Gee… late last night, I started getting messages that there was no post yesterday. Then it dawned on me that I hadn’t uploaded it since I was waiting to hear from Tom since he always proofread the posts within minutes of it being uploaded so we can correct any errors.
The time slipped away when he was on the plane for 16 hours. And I became so distracted by hearing his voice when he arrived that I forgot entirely about uploading the post. Neither of us thought of it when all that was on our minds was him getting back to me in the bush. Gosh, it’s been a long ten days.
Once he got situated in his hotel room in Joburg after we’d talked, he noticed I hadn’t uploaded the post and sent me a message. By then, I was under the covers and thinking about dozing off. It had to wait until this morning. If I got up and turned my laptop back on, I’d lose the sleepiness I was feeling.
First thing this morning, I uploaded yesterday’s post, and now I am busy doing today’s, which I will remember to upload. I am still in one piece, counting the hours until Tom returns. I can’t tell you how many readers wrote to me wondering if a lion had eaten me.
A few minutes ago, I got a message from Tom that his Airlink flight from Joburg to Nelspruit had been delayed, a rare occurrence for that airline. They are always on time, from our experience. Oh, dear, so close and yet so far away. Now, I am waiting to hear from him as to when his expected arrival will be. He still has a long drive from Nelspruit to Marloth Park, with lots of traffic and endless trucks traveling on the N4 highway during the week.
I just heard from Tom. He’s on the plane. He should be landing in about 40 minutes. Then, he’ll get his bag and the rental car to begin the drive.
This morning I started working on tonight’s special dinner. I’m planning to make Chateau Briand with a fine piece of beef tenderloin with a lovely red wine mushroom sauce with roasted carrots and onions. But we may decide to have fillet mignon steaks with the mushroom sauce since we both like a different degree of doneness…he prefers medium-rare, and I like rare, which is tough to do when making Chateau Briand. It’s got to be one or the other. Plus, there’s load shedding from 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs., to 7:30 pm, 1930 hrs., and we won’t be able to use the oven. This dish is best prepared in an oven as opposed to a grill.
So we shall see. He’ll have rice, and both of us will have salad which I already prepared this morning, adding the homemade dressing at the end. It’s an easy dinner to prepare, leaving us plenty of time to catch up and enjoy the remainder of the day and the evening on the veranda.
We often find ourselves rereading specific posts, often many we’ve forgotten we ever wrote. It was 11 years ago today that we uploaded our first post, which may be found here. Maybe we will reread that post together this evening during sundowners on the veranda. It’s such fun to review our lives in such detail whenever it appeals to us.
Also, seeing old photos is a special treat. We didn’t post many photos in the first year, but after our readership grew in leaps and bounds, we realized adding photos was a must, along with uploading a new post daily. Initially, we thought we were doing the posts to keep the family updated. Little did we know it would eventually grow in leaps and bounds to reach readers worldwide. We are very grateful to all of our readers.
Soon Vusi will be here. He’ll fill the water dispenser with water so I can make Tom a huge batch of his favorite iced tea. Then, he’ll refill the pellet bucket so Tom won’t have to do it when he arrives. Plus, Vusi will fill the birdbath with fresh water and the birdseed containers with seeds. I’ve made lots of ice using our ice cube trays, so Tom won’t have to do that either. I want his first few days back to be free of household chores so he can relax and do what he loves.
Thanks for all the love and support from so many while I’ve been alone in the bush these past ten days and nights. It’s meant so much to me that I never really felt alone.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, March 15, 2022:
