The highs and lows

Hello Friends

As most of our stalwarts know, when there is no post for awhile it is usually because we are working really hard ... or ... something bad has happened. This time it was a good dose of both that has kept me from writing here.

For over a month we were trying to save our Beloved Baron, the great and famous SLOBBERDOG.
Sadly he passed away on Saturday last, a tragic loss to us all but felt most keenly by Mommy Thea who had invested so much love in his life.

We have all shed our tears for him and there is a constant catch in our throats when walking between the office and the mainhouse without his company.
It is made more tragic with the knowledge that Baron is only one of many big local dogs who have likely succumbed to poison disguised in meat. The police say that people come into an area, sell poison and instructions about how to get rid of a dog that any of the local inhabitants dislike and pretty soon there is an epidemic in the area. It's so sad.

He now has a special place on the grounds of TLC but I fear we will never be the same again.

Amongst the tragedy life at TLC continues ofcourse.

Here are 2 pictures: see if you can notice what the problem was here that we had to solve.

Did you see? The printed label say they are 2 different meds but the front shows that they are the same medicine just different brands.

So what happened was 2 of our children attended the local HIV clinic and were given 3 months of meds to go home with. Upon arrival at home we discovered they had been given double of the one kind of medicine and none of the other - Yikes! Thank goodness we were in a position to return to the clinic immediately but I still wonder how many mommies who simply see different coloured labels and assume the 2 are different will find in 3 months when they return to the clinic that their children are now really unwell!

Our New Farm is visited now all the time by some beautiful birds, I still don't know what species but it gives me joy to know they like it there as much as we do.  We also have had some fun with the cows this week. We had to herd them from the top to the bottom so they could graze on the longer grass and oh boy ... if you could've seen us you would've been in stitches I reckon! Let's just say, it was not the most dignified of parades :-)

We have gone from 4 Nest babies to 6 this week which is a big joy to us. Meet our new arrivals.

A little boy of 2 days old. Ruthie was entranced to see the tiny one as he arrived home.

Somehow in amongst all the things that go on around here, we always get those moments to stop in our tracks and remember just what it is that we do around here. Gathering the little acorns into our warmth and praying that they will rise up as mighty oaks in the future.

For those of you that know and love our Beloved Martha :-)  She is soon to become a Mamma herself. After MANY MANY years of trying she is so thrilled to be expecting a baby of her own. She will be taking Maternity leave soon and it would be wonderful if those who love her would consider sending a small token to help make life a little easier for her. If you send gifts please make sure you reference them: FOR MARTHA.

Sadly the bills at TLC continue to rise and we are finding the wonderful donations that people still send us are not able to meet our living expenses. Bills are being deferred month to month and we are constantly pinching from Peter to pay Paul so to speak.

I know everyone gets tired of hearing it so I have stopped writing it on here, but TLC gets nothing from the state and South African corporates are under huge pressure so if you know of any avenues we can possibly try please let us know. The vast amount of our energies are being spent trying to find money for food, petrol, meds and school fees.

One thing I am grateful for is that some of the kids have less expensive tastes! This here is a photo of what Similo wanted for his birthday dinner!! Seriously! In South Africa chicken feet are eaten quite often, whilst I must admit I simply cannot bring myself to eat them, Similo and most of my kids tucked into them with great relish :-)

I have to run. It is late and my kids are waiting to go "home", but I really wanted to write to you! It's been far too long!

We love you all

Pippa