefontein, a lovely guest farm about 30km south of Colesburg on the N9 road towards Middelberg. We arrived at abpout 18:00 and took the dogs on a long walk on the farm. Jethro met his first horse! We were very comfortable in a seperate guest house and sent on our way with a hearty farm style breakfast. Recommended. http://www.wolwefonteinlodge.co.za/

We arrived in Sedgefield this afternoon to collect keys and check the new house out. Turns out that all this week there has been the most horrific heat wave and so there is the disticnt possibility that we will unload the moving van tomorrow in heat wave conditions. Lots of water will be requied! On the way doen we recorded temperatures of up to 41deg outside and we saw a huge veld fire on the mountains inland from Plettenburg Bay. I took some pics and if they are any good I'll pots some over the weekend.

George and Gael drove the Audi down from Joburg today and arrived at Eldad (Felicity's sister's place) at about 18:30. It is Geroge's birthday today so we planned a 'special' dinner and now everyone is exhausted and heading for bed. Sorry, no pics tonight - I haven't had a chance to download them to the laptop. Maybe tomorrow.

Love, Ken

Tuesday afternoon

2007-01-23T03:27:00.000+02:00

I hope someone is getting the song title thread here!

Well, it's Tuesday afternoon and the Biddulphs team is down to the last boxes and things to put into their truck. Last night Fil & I were feeling pretty bleak. Ant & Caro had been with us and had done a wonderful job of helping us but after they left we still had the bathroom, filing cabinets and our clothes to pack and I had about an hour of work to do for one of the business schools. I also updated the box contents list so we got to bed at some stupid hour and, with no curtains, woke up at quite an early (equally stupid) hour!

Then Kath left this home for the last time and that was very emotional for us all. Anyway, by the time the movers arrived at about 10, we had pretty much packed everything and even managed a trip to the dump to get rid of the ever-present pile of stuff that we don't need.

We had been wondering what to do with Jethro and Missy while the movers were here and had plans to put them in the yard but while I was checking someything in the Pajero, Jethro jumped up and settled into 'his' domain!We have purchased a dirt and waterproof load liner for the back of the Paj so he made himself at home and has stayed there most of the day. I don't know if he is a bit shocked by all the goings on or he decided to just chill, but it has been a nice surprise. We put Missy in there with him and she seemed happy. Lets's hold thumbs for the journey tomorrow and Thursday.

After we hand over keys etc tomorrow morning, we will be travelling down to a farm just south of Colesburg to spend the night and then on to Sedgefield on Thursday. Gael & George will do the whole trip from Joburg to Sedgefield on Thursday and we'll meet at Lowden & Juliet's place in Klein Brak River. Friday, hopefully all the boxes and stuff that went in to the Biddulphs truck will emerge in good shape!

I'm not sure about internet access at the farm, so I'll probably skip tomorrow and update again on Thursday.

See ya!

(Blue) Monday

2007-01-23T00:23:00.000+02:00

Well, here we are - the last night in our wonderful house. Chris Peppler suggested that, as we leave for the last time, we thank the house for being such a blessing to us and so many others. We will.

The weekend was mainly spent packing and we were helped by Nicola Balderson and Jane Marshall as well as our daughters and husbands. We don't know what we would have done without them! They were fantastic and helped us over the tiredness and muddle-headedness that seems to be part of the process.

Today (Monday) has been quite a trial. The guys from Biddulphs were dues to start packing the breakables, pictures and other delicate furniture didn't pitch up on time and we had to get Kath's car to the repair shop. I have to record my huge dissapointment with Eskom, Telkom and Johannesburg Metro. We have been in contact with all of them well in advance and we received instructions from each as to what we have to do to terminate services as at the 24th January. Well, we put those instructions into action only to be told, in each case, that we were too late and, in the case of Joburg Metro, that we could not close our water account until the next owner had opened theirs! In other words, if the new owners don't bother to open a water acocunt, we will continue to pay for their water ad infinitum!

Felicity was just about beside herself with Telkom who seem to have no clue about their business, given her so many different numbers to call (some of which were 'not available'). Who could have guessed it would be so hard to terminate an ADSL contract?

Anyhow, the guys for Biddulphs arrived and did a very good job. Then Caro (and later Ant) arrived and helped with the clean up and what I call the "Polyfilla Party" - the patching of holes in the wall with the filler of the same name. Once again, they were a huge blessing.

We began to realise that our actual departure is drawing very near and we were all a little teary at the end of the evening. Tomorrow we all eat dinner together at Ant & Caro's home and then it will be the big goodbye. Sad for us all but we are sure there will be laughter in the future.

So tomorrow, it is the removal van! We wonder how long it will take to load our whole lives (well, the physical evidence) into the truck and drive off. In earlier years we moved a lot (9 times in 11 years) and I remember always having an empty feeling whenecer I watched our truck drive off to who knew where! I guess tomorrow will be the same with the added uncertainty of our general future. I always had a job before!

It's late, we're tired and we have a big day tomorrow. Good night.

The last week before we leave

2007-01-16T06:25:00.000+02:00

In this last week, all the focus is on packing. We elected to pack most of our stuff ourselves (to save costs) but I think we underestimated the task! We were very blessed that a family moved into a house down the street, from France, and Fil managed to get almost all their very strong boxes. so we have been packing into decent cartons as opposed to cadging from Pick 'n Pay! You can see the white and blue cartons in this pic of our (former) dining room that is now the box store!

All over the house there are scenes like this one: things put out on tables, chairs or the floor, ready to be packed, labelled and sent to the full box storage areas!

The movers will pack the breakables and delicate equipment like TV and hi-fi, as well as crate the paintings and the piano.

The next pic shows the lounge which is one of the full box storage areas.

As you might expect, we have too many things and too many people to see in this last week and we hope you understand if we have politely declined your invite for a last-minute breakfast/tea/lunch/drink/dinner! We will be back in town soon and hopefully can then catch up with anyone who wants to.

A number of people have asked me how I will handle working in Johannesburg while living down in Sedgefield. I don't think it will be easy but most of my clients seem to be OK with the idea, I'll be commuting via Kulula.com (from George airport - about 30 minutes from our new home) and we will be leaving Fil's car up here in Johannesburg so we'll have easy transport when we're here.

Out of interest, I will be up here from the 31st Jan to the 2nd Feb and again from the 6th Feb to the 9th. I'll be up again in the first and last weeks of March.

The schedule for the move is that on Monday the 22nd the movers come in to pack and crate things and then they load the pantechnicon on Tuesday the 23rd. Fil and I will leave on the 24th with the dogs and the boat trailer and take two days to get to the coast. Gael & George will bring the Audi down on Thursday 25th and the movers move us in on Friday the 26th. Then we unpack our boxes!

Speaking of which, gotta go pack a box!

Regards, Ken

The newsletter

2007-01-16T00:00:00.000+02:00

I'm going to try to document our move to Sedgefield and what happens after that.

To set the scene, here is the newsletter we sent out on the 1st January 2007. If anyone is interested, I'l fill in wanted details later, on request!

1st January, 2007

Dear friends and family,

It is the first day of a new year, and a fitting time to look back at all the chapters in our lives – the places we have lived, the things we have done and been involved in, and, most importantly of all, the people we have met, got to know, and been blessed to call our friends. That means you guys, and before we go any further, we want to wish you every blessing in the year ahead.

We’re not terribly good at keeping in touch, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t remember you or are ungrateful for the unique part each one of you has played in our lives at one time or another.

As we are about to begin a whole new chapter in our lives, we want to take this opportunity to get in touch with you all again.

In February last year, Ken and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary. It is always a useful exercise to look back at such milestones, and so we spent the day together, hiking and reminding each other of the way we have come.

Ken has had amazing opportunities in his career, starting with humble beginnings as a personnel officer on the gold and diamond mines, and going on into management in various companies. He was given the chance to step out of the HR field for several years while he took on the role of managing the Barlow group public affairs portfolio, just at the time of the transition to democracy in this country. He was in the thick of the business initiatives to build bridges to the ANC and part of the peace process – exciting and fascinating times. Later he became HR Director in PPC and was part of a team that completely re-engineered the business taking it out of a cartel into its current position in the market place. Having built such a wide base of experience, he was able to go on his own as a consultant nine years ago and has built an interesting business lecturing at a couple of business schools, coaching top executives and consulting in business strategy.

My path has been wonderful too. I had the opportunity to be an at home mother for our three daughters – such a privilege - during which time I dabbled in all sorts of interesting stuff and survived a very long and debilitating illness. Once well and strong again, I had the fun of starting a project management and building renovation business. I did that for about eight years and then closed it down to join Ken in his venture as his side-kick/administrator. En route I have had huge fun working as a sex educator addressing the issue of AIDS in schools, and have also been involved in many years of counseling – such a blessing.

Together we have developed a ministry of leading worship which has spanned the many changes in that field from the time when only hymns and choruses were sung, past the stage when every church knew the same songs because they were all contained in one or two books, to the present where the explosion of Christian music is uncontainable and the expression of worship is free and diverse.

For the last eleven years we have had the privilege of being part of the Village Church family: for the past six years Ken has been an elder and we have been hugely blessed to head up a team that planted a small community church in Bryanston – perhaps the most difficult, and yet rewarding thing we have been involved in so far.

Along the way, God has blessed us with our three wonderful daughters, who have become, along with Ant and George, our best friends, kindest critics and a source of huge pride, joy and encouragement.

Caroline is working as a senior science teacher at St Mary’s and Ant designs and manages surveys for an international market research company. In their spare time they have a worship ministry at their church.

Gael is working at Afrox as a chemical design engineer and George is a geologist consulting to the mining industry throughout Africa. In their spare time (when not traveling) they are involved in outreach to the Muslim community. Both couples love their jobs and are happily settled in their own homes.

Kath is an interior designer and she is dating Cornel. Both of them have decided to come down with us to the coast. They both have a passion to work with children, running adventure camps. They will be joining Out of Africa Missions in George, but will have to find jobs as well to fund the mission work.

Throughout this whole journey, God has been with us. His grace and mercy are vast and we have needed His forgiveness, guidance, provision and love at every point along the way. He has never, ever failed us.

Now, back to our wedding anniversary hike! Having looked back, it struck us that it might be possible to fit in another 31 years if God so willed to give us that much time again, and that there were endless possibilities for using that size chunk of time meaningfully. Of course, at the time we didn’t foresee anything changing in our circumstances, so it was just an interesting thought.

However, at the end of April, God intervened and changed a whole lot of things and we found ourselves for the first time without any major commitments and responsibilities – a liberating, but strange place to be. It was also a period of great brokenness and vulnerability for both of us.

During a holiday down at the coast in early May, God began to speak to both of us about the future. He made it clear that we were not on the throw away pile, or allowed to glide gently into retirement! Instead, He began to talk to us about the idea of moving down to Sedgefield (a small community on the Garden Route between George and Knysna). This was completely ‘out of the blue’ for us and so we spent the next four months thinking, praying and researching every lead we got.

The culmination of all this was that in the last week of September we put our house on the market – primarily as an act of obedience, but also as a ‘fleece’, asking God to only allow the house to sell if what we were doing was His will for us. God honoured our trust in Him by expediting the sale with shocking speed and simplicity – even the estate agent was amazed!

Since then, we have been down to Sedgefield and bought a house with equal speed and ease, both of us knowing that God prepared the place for us.

To date, we have plenty of thoughts and ideas, but very little clarity as to why God should want us to move to Sedgefield. On a human level it makes very little sense to leave not only Ken’s source of work, but also our children and their husbands (wonderfully, Kath will be coming with us). However, we have a deep peace that we are walking in a path that He has prepared for us. We assume that the rest of the plan will unfold as and when we need to know about it!

So, as we are surrounded by packing boxes and unsettled pets, we want you to know our new contact details so that hopefully you might come and visit us or at least make contact in some way and let us know what is happening in your lives.

We will be living in a beautiful part of the country with beaches, rivers, lakes, lagoons, mountains and many other lovely places to share with you. Also we are only half an hour from George where there is an airport, so it would be very easy for you to get to us!!

Physical address: 25 Egret St, Meadingsride, Sedgefield, 6573 Western Cape
Postal Address: P O Box 1443, Sedgefield, 6573, South Africa
e-mail addresses: ken@kenironside.co.za
felicity@kenironside.co.za
cell phone nos: Ken +27 82 881 0665
Felicity +27 83 675 7497

We don’t have a land line yet, but will happily send it out on request once we have it.

We would really value your prayers for us, and the family, as we negotiate this move – we leave Jo’burg on the 25th January - settle into our new home, and try to hear what God’s agenda for the immediate future is.

God bless you all, and thank you for reading this far!

With much love,

Ken and Felicity

First steps

2004-05-20T00:36:00.000+02:00

Well, a start made on a blog. Let's see where the journey takes us.