Life's Great Mysteries!

There are lots of things in life that will always remain a mystery to me.

Things that cannot be easily explained.
Where do teaspoons, socks and clothes peg go?
Why does your nose itch when your hands are wet?
Why does the phone ring the minute you walk out of the room?
Why do photos always make me look mentally challenged?
Why do cats insist on lying on a magazine when you are trying to read it?

And this one:

I was chatting to Emma, our neighbour, over the wall a couple of afternoons ago. Now, this is a common occurrence, we chat over the wall at least five times a day. It is our special 'climb-over-place' and has been specially cleared and 'klippied' on her side for easy access. Our side is right next to the bird and bokkie feeding stone and there are no plants there. We set it up when we moved in, nine years ago and is probably the busiest area in the garden. It is the place where she hands plants over to me and I pass muffins over to her. Feet have passed by that area at least 6 times a day. Multiply that by 365 and then by 9 and it works out to a fair number of times. (19710 to be precise! Plus the Leap years that I didn't add but Rob wanted me to!) Nothing could possible hide there.

The well-used climb-over place!

Nothing.

Then Emma looked down on our side of the wall and said 'What's that?'

Still in pristine condition!

'That' was this little toy fireman, kneeling in readiness to put out a fire that will never happen!

Now, here is the real mystery....... Where did he come from?
He wasn't buried under soil or bird seed or even bird poop!
He was lying on top of the ground. He wasn't dirty or muddy.
And he definitely wasn't there the day before!

We have no friends with small children. Our friends are old and have no children left at home!

Alfie is too old to play with toy firemen and the cats think it is far beneath them.
It is too light to have been thrown from the gate or dropped from a microlight.

We are baffled.

The only explanation that I can come up with is that it was dropped by a bird. We have a lot of starlings nesting at the moment. The toy is brightly coloured and may have been a gift from an errant male to his flustered partner who was looking after the entire family while he was off preening and chatting up the single females.

Maybe he couldn't find chocolates!

Does anybody have any other explanation? Please share them with me.

I would love to read them!

Do You Know The Muffin Man? Or Woman?

It's not often that I get the baking urge, in fact it is very seldom! But every now and then I bake my one and only speciality, namely 'Cheese, Olive and Poppy Seed Muffins'! Note the capital letters there to really underline their yummyness.

I tend to make them more to give away than to eat, usually to our wonderful MOH (Meals on Heels) dentist friend who regularly arrives at the door with grapes, braaied meat, curries and stews. How to reciprocate when this man makes Gordon Ramsay look like an amateur? In a short answer...........Muffins!

My award winning muffins!! No award yet though!

Thali Thali!

When Rob is away (as he is at the moment), I tend to not bother too much with cooking. I may grab a chunk of cheese and stand at the kitchen sink staring out of the window, or if I have avocados I whip up a batch of soup at least once a day!! I haven't made it for breakfast yet.......but I wonder what it is like poured over Corn Flakes?

The entrance off the R27.

So, when my neighbour Emma invited me to breakfast on Friday morning, I was thrilled to say the least. The choice was either the nursery at St Helena Bay (always yummy), or Thali Thali, a privately owned Cape West Coast game and fynbos reserve. I have never been to Thali Thali, so we didn't bother to toss the coin! Situated on the R27 just near Langebaan, Rob and I must have driven past the entrance hundreds (well maybe not) of times and each time we have said 'We really must go there one day and see what it's like!', like a mantra!

More Eggcitement on the Corner!

How many times have I begun a blog with the words...'this is not the blog that I had planned for today but life got in the way.....''?

Well, it's happened again!

Remember last month I mentioned that Pieta the goose had started laying eggs (and very tasty they were too)? Naturally they were not fertile, but Philip has geese at the nursery and they, too, were laying. The difference being that the nursery eggs were fertile, and plentiful! So he brought five eggs home and popped them under Pieta who happily sat, and sat, and sat!

Before the 'Summer Hut' was built.

Up until then we had had wonderful sunny weather, so much so, that Philip built a little 'summer hut' so Pieta was in the shade. Then the weather changed and the rain came lashing down! But Pieta was protected from the worst of it by her 'summer hut' and the roof that angled the rain away.

Pot Anybody?

Here is a 'really truly' story for you! But no photos this time as I am sure you will understand once you have read the following:

But first, how many of you remember, of have heard of 'Springbok Radio'? We used to listen to it in the 60's, 70's and the 80's and loved the stories like 'Squad Cars', that were (supposedly) true, (ja right) with the deep voice reminding us that 'only the names have been changed to protect the innocent involved' * (Sadly the arrival of TV in 1976 heralded the closing of the station in 1985.)

Our little village is the perfect place to retire, it's quiet and nothing much happens to destroy our peace! But every now and then we have some excitement! Read on:

I have a friend, let's call her 'Susan' * (not her real name!) who lives quite close to us and I see her often when we walk with Alfie. She lives alone (apart from her pets) and is wanting somebody to share the house and help with the rent. A good idea. So, she put an advert on one of the well known internet sites that has categories for just about everything.

And she had an answer fairly quickly from a person whom we shall call 'Jim'*! After exchanging emails, they agreed to meet and discuss arrangements and exchange information. 'Jim' arrived at lunch time, with a variety of metal studs in various places, and stayed for lunch. That was not part of the deal, but 'Susan' was about to eat when 'Jim' arrived. So, after a lot of discussion and agreement about rules, they decided that they would give it a try after 'Susan' insisted on rent up front! Several times. Which didn't happen anyway.

So, fast forward to the following Sunday. A bakkie (truck) arrived with 'Jim' driving and a muddle of household things on the back, including a number of pot plants.'How nice', thought 'Susan', 'someone who likes gardening.'

However, on closer inspection the pot plants turned out to be healthy 'dagga' (marijuana) plants, grown by 'Jim' in the garage of his previous accommodation!

Along with the plants 'Jim' had a sprinkler system, a fan and lights, so the plants could grow in the gloom of 'Jim's' side of 'Susan's' double garage!

'Susan' was flabbergasted, naturally, and simply pointed a  finger at the gate, telling 'Jim' in no uncertain terms, never to darken her doorstep again! Or words that meant basically that!

But, I think this is what made 'Susan' really furious. Not the plants or the fact it was illegal and that was bad enough. No, 'Jim's' parting shot was what really did it. Adding insult to injury, as 'Jim' drove away the words 'What's your problem? The cops would never think of checking up on an old lady like you!' floated back to her!

We are the same age, so I understand her disgust! And horror!

It's enough to make you roll a joint and light up!
Peace man!

Eggcitement on the Corner!

Now, if you read the title this week, you will think that here is another food post! Yes and no! It's more about the circle of life and the changing of the seasons and growing up.........and a bit about food too. But it all ties in as you will see.

All grown up!

I have written many times about Pieta the goose who lives on the corner. She raised the orphaned Egyptian geese and keeps her garden clear of weeds (and intruders!) Every day we look for the special 'dissels' or thistles that she loves to eat and we give them to her as we walk past with Alfie. She has become so used to our gifts that she gets quite excited when we call her and she knows that we always have a treat for her. Sometimes she comes over to our gate and then I let her in to find her own treats that grow between the stones.

Pieta and me, weeding!

Alfie's Goose is Cooked!

I know that I have mentioned the six Egyptian Geese that Nicola and her goose Peta are raising?

Well, these little souls are growing by the day and are now quite adept at grazing with their large foster mother every evening on the Scott's lawn. We were chatting to them the other evening (are you surprised? I thought not!) and we realised that the six littlies arrived on Christmas Eve.

Peta and her brood. (Pics thanks to Rob)

Canine Conniving!

As you may (or may not) remember, our perimeter walls are only 90 cm high. Some people don't worry to build walls, and some people have walls but no gates. So, it's easy for the dogs to nip out and go for a walk, or in Alfie's case, hop over the wall and pop next door! And he does. Every morning without fail, Alfie meets up with his friends on the corner under the lamp post and when they have finished sniffing about and kicking the lamp post, they all go next door to visit Emma and Coert. Who spoil them all terribly!

Waiting for the gates to open!

Sometimes they have to wait a few minutes for the gates to open, rather like arriving a little early at the Mall, but finally they all head in to greet the neighbours and have a biscuit or three!

'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! 

Friends and Neighbours!

I was listening to the radio the other morning and the presenter was saying that he had just moved into a 'leafy suburb' in Cape Town, and therefore would probably never meet his neighbours! I thought about what he had said and realised that neighbours differ from city to town to village! When we lived in 'The Big Smoke' aka Johannesburg, we lived in a high-walled-several-unit complex, where we did know our neighbours to a certain extent, especially if the power went off or the water supply suddenly dribbled to a halt, then people would meet in the road to make sure that it wasn't just them! The talk then turned to the weather before everybody returned to close their doors against getting too personal! Many of the larger complexes have more units than we have houses in our entire village! Then you 'recognise' your neighbours by sound, i.e. they play Barry Manilow while you are trying to watch rugby on Saturday afternoons! People back in 'The Big Smoke' who live in streets with seperate houses demarcated by electric fences and gates and 6 ft high walls sometimes never see their neighbours, robbers could arrive and empty the house and nobody would give it a thought beyond, 'Oh, I didn't know that they were moving!' Once, long ago when I was teaching, my whole class and I sat and watched a car being ramped up into a large truck that we presumed was taking it to a nearby garage to be fixed. Except that it wasn't broken, because soon a parent returned to find that her car had been stolen!And we watched it happen! Probably waved to the driver!

Then, there are Weskus neighbours!