Emma, Patrick and Gertrude!

What thread ties these names together? Read on!

Yesterday my gorgeous granddaughter Emma, had her First Birthday! I looked forward all day to seeing her on Skype, but when we finally made contact, all I could see were vague coloured shapes on the screen, distorted and fuzzy. Mateo was holding up his hand so I could count the number of fingers he was showing me, but all I saw was a waving lump! We cut it short to try again during the week. Isn't technology wonderful? And frustrating!

Gorgeous girl!

Happy Birthday my darling!

Hey there Thick Head!

Can you imagine being called 'Thick Head'? Better yet, what about 'Spotted Thick Head'? or 'Spotted Thick-knee'? Believe it or not, it is the common name for one of our birds belonging to the Curlew family. The Afrikaans name 'Dikkop' sounds less rude somehow!

They are large, aggressive birds with  piercing yellow eyes and long yellow legs, and will take on a dog or cat with ease. Their diet is varied, they eat all kinds of insects, spiders, lizards, small mice, and eggs and chicks of the White-fronted Plover. (That's a bit cannibalistic I think!) Pity they don't seem to eat snails though! During the day they are very relaxed and quiet and blend in with the surrounding countryside, but at night we see them running in the road and hear their loud, mournful call. We have several pairs here, and at the beginning of February, Rob noticed a nesting pair in the old farm just behind our wall.

So well camouflaged! 

This was taken on the 1 February and you have to look carefully to make out the bird in the middle of the picture!

Spot the Cat!

Can you see the cat in this photo?

Look carefully.

No? How about now?

Now you see him!

It's our Dopey pretending to be a rock. Waiting for 'take-aways'!

The 'last in' of our three ferals, and obviously remembering the days when he had to fend for himself, he still has that awful killer instinct and enjoys catching whatever happens to run past him, usually a little stripey field mouse. Or two. Whenever he comes into the house in a rush, we look to see if he is carrying anything!! Often in the morning we come downstairs and find a tiny, cold body, stiff on the floor.

However, sometimes he manages to sneak a mouse into the house and then lose it! Rob and I then leap into mouse-catching mode and grab our gear. The two of us then corner the mouse and carefully trap it in a plastic container while we slide a piece of cardboard underneath and carry it outside to release it. Our success rate is pretty good, especially when we use the fishing net that I bought for Mateo (my gorgeous grandson). That seems to be the most efficient way, and with a quick twist of the bamboo handle to prevent any chance of escape, we have got it down to a fine art!

Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me!

We are really lucky here. We have very few flies! We may have scorpions and the odd snake. Or two. But apart from a short season when the Manatoka trees are flowering and we get a lot of small flies that seem to blow into the house if the doors are left open, we are really fly-free!

Until we decide to have a braai! (Or barbecue.)

Isn't it funny, there must be one on sentry duty, keeping a look-out for the whiff of braai smoke, because the minute the meat arrives at the table, so do five or six large buzzing flies, or brommer as we call them. Alfie hates them as much as we do because Rob often grabs the trusty fly swat and that sends Alfie into complete decline! We have never, ever used the fly swat on him and we never would, but maybe his previous people did. Anyway, it's very difficult to swat a plate or a glass, so there is much waving of hands above the food while we eat! And a quick uncovering of salad or meat long enough to grab another piece of wors.