Where Do I begin?

In the immortal words taken from the theme song to an unforgettable movie, sung by Andy Williams..........................

'Where do I begin.....................?'

(Remember 'Love Story'? Love means never having to say you're sorry? Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal? Remember 1970?)

Anyway, here I am, home again after a wonderful five week holiday. How can time go so fast? It stretched ahead of me like a piece of elastic............

This is the actual plane that took us to Madrid, Rob tracked the flight!!

Dubai was a quick two day catch-my-breath stopover with Catherine and Stuart. Then the two of us flew to Madrid, on our secret mission! We dropped our luggage off at our tiny apartment and Irina came by to collect us. And off we set to surprise Andrew.

Our little apartment, close to a pizza outlet!

Or so we thought!! He acted surprised, but he said that he knew all along as I had explained too thoroughly why we weren't coming! Too many reasons and too much information, which made him realise that we would be there for his birthday!

A staged surprised look!

Catalyst!

According to my 'Pocket Oxford Dictionary', catalyst means 'a person or thing that precipitates change.
Well, that describes my daughter Catherine to a T. She is known to her friends as Cat, a fitting name for her as it turns out!

She is involved now with several animal welfare groups in Dubai – one group who call themselves “Feline Friends” and another named the “Bin Kitty Collective”.  These are all dedicated, wonderful people who took it upon themselves to do something about the sad problem of feral and abandoned cats. Although the cats do a fantastic job of keeping the rat problem at bay, their numbers were increasing alarmingly. So began the TNR, or 'Trap Neuter Release' programme. In the last year, she has trapped over 30 cats. She pays most of the vet bills for these (some people do donate from time to time), she feeds them and tries to find homes for the few that are tame enough to handle. She helps with fund raising and supports anything that helps the cats.

Yesterday she sent this mail to everyone that she knows! Count the cats in the photo below:

Thanks to Cat

'A security guard at a labour camp in Dubai called this week pleading for help with a large number of stray animals that are living in their camp.
On investigation it was found that about 40-50 cats, and a few dogs, are living in the labour camp and being cared for by the labourers to the best of their ability and means. These animals are also breeding unchecked.
The cats and dogs need to be trapped, transported to the vet, assessed and neutered asap, They will also need to be relocated and the tamer ones possibly even homed as the labour camp is moving and these animals will essentially be abandoned as the labourers do not get to take them along.
Several animal groups in Dubai are mobilising to manage this but we desperately need help with funds to cover:
- vet costs and neutering
- transportation
- food
Many thanks.'

If anyone would like to contribute towards this please click through to the Fundrazr campaign or contact her via her blog

While we are on the subject of cats, one of our ex-ferals has interesting sleeping places! Rob came down to make coffee one day last week, to find a different 'fruit' in our fruit bowl!

Our squashed fruit!

It turned out to be Dilly (well named!). A 'purrberry' or a 'catapple'?

Parked for the day!

He also loves to lie in one of my wheelbarrows and watch the world go by.

A pansy by any other name!

And, this is him squashed into a wooden planter that Rob made!

Maybe I should have called him 'Weed'?

He was a feral, he is one of the lucky ones.

Food Glorious Food!

I seem to spend a great deal of time thinking (and talking) about food! And I feel that a holiday must be filled with 'edible memories'! In Dubai, as it was still quite hot during the day (up to 40 deg!), it was impossible to sit outside, so the fantastic lunches that Catherine and I enjoyed were eaten inside air-conditioned restaurants and delis. And I enjoyed every one! Too much! From Lebanese to Italian to Japanese to local, the presentation, quality and taste was such that I could feel the weight settle round my hips!

Our meal in Abu Dhabi!

But that was ok, because I knew that I would be doing more walking in Madrid and therefore I would lose it again!! Ever hopeful, that's me!

Viva España!

Dubai is an incredible place. A mix of very old and brand spanking new, shiny buildings. Clean, green and flowering roadsides rub shoulders with sand dunes. There are gigantic air conditioned shopping malls, man-made islands sprouting from the sea, shops that have absolutely everything from everywhere. My two weeks flew by and it was time to leave. Sadly.

Petunias in the desert!

Next stop, Spain!

The best part of flying is getting off the plane! That sounds odd I know, but, for me, the anticipation of seeing my family waiting in the arrivals hall, makes the whole ordeal bearable! So, when I left Dubai early in the morning after a wonderful holiday, I spent the entire flight to Madrid imagining myself walking through the doors and seeing my son! And after seven hours in the air and another almost twenty minutes after we landed waiting for the 'air-stairs' to be put in place, a march of what felt like ten kilometres, down several escalators, a five minute ride on an underground train, (I kid you not), a ten minute wait in the passport line, another five minute wait for my suitcase, (we took so long to get there, they were just about waiting for us!), a quick loo visit, and a fast walk with wheelie-case and bag, dodging past slower moving people, there he was! With my gorgeous granddaughter Emma! And as I cried with joy, she cried with horror at this strange lady doing a one-person version of a group hug!

One hump or two?

I must admit that camels fascinate me. They are aloof and distant and although I saw many herds (or caravans, trains or flocks) along the roads when we went out of Dubai, they were too far away for me to take a decent photo. I had to make do with the odd road sign.

Camels ahead!

However, a few days before I left to fly to Madrid, I was lucky enough to get up fairly close but not too personal with a small group. We had gone to the vet to collect two cats that had been neutered (my daughter works unceasingly to trap, neuter and release feral cats), and there, as we turned off the tar, were the camels! The farmer was more than happy to let me take a few photos, and I was more than happy to finally have them in my sights!

The Booze Run!

A couple of days after our Dubai braai, we were getting low on alcohol! Now, that is no problem at all living in South Africa, it is the easiest thing in the world to nip into a bottle store or the nearest chain store and replenish stocks. Judging by our horrific statistics of alcohol-induced domestic violence and drunk drivers, not to mention foetal alcohol dependency, it is probably a little too easy to replenish stocks. In Dubai it is illegal to transport alcohol without a permit, and there are no bottle stores at all. The hotels serve liquor with meals but no-body ever drives after an evening out, and taxis are the only option unless you have a designated driver.

Six lanes either way!

A Dubaai Braai!

I know that this is a little late for the real thing, (well, only a month really!) but I want to share my National Braai Day with you! As you may remember, and as the four week gap in the blogging may show, I have been away. I am now fairly nonchalant about airports, booking in on-line, boarding passes, going to the loo before necessary to avoid having to queue when it is very necessary, airline food in plastic packets, balancing a three course airline dinner with cheese and biscuits and packets of sugar and cutlery on plastic trays (and eating said three course dinner with my arms pinned to my sides), drinking coffee during turbulence (eish) and managing to find a movie by touch-screen  which often means jabbing at the screen while the chap in front decides to recline his seat so you can't see the movie anyway because it is now  too close!

Proudly South African, our own Iwisa brand!

But I digress!! September the 24th saw me in Dubai, staying with my daughter and her husband so, being true South Africans, we had a braai! The really exciting thing was going to the local supermarket and seeing our Iwisa brand maize meal sitting on the shelf next to other imported brands. I felt right at home!