What a glorious morning! It’s cool enough outdoors that I’m wearing a long sleeve shirt, and Tom is wearing jeans instead of his usual shorts. If only we could have weather like this every day, especially as summer approaches. But, TIA (this is Africa) and hot weather is the norm except for a few short months in the winter when days like this are more prevalent.

Last night, after taking two 25 mg Benadryl, each four hours apart, I ended up getting sufficient sleep to feel pretty good today. The leg is still painful and itchy, but I’m doing well taking long-acting Tylenol (Paracetamol) every eight hours. Doc Theo had offered pain killers, but I refused, preferring not to feel dopey with a busy social weekend planned.

Zef and Vusi are here now, cleaning the house. Other than preparing today’s post, I don’t have much to do today. Dining at Jabula tonight, as we always do on Friday nights, I won’t spend any time in the kitchen. It’s so wonderful to have completed the corrections; I’m still reeling over the availability of my afternoons to do whatever I feel like doing.

Of course, right now, having shingles, my free time can easily be spent resting the painful leg until the meds kick in. But that won’t keep me down this weekend with guests coming tomorrow for sundowners/dinner and a few other fun activities planned for the upcoming week.

Last night, we made an excellent dinner. Tom had bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin made on the braai with rice and salad, and I had sauteed liver and onions, fresh steamed asparagus, and salad. Later in the evening, I had a handful of macadamia buts, and Tom had two homemade lemon poppy seed muffins I’d made early in the week.

Usually, I don’t make him sweet treats but, after his dental surgery, thinking he’d be in pain and feeling like some comfort food, I made 24 muffins. But, less than six days later, the muffins I froze to keep fresh are almost gone. Soon, I will make a few low-carb treats as he works his way back to healthy eating.

Tom is one of those picky eaters who find great comfort in eating certain foods, mainly sweets. Many people are this way. Sure, I can look at certain foods, and my mouth waters. I am not. I eat when I’m hungry and only what fits within the realm of my chosen method of eating.

But even when I bake an occasional treat for Tom, I have no problem resisting it. For me, continuing to make a concerted effort to maintain my health is a huge motivator. On the other hand, with his robust good health, Tom can afford to indulge from time to time. If I eat sugar, gluten, or starch, my blood sugar and blood pressure go through the roof. It’s not worth it to me.

This morning, we’ve seen a number of our wildlife friends in the garden, including wildebeest Broken Horn, bushbucks Sylvia and Spikey, warthogs Lori and Barbara, One Tusk, Mom (without her three piglets), Narrow, mongooses, and of course, Frank and The Misses, all of whom we’ve fed pellets, cabbage, and Paloney (for the mongooses).

Sorry, we don’t have any exciting news right now. Like all of you, some of our days are simple and relatively uneventful. But, tonight, the action will ramp up at Jabula, where we always have a great time, and tomorrow, entertaining friends at our bush home.

Have a splendid day!

Photo from one year ago today, November 19, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day#241. Elephants and storks on the Crocodile River. For more, please click here.

This morning, I awoke early and had to get out of bed. I was itching so severely from dust mites in the mattress I couldn’t lay there any longer. I contacted Louise, and she’s going to hire an exterminator. Today, after we leave for our dental appointments, Zef and Vusi will change the bedding, spray the bed thoroughly with a dust mite eradicator, and install a new mattress cover.

Years ago, when I had skin tests for allergies, dust mites were the worst reaction. We’ve only experienced them a few times during our travels, in Morocco in a holiday home, in Minnesota in a hotel, and here in this house in Marloth Park (but never in other properties we’ve rented in the bush). It’s seasonal and unpredictable.

Dust mites don’t bite as described here:

“Unlike other members of the mite family, dust mites do not bite. Dust mites do not feed on the blood of humans as some other mites do. Although they may “hitchhike” on clothing, it is a myth that dust mites live on people. They feed primarily on dander, or flakes of dead skin that fall from humans and animals.”

Either we are shedding a lot of skin, or the proximity of the wildlife to the house is a contributing factor. Hopefully, I will get a good night’s sleep by tonight after Zef and Vusi do the treatment, which has helped in the past. Last night, I slept atop the covers using an extra blanket. But, the allergic reaction happened a few days ago.

I may not have gotten new itchy welts last night, but the ones I awoke to several times during the night to add more cortisone cream to my left side, the side on which I sleep every night. There wasn’t a single welt on the right side. What an annoyance!

Speaking of annoyances, in a short while, we’ll head to Dr. Singh in Malelane for our two dental appointments. Tom is finally having his implant bases inserted. I am having a bone spur removed that appeared at my recent tooth extraction site, which only adds to the frustration over the problems with that tooth and eventual socket that’s given me one problem after another.

Oh, I don’t like to whinge. And yes, we are grateful we are otherwise healthy, and all is well. Like most people, including senior citizens, this kind of “stuff” must be dealt with from time to time. Just because we travel the world doesn’t make us exempt from dealing with such issues.

I have no idea if Tom will be in pain and unable to eat dinner tonight, so that we will play it by ear. As for my bone spur, most likely, it will require surgery to remove. Yuck! I can’t wait to get that out of the way.

This morning when I got out of bed shortly after Tom, he was busy in the garden with dozens of visitors. Either the lions moved on, or from reports we read last night, they are staying in the area of Gate 1, which is far from us. We always use Gate 2 to exit and enter the park. The two gates are several kilometers apart. Lions, like most wildlife, are territorial, as stated here:

“Lions are highly territorial and have occupied the same area for generations. Territory size depends on prey abundance, as well as access to water and denning sites.’

They left Kruger National Park when they determined hunting would be more prolific in Marloth Park on this side of the Crocodile River. Last night, an observer mentioned on Facebook they’d seen eight lions in Marloth Park. Wow!  Of course, that could be inaccurate. No photos have been taken as yet. It’s not easy to take photos of lions at night, especially when you can’t get out of the vehicle for a decent shot. Time will tell.

In the interim, our unusual animals are back, and it’s lovely to see them munching on the new vegetation in the bush. It is filling in quickly as leaves on the trees and ground vegetation grows, as shown in today’s photos.

We’ll be back tomorrow with updates.

Be well.

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #237. Mr. & Mrs. Ostrich were trotting down the road. Moments later, they took off on a fast run into the bush. Ostriches can run up to 70 km (45 miles) per hour. For more photos, please click here.

Although we’ve been here since last January, we’d yet to see newly born piglets. Now that our favorite mom, the mother of Barbara and Lori (Shark Tank), sent those two youngsters on their own to fend for themselves, she was getting ready to give birth to more piglets, this time three.

It was such fun to see them and how active and alert they are after only being born a few days earlier. We were happy to toss pellets to mom, knowing she must feed these three little ones. Surprisingly, the piglets seemed interested in the pellets and ate some. It was very cute and funny to watch.

Watching the antics of these newborns is hysterical. We couldn’t get enough until finally, mom had her fill, and the four of them wandered off to their following location, enticing other residents to toss pellets her way. It was as cute as it could be. We have no doubt, they will be back many times in our remaining time in Marloth Park, and we can fawn over them again.

It will require constraint not to publish more and more photos of them as they grow. But, our goal is always to include a variety of photos, not the same over and over again.  But, as all of you have seen, that’s not easy to do, especially when the same animals stop by over and over again with few new visitors.

We always strive to keep it as varied and exciting as possible. In a few months, when we’re in Apollo Beach, Florida, with our friends Karen and Rich, awaiting their upcoming wedding, the scenery and subsequent photos will change dramatically. Except, after a few months in a country, the photos can easily become repetitious and it’s also the case when we’re in the US.

However, right now, as mentioned repeatedly, we are thoroughly enjoying our time in Marloth Park. Last night was no exception when we attended yet another fantastic braai for eight of us at Kathy and Don’s riverfront home.

At many braais in South Africa, guests bring their preference of drinks and the meat they’d like to cook on the prepared fire the hosts have prepared. The hosts prepare all the side dishes such as potatoes, vegetables, and salad. Kathy goes over the top in making each of the sides delicious and unique each time.  Plus, she always ensures there are sides that I can eat. What a fantastic host!

Don is an equally fabulous host when he often plans fun games for all of us to play after dinner. Last night we had a blast playing “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” with questions he designed suitable for the guests. It was such fun!

As for the food, as picky as Tom and I are about only eating steaks without a lot of fat. We brought two good-sized fillet mignons, which Tom cooked rare for me. When we make fillets at our house, I usually butterfly Tom’s steak so we can put them both on the braai at the same time. Mine will be rare, and his will be his preferred medium-rare.

Yesterday, when I cut our steaks from the huge piece of tenderloin, I asked Tom if he’d like me to butterfly his portion. He said it wasn’t necessary. Thus I cut them both the same size, which was very thick. Three minutes on each side would result in “blue” rare servings.

As it turned out, mine was perfect as usual, but then Tom’s was too rare for him. He ate it anyway, not wanting to leave the table to return his to the now waning fire. Now I know why he kept cutting off chunks of meat and putting it on my plate while he sat across from me. Later, he mentioned that it was too rare for him. Next time, we’ll do better and butterfly his or start his on the braai earlier.

We had a fantastic evening once again and were back home after 10:00 pm, 2200 hrs, for a good night’s sleep, waking joyfully this morning, ready to tackle another day. )Today’s high will be 95F, 35C with relatively high humidity. Tonight, Kathy and Don will join us for our usual Friday night dinner at Jabula for the last time before they depart Marloth Park for Hawaii next Wednesday, when we’ll take them to the Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Airport. We will miss them.

May you have a lovely and fulfilling weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, November 12, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #234. It’s a challenge with these unusual fruits in Hawaii, which we could not identify after searching hundreds of photos. For more photos, please click here.