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!

Royalty, Roads and Rugby!

Because the dew was so heavy in Sutherland, we cleverly took the tent down the afternoon before we left.That meant that the next morning we were able to simply load up the few things scattered around, (like Alfie who was visiting the bikers and checking up on any 'calling cards' that Trompie had left overnight,) say our farewells and thanks to Jurg and Rita, turn left at the gate and retrace our journey to Matjiesfontein. There we made a sharp left onto the N1 and drove as far as Prince Albert Road. Basically it consists of a railway station, a petrol pump, a church and a bottle store. Turning right, we headed 45 kilometres to our next destination.

On that road to Prince Albert we experienced that strange phenomena called 'somatogravic illusion'. And for those of you who, like me, need that explained in layman's terms, it is the feeling that the road is climbing when it is in fact going downhill or vice versa! We were convinced that we were heading downhill, we could see the road dropping in front of us, but the GPS was telling us that we were in fact, climbing! It was a really strange feeling!

Prince Albert is just beautiful! A corny way to describe a village, but we fell in love with it the minute we arrived!

Clean and green!

Some Days Are Diamonds...........

In the immortal words of John Denver, 'Some days are Diamonds, some days are Stones.'
And our week went from stones......to diamonds......and back to stones.

After the happiness and excitement of Tuesday evening when Dilly returned, I never imagined that I would be writing these words today.

Yesterday morning we had to have Dilly put to sleep.

On Friday morning he was fine, ate a hearty breakfast, had his milk as a treat, and spent the day doing what he did usually. And when he didn't come in for supper, we weren't unduly worried......after all, he had been missing for seventeen days so why worry after a few hours?

But when Rob took Alfie for his late night emptying, there was Dilly lying in his kruiwa, and for the first time ever, he did not accompany Rob when he went out of the gate. Rob was immediately concerned, so I went to have a look, but a black cat in the dark doesn't give anything away, and he seemed pleased to see me, even coming into the house and settling on the couch in the office for the night.

I was awake at first light yesterday morning and went down to see if Dilly was in or out. He was still on the couch and when I saw him I knew that our boy was a very sick cat. His one eye was closed and his breathing was laboured. He felt hot and clammy and did not want to move. The vet opened at nine and we were there, second in the queue dead on time.

She tested him for both leukaemia and feline AIDS, and he tested positive for AIDS. There was nothing that she could do and we knew that we had only one choice.

We stayed with him and stroked him and the end was quick and peaceful and painless.

I think that he came home to spend his last few days with us, and I am so glad that when it mattered the most, we were there for him. Dilly was never a cuddly cat, never an 'inside' cat, and he never really lost his 'feralness', but for the eight years that he was with us, he loved us in his own way.

He is now in the garden next to Daffy his old friend, and Clyde who knew them both for a while.

And I can only pray that when my time comes, I have someone to make sure that for me too, it is quick and peaceful and painless, in the company of those people who love me.

Sleep well Dilly.

Such beautiful words. (Thanks to Google)