Today’s the party!!!…It’s raining buckets, off and on…

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One of the two identical chocolate keto cakes I frosted this morning. They are not perfect but they will be tasty.

Soon, I will frost the two cakes for tonight’s party. But I only took the blocks of butter out of the refrigerator a short time ago. In this hot, humid weather, it should soften sufficiently to begin to make the frosting for the two-layer cakes. All I have to do to prepare to arrive at the party house at 4:30 pm, 1630 hrs., is frost the cakes, do my nails, pack the cooler with the breakfast foods for the docs and their wives, pack the cakes, and get ready.

Forty days ago, I ordered four shirts from a company that ships to South Africa. When the package hadn’t arrived yesterday afternoon, I gave up hope that I’d have something more dressy and new to wear to the party. Surely, one of the four tops I selected would be suitable.

Wouldn’t you know, last night, while we were at the bar at Jabula, I got a phone call from the delivery guy that he was in Marloth Park but needed someone to sign for the package. He offered to drop it off at one of the security companies, Securicon, located on the main paved road in Marloth. We appreciated his willingness to do this.

On the left of this photo, you can see the humidity in the air when Octomom and her eight piglets visited. Of course, we tossed pellets their way.

After we had a fun time at Jabula, on our way home, we stopped at Securicon, and they indeed had the package with my four tops. Any one of the tops will be suitable for the party since I am thrilled with each one. Currently, they are hanging on hangers on the clothes drying rack outside under the veranda roof, hoping the wrinkles will come out.

I purchased them from Lightinthebox, a company I’ve used in the past where I can buy decent quality, reasonably priced clothes that require six weeks shipping time to South Africa. By making purchases from this company, they deal with customs and shipping, so I don’t have to do a thing, a far cry from ordering anything from the US which is expensive and a hassle.

It’s raining off and on in buckets today. It seems to rain for 30 minutes, then stops for a while, the sun comes out, and then starts up again. If this continues this way, I don’t think we’ll have to be concerned about guests coming to the party. If it rained non-stop, the dirt roads in Marloth Park might be challenging to navigate. But, right now, we’re optimistic.

The piglets have a great time playing together.

Speaking of Jabula, the visitors scheduled to meet with us last night couldn’t make it. They didn’t get into Kruger in time to meet up with us after their game drive, and we understood. Most people come here for the wildlife in the gardens of the holiday homes and an opportunity to get into Kruger. With access to Crocodile Bridge impossible for weeks due to flooding, we sure understood when they could finally enter.

Nonetheless, we had a great time at Jabula chatting with Dawn, Leon, David, and guests that we’d already met at other events. Once again, it was another fun evening. And, of course, we’re looking forward to seeing Dawn, Leon, and David at our party tonight.

Also, we can’t stop thinking of all the hard work Louise and Danie are doing right now preparing all the food and decorations for the party in this heat and humidity. We’re heading to the party house at 4:30, 1630 hrs., so Louise and Danie have time to shower and get ready for the party. They’ve been working on it for days.

Johnny and his mom Jasmine in the garden this morning with three more bushbucks on the opposite side of the little fence.

This morning, low on photos, we were thrilled to see Octomom and her eight piglets stop for a visit. They were all soaking wet but were playful and happy. Their mom is taking good care of them. We hadn’t seen them in about ten days and were thrilled that the eight piglets were still intact. It was fun to watch them playing with each other in the rain.

I just finished frosting the two cakes. The heat and humidity were so high that I had to rush and get them into the refrigerator right away to avoid the frosting melting. Since they are homemade keto cakes, they don’t hold up in the weather as easily as cake mixes with fillers and preservatives. I’m not the best at frosting cakes to look perfect, but I did my best.

Well, folks, that’s it for today. Tomorrow’s post will include the first batch of photos from the party and will continue over the next few days.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 25, 2022:

Our upcoming June 29 Azamara cruise to Ukraine’s scheduled itinerary raised significant concerns. Eventually, the cruise was canceled. For more, please click here.

Tomorrow is the party!…Busy baking the two cakes today, knowing there’s 4.5 hours of load shedding tomorrow…

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Earl was rolling around in the dirt, having the time of his life.

When we noticed that tomorrow morning’s load shedding starts at 11:00 am and doesn’t end until 3:30 pm, 1530 hrs., and since we can’t use the oven during load shedding, I felt it was best to bake the two double layer cakes today, rather than risk it and try to do it tomorrow.

Besides, with the effects of Cyclone Freddie making an appearance tomorrow, we could easily lose power altogether, and then again, we wouldn’t be able to use the oven, the only appliance we can’t use when our inverter is operating.

Having left all the rest of the planning in Louise and Danie’s hands, at their insistence, we have little else to do between now and then.  We invited Doc Theo, Doc Mel, and Doc Philip to the party, and they and their wives have confirmed. As a thank you for Doc Theo saving my life in 2019, we’ve offered them to stay overnight at the Khaya Umdani house, and we’re bringing over all the breakfast fixings for Sunday morning.

We’re leaving them orange juice and Prosecco to make mimosas along with coffee and fresh cream, eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, two types of heavy grain bread, butter, apricot, and strawberry jams,  This way; they can get up at their leisure and make a nice breakfast while they lounge at the beautiful house for as long as they’d like….a mini holiday in the bush.  They won’t have to do a thing… no dishes…no cleanup. It’s all taken care of.

Louise arranged for Vusi to stay this weekend to help with the party wearing his traditional Zulu attire, and he will assist in food and beverage service. He is a fine young man who has worked for Louise and Danie for many years. He will be paid and tipped generously for his meticulous work. He takes great pride in his work (as does Zef, as well), and it is evident in everything he does for them, their other clients, and us.

Earl found this spot to roll around in the dirt, which we’ve seen other wildebeests use in the past.

As for the mess at the end of the party, Vusi will take care of everything as well as cleaning up the dishes and cleaning the house after the doctors and their wives leave sometime on Sunday. There will be nothing for us to do. I’m sure Louise and Danie will be very busy throughout the party as they are today and tomorrow, preparing all the food and drinks.

Fortunately, the Khaya Umdani house has solar power, installed recently, so even if the storm knocks out the power, and of course, during load shedding, the food will be kept safe and the guests comfortable. We won’t be sitting outdoors in the dark or eating food kept in a refrigerator that wasn’t operational due to load shedding for over four hours.

All four layers for the two chocolate keto cakes I am making are now cooled and in the refrigerator. I couldn’t leave them out due to flies and high humidity. Tomorrow morning, I will make the frosting and frost and decorate both cakes. Photos will follow in tomorrow’s post.

We had an excellent breakfast this morning, as we always do. After almost 32 years, I’ve finally learned how to make Tom’s eggs properly. I’m a good cook, but I’ve always had trouble making eggs over easy without breaking the yolks. My issue was always impatience, turning the eggs too soon or too late.

Torn Ear and Broken Horn are hanging out by the pool.

Now, I turn the eggs and immediately remove the pan from the burner and remove them onto the plate so they stop cooking. Voila! Perfect over easy eggs. Tom is thrilled, even though it took me so many years to get it right. Sure, he could make his eggs, but I am the chosen cook in the household. He handles countless other tasks I dislike, such as dishes. We’re both content with our selected household tasks.

Those black worms are still around. Last night, we left the still-wet laundry outdoors on the rack. I had a dream that when I got up in the morning, I went outside to discover thousands of those black worms on the clean clothes. That was not the case. I only found one black worm on the laundry on a black washcloth. I flicked it away, and we were good to go on the rest. Whew!

Tonight, we’re headed to Jabula at 5:00 pm, 1700 hours, but much to our delight, we’re meeting people at the bar for sundowners who are from the US and are relatives of the wife of a very wonderful man that worked for me over 20 years ago. It will be fun to have a drink with Roger’s wife, Barb’s sister Victoria, and her family members, Small world, isn’t it?

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today,  February 24, 2022:

Ironically, yesterday, Tom and I went to Stoep Cafe, and I had this same salad. One year ago, Rita and I each had this fantastic smoked trout salad at Stoep Cafe the prior day. Coincidence.  For more photos, please click here.

Busy morning…Off to Komatipoort once again…

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This is Earl, on a mission to check out the pellet situation…which is good. We love it when wildebeests peek around the side of the house to see if we’re on the veranda. It always makes us laugh, the funny creatures that they are!

We have to leave shortly for our teeth cleaning appointments with Luzaan in Komatipoort, head to the pharmacy for a few things, then off to Spar for some vegetables and odds and ends for the party in two days. It’s hard to believe it came up so quickly. It seemed so far away for so long.

Louise and Danie are busy getting ready to make all the exquisite food for our event, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what they decided to make. Much to my surprise, I let them make all the food decisions. Usually, I’d be right in there trying to control the situation.

After a while, he moved over the veranda railing to see if any pellets were being tossed to the piglets. Again, Earl lucked out.

But, the new me, along with total trust that they will do a fantastic job and know what we would want to serve, we left it all in their hands. I didn’t need to suggest a thing knowing they have such fine taste and are such spectacular cooks. Almost all of our guests are South African, and there are certain ways of cooking and foods that South Africans like, although their taste buds vary for other options.

Of course, we’ll be taking plenty of photos of the food, the decor, and the people. We can’t wait to share them here with our readers which may be posted over several days. Also, what an excellent way to document this special event in my life. At any time, we are only a few clicks away from savoring the event once again in photos.

We can’t believe the perfect tusks on this mom of four piglets.

We just returned from Komati after getting our teeth cleaned; having a lovely breakfast at Stoep Cafe; visiting the pharmacist to fill my antibiotic prescription for Monday’s tooth extraction; and finally, a quick shopping trip to Spar. We left at 9:30 am, and now it is after 2:30 pm, 1430 hrs., and I’m sitting on the bed with the fan blowing on me, attempting to cool off and finish today’s post.

Once we got into the house and put away the perishables, I got the first of two loads of laundry hung on the outdoor rack. I left the non-perishable items on the kitchen counter to put away after Tom’s nap. He tries to take a nap every day at 2:00 pm, but it doesn’t always work out.

Ugly worm. Red markings on insects often indicate that venom is a possibility.

My options were to stay in the dining room to finish the post, where it is sweltering right now, or quietly finish it in the bedroom with the fan blowing on me while I cool off. I chose to go into the bedroom, and be as quiet as a mouse, typing on my keyboard, and ensuring that the dinging notifications were turned off on my laptop and phone.

While Tom’s teeth were being cleaned, I went to our eye doctor’s office next door to buy a new pair of sunglasses. I’d purchased one of those cheap drugstore varieties months ago but found them to be uncomfortable with the lenses being too dark. Today, I bit the bullet and purchased a quality pair of JEEP brand sunglasses (US-made vehicle brand), spending ZAR 1500, US $82, way more than I usually spend for non-prescription sunglasses.

We will be glad when these creepy black worms are gone within a few weeks. They fall on us when we are outdoors.

When we returned home, I looked online to see that I had paid a reasonable price. Imported products in South Africa are usually expensive, although often not quite as much as one would pay in the US. I am satisfied with my purchase. These should last a few years, especially if I store them in the case that came with them. I promised myself I won’t throw them in the bottom of whatever cloth bag I was using at the time.

We have great leftovers tonight for a low-key evening on the veranda. Last night, I wore one of Tom’s Bugs Away shirts and didn’t get any new bites. I think the repellent in my Bugs Away shirts has worn off since I still get bites while wearing them. I can wear Tom’s shirt around the house, especially in the early evenings when the mozzies are on a rampage, although I wouldn’t wear one of his in public since they are way too big for me and look sloppy.

The clothes I ordered to wear to my party have not arrived, and won’t at this late a date, I don’t think they’ll arrive in time. I guess I will have to wear something I already have. I supposed that once I’m dressed and ready, I won’t give it another thought.

I am off to the kitchen, quietly leaving the bedroom, to put away the rest of the groceries and hang up the second load of laundry; It’s so humid I doubt they’ll dry until tomorrow after more time in the sun.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 23, 2022:

Broken Horn steps onto the veranda and can wait an hour for us to “do something.” For more photos, please click here.

Cyclone Freddie is on its way…How will this impact our party?…

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Photo Cyclone Freddi in Madagascar from a news story at this site.

Cyclone Freddie just hit Madagascar, as shown in the above photo. It’s about a two-hour drive from Marloth Park to the Mozambique Channel (part of the Indian Ocean). We may not get a direct hit but could easily experience heavy rains and winds. According to Saturday’s weather report, rain is expected at 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs., when the party starts and continues throughout the evening.

We are not worried at all. If the winds don’t escalate, we should be able to be outdoors during the party with the huge roof over the veranda, But the Khaya Umdani house is large enough to accommodate all of the expected 28 guests. There is an enormous lounge room with lots of seating should we all choose to stay indoors.

The humidity will be high, but the temperature will be around 70F, 21C. It shouldn’t be too uncomfortable at the party. We hope the rain won’t keep any of our party-goers from coming. About 12 guests come from Komatipoort, but South Africans are used to inclement weather.

A lovely kudu and her calf. The mom looks pregnant again.

This morning at 11:00 am, Dawn and I met up at Imbewe Spa in Marloth Park for pedicures. We always have a great time chatting and laughing among ourselves and the technicians. It’s a delightful way to relax and end up with pretty-looking toes. I hadn’t had a pedicure since before Christmas, and it certainly was time to do another, especially with the upcoming party, to which I will wear sandals.

I had ordered a few items of clothing to wear to the party, but they have yet to arrive, and now I suspect they won’t be here on time with the party only three days from today. So it goes. TIA. I always remind myself that “This is Africa,” and I don’t expect things to be like they are in the US or many other countries worldwide.

After Tom picked me up at the spa when my pedi was done, we headed to Louise’s office. We wanted to pay for the party’s catering and pick up a printed prescription from Dr. Singh for antibiotics for the upcoming tooth extraction on Monday. I wish I’d arranged for the extraction to be a few more days down the road so I wouldn’t have to think about it over the party weekend.

Norman and Nina are in the garden enjoying pellets. The baby was outside the little fence.

With the tooth hurting more recently, it was important not to wait another day. I had postponed it due to the post-Covid face pain and sinus problem on the opposite side, and I’d waited long enough. Once this is done, I will have a great sense of relief. I always dread any type of dental work.

At Louise’s office, we discussed some of the plans for the party. Tomorrow, Vusi will come to get all the beer and wine and ensure everything that requires chilling is started. There’s a wine cooler at the house, which will come in handy. Tom will buy tons of ice for the party to ensure we don’t run out. South Africans generally use ice with their white wine since it gets warm quickly in the hot weather.

I am making salmon and tuna salad for tonight’s dinner, while Tom will have leftover pizza and green salad. Thus,  we’re all set for tonight’s and tomorrow’s dinners. I have to bake and frost the two keto chocolate cakes for the party on Saturday.

Kudus are such good-looking animals. Then again, we find most of the wildlife to have an attractive look about them.

We won’t be using birthday candles. After Covid, having anyone blowing on a cake makes no sense. I’ve seen many photos of birthday parties with candles being blown out. When I think of that now, I wonder why this traditional practice ever made sense. Besides, 75 candles are way too many to put atop a cake.

That’s it for today, folks. I’m running a little late getting today’s post done and would like to have it uploaded before we wind down our day and relax for the evening.

Thanks again to our family, friends/readers for all the heartfelt birthday wishes. I received more than any other year this year, and it meant the world to me.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 22, 2022:

Us at the bar at Jabula on the night of my 74th birthday. For more photos, please click here.

It was a fantastic 75th birthday with more celebrations yet to come..

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What a great time was celebrating my birthday at Tamborina Restaurant in Komatipoort with Dawn and Leon!

We had such a fun day yesterday on my birthday. Any reason to celebrate is a cause for us to plan an event. Initially, we hadn’t planned to do anything with the party coming up on Saturday, but when Dawn and Leon asked what we were doing, we all decided to go to lunch.

It is always fun to get Dawn and Leon out of the restaurant and able to relax with us. It was such fun spending my birthday with such good friends.

We all decided to head to the Portuguese restaurant on the main road in Komatipoort for lunch since none of us cared to drive in the dark from Komati to Marloth Park. We don’t usually drink alcohol during the day, but we were in a celebratory mood and each ordered drinks with our lunches.

Dawn ate one roll, and Tom ate the rest. How unusual!

They didn’t have light wine, as in all of the restaurants in Marloth Park, so I ended up with regular white wine and slowly sipped on it with lots of ice in the glass, diluting it sufficiently for my taste. Our food was delicious, as shown in today’s photos, and we had fun taking photos of each other so we’d have something to post.

My grilled chicken and bacon salad was delicious.

We always enjoy having time out and about with Dawn and Leon, getting them away from Jabula for social time without the distractions of running the restaurant practically around the clock. Our conversations are always filled with laughter and. profound and important topics and commonalities we share.

I also ordered this little bowl of grilled calamari which was also delicious. Guess who ate my bread?

We hadn’t been to Tamborina in quite some time. The last time we were, there was with Rita and Gerhard a few years ago when we also had a perfect time. Dining is exclusively outdoors; yesterday, it was initially uncomfortable in the heat and humidity. But, once we got situated, pillows under our butts on the wooden chairs, we forgot all about it.

Reminiscent of our ten months in lockdown in India, Tom couldn’t resist ordering Chicken Penne Pasta which he ate every night for eight of the ten months.

The time flew by. After we finished our lunch, Leon suggested we visit one of his favorite bars in Komati, which we’d heard him talk about occasionally, but had never visited. Leon hesitated for us to go thinking it was too much of a “working class” bar for our tastes. But, in Minnesota, we’d often attend get-togethers with family and friends at casual, laid-back bars.

Dawn and Leon both had the fried sole with chips and rice.

We can easily enjoy all types of bars and restaurants as we did while living in Minnesota. We don’t always need to be in an upscale environment to have a good time.

After lunch,  the four of us stopped at a little bar in Komatipoort, Koos se Kroeg, which had these money-sucking slot machines. We didn’t play. We stayed until load shedding started, and it became sweltering in the bar without aircon.

As it turned out, we were the only customers there, along with the owner’s wife, who served us while the owner was asleep on the pool table, as shown in the photo below. Hahahaha. We all had a good chuckle over that.

The owner of the bar was asleep on the pool table.

Back at home around 3:30 pm, 1530 hrs., I finished the post for the day and relaxed in the bedroom with the fan on to cool off. Tom was still too full for dinner (especially after eating five pieces of bread), but my light meal left me hungry by dinnertime. I reheated a few slices of homemade keto pizza to eat while we watched a few shows on my laptop. The mosquitoes and black worms were everywhere, so we didn’t care to be outdoors while I ate my pizza.

I talked on the phone with my sister Julie for about an hour with lots of laughing. Later on, I spent a lot of time thanking family, readers/friends for sending so many thoughtful birthday wishes. It was a great day.

Today, we’re staying home, again eating leftover pizza and salad and enjoying a quiet day in the bush. The sun is shining, the temperature is 90F, 32C, the humidity is only 47%, and the dew point is a much lower 67 today. It’s much more tolerable today than over the past weeks.

That’s it for today, folks. We look forward to sharing more new photos tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 21, 2022:

Danie and Louise were hanging onto our elephant’s tusks. For more photos, please click here.

It will be a wonderful 75th birthday!…Gratefulness is at the forefront….Attack of the black worms…

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There are thousands of these black worms on the veranda and in our garden.

There are no words I can say to express my gratitude for this milestone birthday. Well, it’s a milestone by my standards, three-quarters of a century…good grief. I never imagined this would be my life when I was 75. I’d imagined we’d be living in the US in a senior community of one sort or another, going out to dinner for the early bird special, having breakfast at Perkins or Denny’s on occasion, lots of family gatherings, playing cards, and making a monthly visit to our primary care physician, as most seniors in the US do.

Instead, our physician, Doc Theo, his two associates,(his brother) Doc Mel, and Doc Philip, and their wives, along with many other friends, are joining us for my catered birthday party on Saturday in the bush. My biggest concern is that we have plenty of South African wines and beer to serve at the party, and many animals stop by for a visit. It’s all so fun and exciting.

These worms are caterpillars. But there are way too many of them! Yuck!

This morning our garden was filled with animals. Even Norman stopped by to wish me a Happy Birthday, to which I tossed him “Norman’s lunch.” But, speaking of lunch, in a short time, we’re heading out to meet Dawn and Leon (great friends and owners of Jabula) for lunch at Tamborina in Komatipoort, known for their fantastic seafood.

Since we prefer not to drive in the dark, a lunchtime event was more suitable today, the actual day of my birthday. The birthday party is being held on Saturday, February 25, at the gorgeous Khaya Umdani house, with lots of room for our 28 guests, rain or shine. Our home isn’t big enough to accommodate that size of a group, so Louise and Danie offered this house to us for my birthday. Wow! This will work out well!

Mushroom is growing at the base of a tree in the garden due to the high humidity.

We wish we could have invited more of the many lovely friends we’ve made in Marloth Park, but space is limited, and the magic number was 28, with seating for everyone. We’re bringing our Bluetooth speaker for music, and we’ll be mainly playing oldies from the 70s and 80s. For all we know, there will be dancing on the veranda.

Although the party will be casual, the food will undoubtedly be over the top. Louise and Danie are catering the food and accouterments. They have hosted weddings and other special events and are excellent at this. Of course, we’ll post many photos from the party and hopefully from today’s lunch.

This Big Daddy kudu appears to be sprouting one of those third mini horns between his eyes, the weirdest phenomenon.

Since yesterday, we’ve noticed an invasion by some ugly black worms. They are common this time of the year, but we’ve never seen them until this year. Most likely, they are due to all the rain we’ve had in the past several weeks. Supposedly they are harmless but annoying when they land on us.

Now that my long-haul Covid symptoms are improving, on Monday, I am having a tooth pulled by Dr. Singh in Malalne. Hopefully, he will be able to place a temporary tooth to avoid me walking around with a gaping hole that will show when I open my mouth or smile. I will report how that works out next Tuesday. If it didn’t still hurt, I wouldn’t be doing this! I despise going to the dentist and, even worse, having a tooth pulled.

These dazzle zebras have been regular visitors lately.

Thanks to all of our wonderful family readers/friends for the birthday wishes. Every one of you is so thoughtful to think of me on this special day. You have no idea how much this means to me.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 20, 2022:

Louise and Danie hosted the interaction event for my birthday. We couldn’t believe we could be so close and interact with the two elephants who freely roam in the wild. e photos, please click here.

Another humid scorcher!!!…A busy morning left me sweating…

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Four Big Daddies stopped by for pellets this morning. They share nicely with one another.

At the moment, I am in the bedroom at 1:00 pm, 1300 hrs., after sweating in the kitchen for the past three hours. I made breakfast, cooked and chopped the cooled sausages for homemade keto pizza, made three pizza crusts, chopped and diced all the vegetables, and pre-cooked the pizza crusts.

Since we can’t use the oven during load shedding, which occurs at dinnertime tonight, we decided to cook all three pizzas now and can heat our servings in the microwave when it’s time to eat this evening. All I have left is to make the salad which I’ll do once I cool down.

Zebras don’t get along when vying for pellets. They snort, head-butt, and kick one another. But, they do fine when drinking from the pool.

With all the rain lately and the mozzies on a rampage for human flesh, I am again wearing long pants and a long sleeve Bugs-Away shirt with the sleeves buttoned at the wrist on the tighter button to ensure none will fly up the sleeve for a nibble. It’s the only way to protect myself, especially when sweating wears off the DEET repellent. I can’t stand the thought of reapplying that toxic chemical any more often than I have to.

Although I reapply repellent every six hours, when it’s supposed to last in dry conditions for eight hours, I still end up with lots of bites. I wake up during the night itching like crazy when, even with the aircon on, I still sweat under the light blanket. It seems that warmth exacerbates the itchiness.

Recently, I’ve found that using Benzocaine numbing cream stops the itching for several hours, but it doesn’t work well during the day when using repellent with it. It never seems to work out using multiple cream products on the skin, such as applying any body lotion while using repellent.

It’s always a pleasure to see these big boys in the garden.

Once the bedroom cooled down, I turned off the aircon and am fairly comfortable with the fan running at its highest speed. I may end up spending the next few hours in the bedroom working on today’s post and other projects, such as researching holiday homes for upcoming locations.

We feel we’re somewhat on hold from booking much more right now while we await the answer to our visa extensions. If we don’t get the approval to stay until June, leaving in March would impact what we’d do next. We can only wait and see what transpires in the next few weeks.

Last night, we had another fun-filled evening at the bar at Jabula. Locals we’d met in the past were there, and the conversation was lively and animated. Later in the evening, back home, we watched another episode of the Good Doctor, a show we are binge-watching at night. Its quite an enjoyable series with lots of episodes.

Bossy stopped by to see what was on the menu.

We’d planned to go to Kruger tomorrow on my birthday, but the Crocodile Bridge is still closed, and we don’t want to drive an extra three hours to go up and back from the Malalane Gate. We’ll go another day as soon as the river settles down.

I’ll upload a short post tomorrow morning since we’re meeting Dawn and Leon for my birthday lunch at Tamborina, located in Komatipoort. This way, neither of us will have to drive in the dark, if we’d gone for dinner. We rarely go out to dinner to any restaurants that would require us to drive home at night. It’s not safe on the roads.

Today, we’re content to stay home, enjoy our pizza and salad dinner, and later hunker down in the cool bedroom for some mindless drivel, the end of a perfect Sunday in the bush.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 19, 2022:

Seigfried and Roy were sharing pellets. For more photos, please click here.

Another fine weekend in the bush…

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He’s so comfortable with us that he often lays down to rest in the shade.

The weather today is a little more comfortable. The humidity is at 90%, the dew point is at 77, and the temperature is 80F, 27C. It was not a lot lower than this time yesterday. It’s a busy morning around here. I folded all the laundry on the rack that took over 24 hours to dry, but most of the little rugs I washed and hung in the outdoor laundry room were still wet.

With the new inverter system keeping us from experiencing load shedding, we aren’t using the clothes dryer since it uses too much electricity, which we’d instead save for more critical power needs. Everything is working well, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the new system.

Seeing Gordy (aka Gordon Ramsey) in the garden is always pleasurable.

We can tell by a familiar blink when load shedding starts and ends; sometimes, the WiFi goes out for five or ten minutes. Other than that, we can’t tell that it’s load shedding. We love not worrying about our food spoiling and being able to buy enough meat to last for a few weeks.

Tom hand-grated the massive block of mozzarella cheese we purchased at the local Wild Butchery a few days ago, and tomorrow, once again, we’re making keto pizza, enough to last for several nights. My party isn’t until next Saturday, the 25th. We’ll share details about the party in the next several days, held at the Khaya Umdani house, a much larger house than our holiday rental. Need I say, we both are excited about this special celebration.

Bossy stopped by to see what was happening.

Monday, the actual day of my birthday, we’d planned to go to Kruger, but we’re waiting to see if the park will be opened by then with the Crocodile Bridge flooded over, off and on, over the past few weeks. If it is open, we’ll head out Monday morning, have breakfast at the Mugg & Bean and see what wildlife we can find. We’ll have leftover pizza when we return in time for sundowners on the veranda and quiet dinner together.

Another female kudu we didn’t know stopped by.

If the Crocodile Bridge is still closed, we’ll stay home, which I don’t mind not making a big fuss about my actual birthday, with the party coming up several days later. We’ll celebrate then.

Last night, we headed to Jabula for another fun Friday night, hanging out with locals and dining on consistently excellent food. We never fail to have a good time. Dawn and Leon had been away for a few days, and it was great to see them again. Leon still seems to be feeling well after the fourth month of his terminal cancer diagnosis, for which he was only expected to live for three to four months. He looks and feels good, so we hope a true miracle has occurred. We can’t imagine living in the bush without him here.

Since it’s the weekend again, the animal visits are few, and we’ve been scrambling to find enough photo ops to post here. We’re doing our best to develop interesting photos, but it’s tricky right now. The roads are still too muddy to venture out for photo ops in the little rental car. It’s the nature of the beast (no pun intended).

The helmeted guinea fowls have returned. They were gone for a few months, as they do each year.

Tonight at 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs., we’ll head back to Jabula for Saturday night’s entertainment. Amazingly, we are always assured of a great time heading there every Friday and Saturday evening. We never tire of visiting the establishment and always look forward to seeing people we know and meeting new people.

Not much is required of either of us for the remainder of the day. We’re waiting to hear about our visa extensions to begin booking holiday homes in Scotland before the upcoming two cruises. We have about six weeks to book after we leave South Africa on June 8 and until the first cruise begins on August 1, 2023. We should have an answer in the next few weeks.

That’s it for today, folks. We hope you have an enjoyable weekend!

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 18, 2022:

Bossy arrived with her baby and another mom and baby. We couldn’t have been happier to see her young one. For more photos, please click here.

Humidity and rain continue…Kudu pulling down branches…Why???…Animal behavior…

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Right now, at 11:00 am, the weather is as follows:

  • Temperature: 77F, 25C,
  • Humidity: 100%
  • Dew Point: 78

Although the temperature is low, the humidity is unbearable. Wearing jeans and a long sleeve Bugs-Away shirt to keep from getting bites, I am drenched in sweat. It continues to rain a few times every 24 hours. I’d much rather have dry, hot days over this uncomfortable humid weather.

Even Little Johnny, with his tiny budding horns, digs in the dirt to get mud on his horns. What constitutes this behavior?

As shown in the above photo of Little Johnny, a young male bushbuck, many of the horned animals, even with tiny budding horns, are digging in the dirt to make themselves look bigger and more intimidating. Some animals dig in the ground with their tusks or horns, searching for edible roots.

With the dirt easily accessible after it’s been raining for weeks, we’ve seen many muddy horns. Even Norman stopped by a few evenings ago with his long horns covered in mud. Later we saw him digging in an anthill to add more dirt, the same anthill we’ve seen kudus, bushbucks, and warthogs attacking from time to time.

Animal behavior is quite interesting, and we look up information online about a particular animal’s behavior almost daily. Oddly, many wildlife species haven’t been studied extensively, and there may be little information about specific behaviors we observe while watching them day after day.

Little Johnny quickly learned how to stare us in the eyes, looking for pellets.

Many casual observers, such as us, speculate about animals’ behavior, but those observations may be incomplete and inaccurate. We often guess why a specific animal is acting a certain way, thus prompting us to conduct research. Of course, we’re always looking for information from reliable sources.

This morning, we watched a male kudu working very hard to take down a branch from a tree. We posted the above video about this behavior in 2018 and are excited to post it again today based on today’s topic. When looking online for “why do kudus knock down branches,” the answers are few and vague.

When we watch this behavior, we think it is for the kudu to eat the inaccessible leaves from higher up on the tree, as shown in our above video. But, often, as today, we watched a kudu pull down a large branch and never eat a single leaf once he’d knocked it down. Is there another reason he may have worked so hard to accomplish this feat?

There were other males and females nearby. Was he showing off his brute strength to intimidate the males and attract the females? It’s hard to find such information to substantiate this type of behavior.

Do these female kudus lie together in the bush for any reason other than to rest? The answers are hard to find.

When we’ve gone on a game drive with guides, their comments vary on animal behaviors. After watching wildlife daily for over three years, we keep our mouths shut about what we’ve observed when in a group. We’re no experts. Jane Goodall spent over 60 years studying and interacting with chimpanzees in the wild, yet she has said there is still much to learn.

As casual observers of animal behavior, our experience is uneducated, limited, and, at times, biased by our love and interest in certain animals. Not a day goes by that I’m not trying to discover the reason for the behaviors exhibited by nyala Norman. How did he and Nina kick Noah out of the family group to ensure he’d stop grazing with them and the new baby? We haven’t seen Noah since then. Others have reported they’ve seen him at least two kilometers from here. Will he ever return?

We’ll never know. Many observers claim to know and understand these various behaviors, but even with them, there is uncertainty. If only animals could talk and tell us the answers to these and other questions. But, like the mystery of life and the afterlife, we can only speculate. We, as humans, just aren’t meant to know some things.

We continue in our relentless pursuit of answers, which makes the search all the more fascinating. That uncertainty inspires us to be continually enthralled by wildlife and the world around us. From that source of motivation, we continue on in our world travels, hungry for more knowledge, connection, and fascination with Mother Nature’s bounty.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 17, 2022:

Last night we took this blurry photo of our visiting porcupine through the glass and the screen doors to the veranda. If we’d opened either door, it would have run away. For more photos, please click here.

Awful experience at Spar Market…Pricing at the local meat market…Watch our video with Bossy’s baby kicking…

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The minute we walked into the Spar Market on Tuesday, I knew something was wrong. It was so hot and humid on an already hot and humid day we could barely breathe. Right away, I noticed the usual refrigerated dairy and perishable end-of-the-aisle area where I usually buy fine cheeses was totally empty, and the power was off. Also, the entire air conditioning system in the market was off.

Even during load shedding at Spar, the aircon stays on, and the refrigeration works without an issue from what we’ve seen repeatedly. Don’t get me wrong; we like Spar. This grocery store is generally well-stocked for this area of relatively low population, providing most foods we use. Sure, on occasion, certain items are out-of-stock or entirely unavailable. As a result, I’ve learned to stock up on things I use regularly.

We were soaked in sweat when Tom loaded the non-perishable items on the checkout belt, including an additional dozen bottles of wine for my upcoming birthday party in nine days. When we finally walked out of the market, the hot humid air felt cool compared to the discomfort in the market. We couldn’t wait to turn on the aircon in the car.

Check out that turned-back ear and those long eyelashes.

They may be selling a keto salad dressing one week, and the next time we go, it’s no longer available, nor do we ever see it again. There is a brand we like, Carb Smart, which has healthy mayonnaise without toxic seed and vegetable oils, spices, sugar-free barbecue sauce, and coffee creamer without all the chemicals and corn syrup. One week, they have two or three of these items, and the next week, there are none…never to be found again.

But, on Tuesday, when Tom and I headed to Komatipoort to shop, we were sorely disappointed when we couldn’t buy meat, cheese, and dairy. Immediately upon discovering this, I decided we’d shop for meat at the Wild Butchery at the Bush Centre in Marloth Park. We didn’t go until this morning after breakfast.

Bossy was looking my way, wondering if she could have some pellets.

Here’s what we purchased this morning:

  • 6 kg mince (sirloin – hamburger), 13 pounds
  • 2 kg  filet mignon, 4.4 pounds
  • 2 kg short ribs, 4.4 pounds
  • 2 kg bacon, 4.4 pounds
  • 3 kg lamb chops, 6.7 pounds
  • 2 kg block mozzarella cheese, 4.4 pounds

Total 17 kg, 37.5 pounds

Total Cost: US $76.11, ZAR 1373.55

That averages US $2.03, ZAR 36.64 per pound of meat and cheese. Where in the world could you buy this amount of protein at these fantastic prices? The filet mignon alone will provide us with two night’s meals of over 8 oz filets for each of us. We’d spend the total cost we paid today for only the filet mignon. Wow!

This amount of meat will last us for over two weeks. We’ll use only a portion of the mozzarella to make pizza this Sunday, with plenty left over for future dishes.

She’s such a lovely kudu.

Back at the house, we both started sweating profusely once again while putting everything away. By the time we were done, it was almost 3:00 pm, 1500 hrs. The dew point was at 78, the temperature at 88F, 32C, and humidity was 85%, way higher than tropical. Although these numbers aren’t much better today, it feels drier since it hasn’t rained in 24 hours, and the sun is shining.

I couldn’t imagine we’d want to sit on the veranda at 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., but once situated with our chilled drinks with many animals visiting, we forgot all about the weather and enjoyed our evening. The only shopping we had left was the meat we’d put off until this morning. But, after buying this amount of meat today, my grocery-shopping enthusiasm has returned. Hopefully, Spar has returned to “normal,” and everything will be as expected next time we shop on the 23rd.

It’s been obvious she has been pregnant for the past few months. The gestation period for kudus is 240 days.

As for buying meat in the future, we’ve decided to support the local Wild Butchery for great prices, excellent service, and quality products.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 1, 2022:

The large male only had one tusk. There could be many reasons for this, including fighting with other elephants or animals or natural causes. He looks sleepy or is very old. For more photos, please click here.