8-59pm

Late blog...

Today was a full day. Started off with a wonderful Tuesday edition of Rise & Shine. Went straight into quick work prep for tomorrow before being surprised by David who unexpectedly arrived at CCFm. He was just driving past and decided to stop in. Can't have that happen without capitalizing on it, so I took him out for breakfast. Then it was off to Joyce Meyer Resource Centre to pick up the book prizes, before going shopping for new pillows, some cushions, mugs and glasses. These are things I have needed to replace for ages but haven't been pushed into it. Today with Mike's sister, Monica arriving with her friend Maria, it was TIME!  Home, email, then out shopping again, this time for food!

Chicken ala King for dinner. It was a cinch! The guests arrived. Granny did not know who Maria was!! But she took to her very quickly and slowly slowly it started coming back. It's going to be an interesting few days! Maria is delightful and together with Monica, Granny will not be at a loss for entertainment!

Enough for the day.

SMS: 156 Calls 12

God bless you!

Helga xx

The Spider & the Bee!!

Today it was great to be back on air after Share-a-thon last week. I had 1 million, 7 hundred & 32 thousand, 821 thank-yous to send! It was sweet!

After the show I wrapped up ALL the music until Monday next week. The reason being that I am not in the studio on Friday. Lynwen will be taking care of Rise & Shine and my family & I are all away on a three night holiday! Looking forward to that!

Got home and phoned the hospital for a Granny update. They still couldn't tell me if she was discharged. They said they would phone back. I waited. They still didn't call, so I called them, again. They said they would call me if she was discharged. Enough of that! I packed something for her to wear and went to the hospital, asked her if she wanted to leave & when she said "yes," I went and asked them to call the Dr. and tell him she wanted to go home! Eventually, they got hold of the Dr. and he said "Fine!" By then she was ready, we ordered a wheelchair & off we went! Now she is tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle. Nothing like your own bed!

After Granny arrived home, I went & picked some lavender from the garden. I was about to take it into her bedroom when I spotted something on the end of one of the flowers....a FAT WHITE SPIDER with the head of a bee in its mouth! Ewww! That was quite gross. I tossed the flower outside and a little later went to see what had happened. Both bee and spider were missing. Glad I noticed it...wouldn't have wanted that freaky white spider lurking in Granny's bedroom!

Tomorrow, Monica & Maria arrive. Watch this space to see if Granny recognises Maria. She cannot for the life of her remember this special special neighbour who she taught to drive and she treated like a daughter!  Monica is Mike's sister. It's going to be a fun two nights and then we leave them to their own devices and head for the hills! Wooo hooo!!

SMS: 88
Calls. 22

Lots of love

Helga xx

7-05pm

A day of complete rest!

Today I spent most of the day in bed!! After 6 days of Share-a-thon hype and backwards and forwards to the hospital to see Granny, today, Mike & I stopped and did very little. David went to see Granny and found her doing okay. She will probably come home tomorrow. Mike's sister and her friend arrive on Tuesday. I thought it was tomorrow, so I've got an extra day to get ready.

The other significant thing that happened today was the arrival of Truffles! Truffles is the neighbour's cat that has hung out in our garden for a couple of years. The neighbours are moving & came to ask us to look after her. It was so funny, because they came over and Mike chatted to them (I was still in my pajamas!) Mike came back in with Truffles in his arms and a big smile on his face. He was thrilled. Truffles not unhappy either! Now to fatten her up, deworm, deflea, and make sure she is spayed!

I go into the new week with the words of   2 Corinthians 8: 1-3a going through my mind. It says: "And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.  In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability."

And that's how we feel after all the giving during Share-a-thon!   R1 730 623 or there abouts was how we ended Share-a-thon 2010!! Wow! Amazing! TGBTG!

Lots of love

Helga xx

6-21pm

Share-a-thon 2010 is over!
 
And wow, we were encouraged. By the end of it all R1 730 623 or there abouts was raised in just 25 hours! Isn't that incredible! TGBTG! Mike & I spent most of the day at CCFm. It was fun & exciting! Great! Great!

Then it was off to the hospital to see Granny! She looks as if she's losing a bit of weight. She should be home on Monday.

Home again and now we are collapsing in a heap! Mike & I are both exhausted! Tomorrow David is going to see Granny and we are going to recover!

Shower & bed!

Thanks to all who pledged and to the Lord who provides and blesses.

God bless you!

Love Helga xx

10-15pm

A full fulfilling day!

Amazing amazing stuff in the CCFm studio this morning. The Lord blessed! Nearly R420 000 was pledged between 7 & 11am. Four fantastic hours. We are greatly encouraged that tomorrow we will reach our target of R1.8 million for the week. We have about R350 000 to go. Amazing!!

After the show, I went to Bible study, all dressed up as the Pink Power Ranger! It was so hot pink! Check out the pics, here and on CCFm's Facebook page (Radio CCFm 107.5).

Right after Bible Study, I came home, changed & then went off to the hospital to see Granny and her Doctor to find out what is happening with her. She seemed fine, although it looked as if she had lost some weight! She was seeing the physio when I arrived. The Doctor says she'll stay in the weekend, which means Mike & I can both go to Share-a-thon tomorrow! :)

Then it was home and cooking for dinner tonight. We had a lovely evening reminising with the Streaters and now it is time for bed!

God bless you richly!! Thanks to all who pledged. Our hearts are warmed and we are encouraged.

Love Helga xx

7-20pm

The Pink Power Ranger!

So that's it! Dump the Pirate, bring on the Pink Power Ranger! Tomorrow is Casual Day, so I coughed up 10 bucks for the sticker and 90 bucks for an outfit that is going to "bring the house down!" Watch out for Facebook pics of Helga van Niekerk: The Pink Power Ranger! We will try get them up on the CCFm website as well as Facebook as soon as we can! Keep an eye on the Radio CCFm 107.5 Facebook Page for *scary thought* video coverage that Wayne may take! 

Today's Share-a-thon total toppled the R1 million mark! Wow!!! We were thrilled. Thank you so much to those who have given so generously! Tomorrow's hours are 7-11am, so the Rise & Shine show will be "Shareathonning" from 7 to 9am. I will be up extra early to pray!

I saw Granny at lunchtime. She is awaiting some specialised pain block sort of treatment for her back which she is having tomorrow. I'm not sure if that means she will be out of hospital after that or if she will be discharged on Saturday. It sure is quiet around here without her.

Tomorrow evening I am really looking forward to having dinner with the Streaters. These folk go back DONKEY years! I was bridesmaid at their daughter Jacqui's wedding and I clearly remember Mr. Streater saying "Helga, when I saw you and Mike together, I was absolutely delighted!" We had JUST started going out when the wedding rehearsal was held. I was so excited to have my special man to take to the wedding. They are now living in the UK and are visiting Cape Town, so tomorrow evening they are coming to our home for dinner.

For  now the day has ended and I'm turning in for the night. Am on the phone to Mike's sister again talking about Granny!

SMS 193 Calls 30

God bless you richly!

Love Helga xx

6-42pm

Share-a-thon 2010 zooting along...a mixed day for Granny!

Wow! Wow! Wow! Sometimes the CCFm listening audience succeeds in blowing me away. It is God who provides for all of us and it is God alone who prompts the heart of man to give generously, but when they do it's just such a humbling feeling being on the receiving end. Today more than R320 000 was pledged to CCFm between 7 & 10am. More than R250 000 was during Rise & Shine. That was crazy. Thank you so much. To God be the glory. Then, I hear this evening, another R100 000 has been pledged. Fantastic! Thank you Lord!!

After all the frenetic in studio activity and wrapped up tomorrow's show prep (including a "must hear" mystery tune for 7-38am) and headed home. Had an hour or so downtime and then went to the hospital to see Granny. I found her sitting up in bed bright eyed and quite happy enjoying her lunch. She could articulate that she had been for xrays and seen the doctor. Mike popped in at the hospital on the way home & found her completely zoned out. So I think they may have given her some pain medication that was taking good effect!

After I left the hospital at lunchtime, I went to UCT to the College of Music & watched David playing in a Classical Guitar Quartet in the lunchtime concert. That was great! Home, dinner, and now as I type, I'm on the phone to Mike's sister Monica & we're discussing Granny! Monica arrives on Monday for a week. When living in East London, Granny lived next door to a lady called Maria who was a good friend. Maria is also coming on Monday. Sadly, currently Granny can't remember WHO Maria is!! Hopefully she will recognise her when she comes. I'll keep you posted!

Let me get this online. Stay happy. Keep the faith! :)

God bless you!!

Helga xx

6-34pm

Granny in hospital :(

I made an appointment for Granny to see the doctor today, but when I got home just after 12 noon, she was in extreme pain, so I phoned the doctor and asked if he could come and see her. That arranged, I broke the news to her and put her back to bed with a hot water bottle & she promptly went to sleep until the doctor came. He examined her and said he thought that she may have a compression fracture in her back from when she slipped two weeks ago. It seems because of her osteoporosis, even though she recovered from the fall, damage was done then that has got worse over time, hence the pain now. Did the whole thing of getting authorisation, Dr gave her an injection and we took her to hospital. She will be comfortable tonight and we will hear more tomorrow.  Thank you Dr. Lombard! You are a star! Someone please pass that message on...I mentioned Dr. Lombard in my blog! Just after she fell two weeks ago, I called the doctor she usually sees and was told by the receptionist that he only does home visits if it's a matter of life or death! Well that was no good. So now we've changed doctors.

Share-a-thon this afternoon was HOT!!! I hear just over R200 000 came in and I hear that Quinton is going BLONDE as a result! Woooo hoooo!! Tomorrow is going to be fabulous. I am so looking forward to it. Shareathon runs tomorrow from 7 to 10am & then 4 to 7pm. Also new tomorrow is Sisanda doing early morning news! Yay for Sisanda! She's brilliant. The moment I heard her, I wanted her as part of the Rise & Shine show, so seconded her for a Wednesday. It's just fabulous that she is able to do early morning news now that Wayne has asked to give it up!

I am busy typing this blog but don't have internet access. It should be up and running soon, otherwise, Mike will be horrified, I will go down to the internet cafe and upload it there! Ha! We have just upgraded and from now on in will be getting 5 gigs a month. Today we also downgraded our phone account and will be on Closer 2. With all of this we are saving a couple of hundred bucks a month. Okay, clever husband got us all sorted.

Enough for today!

Thanks for your ongoing support.

SMS: 105 Calls. 11

Jesus bless you!

Helga xx

6-18pm

Wooo hooo R226,883

It was more than RR226,883 that came during this morning's Share-a-thon time. That was GREAT! Thank you so much to those of you who pledged. I really appreciate it.
God will bless you for your generosity.

After Share-a-thon was over this morning, I took myself up Boyes Drive and went for a lovely walk. It took an hour...no wind, beautiful views, sunshine, Cape Town doesn't get better on a day like this!

Then it was home, sort Granny out and cook dinner. Tomorrow at 3pm I'll take Gran to the doctor. She's on a medical aid that uses select GPs. Initially in Fish Hoek there was only one Doctor registered with her medical aid as a service provider, so she went to him. But the other day when I needed him to come and see her, I was told by the receptionist that he only comes out if it's a matter of life or death! Over the weekend Mike & I looked up the medical aid and found another service provider had been added in the Fish Hoek area and so tomorrow she will see him and if she ever needs to have someone come the house, the practice assures me it won't be a problem. Her ankles are swollen and her back is sore. We'll get her a bit of a check up.

Broke down the puzzle today but not before Mike took a couple of pics of it. I'll try and get one on here. Now to catch the old guy from up the road as he walks by. When I next see him, I'll offer him the nightmare Cricket Team puzzle and see how long it takes him! Ha! Last time when I gave him a lift, he told me he loves puzzles! Okay then. See what you can do with this one!

Time for a shower and some reading.

Showers of blessings on you!

Helga xx

4-40pm

It is what it is!

This is one of my favourite sayings. Sometimes you just have to sigh and say "well, it is what it is." Usually it is circumstances you don't like and you can't change and you just have to work with them. This weekend has been an "it is what it it" kind of weekend. I don't like the circumstances. I can't change the circumstances so I just have to work with them. The other thing to do when faced with this is to flip the coin and count your blessings.

On the one side I have Granny who is slipping closer to eternity as the days go by. Health issues, pain, stiffness, difficulty in getting out of bed & getting back into bed, contracted muscles, hardly able to communicate. It is what it is. I am her primary care giver and as much as I don't mind it, it's heart wrenching to watch it all unfold. The alternative is to have her slip away into the Lord's presence and not have her at all. Oh my. She will be at peace but what a loss. When she has days like these have been, I have to caution myself to stop talking about her demise! I am mourning ahead of myself! She is from "strong stock" and it's going to take more than a tummy bug to take her out! She dominates my thoughts. Will we eventually need to find a frail care for her? I don't want to even go there. When I start thinking of that, I start praying fervently for the Lord's grace on her life to allow her to slip away while she's asleep. Not easy for the person who finds her, but delight for her. Anyway, pardon my thoughts...they are what they are!

On the the flip side of the coin, the list of blessings goes on and on. And as I type this I can't help but smile and thank the Lord for all He has done. I am blessed and feel the glow of His love and grace on our lives. It could be a whole lot worse.

Tonight is going to be a treat. I'm off to Tokai Methodist Church to comedian Ken Davis evening (he's not there in real life - it's a DVD)  & I am so looking forward to that. I expecting David to Granny sit so that Mike & I can both go. We have not been to church together for such a long time! Also looking forward to Rise & Shine and Share-a-thon tomorrow. It's going to be a good week!

God bless you and as the saying goes, no matter what is happening "look on the sunny side of life!"

Til tomorrow,

Helga xx