Grammy's Growing Grandkids!!

Back in the Day~Circa 1992

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Well, I thought it was time to update my blog! The last time I posted anything, we had three grandchildren. We now have five!!

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Robin and I

2009-05-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!

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Time seems to fly when life gets in the way. Since my last post almost 11 months ago a lot has happened...we've had two grandsons added to the family and Kyra is expecting another 'grand' due October 4th!!! My hope is to update more frequently than in the past. I'm sure it will mostly be about Chloe, Lincoln, Elijah, etal because we are no different than typical proud grandparents!!!

I'd like to change my blog name (and in fact I already have) but if anyone has a better suggestions, I'd appreciate any input!!!

My hope is to post pictures and jot down happenings of the Ziniker Clan at least once a month so that I can go back and relive and remember special events or even 'ho-hum occasions!!!

Mighty Huntress!!!

2008-06-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

~Kalahari Springbok~

~Impala~

~Devon, the P. H.~Brynna's Warthog~

~Greater Kudu~

Rob told Brynna if she could find a Professional Hunter to take her hunting, he'd pay for it! So, she got hooked up with the local butcher in Ft. Beaufort. A lot of the butcher's have a side business as professional hunters. They generally keep the meat since they have an outlet to sell it from. Too bad we didn't figure out a way to keep the kudu because there's nothing better than kudu backstrap!!! Devon took her out several days and she was able to get a kudu, springbok, impala and warthog! The above picture is an African tradition. When you kill your first animal, you put the animals blood on your face. Brynna really got into the spirit of the hunt, I'd say!!!

Beautiful Sable

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Some More Game!

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Robben Island

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Prisoners only had one to two changes of clothes. They were always cold in the winter because they wore shorts and only had one blanket for warmth. Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, SA on July 18, 1918 and was the most famous inmate at Robben Island. He joined the African National Congress in 1944. In 1962 he was arrested for treason and sentenced to five years of hard labor. On June 12, 1964 he was arrested again, along with eight others for plotting to overthrow the government and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was at Robben Island from 1964-1982, thereafter at Pollsmoor Prison nearby on the mainland. His reputation grew and he became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom. On Feb. 11, 1990 he was released from prison. In 1991 he was elected president of the ANC which was banned in 1960. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Most of the South African's all love him, even now and wish that he wasn't so old (90 years). They thought he was great for the country and he understood all of the people, no matter if they were black, Coloured, or Afrikaans. Okay, I think that's enough of a history lesson!!!

Lime pit where Nelson Mandela Labored~The Long Hours and Poor Conditions Helped Contribute to Him Going Blind.

View of Table Mt. from Robben Island

Near the Dock

Light House on Robben Island

Cables Up to the Top of Table Mountain

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Cape Town Below!

At Boulders Beach

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Yes, Penguins in South Africa!

Around Cape Town

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On the Cable Car up to the top of Table Mt.

The Lion's Head Near Table Mt.

My mistake!! This is still UGLY but I was informed that's it's a baby marabou stork!!!

~Funky Rental Car, Not Ours~

Some of the Game Rob Aquired, Except the Elephant!!!

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Caracal

Greater Kudu

Duiker

From our B & B at Huntershill Safari

White Springbok

Kalahari Springbok

It's About Time!

2008-05-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, for Pete's Sake! I guess I'm not really into blogging. I've been meaning to do this for ages but 'things' just keep getting in the way!!! I really want to finish up our trip to South Africa so that I can get on to exciting things, like grand babies!!! It's been almost four months since my last post, so it really is, ABOUT TIME!! Hopefully, I'll get a few pictures and thoughts down so that I can revisit our trip whenever I want and not have to rack my brain...which at my age is a real chore...

First, I wanted to list some of the words and sayings from South Africa before I forget them. I wrote a bunch of them down but can't seem to find the paper I put them on...so, I know there are more but can't remember them right now. If you can think of other sayings I've forgotten, please refresh my memory and feel free to post them!

1. Bakkie (buck~ky) ~ a pick up truck.
2. Biltong ~ (bull tongue) ~ beef jerky, made from ostrich, beef, kudu, etc.
3. Bottle store ~ Liquor store, on every street corner.
4. Blotto~ Extreme inebriation.
5. Boykie ~ little boy.
6. Buy a dankie (donkey) ~ thank you in Afrikaans.
7. Braai ~ (bry) ~ Barbecue.
8. Boerie, Boerewors (Vors) ~ farmstyle sausage on the braai.
9. Biscuit ~ Cookie, twit.
10. Bye-Bye ~ Said monotone sometimes and drawn out...
11. Chemist ~ Pharmacy.
12. Chips ~ French fries.
13. Chalk a block ~ Lots of traffic, busy, full.
14. Farm Stall ~ A fun place to get refreshments along the road; they sell fruit, breads, teas, and yummy desserts!
15. Gatstad ~ Grahamstown, a town between P. E. and East London in the Eastern Cape.
16. Go Mental ~ Going Postal.
17. Go well ~ said after a visit when you are leaving a friends house.
18. Howzit ~ How is it?
19. If God wills ~ Also said when you are leaving a friends house.
20. Just now ~ very soon, eventually, or never!
21. Ja ~ (Yah) ~ Yes.
22. Lekker ~ Nice, pleasant, good time.
23. Mielies ~ Corn.
24. Pavement ~ Sidewalk!
25. P. E. ~ Port Elizabeth, a town along the east coast near Jeffrey's Bay.
26. Robot ~ Traffic light.
27. Rooibus ~ Red Bush Tea, very good and has many healthy benefits, plus no caffeine. I ordered three boxes from South Africa. On a side note, it's next to impossible to find a good cup of coffee in SA. Most people drink tea or INSTANT COFFEE (Nescafe')!!!
28. Same Same ~ Okay.
29. Samp ~ A South African dish made from rough maize (corn). It's often mixed with red beans (samp & beans) and is delish!! Yum! I had Brynna bring me back some samp because I couldn't find it in any of the stores around here. I guess I'll have to look for it online.
30. Shame ~ Said A LOT, meaning poor thing or I feel sorry for you.
31. Shushu ~ (Not sure how to spell it, I think it's Xhosa or Zulu) Very hot!
32. Sorry ~ Excuse me, come again.
33. Slum Town ~ East London, a town which is near some excellent surfing, namely Nahoon Reef, Yellowsand & Queenberry Bay, to name a few.
34. Torch ~ Flashlight.
35. Veld ~ South African countryside.
36. We need to 'make a plan' ~ Self explanatory.
37. Xhosa ~ ([Huh] kosa) ~ Strong, handsome black people that speak with 'clicks' coming from the back of their throats ~ I read this definition in "The Covenant", by James Michener, a very good (LONG) book, by the way that I'm trying to finish before next year! I wish I would have read it before we went to South Africa because it's very informative.
I found part of my list of 'sayings' so will add them!
1. 100%~ Okay!
2. I'm really chapped!
3. Bob's your uncle~Cool!
4. Long fingers~To steal.
5. Green fingers~Green thumb.
6. We'll give you a tinkle~Call you.
7. Loo~Bathroom.
8. No over nighting~spend night.
9. Heavy~Same as in the 70's.
10. One click~ One kilometer.
11. Traffic calming~ Speed bumb.

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A beach near Port Alfred. Mom and dad didn't come with us.

Monkey right in town!!

Beach near PE. Thats what I woke up to and dolphins in the surf!

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After going on an evening game drive at Schotia Game Reserve, we had a delicious meal cooked in Dutch ovens, over coals and on burners. We had kudu back strap (which was delicious, by the way), chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, beans, and some rolls cooked in the Dutch oven that just melted in your mouth.

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Notice how close this lion is to our vehicle.

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Peter, our game driver said that only a mother could love a warthog since they are so ugly!!!

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Now I know why the tortoise won the race...this one was really moving fast!!!

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Aren't the baby giraffes cute? One interesting fact about the male giraffe is that they can go bald!!!

Some of the Wildlife We Saw!!!

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We saw this elephant in Addo Elephant Park. It walked right in front of the open air vehicle we were in.

Bungy Jumping, Anyone?

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This is the highest single span concrete arch bridge in the world and the highest commercial bungy jump in the world!!! The bridge is 452 meters in length and 216 meters in hight. I was really tempted to take the plunge because I've always wanted to bungy jump but come on, I'm the mother and I HAD to set an example for Nicole & Brynna!!!

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I meant to post this picture sooner. This is Tony and Elrie Robinson. They were some friends and the first people we met in South Africa. They were kind enough to pick us up from the Johannesburg airport since we had a layover until the next morning. We spent the night at their house then they took us back to the airport the next morning!!! Since this picture, they have moved to Ft. Beaufort where Tony will be working at a "Champs" Chicken Restaurant. Brynna is going to volunteer at the school Tammy~Rose (their daughter) plans to attend, starting on Jan. 14th.

Back in the USA!!!

2008-01-10T22:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's great to be back home after spending 42 hours in airplanes and airports. We had a great time in South Africa and saw lots of beautiful country and met some wonderful people. Now, I need to get busy and post some pictures of our time there.

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Bruce and Barry Hoft own two "Champs" Crispy Fried Chicken restaurants, one in Alice, S. Africa and the other in Ft. Beaufort S. A. Their chicken and fish are awesome and their 'chips' are the best I've ever eaten!!! I'm sure glad they are half~way around the world because my cholesterol would be really taking a hit!!!

Happy New Year from South Africa!!!

2007-12-31T20:35:00.001-08:00

Well, this will be my last post from South Africa. In less than an hour, we are heading to the East London airport to start our LONG journey home. We leave around 12:30 p.m. New Years Day(Tuesday) and don't get home until around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday evening!!!

The best to you all for a happy, healthy, and safe 2008!

Cheers from South Africa!

2007-12-28T23:52:00.000-08:00

It was nice to meet Anthony Hodgkinson (left), and Hannes Marais (right), the workers in the East London and District field. That includes Steve's field in Fort Beaufort, which is a small town so they don't generally get this way for gospel meetings, just visits.

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We were fortunate to be in Cape Town when Combined Union Meetings were going on...like our Special Mtg. Cape Town has 49 Sunday Morning Mtgs. so they split the mtgs. up. The first CUM was the previous Sunday. It was at the convention grounds and there were about 250-300 people. We met several of the friends. The workers do tea dishes after the afternoon mtg. Pictured: Benny Minnaar (front left), Henk Botha (back left), Patricia Rafferty (front right), not sure of the middle friend, and Grant Adonis (back right)

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Here we all are, after hiking to the top of Cape Point, the little building you see at the top of the picture. Note the green sign behind us that says, "Baboons are dangerous and attracted by food." We didn't see any here but have heard they are very aggressive and will break into your vehicle to get food!

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We went to Cape Point after leaving Table Mt. It is the southern most point in South Africa. The water is a beautiful tourquoise color and looks quite inviting but it's very cold. I was expecting the water to be warmer but it almost feels like the Oregon coast!!!

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Here are the girls and I on top of Table Mountain in Capetown, South Africa. We rode on a revolving cable tram to the top then walked around to see the beautiful views of Capetown. It was a gorgeous day, so we were lucky since sometimes the tram is closed because of high winds. The next day (Sunday) it was pouring down raining and the 'table' was obscured.

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The Barbury Coast lion that Rob shot, right after this picture was taken by Steve...and you know him, he was getting a bit aprehensive because they were so close.

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This is a kalahari springbuck. It's the SA national animal, plus the name of the SA rugby team which took the world rugby cup for 2007.

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Here is Rob's awesome looking eland. He shot it with a 30.06 at a full run.

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Rob went hunting with Huntershill Safaris while Steve rode along and was his photographer. He got this nice Blesbuck. I think it's classified as an antelope over here in South Africa. Meanwhile, Nicole, Brynna, Angelina Schmidt & I had fun going on some game drives. We saw many different wild animals like zebra, rhinos, giraffes, warthogs, cape buffalo, hippo, lions, and several different antelope.

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This is the same picture but with my brother Steve in it. He's been living in Ft. Beaufort for over a year. He's been gone from the US since May of 2006 but will be coming home for a visit in April of 2008. He plans to come back to South Africa to live as a permanent resident, that is if his paperwork goes through.

2007-12-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

This is the Sunday night bible study in Ft. Beaufort, Eastern Cape South Africa. The young girl standing above me is Mitra Kolahi from Seattle, WA. Her fiance' is Reinhard Knickelbein, right behind her. They are planning to get married in Seattle, as soon as their marriage visa application is approved. They posted the paper work in Oct. It can take up to eight month for it to be approved.

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This is Angelina's front yard. I love the palm trees. Steve said it would be quite warm (in the 90's) but so far it's been pretty cool, according to Nicole and I. It did get up to 85, tho'. I'll post more later and get some pictures of Rob and the girls and the people we have met.

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My first cup of South African java to revive me after flying from Redmond, Seattle, Paris, Johannesburg, and East London SA

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We needed a car for six but they didn't have one available. We ended up with this van for 12.

2007-12-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

After thirty hours of flying, we finally arrived in East London, South Africa. My brother Steve picked us up and we drove for two hours to Ft. Beaufort where we will be based.

Welcome to my blog

2007-11-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

I probably won't be blogging forever, but since I'm going to South Africa I thought I'd set up a blog so I could share our experiences and pictures with anyone interested!