tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43585667294285017772024-03-13T21:23:24.117+02:00by the Baailife in the wind on the Cape's West Coast.Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.comBlogger332125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-75482467721277995142020-04-13T12:10:00.000+02:002020-04-13T12:10:38.046+02:00Lockdown Lament!<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I wish that I was writing this in happier and
more settled times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We are entering the third week of our Lockdown
here in South Africa and although we were hoping that this would be the final
week, I think we all knew that it wouldn't be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Last week our President Cyril Ramaphosa announced
that the Lockdown would be extended for a further two weeks, bringing us to the
end of April. But will this be the end?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We wait to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For us, here in our little corner of the world,
life has not changed. We still only go shopping once a week... stretched to two
weeks lately.... and we still enjoy the open, fresh air and the sea breezes. We
still chat to friends around us, albeit a lot louder now with them in their
gardens and us in ours!! Our hearing is still pretty sharp though, so we manage
very well. Last week there was a 'street braai' where everyone stayed in their
own garden and bellowed to the neighbours while they were cooking their steak and chops and
chicken. We didn't join in... we were just one house too far and add some trees
between us and them and it was simply impossible! But they missed us, so they
say! I am experimenting with making and baking bread and Rob made a delicious 'Lockdown Potjie' last week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">And I have made material masks for us to use when we go shopping.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Some things we do miss though, walking Alfie and
going to feed my 'refugees', my two tabby sisters who live in a friend's garden
round the corner. They are being fed though by the lovely people who live in
the house where I feed, and I get regular updates on them. Because dog-walking
is Strictly Forbidden, Rob can only meander Alfie up and down the pavement and
hope that whatever he needs to do, is done! But sometimes Alfie escapes and
heads off down the road with Rob in hot (or rather warm) pursuit! Basil still
meanders along with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The only stores open now are Food and Medical
related. But customers are limited and the queues are long and winding with
each person having a trolley to keep the distance. This is where being a
pensioner comes in handy.. we went shopping about ten days ago, took one look
at the snaking queue and decided to leave it. We had been for our flu
injections, so we could last another day food-wise. But then I saw a notice in
our local Pick n Pay store which basically said that the elderly and doddery
and weak and limping (not really those words but it meant that) could go to the
front of the queue and we were whisked in by our friendly owner/manager. Rob
was walking with a walking stick anyway, and my Achilles tendon was giving me
hell, so we actually fitted the bill! It was a pleasure and we were in and out
in no time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Alcohol and tobacco are not considered
'essential' so no (legal) sales are allowed but several alcohol outlets have
been looted by those doing some 'after hour shopping'. Schools are closed and
children are home but how much home schooling is being done is anybody's guess!
There is a lovely saying that goes '<i>It takes a village to raise a child</i>' to
which someone added '<i>and a whole winery to home-school one'....</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Thank goodness for humour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We are wondering how long our economy (and our
people) can cope with the severe lack of earnings, small businesses cannot
carry all the financial problems, and many cannot carry on paying their staff.
Rob's Tourism business has completely dried up, and we wonder how long things
will take to return to some kind of 'normality'... a new normal? Some small
businesses have turned to other ways of staying afloat, and we now have
beautiful fresh vegetables and fruit delivered to our door by a small husband
and wife company who's Guest House delivery has dried up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We are hoping that some rules will be relaxed and
that we shall be allowed to walk the dog, jog or cycle, not that we do the
jogging or cycling!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Here are a few numbers for you... in the first
week of Lockdown there were 87000 reports of Domestic Violence and hundreds of
people have been arrested for breaking the restrictions on travel and movement.
Our borders are closed, our skies are empty apart from freight and rescue missions.
We have 2173 confirmed cases of Covid 19 and at the last count 24 people had
died. We appear to be on top of it.... but are we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I worry constantly about my family both here and in Spain, the
death toll there is horrendous, and they lost a very close family friend two
weeks ago, he was only 69. It has hit everyone very hard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So, here we are on Day 18 of Lockdown....
together with most of the planet... I wonder what I shall be writing next time?
Rob and I watched a movie last night called 'Contagion'. It is Fiction that has
become Fact, History that is the Present, it is frighteningly real. We are
living a movie that was made over ten years ago!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">One of my favourite sayings is <i>'One day we'll
look back on this and laugh'.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">One day we shall look back... but I doubt we
shall laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Stay safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-91866705617647837232019-12-30T11:18:00.000+02:002019-12-30T11:18:17.611+02:00No Picnic for these Teddy Bears!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zxKslLiFkJw/Xgm8RmyjUWI/AAAAAAAAXIo/YiWMTuBin08gJCvGZWYD-Gz2DygWdqacgCKgBGAsYHg/s320/20191230_092512.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The aloe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If you look at the photos accompanying this post, you may wonder why we have made prisoners of my precious Teddy collection. Well, read on....<br />
<br />
Just outside the kitchen there is a small garden surrounded by klippies, and in that garden is an aloe. It's not strictly speaking a tree aloe, but it has grown fairly tall over the years, and it is the same one that a dove chose a few years ago to make her nest. She built a somewhat untidy and rather precarious bundle of bits and pieces and then laid a couple of eggs and settled down to hatch them. But... and this you may remember... she, eggs and nest completely disappeared one night, just poof, gone! We never did discover what happened, we never found a trace of anything.<br />
But, I digress.<br />
<br />
One of the commonest bird species here is the Cape Sparrow, or 'mossie' as we call them and they will build a nest anywhere they can find a spot. Under the eaves, in old pots and buckets.... and between the leaves of aloes!<br />
The very same aloe that the poor dove chose.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-681ghJelTcc/Xgm8RpLeCKI/AAAAAAAAXIo/HWZ083WHnEQ-M6l7XntWl40C4JrPYmIJACKgBGAsYHg/s1600/20191230_092527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-681ghJelTcc/Xgm8RpLeCKI/AAAAAAAAXIo/HWZ083WHnEQ-M6l7XntWl40C4JrPYmIJACKgBGAsYHg/s320/20191230_092527.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The nest is clearly visible.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
We watched them build their nest, we watched through the window so as not to disturb them, and they found bits and pieces from far and wide, lining it with some of Alfie's fur and fluffy seeds from the garden. And they built and built and built.<br />
<br />
Then.... they saw themselves in the kitchen window!!<br />
<br />
They both decided that their reflections were enemies, come to attack and steal their nest, so they attacked their reflections with gusto. Daily we heard the tap tap tap as their beaks hit the glass time and time again. Then they saw the kitchen door and the same thing happened. Upstairs we hung two old cd's so that they spun and reflected the light. That worked for a few days. We stuck coloured paper rolls on the outside of the kitchen door. That worked until the wind blew a corner off and the birds attacked again.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PHbCxnbcAAo/Xgm8Rg6rf3I/AAAAAAAAXIo/BsCkZvdVraQyMFsLF7kPqlaYTTeFflFLQCKgBGAsYHg/s1600/20191230_092603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PHbCxnbcAAo/Xgm8Rg6rf3I/AAAAAAAAXIo/BsCkZvdVraQyMFsLF7kPqlaYTTeFflFLQCKgBGAsYHg/s320/20191230_092603.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Help!!! Let us out!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /> Finally in desperation, Rob wedged a couple of teddies in the window, held in place by the burglar bars, and that did the trick!! I think that the large eyes scared them into thinking a huge bird of prey was lurking in our house.<br />
Luckily I have several bears, and a few more to spare, so we wedged them in every window that the mossies had attacked.... and there was peace!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6-uAwJv-1Q/Xgm8Rhbv4II/AAAAAAAAXIo/qeeySIV3xckftQ-t0KWZq-s2ch4RqS-DgCKgBGAsYHg/s1600/20191230_092506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6-uAwJv-1Q/Xgm8Rhbv4II/AAAAAAAAXIo/qeeySIV3xckftQ-t0KWZq-s2ch4RqS-DgCKgBGAsYHg/s320/20191230_092506.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who is watching who??</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But from the outside our house looked as though we had taken a posse of teddies prisoner and were holding them to ransom!!<br />
<br />
And the birds carried on building. But last week they lost all interest in the whole operation, so we took the teddies away and apologised to them for the rough treatment that they had endured.<br />
<br />
But..... guess what??<br />
<br />
The birds are back and the teddies are re-lodged!!<br />
<br />
What is the collective noun for Teddy Bears?? I like a 'cuddle' of teddy bears.<br />
<br />
See you in 2020!!<br />
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<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-60810997423233429272019-04-18T13:44:00.001+02:002019-04-18T13:44:28.278+02:00Caution Cats Crossing!I know that I have mentioned (most probably cursed about) speeding drivers in our little village. Why is it that a 40 sign is read as the <i>minimum</i> speed on the road and let's see what fun it is to skid and slide round corners and why bother to stop at those big red signs... who is going to stop us???<br />
<br />
Anyway, daily I fret and worry and check the whereabouts of the cats... usually fast asleep on the bed! Morris has a habit of lurking over the road and suddenly shooting out from the bushes and straight across the road without looking and we have now banned Basil from his daily walks with us. He always walked with us when we take Alfie for his daily trot, but one day last year we were talking to a new neighbour who has a beautiful German Shepherd cross, and Basil heard our voices. Being the nosy cat that he is, he leaped over the wall to see what we were doing, and ran straight under a car that was coming up the road..... He came out from between the wheels, saw the dog and turned around, and ran straight back into the front wheel of the same car. Bouncing off the wheel, he took off up the road like a rocket, cut in front of the car and disappeared. I was convinced that I would find him dead<br />
<br />
When I could find him that was. I called and searched everywhere but he was nowhere to be found. Rob in the meantime went into the house... and there was Basil, sitting on the dining table with a black tyre mark on his head, but absolutely fine!<br />
<br />
Anyway, digressing as usual, we now make sure that the cats are in and safe before we go off now.<br />
Alfie too has his own troubles as he is now becoming an old man, we have had him for over 12 years and he was at least 2 when I found him, so adding that up.... and he is getting very hard of hearing and sadly his eyes are clouding too.<br />
<br />
So, a couple of weeks ago I saw some warning signs on Facebook!! Where else I ask myself!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3655HNc3Dw/XLhhpEHFC2I/AAAAAAAAVRg/DR934-pLWaIfBdsLuyaauiPaS6PXqrvAwCLcBGAs/s1600/P4180031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3655HNc3Dw/XLhhpEHFC2I/AAAAAAAAVRg/DR934-pLWaIfBdsLuyaauiPaS6PXqrvAwCLcBGAs/s320/P4180031.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aren't they gorgeous?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I ordered two from Ingrid, and literally the next day there was a message from Post Net to say there was a package for me! I had an idea of how and where to mount them, and Rob did the rest!<br />
<br />
We re-used a bird-feeder-holder that our neighbour had made for us, and with some clever drilling and hammering, Rob sorted it out.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7EX8_n8qNo/XLhiFGAZx-I/AAAAAAAAVRs/B61qcndZHmwaG89BKhTZmS2M_qMKqFI2gCLcBGAs/s1600/P4180030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7EX8_n8qNo/XLhiFGAZx-I/AAAAAAAAVRs/B61qcndZHmwaG89BKhTZmS2M_qMKqFI2gCLcBGAs/s320/P4180030.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see how close to the road we are.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And here it is...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J59z7vaW8v8/XLhh2UQCadI/AAAAAAAAVRk/E941_0JtxwsT2BtmgJdeKrFiAaNdfEJ_QCLcBGAs/s1600/P4180029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J59z7vaW8v8/XLhh2UQCadI/AAAAAAAAVRk/E941_0JtxwsT2BtmgJdeKrFiAaNdfEJ_QCLcBGAs/s320/P4180029.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attached firmly to the garden wall!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Hopefully people will take note and slow down and think about it. Maybe they will slow down to read it and have a chuckle.<br />
<br />
But if it can save the life of any of my cats, or any 'refugee' AKA feral, then I am happy.Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-34847228536113411802019-02-14T11:14:00.003+02:002019-02-14T11:15:32.429+02:00Happy V's Day!Just look at the date..... need I say more?<br />
<br />
Valentine's Day has never loomed large on my horizon, mainly because in my life I have received precisely two cards.... one from my best friend... and one that I sent myself!! To myself!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pQ-ScK3AfL0/XGUwuc38eNI/AAAAAAAASW4/22okRtLILNkMHscFK9xTa5YeNNKxN6vjgCLcBGAs/s1600/valentine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pQ-ScK3AfL0/XGUwuc38eNI/AAAAAAAASW4/22okRtLILNkMHscFK9xTa5YeNNKxN6vjgCLcBGAs/s1600/valentine.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the cherub's face!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
To me, it's just another day with the same challenges that we faced yesterday (load shedding) and that we shall face today (load shedding) and tomorrow (guess what??)<br />
<br />
And as I write this I am keeping one eye on the clock as we are in Stage 3 of Stage 4, and that means more off than on!!<br />
<br />
Let me explain the stages:<br />
<br />
<b>Stage 1</b>. Eskom (affectionately known as Eishkom) has to shed 1000 megawatts, so they 'share' the power that they have, and that means 1 load shed of 2 hours daily.<br />
<br />
<b>Stage 2.</b> Upping the shedding, they have to shed 2000 megawatts... so 2 'outages' of 2 hours daily.<br />
<br />
<b>Stage 3</b>. Yes, that means 3 x 2 hours 'outages' daily!!<br />
<br />
<b>Stage 4</b>. You guessed it, 4 'shares' of 2 hours daily.<br />
<br />
<b>Stage 5.</b> Now, this is the fun part.... Eishkom come to your house and blow out your candles!!!!<br />
<br />
This is much funnier to read than to think about!!<br />
<br />
We are teetering on the brink of a complete shutdown..... great fun. Eskom is bankrupt! And basically it all comes down to complete incompetence and lack of skilled people at the top... they are all in Australia, Canada and wherever!! And of course the fact that<i> millions</i> of people do not pay , so every month the losses add up. Throw in corruption and it doesn't take a genius to see that this situation has one ending.....<br />
<br />
We are lucky here, we can easily cope with the 'rolling blackouts' as our traffic is light, we only have 3 traffic lights in our nearest town and people here are very patient and well-behaved. Our main shopping centres have generator power. But the bigger cities are a nightmare with traffic snarls and taxis pushing and shoving and small business' struggling to keep going.<br />
<br />
Anyway. To all of you who <i>are</i> celebrating Valentine's Day, I do hope that you have your special scented candles at the ready.<br />
<br />
Not to make the meal romantic... simply so you can actually<i> see</i> what you are eating!<br />
<br />
Happy Valentine's Day!Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-55449049549921062012019-02-07T12:03:00.000+02:002019-02-07T12:03:27.595+02:00On Line Selling!<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Every year, without fail, I decide that this is
the Year Of Losing Weight! And about three years ago, while I was still
volunteering at the local Hospice shop, a rowing machine came through our
doors.....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Once it was processed and priced, I decided that
this would help me to shed those unwanted kilos and end up with biceps and
thighs like Cher.....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I love rowing machines. I love the rhythm and the
freedom, sliding backwards and forwards in time to whatever song is in my head
at the time! Many years ago I had a very dear friend who lost a leg due to
Diabetes. I took her for physical training to one of our now-retired well-known
cyclists, and while she was trying to balance on a huge ball, or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fight down her fear and tackle her crutches,
I would happily row in the corner until it was time to take her home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So, I bought the rowing machine! Rob and I
wrestled it into the back of the Nissan and then staggered and shuffled up the
stairs once we got home, where we placed it carefully next to the window. On I
hopped to try it out.... but because our floor is wooden, the machine gradually
moved across the floor as I rowed! I had visions of actually rowing down the
stairs and ending up on the beach, so Plan B.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Next stop... the Hardware shop where I bought
some non-slip plastic and once I had cut it and placed it under the machine, it
worked. It wobbled a bit but stayed in one place!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">But... It hurt my knees to the point where I just
could not use it!</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KcXZMzbnUqo/XFwASr2HwdI/AAAAAAAASUg/leoevrQX2rcLPyyql3vct9aT0DnXrEvcgCLcBGAs/s1600/rowingmachine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KcXZMzbnUqo/XFwASr2HwdI/AAAAAAAASUg/leoevrQX2rcLPyyql3vct9aT0DnXrEvcgCLcBGAs/s320/rowingmachine.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather dusty rowing machine in perfect working order!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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And since then it had just glared at me as it
gathered dust.</div>
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So, a week or so ago, I decided that it had to
go. It, and a little washing 'machine' that I bought especially for camping and
never used! In fact, it has never left the house as we go camping for a few
days at a time and several camp sites have washing machines anyway. I did have
ideas of using it during the drought that we had last year, but I had cut down
so much on the amount of weekly washing, that I decided to just use the big
machine and catch the water to put on the garden. Which I did.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fi30K3B5BoE/XFwA1itJIVI/AAAAAAAASUo/FJJCqXc_Gh8HkCT4RbeMFrsB4nfLRWc7wCLcBGAs/s1600/sputnik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fi30K3B5BoE/XFwA1itJIVI/AAAAAAAASUo/FJJCqXc_Gh8HkCT4RbeMFrsB4nfLRWc7wCLcBGAs/s320/sputnik.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brand new...</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So I now had two items for sale! Out with the
camera and then onto a local Facebook page that is only for items for sale. A
quick write-up, description, price, pictures and contact details, posted them
and waited.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">And wondered whether anyone would buy them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I could not believe it! In a few hours, both the
items had been sold, collected and gone and I had the money in my hot little
hand! My daughter said that it was because they were too cheap, but I reckon
cheap and sold beats expensive and unsold any day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I am now looking round the house to see what else
I can sell!!</span></div>
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There is an exercise bike upstairs that I
borrowed from my neighbour.........</div>
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-1475251727328068622019-01-30T11:48:00.001+02:002019-01-31T10:43:26.277+02:00A Garden is a Many Splendored Thing!You may have noticed by now that I spend a lot of time in my garden either planting, clearing, planning or cursing. The cursing comes seasonally, due to wind, rain/no rain, moles or.... ants! At the moment we are prisoners in our home because of ants.... large and small but all of them biting ones! So my time is limited to filling bird baths, usually early morning or early evening, so I can dodge the nasty little critters!<br />
<br />
But, every now and then I take my chances and actually do something constructive.<br />
<br />
The garden in front of my boat (Maggie-May...I wrote about her) was looking extremely sad and tatty. The arctotis that had flowered so bravely for many years, was now time-expired and looking ghastly. There were also nasty thorny things appearing and so.. my next project was born!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39k5UMxKrw4/XFFtsf1Om_I/AAAAAAAASOg/e1-h8eH-ceI5SXxjiZudJeIfNevDYA1uwCLcBGAs/s1600/P9150073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39k5UMxKrw4/XFFtsf1Om_I/AAAAAAAASOg/e1-h8eH-ceI5SXxjiZudJeIfNevDYA1uwCLcBGAs/s320/P9150073.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The arctotis a few years ago looking really beautiful.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The folks behind us had a Weber standing on their veranda. This was not a new one and the last time it was used.... was in fact the<i> very</i> last time! The bottom had rusted so badly that it literally fell to pieces! The legs fell one way and the top fell the other and it was moved round the corner ready for the Refuse Removal chaps.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V9Pf5j7sGN8/XFK0jevgMhI/AAAAAAAASQk/KVh7ow6s6Cgm46RbZoZGBTHZg4UsrBgawCLcBGAs/s1600/broken%2Bweber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V9Pf5j7sGN8/XFK0jevgMhI/AAAAAAAASQk/KVh7ow6s6Cgm46RbZoZGBTHZg4UsrBgawCLcBGAs/s320/broken%2Bweber.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Legs one way, bottom the other!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
But......<br />
<br />
I had a cunning plan!<br />
<br />
The top and the bottom, although rusted and holey and blackened through years of use, could still be used.<br />
<br />
As planters!<br />
<br />
So, first I cleared the old dead arctotis and the prickly nasties from the area in front of Maggie-May. Then there was a bit of a hold up as I had to wait for 'klippies' to be delivered.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4h0pavT2NQs/XFK017OqP1I/AAAAAAAASQw/CUmraxWolhAzd_XWIbV_aNZ7TRY9Vfa4wCLcBGAs/s1600/before%2Bklippies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4h0pavT2NQs/XFK017OqP1I/AAAAAAAASQw/CUmraxWolhAzd_XWIbV_aNZ7TRY9Vfa4wCLcBGAs/s320/before%2Bklippies.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleared of dead plants, now waiting for the klippies!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The deliveries were still recovering after the Christmas break. I decided to plant bits from other hardy plants in the garden that had survived the terrible drought and actually thrived on old washing machine water!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IYkMtUgLNd8/XFFxX4n-mII/AAAAAAAASO0/9uy9hcHkcscBEri1tHOgNIBrWA-pL11GACLcBGAs/s1600/P1280001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IYkMtUgLNd8/XFFxX4n-mII/AAAAAAAASO0/9uy9hcHkcscBEri1tHOgNIBrWA-pL11GACLcBGAs/s320/P1280001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iHdHnHhB2Uk/XFFxbsI-ImI/AAAAAAAASO4/cqYsrjJTaD8UadAZZqYxa3fpQgF4JgGlACLcBGAs/s1600/P1280002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iHdHnHhB2Uk/XFFxbsI-ImI/AAAAAAAASO4/cqYsrjJTaD8UadAZZqYxa3fpQgF4JgGlACLcBGAs/s320/P1280002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harry and the Boys standing guard!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Finally, klippies, potting soil and plants came together and I now have a 'New Look' for the space in front of the bow of our Maggie-May! The bottom of the Weber stands in the corner and makes a statement too.<br />
<br />
I think it looks lovely, and the addition of Harry and the Boys from the back garden just rounded it all off.<br />
<br />
Beautifully, don't you agree?<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-81768436544595785112019-01-22T12:11:00.000+02:002019-01-22T12:11:11.443+02:00Goodbye Blighty!It is exactly 60 years ago... 22 January 1959..... that our family left England's shores for the shores of Darkest Africa! To Africa and adventure, and all I wanted to complete my happiness was a..horse!<br />
<br />
My dad was a Detective with the Metropolitan Police in London, his speciality being Fingerprints. At that time, the 'colonies' were recruiting for the Rhodesian forces, and a few of the officers were in the UK looking for men with experience... and my dad was more than ready to head off into the unknown. I am not sure that my mum felt the same spirit of adventure though, but she went along with the whole idea. However, I remember my dad being disappointed that there was no place for him at the time, until a chap called Harry East (I shall never forget his name), pulled out as his wife refused to leave England, so my dad was recruited in his place!<br />
<br />
Then came the round of vaccinations, yellow fever injections, visits to doctors and dentists to ready our bodies for the future! We walked around at school with a red ribbon tied round our jersey sleeves to warn people not to bump our small-pox vaccination, and I was terrified that my arm would in fact fall off!<br />
The house was packed up, dad bought trunks and cases from 'Down the Cut' and some of our furniture went off to granny and Aunty Julia who lived in a tiny flat, in one of the many Guinness Buildings, in Chelsea. I remember that we had some sad goodbyes with dad's parents, and grandad regaled us with some 'interesting' facts as he had been in South Africa with the Boer War! Mum was extremely sad to leave and I think she envied Harry East's wife for a long time.<br />
<br />
The final goodbyes, the house was rented out and we were ready!<br />
<br />
I remember we caught a taxi on the morning of Thursday the 22 January as we had so much luggage with us, we would have struggled on the tube from Ealing Broadway to Waterloo! I think our trunks had gone before us but I am not positive! I do remember it rained, I think it snowed a bit too, but finally we reached the Southampton docks, the Boat Train pulled right onto the dock itself... I think... and we climbed out.<br />
<br />
And there was the beautiful lilac hull of the 'Edinburgh Castle'. Built and launched in 1947, we were the same age!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yl0TlNe38GY/XEbjD_ybvnI/AAAAAAAASF4/VdIFSWugY9wIC9YTiH4gYkJ-2VN52-C3ACLcBGAs/s1600/ship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="292" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yl0TlNe38GY/XEbjD_ybvnI/AAAAAAAASF4/VdIFSWugY9wIC9YTiH4gYkJ-2VN52-C3ACLcBGAs/s1600/ship.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mailship Edinburgh Castle.</td></tr>
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<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I remember that there was a huge shed with sections under alphabetical order, so we shuffled into the 'B' queue and our luggage, tickets and (I think our passports) etc were checked. Then we boarded to find our cabin! We had lunch on board and then almost dead on time we moved away from the dock and headed down the water to the open sea. And mum was seasick from the moment the boat first moved!<br />
<br />
The first few days were choppy I must admit and mum stayed in bed drinking port and lemon, on the doctors orders, to 'settle the stomach'. At mealtimes the sides of the tables were lifted so that the plates and cutlery didn't slide onto the floor. Without thinking, Diana and I insisted on describing all the food to mum..... and wondered why she kept turning green! We explored our end of the ship, but as we were not First Class passengers, we were not allowed to 'stray' into the forbidden First Class areas! There were ropes I think to remind us that we were Tourist Class only, so where the carpets began was the end of our explorations!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kjDLYdoPU7Y/XEbnvYcetVI/AAAAAAAASGY/kdkbLawyXeMOEsoYVmY4-lW55Bb3eu4VwCLcBGAs/s1600/cabin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="490" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kjDLYdoPU7Y/XEbnvYcetVI/AAAAAAAASGY/kdkbLawyXeMOEsoYVmY4-lW55Bb3eu4VwCLcBGAs/s320/cabin.jpg" width="174" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tourist Class cabins <i>(pic thanks to Bjorn Larsson)</i></td></tr>
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<br />
The officers wore their navy blue 'winter' uniforms and at 'tea time' every morning we had beef tea to drink! It was cold, so there was no swimming or sunbathing and the lounges were full of people playing cards or reading. The 'determined to be outside' folks were wrapped up like parcels, huddling on sheltered spots on deck while the ship rolled and splashed. I loved every minute and made friends with a deckhand called Nick who looked a bit like Punch from Punch and Judy! He showed me how to tie knots!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ukLwCXiX8DY/XEbnYLdJOOI/AAAAAAAASGM/09nh0TBuTsIV19n2uNy87dftFJlKzu6yQCLcBGAs/s1600/deck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="830" data-original-width="616" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ukLwCXiX8DY/XEbnYLdJOOI/AAAAAAAASGM/09nh0TBuTsIV19n2uNy87dftFJlKzu6yQCLcBGAs/s320/deck.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <i>(Pic thanks to Bjorn Larsson)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One lunchtime, being calm and sunny, the portholes were open and while we were eating, a freak wave hit the side of the boat, came in through the porthole and landed on dad! It's funny how those memories remain! (But ask me what I did last week....) As we sailed further south, the weather warmed up and out came the pool! Basically it was a huge canvas bag suspended over one of the holds and filled each morning with fresh sea water! In the afternoons the water was let out to almost half so that the children could swim. The water rolled from side to side with the movement of the ship, so it got quite rough in there at times, but it was great fun. And out came the deck games, quoits and a shuffle type game and of course the table tennis! Goodness knows how many 'ping-pong' balls went over the side.<br />
Then came the Crossing the Line Ceremony as we crossed the Equator! I took part and was painted with shaving soap, and a string of sausages was 'removed' from my head before I was tipped into the pool to clean off! I had a certificate but goodness knows where that is now!<br />
<br />
The Mailships also left Cape Town on Thursdays, heading for Southampton, so of course they would cross in the middle! That was exciting and everyone rushed to the side to wave energetically and watch the ship until she was out of sight.<br />
<br />
The officers changed uniform to their crisp whites and the beef tea was gone, replaced with ice cream! We spent so long in the pool that we never bathed, or so it seemed. Baths were hot sea water with a bucket of fresh water to wash the salt off. I remember the Stewards coming in to the bathrooms with mops and buckets, calling 'Coming in ladies' to warn us all! Mum was by now well over her seasickness and also enjoying the food. Remember, this was only a few years after the rationing had ceased after the War, so the food was a treat for us all.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgGx0-nBJqs/XEbnI2m7AcI/AAAAAAAASGI/kyqBSOv1K2sMSaN3YlfZu6v6DqWFnEY4gCLcBGAs/s1600/dining%2Broom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="600" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LgGx0-nBJqs/XEbnI2m7AcI/AAAAAAAASGI/kyqBSOv1K2sMSaN3YlfZu6v6DqWFnEY4gCLcBGAs/s320/dining%2Broom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tourist Class dining room</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I remember one morning at breakfast dad saying, 'We are going in the wrong direction, we have turned round' and me wondering how on earth he knew that when all we could see was sea! Apparently someone had fallen overboard and the ship turned round to head back. I don't think he was ever found though but that is all a bit hazy.<br />
<br />
Another highlight was the Captain's Cocktail party! Everyone was invited and so mum and dad went along and shook hands with him. I think we stayed in the cabin, or there may have been some entertainment for the children, but I can't remember the finer details. <br />
<br />
We had several Lifeboat drills where we had to grab our life jackets and go to our 'Muster Station' and it was all very civilised with no pushing or grumbling, and then everyone wandered off to carry on doing what they were doing. We had church service in the lounge on Sunday, led by the Captain and every day the Ships Log was put on the notice board so we could follow her progress and see how many nautical miles were covered each day.<br />
<br />
It was wonderful and the morning we arrived at Cape Town, we were all on deck watching Table Mountain get closer and closer and the Pilot boat arriving and the tugs busy pushing and shoving. Our sea journey was over... but we had a 3 day train journey ahead of us before we arrived at our destination.<br />
<br />
But that's another story......<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-1756446704071010792019-01-10T10:43:00.001+02:002019-01-10T10:45:36.152+02:00Voucher Vexation!Last week, Wednesday to be precise, we went shopping!<br />
<br />
I know this sounds very trite, but to us, shopping is a thing of wonder.... we only go to town once a week and then we fit everything that we need to do into the morning. Things like hair cuts, doctors appointments and visits to the Post Office, and then we happily turn round and head home! Reading this, you would think that we live 60 km from the nearest town, but no, we are only 15 km from not one, but <i>two</i> towns!<br />
Anyway, enough digressing!<br />
<br />
Our cats love the Pamper pouches. Only Pamper, they will not touch <i>any</i> other brand, and <i>only</i> the jelly ones! Ex-feral one and all, you would think they would be happy with an old dried up crust, but ha ha to that. So about two weeks ago I bought the usual box and found an extra pouch inside with a Voucher! The pouch was a mince one so I split it three ways for the cats and waited for them to turn away in disgust.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2WW9T2TT9Ig/XDcC3Xv544I/AAAAAAAASBQ/2-DC_H9sn5Qcd7Pqj-tBvlDTCdxvueOegCLcBGAs/s1600/P1100002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2WW9T2TT9Ig/XDcC3Xv544I/AAAAAAAASBQ/2-DC_H9sn5Qcd7Pqj-tBvlDTCdxvueOegCLcBGAs/s320/P1100002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Happy Box! With a voucher!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Surprise. They loved it.<br />
<br />
So..... last Wednesday (being Shopping Day), I decided to take the voucher and buy a box of Mince Favourites, using the 'R10 off ' voucher. Easy hey?<br />
<br />
Read on.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Now, let me fill you in a little more. The reason we go to our local Pick n Pay on a Wednesday is this... <i>double points </i>for pensioners on Wednesdays, so the store has three designated tills for us 'wrinklies' as our daughters affectionately (?) call us. These usually have meandering queues with crutch laden white-haired patrons leaning on trolleys waiting and usually chatting while they wait.<br />
We cruised up and down the aisles and eventually reached the end of the queue and shuffled along until it was our turn. Rob unloaded the trolley and I supervised the packing, making sure that the cold things went into the insulated bag. Rob had already given the cashier the voucher, so she then tried to run it through the correct channels to allow the total bill to deduct our ten rand.<br />
<br />
Sounds easy no? Well. Call the Supervisor. After 10 minutes of trying she decided to use another till.... now bear in mind each of the pensioner tills had queues, and elderly people can be tricky when someone pushes in. Also, the original till was now out of use as our tally was still on it... or something!<br />
<br />
Till 2 wasn't playing ball either, they were trying to call up our transaction from Till number 1... so along came another lady with advice. By now I was standing with the laden trolley that had not been paid for.... and feeling so embarrassed that I wished the floor would open up. I know people were thinking that we had no money, because <i>I</i> would have been thinking that! So, on to Till 3......<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w2F6rey5vHM/XDcDOma4zlI/AAAAAAAASBY/4mURFHMckRIWCHjdt_5g3Jb0TaMd2rs4QCLcBGAs/s1600/P1100003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w2F6rey5vHM/XDcDOma4zlI/AAAAAAAASBY/4mURFHMckRIWCHjdt_5g3Jb0TaMd2rs4QCLcBGAs/s320/P1100003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Voucher... looks innocent doesn't it?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Rob kept saying 'Leave the voucher, you know what I owe you, let me pay and you can sort it later' but no, it doesn't work like that!!<br />
<br />
Finally..... a decision.....<br />
<br />
Re-scan everything and do it again!!!!!!<br />
<br />
By now Rob was trying to push me out of the shop as he could see that I was more than ready to explode with frustration and embarrassment! In front of customers we went, everything was unpacked, scanned and re-packed.<br />
<br />
The tally came to two hundred rand LESS than the original tally!!<br />
<br />
Finally, we left the store, frustrated but two hundred rand better off. Plus... we still had the damn voucher!<br />
Until we heard a shout and a lady came running after us.<br />
<br />
We had left a bag behind that hadn't been scanned as it had been on the floor!<br />
<br />
Back we went....... no more two hundred rand bonus!<br />
<br />
Yesterday we went shopping to Pick n Pay... with The Voucher.<br />
<br />
At the till the supervisor simply said to the cashier 'Take ten rand off the total and send the voucher to the front desk'. They had obviously had more trouble with them during the week.<br />
<br />
Guess what? There is another voucher in the new box!<br />
<br />
Dare I?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-76624777144163124562018-12-31T10:50:00.000+02:002018-12-31T10:50:41.561+02:00Goodbye 2018!<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Way back when I was teaching last century, one of
the things my classes enjoyed was the 'Word Race'! I would write a word on the
blackboard, something like 'brownies' or 'refrigerator' or 'dinosaur', and then
set the timer... my cooking timer that I never used.... and the race was on!
It's amazing how many words you can get from the word 'brownies'... give it a
go!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So this year I thought that instead of saying the
usual 'Happy New Year', I would try to use the letters to make a phrase... a
good old anagram! The phrases weren't too good, but I did find a few words to
share with you...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Weary</b>.... as this year closes, I think we are all
weary. Of politicians making false promises that they will never keep, blaming
someone else for all the wrongs that need to be righted, and inciting their
followers to violence in the name of 'culture'. We are weary of the cost of
living going up and up and up and the bribery, corruption and embezzlement that
is happening daily. We are weary of listening to the radio and hearing the same
pleas about road safety over the festive season. This year alone, as I type
this (and remember that we are only half way through the travelling period as
there is still the homeward journey to do), our Christmas death toll is <i>16% up</i>
on last year's figures. So far since the 16 December, over 767 road deaths have
been recorded. Read that aloud.<b> </b>We have not had any traumatic events like a tsunami, an
earthquake, cyclones, tornadoes, volcanoes erupting. No, these deaths are purely
due to human error. Unroadworthy vehicles, overloaded vehicles, drunk
drivers, speed, overtaking on solid white lines. Add to that pedestrians that
are too drunk to walk straight so they veer into the road, or pedestrians running across double lane highways. Just to let you
know... '<i>we have the world's poorest road safety record</i>'.... and that was a
direct quote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">And guess what? It will happen again next year
and the year after.... ad nauseum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">My second word to share with you is <b>yearn. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Another word that sums up a very strong feeling in
us all. I yearn for an end to poaching, to murder, to child rape and molesting,
to any animal cruelty whatsoever. We have one of the worst Animal Rights
Programmes in the world. Our animal shelters are overflowing with unwanted and
abandoned animals, our roads are littered with carcasses, especially after New
Year's Eve when fireworks send hundreds of domestic animals crazy enough to
jump through plate glass windows. I yearn for an end to 'demands', protests
that turn violent, looting and destruction of property. I yearn for the farmers
in this country to be free to farm without having to look over their shoulders
and carry rifles, to be safe in their homes and not to have razor wire,
spotlights and guard dogs keeping them safe while they sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Finally, the word <b>pray</b>. That needs no
explanation...... but are we too late?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">But, is it all doom and gloom??? The word <b>'happy</b>'
is there, as is <b>'yay</b>'. Both are good words, but they are lost in the
overwhelming chaos around us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This is not my usual jolly writing, but I think
sometimes the truth needs to be shared before we put our rose-coloured
spectacles on again and try to look forward with confidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Maybe it's time for a new year with new hopes and
positive outcomes.....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Let's<i> all</i> hope that 2019 is a year that we shall
look back on with pleasure!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">As Alfie would say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">'Repay when yap!'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-18817553758927599482018-12-24T11:49:00.001+02:002018-12-24T11:49:56.860+02:00That's a Wrap!I shall <i>never</i> unwrap a gift, recklessly ripping off the paper and tossing it to one side, again, without thinking of the person who carefully wrapped and stuck for me! Mind you, these days I tend to use, re-use and re-use again, those clever paper bags that hold anything from wine bottles to tiny gifts of perfume and biltong!<br />
<br />
And why am I carrying on about this? Read on.....<br />
<br />
A couple of weeks ago, Ronel (the angel behind the Animal Lighthouse Shelter. Remember we delivered gifts for the animals in the Red-Nose Combi?) sent out an appeal for 'wrappers'... not 'rappers' I hasten to add, but people who would willingly and happily give up a few hours to stand outside Checkers store in the Weskus Mall and wrap gifts for charity. The animal charity that was offered the spot in the first place couldn't find enough volunteers (now I don't wonder why not....) so Ronel was next in line and she jumped at the chance.<br />
<br />
I actually questioned why? Surely we wouldn't get any money and I knew from standing at Markets how little money came to us. But she said that we could make <i>thousands</i> of rand, at least five thousand and it would all come to her shelter in the form of vouchers to be used at Checkers.<br />
And so she began...... begging, <i>pleading,</i> asking on Facebook for volunteers to work in shifts, one from 9 to 1 and one from 1 to 6!!<br />
<br />
Guess what? A friend of mine from Bookclub put her name down, so I thought 'Ok, I shall join her, it will be fun'!!!<br />
<br />
<i>Fun?</i><br />
<br />
Well.<br />
Here are a few tips for anybody that is ready to volunteer for wrapping. I am not talking about the few little gifts that you can do sitting with a cup of coffee at home and no stress.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YtX9dCahxF4/XCCq4iKiodI/AAAAAAAAR7A/OBEN1PQMaqkwzQV_dyve3ef7G7a-dKt3QCLcBGAs/s1600/That%2527s%2Ba%2Bwrap%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YtX9dCahxF4/XCCq4iKiodI/AAAAAAAAR7A/OBEN1PQMaqkwzQV_dyve3ef7G7a-dKt3QCLcBGAs/s320/That%2527s%2Ba%2Bwrap%2521.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me behind Jeannie... still smiling... we had just started!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>First</b>. Make sure you have a tape dispenser. Rolls of Sellotape have a knack of re-rolling themselves and you just try to find the end when there is a queue of people waiting to have their gifts wrapped!! That takes two hands and of course once you release the paper that has been nicely folded round a toy, it too springs back and lies there!!<br />
<br />
<b>Second</b>. Make sure your scissors are sharp. And you have spares in case you keep knocking them off the table onto the floor which will cause you to release the paper that you were holding round the toy.... see above!<br />
<br />
<b>Third</b>. Clear the table of <i>everything!!</i> We had a single trestle table for two of us to work on. That is fine if you are wrapping a bar of chocolate. But at one end we had a stack of pretend gifts, all beautifully wrapped, with a tree on top! At the other end was the box of tape, spare scissors, plasters for those nicks in fingers that must not drip onto the paper......<br />
<br />
<b>Fourth.</b> Don't cover the table with a proper cloth. This slips and slides and gets caught up in the tape and scissors (and blood) and could end up being attached to the gifts!!<br />
<br />
<b>Fifth</b>. Don't expect to sit and sip a cup of coffee while chatting to the shoppers. We bought boiling hot coffee at the beginning of our shift and threw it away when we left.... stone cold! Ditto with a muffin!!<br />
<br />
<b>Sixth</b>. Smile at the people who have <i>square</i> boxes to wrap... and look horrified at those who have huge stuffed animals, toys that come in that moulded plastic with bumps, valleys and sticky-out bits! They are a nightmare to wrap and never look tidy. Suggest that the offending item is put into a large paper bag, or a black refuse bag decorated with tinsel!<br />
<br />
<b>Seventh</b>. Look sad.... that gets the donations rolling in. Although it is a donation and money is not compulsory, have a sign that says 'Donation for Animal Charity' and when people give R20, say 'Oh <i>sorry, </i>we don't have change......' and they will be happy to give it to a worthy cause.<br />
<br />
<b>Eighth</b>. Be prepared to get <i>excruciating </i>back pain from bending over the table. I was ready to lie on the floor and have someone run over me with their loaded trolley, so take some pain killers along with you... but drink with water as you will never get to the coffee!<br />
<br />
<b>Nineth.</b> (spelling?) Count the money regularly and put the notes in your pocket for safety.<br />
<br />
Jeannie and I did two mornings together and if I ever volunteer to do it again, someone slap me!<br />
<br />
But... and here's the really good news.... the first morning we took R1000 and the second morning we made R1300....... and there were two shifts a day for at least ten days!!<br />
<br />
So <b>tenth</b>..... keep thinking it is worth it because it is!<br />
<br />
Merry Christmas!<br />
<br />
And <i>that's </i>a wrap!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-33980884156548925092018-12-19T10:43:00.001+02:002018-12-19T10:43:10.214+02:00Santa's Red-Nosed Combi!Here we are again... the countdown to Christmas Day is now in single figures and I keep thinking 'just two weeks to go and the visitors will be heading home and hopefully we can get back to normal'..... isn't that awful of me?<br />
<br />
But, even our residents are driving like lunatics and last evening Rob strode off down the road to have a word with a neighbour's son who had gone past our house at about 70 kph instead of the 40 kph that is the speed limit in our village. But he had to wait his turn to complain because there was a neighbour in front of him doing exactly the same thing!! And the reason/excuse for his hurry?? He was 'late'.......<br />
<br />
Anyway... back to the reason for this post, probably the last for 2018 but I shall try to squeeze one in before the end of the year.<br />
<br />
You will remember (how could you possibly forget?) that I have been collecting for Santa Paws, plus an extra 13 gifts that were pledged via the website. Rob and I bought food and then last week a friend and I spent the morning spending more money on blankets, toys and bowls. These were all sorted into the bags and loaded into the Combi on Saturday morning.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qBtubK-O5Uk/XBoDUTUPAYI/AAAAAAAAR4s/Ih_KWvuk42AeJfHbybe4vabJFq1s6pb2gCLcBGAs/s1600/PC150001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qBtubK-O5Uk/XBoDUTUPAYI/AAAAAAAAR4s/Ih_KWvuk42AeJfHbybe4vabJFq1s6pb2gCLcBGAs/s320/PC150001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lovely sight!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It was Time!!<br />
<br />
On the way to Animal Lighthouse we spent the balance of the money on more bags of food and poor Alfie (I had told him that he couldn't come but of course dad said 'yes') was sort of squeezed in between bags and boxes!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RTskVJ_YYP0/XBoDlURyOKI/AAAAAAAAR40/LHpjt7c1BLgVTNWKdoyYf3eBBWV7kcZmACLcBGAs/s1600/PC150001-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RTskVJ_YYP0/XBoDlURyOKI/AAAAAAAAR40/LHpjt7c1BLgVTNWKdoyYf3eBBWV7kcZmACLcBGAs/s320/PC150001-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See Alfie peeping over the seat?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And we met the Cape Town delivery at the shelter. We all helped to unload goodies from food to flea and tick chews, with a few large plastic 'shells' for water in the camps. Colleen's bread nearly joined the pile but she kept her eyes open and locked her car before I could grab her shopping! Wow, what a lot of supplies we had for Ronel, and of course we were mobbed by a carpet of kittens, some of whom ended up in the Combi with Alfie...... but we had to leave them behind.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aKAMY3wg5NY/XBoDxjk86kI/AAAAAAAAR44/5qP9QT4YgeUFJu35-phfA9JS8qm747A0QCLcBGAs/s1600/PC150005-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aKAMY3wg5NY/XBoDxjk86kI/AAAAAAAAR44/5qP9QT4YgeUFJu35-phfA9JS8qm747A0QCLcBGAs/s320/PC150005-001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right.. Me, Ronel with kittens and Colleen. Check the hats!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It is always an emotional time dealing with animals, but at least we know that for a few months at least, Ronel won't have to worry about food for them.<br />
<br />
I just wish that we could have delivered some gift-wrapped elves to help her clean and build and fix everything that needs doing.<br />
<br />
Maybe next year......<br />
<br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-41551838590514552932018-12-06T11:38:00.000+02:002018-12-06T11:38:34.209+02:00A Bouquet to Pick n Pay!I know that I have mentioned our 'Load Shedding' (aka rolling blackouts) before, and told you the (by now) stale joke about Eskom and candles.... and guess what...here we go again, the Dark Ages are here just in time for Christmas!! Eskom apologises profusely (ha ha ha) and blames a whole lot of things, but basically it is sheer incompetence and overspending on parties and salaries that is the main cause.<br />
<br />
Anyway, what with that, plus inflation running at about 94%, petrol increasing every month, a severe lack of water, an increase in murder and mayhem, the future looks pretty bleak!<br />
<br />
But, every now and then, just sometimes, I am surprised and overwhelmed by those small acts of kindness. Those people who restore my faith in humaity for just a little while.<br />
<br />
Read on...........<br />
This is the second year that I have been involved with a wonderful Animal Charity that is called 'Santa Cause for Paws'. Basically they collect gifts for shelter animals, and towards Christmas time they visit the shelters and hand out all the delicious and useful things that have been gift-wrapped, or put into bags. Because there was no 'Drop-off' place here in my area last year, I volunteered to be a Main Drop-Off, and our neighbour who owns the local plant nursery, was co-erced into being a Minor Drop-Off (by me of course!! Thanks Phillip!) I am sad to say, Vredenburg was a little slow again, but I did receive some wonderful boxes and bags from friends, as well as receiving some gifts that were pledged through the web-site.<br />
<br />
Now, some people want to give a box of goodies, but do not have the time or the energy to go off and shop! So they can pledge money and then the volunteers have the most enjoyable time buying food, blankets, toys and useful stuff!<br />
<br />
This year I am also shopping for 23 dogs and cats from pledges that came for Animal Lighthouse, the local shelter that is run by one person!<br />
<br />
Each animal, 10 dogs and 13 cats, has to have individual gifts with a tag attached to give the name of the animal and the name of the person who sent the gift. That left me with a quandary..... how to pack all the things? Boxes? Bags?<br />
<br />
Then bingo! A plan!<br />
<br />
Yesterday, being Wednesday, we went shopping. Our Pick n Pay stores (we have two now, our usual 'go to' store in Vredenburg and a new super-store in the Mall). Yes, we have a Mall! Grabbing the re-usable shopping bags gave me an idea. Maybe if I asked nicely, Pick n Pay would donate 23 bags for my gift packing?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o5YLhVpabrU/XAjsQGO6-5I/AAAAAAAARvc/W1jna8rBdJUeb8WlbsfdVyx0-bJe46afwCLcBGAs/s1600/Greg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o5YLhVpabrU/XAjsQGO6-5I/AAAAAAAARvc/W1jna8rBdJUeb8WlbsfdVyx0-bJe46afwCLcBGAs/s320/Greg.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg, our local Pick n Pay Manager.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Off to find the owner. He was not available at either store, but at the Mall I spoke to the Manager, Greg Holloway. After I had explained my mission (I had already spent over a thousand rand on dry and tinned food alone in Vredenburg) he immediately said<br />
'How many bags do you want? Does it matter what colour?'<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CqP1npj_IuM/XAjsfc4CZhI/AAAAAAAARvg/6kLZlwRFK_cPdGo1f14TDsn4QbDiZ-fawCLcBGAs/s1600/bags%2Bfor%2Bsanta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CqP1npj_IuM/XAjsfc4CZhI/AAAAAAAARvg/6kLZlwRFK_cPdGo1f14TDsn4QbDiZ-fawCLcBGAs/s320/bags%2Bfor%2Bsanta.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to be packed next week! That will be fun!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And we left with a rainbow of coloured bags!<br />
<br />
As the advert goes.... Give that man a Bells!<br />
<br />
I could have hugged him.... but I am sure that he would have preferred the Bells!<br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-74870864326372241652018-11-30T12:20:00.000+02:002018-11-30T12:20:27.487+02:00Refugee Upgrade!Those of you have have remained faithful to my writings (even with the lengthy gaps in between each post), will have read the words <i>'feral cats'</i> several times! Some of these precious souls have become part of our family, some have been homed to special people, some were released after trapping and neutering and have never been seen again.....and some have simply remained where they were trapped and later released, wobbly from the anaesthetic, but free to live without breeding.<br />
<br />
Two of these gorgeous girls live just around the corner, and because they were trapped and fixed in July and come from Jacobsbaai, it was fitting to give them names beginning with...<b>J</b><br />
<br />
So Jasmine and Juniper they are! Lovingly referred to by us as 'The Refugees'. Our wonderful neighbours gave us a lovely kennel for them, and so they are warm and fed and safe and happy. Jasmine has become tameish.... she sits on the wall where I feed and waits until she sees me walk into the driveway of the lovely people who let me meander up their drive daily to feed them. Once the food is down I can stroke <i>her</i>, but not Juniper, she is still very wary and waits in the background until all the lovey-dovey stuff is done!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--VeBuBSDbyg/XAEMdEvJurI/AAAAAAAARm4/Gw7qTGjMZvoH7PhQEG80nJg3mfTSHtnHgCLcBGAs/s1600/PB300003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--VeBuBSDbyg/XAEMdEvJurI/AAAAAAAARm4/Gw7qTGjMZvoH7PhQEG80nJg3mfTSHtnHgCLcBGAs/s320/PB300003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Refugees little home and garden!</td></tr>
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And so it has been like that for over a year now.<br />
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But...... suddenly there are ants!! Big brown ants. Big biting brown ants who are obviously looking for water and for the last week or so the water bowl (aren't ice-cream containers handy things?) has been literally black with the ants that are in or on or around it. So much so that yesterday when we went to feed, even the food bowl was crawling and Jasmine was standing there shaking her paws and biting her toes. When I put the food down for her, she was not able to stand long enough to eat and she kept meowing at me and jumping onto the wall as if to say 'Look here, we have a problem.... please fix it!'<br />
<br />
So. Between Rob and me, we came up with a plan! See the pic below!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yNEEoL3yekE/XAEMthCTlEI/AAAAAAAARnA/swDyloWxtq86VtLAn10hp_hKPdydDN_DwCLcBGAs/s1600/PB300005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yNEEoL3yekE/XAEMthCTlEI/AAAAAAAARnA/swDyloWxtq86VtLAn10hp_hKPdydDN_DwCLcBGAs/s320/PB300005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assembled and ready!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
An old gate, 4 bricks, 4 ice-cream containers with their lids, and sadly but necessary.... ant spray. Rob sprayed the area and I climbed over the wall where Rob handed me the bricks, ice-cream containers, lids and gate! Alfie, I might add, just sat in the car and watched!<br />
<br />
I smoothed away some of the leaves and stuff (lovely compost actually), placed the lids on the ground, containers on the lids and bricks in the containers! We poured water into the containers making sure that the bricks were wet too and then placed the gate on top.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k0qnAYGryNI/XAENPBj2blI/AAAAAAAARnI/3HDniXFWlc4nMuhJI7JzNms7DdWe2Ye0ACLcBGAs/s1600/PB300006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k0qnAYGryNI/XAENPBj2blI/AAAAAAAARnI/3HDniXFWlc4nMuhJI7JzNms7DdWe2Ye0ACLcBGAs/s320/PB300006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Water.......</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And look!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wo_hXCQg9Z8/XAENX6tfVJI/AAAAAAAARnM/wshpR3281H0rHTT7POXVyrX8i5RJJs_NwCLcBGAs/s1600/PB300009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wo_hXCQg9Z8/XAENX6tfVJI/AAAAAAAARnM/wshpR3281H0rHTT7POXVyrX8i5RJJs_NwCLcBGAs/s320/PB300009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And food!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A beautiful table for them, hopefully ant-free, that will allow them to eat in peace even if a marauding band of killer ants march by!!!<br />
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I just hope that my Refugees appreciate the trouble that we have gone to for them....<br />
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But they are worth it!!Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-21085101126214698622018-11-23T11:58:00.000+02:002018-11-23T11:58:35.143+02:00Kittens in the Kitchen!I was happily pottering in the garden about two weeks ago (ignoring the nagging thought that there was a small pile of ironing waiting for me), when a neighbour pulled up outside our gate, hopped out and called to me.......<br />
<br />
And what she said made me so <i>angry</i> that I could feel my blood pressure rising and my head getting tight!<br />
<br />
'I need your help please', she said 'Someone has DUMPED six kittens at the bottom of the road. Can you please help?'<br />
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Well........................<br />
Two minutes later I had grabbed the cat box, hopped in her car and arrived at the end of the road. Another neighbour came out to tell us that she had collected them in case of 'scattering', and had put them safely inside a box, on a blanket. But because she was highly allergic to cats, she did not want to touch them too much and was already itching and sneezing!<br />
<br />
And there they were. Six perfect, beautiful kittens. Not newborn, these had wide open eyes, and I put them at between 6 and 8 weeks old. But.... no mummy cat with them. So, where had they come from? By clever deduction we worked out that they must have been dumped there just after 8 o' clock, when Rob and I were sitting in bed drinking our coffee! We actually noticed a strange Security van racing past our house towards the sea, and then literally racing back a minute later..... could this person have been involved?<br />
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Back to the kittens. They were tame, very tame actually, so were used to human company and touch. They were happy to be picked up and cuddled, and we put them into our box to take home.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b30qZe9eMZ0/W_fN0QIP02I/AAAAAAAARdE/FSmRq0yz65YwtcHUVtBwWA0Qf4w5B6XBgCLcBGAs/s1600/kittens%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b30qZe9eMZ0/W_fN0QIP02I/AAAAAAAARdE/FSmRq0yz65YwtcHUVtBwWA0Qf4w5B6XBgCLcBGAs/s320/kittens%2B1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful babies.</td></tr>
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Once in the kitchen Rob and I opened the box and out they tumbled. Three ginger babies, two 'tortie' babies and one feisty dark grey who was growling at everything and everyone. I opened two pouches and they got stuck in with a vengeance. The little dark one growled and chewed and growled and swallowed and five minutes later there were six full tummies. I put the litter box down for them and they knew exactly what to do with it. They climbed in, they scratched about, they squatted and they scraped, they even went so far as to cover up their siblings deposits too!<br />
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Rob and I watched them, our feelings swinging from love for them to acute anger and loathing for whoever had just dumped them and left them in a strange place.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-entlO0d4cIs/W_fN-7xKXqI/AAAAAAAARdQ/RJ3LVwfnGvILv0poGIP2Htt_Kwa0HNizgCLcBGAs/s1600/kittens%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-entlO0d4cIs/W_fN-7xKXqI/AAAAAAAARdQ/RJ3LVwfnGvILv0poGIP2Htt_Kwa0HNizgCLcBGAs/s320/kittens%2B2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Basil and Morris came to see what all the fuss was about. Let me qualify that statement, I think <i>Morris </i>heard the rattle of food pouches and teaspoons against the saucers, but they both took one look and backed out very fast! The kittens ignored them and carried on playing and batting a toy mouse around the kitchen, so Alfie decided to pop in! As one, they stopped, looked at him and became little fuzzy, spitting and growling kittens, walking on stiff legs with tails like bottle brushes! So Alfie left too!<br />
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Tempted as we both were (yes, Rob too), we knew that we could not keep them, so we made the sad decision to take them to the local SPCA that has just opened and is run by lovely people. I know that they will be looked after and that they will hopefully find loving homes. To this day I shall never understand how someone can just load up a little family, drive somewhere and throw them away. I suppose we have to be grateful that they were not dumped in the sea, or the middle of the road. But..... if you <i>are</i> going to dump them, for goodness sake behave with some compassion and take them to a place of safety, like an animal shelter. I would love to dump the person responsible for this in the middle of a desert without food, water or shelter.<br />
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And if you happen to see someone walking with difficulty, scratching and twitching in the vicinity of his/her underwear, then you will know that you are looking at the guilty person.<br />
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Rob put a curse of a million fleas in the delicate area.<br />
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My curse was far more violent and graphic......<br />
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Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-83418172573717892992018-11-14T14:51:00.000+02:002018-11-14T14:51:26.378+02:00Alfie's Story!For those of you who regularly read my ramblings (not that my ramblings are that regular any more.... but I shall improve), our little off-white dog Alfie has been a familiar name as he lives his life alongside ours.<br />
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We have had him for nearly thirteen years, wow, we can hardly believe, and for those of you who didn't know his story, here is a brief synopsis!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WdRcL2Rqq1A/W-wX9Z-6UTI/AAAAAAAARTI/v-BQeg3tTUACRy12hknDuQit9r0LK3YfgCLcBGAs/s1600/P8280052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WdRcL2Rqq1A/W-wX9Z-6UTI/AAAAAAAARTI/v-BQeg3tTUACRy12hknDuQit9r0LK3YfgCLcBGAs/s320/P8280052.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alfie and his best friend... Rob.</td></tr>
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<br />
I found him in the middle of the traffic one January morning in 2007 in our town of Vredenburg. He was lost, he was confused, he was filthy and matted and covered in fleas and he was in danger of being run over any moment. So, we stopped to pick him up (my sister was visiting at the time) and took him to our wonderful vet who said that she would keep him for a few days to see if he was claimed.<br />
When I got home and told Rob the story, he looked amused.<br />
'What do you want to do?'..... were the words he uttered and by that time I was phoning the vet to say 'Give him his innoculations, I shall come to fetch him' and the rest is history!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iI29i67iMJ0/W-wYIghRE9I/AAAAAAAARTk/yIDLVX9UOU8lWb3AwSMr2z3XkvSQsLyLACLcBGAs/s1600/20180204_083503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iI29i67iMJ0/W-wYIghRE9I/AAAAAAAARTk/yIDLVX9UOU8lWb3AwSMr2z3XkvSQsLyLACLcBGAs/s320/20180204_083503.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More friends, Morris and of course, the ginger boy Basil.</td></tr>
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And for the last thirteen years our evening routine has never varied....<br />
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We watch television until about 10 o' clock. We tidy up, collect water for bed, and I go up to shower. Rob takes Alfie out for his last 'emptying' then he checks his emails and then Alfie hops on the bed while Rob uses the bathroom. Then it's lights out and we all settle down to sleep, Alfie tucked between us.<br />
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And until the beginning of October this year, that is how it was, night after night, year after year......<br />
But, that suddenly changed. Alfie came to bed as usual, but started shivering, unable to settle and then started panting. The shivering became so bad that the whole bed was shaking. He sounded as though he had run a mile and he was obviously deeply distressed. We were worried that he would have a stroke, or worse, a heart attack.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QnbDHSHtO0/W-wYaXacxQI/AAAAAAAARTw/Z6tRboEzxLEgFJx17LpYOywIqUBD01sywCLcBGAs/s1600/20170222_192006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4QnbDHSHtO0/W-wYaXacxQI/AAAAAAAARTw/Z6tRboEzxLEgFJx17LpYOywIqUBD01sywCLcBGAs/s320/20170222_192006.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alfie the Watch Dog!</td></tr>
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We took him to the vet as we thought maybe he was in pain. But he was fine, apart from being slightly deaf and having a cataract in one eye that we knew about and that the vet had seen previously.<br />
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We took him home. And the nights continued in that way. Shivers, panting, and then Alfie would leave us and go downstairs where we could hear him panting in the lounge. Then in the very early hours of the morning he would come back to bed and finally sleep.<br />
We tried everything. Rob slept downstairs with him, I was telling him stories and singing lullabys to him, and I also decided to teach him some Spanish! Nothing helped and we were desperate. He looked haunted, unhappy and we were helpless to do anything.<br />
<br />
Then..... ding! Brainwave!<br />
<br />
Once before I had contacted a lady in Cape Town who is an Animal Whisperer and she had helped us when our cat Dilly went missing. (I think I may have written a post about it.) So I contacted Carol, explained the problem and sent a photo of Alfie showing his poor sad eyes.<br />
Carol contacted Alfie and the first night he sent her a picture of a wall with a blanket over it and a purple bag on top. It meant nothing to us... but for the first time since it started, he settled down after an hour or so and slept.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XTvbcpa_7Z4/W-wYn_tfzuI/AAAAAAAART0/Qelhy8ezVTI2f2luwC5-kxQcQmaofQlFQCLcBGAs/s1600/P6240037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XTvbcpa_7Z4/W-wYn_tfzuI/AAAAAAAART0/Qelhy8ezVTI2f2luwC5-kxQcQmaofQlFQCLcBGAs/s320/P6240037.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He loves cows! And camping!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The second night he more or less told her to leave him as he was sleeping!! But he did send a picture of a dirty hovel, a man and a little girl walking across a bridge and then another picture of a man sitting on the grass with Alfie close by. Carol believes, as we do, that these were from his 'previous life', the life he left before we found him. Memories from his past, memories like we have as we get older. I find myself thinking back more and more as I get older, so why not a soul as intelligent as Alfie?<br />
And on that second night, he slept quite well.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G7rjaNGIvzM/W-wY1MO_CrI/AAAAAAAARUA/hrSZ0OIUVyUeiyVE7KJ9G9wU735vAfZwwCLcBGAs/s1600/PC220007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G7rjaNGIvzM/W-wY1MO_CrI/AAAAAAAARUA/hrSZ0OIUVyUeiyVE7KJ9G9wU735vAfZwwCLcBGAs/s320/PC220007.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">His favourite place to spend the day!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The third night he settled more or less straight away, and Carol said that she kept the communication open in case he needed to send her anything.<br />
<br />
And since then?<br />
<br />
He has become the 'old' Alfie, up the stairs, onto the bed, settle and sleep.<br />
No shakes, no shivers, no panting and no bad memories to disturb him.<br />
<br />
A coincidence?<br />
<br />
You decide!Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-91681912330786035402018-11-05T15:18:00.000+02:002018-11-05T15:18:24.106+02:00Boom Boom Spring Is Here!I know it has been months since my last post and I do apologise... I promise to try harder!!<br />
<br />
Our winter came and went and we did have some rain, I am happy to say. Not a lot, but enough to allow our restrictions to be lifted... although I sincerely hope that we do not regret this later! Our dams are now at the 70% level which is pretty good, but once we are allowed to use water freely again, who knows.<br />
<br />
But this is about Spring and the things it brings!<br />
The boom boom bit is for the sound that my heart made one day about two weeks ago.<br />
<br />
Read on!!<br />
<br />
There I was happily pottering in the garden one morning when suddenly the sound of starlings broke through my thoughts, and looking round to see why and what, I glanced at the lampost where we have a nesting log attached. And saw what looked like a sausage in the entrance/exit hole.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7_mwdizyrmY/W-BBVBNqu2I/AAAAAAAARMM/62VhfBoYGvckyiOtLb8muxnjB5DA2YEXQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5605_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7_mwdizyrmY/W-BBVBNqu2I/AAAAAAAARMM/62VhfBoYGvckyiOtLb8muxnjB5DA2YEXQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_5605_1.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interesting! <i>(All photos thanks to Rob)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The parent birds were frantic, flying and diving and as I watched, the sausage moved.... and I realised that it was a snake with it's head inside the log, taking one of the two baby starlings that were almost at flying stage.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j9u0aFAjJkA/W-BBjYKCSAI/AAAAAAAARMQ/35FsLbyw_B4bS0EZMmY5x_iCHEDISgwpQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5609_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j9u0aFAjJkA/W-BBjYKCSAI/AAAAAAAARMQ/35FsLbyw_B4bS0EZMmY5x_iCHEDISgwpQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_5609_2.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The head is inside the hole. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I yelled for Rob, he came running (I am sure half the village heard me yell actually), and we gathered up the cats, much to Kindle's annoyance as she was quite interested in the whole thing, closed the doors, blocked the cat-flap and went into the kitchen to observe from a safe distance.<br />
The snake finally emerged from the hole with one of the fledglings in her mouth (we later identified it as a female boomslang), calmly stretched down to the salie bush, wound her way into the middle of it.... and disappeared!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UcLnex_XpD8/W-BB7NI_SGI/AAAAAAAARMg/AldHJZKmKj8EicsOLJNHyMgBNVa9kR8TwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5613_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UcLnex_XpD8/W-BB7NI_SGI/AAAAAAAARMg/AldHJZKmKj8EicsOLJNHyMgBNVa9kR8TwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_5613_3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bird is firmly in the mouth!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But, the story didn't end there.<br />
<br />
A few days later Rob noticed a snake lying in the road outside our house. It was trying to move and we realised that it had been run over by one of the three cars that had just driven past. Sadly it was dead and there was nothing that we could do except move it, as we didn't want more cars to run it over. We also thought that something would eat it, either a kite or a mongoose. So Rob carefully lifted it with a rake and put it into the grass over the road. It was also a female boomslang and we were wondering if it was the same one coming back for seconds, or leaving after having digested the first bird.<br />
<br />
But....dead or not, it ended up outside our house again! We were puzzled and confused!<br />
<br />
And then we saw why! Sitting on the wall was a mongoose! It had found the snake and had dragged it across the road, obviously take-away supper for the family! But he left it there as I think it was too big for him and also it was no longer fresh and very smelly by then!<br />
<br />
So Rob buried it the next morning.<br />
<br />
Fortunately boomslangs are shy and prefer to stay away from trouble unlike a cobra, so I wasn't too worried.<br />
<br />
But I did abandon my gardening for a few days!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-71539299913704458822018-05-28T15:42:00.001+02:002018-05-28T15:42:21.495+02:00Technology Troubles!The old saying goes 'Things happen in threes' and we certainly proved that to be true in the last couple of weeks!<br />
<br />
Isn't technology wonderful? Until it goes wrong...goes wrong...goes wrong...<br />
<br />
Two weeks ago Rob's laptop decided to download/upload/change/update something, so it closed itself down and put a little notice on the screen, you know the kind of thing 'Do not switch off your computer, we are updating something and this may take a few minutes', or words to that effect. The screen went blue and that little dotted circle thing appeared and started going round and round.<br />
<br />
And round and round.<br />
<br />
And round and round.<br />
<br />
Thirty hours later it was still no further, so time to unplug and take to the local whizz-kids who kept it for a day or so and then said all was well. It was, but then the fan gave in and the noise was so loud that it sounded like a train de-railing. So, back to the whizz-kids who ordered a new fan that had to come from Cape Town. No problem, they sent a photo together with the code/number on the fan, back came two photos from Cape Town, which was correct? The correct one was chosen and pointed out, and guess what? Yes, the wrong one arrived!!<br />
<br />
Long story short.... it is now fixed and working and blissfully quiet.<br />
<br />
Next... I was sitting in bed drinking my early morning coffee, as we do every day and idly googling something very important on my lovely Samsung Galaxy 4. I put it down to pick up my coffee and the screen froze.... All I could get was a flashing 'Samsung' word and nothing else. I took out the battery, I removed the Sim card, I re-booted and charged it just in case.... nothing.<br />
<br />
We have a Mall now!! Been here for about five years I think and of course the shops come and go as they do, but there is one small shop on the ground floor (actually both floors are ground level depending on where you park as the Mall is built on quite a slope) that deals only with mobile devices. So, off we went to ask Mohammed to sort it out. And he tried. He kept it for two days, during which I felt that I had lost a hand! Who would have thought that at my age I would be lost without my mobile? Me, who grew up with phones that you actually had to insert a finger into a hole and dial the numbers! But all was not lost as I had taken an old Nokia along with me that only needed a new battery! Back home we came and I charged the battery as I was told and thought that was great. But the old Nokia didn't hold the charge so back we went with an even older one.... no battery available as it was too old! I must admit, Mohammed was a gentleman as he didn't laugh at the collection of antiques! I did offer them to him to start a museum, but he politely declined!!<br />
<br />
Long story short.... Mohammed could do nothing with my Samsung as the motherboard was at fault. (I felt like saying that it must be the fatherboard as mothers keep working whatever the problem...).<br />
<br />
I now have a brand new 'cheapie' as I am getting an update Samsung from my daughter next week! But I needed a phone to have working on the journey from here to there... just in case! Anyway, home it came..... but most of my contacts were lost! A few odd ones were saved to the Sim, but the ones I use all the time were missing... gone. And guess what? I had not written them down anywhere but relied (as we all do) on my contact list. Simply scroll down till you find the name and voila... there is the number! I remember my phone number from my childhood PERivale 8272, I can remember my best friend Lorna's number from the same time PERivale 8657, I can remember my dad's work number WHI 1212 (Whitehall 1212.. Scotland Yard) and luckily I remember those closest to me now, my children, sister and Rob, but that is all! So while Rob scrolled through his contacts and gave me the ones that we both had in our phones, I added them to SIM memory so hopefully I have them as long as my phone lasts!<br />
<br />
Trouble number 3.... yesterday afternoon someone sent Rob a video, someone he knows, so he opened to watch.... and his Apple S4 froze...... He did all the right things but it remained firmly dead.<br />
Off we went to Mohammed this morning, he was so pleased to see us as we have become quite pally lately! He fiddled, opened and did all those technical things that should have worked. (My technical thing is to throw it across the room.... but I control myself...just) Still nothing.<br />
<br />
Long story short..... Rob has a new phone! An Apple, but not a new one. A trade-in one with a good price. Mohammed put the Sim card in and..... no contacts!<br />
<br />
Guess what we did for an hour this morning??<br />
<br />
Rob re-entered the contacts that he had cleverly written down and then I scrolled through all mine and read those that he had given me, back to him!<br />
<br />
Thank goodness we did have that day overlap....<br />
<br />
Our friends would never speak to us again!!<br />
<br />
Technology? Gotta love it!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-69019996596535388562018-05-09T13:57:00.000+02:002018-05-09T13:57:09.988+02:00Vienna Sausage To The Rescue!The title may be a tad misleading, I have visions of you imagining a Vienna sausage with a bejewelled cape and a mask, ready to swoop down and save humanity!<br />
<br />
Well, it isn't that dramatic, but in a small way, the heroic act of one sausage, saved our feral female cat Bella from a lifetime of pregnancy, unwanted litters of kittens, and more and more problems as each litter grew to maturity and starting breeding!<br />
<br />
Read on;<br />
<br />
As you may (or may not know), there is a little feral cat family living just over the wall in the farmland behind our neighbour Emma's garden. For several years we have been feeding Blackjack, who recently disappeared from our lives, and the really sad thing is that we don't know what has happened to him. We have searched, called, asked around and searched again, to no avail. We only hope that he moved on and is safely eating someone else's food.<br />
<br />
Then last year a fat tortie (tortoiseshell) female arrived in Emma's garden. We tried to trap her but she managed to avoid being caught for a week or so, and then I had to return the trap so we planned to try again in the new year.<br />
<br />
Which we did..... try that is, but each time she just would not go into the trap. We tried tuna, salmon, biltong, special pouches of kitten food.... but nothing worked. I even borrowed a second trap because Blackjack kept nudging Bella away from the original trap!<br />
<br />
BUT... we were suddenly aware of a gorgeous black and white fellow who arrived one morning with Blackjack and Bella. Young enough to be her kitten! But a teenager, not a tiny. But Blackjack was not to blame because he had been neutered several months before Bella's arrival. So the newcomer was named Peanut, and as he was quite happy to head into the trap, we carted him off to the vet and he came home a little sore, very bewildered, but safely 'fixed'!<br />
<br />
And Bella simply chuckled at us all.<br />
And carried on eating and getting fat!<br />
<br />
Daily Emma and I looked at her and I said 'We must get her fixed' and Emma said 'She looks pregnant!'....... and life happened and the weeks passed.<br />
<br />
Until one day a few weeks ago, Emma called me to say 'Bella's got three kittens!' I went next door, peered over the back wall into the farmland.... and there, sure enough, were three kittens. Two gingers and one darker. But not teeny ones! They had open eyes, they were playing and leaping on each other, chasing leaves and stretching in the sun.<br />
<br />
And Bella watched them proudly and looked at us!<br />
<br />
So, I knew it was now desperately important to trap her. Goodness knows where she had hidden them until they were big enough to be seen, but there they were. And she would be pregnant again in no time (if she wasn't already).<br />
<br />
Emma started giving her extra food for the kittens, and every day Bella came closer and closer to Emma to get her ration of Vienna sausages, one at a time, that she took back over the wall to the waiting babies.<br />
On Monday Michelle dropped the trap off.<br />
<br />
Yesterday I used one of Emma's Viennas as bait and set the trap.<br />
<br />
I hid round the corner to watch. Both Bella and Peanut arrived, but Peanut isn't very keen on Viennas, so he had a sniff and moved on to the pellets!<br />
<br />
Bella walked round the trap which was covered with a towel. She sniffed and sniffed and finally moved to the open door. She stuck her head in and I held my breath. But the smell of the sausage was all she needed.<br />
<br />
She went in completely.... and I waited for what seemed hours but was maybe 10 seconds until.....clunk. The trap sprung, the door closed and we had her!<br />
<br />
That is one of the best sounds in the world! A door closing on a trapped cat, especially if the cat inside is the one that needed catching.<br />
<br />
Off to the vet we went and we picked her up yesterday afternoon. She spent last night in a large dog-size travelling crate, with food and water and room to move and this morning Rob and I carried the box over to Emma's back garden and opened the door expecting her to shoot out like a bullet from a gun.<br />
She walked out quietly, looked at us all gathered there and went off over the wall to her family.<br />
Emma went to peep and they were all together.<br />
<br />
Next month?<br />
<br />
Three kittens....<br />
<br />
I hope that Emma keeps a good supply of Viennas!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-64752100850882008212018-04-11T16:23:00.000+02:002018-04-11T16:23:02.096+02:00Over The Limit!Last night I took a Breathalyser Test. Not because I wanted to see if I was sober enough to drive, it was bed time anyway and we had spent the evening infront of the fire, watching 'Eastenders' and 'Masterchef Australia' as we do every evening (unless it is the weekend and then it is sport!) We had seen our swimmers and our runners coming first and second at the Commonwealth Games, we had finished our chocolate, and I had finished my two and a half glasses of wine (with plenty of ice).<br />
So as you can see, I wasn't going anywhere but up the stairs!<br />
<br />
So why the breathalyser? Read on;<br />
<br />
On Monday afternoon we drove through to Saldanha to the Community Hall where a number of our Municipal folks were waiting with their computers and papers to answer any questions/queries/complaints that we Ratepayers of Ward 5 may have. Now, we have been complaining bitterly about the dust from the gravel road that blows into our home like sand in a storm in the Sahara. We have written letters, we have had 'experiments' carried out on the road outside our house, but the wind simply carries on blowing and the dust carries on billowing. We have gathered letters from the neighbours up and down the road and we are fairly desperate to have something done. After all, we pay our rates every month and we get nothing in return. I lie, we have Street Lights! But go and look at Langebaan to see what we could have.. should have!<br />
<br />
So, while Rob was getting the latest Budget print out and muttering to the lady about the roads, I wandered off to the next table where there were three very smart men in uniform who I thought were with the Traffic Police, as I wanted them to come and catch all the speeding drivers who ignore STOP signs and help to kick more dust as they fly over the speed-bumps.<br />
<br />
They were nothing to do with the Traffic Police actually, they were from the Fire Department, so I told them about the traffic and they promised to pass the message on. And we chatted about all kinds of things and I left with some little books, a cut-out doll to dress in cut-out uniform, a cardboard fire-engine to build.... and two breathalysers!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free from the Western Cape Government!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
These are for home use, so if you are out having a party and it is time to go home, you can test yourself to see if you are safe to drive. Most people don't bother to think about that, they simply get in the car and weave their way home.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to the point of all this rambling. I decided to test myself last night, so I brought the breathalyser out, we read the instructions, Rob fixed the mouthpiece to the bag, and I blew into the bag until it was full.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-yNvWfFPCI/Ws4X3rDe1JI/AAAAAAAAOSk/NykrsOrw8ys1N6xTBZIU_eLxE9B3pLMSgCLcBGAs/s1600/P4110026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-yNvWfFPCI/Ws4X3rDe1JI/AAAAAAAAOSk/NykrsOrw8ys1N6xTBZIU_eLxE9B3pLMSgCLcBGAs/s320/P4110026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easy to follow... unless you are drunk!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Then I squeezed the bag gently so the exhaled air from me, passed through the tube that is filled with crystals of some kind.<br />
And.... it changed colour to show that I was Over The Limit!! Not badly over, if you look at the red line, the green is only just above it. If I was really drunk the green would be up to the top of the crystals.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nGPNQuQn8cE/Ws4YDhywLqI/AAAAAAAAOSs/VEgzDbq4jgw0b3xo1ixlwWqvPb4333Z8wCLcBGAs/s1600/P4100010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nGPNQuQn8cE/Ws4YDhywLqI/AAAAAAAAOSs/VEgzDbq4jgw0b3xo1ixlwWqvPb4333Z8wCLcBGAs/s320/P4100010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My green matched the last green!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I didn't feel Over The Limit, but it shows just how little alcohol is needed for someone to need a lift home!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o31kxNRXLtk/Ws4YS-3rzPI/AAAAAAAAOSw/HgBSsTzhank5wyFcFcvmR14jA8upHbfygCLcBGAs/s1600/P4100013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o31kxNRXLtk/Ws4YS-3rzPI/AAAAAAAAOSw/HgBSsTzhank5wyFcFcvmR14jA8upHbfygCLcBGAs/s320/P4100013.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And that is a major problem in this country. The number of deaths caused by drunk driving is horrendous. Pedestrians staggering into the road. Drivers falling asleep. Head-on collisions. Slow reaction time due to a fuddled brain!<br />
<br />
All could be avoided. I did the test for fun, and it showed that I was in no fit state to drive. But I felt fine... and that is the trouble.<br />
<br />
It makes you think.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-10139331451626667422018-03-19T11:58:00.001+02:002018-03-19T11:58:23.358+02:00Welcome to 'The Old Crow'!Well now, I can hear you all thinking.... at last!<br />
And look how the time has again flown by!!<br />
<br />
Reading the title, you may think that this is another chat about birds, well, it's not. Although birds do come into it.<br />
<br />
You have read about our caravan Hyacinth, if you have been following my rambles closely, and you may remember that we bought her in 2013!! You also may remember that Rob and I did not fit together into the bed, we managed half an hour on the first night before I shuffled off to the other end and re-arranged the cushions and the table.....<br />
<br />
What I did not tell you was the frustration with the curtains in Hyacinth!!! Now, as any woman knows, if there are curtains on a window, they must open and close... easily... at the touch of a hand or the gentle nudge of a finger. Not these!! They looked gorgeous, cream with a navy blue trim at the top, small round metal rings in the navy piece that fitted on to a thin metal rod. They had a 'stop' screw at the end of each rod to prevent the whole curtain sliding off. In theory. In practice the metal rings were too small to slide along the rod, they just went sideways and stuck!! Plus, if you tugged too hard, the whole rod just slipped off the bracket which caused a lot of cursing from me! Rob finally became the Curtain Man as he has far more patience than I have, but it took him ages to get them either open or closed as each little metal hole had to be gently moved bit by tiny bit.......<br />
<br />
Moving on.....<br />
Last month Rob decided to take Hyacinth to have her yearly service back at the dealer as we were planning to head off for a week's break. So we emptied every cupboard and hooked her up and off we set to Cape Town. While Rob booked her in, Alfie and I wandered round climbing in and out of the New and also the Previously Loved Caravans..... and I fell in love!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
There, standing proudly next to all the big, fancy (and expensive) models, was a Gypsy Raven, the little sister to Hyacinth. Peeping through the open door I saw an island bed big enough to fit Rob, Alfie and me, lovely cupboards, a little fridge and beautiful turquoise cushions.<br />
<br />
And.... CURTAINS. Proper curtains. Curtains with tape and hooks and track for the runners!!! And they worked... I happily slid them back and forwards while I worked out just how to break the news to Rob that he should trade Hyacinth in for an older, smaller model... with working curtains.<br />
Rob duly arrived with a salesman in tow as they were chatting about this and that. I showed Rob the Raven and then spent a few minutes listing all the pros, including the fact that being smaller she would be easier for us to push, and also that she would fit into the carport better. Then, and only then did I mention the curtains!!<br />
<br />
And I jokingly said to the salesman that we would swap Hyacinth for this one!!<br />
<br />
Anyway..... guess what happened?? Yes. They gave us a really excellent price on a trade-in and we became the owners of our 'new' old caravan! Because she is a Raven, Rob named her 'The Old Crow' and her name sits proudly on her rear, just below the little stick figures of Rob, me and Alfie!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IrLAJv59ZMk/Wq-IlOanT2I/AAAAAAAAN_Q/Dd3b6_HwS683abW7BJzfRA1fbFvFlje1ACLcBGAs/s1600/rear%2Bview%2Bold%2Bcrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="270" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IrLAJv59ZMk/Wq-IlOanT2I/AAAAAAAAN_Q/Dd3b6_HwS683abW7BJzfRA1fbFvFlje1ACLcBGAs/s320/rear%2Bview%2Bold%2Bcrow.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her name and our stick people!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And last week we went off for a few days to one of our favourite spots, Koningskop in the beautiful Cederberg. Sadly we didn't see Floyd the cat this time, but we did see the Genet and we saw beautiful birds from Black Eagles to a Cape Rock Thrush to the usual mossies and weavers and Bulbuls. We drove to Clanwilliam one morning, but for the rest of the time we stayed in camp, reading, walking with Alfie and just enjoying the peace and the green grass!! And eating...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7heT01xZaKM/Wq-IyuVIoHI/AAAAAAAAN_U/xxSN9wHR9IALHGBArZ2fzW_MqHZlWHWiQCLcBGAs/s1600/the%2Bold%2Bcrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7heT01xZaKM/Wq-IyuVIoHI/AAAAAAAAN_U/xxSN9wHR9IALHGBArZ2fzW_MqHZlWHWiQCLcBGAs/s320/the%2Bold%2Bcrow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Old Crow set up!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And The Old Crow?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uuCKR8c819w/Wq-I9vtff7I/AAAAAAAAN_Y/tORIbeiBFIkqCoK9ZyWNwha2U2vFS9poACLcBGAs/s1600/island%2Bbed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="270" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uuCKR8c819w/Wq-I9vtff7I/AAAAAAAAN_Y/tORIbeiBFIkqCoK9ZyWNwha2U2vFS9poACLcBGAs/s320/island%2Bbed.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The island bed..... see the curtains?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
She towed like a dream behind the Combi, we slept like babes in the island bed, we sat at the table inside and had breakfast there one morning as it was a tad damp.<br />
<br />
And we opened and closed the curtains morning and evening with no trouble or muttering.<br />
<br />
All in all, a perfect caravan.<br />
<br />
Alfie agreed!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-21975701494515258182018-02-01T11:17:00.001+02:002018-02-01T11:17:15.800+02:00Now You See Them, Now You Don't!This is the first blog of 2018 and although we are now at the end of the first month and are therefore one twelfth of the way through the year, I do hope that this year is a really good one. Rob worked out that there are only 327 days left until Christmas!!<br />
<br />
Here we are hoping and praying for rain. Not that we are due any until at least the end of May, but we are in a crisis situation here in the Cape. Cape Town has water until the middle of April (although that date keeps changing as the amount of water the Capetonians use fluctuates weekly, but at the time of writing this, daily usage was 580 000 000 litres... yes, DAILY) so we had all better get used to queuing for our allocated 25 litres per day..........<br />
<br />
Wonderful people up-country where the rain is plenty and the dams are full, are collecting water by the truckload (literally), and removal companies are bringing thousands of litres of water down to the Cape for use in animal shelters.<br />
<br />
Anyway, life goes on (but not for my garden which is dry, dusty and for the most part, dead!) and we have cut our water usage drastically. The words 'If it's yellow let it mellow' are heard everywhere, our showers are fast and trickly, my washing machine is programmed to cut out a rinse and we catch all that water for garden use.<br />
<br />
But, by far the most water usage goes..... to the birds!<br />
<br />
We have five bird baths, one outside for general consumption, and four inside for the birds, our cats and probably the bokkie who still comes nightly for his/her apple and mealies.<br />
<br />
Keeping them full is Rob's responsibility and he does it diligently!!<br />
<br />
We have rain tanks that we use for this purpose and usually he can keep up with demand.<br />
But for the last few months we have had the Pied Starlings here. In droves. By the hundred. And they like to crowd in the manatoka trees and eat the berries when they are ripe. So we have had days of squabbling, squawking, chirping and flapping as hundreds of them crowd into the trees and then descend onto the birdbaths!<br />
<br />
Sadly I cannot get photos to upload anymore for some obscure reason, so you have to picture the splashing, shoving, flapping and swimming that goes on. We have counted over twenty starlings at a time trying to get to the water. I even made a little rhyme, to the tune of 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' and it goes like this.....<br />
<br />
<i>Sing a song of ten rand, a pocket full of chaff,</i><br />
<i>Four and twenty starlings crowding in the bath.</i><br />
<i>When the bath was empty the birds they did complain,</i><br />
<i>So out went Rob with water and it all began again.</i><br />
<br />
Did you sing it? I bet you did!<br />
<br />
Rob filled every bath at least five times every day. The baths were empty of water but full of mud and the seeds from the manatoka trees! Mud from the dust from the birds, and the seeds are what they spit out or regurgitate once they have eaten the fleshy part of the fruit. A bit like us with litchis!! And the seeds are tiny and sticky, so they stick to shoes and get transferred to the floors inside. And boy, do they hurt when they are trodden on with bare feet!<br />
<br />
But, I digress.<br />
<br />
This water-carrying has happened daily for the last three months. And suddenly yesterday I noticed that there was not one Pied Starling in the garden or the trees or the baths! Not one.<br />
<br />
And today I have seen one in the rhus tree and Rob has seen one on the bath rim.<br />
And that is it!<br />
<br />
Gone, moved on, no goodbye, no thank you!<br />
<br />
Here's the question..... can we blame Social Media for this??<br />
<br />
Are they all on Twitter... and did they get a 'tweet'?<br />
<br />
Makes you think doesn't it?Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-7556327777433177982017-12-31T12:14:00.001+02:002017-12-31T12:23:59.463+02:00Goodbye 2017Last day before 2017 slides into the sea and 2018 climbs into view tomorrow morning!<br />
Where on earth has this year gone?<br />
How did it get past me so quickly?<br />
<br />
So, being time to reflect on the year as it grinds down, I decided that I would give you a sort of alphabetical list of the things that were (to me at least) the memories of 2017.....<br />
<br />
<b>A.. Ants.</b> As the garden has become drier and drier, we have been inundated with the little buggers. They bite naked flesh, so gardening has been a challenge as I have to hop and swipe and curse every few seconds.<br />
<br />
<b>B.. Birthday.</b> Yes, I know they come round every year but it's not every year you hit a milestone and this year was the Year Of The 70th! As they say in the classics 'Good Grief!'<br />
<br />
<b>C.. Cursing.</b> I have done a lot of that this year, from gardening (see A above), to listening and watching the news. Not good for blood pressure! (see M below)<br />
<br />
<b>D.. Dust.</b> This may seem a silly thing but our road remains un-tarred and every car/truck/bakkie/builders mate that hurtles past our house leaves behind a cloud of dust that wafts happily onto the veranda and into the house to settle on everything it can. Then there is a lot of C (see above).<br />
<br />
<b>E.. Elephants</b> still under threat from poachers. This leads to a lot of C (see above), and thoughts of gory things that I would love to do to poachers that involve blood and pain.<br />
<br />
<b>F.. Fish.</b> We have eaten our way through many kilos of hake. Battered, crumbed, grilled or fried, we eat hake at least four times a week. My favourite fish is any that I have not had to cook and especially the hake from St Helena Nursery and Coffee Shop!<br />
<br />
<b>G.. Garden.</b> I have watched much of my garden die this year from a serious lack of water. But it has led to clever 'dead' areas of the garden being re-modelled with klippies and pots and a bench. The latest invention is... a wooden 'lugtoring' or lighthouse, complete with solar lights! A boer maak 'n plan!<br />
<br />
<b>H.. Hiccups.</b> Have you noticed that you can go for weeks, months without having hiccups? Then suddenly they arrive three or four times in one day and leave you exhausted and fed up? Drink water from the wrong side of the glass... works every time!<br />
<br />
<b>I.. Influenza.</b> Avoided that this year, again, thanks goodness. We had our 'flu jabs at the start of the season and wore garlic round our necks when we went shopping!!<br />
<br />
<b>J.. Jacobsbaai.</b>.. what else! But sadly our little village has grown and crept over areas that we were told would never be developed. It has doubled in size, at least, since we moved here nearly eleven and a half years ago. Hence the cursing at builders and all associated with them. But also, the new houses are all huge monstrosities that cover every inch of plot and certainly do not follow the 'quaint fisherman type accommodation' that was the whole idea in the first place!! But having said all that, it is still the best place to live!<br />
<br />
<b>K.. Klippies</b> or little stones. I must have bought several tons of these this year to spread over the re-modelled bits of my garden!<br />
<br />
<b>L.. Lekker by die see.</b>.... roughly translated means<i> 'lovely at the sea'</i>, but it is one of those wonderful Afrikaans sayings that just do not translate!<br />
<br />
<b>M.. Medical Stuff.</b> Yes, as we get older we visit the doctor more, and worry about our heart and bowels! Blood pressure medication, cholesterol pills, heartburn muti, we carry it all around with us, terrified to miss a day! We have a wonderful doctor, I love going to see him as we have a good chat and a laugh and I can hear him mentally adding up how much more he now has towards fixing the wind-pump on the farm!<br />
<br />
<b>N.. Neighbours.</b> I have mentioned our wonderful neighbours before. Where or who else, could you phone with a request for something important that you forgot to buy and know that they are either on their way to, or in, or just near enough to turn round and head back to, our local Pick n Pay? Emma, I thank you for all the chats, gifts and laughs that we have enjoyed this year, over the wall!<br />
<br />
<b>O.. Oyster Catchers.</b> We have these beautiful black birds with their bright red beak and legs here in our baai. They nest on the beach and among the rocks on the little islands offshore and we hear their squeaky-toy call daily. They are one of the many different bird species that grace our village and we are truly lucky to see them.<br />
<br />
<b>P.. Politics..</b>.... there is nothing nice that I can say about our 'great' politicians, from the president down. In fact, enough said. (See M and blood pressure.)<br />
<br />
<b>Q.. Quiet</b>. One of the reasons we chose to live here is for the peace and quiet that we enjoy throughout the year. Even though our village has grown, there are still no shops (apart from a little keffie), no bottle stores, no garages, no schools, no through-road to anywhere else, so apart from the three short weeks over the Christmas period, our quiet remains.... and long may it do so!<br />
<br />
<b>R.. Rob.</b> Another year of laughs and companionship and damn fine soup! We have been together since February 1998, so we are a couple of months off our 20th anniversary, and in the words of the old old song <i>'And it don't seem a day too much...'</i> With 2018 coming up, we hope to enjoy more of the same, plus more trips in the caravan with Alfie to distant lands (not too distant as Alfie doesn't have a passport!)<br />
<br />
<b>S.. Shrinkflation.</b> A lovely word (but not the concept) this! It crept up on us un-noticed until it was mentioned on the radio. So, we now have things like this; a 2 litre tub of ice-cream is now only 1.8 litre at a higher price, a 3kg bag of Friskies cat food is now 2.9 kg, but the price has gone up from R114 to R144....... these are just two examples but to focus on it leads to another S word, stress, and that leads to C and M (see above).<br />
<br />
<b>T.</b>. I just asked Rob what I could do for T... his answer? Scones!! I should have known better!<br />
<br />
<b>U.. Umbrella.</b> We have several of these gathering dust. Unused this year, and for several years before this, we have children now asking what they are and what they are used for.... Maybe I could use them for bird feeders or pot-plant holders.<br />
<br />
<b>V.. Visitors</b>. Lovely lovely family and friends! I just need my sister to come to see us now..... Rob's daughter and partner left just yesterday after a flying visit, and tomorrow I am driving to Stellenbosch to my daughter, and then... joy of joys, we are meeting my son and two of his three gorgeous children! (We shall miss Irina and Sasha, but hopefully next time). A wonderful week of having my kids together and I can't wait! I know that really this is taking place next year.... but I am stretching the rules. After all, it's my blog!<br />
<br />
<b>W.. Water.</b> The word that is on everyone's lips here in the Cape. We are in a crisis situation with dams close to empty. The taps will run dry sometime in April unless we have 3 years of above average rainfall before then. And seeing that our rain is only expected in May (if then), we are in deep s**t. Here on the West Coast, our annual average rainfall is 422 mm, but this year we only had 179 mm. Rob and I are saving every drop that we can, we have funnels and 2 litre plastic bottles in the showers to collect the first cold water. We collect washing water for the garden, and we are wearing our outer clothing more than once. We have dropped our consumption to 3 kilolitres,that is about 50 litres each daily. As my friend says 'I have a bucket list.. a bucket in the shower, one in the kitchen......'<br />
<br />
<b>X.. X-ray.</b> My thumb is excruciatingly sore. I cannot bend it at all, so I may need one of these soon.<br />
<br />
<b>Y.. Yell.</b> This is what you do several times a day if you see the following; a snake, a scorpion, a cat bringing a live mouse into the house, speeding drivers who raise a cloud of dust behind them (see D above), or if you want to attract your neighbours attention to ask them to please bring a small plain yogurt home from Pick n Pay because you forgot it even though it was written on the list. But the list was left at home, hence the need to yell. (See N above).<br />
<br />
<b>Z.. Zuma</b>. This ties in well with Y and P and M, especially the blood pressure. Hopefully by next December 31 he will be history......<br />
<br />
<b>Happy New Year Everyone!</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-14863744867621948372017-12-11T11:55:00.000+02:002017-12-11T11:55:24.074+02:00Santa Paws Is Coming To Town!Surprise! Surprise?<br />
<br />
This morning I decided to get my A into G and write a blog before the end of the year! It actually took me a few minutes to remember how to do it... but never mind, I forget things easily (especially how to sweep and dust... and cooking is fading fast) these days.<br />
<br />
So I thought that as left you hanging last time, surely desperate to hear how things are going/went with Santa Paws, the least I could do was to update the news!<br />
<br />
I had great fun filling my bags! Food, toys (a home made catnip rabbit, sadly minus the catnip as I didn't have any), useful articles and blankets all went in, and I proudly put them into the spare room, idly wondering if the room would be large enough to hold all the bags once they came pouring in.<br />
And slowly, slowly the bags began to trickle in.<br />
<br />
It was great fun shopping for all the bits and pieces for my two bags, and then four beautifully presented bags arrived. My friends rallied round and helped my final tally to..... drum roll......14... yes, fourteen bags are now ready for me to deliver to the beneficiaries in this area. They are neatly placed in the spare room and although I wish there were more, I think fourteen is a pretty good number for the first time.<i> (Note just through from the Admin at Santa Paws..... they have 120 bags for Ronel!!! That is amazing!)</i><br />
<br />
Both Alfie and Basil have been great helpers.. Alfie spent a lot of time sitting staring into one bag. I finally went to look and there was a beautiful new tennis ball!<br />
<br />
Basil on the other hand, just wanted to climb into every bag and there were all kinds of rustling and scrabbling noises for a while!<br />
<br />
Will I do it next year?<br />
<br />
That's for sure... I am hoping for at least 30.......<br />
<br />
Merry Christmas everyone. I hope that Santa Paws visits you too.<br />
<br />
<i>I am so sorry but I cannot upload the photos that I wanted to show you. I am doing all the right moves, but it simply refuses to put the photos in the text!! Highly frustrating!! HELP!!!</i><br />
<br />Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-19961417955366032102017-10-03T12:29:00.002+02:002017-10-03T12:29:23.913+02:00Santa Cause For Paws!Being the beginning of October, we shall soon be hearing the strains of 'Little Drummer Boy' and 'Mary's Boy Child' accompanying our trundle round the shopping centres, as we gaily fling pasta and dog food into our trolleys. The cashiers get into the spirit too by wearing jolly red hats with white pompoms and bells, but it certainly does not help when each week every single item is up by at least 20%.... and we are told that inflation is actually on the decrease..... ha ha and Merry Rubbish!!<br />
<br />
So, I had a pleasant surprise when I meandered my way through Facebook a few weeks ago and saw a post for 'Santa Cause for Paws'. Having never heard of it, but extremely interested in anything to do with animals, I delved further.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVK7sK8Lafk/WdNkQUGfG_I/AAAAAAAAMW4/8DdC0eeuPX0Wl0Q85Y2oQpzDfDDFYMIyACLcBGAs/s1600/PA030007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVK7sK8Lafk/WdNkQUGfG_I/AAAAAAAAMW4/8DdC0eeuPX0Wl0Q85Y2oQpzDfDDFYMIyACLcBGAs/s320/PA030007.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>(All the photos are thanks to the Official Santa Cause for Paws Facebook page.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And I was hooked!<br />
<br />
This is an easy and fun way to give a gift to an animal in a Shelter, or to an organisation like SPCA... and this year to our own 'Animal Lighthouse', here in Vredenburg. All you have to do is go onto their Facebook page, just search for 'Santa Cause for Paws', and follow the instructions. Pledge a box for a dog, cat, puppy or kitten, and you will receive an email with a printable label that must be attached to the box before the box is dropped off at the nearest drop-off place. On the label is a list of goodies to be included, namely: two food items, something warm like a blanket, a toy, something useful like a bowl or flea treatment or a collar for a dog and an item for the staff like food (non-perishable of course!)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uxVGq7b2TkU/WdNlAmAI5lI/AAAAAAAAMXE/iVuEGJ9A4QUnL_V1y1bvy3FNeU5H7JlmQCLcBGAs/s1600/PA030009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uxVGq7b2TkU/WdNlAmAI5lI/AAAAAAAAMXE/iVuEGJ9A4QUnL_V1y1bvy3FNeU5H7JlmQCLcBGAs/s320/PA030009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The goody-box check list.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Easy so far......But, when I went on to pledge my box, the nearest drop-off point was in Cape Town, some 120 kms from us. So, I decided to send a message to the organisers and ask if there was a closer place seeing as our Shelter was one of the beneficiaries this year.<br />
<br />
And that started a lovely chat between 'them' and me! And as there was nowhere closer, I volunteered to be a Western Cape drop-off point.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F4grZ3-v_pc/WdNkjVLRYwI/AAAAAAAAMW8/VOX5Kbc6deIBQV-XIwLazN25iiJhI6dxwCEwYBhgL/s1600/PA030010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F4grZ3-v_pc/WdNkjVLRYwI/AAAAAAAAMW8/VOX5Kbc6deIBQV-XIwLazN25iiJhI6dxwCEwYBhgL/s320/PA030010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How could you resist this little face?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
That is when I had my second brainwave (the first being to make a pledge). I asked Phillip if he would be happy to be a drop-off too as everyone around here knows Scotts Kwekery (Nursery) and it is on the main road, not tucked away like our village is!<br />
<br />
Well, after much to-ing and fro-ing between me and... AUSTRALIA... yes, that is where the girl who started the 'Santa Paws' movement lives now (she is ex-Johannesburg.... one of thousands), I am now officially a drop-off point, as is the nursery, and the town of Vredenburg is now listed on the official drop-off list! All very important!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TvDolgL1v0/WdNlW3XKGWI/AAAAAAAAMXI/Tun3qNTamtQFnrKShKjPn6NzhMtReUfKACLcBGAs/s1600/PA030011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--TvDolgL1v0/WdNlW3XKGWI/AAAAAAAAMXI/Tun3qNTamtQFnrKShKjPn6NzhMtReUfKACLcBGAs/s320/PA030011.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See, everyone enjoys a gift!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So I am now collecting my goodies for my boxes (one cat and one dog) and must head to the mall to gather all sorts of interesting items.<br />
<br />
I may even sing along to Boney-M.......<br />
<br />
I just hope that a lot more people pledge for this area, or I shall be delivering only my boxes!Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358566729428501777.post-19895272639548326252017-09-10T11:33:00.000+02:002017-09-10T18:18:44.179+02:00Mossie vs Malechite!I am sure that everyone knows by now that Rob and I are avid bird-watchers! Not the serious twitching ticking off lists and peering through binoculars type, but the meander round the place and enjoy what we find type. We love the comings and goings of several different species in the garden and go through tons of bird seed and fruit a year, kilos of sugar for the nectar feeders, and I have also just discovered suet...... but the shops in Vredenburg haven't yet!!<br />
<br />
So when the Malechite sunbirds decided to build their beautiful nest in the ficus tree in the wine barrel in the corner of the veranda, we were thrilled! We were a little worried about the cat-flap being a metre or so directly beneath it, but we are always around to deter the feline members of the family, and the birds are far more clever than Morris!!<br />
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So for about ten days we watched the sunbirds gather all the cobwebs that they could find from the corners of the windows outside (now do you see why I do not clean??? Think of all the nesting material that would be destroyed if I sallied forth with a broom?) Day by day the nest developed into the shape and size necessary, and the female lined it with feathers, fur and bits of cotton.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XsEAtrFtxvM/WbUFcfCU-8I/AAAAAAAAMTo/gUdBbKgEMv070P_1ZiVEucGg-IHbIPdUQCLcBGAs/s1600/P9100006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XsEAtrFtxvM/WbUFcfCU-8I/AAAAAAAAMTo/gUdBbKgEMv070P_1ZiVEucGg-IHbIPdUQCLcBGAs/s320/P9100006.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beautiful Malechite nest</td></tr>
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And she laid an egg!<br />
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Now, on the other side of the veranda just under the tin roof, the mossies (House Sparrows) have built their nest. This is an untidy collection of bits and pieces of grass, twigs and leaves and if it falls or blows down, they simply re-build it it. I admit that they got there first, but there is room for everyone, and all seemed peaceful.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZJZKmrRXIE/WbUFnw_n3mI/AAAAAAAAMTs/lDos31qP5sQBRjPQi_hHWY8dsXp5W5gCACLcBGAs/s1600/P9100009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZJZKmrRXIE/WbUFnw_n3mI/AAAAAAAAMTs/lDos31qP5sQBRjPQi_hHWY8dsXp5W5gCACLcBGAs/s320/P9100009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Cape Sparrow nest, somewhat messy.</td></tr>
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Until this morning.<br />
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I heard the sunbirds calling and the mossies shouting, but thought nothing of it until I suddenly realised that it was a lot louder and more aggressive than I realised.<br />
The mossies were intent on destroying the Malechite's nest and were actually pulling bits off it. The poor sunbirds were hovering and trying to chase the mossies away.<br />
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And then I heard an odd 'plop' sound.<br />
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When I went out to check, I saw the egg on the tiles unnder the nest, smashed of course. The mossies had pulled or pushed the egg out of the nest. I could see the yolk and the bits of broken shell. To add to the confusion, a pair of Lesser Double Collared sunbirds arrived to see what was happening and they stayed for a while, almost commiserating with the Malechite pair.<br />
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The mossies are still trying to evict the sunbirds, and the female knows that they had something to do with her missing egg because she has been checking their nest.<br />
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Rob and I keep going out to chase the mossies off, but I have a feeling that they will carry on until the nest is destroyed.<br />
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I am angry and sad and surprised. I really did not think that birds could behave so badly.<br />
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I thought that was reserved for humans.....Paulinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09944127857197503373noreply@blogger.com0