Boom Boom Spring Is Here!

I know it has been months since my last post and I do apologise... I promise to try harder!!

Our winter came and went and we did have some rain, I am happy to say. Not a lot, but enough to allow our restrictions to be lifted... although I sincerely hope that we do not regret this later! Our dams are now at the 70% level which is pretty good, but once we are allowed to use water freely again, who knows.

But this is about Spring and the things it brings!
The boom boom bit is for the sound that my heart made one day about two weeks ago.

Read on!!

There I was happily pottering in the garden one morning when suddenly the sound of starlings broke through my thoughts, and looking round to see why and what, I glanced at the lampost where we have a nesting log attached. And saw what looked like a sausage in the entrance/exit hole.

Interesting! (All photos thanks to Rob)

The parent birds were frantic, flying and diving and as I watched, the sausage moved.... and I realised that it was a snake with it's head inside the log, taking one of the two baby starlings that were almost at flying stage.

Traumatic Tuesday!

The two words that are heard most often in our home are 'Oh Basil!', followed by one of the following:

A scream if he has suddenly jumped on my back while I am bending over weeding in the garden or has tried to climb up Rob's back while he is in the bathroom.
A sigh if he has brought a mouse in to play. That gets us into 'MouseMode' with a plastic bowl and a fishing net.
A laugh if he has become one of Alfie's toys and is being dragged round the lounge by his ears.
Or a surprised tone if he simply arrives in the house looking innocent!

Basil checking the washing machine! (All pics thanks to Rob)

A Snake got in the Way!

Do you ever get those days where you plan to do something and then something else happens and things change? We had one of those days today! We decided to pull Gemsquash out for a bit of a wash and brush-up as we are heading off next week for a few days to give Alfie a bit of a break.

So, as we were busy outside (well Rob was busy, I was faffing about), a Traffic Police car slowly drove by and we waved and he stopped for a chat. Interestingly, it was the same officer that I spoke to yesterday in town, begging him to come and trap on our road! Anyway, as we were talking, he suddenly said 'Haai, daar's a slang in die pad!' ('Hey, there's a snake in the road') and said a hasty goodbye. And there was. A long yellow/green Cape Cobra was quietly making its way across the road and along the bottom of our neighbour's wall! Towards our house!

It saw me and I stamped my feet a few times, don't ask me why, to let it know that I was there and not happy about the direction he was moving, I think. Anyway, to cut a long story a little shorter, the snake finally wove its way into their garden and ended up behind a large bush next to the wall.

The bush where it ended up!

'B' is for ..............Boomslang!

We have spent the last week peering out of the 'office' window across the road at the neighbours house. More specifically at the wall of the house. And more specifically still, at the ledge at the bottom of the wall where the stone cladding stops and the plain wall begins. And the reason is this, see below!

Look at the huge eye!