Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Happy 60th Birthday Grant!

After  managing the goldmine earthmoving plant for seven years, Grant was the obvious choice when the project closed and and the plant had to be moved to another country, 1800kms north. Here he was on tarred roads in Mali. For a 1000km prior to this in Guinea and 500km after this along the Mauritania border,  the convoy travelled on dirt roads. See below...

















































Need I say more?


Grant led his team of Guinean drivers and helpers in this convoy for 1800kms between Guinea and Mali. It took  55 days to get these large trucks and machines to their destination. He had no breakdowns, no injuries and no fatalities


Back home in South Africa Grant is just an ordinary guy: husband, father, dad-in-law, grandfather, DIY-er and biker






























At present Grant and I are in Western Kenya. He loves being back in mining!

Last night at a management dinner with spouses, I had arranged with Wheatcliffe and Caro  to produce surprise birthday cake for Grant. (fair's fair! LOL) Here the MD to his right and other collegues to the left sing Happy Birthday to him! The ladies were behind me out of the photo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT!
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19 comments:

  1. Kay L. Davies16 February, 2011 04:27

    Your birthdays are that close together? That's great! All best wishes to Grant.
    -- K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  2. Joyful16 February, 2011 06:07

    What a wonderful pictorial tribute to Grant. Happy 60th birthday to him. May you have a wonderful time in residence in Kenya. I envy you ;-)

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  3. Lori Skoog16 February, 2011 06:49

    Happy 60th Grant. Your birthdays are so close together!

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  4. Sunny16 February, 2011 07:19

    Hi Jo,
    Those are impressive trucks! Happy 60th Birthday to Grant :)
    ☼ Sunny

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  5. Desiree16 February, 2011 07:31

    Another birthday in the Hedges family! Wow! HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY, Grant. Just the other day, Jo showed us a picture of you two together as "sweet young things" and you're just as sweet together, today, after all these years!

    This was a delightful peak into Grant the all-rounder, Jo! Thank you for sharing this lovely meme into his life. You're quite obviously his very proud, devoted and still very-much-in-love wife :)
    And you make quite an unbeatable team, it seems! ENJOY YOUR DAY TOGETHER!!!

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  6. diane b16 February, 2011 12:45

    A lovely tribute to your Grant. Happy Birthday to him. He sure is an all rounder and cuts a mean picture in his leathers.

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  7. Ida16 February, 2011 14:22

    Baie geluk met Grant se verjaarsdag, Jo. Mag julle twee net ge'bless' word waar julle ook al gaan!!

    Dankie ook vir die interessante stukkie oor Grant se werk - nou besef mens meer wat se g-r-o-o-t werk hy doen! Jou foto's met die byskrifte is spesiaal - geen wonder hy is so lief vir jou nie!! :)

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  8. MinnieRunner16 February, 2011 17:10

    Happy Happy Birthday!

    Still very active at 60. God Bless!

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  9. Sey16 February, 2011 18:36

    Happy Birthday to your husband. Those trucks and other mining facilities are amazing. I love the way how they were arranged on the road side. 55 days....that was exhausting...but AMAZING!

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  10. Gattina16 February, 2011 18:53

    I join the happy birthday wishes ! compared to us he is still a young man, what an adventurer ! You have your birthdays very close together !

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  11. Jo16 February, 2011 19:45

    Thanks everyone for your kind wishes for Grant's birthday. For the first time ever he read my blog tonight and personally says thanks!

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  12. Donna16 February, 2011 19:48

    Happy Birthday to Grant!!!
    hughugs

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  13. Gaelyn16 February, 2011 23:29

    This is an Extraordinary birthday post for Grant who is anything but ordinary.
    Happy 60th Grant!!!!

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  14. blog with no name17 February, 2011 18:17

    It takes a lot to pull something off like that! My hat is off to Grant... I know how hard it is to just move a concrete batch plant with all its supporting equipment... Tell him "Bravo!" And a Happy Birthday! Even though it's late... :)

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  15. Pat17 February, 2011 18:49

    I forgot to look at your blog yesterday, Jo, so Happy Belated Birthday to you, Grant! May you have many more happy birthdays!

    Wonderful birthday post, Jo!!

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  16. Margaret17 February, 2011 19:10

    A belated Happy Birthday to Grant. The convoy reminds me of when my father-in-law took a similar convoy across Turkey years ago(dam building).

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  17. This Is My Blog - fishing guy17 February, 2011 19:43

    Jo: Wonderful photos from the move. Those roads are really rough. If trucks get stuck what would happen to cars?

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  18. Janie20 February, 2011 00:35

    He's certainly had an eventful life. I enjoyed following along in his footsteps through your photos! Hope he had a wonderful birthday.

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  19. Francesca28 February, 2011 23:33

    What a special man your husband is!
    I'd love to learn from his life experience, and from his way to be.
    Best wishes of happy birthday from Italy!

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo