Monday, April 2, 2012

Charleroi in PA

We spent 2 nights with Linda`s mum, Shirley Zippay on their family farm in Charleroi which is about 45minutes from Pittsburgh. We were welcomed with open arms and loads of hugs. Shirley loves to hug!!! Below is Zippay Rd ( named after all the Zippays), which runs through the farm. 
Duncan, Abigail, Elias and Murray in the lounge.
Taking a walk. It felt so good to be in the country.
The house on the right belongs to linda`s brother, Gary and his wife Ruth-Anne and their two daughters, Julie-Anne and Bree-Anne.
Levi was the ham carver. He did a fine job! (and we ate too much again!)
Some horses and cows (beef farming) in the field.
Shirley Zippay`s house on Zippay Road.
We came across some little Shetland ponies on our walk - a white  and a brown one.
Levi stroking the brown one. They were very friendly and ran up to us. They are probably used to being fed and thought that we had some food for them.
Note the cows - they look like Oreo`s. (biscuits in the U.S) 
A neighbouring farm.
Lovely green grass which is so unusual at this time of year.

We went to visit Linda`s 92 year old Granny and she lives with Connie, an 82 year old lady who looks after her. This is Connie.........................wait for it, "you aint seen nothing yet?".....................
Connie mowing the grass! I have never seen an 82 year old mow the grass!! I was so impressed!
Four generations! Linda`s grandma, Mum, and Abigail - daughter, granddaughter and great grand daughter.....................wow, what a blessing to all be together! It was so interesting speaking to linda`s grandma. She had a collection of spoons from all the places she had travelled to. Phil told her that she needed to still come to Africa so she could collect a spoon but also so she could ride an elephant! (We will have to send her a spoon)
Phil, Grandma and myself.

Elias saying goodbye.
 Some houses on the way.
 
 We went for a drive in Charleroi town after visiting.
 This is a university in Charleroi.


 We passed a river and someone was fishing on it so of course that set Murray going. He would love to fish while we are here but I dont know if we will be able to find a place to go?
 The view from the top of Charleroi town - the Monogonhela River (not sure if my spelling is correct).

You are probably wondering why I posted this photo of a "half hidden" sign above? Well, I thought I would post at least one of my photo "flops" as I was taking photos from a moving car and I just seemed to click too late every time. I hope I will get better at taking photos from the car. Have you  guessed what the sign says?! (hopefully if you have been reading this post carefully enough?)

 We celebrated Abigail`s 14th Birthday while we were together. Her Birthday was actually 3 days later. Linda`s mum organised an ice cream cake. It was delicious! (I hope I still fit into my clothes by the end of our holiday here!)
 Giving Shirley a helping hand to light the cake. We so appreciated her - she is such a warm, loving person. Her warmth just radiates and she makes you feel so special and loved. She is a true example of how we are to love others!

 We had quite a few of Shirley`s friends pop in throughout the afternoon so we got to meet quite a few of their friends and family. Abigail enjoyed blowing out the candles.

 All of us except Phil (and of course Tim)

 This was our farewell goodbye..................but not forever, we hope. It was a sad morning having to say Goodbye to Linda and her kids! We are really going to miss them. I so appreciate all their kindness and warmth that they showed towards us! They are real gems! I am really going to miss my special friend!

Oh, and these kids must be from the "Funny Farm?"

Another chapter of our jpoureny closes, but not forever...................we stayed with Linda`s mum for one more night and had dinner with some people who used to live in S.A. I will post more about that as well as our day in Pittsburgh.

We so enjoy hearing from you and appreciate your letters. If you are following our blog, please drop us a line if you have not done so already. We so appreciate hearing from our "far away" friends and family!!!

Until next time.......................xxxx 

3 comments:

  1. What a beautiful place!! Could so easily live in a place that beautiful.

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  2. It is beautiful and we have caught the beginning of spring so I can just imagine what "full blown" Spring will look like!?
    xxx

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  3. So going to join your bible study if I can figure out the technical side of things!!!!!!!

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