It couldn’t have been more fun!…Meeting four readers/friends from the USA at Jabula last night..
When we have an opportunity to meet people who have come to Africa and Marloth Park after reading our posts, it warms our hearts, making all the effort of putting our daily posts together worthwhile and fulfilling. That’s what it’s all about for us…sharing information about exciting travel opportunities with those who can and do travel and those who’d like to travel but cannot for various reasons.
Besides, that blissful result for us is the pure pleasure of hearing the enthusiasm and excitement of new visitors to Africa, and their experiences, while practically jumping out of their seats with joy when they share their stories of seeing wildlife they never dreamed possible. Wow!
All four of our new friends are longtime travelers. Lisa and Sam sold everything eight years ago and have no home and only a small amount of storage. They live like us, on the move, always searching for the next fantastic spot to visit. They don’t plan ahead quite as much as we have in the past, but now they inspire us to do less planning and “wing it” more often than we do.
Karen and Stan have also traveled extensively throughout the world with a base in Florida but spend little time there since, as they said, “Stan has itchy feet.” We loved hearing about all of them.
Today, they took off at 6:00 am to return to Kruger in search of rhinos which they were excited to see. After thousands of rhinos have been poached from Kruger National Park, any sightings are exciting and memorable. But the four of them have seen everything. We hung onto their every word when they shared the sightings they’ve been fortunate to see over the past few days since they arrived.
Unfortunately, with little time at the holiday home, they rent a few kilometers from here and haven’t had many wildlife visitors in the garden. As the animals have begun to return to us with the school holidays ending this upcoming weekend, we expect to see more each day.
We couldn’t resist inviting our new friends for breakfast tomorrow when soon they are leaving to tour many of the places we’ve visited in the past; Victoria Falls, on both the Zambia and Zimbabwe sides of the river, Chobe National Park, Chobe River, Zambezi River, and then off to Kenya for the Ngorongoro Valley and the heavenly Maasai Mara, our favorite safari destination in the world.
Amid their many travel weeks ahead, they will experience a diverse journey filled with wonders. We are so happy for them. Since they are leaving on January 6, we wanted them to experience breakfast at the bush home of friends before they depart. They love it here, and had they known how wonderful it is, they all agreed they’d have stayed longer in Marloth Park.
But, last night, it was such a pleasure to have them experience the uniqueness of Jabula, the great food, the service, and the love and attention provided by Dawn, Leon, David, and their staff. It was an extremely busy night, but they took time out to pay special attention, We’re hoping that they’ll all return sometime in the future and we can be with them again.
This morning, much to our delight Norman was here, and I wish there was a way I could ask him to stop tomorrow morning around 10. We shopped at the little markets this morning, and I bought three bags of small apples, hoping to entice him to return for treats and also for our three orphaned piglets, who continue to stop by several times a day.
Today is another hot and humid day. I’m making chicken salad and coleslaw again, perfect chilled items for such a day. For tomorrow’s breakfast, we’re making a crustless mushroom, onion, sausage, and egg quiche and baking a loaf of coconut banana bread which we’ll serve warm right from the oven with soft butter. We tried to find orange juice for our guests, but none was left at either of the two little grocery shops.
We hope all is well with you and your loved ones as we make our way through this first week of the New Year.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, January 4, 2022:
Wildlife returning?…Another sad loss of a favorite animal…
It couldn’t be a more beautiful day. The sun is shining, the humidity is moderate, birds are singing, and the garden is green and lush from recent rains. There are a variety of antelopes wandering about the grounds. Much to our delight, it appears Aggie, our resident agama, had a baby we saw running up the same tree where the mom resides.
The recent heat, humidity, and time outdoors at night have left me with a few dozen annoying mosquito bites, although I wear repellent around the clock. We keep two types of repellent, a roll-on cream and a spray, which I use every few hours outdoors, but it doesn’t seem to keep me bite-free.
Most of the bites are near and on my hands. I attribute this to the fact I often wash my hands and need to reapply the repellent each time. But I realize I haven’t been as good about doing this as I should be and have promised myself to ramp it up today. This is malaria time, and one can’t be too cautious.
No word on Tom’s missing bag yet, but we’re hoping that this week, it will be delivered. Otherwise, I will have to get back to work on filing the insurance claim with the credit card company next week. I’ve still worked on finding receipts for items that were in Tom’s missing baggage. I am putting a good-sized dent in it, just in case we don’t get the bag back.
As mentioned, I didn’t notice anything missing after emptying my returned bag. I was thrilled to have all my belongings back, some of which I’d purchased for upcoming cruises in seven months. Azamara Cruises have a few special all-white dress-up nights, and I bought a few white dresses online for the occasion. Tom had purchased white pants, but those were in his missing bag.
As for the most recent sad loss of a favorite animal, I believe our dear Lollie has passed away. She had three piglets in early November, but after giving birth, it appeared she had intestines hanging out of her butt. This has worsened over the past weeks to a point where it was devastating to see. Only days ago, they were almost hanging to the ground. We both knew then she wouldn’t last long. As our resident warthog, Lollie was integral to our enjoyment in the bush.
We will miss her, the gentle pig she was, always happy to see us, friendly to other animals, other than when she was protecting those piglets, whom we named Leon, Dawn, and David, our dear friends at Jabula.
We assumed she died from an infection or worse. We could only imagine. This morning, the three piglets we easily recognized appeared without her. They are only two months old, and we’re hoping they can survive without their mother’s milk. We will be feeding them lots of pellets, fruit, and vegetables. About a month ago, we lost a little piglet, Hoppy, whose mom and two siblings stop by daily. She appeared to have a broken leg and finally gave up. We recall the day she passed.
Life is hard in the bush. In some cases, animals dart out in front of cars, and it’s impossible to avoid hitting them. We know this is nature, and these things happen, but it doesn’t lessen the emotions we feel when we see an animal has passed, whether it be from old age, a predator, an injury, starvation, an illness, or being killed by a careless driver on the road. That’s why driving slowly is vital while paying attention to the surroundings.
A few days ago, on the one paved road in Marloth Park, we noticed a line of cars backed up, bringing traffic to a stop. Once the vehicles began to move again, we noticed a turtle had crossed the road. Fortunately, all drivers observed the precious animal crossing the road and stopped to let it pass. A smile came across our faces; grateful everyone had stopped. Many visitors care about the wildlife, as many people living and staying here do.
Today at 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs. (during lock shedding), we’re heading to Jabula to have dinner with four people we’ve never met, readers of our site. Regular reader Lisa has been in touch over the past few years, mentioning, based on our enthusiastic posts, that she and three others were coming here. We’re looking forward to meeting them and hearing about their worldwide travels.
We’ll report the details of our evening out with new readers/friends tomorrow. It’s always wonderful to meet our readers, wherever we may be in the world.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, January 3, 2022:
Two New Year’s surprises!…Can’t stop smiling!…Fun New Year’s Day with friends…
The first surprise was reader/friend Lisa contacting us yesterday, inviting us to join the four of them for dinner at Jabula tomorrow evening, January 3. She’d written to us quite a while ago that she’d contact us when they arrived in Marloth Park, prompted by our site and endless raves about the bush,
And there was Lisa, writing a comment on our site and contacting me by email to see if we could join them for dinner. We are thrilled to do so. Here again, is more of our readers coming to Marloth Park inspired by our enthusiastic posts about how blissful it is in Marloth Park. We are always delighted to meet more readers/friends.
Well, hang onto your chair for the second surprise we got yesterday while Dawn and Leon were here. I heard my WhatsApp phone ringing and jumped up to answer it. All of my contacts in WhatsApp are people we know, so I assumed it was a friend called to say Happy New Year.
An unrecognizable voice was at the end of the line. She explained she was from baggage handlers service, and I held my breath as she spoke. She was in Nelspruit and was on her way to bring us ONE of the lost bags, not both. We hope we’ll be lucky and receive the second bag.
Ninety minutes later, the delivery person texted me that she was at Louise’s office. Tom jumped in the car and headed there, picking up the bag she’d left with Louise. We have all deliveries sent to Louise’s office since our address is impossible to find with the inconsistent numbering of properties on the dirt road.
I was hoping the found bag was Tom’s, not mine. I had found most of the receipts from my stuff, but Tom’s was nearly impossible, making completing the insurance claim difficult and cumbersome. But, hoping that his bag arrives soon, we won’t have to file the claim. This makes life so much easier for me, especially with other tasks hanging over our heads.
This morning, I emptied my bag, and it appeared nothing was missing, which was surprising. I had a lot of nice clothes and toiletries in that bag. It was funny yesterday; I was about to place an order from the same online retailer that ships to South Africa, where I’d purchased about ten items about four months ago. Something stopped me, and I decided to wait a few more weeks before re-ordering the same items I’d bought. Hmm…safari luck.
Now I have plenty of tops to wear around the house and when going to dinner—what a relief. Before the return of my bag, I only had a few tee shirts to wear, along with a couple of very casual tops I’d purchased from Amazon when we were in Minnesota last month when we also had to buy winter clothes to wear while we were there.
Anyway, New Year’s Day turned out better than expected. We had a fantastic day with Dawn and Leon. We ate early in the day, and by 5:00 pm, Leon was tired, and they needed to head home. It was wonderful to spend that time with them, as it always is, away from the hustle and bustle of the restaurant and frequent interruptions when the four of us are attempting to chat.
Tom and I stayed on the veranda for a few more hours, and when the mozzies began to attack, we headed indoors to stream a few more episodes of Peaky Blinders and eventually doze off to sleep. I didn’t sleep well and was awake for no less than three hours during the night. Perhaps, a nap will be on today’s agenda.
Everything is prepped for tonight’s easy dinner of ham and cheese sliders, one more time, salad, and rice. I’m wrapping up a few laundry loads and have emptied my “found” luggage. Now, I am scrambling to find photos to post for today. We don’t have a single image to post with a few animals visiting over the past few weeks. Right now, Tom is watching for photo ops.
No headache. No facial pain. I am very grateful. We’ll be back with more soon.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, January 2, 2022:
Happy New Year to all of our family and readers/friends…The little things…Where were we the past 11 year New Year’s Eves?
We hope that all of our readers/friends had a safe and enjoyable New Year’s Eve and that today will be a special day for relaxing, eating good food, watching sports, and spending time with family and friends.
We stayed in last night but had a great time, just the two of us. We enjoyed drinks, music on our JBL speaker, and a great dinner of ham sliders, salad, and rice. Having an actual ham sandwich was such a treat for me now that I can have my homemade keto bread, which doesn’t raise my blood sugar.
I only ate one small sandwich but took little bites to savor every morsel. I added a thin slice of Maasdam cheese, lettuce, and mustard. The ham was moist and flavorful. It wasn’t a precooked ham and had to cook long enough to be thoroughly done for about 90 minutes. We have one larger ham left and can’t wait to have those sandwiches again.
Tom hadn’t had anything like this in a long time, and he had four little sliders with the soft mini buns buttered, ham, and cheese. He was in food nirvana. I could tell by the look on his face. It’s funny how the most seemingly simple things give us so much pleasure.
After dinner, we hung around outside for a while until the bugs became unbearable and went inside. We stayed up to bring in the New Year and ended up watching the entire fifth season of Peaky Blinders. We never had trouble staying awake and sent New Year’s wishes to family and friends when the clock struck midnight. It was a lovely evening, after all.
A few minutes ago, we laughed out loud when a little piglet got lost from his mom and finally found her. When he saw her at a distance, he squeaked so loud with a thumping sound, as he ran, we were hysterical laughing. It was the cutest thing! Earlier this morning, Tom rescued a dung beetle stuck in a hole in the dirt, unable to get himself and his ball rolling again. Tom took a little stick and gave the ball and the dung beetle a little nudge, and he was on his way again, searching for a mate.
The bush is filled with little wonders that leave us reeling with delight. All we have to do is sit at the table on the veranda, as we do all day, watching carefully for what treasures Mother Nature can send us. Ah, the little things always make us laugh the hardest and the most often.
Yesterday, we recalled where we spent the past 11 New Year’s Eves. Our list includes the links for the specific posts that appeared on January 1. Here they are:
- January 1, 2013 – We were in Scottsdale, Arizona, wrapping up the final details for our first cruise, sailing out of San Diego, California, on January 3, 2013. The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2014 – We were here in Marloth Park and attended a fun party at Jabula, staying until after midnight. The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2015 – We were on the Big Island, Hawaii, in the town of Pahoa with our family, where lava was expected to wipe out the city while we were there. For the exciting story, please click here.
- January 1, 2016 – We were in Pacific Harbour, Fiji, staying in a lovely teak house with a big pool. The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2017 – We were in Penguin, Tasmania, one of Tom’s favorite places on Earth (so far). The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2018 – We were in Palermo, Buenos Aires, waiting for the upcoming cruise to Antarctica. The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2019 – We were in Marloth Park, attending a party in the bush. The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2020 – We were in Apache Junction, Arizona, with Tom’s sisters, awaiting our adventure on the Maharajas Express Train and then a private 56-day tour of the country. The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2021 – We were in lockdown in a Mumbai Hotel (for 10 months) on New Year’s Eve. The post may be found here.
- January 1, 2022 – We were here in Marloth Park, attending a party with a big surprise. The post may be found here.
- January 2, 2023 – Here we are in Marloth Park for our fourth New Year spent in this wildlife wonderland, filled with the many friends we’ve made over the years.
Today, Dawn and Leon are stopping by for fun food, drinks, and, of course, lively conversation with endless stories to share. We will surely spend another fantastic New Year’s Day in the bush.
Be well. Happy New Year!
Photo from one year ago today, January 1, 2022:
Not to party…cold, rainy…Had our fun last night!…
Last night could just as well have been New Year’s Eve. The bar was packed shortly after we arrived, mostly with people we know, making it a true “Cheers Bar” experience. The loud and lively conversations, many at one time, wafted through the air while Dawn, David, and the staff ran their butts off, serving the never-ending stream of drinkers and diners.
Our dinner was excellent as usual while we dined at the bar along with all the other guests who occupied the barstools. It couldn’t have been more fun. We arrived as always at 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs., and were out the door at around 8:30, 2030 hrs. Once back at the house, after load shedding ended, we hunkered down in the bedroom and watched another episode of Tulsa King, another good Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) series starring Sylvester Stallone. It’s entertaining and tongue-in-cheek, and he’s playing the role quite well.
We didn’t doze off until around midnight, but both slept well. When we awoke this morning, we decided not to attend tonight’s New Year’s Eve party. It’s raining now and very cool, and tonight the dress is all white clothes. All of our white clothes were in our lost bags. We’re quite content staying home.
This morning, I baked the smaller of the two hams and took out a package of slider-sized buns for Tom. I’ll use my low-carb bread, and we’ll both have ham and cheese sliders, salad, with rice for Tom. That will be a perfect New Year’s Eve dinner for the two of us. With all the ham and buns left, we may be eating this same meal for a few nights, which is OK with us.
I had sliced my keto bread very thin, so I could have two little sandwiches if I’d like. When making keto bread, the loaves are small, with slices about half the size of a regular piece of bread. Tom will have a few of his leftover chocolate cookies for dessert, and I won’t eat a thing. I’ve made a point of avoiding snacks, as mentioned, although many nights, it’s tempting, especially when I still feel a little hungry after dinner. But, if I wait about a half hour, I get over it.
Also, this morning we ran out to the liquor store to buy a few items in case Dawn and Leon decide to come tomorrow. We left the plans “loose” just in case they are exhausted after New Year’s Eve at the restaurant and need a quiet day. We’re OK with last-minute plans now that we have everything we’d need for a nice meal and drinks they like.
Usually, guests bring their own “drinkables” when visiting, but in this case, we wanted it to be ultra-easy for them to jump in their car and come here. We’ll see how it rolls out by tomorrow morning sometime.
Today, I did a few loads of laundry, and once I’m done with today’s post, I’ll get to work on logging the receipts from purchases in the last 15 days, which I’ve failed to do. I already paid the bills online for next month, relieved that this task is blissfully out of the way.
It’s been a busy day in the bush so far. Our garden has been packed with kudus, zebras, duikers, warthogs, and even wildebeest Earl, whom we haven’t seen lately, stopped by for a quick hello and taste of pellets. We took as many photos as possible, hoping to have enough for the next few days.
I have to run, folks, to complete other tasks on today’s agenda. I often wonder how I managed to get everything done in my old life when I worked. It seems I have less free time now than I did back then. I’ve heard other retirees say the same thing. Go figure.
Happy New Year.
Photo from one year ago today, December 31, 2021:
On the fence…Party or not to party?…
It’s hard to believe the Christmas season is almost over. I’m still in the mood for baking, so this morning, during load shedding, I whipped together a double batch of lemon poppyseed muffins which have been baking since the power came back on a while ago. With muffin papers skimpy here and difficult to remove from the muffins, I made two loaf pans of lemon poppy seed bread which will turn out fine at a lower temperature and longer cooking period than the muffins would have.
Once the loaves are done and cooled, I’ll slice them into individual servings and freeze them for Tom. Each day he’ll take out a pack of two slices with his coffee, a nice treat to start the New Year. I didn’t bake a keto treat for myself since I was watching my weight. My one daily treat is the two thin slices of keto macadamia nut bread I’ve had with either egg or avocado for breakfast.
When trying to lose weight on low carb, calorie intake does matter, and I try to keep my daily intake at about 1400 calories and 20 grams of carbs or less. The weight loss is slow at these macros, but I am not about to starve myself, leaving me hungry and thinking about food all the time.
I can stay satisfied with these numbers and never think about eating anything other than my two daily meals, breakfast and dinner. I’ve cut out all snacks and only use a maximum of 200 calories and six grams of carbs if I want to have wine at sundowner time. There are several low-carb, low-sugar, and low-calorie wine options here in South Africa. I couldn’t find any such wine while in the US, so I didn’t drink anything unless we went to dinner, where I’d have a glass of pinot grigio or some other low-sugar wine.
Also, this morning, before starting today’s post, I worked on receipts for the claim for the lost luggage for at least an hour. I put a good size dent in it by simply making PDF documents of items we purchased in 2022 in those bags. I finished all of 2022, and I’ll start working in 2021.
Tomorrow, New Year’s Eve day, we’ll decide if we’re going to the New Year’s Eve party at the bush home of Flo and JJ’s friends, whom we don’t know. At this point, we’ll only know Flo and JJ and their grown kids at the party. It won’t be the first time here in the bush; we’ve attended a party where we didn’t know the hosts.
We purchased two good-sized gammon roasts (ham), which we’ll cook in the morning if we decide to go. Once done, we’ll trim and slice the meat and make 48 ham and cheese sliders to bring to the party. It’s time-consuming to make these but certainly easy and uncomplicated to prepare.
Had we planned earlier, we could have made a reservation for Jabula’s New Year’s Eve party, but at this point, they are already fully booked. Plus, South Africans are huge sports fans, and tomorrow night there’s a game on TV, and patrons of Jabula will be packed into the bar watching the game on the two screens from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm, 1900 hrs to 2130 hrs. This environment doesn’t particularly appeal to us, especially since we aren’t avid fans of their sports.
There’s a Minnesota Vikings game on Sunday night, New Year’s Day, which Tom won’t watch until the following morning due to the time difference. The Vikings are doing pretty well, so watching will be fun. We have no plans for New Year’s Day. We’ll stay in, maybe chat with family and friends and make a nice dinner for the two of us. Of course, I can always work on finding more receipts for the insurance claim.
That’s it for today, folks! Have a great day and evening, whatever you may do!
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, December 30, 3021:
Yes, there’s a post today…Got frustrated and gave up doing paperwork today…
When I started working on the claim forms for our lost luggage, the process became so impossible, I couldn’t bring myself to do the post on top of that fiasco. Yesterday, I called the credit card company’s insurance provider and was told we wouldn’t need receipts for each of the 80-plus items we listed on the claim form.
The rep clearly stated an estimated date of purchase and value would be all that was necessary. When I had to re-enter the items due to WiFi issues, I called the company with a few questions about how to save what I’d entered, which wasn’t clear on the online document. I was told the information I’d been given yesterday was incorrect.
We would have to produce a receipt for each item included in the claim…80 receipts…oh good grief! I sat at the dining room table with the little portable fan on but sweating in the heat and outrageously high humidity. At one point, I threw my hands in the air and told Tom, “I can’t do this awful task!” But the possibility of getting back several thousand dollars nagged at me. I couldn’t give up.
Nor could I have Tom do all the research to find the receipts. He’s not adept at turning receipts into PDF documents or saving files. Plus, many items listed on the credit card statements don’t specify the item purchased, which would not satisfy the insurance company’s requirements. Yuck! We’ve decided I can ask Tom to search for the tricky ones by going through all seven of our credit cards. If he does that, it will help me considerably.
After I settled down, I decided I could do this task with more ease and less stress if I could do it in air-conditioned comfort. Since I had open-heart surgery almost four years ago, I get overheated easily. I got hold of Louise and asked her if I could work in her office after the holiday crowd thins out, we decided on January 4 at 10 am. It’s quiet, calm, and comfortable. We have until February 21 to get the forms completed with the receipts, which should be plenty of time.
In the interim, I promised myself I would find five receipts daily before doing the post each day. In the six days until January 4, I can find and save 30 receipts, leaving about 50 to tackle, beginning on January 4. No doubt, I won’t be able to complete this task in one day. It may take several more days.
Also, in the interim, at the beginning of January, we’ll hear back from the lawyers about completing the forms for our visa extensions. Oh, dear. There will be plenty to keep us busy.
In the past few days, we’ve only had a few animals visit our garden: bushbucks, kudus, and warthogs. We have hardly taken any photos since they’d be repetitious. Hopefully, within a week, the crowds will thin out, and the wildlife will visit again. We haven’t seen Norman and his family in 48 hours.
Tom returned from the local salon after getting a haircut and beard trimming which came out great. He said he’d never seen the parking lot so packed at the Bush Centre. He could hardly find a place to park. We’ve never seen so many people here in past holiday seasons.
Surely, relief from worrying about the pandemic has brought many South Africans living in Joburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town to Marloth Park for some peace, quiet, and wildlife watching. I hope they aren’t disappointed when they aren’t seeing many animals in the gardens of the holiday rentals.
Sadly, many human visitors are speeding on dirt roads, with windows open and loud thumping from their vehicle’s stereo system. We hear this every evening when we’re on the veranda. It’s pretty annoying for us, let alone the animals who aren’t used to such sounds.
That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back again tomorrow. Now, I must find a few photos to add here today.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, December 29, 2021:
Exciting opportunity presented to us from the US…
Last night, we received an email from a Minnesota Live Eyewitness News KSTP-TV news show producer who asked if we’d be interested in participating in an interview via a Zoom meeting sometime in January. We replied that we’d be happy to do so but would have to wait until after January 16 due to the high volume of tourists in Marloth Park until the end of the school holidays.
She’d heard about us from listening to Garage Logic and had heard the podcast when we were guests on a May 2022 podcast while we were in Minnesota. Although testing negative, we were still suffering from Omicron symptoms but decided not to miss the opportunity to be on the show. We had a fantastic time. If you missed the show, please click here.
Now, with an opportunity to be on TV to promote our site and share our story, we look forward to this interview. We will let you know when we’ll post the video from the interview, which will be sometime at the end of January when we’ll have a better WiFi signal. Please keep an eye out for this.
This morning, I prepped food for dinner and made a loaf of keto macadamia nut bread that I have each morning topped with avocado and egg. I always make a double batch of the recipe resulting in enough bread to last for a few weeks. This breakfast holds me until dinner.
Lately, I have been making eggs for Tom. I am a good cook but have the worst time getting his over-easy eggs cooked perfectly. Today, I made scrambled eggs that always turn out to his liking, to which I add some imported cheese and several slices of bacon which I cook in the microwave rather than splatter all over the stovetop.
We only have tonight and tomorrow night’s dinner to cook until it’s time for Friday night’s dinner again at Jabula, and then it will be New Year’s Eve when we’re going to a party at a bush house. We have no plans for New Year’s Day, but that day is less important to us, and we usually stay in and cook a nice dinner.
Soon, Tom will drop me off at Imbewe Spa for a pedicure. Most often, my dear friend Dawn from Jabula has a pedicure with me. But today is assistant David’s birthday, and he’s off for two days, so she’ll have to be at the restaurant for lunch service with their resort packed with guests and other tourists who may stop by for food and drinks. It’s a busy place.
Finally, yesterday, I received a call back from the credit card insurance office after leaving messages for days. They gave me another phone number to call, which I will do today after 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., due to the time difference. Hopefully, I will finally get adequate instructions on how to file the claim for our missing bags. I hope we won’t have to produce receipts for each item. Otherwise, as mentioned, this process could take weeks to complete.
Once I return from the pedicure appointment, I will finish this post and get it uploaded. From there, the remainder of my day is easy. Today’s high will only be 95F, 35C, with humidity at 35% and the dew point at 63, a much more bearable day. Sitting outdoors is much more comfortable now than in the past several days.
Still, we see fewer animals in the garden than usual with so many holidaymakers here for a few more weeks. We can’t wait until they leave and our favorite animals return to see us. Recently, we only saw Norman and his family every other day, sometimes three or four times, but not the usual eight to 12 times before the holiday started. I make Norman’s Lunch daily but often give it to the few bushbucks visiting or the kudus.
Lollie has had a medical problem since the birth of her three piglets. It appears that her intestines, in part, are hanging out of her rear end. It’s an awful sight that breaks our hearts. But with so many pigs in the park, the rangers and vets don’t treat the warthogs, which are sturdy and generally heal quickly. But we can’t see how this issue, worsening each day, can resolve on its own. Oh, we hope somehow it resolves. Her piglets are too young to survive on their own. She’s such a good mom.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, December 28, 2021:
Due to WiFi issues in the park right now, we cannot post the year ago photo.
Busy ambitious morning…
This morning, after breakfast of eggs and bacon, we headed to Komatipoort for groceries, wine, toiletries, over-the-counter products, and a few birthday cards for friends. The strip mall parking lot was packed, let alone the stores. We hadn’t shopped in a few weeks and needed quite a few items.
When we arrived at the pharmacy, generally our first stop, they were closed for another 40 minutes. We decided to do the other shopping and return. When we were done grocery shopping, amid the crowds at Spar Market, I walked down the outdoor mall to the pharmacy. I could barely open the door to enter. It was unbelievable.
We try not to purchase much frozen or perishable food but based on it requiring almost one hour of round-trip driving time to go to Komatipoort; we don’t like to go any more often than we have to. We can always make short trips to the local Marloth Park shops only five minutes from here, but they don’t always have the ingredients we use.
Somehow I managed to find the items I needed at the pharmacy with the help of a few helpful staff members and was out the door in about 20 minutes. Back at the house in the heat and high humidity, we sweated profusely while we put everything away. It’s a good thing we have the chest freezer and the outdoor refrigerator since the kitchen fridge doesn’t have much space, nor does the upper single-door freezer, which is mainly filled with ice cube trays and large zip-lock bags of ice.
Tom loved the chocolate cookies I made for him for Christmas, and I could tell he wanted more. Last week, I made a double batch which only resulted in 21 cookies, and we gave six of them to Louise and Danie, who also loved them. So I decided to make another double batch today and see if I can end up with 24 cookies, making them a little smaller. I never ate one of the cookies or tasted the dough. But I do remember them from years back and how good they are.
All the cooking I will do today is making the salad which is done, and baking the cookies in a few hours. The dough needs to chill in the refrigerator and will be ready around 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., which is late to start baking, but the oven is big enough that I can bake them all at once.
It feels good to have everything put away. The only project I have to complete this week is getting a call back from the insurance company to file the claim for our missing bags and make the food we’re bringing to Flo and JJ’s New Year’s Eve party. There’s enough pizza and uncooked, defrosted chicken breasts to get us to Friday when we’ll head to Jabula for dinner. The party on Saturday night is at a yet-to-be-determined location, but I’m sure we’ll hear soon.
I’ve managed to stay on track with my diet through the holidays and haven’t gained anything back from what I’ve lost so far. As mentioned in an earlier post, I made a keto cheese pie but only had a small piece each evening after dinner, which would last a few more days. Yes, we do indulge a little here and there during the holidays, but overall, we indulge very little. Rolling into the New Year with my diet will be easy, with no weight gain from the holidays. The same goes for Tom, who hasn’t gained weight, even eating the cookies.
We just moved into the bedroom for some rest and some fan time. Some afternoons, around 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs., we try to nap for 20 minutes. I am only fortunate enough to fall asleep one out of 20 times, but Tom seems to do much better, never sleeping for more than 15 or 20 minutes. This is refreshing, especially on a scorching and humid day when we can cool off a little in the bedroom with the powerful fan sweeping over us.
As for my headache and facial pain, they are mostly gone. It only seems to bother me occasionally, and I can do nothing about it when it returns. Paracetamol/Tylenol doesn’t help, so I tough it out and go about my day. I have continued using the morning and evening Salex Nasal Rinse and four doses a day of Phytomer, all purchased over the counter. This combination has seemed to be the most helpful in keeping these horrible post-Omicron sinus issues at bay, 90% of the time.
That’s it for today, folks. Have a pleasant day.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, December 27, 2021:
