Last night, Christmas Eve, we braaied and ate too much! Oh dear. Nothing new. In the morning we had arrived in Swellendam and Mike had played 18 holes. I’d walked the first 9 with him, so had got a bit of exercise.
Stacey and David exchanged Christmas presents which is their sibling night-before-Christmas tradition. David gave Stacey “30 seconds”, which naturally we then set about playing.
With the Christmas tree twinkling in the corner, much fun was had by all. For newbies such as Mike & I it was a steep learning curve. It’s an interested game, testing your general knowledge and ability to communicate – quickly!
We were divided into two teams of 4. Clearly David has honed his 30 second skills. Note to self – next time I play 30 seconds and David is around, insist he is on my team! 🙂
After the game, a few of us set off to walk to the Main Rd to admire the Christmas lights. A lot of work has gone into putting those up and maintaining them. Not as good as some I’ve seen and certainly better than others. Being late at night (after 10pm), we were interested to see who we would encounter on our excursion…there was a very merry fellow who weaved his way along the road with brightly lit toy reindeer horns on his head! Very festive! Stacey lives up a very steep hill. What goes down has to come up so we huffed and puffed our way back home – it was a good calorie burning exercise. If we wanted to work off some of our Christmas Eve meal, we were successful!
Today dawned and we had some fun family time before heading to church for a meaningful Christmas Day service. Unusually, the minister ended the service with us singing Good King Wencelas. Written by John Mason Neale and published in 1853, it tells a poignant story…
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel
“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather
“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”
In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing
Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.
“Ye who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.”
We opened gifts and had a wonderful celebratory Christmas lunch. We all had an afternoon nap and are now up having tea.
It’s been a fabulous day, celebrating in Swellendam!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you richly!
Happy Christmas!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂