Ground Hog Morning!

Do you ever have days where you think that you should go back to bed re-play the day properly tomorrow? Like that wonderful Bill Murray movie called 'Ground Hog Day'?

I had one on Tuesday!

It started like any normal day, slow wake up, roll out of bed, straighten slowly and with much grunting, shuffle downstairs, feed the birds/cats/dog, make coffee, clamber back into bed and plan the day! Rob was away, he was swanning around in the Kruger Park with people, so I was keeping Alfie's spirits up by singing to him and spoiling him and that sort of thing.

My Tuesday was planned and went something like this: Nip to the Post Office and post a parcel to my sister, then pop into the Bank and organise some money movement ready for my trip next week (yes, it's stomach churn time again as I fly to Spain on the 14 April!!! And I can't wait!) Then another nip to the Pharmacy to collect a month's supply of my tablets, up the road to have my hair cut (so I look fabulous for said trip), a leisurely stroll through the local mall to gather the last minute things for everybody to take with me. And home.

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!

Gardening Forever, Housework Never!

Every now and then I get the urge to work in the garden and do a re-vamp somewhere. I never get the same urges for cooking and housework however, funny that!!

Anyway, when we moved into our new house here in 2007, I was into the garden before the paint had dried on the walls, digging and planting, and Rob and I carried and spread a few tons of 'klippies' (small stones) onto the paths around the actual planting areas. These areas changed daily however, as I tried to get a fork into the soil and either managed and planted, or hit a rock and moved on! The garden kind of grew where it could, and it was a thing of wonder!

And now, eight years later, some of the shrubs have come to the end of their lifespan. Sadly, the lavenders and 'salies' have a shorter lifespan than a lot of other shrubs, so I have patches of dead bits in between live bits! Plus, the 'pavement' area outside that looked stunning a few years ago, looked sad and unkempt with aloes and gazanias all tangled and the odd bit of dog poo balanced on top. Goodness knows what dog it is that enjoys hovering above a sharp bit of aloe, but it got to the stage that it all had to GO!!

And 'go' it did!

A Guinea in the Hand is worth Twenty in the Bush!!

What is it about the Helmeted Guinea Fowl, (Numida meleagris) that is so appealing? Paintings (I have one), carvings (I have one), knitted toys, table mats, table cloths (I have one), they lend themselves so beautifully to art and craft.

Such characters!

When we first moved here to Jacobsbaai, we could hear them calling from a distance, well, you would have to be deaf not to hear their raucous shouting, but we rarely saw them in the village.

Basil with his retinue.

That has recently all changed. For the last several months, drinking our coffee in bed every morning while we decide how to while away the day, Rob and I watch them scratching and shouting and chasing on the vacant land over the road from us. Basil has a fascination with them, and sits close by watching them while they chase and squabble and kick the dirt around looking for things to eat. They seem to find him equally fascinating and often go quite close to him. I guess they work on the 'safety-in-numbers' idea, as there are sometimes twenty odd birds.