Melville Family Blog

With a new sexagenarian in the family, it's definitely time for a blog entry and a few pics. So, Geraldine has turned 60!! Much like the Queen, Gerry enjoyed an official birthday and then held another celebration on the actual day. Last Sunday was the official birthday so we hosted a luncheon party for about 40 people. Our friends, Jill and Brian Polkinghorne, live just across the street from our compound in a nice big house that actually feels like a house so they agreed to allow the party to be held in their home. Richard and MJ will remember attending a potluck supper there on Easter Day. It was a really nice gathering. One of the high lights was a birthday gift of song to Gerry. One of Gerry’s teaching assistants along with her daughter ... read more

Here is the first report on our recent trip to Africa. We left Vancouver on Feb 22 and returned on Mar 28th. After a stopover in Amsterdam we flew into Cape Town arriving late Sunday evening. We were met at the airport by Allison who then drove us back to Gatehouse where we occupied the guest suite. Allison has lived at Gatehouse for two years and we can see why she loves it there. It is a large property in a lovely area called Constantia. Gatehouse has a number of housing units on it so there is always someone around to visit with and a swimming pool to cool off in. Before going to bed Allison advised us of the planned activities for the next day. It was to be a relaxed day with a walk ... read more

Over the past several months we have taken a number pictures that have not found their way on-line but, nonetheless, we thought you might find interesting. So, here they are, a couple from England, a few from our recent holiday to the coast and a few from here in Dodoma. While our time in Bagamoyo was punctuated by me keeling over, it is a beautiful place and in hindsight provided a nice break. The other folks in the pictures are the Hookings family, Alistair, Vicki and their children Emma, Matthew and Jonathan. Vickie is the principal of our school and Alistair does everything else - teaching, building maintenance, substituting, childcare, etc.. Alistair and Vickie, who are from New Zealand, very kindly invited us and another teacher from the school to join them on their holiday. It ... read more

The month of September was an eventful one for us. We spent quite a bit of time over on Vancouver Island for some very exciting events. We were so pleased that Tobin (Mary Jo's son) has found such a wonderful woman to spend his life with, so on September 1st we attended their wedding. There was much planning and some fun family togetherness activities what with picking the flowers for the wedding, arranging the flowers for the tables and the chapel pews, and generally just getting the bride and groom ready for their big day. Luckily Allison (Mary Jo's daughter) was visiting from South Africa and she was able to organize everyone and everything that needed to be done. The wedding was held at U-Vic in the interfaith chapel and the reception was at the University ... read more

Well, I thought I'd have some fun and add an entry myself...not that we've been on any interesting trips or that there is anything much new going on....but hey, I suppose that if you haven't had a catch up with me in a while this will fill you in!As I am sure you all know, Mom and Dad were stranded in little ol' London over the summer...they arrived the second to last week of my school term and got to enjoy 2 weeks of stress when my school was ofsteded (inspected) and I had my final Qualified Teacher Assessment...(all English educational gargen...but all very stressful and important!) Their elongated trip for them was not what they had expected, but for me was a really fun surprise...it meant coffee dates, sight seeing, sharing meals, cooking together, eating ... read more