Caution 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 minimum 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???

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

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!

Anyway, digressing as usual, we now make sure that the cats are in and safe before we go off now.
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.

So, a couple of weeks ago I saw some warning signs on Facebook!! Where else I ask myself!

Aren't they gorgeous?

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!

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.

You can see how close to the road we are.

And here it is...

Attached firmly to the garden wall!

Hopefully people will take note and slow down and think about it. Maybe they will slow down to read it and have a chuckle.

But if it can save the life of any of my cats, or any 'refugee' AKA feral, then I am happy.

Cats, Clouds and a Silver Lining!

I am sure that by reading the title of this week's writing, you will have gathered that cats come into it.

Yes, they do.

And a guardian angel by the name of Michelle.

A few weeks ago a stray but friendly female cat arrived at The Poleyard. This yard is right next door to Phillip's nursery, and Godfrey at the Poleyard started to feed her. Sage, (the resident nursery cat) was not overly impressed by her arrival, but as long as the food was plentiful, they seemed to get along. I met her briefly when I went to buy plants and she was happy to be stroked and held and we knew that she was used to people and had probably been dumped/abandoned/chased away.
She decided to stay and Godfrey was happy to keep her, but the first thing we needed to do was to have her spayed.

But as you have probably guessed by now.......she was pregnant! Too pregnant to be spayed, we knew that kittens were on their way. We just didn't know how soon that would be!

I saw her last Sunday (18 Sep) at the nursery, looking very pregnant and then she wandered off into the poleyard to have a snack.

Godfrey was planning to make her a little wooden house so that she would have her kittens in a safe place, and he was going to move them into the poleyard so that they were away from the parking area when they were old enough to frolic and chase around.

Last Monday morning (19 Sep) he phoned to say that she had had her kittens!

And where did she have them? Nobody knew!

The Week That Was............!

It has been an interesting week!

Sunday was Father's Day, so I did what any loving, thoughtful and supportive partner would do.
I sent Rob into the kitchen with a large black pot and a wooden spoon and allowed him to rustle up the most delicious lamb potjie that I think he has ever made (and that's saying something as all his dishes are Masterchef quality!)

Burbling away on the stove! Delicious.

Monday came and went, as did Tuesday. In fact I can't remember what we did. I know we had some rain, just a couple of mm but it all helped to swell our 'puddles' on the way to town, and we now have two resident flamingos in one of them. They are in water up to their knees, so it is a fairly deep puddle. Now I am digressing about flamingos, and one of the interesting facts about them that I didn't know is that they fly at night! Far and without stopping! I belong to the EWT and receive regular newsletters and updates. The latest one (and I quote) says:

'On the 10th of June 2016 the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) recorded some extraordinary movements by a Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) recently fitted with a GPS/GSM satellite transmitter. This individual covered a staggering distance of 1,069 km in one single flight over 16 hours, crossing the Indian Ocean from Mozambique to Madagascar.
Flamingo no. 27 (a small female) had been satellite tagged at Delareyville in the North West Province as part of the Eskom/EWT partnership’s efforts to track flamingo movements to develop measures to protect them from collisions with power lines. When Flamingo no. 27 crossed the border into Mozambique, she didn’t stop there and instead she proceeded at 7pm on Saturday the 10th of June to cross the Mozambique coast at Maxixe. She finally reached the western shores of Madagascar near Morombe at noon the following day.'
Thanks to the EWT. (End of digression. Is that actually a word?)

The Russians are Coming!

Several years ago, Rob bought a DVD of a film called 'The Russians Are Coming'. A comedy, it tells the story of a small coastal village mainly populated with retired or near-to-retired folk. (Remind you of anywhere specific??) Well, one morning a Russian submarine is spotted off the coast and the subsequent mis-information and rumours make for a very amusing hour or so.

Well, this week we have had our own 'Russian Invasion' here in Jacobsbaai! And at the time it was not very amusing! Read on:

On the 11 October, we received a notice, forwarded to us from the Saldanha Police Station, and we read:

This information note serves to inform you that special operations, including SANDF, India’s, and Brazil's Military forces, would take place in the area used to be the old bombing site. The exercise would include the firing of live ammunition, and bomb blasts. Naval gun fire support would also be conducted from the sea side towards the area. This will take place between the 17 October and the 7 November.

SIX days warning!! (Some of our islands had in fact been used for bombing practice during the '60's and 'Tooth Rock' airstrip was used from the 50's to the 80's. But, there were no houses in those days!)

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!

Wind, and then some!

We have been having some very hot days lately. Far too hot for me.

It happened very quickly though as a few weeks ago we had several days of the most unbelievable wind, gusting up to 65kph at times, causing tremendous damage both on land and sea. Ships were stranded in Cape Town harbour, unable to leave. One of them was the cruise ship 'MSC Sinfonia' and the passengers spent two days of their cruise, tied up! (Not the passengers, the ship!) Roofs were blown off, trees blown down and at one stage we heard on the radio that the SPCA had warned owners of small dogs not to let them out in case they blew away! Seriously! One lady phoned in to the radio station to say that her large Labrador had been blown sideways into a tree!
Fortunately we were fine here, we walked a little bent into the wind, but Alfie remained firmly on the ground, although his ears flapped a lot! Our roof did a fair amount of creaking and we did wonder if we would wake up to see the stars where the roof once was, but fortunately it held.

The Dry Dock at Saldanha harbour.

We went for a drive to Saldanha harbour, another favourite place of ours, to see what was happening in the dry dock. We were glad to see that two fishing boats were being repaired and painted, they look so different out of the water. Then we had a wander along the wall.

Poor boat.

Sadly we saw that one of the boats had sunk at her moorings, we don't know the story, but it's such a sad ending for a boat somehow. Like a fire engine burning, or a tractor being buried!

Mosquito Mayhem!

I have a serious question for all my dedicated readers, and it is this:

How come, when we live in the Western Cape, a winter rainfall area (hopefully more this year!), and we have not had rain for months and months now, how come we are plagued by mosquitoes? There is no water lying around at all, no puddles, no old paint tins filled with stagnant water waiting for mosquitoes to breed, no old sheep troughs lurking in gardens, nothing! I picture you nodding and thinking 'Ah yes, but they have bird baths, there's your answer!' No, we have to fill them at least four times a day, no time for a mosquito to land, let alone settle for a quick egg lay.

Now, when I say 'we' are plagued, I really mean Rob; he is plagued by them, and I am simply plagued by him trying to get rid of them from the bedroom in the middle of the night! He sprays that awful 'DOOM' in the bedroom during the evening when we are watching the T.V, and closes the door. That should do it. Just before we settle down for the night (in the dark so as not to have the light guiding them in), he sprays 'Peaceful Sleep' on him and I dab citronella oil on my head and arms and on the pillow. We even have a fan blowing on us to discourage landings!
That should do it! Right? Wrong!

Shipwrecks and near misses!

We have had our fair share of shipwrecks in the 5 years that we have been here. We have huge underwater rocks and large rocky islands close to our shore, one is home to a large number of seals and is called 'Seal Island', not very original, but, hey, it works! So, we expect the odd mishap every now and then. The first wreck happened to a little boat called 'Volante' that bobbed happily in the bay and was our mascot, so to speak. Visitors (and locals) took photos of her and she is in many paintings, keyrings and fridge magnets! Sadly one weekend a few years ago, we had a huge storm, she dragged her anchor onto rocks and ended up in several pieces scattered over the shore. A large bit of her hull remains on the beach, people still take photos of her and children climb in her, but it was a sad end to a noble little craft!

'Volante' in the bay.

Then we had a fishing boat that ended up on Seal Island in the middle of the night! I woke up to see a strange orange light in the room, and being me, I just went back to sleep! The next morning we saw the NSRI boat heading towards the island, and a helicopter hovering overhead. The orange lights that I saw were distress flares! Looking through the binoculars we saw a wreck on the rocks and men in orange suits waiting to be rescued. (A friend of ours looked through his binoculars and commented on how many men were wearing brown suits on the island. They turned out to be seals of course! I often wonder what they thought of the invasion!) Happily everybody was rescued safely. The boat had the unfortunate name of 'Silver Reaper' and quickly became known as the 'Grim Reaper'! Now, a few years on, there is nothing left of the fishing boat, the sea has claimed it all.

Nine minus Three!

They say that a cat has nine lives. We have three cats, all ex-feral who have given up a life of hardship and uncertain meal times, for the luxury of having servants to cater to their every need. The first two to arrive I named Daffy and Dilly and the last one in I called Dopey. I should have called them Austin, Morris and Bentley, names that at least sound a little different from each other, as I end up saying 'Mind Daf, uh Dop uh Dil' just before I trip over one of them. Anyway, Dill is usually called Dilbert, we call Daffy, Daphne (don't ask), and Dopey, well, his name actually suits him. And, he is gradually working through his nine lives. And once those are used up, I imagine that he will move onto the other eighteen that belong to his pals!

Dopey, bird watching!