A Little Doom But No Gloom!

We have had a very pleasant week, uneventful, thank goodness!! Our Military Operations began with 'pops' rather than 'bangs'. We could hear the distant sounds of gunfire, but so distant that Alfie didn't hear them at all! And in fact, with the building going on down the road and the generator running at full tilt to enable them to get through the solid rock below, we hardly heard it either! One week down, two to go!

So, no gloom!

Now to get to the 'little Doom' part!

Rob has a 'mature' figure, like me, he is a little rotund around the stomach area, so anything that flings itself off his fork tends to hit clothing on the way down! A lot. And yesterday, as he lifted the olive oil jug after pouring some onto the salad, a huge glob blooped out of the spout and ended up................yes you guessed it.

I have tried everything that I can think of to remove stains from clothing, I have used Sunlight soap, Dettol (excellent in removing ball-point ink), and ordinary washing powder, but there is always a little mark left behind. So as I was bemoaning the fact to Emma next door, she said I must try Doom! As the name implies, it is a fly spray, a well known and popular brand, and because we have mosquitoes and Rob often uses it, we just happened to have a tin in the house.

This morning I Doomed his shirt, it is now on the line and I am waiting to see if it has worked!

And, who knows, it may just keep the mozzies away too!!

And if it doesn't work, does anyone out there have any ideas for me?

The Russians are Coming!

Several years ago, Rob bought a DVD of a film called 'The Russians Are Coming'. A comedy, it tells the story of a small coastal village mainly populated with retired or near-to-retired folk. (Remind you of anywhere specific??) Well, one morning a Russian submarine is spotted off the coast and the subsequent mis-information and rumours make for a very amusing hour or so.

Well, this week we have had our own 'Russian Invasion' here in Jacobsbaai! And at the time it was not very amusing! Read on:

On the 11 October, we received a notice, forwarded to us from the Saldanha Police Station, and we read:

This information note serves to inform you that special operations, including SANDF, India’s, and Brazil's Military forces, would take place in the area used to be the old bombing site. The exercise would include the firing of live ammunition, and bomb blasts. Naval gun fire support would also be conducted from the sea side towards the area. This will take place between the 17 October and the 7 November.

SIX days warning!! (Some of our islands had in fact been used for bombing practice during the '60's and 'Tooth Rock' airstrip was used from the 50's to the 80's. But, there were no houses in those days!)

Hop to It!

We are now in the 'getting warmer' stage of the year, having moved out of our rainy season, sadly, and our 'green' areas have a decidedly brown tinge to them. We also have to save as much water as we can, so our gardens are beginning to take strain. And the poor birds are running out of green trees!!

A sparrow on our wire tree!! (Pic thanks to Isabel)

So, believe me when I say that we have no puddles lying around, and our nearest stretch of water is very very salty!

Button Up...................!

No, it's not your overcoat, or your lip, but read on and you will find out exactly what it is!

I have mentioned my sister's dog Boscombe before now. He is the one who is the size of a small Shetland Pony and is as gentle as a lamb when it comes to kittens, remember him with the tiny Phez?
Being the size he is, his tail regularly smashes into things when he wags it, and occasionally his head does the same. Last week my sister noticed that he had a lump on his ear, a fairly substantial lump too, so off to the vet they went!

Phez using Boscombe as a pillow a few years ago.