A wet & windy get together in London

Two of the finest- maturing with beauty, elegance, looks and grey hair

Molly - Lisa - Gordon - Adrian - Shaun

Typical, spring going on summer, Molly, Gordon, Lisa and Adrian arrive in London on-route to their holiday in France and the weather turns sour, rain more bloody rain and a chilly wind. So we all - that's Shaun, Billy, Ria and Tania met up with the tourists for a lovely Sunday afternoon.

Three of the younger or is it Not so young any more
Adrian - Shaun - Tania

Unfortunately the younger Cowles, Leon,Elizma and Liam were held back home with a bad dose of the" common Cold", The little fella was not to well at all. Shame that Tori was stuck back at home, as it was still School time.

We all got together at a lovely casual restaurant just a small walk from Waterloo Station, three of us had 41, two had 44 and the other two had 46. Actually not to bad, one could call it classy Chinese food, very well presented over 4 courses, some strange dishes with the pork and prawns not in a traditional crispy batter but in a jelly type dumpling - very very tasty at the same time as being something very out of the norm.

It was great catching up and chatting and as the afternoon drew to a close, they went back to their hotel and we all caught the train back to Woking about 40minutes away.

Bon-voyage Molly, Gordon, Adrian & Lisa, enjoy your trip to Paris and we look forward to some photo's and news in two weeks time. Oh, almost forgot, Ria also wishes "Sally" a good trip and fantastic holiday in France.

Dedidcated to Molly - two weeks ago, she said to me.........
"You make Me laugh, You make me cry"

Mothers day in the UK and SA

This one is for ELIZMA - OUMA ZET - OUMA RIA

Well, what is a family without a mother, I am sure you all know that answer only to well, need I go into the detail - NO.

It is strange that the day set aside for this special person in all our lives, differs around the world, but it still stays special - so here is wishing all the MOMS a very happy MOTHERS DAY 2009.

Here in the UK in April we had a special mothers day this year as someone could celebrate it for the first time - ELIZMA, and where was she - in South Africa having a holiday. Well last Sunday it was mothers day in SA, so with Elizma's folks here we all decided to celebrate - as you can see on Leon and Elizma's Blog, we had a Sunday roast at their house and went out for cream tea at Saville Gardens. What a great day, and of course a further celebration because Leon was out of hospital and was with us, Family complete.

1st Mothers day, last month we ( Tania, Ria & I) had a cheese and wine in our back garden.

2nd Mothers day - Then of course we went out for cream tea and a walk in the park.



Happy Mothers day - 2009

A Special Birthday request for the 1st of May 2009

Happy Birthday "TESSY" from the 8cowles blog

It was the summer of 2001

1st MAY 2009 - 58 today

The best way I can think of to show you all how much a birthday means to me
is to ask Bb to post a photo taken in 2001 of me and my 3 brothers and 4
sisters. What a great way to celebrate my 58th birthday.
Thank you all for the support you have shown over the last few years.
Luvyallotsa
Your Sister, Tessy

29th March - 8 O'clock news

Its spring time in the UK, so we start of the happy season off, with the news on the pavement, under a tree next to the editors house. Sun is shinning and all the trees and shrubs are in full bloom, it is tooooooooooooo beautiful, Ok then, back to the 8 O'clock newsWell as you can all see the EDITOR is back from the fantastic break he had with Ria in WALES, it was just amazing with wall 2 wall sunshine and awesome scenery. So now I am all rested up and ready to fire on all 6 cylinders, here is the latest 8 O'clock news.

All the photos in this news bulletin have been added to 1 common album, so you can see all the event in one go. The link is at the bottom of the bulletin.
*****************************************************************************
Tessy has been busy again with the DSA and just loves this event and as if I haven't said it before..... Hello to the DSA and all those fantastic Guys & Dolls - WOW you just amaze us with your dedication and of course your love for the sport you enjoy so much, sharing it with these special people. Thanks from all the Cowles world wide.

Then Tessy received a package in the post from our news corespondent in Nelspruit - Sunny South Africa and this is what she had to say about it - Magic or something like that......

Today I received a parcel and it contained 4 angels. 2 were Germolene tubes(Miracle cream)and the other a very special set of worry beads which I will treasure for the rest of my life. The last was a HUGE amount of love. My Sis - Carol sent me these gifts and I will always thank her for her love and dedication to me. I love you Sis with all my heart – Tessy

The story of the germolene started when Carol came to Australia last October James asked her to bring some for them as he believed that there was nothing to match it here, So Carol brought them some and gave me a tube. I had not seen or used germolene in over 20 years. Now it just happened that I had a bed sore for over 3 weeks and that was stubborn in healing. We had tried all sorts, Mitch applied the germolene and hey presto 3 days later the bed sore was fully healed. Now we gave it to our chemist who analysed it and said there was no cream to match it.here in Australia and he was unable to copy it (rules etc.)The germolene has since cleared up burns, mozzie bites and cuts.I then asked my Sis to send me more. Which she did She is sending me more and when Debbie comes she will bring more with her. So that's why Mitch calls it miracle cream Although I think My Sis - Carol sent lots of love with the cream and every time we use it her love is there to help with the healing

Now that's something to think about, it is like Mrs Balls Chutney in the UK, the locals cant get enough of the stuff - they call it magic food. With the good spring weather we are having, the is a SA butcher in our local village and on a Saturday he gets the braais out on the pavement of his butcher shop, and makes trillions of BOEREWORS HOTDOGS, and of course decorates them with the chutney, needless to say he sell a hell of a lot of bottles of Mrs Balls Chutney as well.




Here is me having one of the spring braais in my own back yard, before the rugby Irish - Wales rugby match, last Saturday. Needless to say the Irish got the Six nations and the grand slam as well - the first time in 61 years.




Now we are off to Barra in Mozambique - FISHING

Now earlier the Birthday man of the month Paul, well actually Paul x2 ( snr & jnr) went on a deep sea fishing trip down to the neighbouring country of Mozambique, taking along Paul's pride and joy "THE GAFFER", I remember the day Paul took this brand new boat for its " SEA WORTHY CERTIFICATE TEST" it was the day the Bulls played the Free state to a draw in the curry cup final. The boat inspector wrote with a blue felt tip board marker the words "OP DIE BULLE" all over Paul's brand new boat. You guessed it - Paul did not buy him a beer in the pub. And when we got back home ( Pauls house) we had to rub down the boat with rubbing compound to get the blue writing stain out the paint work.

Well, looking at the photos, its looks like they had a cracker of a time, and due to the short duration of the video I received I have replayed it 5 times otherwise you will miss the adventure of pulling in a MARLIN.

These are two camera videos taken from The Gaffer. Tickey, you may
remember him Billy, he was Paul's best man at his wedding. Well Tickey
hooked a Marlin, if you concentrate on the two video shots you can see the
Marlin jumping out of the water clearly in the first video and then slightly
in the second one. Tickey brought it up to the boat after fighting it for
an hour and then they tagged and released it into the big deep blue.

*******************************************************
Monica spent a few minutes to send in these two beautiful photos of her and Kevin's
PRIDE AND JOY
My beautiful daughter Kathryn, now a teenager....She is managing High School and really settled into Grade 8 and so happy. She is still horse riding and is now on horses and not ponies.

The Editor just wants to know one thing " How is Kevin going to handle all those eligible young men knocking on the front door" ????????????

Nick did a speech at school. It was on a magic potion (no not a potion to grow his two front teeth!) He did a time potion so he could go into the future to see if he gets to see Liverpool play a match in real life. Nick is an absolute Liverpool fan. Frank you will remember Nicks speech on the police especially the
'I am flippen finished' !!!








************************************************************************
Debbie returns from AMERICA - BOISE - IDAHO
fortunately all in one piece

Herewith long awaited photo's from my trip to Boise, Idaho at the beginning
of February 2009. I was invited by Special Olympics International as a guest
to watch our South African team play floor hockey - we won and came home
with gold. Even though the trip was short - I got to spend 5 magnificent
days in Boise.
We stayed at the Grove Hotel which had a breath taking view of the snow
capped mountains - being the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
We took a day trip out to Bogus Basin Ski Resort, about an hours drive from
Boise, situated in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was absolutely
beautiful. Ventured out on the ski slope, got concussed and was brought down the slope on a medic sled (still don't remember what happened). Was rushed off to hospital where I spent the afternoon under observation.
The opening ceremony was awesome.



I was invited to walk into the stadium alongside our SA Athletes. Felt very important and very honoured.Before long we were on our way back to Boise Airport to catch our looooong
flight home.
Lots of love, Deb's

****************************************************
Leon, Elizma and Liam went to South Africa to visit Elizma folks, share little Liam with them and spent 2 weeks catching some sun on the beaches of the south coast.
I am sure we will have plenty of photos & videos to watch on their blog next week. when Elizma & Liam arrive back in the UK.

While out on a walk on the beach front in Margate with Liam in his pram, there they were walking along and taking in the fresh sea air. An elderly couple walking in the opposite direction stopped to admire Liam, talk to him, tickle under the chin and pass a comment what a beautiful little baby boy. That's it and off they go........ when the are about 2o meters past, Leon Turns around and shouts "Oom Mieg - Tannie Jane", all of a sudden he thinks ( a bit apprehensive) I am sure its them. Its me Leon. The eldery man says "WHO" Leon replies I am Ria's son. WoW they are all so surprised, get back together again and have a long chat about the family, who's who in the zoo and all that jazz. They part with best wishes for the family on both sides.

Well, the elderly couple was by pure chance Ria's only brother and his wife, also on holiday in Margate - from Alberton.

How many of us would be in the same boat, walking down the street and not recognising a close or even a very close family member.

Now this is where the blog comes in - get your news and photos in so we can all see what you look like and what is happening in your world.

Don't forget to send in a new picture of yourself for the
BIRTHDAY BLOCK

FOR ALL THE PHOTOS CLICK HERE

Editors Note: I for one would walk past a few of you lot - so do something about it.
We would all love to see your news and a photo or two.

editor is off to Wales for a week

Yip we are off, no internet. no computer no nothing, just me and the old girl off for a weeks break to Wales, so catch up with all the news on the blog after the 23rd March. just keep those emails and pics coming they wont get lost and will all be waiting in my inbox when we get back and hey the big fella will also be back soon as well.

SEE YOU LATER - just CLICK HERE TO VISIT WALES WITH US


The EDITOR

THE BECHARDS CELEBRATE

An engagement in the Bechard Family of Evelyne Audibert to Scot and a great reason to get the camera out and to take a few pics of her Grandmother and Grandfather
together with all their children etc.
Below is a short video summary of the family photos.

to see the still photos - click here

With lots of love TERESA & MITCH -

Je'teim toi mon ange

for Jessica who will be 15 in April

1st March - time for the 8 O'clock news

Can you believe it, the 1st of March already. There are a few who celebrate their birthdays this month and we wish them all the best - get your photo in for the birthday block.

Bernadette Conlon 7th March
Monique Bechard 21st March
Paul ( snr) Whitaker 28th March

March is eventful--- with Leon-Elizma & Liam flying out on Monday the 2nd for a well deserved break, they are off to sunny South Africa to visit her Mom & Dad, catch up with all the family and also a 2 week visit to the sunny beach in Margate, sure Liam will have a ball in the sea, sand and waves. There will be plenty photos and videos of this trip.
Ouma Zet and Oupa Danie - hope you enjoy the short visit immensely.

There was a movie called "BREAKFAST AT ST. TIFFANY'S" so who knows we might do a remake on this one with Breakfast in Abu Dhabi. Tricia & Franky will be chatting over a cup of cuppachino and toast on Tuesday morning.

Billy and Ria are off in mid March to Northern Wales for a small restful break- 7 days, a couple of nice mountain walks, some fly fishing in the mountain streams, a good book and a glass of good wine. No TV, No Internet, no laptop - just chill-out.

About a 5hour drive and we will be there.

Peacefully located on the rivers edge near the village of Caeathro, 2ml from the historic town of Caernarfon. Cosily furnished to a high standard it is ideal for young families and couples wanting to come and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the prestigious Glan Gwna holiday retreat in Snowdonia. The cabin is situated with others only a short walk to Glan Gwna Hall and restaurant which overlooks the outdoor swimming pool and playground. In peak season, live entertainment is available. Close by is Snowdon (6ml) and the lakeside village of Llanberis, where there are plenty of walks, pony trekking at Waunfawr (3ml), steam train rides up Snowdon and through the valleys. Caernarfon is a majestic town with a grand castle and walled town with small shops within. Award winning sandy beach at Dinas Dinlle is also only a short drive (8ml).

Cant wait, so watch this space for photo's and videos when we get back


Balalaika - Nelspruit is almost finished

Carol and Paul are getting all excited as moving into their new house draws closer and closer. This has been a family affair -, what with design, survey, project leader, builder, etc etc etc all done within family members, I am sure our reporter from Nelspruit will put a long editorial together for the next news bulletin. Nearly completed, the kitchen is done with Oregon pine, the grains and knots have come out beautifully. You will see I have a 4 plate gas hob with two electrical plates in the middle...thank you Eskom!! The pool is just to get cool in and just the right size for me to swim lengths!! The house will be completed on 8th March 2009.

The house is looking so great - check out more photos by clicking here

The way to braai has changed down under.......
Tessy shows how it is done

Down under they all get together for a Barbeque, that's a braai done with electricity. Seems that it was enjoyed by all and the chef did her part as well.


Now for Ouma & Oupa to brag a bit................
1st March and little Liam is 9months old and Ouma Ria & Oupa Billy helped celebrate the day and were witness to him starting to crawl for the first time, which he started doing on Friday 27th Feb. He is now mobile - as the saying goes. Mom and Dad couldn't wait to show us.
That's now lekker, ridding horsie-horsie on Oupa's foot

His tee-shirt has a message for his mom - Be nice to me or I am off to Grandmas ........
just click here to jump over to leolizma.com - blog to see him crawl and........ well see for yourself

That's it for now, from the news desk - now over to the weather desk- it will be bright skies - no rain - uv levels not to bad - and that's for Margate SA - plenty of warm sea water and loads of sea-sand.

a Sisters get together 21-02-2009

Molly, Carol, Tricia and of course Monica all got together for a good chat and some good wine at Monica's house on the week-end - here is some of their memories of the week-end. I am sure there will be some more photos to follow, so keep watching. Angela and Debbie joined them with their girls and Monica's two as well.

Sorry I did say Sunday night I would send the blog the photos and it's now Tuesday morning - gimme a break LOL - What an awesome time we had. Lots of laughs, and more laughs. Can you see the resemblance between Tricia and Angela? Uncanny as Mom would say.
I can only describe the weekend when it was all over and I was back home as
'leaving me with a warm feeling'!
What more can I say!! Am sure with 4 cameras going you will get many many more pics.
Love Carol

then Monica sent her pictures and they were added to the video

to see all the photos - JUST CLICK HERE

Tessy was there in spirit, I am sure with her 4 sisters..........

Sorry 4 out of 5 just ain't good enough for me it should have been 5 out of 5. Kleenex. BUT I am always thankful for Mitch sending me to SA in 2001 when 8 out of 8 was FANTASTIC. That will always remain foremost for me that's the last time, I believe, that the 8 cowles were together and will never be together again. In photos that is. We I do know are always in each others thoughts and prayers - love you lots - TESSY -

For she's a jolly good fella & so say all of us

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - TANIA

Tania and all of us had a cracker of a night out, celebrating her 30th, Italian cuisine at its best with couple of bottles of red wine to go with it. Thoroughly enjoyed by all until late into the night.

Ouboet and little sister share a joke in her birthday card they gave her

Pity someone had to take the photo otherwise we would have been all 5 of us.

now here is a picture that will one day hang in the HALL OF FAME

Just after we told him that he cant have any more ice cream,
and then we said OK if he pays the whole bill

Present time - then we all sadly went home after a great night out
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANIA

20th February - The 8 O'clock news

Well the news bulletin this week is short and sweet as not much has been happening in the family, WHAT A BORING LOT we all are.

Tania returned from her trip to Dubai and had a whale of a time and I am sure you have all been to her blog to see the amazing time she had. This Saturday we are, That's Ria & I, Leon & Elizma and of course Tania going out to dinner at some Italian restaurant in Guildford - chosen by L & E as they have been there numerous times - reports from them have been very good so we will report back later.

Debbie is back from the Ski trip in the states and we await those promised photo's.

Now for the big one, Molly, Carol & Tricia will be getting together at Monica's place in Jo'burg for a mini get-to-gether and here are the arrangements, hot of the press as reported by a reporter from Nelspruit.

The BLOG has been a bit quiet of late…not for much longer though. ‘tis not often an event such as this one comes to town…4 sisters out of us 5 sisters will be getting together tomorrow at Monica and Kevin’s. Yes, Molly, Carol, Tricia and Monica. When last did this happen? When we ALL got together at Angela’s old house. I am so excited. Debbie, the girls and I will leave Nelspruit early tomorrow morning and hit Monica’s place as soon as we can. Of course Debbie and girls and Angela and Mark and children and I am sure Anne and Piet and family will also be there, plus I don’t know who else. Rest assured the blog is going to be overloaded with photographs and stories, stories and more stories. Tessy you wont be left out of the 5 sisters I will have a coke for you and we will all be together in spirit. Now isn’t this exciting!!

Carol

All the march birthdays- don't forget to send in your newest photo for the Birthday block to 8cowles@gmail.com

all have a cracker from the EDITOR - till next time.........................................

I just cant do it - I've tried but I can't do it...............

How many times have you said this or heard it - I Can't do it-.

Well, Carol happened to send me this, although we all get many forwards and auto-replies in our emails, this is worthy of a place on any ones blog. I am convinced, that you will mention it to many, many people & friends to come onto the 8cowles blog to watch it over and over again.

If I had the name of the originator, I would publish it right here with credits in big bold letters, but do not have it at hand, I will be searching the Internet for it.
If anyone knows the originator /publisher, please leave it in a comment right here on the blog.

Sit back, enjoy and be inspired like never before...................................................

Tomorrow is just not another day - it is a blessing......

the 8 O'clock news 8th Feb 2009

Yes its news time again, London- well actually the whole of the UK has had the worst snow falls in 18-25 years, and there was major disruption all over the country. Here are some pics outside our house a week after. "just click here" 1 week after the snow fell, it is still inches thick all over the place and FREEZING, if you want to see some videos of the snow "click here" onto Bill and Ria's blog and there are some fantastic pics on "Leolizma blog" as well

Nicholas has his birthday on the 9th Feb and Carol sent in a photo or two, I could not decide which one to put in the birthday block so here are both of them - Happy birthday Nicholas.

This young man must make Angela and Mark very proud, never mind what Nanna & Pa think.

Tania flew out to Dubai for a week and is looking forward to some sunshine and catching a bit of a tan, you can look at her blog with all her photos , by clicking here.

Thats a drink for the editor, she is having in Dubai

Tessy has started a blog and is doing an amazing job with mouth watering recipes for us all to enjoy, it is well worth a click to visit - just click here. Well with her hands and all we are wishing her success with what the doctors are doing and trying to do, we are sure all will be getting better soon because of her positive and fighting nature.

Debbie is most probably skiing down the snow filled slopes in the States and we look forward to some fantastic photos when she gets back.

Thecowles have finally moved to California and start the task of unpacking, anybody that wants to help will be accepted with pleasure, there will be someone at the airport to pick you up. just let them know your flight details. They now have a new email address so check your emails and update your address books. Watch out for some photos on this move - coming soon right here on the 8 O'clock news.

Thats it folks, keep those news items rolling in to share with everybody.

The Editor

8 O'clock news on 25th January 2009

Well, the year got off to a good start, and the Birthday girls are already planning next years parties. February sees some good birthdays as well with Tania being a big one at 30 on the 7thFeb plus all the others but more on this at the end of January.

The new year saw the inauguration of the 44th President of the USA and I am sure you all spent some midnight oil watching the whole thing on the telly. Good luck to Barack - Mr President. TheCowles are among some of your youngest citizens and am sure they will be following you and your achievements closely.

22 years ago, The Bechards left SA and "packed for Perth" and the 26th January brings on Australian day, so another country brings out the champagne with a huge day for their citizens. Tessy- Mitch and family are proud to take part in the festivities, that we can be sure of - HAVE A CRACKER MATE.

Anybody going to China to celebrate new year today?????..............

Then we have amongst us a genius, and we did not even know it - Carol has come up with a further thought on the quest to try and find Kevin, the item of news goes like this..........

I had a brainwave this evening, these kind of waves are very rare! I decided to phone Audrey Downs this evening to see if she could find out Kevin’s ID from St Joesph’s Church records. As you all know little Kevin was buried from there. It just struck me if anyone can find out anything from the Catholic Priest, or the Church secretary, I am sure Audrey can. She said she would find out anything she can on Sunday as it’s no good phoning the church without proper dates etc, so will be much better for her to see whoever in person. Audrey took my telephone number and said she would phone regardless of if she could or could not find out anything. She was also not sure if the church keeps on record the ID numbers of the parents of a child that is buried from there. Isn’t it strange, it’s only when you are looking for something like this that you find out if it’s done or kept, or the procedure. I have a gut feeling that the church will have the information. I will let you all know via the Blog what Audrey does or doesn’t come up with. She mentioned her Mom passed away at the grand age of 94 in May 2 years ago. Still had all her wits about her but had lost her hearing and her sight was gone. She sent her regards to all.

Let’s all pray we find the info we need to carry on the search for Kevin.

Carol

Well done Carol and we look forward to the feed-back soon.

Tania is off to Dubai for 10 days and Debbie is off to the USA so I am sure February will bring us plenty of news and photos on these and other items.

Billy is over his operation and is almost back to his young foolish self. Together with himself and the editor ( himself) he sent out a blog comment questionnaire earlier. We had some very interesting feed-back from speed -videos and photos, so get your comments in before the summary is done and put out for all to read and digest. Funny enough on the BBC news last night there was an item on and about how viewers felt about the music in the back-ground during news items at times being to loud, but hey, the blog got in first with it breaking news a week-ago on this subject - so we are ahead of the BBC - well done.

Tessy has started her own blog and has come up with a very original Idea and it goes like this........

Hi one and all
Visit me at http://www.teresabechards.blogspot.com/ as I am new to this blog thingy give me time to get things in order and up and running. Thanks to Bb who is going to help me along the way.

Talking of Google and search etc I have a friend who we last had contact with in about 1986 and a few months ago she traced me through Facebook and My space and we now communicate via e-mails and now will also chat on skype.
It is truly wonderful to find old and dear friends.
Luv and prayers for you all

TESSY

*********************************************************************************

Thanks to everyone who sent in contributions for the 8 o'Clock news and we look forward to your February contributions, comments, photos and videos. Keep them comming............................

The EDITOR..........................................

BLOG PAGES - UPDATES

The purpose of this will be to point you to certain old blog postings that have been updated with new information - news or more up-to-date photos, instead of posting a new item that is only an update or revised item. So if you want to go to the item you just click on the link below or scroll down the ARCHIVE list on the right hand side of the blog.

This is a way of seeing something grow, maybe a house, a garden or a tree of even a jigsaw puzzle - who knows what you can think of - the editor is open and ready for any ideas.
Easy as 1-2-3 and click.



Carol & Paul's new house - Balalaika St Nelspruit - updated 21st January 2009





So if you have an old photo or additional news that you want added to an old previous blog posting this is where it will be, that way nobody will loose out on your news or additional items.
send them in via email with the subject line - OLD POSTING and the title of the item where you want it to be added.

Another great feature brought to you on the 8cowles blog - The Editor

HEY there is more to this than you can even dream of - check this out............
If you want to see a whole range of photos all in one place that have been put on the blog since it started - then look no further - just click here and off you go to the Picasa page of all the blog pictures for you to watch at your leisure. and if you want to keep and save the picture on your own PC just right click and "save as" job done.

Kevin Cowle

The search continues, as the last lead in some other BERG ( as the Baarts called it) did not work out. Carol is working on finding his ID and maybe Monica can do something at the Catholic Church in Primrose or Malvern - who knows.

Anyway, if other people can use the blog too find us, then we can use the blog to find Kevin - who knows who reads this and who will Google it next.
Here's to holding thumbs, I am sure something will come up soon.

Here is a couple of Pics with Kevin and Karen with their small kids many years ago
and a video clip or two..

Kevin Joseph Cowle - born 17/11/1966

anybody who knows Kevin's whereabouts or any news of what he is doing or they know of him can email the Blog editor - Billy on
8cowles@gmail.com
or leave a comment on the blog

Maybe this picture that Leon sent to the blog will help aswell

Dave & Dot Taylor on the blog

This is some catch-up pictures of the Taylors. I think some of the pics were taken at their farewell when they left SA to go to Australia and some of thier kids many years ago. Anyway it is just a remonder of how Handsome Dave used to be - now he is bald - but still beautifull - I remember when he arrived from the UK the first time. The fun we had as youngsters, with Frank Hattingh, teaching him to drive the RED CORTINA he bought, wow that takes me back many years Ago.

Then along came Dot - they have made an amazing pair and look forward to some new modern photo's of the taylor family and their news and about the other taylor family in the UK.

Dave and dot are on skype and email if anyone cares to contact them in AUSTRALIA
Skype = dot.dave.taylor email

17th January its 8 o'Clock again - News time

Sit back, relax and enjoy, its 8 o'Clock again on the blog.............

keep clicking and keep posting and watch this channel - 8cowles news @ 8pm right here

"YES WE CAN" 2009GOOD LUCK - BARACK

Your services are formally required

This I had to publish................

Dear sir,

Herewith please find a formal requisition of your services. Said services are to be understood to include, but not be limited to, technical advice, carpentry & metalwork skills, general knowledge, etc.
The requestor of such services has found himself to be in a position whereby he is lacking the necessary and particular skills to perform a specified task. The aforementioned task has recently come to light after the acquisition of specific electronic merchandise, which, for the purposes and intent of this requisition, shall be referred to as Audio Visual Equipment, hereafter AVE. Said AVE is normally, but not in all cases, installed in the three dimensional space below a television
viewing screen, usually and/or often inside a cabinet or furniture unit of some varied pecification. However, in the supplied documentation of said AVE, there are specific warnings about the operating temperature of said device, and upon manual investigation, these recommendations have been confirmed to be accurate. Said AVE generates a lot of exothermic radiation, otherwise or commonly known as 'heat', and the aforementioned unit of furniture intended to house said AVE doesn't seem to display properties of adequate exothermic radiation dispersal.

With this preamble now performed, herewith the request: The requestor solicits your services to manufacture, construct or erect a mechanism that attaches to the current audio visual equipment unit of furniture - for the purpose of the newly acquired AVE to reside upon.

In common parlance this might be referred to as a 'bracket & shelf on the side', if you wish.

The requestor would appreciate a timely response to your availability,
or not as the case may be.

Sincerely,
LW Cowle


All he wants is help with a small bloody shelve on the side of his TV cabinet....................

MASTER COOPERS - beer barrels

Where does our surname come from ? - Cowle - a clay pot on top of a chimney, now what is a Cooper ?- here is a interesting version - We all have this in-born thing about our ancestors and where did we come from and what did our fore-fathers do generations ago. Well one of the family mysteries has been solved. Old man Cooper had a passion for wood-work which he passed onto Allan and the family tradition of wood-work lives on in Allan's daily work. Now we can see also where Shaun gets his love for a beer or two, another family tradition lives on.

This feature I watched on the BBC 1 world news at 10am today was extremely interesting and thought now this is something to share.

MASTER COOPER LOOKING FOR AN APPRENTICE
to carry on the old age tradition

He said: "Coopering is not just a dying trade it's already dead. There are only four breweries left who employ coopers in the country and I'm the only master.

"It's a proper old-fashioned, historic trade and if you don't have a natural ability for woodworking and skill with your hands then you can't learn it.

"I'm going to keep working as a master cooper until I'm dead but I'm very keen to pass on my knowledge to another generation.

"I have loved my career and have no regrets except that no one will carry it on.

Hopefully we will find an apprentice soon so that we are secure for the future.
to read up about the whole article then just click here

THE 8 O'clock news on the blog

Another thing we will be getting upto is a monthly news highlight. This would mean those items that you have but do not have photos. It can be a short story of the news item, be it the little one starts ballet or Nanna baked us a cookie or two, just chatty news to share, all you have to do is type a short email and click on send to 8cowles@gmail.com

Here is what the MONTHLY NEWS BULLETIN would look like, but now and then we will use a better news reader

get typing & click "send"

Leon came across to me today and set up my PC with a virtual drive. more about this later. Now this is something to see, so we will be having a bit of fun with this as well in the coming months, so keep watching.

Birthdays on the blog

Hi, one and all. You will notice the picture "BIRTHDAYS" on the right. This will be updated for every upcoming birthday as soon as the current one occurs on that day, so the next one will be in the next day. I have quite a few pics of you all and some are missing, so if you want a nice current pic of your self, your kids or grand kids then send me an updated picture, or I use what I have.

Have fun and have a happy birthday this year on the blog.

get clicking - that is with your camera then with your mouse and send it via email to 8cowles@gmail.com

• THE EDITOR

This Family is going to the DOGS

Just to cheer you all up for the new year, here is the latest addition to the family, ........ If the shoe fits - wear it.

a beautiful JACK RUSSELL

This is the new addition to the family. She is called Nicci, I call her our French dog because I spelt her name the Franch way. I got her at 3 weeks old and she had hardly any hair on her. Shew, she is naughty now but adorable at 5 weeks old.

lots of luv - Carol

"TheCowles" SEND LOVE & GREETINGS

TheCowles New Year in Reno & Lake Tahoe

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY FROM CALIFORNIA
LAKE TAHOE
the pink marker above

Carol & Paul build a new house

This page has been updated on 21/01/2009 with more photos. Look below the video.

Photographs of our new house, 11 Balalaika street in Nelspruit.
Borders onto Uitsig Landgoed and lots of wild animals.
We hope to move in in early March.
Lots of work still to be done.
I can't wait to get the garden started.
Note the underground water collecting in a hole Paul had dug,
we will water the whole garden from that.
The drain runs under a portion of the house and it's a
natural underground stream that flows all the time.
Carol & Paul

Editors Note : this was done in "High Definition" to give the photos extra clarity



New& more photos plus a slide show on picaso
- just click here

002 Main bedroom -003 Main bedroom View

012 Trees and plants for garden, please note most of the plants are grown from slips by yours truly over a period of 6 months.

014 Corner of Splash Pool we built which is now full since photo was taken

021 Taken from front verandah so you can see 1 kitchen window and 1 dining room window. The pipe sticking out is more or less where the island will end.

022 Dining room from verandah

034 Another in main bedroom’038 view from main bedroom verandah taken in sequence with 038 and 040. You can see Legogot (lions head) other side of White River from the main bedroom on a clear day. Awesome!

042 A friend of Debbie’s donated the cycads to us as they will be moving to NZ end of this year. Her husband is already in NZ. Yvonne knows how much I love gardening and asked Debbie if she thinks we would like them, they all have valid permits. Of course we were thrilled. We made a date for our truck to go and collect them and to take them out the ground. Fortunately one of our workers has worked for a nursery before so knew exactly what to do with hessian etc. It took hours to get them all out. We had obtained a road transport permit from the Parks Board. The woman from Parks board had to be there when we did it, and to inspect we did it properly. A very knowledgeable woman about plants. Particularly plants that are about to be extinct so they are very strict. She followed the truck to see the address they were going to even though it said so on the permit. She also gave us a form to say she will be coming to inspect the cycads in 6 months time and then issue us with new permits that they belong to us. I also moved one cycas from here, a Natalius Cycas, a very much softer looking variety. It was given to me as a present so my name was on the permit so she will inspect that one too. After the 6 month inspection that’s finished. I thought it pretty wonderful that they do actually do this to prevent people from removing and selling them. Yep that goes on all the time and has for the last 30 years. 043 Feature wall in the dining room to hang our big 5 paintings on. They have lovely frames, and in each one is a slight tinge, but lighter colour, than the paprika. They really do look stunning on the Paprika wall, will send a photograph when they are hung up at the end of February.

049 Another photograph of the splash pool. It’s small, that’s all we need, has a martini step seat, and a small step to get to the martini seat. We are fortunate in that we have one of our staff that worked for a pool company and knows his oats. This is the 9^th pool we have built. It looks lovely filled and having had the hottest ever summer it’s going to be lovely to get wet after work. Just deep enough and wide enough to take three strokes across J J

I am sorry I didn’t send one of the front door. Paul had our welder make the front door out of steel. I was rather worried about what it was going to look like. He did an incredible job and it has 4 safety glass panels in it. I will take a photo once it’s painted as at the moment the putty looks new and of course it’s that browny colour of putty so not finished yet.

The bathrooms are getting tiled at the moment and the little rooms (PK) – wow have not heard the word in yonks! Hope you enjoy a tour through a part of our house. None of the second level photographs yet as not much changed. When bathrooms etc are done I will take some. Oh, and most important they have started to put the shell of the kitchen cupboards in. So exciting to see it all falling into place. Angela designed the house and one of the things on my ‘wish list’ as she calls it, was a walk in pantry so I got my walk in pantry! Remember the one in Ndola when we lived next door to the Bourke’s, or was it Burks. That house had a massive pantry.

Hope this is enough of my waffling on Billy. Actually I don’t call my waffling on waffling on, I call it background music…….my friends that I e-mail so enjoy my background music, as they say they can imagine whatever I am telling them.

Carol

Quality time

Billy, Tania and Ria toast in the new year at Tania's house, lovely hot soup as it is pretty cold outside

Carol spends some quality baking time with her two Grand grandies,

Chocolate cake in a mug in the microwave!! The proof is in the eating
and they were delicious. Tami, Kay and I had such fun with this recipe this
afternoon...3rd January 2009
Chef's in the making.
Anyone want the recipe? In colour too.
Carol

Photos taken today of my most precious adorable Granddaughter, Jessica, and her great grandparents, Mitch's Mum and Dad. Mitch's dad will be 90 in 2009
Tessy

2009 see's YEARR spelt with 2 R's
never mind I will fix it tomorrow

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2009

MAY EACH DAY OF THE YEAR BE A GOOD ONE AND MAY IT BE FILLED WITH LOVE

HAPPY NEW YEAR
- FROM LONDON -
TO EVERYBODY FROM EVERYBODY

video of fireworks - midnight in London at the London Eye on the Thames River - by "BBC-1"