Sunday Giraffe

Sunday, family time, so this afternoon Lynda, Robynne, Rebekah and I took a drive into the countryside. We stopped for a light lunch at the Neck and Deck where they have giraffes close to the restaurant. The giraffe was the exciting part but the food left a lot to be desired.

Lusito Dust Bowl

This year the Lusito Land festival moved to a new venue which turned out to be a dust bowl of well just dust. Lusito Land is a the Portuguese community in South Africa’s festival which has been going for the last 35 years and this year it was moved to a supposedly improved venue. Sorry to say what was improved other than lots and lots of dust and traffic problems. The queues into and out of this new venue was ghastly. Defiantly not a repeat.

The good news is that the proceeds of this festival goes to a good cause, so Portuguese, Madeiran, and Mozambican comfort food with lots of drinks flowing were the order of the day. But then there is the Steve Hofmeyr, okay please tell me with tears in my eyes what has this controversial Afrikaans signer has to do with the Portuguese community? What?

Autumn Falls

In autumn, the leaves turn golden brown and start falling off some of the trees in my garden, and one in particular near the swimming pool is a pain. But not to despair, Matthew, loves doing chores around the house and when he saw me cleaning the pool, he jumped in with the leaf catcher to skim off all the fallen leaves from the pool. Compare this photo of Matthew cleaning the pool with one I took in 2010. wow Matthew has grown.

With the colder weather, the water is too cold to swim luckily we have our pool water circulating through the solar heaters on our roof which warms the water to a respectable temperature but then it is when you get out from the warm water into the colder air that is a problem.

Freedom

So what does Freedom Day mean to you? While some people marched to express their freedom or lack of it, others like ourselves relaxed with family. Freedom to be ourselves. Freedom to believe in our God. Freedom to love whoever we want. Freedom to enjoy our home and surroundings without fear and discrimination and far away from the annoying crowds. In the above photo, our lovely home is just out the picture on the right half way up. This is the view I wake up to every morning and feel blessed.

Freedom to eat sushi for breakfast at home and to play with Minky in our garden while still dressed in my pyjamas and not be filmed.

Matthew Paddy

It was at the end of November that one of Matthew’s friends brought us a tiny month old kitten that was too young to even feed itself yet along wipe its bottom. Lynda's dad who was visiting us at the time grew attached to the bottle feeding little scrap who took us a few weeks to come up with his name. In the 4 months since Paddington has grown into a big young ginger cat, full of fun and naughtiness that he even gives Minky a run for her money.

Green Sunflower

I don’t know why Lynda only planted one sunflower in the corner of our vegetable and herb garden, maybe it’s because she only had one sunflower seed. Although still young, there is now a sunflower growing proudly up in the corner, the flower is still green but soon it will turn yellow after the sun it worships. Maybe, just maybe we will get more seeds and this solitary sunflower will be a start of a new generation of sunflowers.

What happened to the sun?

Winter is coming as temperatures drop to the mid teens. My poor little Italian Greyhounds who look for spots of sun in the garden to keep warm have been staying indoors in their double story dog house. The window upstairs is north facing and they can be found lying on their duvet by the window trying to maximise of any sun breaking through the clouds.

From their window perch they can survey their domain and of course see if daddy goes out into the garden, then both the iggies and the cats rush to be by my side as I walk in the garden, okay okay only 2 cats Minky and Paddington join the iggies. Here is Jade trying to decide if she should stay by my side, be loyal and shiver or head back in doors where it is much cosier.

Pacman

And finally the show is over, my feet are sore, and I need a well deserved rest. Lynda, Robynne, Rebekah and I took a walk to the restrooms just before we left the show grounds, and along the way we saw this awesome Pacman ottoman which Rebekah took no time and was all over it. I remember Custom Couches making a similar style ottoman in the shape of the Chrome logo for Google last year although this one is much smaller.

Dalai Llama Jerome

Here I am at the Rand Show helping out Custom Couches with marketing and I see these two adorable alpaca dolls or are they llamas,anyway they are being used to attract potential clients to the llama rugs that were on sale. I was too scared to ask if they were actual fur rugs or if the rugs were made from the wool of llama and alpacas. Goes to show that this wise man is not filled with good wisdom as the current Dalai Lama.

Custom Couch Brad

I had to pop into Custom Couches today, to go over what they want me to help them with at this weekend’s Rand Show. Custom Couches have been going for about 4 year now and have outgrown the mini factory that they currently in. Wow they have come a long way from their humble beginnings working out of the family garage.

Here is Bradley working hard, following up on leads and surprise he is looking smart with his new haircut.

Busted Italian Greyhound

Busted Maxy! What can I do with a naughty dog? I was doing my rounds filling up the bird feeding trays this morning, a chore I call setting the cat TV when I doubled back and found Maxy, my Italian Greyhound, up on the bird feeding station investigating if there were any yummies for him.

Sleepy Tiger

They say if you grab a tiger by its tail, never let go but this cat called Tiger for some unknown reason as he does not look like a tiger, and was just a sleep puddy tat today. The sun was struggling to warn the autumn day past 20 degrees Celsius today and Tiger found the perfect spot on the couch to get the most out of the sun.

We never spent a winter here in our home, with winter coming; I hope the designer features of our awesome home will keep it nice and warm just as it kept us lovely cool during the hot summer months. South Africa homes are notorious for being sweltering in summer and freezing in winter but this aren’t a normal South African designed home, so says Tiger and I.

Stupid is as Stupid does

Stupidity is not just a surface thing, stupidity is a matter of deeds, not looks, hence the saying stupid is as stupid does and parking in a parking bay reserved for the disabled when you are not disabled just goes to show that you are a stupid eejit.

Now at our local supermarket, someone put up this sign by the disabled parking just for those eejits that think stupidity is a disability.

Chronological Life Application

On Christmas day when we were handing out presents, Marco, when receiving ours, he said that he hopes it was a bible as he always wanted one. Sadly it wasn't but we never forgot his words and when his birthday came round, which is today, a group of us clubbed together and presented him with the Chronological Life Application Study Bible. Marco loves history and is always intrigued about how things fit into life, now this bible has a lot of behind the scenes history and explanations building up to the passages, hence why we chose this bible for him.

Oh and why Robynne is wearing bunny ears, well I will let her explain that.

Night Adder Rescue

After waking up on this rather chilly morning, while I did my rounds in the garden filling up the bird feeders, I noticed a baby Night Adder only 20cm long in our pool. These snakes come out at night to feed on the frogs and toads, and I am not sure how long this little one was in the pool but she must be so cold. Using the pool net, I rescued the poor thing and released it back into the veldt.

Tired Angry Birds

Custom Couches have a stand at the Rand Show this year, and the grandparents were called in to help look after baby Rebekah. It was a long day and by the end we were all finished, lucky for Angry Birds dressed Rebekah, she could fit into a Woolies shopping cart and sleep while we carried on shopping.

Devil in the Clouds

Good Friday, the day the Messiah was crucified over 2000 years ago and because the next day was the Sabbath, the King of the Jews’ body had to be taken down before sunset. A rich man offered up his tomb to lay Yahushua down.

It is the end of the day, as I sat on my patio, contemplating what was good about today, and as I cast my mind back to that fateful day that changed the course of man, storm clouds had built up and the last rays of the sun struggled to get some light through, I'm sure I saw what seemed to be an evil looking face with a cross between its eyes in those ominous clouds. See for yourself if you don’t believe me. The devil must have danced a jig of joy when the Son of God breathed His last breath, that day, while the angels not knowing God’s ultimate plan must have hid their faces in shock and fear.

That day when darkness descended and Friday came to a sorrowful end, oh amazing love how can it be that you, my King would die for me. Amazing love I know it’s true and it’s my joy to honour you.

Beet Webworm

Eish for the name, webworm, this little fella was found on our bathroom ceiling. The Beet Webworm or Spoladea recurvalis is a small moth, about 2cm wide, so much so that I had to zoom in with my cellphone camera just to get a near decent photo.

Autoboys

Last year I got a stone chip in my windscreen of my pickup. My insurance at the time got PG Glass to replaced it but I had to pay a huge excess higher than the cost of the actual glass. Since I didn’t use the pickup often it was parked in the garage and the next time I used it I noticed another crack this time in a place that a stone could not simply hit. I took it back to PG Glass but they said that a stone caused it and would not replace it at their cost. To cut a long story short, I was angry and changed insurance company just because of the access and PG Glass’ attitude.

The new insurance arranged the Autoboys to come and see to my new windscreen. Here is Andries and Joseph finishing off on the installation. I asked them for their expert advice about the crack in the windscreen which looked like a stone chip but without any marks on the surface on both sides. After inspecting the old windscreen, they showed me the point on the edge of the glass where the glass first got damaged. This was in the ceramic portion under the rubber; no way could a stone have done that. I feel vindicated, that it wasn’t my fault but the PG Glass’ installers.

Two Cats up a Tree

Although these 2 cats, Paddington and Minky, are about 4 years apart in age, they seem to be inseparable, playing together or crashing together. In the video below, both appeared out of nowhere while I was taking a break in the garden in the only break in the weather. These two ran up the cabbage tree where I was standing looking out over the veldt that sloped downwards towards the cliffs of the gorge.

 

Spinach and Cauliflower

Our vegetable and herb garden is booming with basil, beans, carrots, chillies, gooseberries, granadilla, lemons, lettuce, lime, mint, parsley, peppers, pumpkin, spinach, spring onions, strawberries, theme, tomatoes, and others that slipped my mind. Our cauliflower were battling much like the spinach were until I moved them to the side so now we planted some more cauliflower next to the thriving spinach.

Who would have guessed that we could get this right but winter is coming and that will be the test.

Farewell Brunch

The Rootman family have to leave for home today so that they can start packing for their move from the Lowveld to the Highveld at the end of this month. Before the long drive back Lynda and I had a brunch with them at the Silverbirch Restaurant at Lifestyle. From left to right are Theresa, Jaen-Jurie, Hans, and Lynda.

Who’s Taller

Cousins Matthew and Jaen-Jurie are a few months apart and about the same height at first glance. Judging from shoulders Matthew pips his cousin just.

Rootman

My sister and her family, the Rootmans are planning to relocate up from Nelspruit to Pretoria in a month’s time and this weekend they came up to look at rental property in the Pretoria North area.

It is a big decision for them to sell their family home and relocate but their son is starting college next month up here and it made financial sense to move closer. Here is a group photo of Hans, Jaen-Jurie, Matthew, and my Theresa.

Thingy my jig

Last night the cats were scarce due to all the visitors that came round for Lynda’s birthday dinner. This morning they came out of their hiding places and discovered a cat climbing thingy my jig that was left behind.

Paddington and Princess wasted no time in exploring this new object that was given to Lynda as a birthday gift for her and the cats, oh and I sprinkled in liberal amounts cat nip just to attract the feline drug users.

Happy Birthday Lynda

It is that time of year again when Lynda gets a year old, just like that. My day started with getting up with the owls, and preparing a scrumptious breakfast in bed for Lynda, then making her a lunch and packing a tiramisu gateau to take with her to work.

While at work, she received these orchids from mah while I was preparing a roast for dinner as the family was coming over. All in a day’s work making the day special for the birthday lady.

Wanna be Owl

Lying in bed this morning at around 4am drinking some coffee to slowly wake me up, I heard an owl hoo whooing which made me jump out of bed to get all the cats inside. While out in the garden in the my underwear, I could not see how big the owl was, if it imposed any danger to our cats and Italian Greyhounds as it was too dark in the dusk light but I identified 2 owl calls, a large one just above me in the tree and a smaller one coming from the owl box in the corner of our property. Oh please let them be nesting in our garden.

Once it got lighter and I was more suitably dressed I went back out into the garden hoping to see the owls in question and gauge if they would pose a threat to our pets, especially if Eagle Owls grow big enough to take a cat or even an Italian Greyhound sized dog. I could not find any owls, I must have scared them off just from the sight of me in my underwear as surely that would scare just about anyone. But I did find an imposter up in the owl box, a dove who wants to be an owl.

Broken Monday

Oh what a Monday!

My day started with the drain being blocked outside the kitchen, so called the plumber to come out today. I then had the mobile windscreen fitters, Autoboys, coming through at 11:30 but needed to slip out quickly to get Lynda’s licence disk of her car renewed before the plumber or the Autoboys arrive.

Coming home from the local municipality offices, my pickup just lost power in the middle of a busy road. It seems to be either a fuel or electrical problem even though it had a full service last week so my only option was to call roadside assistance and get the pickup taken back to the mechanic.

My insurance company sent out Help 24 Towing to assist me and they arrived about an hour later. By that time I was frantic but luckily both the plumber and Autoboys were running late. Help 24 Towing took me and my pickup to the mechanic shop which was not far down the road. Sadly there were no drivers to drop me off at home because it was lunch time so I asked the towing company if they could assist and the driver said he needed authorisation first so he contacted his call centre which flatly denied my request. I wasn’t going to get my insurance involved but I was very upset as I was left with only options, either walk or ulber. Since I only lived about 4km away, I decided to walk in the hottest part of the African day without a hat.

I arrived home in an hour, angry, sweaty, and sunburnt. It was then that I saw the plumber had messaged me to let me know that he can only come round tomorrow and no news from the windscreen fitters, the Autoboys. I phoned them and was told that they are still waiting for stock. That was the last straw, I phoned my insurance company, Discovery Insure and let rip. Sorry but I had lost my cool by then. Not long afterwards, a lady from Autoboys phoned and apologised. It seems that before coming out to me, they discovered a problem with my new windscreen when loading it to come out to me. They had to order a new one and can they re-schedule for tomorrow.

Recalling my day of woes to Lynda this evening, she put a new spin on it for me. She said that it is a blessing that I didn’t take my pickup to Benoni on Saturday like I wanted to, to pick up Matthew and get him to drive back as he now has his Learners Licence and needs to practice driving. Yes I thank God that my pickup broke down close by to the mechanic and not somewhere on the other side of the city. I am still upset with Help 24 Towing though. The walk did me good but my bald head is sun burnt.

Evil Cat

I don’t get to take many photos of this evil cat called Shammy as he is a very timid cat but one that loves marking his territory on electronic goods such as toasters, microwaves, televisions, decoders, computers, plugs and sockets. So evil that I would love to see the back of him but the kind heart of me would stop me from swooping down to his malicious level.

Shammy is starting to get used to me, such as today allowed me to get up close and personal by allowing me to stroke him. A not so purrfect cat but a cat non the less and is part of our home.

Matric Dance

Last night Matthew had his Matric Dance, sort of like the Prom Ball. Although I didn’t get to see him last night nor his date, Matthew did get dressed up for me in his tails and bow tie this morning when I picked him up for the weekend.

Oh wow my little boy is grown up into a great man, taller than me and much handsomer.