Diamonds are forever...

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Another early start, Frances was at Grace School for assembly at 7.30am and the rest of the group arrived at 8.00am ready to continue painting the diamond patterns on the playground equipment, all of which is looking as good as new (although the challenge of fitting new seats on the swings is still to be resolved - we have tyres but we are looking for different fittings). After an hour's painting the temperature had risen (as it always does) and it was time for us to return to base and split forces. Suzy and Rob drove off to Groblersdal in search of material (with which Suzy and Eva will be making some bunting). Meanwhile, Eva and Amy designed and decorated a couple of boards which will be installed in the infants playground, one board will have all the letters of the alphabet and the other will have numbers 1-10. Tim cut more timber, with which we are mass producing benches which will be used in the school playground.

The journey to Groblersdal via Marble Hall was entertaining as before (in 2012) because the landscape changes so dramatically when we cross over the border from Mpumalanga into Limpopo region, firstly we saw orange groves (huge fields of orange trees), then we saw green fields of wheat, long rows of potatoes and huge vineyards with long lines of grape vines (all of which are covered in netting, assumedly to protect them from insects and hailstones). We also passed a reserve and Suzy caught a glimpse of an animal in the savannah grass, possibly a tiger, but Rob was concentrating on the road and can't confirm or deny this sighting!! (Another baby badger moment).

In the afternoon, we continued with painting in the classrooms and the display boards - all of which are coming along nicely (see photos).

In the evening we enjoyed another wonderful meal (rice, chicken, cabbage, green salad, followed by peach and yoghurt) with Evelyn, we heard that Bishop Hendrick is flying from Kenya to Johannesburg, before flying onward to Cape Town. Later we planned our next couple of days activities and then relaxed!

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