Nose Twister Soup Anyone?

I bet the title has you all puzzled and wondering what on earth I am talking about?

The other day I was washing up and idly staring out of the kitchen window. I do a lot of idle staring in one way or another, but I multi-task and do a lot of my indepth thinking at the same time! This is my view (actually I went outside to take the photo as the window is rather grundgy and grubby and you have to screw your eyes up to see anything.)

A nasturtium jungle!

And I happened to notice that the nasturtiums that self-planted themselves from the mother plants that I had purposely planted last year, were spreading and were rapidly getting out of control.

So I said to Rob 'I must pull out some of those, they are taking over the garden and there's other stuff underneath them.' Then I said 'It's a pity that you can't do something with them. I wonder if you can make soup out of the leaves!' and he said (all together now…..) 'Google it!'

So I did, and yes you can!

I was amazed!

Baby Steps!

It's been a funny old week all told, one step forward and three back, two forward and one back, but I think, taking all the forwards and backwards, we may be slightly forward!!

On Tuesday we dropped Kindle off at the vet at eight (in the morning!! A usually unheard of time for us pensioners!) and then we headed towards Riebeek-Kasteel, a village about 100 kms from us. Why? Read on. About 10 kms out of Vredenburg, we heard a bang from under the car, it sounded as though a stone had been flung up into the wheel arch by the tyre, but as we couldn't see anything and the car didn't wobble at all, we carried on to Hopefield, a little town that has a cafe that sells the most delicious toasted sarmies (sandwiches). As it was breakfast time, we decided to pop in, buy some bird food in large sacks like farmers do, and grab a sarmie to keep our strength up. It was 3 degrees!!! That's cold!! But with snow on the mountain tops, we understood why!

Snow dusting the mountain tops!

And we saw that we had a puncture!

A 'Fourgone' Conclusion!

Well, who would have guessed what happened next?
Have a look at the picture below.......

Isn't she beautiful? And she knows it too!

It wasn't planned!! I was still in the 'pondering' stage on Thursday evening when I went to feed Kindle. At that stage I was thinking that I would catch her on, say, Sunday or Monday evening and book an appointment with Aunty Vet for her operation sometime during the week. Or, maybe wait until the weather warmed up a bit. And I mulled and meandered  into Marie's drive carrying food and milk and a variety of clean bowls. And there was a car! Marie had come home from visiting her daughter and they were standing near Kindle who was head-down-and-chewing on a piece of snoek.
Marie was more than happy to allow me to carry on feeding her in the same place, but Nicola warned me that the rest of her family were arriving the next afternoon for the weekend, with their two dogs who were not cat-friendly! The best thing would be for me to go on Friday lunchtime and catch Kindle then and there! Before she headed into the bushes never to be seen again. So, my mind quickly came out of 'vague mode' and I made plans!

Come In Number 4...............!

A couple of weeks ago we had a fleeting glimpse of a small tabby cat that raced through the garden and over the wall and down the road. Not far behind was Blackjack, the large, long-haired feral that we are feeding in the garden. As wild as a goat, he waits for us to put food out most evenings and glares at us through yellow slits if we get too close.

We didn't see the tabby again until the week before last, when she (as I saw) came into the garden again and cried for food. Her haunches had that caved-in look that a really hungry cat gets, and she was obviously living rough. Also wild and terrified, she wouldn't let us get anywhere near her, but as we backed away, she came to eat, cramming the food into her mouth as fast as she could.

This happened for three evenings running. Rob and I watched her eat and then he asked me what I was going to call her. I thought about it, and then he said 'She is a small tabby, more like a tablet'
And I said 'Kindle!'

So Kindle she is! It also is the name for a litter of kittens which I thought was very appropriate. And we are trying to kindle a friendship with her.

Kindle arriving for food.