Penguins Stop Play

I was invited to play a spot of Cricket this past Sunday, having not held a bat or bowled since high school I reluctantly agreed. It turned out to be a great day!

The team was comprised of some unique characters but was a great laugh! It was founded in the 80’s and has since traveled the four corners of the globe, including Antarctica! A book was written about some of the team’s adventures titled: ‘Penguins Stop Play’

You have got to read this…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article696355.ece

It was a close win for us on Sunday, about 25 runs in it, of which I contributed a whopping… ‘duck’

Priceless

It was Jacques birthday last week and here she is with her 'new' bike. You should have seen her face :)

No Peeking....

There are some things money can't buy...

Where do I start...

Well, I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing, almost 6 months since my last post.

Hmmm let’s see… I had my first thanksgiving dinner in November with Jacque and ate pumpkin pie for the first time. Took a trip to Berlin, feels so long ago now but had a great time, It was quite something to actually see the wall. Some amazing museums there but the Pergamon was outstanding with Gate of Ishtar from Babylon.

My first time crossing the Atlantic! To some nothing new but I have never experienced Jet lag like that. Washington was an amazing place for me, I saw things that I had only read about and had never dreamed of being there. It is a beautiful city with some remarkable sites. From all the memorial sites to the museums to the people, to the home of the president! what an experience this was for a little African boy :)

The highlight of the trip, I must say was meeting Jacques family and friends, it was such a pleasure to get to know them.

You know, one has their own perception of the USA but until you actually go there it’s quite different to how I imagined. Yes, everything is bigger, most things. Almost everyone drives a big 4x4 which has never or very seldom been off road, something I will probably never understand. The superstores are massive and you can literally get “anything” you want. I thought it was good here in England, little did I know! It reminds me of my first time in Tescos (supermarket), I stood there in awe as I looked upon a whole row of bread, rows of cheese and meats, there was even a meal in a box which could be ready in 5 mins, this was just too much for me and the choice was overwhelming. I ended up going to the little corner shop for the first couple of weeks, sounds stupid I know but we have no idea how lucky we are living in such places.

I would certainly love to go back and visit one day!

I start a new position in Oxford within the company I work for on the 19th, very exciting as the office will now be 4 miles from the house. Bring out the bicycle! They say you never forget how to ride a bike, I hope it’s true.

Brandenburg Gate

The Sans Souci in Potsdam

Christmas at the Holtons

The White House (Kaya ku George)

Defying Gravity

Sir Isaac Newton once said....well in this instance he would have thought differently.

It was my sisters 25th birthday last month and wanted to do something fun with her, I thought tea and cake would just not cut it, so in the end surprised her with.... I suppose you could call it body flying, let me explain. You take a wind tunnel for testing the aerodynamics of a formula 1 race car flip it 90 degrees, put on a jump suit and voila!

Chellie was a natural at it, the rest of us were bouncing around all over the place while she just smiled and waved :)

The scotsman

Almost a month since my last post, well I do not call myself a blogger but perhaps a Scotsman:)

I went to a ball in London last Saturday and thought I would try out my recently obtained kilt for the first time, now I thought I should wear it like a true Scotsman. There is so much I could say on that but I will just say it was very comfortable and leave it at that. :)

Mom and Chellie I am missing you two! Mom, who have I got to keep me entertaned at 3am with your sleep talking / Laughing and snoring... oh did I just say snoring :)

My kilt

Kidnapped

You know… I thought I would start a blog to keep friends and family up to date on what was happening in my life over here in Oxford as I am usually terrible at keeping in contact. Well… it has been over a month since my last post so just to let everyone know I am still alive.

The past month has been interesting but an exciting one at that…

My sister Chellie got a job as an au pair, right in the centre of Oxford, looking after twin girls aged two and a four year old boy (I take my hat off to you sis)

Mom is working with the homeless here for a couple of weeks before going back to Zimbabwe, you’ve got a big heart mom! I am going to miss you both when you go back!

I was kidnapped a couple of days ago, yes, you heard it right…kidnapped, by a lovely lady and taken down to the south coast of England. One’s first reaction upon being kidnapped would be to try and escape… I presume? But under these circumstances I found myself enjoying the kidnapper’s company :)

It was a great weekend taking in the sites and watching the annual folk festival, an interesting side to the English culture that I have never seen before.

The beach was warm, the water was freezing or should I say “fresh” but after a while you got used to it, (probably because by that stage my body was numb)

Durdle Door

UK Road Trip!

A 15 year old ford escort, almost 2000 miles and a mom that has motion sickness, pretty good going I would say!

I have seen more of the UK in the past few weeks than I have in the last 2 years I have been living in this country. All I can say is Scotland is an awesome place, not because of my family heritage but the landscape is so much nicer than England and not so crowded, the only traffic jam you would find out in the countryside there is a couple of cars stuck behind a tractor.

Our journey was exciting, a continuous battle between my satellite navigation and dad with his map ( yes dad the sat nav was lying and you were right every time ;) We did take a wrong turn here and there and on one occasion ended up in a little Scottish town called Moray where I found a kilt maker and have the complete Morrison kilt on its way! No photos of that will be posted :)

Below is the route we took and the places we stayed, there are so many different towns and sites buzzing through my head as it was a bit of a whirlwind holiday but great to be with the whole family again.

Windermere

Edinburgh

Loch Ness

Aberdeen

Whitby