Looks Like a Snake, Moves Like a Snake.........

I have seen yet again, that I am never too old to learn!

On Friday morning I did a load of washing and carried it out into the courtyard to hang it up. The wind wasn't too strong at that stage, so I was able to complete that task without too much struggle. Usually the clothing and I have a bit of a tussle before I peg it into submission, so when I had finished, instead of ducking back into the kitchen and managing to grab the door before it flung itself open and crashed onto the wall, I stood and watched Morris bat an empty snail shell around! It made an interesting tinkling sound, so we were both entertained!

Then I noticed a silvery looking thing on the ground near my feet. At first glance it looked like the tail of a lizard that had been brought in and then abandoned by one of the cats, but when I bent down to have a closer look, I saw that it was too long and thin to be a tail. And there was definitely a head on one end. The other end was a bit chewed. And there were some bite marks in the middle. And it was very dead. Hmm, l thought, this looks very much like a baby snake!

The head is on the left. See the stripes?

Baa Baa Black Sheep.......

Sorry this is a tad late again, but I have been herding sheep! (Or should that be 'flocking' sheep?)

Now I can see you all visualising me with a crook, a floppy hat, a faithful dog to help me, and a bunch of 'baaaadly' behaved ovines dodging and weaving in front of me playing 'follow-my-leader' and ending up exactly where they started.

Wrong. In all respects! Apart from the faithful dog who was lying on the couch, that is.

A friend asked me last week if I could make twenty-five sheep, from felt, to decorate her home-made crackers. She always makes her own crackers for Christmas and saw some little sheep somewhere, fell in love with them, and phoned me!

My little cottage key rings

Now You See It.........

I love Day Lilies (Hemerocallis). I love their colours and I love the fact that they are always green even though they may not be in flower all the time. I have the usual yellow ones that flowered recently, planted where I can see them through the kitchen window when I am washing up!

A few weeks ago I was at our local nursery and I saw that there were a few left of the old stock. So, I bought two. One had a lovely bud just forming and one didn't. But even though there was no label on them to give me an idea of the colour, it didn't matter because they knew for a fact that they were not yellow!

So, I took my 'Lucky Dip' lilies home and gave the budding one to Emma next door. For two weeks we waited patiently while the buds grew fatter and the stem grew longer. And then, one morning Emma called me over to come and have a look at her flower. It was beautiful!

Emma's Day Lily

Mine is planted in the same bed as the yellow ones and every morning while washing up, I could see it hopefully planning it's first flowers. Just as I was thinking it would never flower, I saw tiny buds on a little stem hidden among the leaves! A surprise in the making!

So, I watched and I waited and I watered and I literally sang to it. And every day the buds got fatter and the stem got longer and I was sure that today would be the day that I could call Emma over to come and see my beautiful lily. And I knew that once I had written about it and shown you all the gorgeous flower and the beautiful colours, the fact that this is a few days late would not matter!
But this morning, this is what I found.

Neatly bitten off!

The bokkie (buck) had beaten me to it! Neatly bitten off with no other damage whatsoever and nothing else touched. Emma came over to ask about the flower and I showed her......

So after much commiserating, she said that I must come over and see her beautiful rose that was about to open. The bud was bursting yesterday evening. She didn't want to brag but it was promising to be spectacular.

We went over to look........... But bokkie had visited her garden too.......

We are so dry here now the bokkies are raiding gardens for any kind of greenery.

And I really don't mind as long as the next flower is mine!

But, I still don't know what colour it is!

Robertson, Donkeys.......and Home!

The day we left Prince Albert was misty and wet! As we drove past the turn-off to the road that we had taken up the Swartberg Pass, my only thought was that no-one would be nuts enough to do it if they couldn't actually see where the road ended and the plunge began!

A misty moisty morning!

By the time we got to Klaarstroom we were feeling a little peckish, so we stopped for pies at 'Ant Dora's Spens'. Now, I am not sure whether Ant Dora was supposed to be Aunt Dora, but it didn't matter because the shop was an Aladdin's Cave! Basically everything in it had been made by the lady who owned the place. (I never did find out what her name was!) Everything from the most exquisite glassware, bead work, hand-made table cloths and napkins, place mats, mosaic work, jam, chutneys, marmalades, pottery, you name it, she made it!

A treasure trove!