...2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! what are you going to be doing and where? please some exciting stories of where you celebrated and how would be cool! don't quite know what we will be doing yet? have been looking after one of the babies this week and that has meant being up in the night!! wonder if i will make midnight?? Anya's cast is off end of this week, hopefully!! she has done very well and been cheerful throughout.
wonder what 2007 will bring.... who knows, a chelsea team who can defend? more car punctures? we will try and keep you infromed,.... have a good one....

happy christmas

Happy Christmas, from Uganda!! here it is either hot or wet!! but as you can see from the picture, we are staying true to a few english traditions! Anya has now got her 3rd plaster on, as the other 2 either went soft or started to fall apart? thge doctor did say it wasn't our fault !! i'm choosing to believe him!!
the christmas tree is huge as you can see, any guesses on it's size?? hope you all have a great christmas and tremendous new year!!

....ow!!

it's been a bit quiet recently, this end, due to problems with the old internet!! i don't think it was me!? last weekend was eventful, i had great plans of going to watch the football, but anya fell off a climbing frame and broke her leg!! so instead of watching the football i was in the hospital. they were great and helped anya and us through it, she is doing really well and there is very little moaning and she just gets on with it. so not only is it our 1st christmas in uganda, it is also our 1st one with a broken leg!! the big cast will be on for another 2 weeks and then a smaller one after that, a spiral fracture for those who know bout these things.

1000!!

Greetings one and all, a friend has just let me know, we have now had had 1000 hits on the blog!! WOW, i presume that it is good?? thanks for everyone who reads our wandering thoughts and make nice comments!!
Lots of rain at the mo and kampala is an absolute nightmare to get in and out of... so trying to avoid that of we can! no further punctures to report, HOORAY!! Pic is Joel and anya on the swing, thanks ED, the seesaw is no more, sorry to say, fun while it lasted.
at the moment, trying to build/construct a dolls house!!! yes i know, those who know me will now be in shock an d will wonder can it happen, pics to follow as proof, hopefully!!

Hi there,
i have returned from up north! had a great time. we were on the new land for new hope uganda, where a childrens centre

specifically for childrfen rescued from LRA will come and stay. we were involved in clearing land, slashing and digging and as you can see from the picture eatring meat!! take my word for it very nice. when i have other pics will put them on. it was an 8 hour drive on a variety of roads, but i have now found the best road in kampala!! 100 kms of perfect tarmac, not a pot hole in sight!! certainly makes driving easier when you don't have to avoid craters in the road!!

all say hi here......

Baby Silas...

Hello, one and all!! couple of weeks ago i mentioned that we were having baby Silas over for the weekend, hence the picture, we had a great time and he only woke up 2 or 3 times in the night!! i forgot what that was like! Joel and anya really enjoyed ~silas being around. Silas is part of the baby house here, where at the moment they have 9 babies ranging from3 monts up to 3 years, these babies have either all been abandoned or their parents have died. the baby house is looking for upto 30 sponsers for the house to support the babies and everything they need and at this point they have 15!! sponsership is $30/month.
lot of rain the last few days, but still no sign of christmas decorations, tree or music....it's quite nice really...
bfn..

Ugandan barbie...

The other night we had a "camp fire" in our garden, where we roasted pork on sticks, very nice, some were a little over done!! but it was a barbie so black on the outside and pink in the middle is what you expect!! then for pudding we demonstrated the culinary delight of toasted marshmallows!! a mixed response would be safe to say!! great fire though.
puncture no.7!! yesterday, so new tyres for us i think!
lots of rain today so we've had great fun making mud pies, great fun and i trhink anya is an expert!!

bfn

...Big Bang!!

..the big Bang!!

well the other day, there we are driving along one of our fine roads here with a car full, when suddenly there's a huge BANG, what's that i thought, we've just been shot!! but no..... the back side window had just exploded inwards!! all over one of our friends, it was all very exciting and now our car has a black plastic bag for a window!! very attractive looking!!
hope you like the picture, yet another chameleon pet but this one was very big and if i'm honest a little scary!! he has wandered off now...
this weekend we have one of the little babies (Silas) who is 3 months coming over, so that should be fun, to be reminded of sleepless nights and nappies etc...
bye for now....

swings!

hi one and all, thought would send you at least one of our "playground" courtesy of Ed, what a clver chap he is!! he's just returned from sudan, had a good time.
the swing is cool (oops the font has gone smaller and now bold!!) ah still bold oh never mind! picture of seesaw next time, as this is taking an age to load.
favourite film ever? what would it be?
bye for now
brownies

motorised caravan!

greetings one and all, thought a picture of the car (or motorised caravan as someone put it!!) was due. actually looks quite clean, but very rarely like that! we have a special gift of punctures as we have now had 4 in as many weeks! well at least that is something i can do on a car!
joel yesterday saw an eagle flying over the house with a rabbit, very cool, but why don't you ever have a camera when you need one! now that woulsd have looked impressive on the blog, never mind!
bye for now......

friends

hi there, sorry for no news, no power the last few days, so food going off and no ability to charge anything!! at least we ate well!! but hooray it came back yesterday (monday!)
had suprise friends drop in on friday (john and shelia wastie!!) very exciting, so good to see them and we spent a good few hours together, Ed is here and has built a swing and is now in the middle of constructing a see saw! we have also discussed black holes! well he is a physicist(is that a right spelling?
keep on blogging!!
steve

which dress

So we passed these the other day on the way to kampala, what do you think, which one should i get kathryn? suggestions welcome!!

cats and dogs

Have you ever felt like cat or dog ? or wondered what they think or what their life is like?? well as a family we have had a little "taste" of their life!! As the picture shows we have just had de worming, yes that's right, de worming pills!! thought only cats/dogs had them. it's something you take every few months out here!! as someone said the consequences of not taking them are just not worth it!! (will leave that to your imagination!!) the pills tasted like chalk and we had to take 5 each!!! other than that all well here and in kampala for the weekend.
bye for now

cats and dogs

Have you ever felt like cat or dog ? or wondered what they think or what their life is like?? well as a family we have had a little "taste" of their life!! As the picture shows we have just had de worming, yes that's right, de worming pills!! thought only cats/dogs had them. it's something you take every few months out here!! as someone said the consequences of not taking them are just not worth it!! (will leave that to your imagination!!) the pills tasted like chalk and we had to take 5 each!!! other than that all well here and in kampala for the weekend.
bye for now

hair

well here we are again, life is sweet, we had a few email problems but we are bac on line1 hooray, thanks for all the help from mark and jon in the uk!! joel has found a new chameleon, which is very exciting and is now our new pet, well it's alittle different from a fish or cat? here they are cooking cassava chips, very nice, well at least they are better cooked than raw!
time to go off and play footy, bye for now.....
ugandan wedding tomorrow (9th) which should be good fun, and the girls in the family group are all very excited as they are bridesmaids so can have their hair done etc... relaxed african hair is amasing( thought for the day)

kangaroo's

Well hello there, today i have found out that my dell computer is one of those which is at risk of the battery exploding or at least catching fire!! i always thought it got a bit hot!! so hopefully no explosions until the new battery arrives!! the day draws nearer for arrival of the car, another week or so, hopefully, i have another tough question, no-one by the way answered the one about flies!! does a male kangaroo have a pouch?? if so what for?? prizes may be awarded.
thanks for all the positive blog thougts we will keep on trying to keep
updated. bye for now
"the browns"

life

we are just about to enter another weekend which means being off line for a couple of days, so why not blog.... lots of rain at the moment as the rains seem to have come a month early which is making everyone work really hard, ploughing, clearing and planting all at the same time!! my lettuce are doing well but did plant the whole packet of seeds so an abundance of lettuce we now have!! we have started buying a car!! we've put some money down but now the paper work takes over so may still be a few weeks, a picture will appear when it does!!
this weekend we are celebrating with calvary family and eating goat? anyone had it.... is very nice but can be a bit chewy!! depending what bit you have on your plate!!
so what is the film "cars" like.. reviews would be good, thanks.. and other movies i need to know about..
bye for now
steve

hey there, just noticed it's over 3 weeks since the last post, sorry about that, could blame kit on a manner of things but none would be true. well we have our 1st visitors, sarah and hannah who are hopefully having a good time, they enjoy the taxi rides on the backs of the motorbike!! could be a whole new business opportunity in the uk!!
over the last few weeks have been weeks full of new experiences from harvesting maise and groun d nuts, hard work and blisters as well. the young people here couldn't believe i have never done these things before. also as as a family we have helped collect fire wood and water!! the young people collect water every day! life for us is easy,
joel and anya say hi and they are enjoying themselves especially now as they are on holiday as our guests are here. 7.30am assemblies, anyone beat that? i was surprised i could string any words together at that time of day...maybe i didn't!
will write soon, hopefully
tried to add a photo but no joy...technology!!

hi all, thanks for the comments, nice to know people are reading the blog, at the mo looks like could be updating 0nce maybe twice a week. joel had agreat birthday at weekend and got to play footy pretty much all day, then we watched the england game on a big screen, in the african bush, still same result!! why do we bother even going thro the penalty shoot out!! our freight arrives today?? was meant to be friday but got diverted, who knows where??
life here is becoming normal and certainly getting used to eating beans everday, with pots, chapatis and rice! thankfully the kids love beans.
progress report on our planting for those interested, lettuce and garlic have appeared, COME ON, we are very excited.
the picture is joel sharing his birthday cake with the family group nearest to us.
Question for discussion asked by Joel, "why did God create flies?? answers would be much appreciated, thanks

arrival

hi everyone, we are here, finally. after touring the uk and coming via mombasa!! we have been here 4 days are starting to settle, it is very different but life will become normal i think. but it's afine place when you can pick up 6 mangoes for 30p, can't be bad, the kids had their first day at home school and seemed to enjoy kathryn did as well!! the kids seem very at home and settling well.
went on my first motorbike taxi today which was fun just a bit dusty when vehicles come the nother way, then negotiated my first shopping trip which seemed to go ok?? think the prices were ok!
we're not on email all the time so these posts won't be daily, lets say!! no snakes spotted yet!!
steve

fridge

to carry on the theme of decluttering, we are now sitting in a fairly empty house but we have our priorities right, we still have the tv so we can watch the football!! we did a get bit carried away with letting the fridge go and then having the hottest days of the year, gone off milk in the morning, not the best, so big thanks to the Harts for the loan of a small one.
month to go and hopefully over the next few weeks we will get better at this blogging!!

i will finish on this note, CHELSEA CHAMPIONS!!!

de-cluttering

We've had a great weekend for getting rid of stuff. Jee has moved into his new houswe and taken half of ours with him. Useful, if not a bit disconcerting having no dining room table and chairs any more!

Emmanuel nursery did a sponsored water carry for 'Anyas family'. Involved a lot of adults getting very wet - but really encouraging for us.

We hope that the 29th is in your diary for the fundraiser - the raffle prizes are worth coming for : half a days labour by a friendly builder, free MOT, £50 M&S hamper, nail manicure worth £25 - wow - can it get better?!

cute

1. don't you think this is a great photo?

Plans

Well we are finally beginning to get a few definite plans - we seem to have a leaving date though the tickets are not yet booked. We will leave from Heathrow on Friday 16th June. We wont get to Uganda until the 22nd June because we are Kathryns youngest sisters wedding wihich is happening on the 19th in Kenya!
At the moment we are just working on building up our support team - people who will want to partner with us by giving, praying and encouraging..... so ..... thank you to those of you who have responded to us about this - we are just in the process of putting together a little booklet so that we can show you a bit more detail about the project at Kasana and then you'll know what you are getting involved in!

life here is tickety boo, and for those who know me not only going to a conference in london!! i even admit that i enjoyed it!! careful now, this last weekend had graham and jane from world horizons to help us prepare as a family in going abroad, reallyuseful and encouraging as we seemed to be moving ioin the right direction, you knopw what i saw today a lorry stuck in a wall it had driven into, don't often see that! plans are coming along and we now have a date of 16th june as departure which isn't that far away!!!!
will keep you up to speed
steve

first thoughts

Anyone who knows us will be stunned at this new addition to our techno career. We have just spent a weekend at the Norridges who have set us up with the tongue twister of a blog! Wow!

Now that we have a computer and means to communicate we feel we are more ready to leave the country. We will need the next 5 months to learn what we are doing with regard to blogs.

It will be great to get your comments

Steve and Kathryn.

Good Evening!!

Every good blog starts with a test post...