The sea and the baby

Anton and Aimee kindly took me along on 2 hour the trip in the glass bottomed boat this morning. It was strange to see a sea bed so devoid of colour and plant life - mainly big volcanic rocks and a few wrecked ships. We did, however, have a big manta ray swim right up to the boat.
Hannah and Danny were supposed to come home this evening, but Hannah has developed jaundice, and has been placed under lights in an incubator. The hospital is very relaxed, and because there is no other mother in the maternity ward, Arthur is allowed to spend the night with them.
I have just done the first load of baby clothes washing....

Anton and Aimee van Rensburg

Friends from when we lived in a little town called Kokstad (more than 20 years ago) arrived on the RMS on 10th Dec, and will be visiting us for 2 weeks. When Graeme and I were waiting to meet them at the wharf, we were wondering whether they had changed much physically over the years, and whether we would still recognise them. To our delight, they looked much the same as before, and we recognised them instantly.

While waiting for them to disembark, we watched how cargo is unloaded from the RMS to reach the island. Little boats ferry backwards and forwards between the crane on the wharf and the RMS.

It has been great having friends to chat and reminisce and laugh and sight see with. Aimee and I have similar interests, and Anton and Graeme do as well. Their presence will be missed when they return to SA on the 23rd

Apology

My dear friends that usually follow my blog - many apologies for the long silence. Blogging has become on chore lately - especially if I try and attach a photo or 2. It takes me about 1 to 2 hours to post a blog that takes about 10 to 15 minutes to create. There is most probably some simple reason why my computer is not doing what I tell it to, but I don't know what it is, and computer technicians that can actually solve your computer problems are almost non existant here. Also, our internet service provider and connection is often so slow that it can cause saintly people to use colourful language.

I will do my best to improve.

Hannah Rose Beckett

There were 2 Becketts on St Helena on Christmas 2009, 3 on Christmas 2010, and now there will be 5 on Christmas 2011:

Hannah Rose Beckett said "hullo" to the world on Sunday 18th Dec 2011 at 11.44pm.

She did not appear too impressed with what she saw...



Danny was taken to the hospital at about 4.00am in the first mild stages of labour. Arthur and I were with her througout her labour - sometimes Arthur was more supportive than others...

Danny did very well during a difficult labour, delivering an 8lb 2oz baby naturally. Here she is with Hannah seconds after delivering her.

An excellent midwife, Erica Benjamin, assisted her, making sure that there was no tearing.

Dr Deon was also there making sure that all went well.




Arthur was given the baby to hold while Dr Deon and Erica gave Danny the attention she needed after the birth. They bonded so well that Arthur was fussy when I tried to hold his "little precious".
Hannah has a mop of lovely black hair; a button nose; chubby cheeks; a dimple in her chin; and l-o-n-g fingers and toes.

Literally, within hours of her being born, congratulations were being announced on the radio, and all sorts of people (some whom I did not even know) greeted me on my way to work, congratulating us, and wishing us well. Such a lovely community spirit

Policeman Arthur

Arthur joined the St Helena police force on Monday 12 Dec, as a prison guard. It is an answer to prayer. Strangley enough, his great grandpa, after whom he was named, was also a policeman. So far, he is very happy there and says that his fellow officers are thoughtful and good people to work with.

The Wedding went ahead

Friday evening I tried to let everyone know that the wedding was going ahead, but our internet service was down. Still down on Saturday morning. gggrrrhhh!

Anyway, the wedding happened. Hallelujah! I am rather tired after running around like a headless chicken for 3 days, so I will just post a few photos for now, and post a more detailed blog about all the "goings ons" that happened, later in the week.

Internet is playing up again....Photos are in random order. Will try and fix later. I have been trying to get this small entry onto the blog for over one hour now....

WHAT A DAY!!!

Yesterday afternoon I arrived home to find Danny and her mom trying to sort through all the baby clothes that have been given to her. Quite a task. An hour or so later I dropped Arthur and Danny off at the hospital for their last anti-natal class, while I went off to the Deadwood Bible study. I arrived back home at about 10.00pm to Arthur shivering and all huddled up in the lounge, and in a lot of pain. He had a bad night, and was still in a lot of pain in the morning, so I took him to the hospital. He was admitted for observation. One doctor thought that he was passing gall stones, and the other thought that he had apendicitus. Tests were run during the course of the day, but nothing was conclusive, and he has been kept overnight in the hopes that a clearer diagnosis can be reached in the morning. And all of this while his wedding is on Saturday!!

While Arthur was in hospital, we received a call at the manse asking us to come and collect the marriage license, and check that we understood all that needed to be done. I went along, and found that the lady was talking as if Graeme was officiating at the wedding. When I informed her that this was not so, she informed me that it definitely WAS so, as they were getting married in a Baptist chapel, and only a Baptist minister can officiate in that location....

It turned out that Arthur had interpreted things said to him by the licensing official in the light of SA law, and had gotten his wires badly crossed. According to UK (and St Helena) law, the location of the wedding is very important, and determines who performs the ceremony. In SA, it is the person officiating that has to be licensed to perform weddings, and the location does not matter at all. We had to rush home and inform Graeme that his first wedding would be that of his younger son's in 2 day's time.

THEN we checked the unsigned wedding license, and found that Danny's middle name had been spelt incorrectly - "Rosanne" instead of "Roseanne". Back to the licensing office we went, only to be shown the births register where her name was written very clearly in block capitals in her father's handwriting as "Rosanne". Saints use their full names a lot of the time, and Danny was rather taken aback to know that throughout her life, her name had been spelt incorrectly - even on her baby vaccination card.

Last, but definitely not the least - while all these carry-on's were happening with the Becketts, the new governor made an announcement that the contract to build the airport had been signed, and that work would start before the end of the year. Thus ends many years of waiting and negotiating between St Helena and the UK government. The airport will change many things about the island - some for the better, and some for the worse.

Tomorrow will tell whether the wedding can go ahead on Saturday, or whether Arthur will be too incapacitated (perhaps recovering from surgery) and will have to postpone his big day.

I now have to go and press Arthur's suit and Danny's wedding dress that were made by a local seamstress, in case the wedding does happen the day after tomorrow.