I can’t believe it’s been nine months since I posted my last blog! I logged on and had a look at the photograph that accompanied the blog and was amazed to see how small little Finn Aidan Bushby was. Of course he was only a week old and weighed little more than my laptop. And now he’s nine months old and tipping the scales at a healthy 12kgs+. A future Springbok forward in the making if his chunky thighs are anything to go by.
He’ll certainly grow up in the heart of rugby as we’re about to make the move to a new house in Twickenham situated right opposite the stadium itself. I’m told that to make up for the noise and inconvenience (and people peeing in your garden!) on match days, residents get discounted tickets, freebies and other perks.
Of course there’s always the option of hiring out the driveway for the day – I reckon I could get £50 for the afternoon – as well as setting up a fast food stand at the front gate to tempt hungry spectators to part with a few quid in exchange for a hotdog.
And on days when the Bokke are playing, hotdogs will change to boerie rolls, served in a soft roll with lashings of Mrs Balls chutney (now available in all Sainsbury stores).
Hell I might even go down to the South African store nearby and stock up on other local goodies like Simba chips, NikNaks, Biltong and peppermint crisps.
It’s amazing what you miss when you live a long way from home. Personally, it’s Woolies rusks, Anchovette fish paste (nothing like fish paste on toast!), guavas (they’ve never heard of them in London!), and of course biltong and droe wors.
Some of these items are available in the UK but you pay through the nose for them. I once managed to find a shop that had a few guavas in the fruit and veggie section but I baulked at the price – £2 each.
It’s not that you can’t live without these things or not find alternatives, it’s just that they remind you of home and bring back all sorts of memories of happy times.
We’re planning on a trip back to SA in December to introduce Finn to his cousins and other relatives as well as all my good friends still there so I’m planning on taking an empty suitcase and stocking it full of SA goodies to last me through the next winter.