We’re baaack!…WiFi working again…We’re ready to say hello!…More favorite photos…

A parade of elephants on the dry sands of the river.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Mr. & Mrs. Hornbill was eating seeds off the veranda table. We couldn’t put up the birdfeeder with monkeys nearby and placed the seeds on the table when they banged at the window with their beaks to remind us to feed them.  

After we returned from yesterday’s appointment with Doc Theo (yes, he comes to work on Saturdays and Sundays when necessary), the WiFi was back on. But after posting that the WiFi was down using my phone before we’d left, I decided to go well enough alone and not do a post after all.

I was reeling from the pain after he’d removed the dead skin from my leg, using surgical tweezers and what looked like a razor blade. It was painful then and painful afterward and is still painful this morning.  
A majestic waterbuck.

But, today, I won’t move from lying on the sofa with my legs up in hopes the little bit of swelling will go down and the discomfort will diminish. Oh, dear, there’s only 13 days until we fly to Ireland, and between the flying time, various layovers, and driving to the house, it will be an over 24-hour travel day.

Fortunately, as mentioned a few days ago, we booked business class for me, which will only be of significance during the 10 plus hour night flight when I’ll be able to lay down in my seat. I’d imagine there will be some opportunity to raise my legs on a few other flights. There are three flights in all.

Last night, we didn’t go out to Jabula for dinner. There’s no way I could have walked the steps or the ramp to get to the restaurant or sat with my legs down during dinner. 

Another parade of elephants crossing the bone-dry river several months ago before the rains.

Instead, we piled our plates with the tasty hot takeaway meals we’d each ordered and sat on the bed watching shows on my laptop during dinner and afterward. Louise had brought over two oversized bed trays, which have worked perfectly during this “feet up” period, which will be four weeks ago by Wednesday.

Hopefully, by this upcoming Wednesday, I’ll feel well enough for our planned dinner at Jabula with friends Uschi and Evan, who we haven’t seen in weeks.  Most recently, many of our friends have been traveling or at their “other” homes, and we’ve been less social than ever.  

In a little over a week, friends, Kathy and Don and Linda, and Ken will return to Marloth Park to see us a few more times and say our goodbyes. We will surely miss them after spending many beautiful times together in these past almost 15 months.

Blooming Bird of Paradise.

They’ve been such great friends before the surgery, during my hospital stays, and have stayed in close touch almost every day while recovering back at the house.  

Then, of course, there’s been regular communication and many visits by many of our MP friends beside Kathy, Don, Linda, and Ken;  Lynne and Mick, Janet and Steve, Uschi and Evan, Louise and Danie, Okey Dokey and family, Dawn and Leon (owners of Jabula), Leslie and Andrew and many more.

A special thanks to another Louise who loaned me the ideal walker I’ve used since the leg surgeries and will continue to operate until we’re ready to leave.  It’s been such help during this challenging time.

Sunset over the Crocodile River from the veranda at Ngwenya Lodge.

Many thanks to our friends, Facebook friends, and family in the US and other countries who have stayed in close touch as well, via email, phone calls, and text messages on Messenger.

Yesterday afternoon, I finished logging the balance of the month’s worth of receipts accumulated since the end of January when the heart condition was discovered, and I lost interest in entering the info onto our spreadsheet.

I have a massive pile of medical receipts from all four surgeries I’ve yet to log. As it turns out, our insurance company has yet to pay the balance of many of the bills. As a result, we will have to pay them out of pocket and deal with the insurance company legally.  

Willie loves making eye contact when I talk to him.

We can deduct medical expenses from our taxes if it exceeds 7.5% of our adjusted gross income in the US. If we have to pay more of the bill and don’t get reimbursed for the claims we’ve made out of pocket so far, we’ll be able to deduct the expenses.  

Subsequently, we are saving every receipt that we plan to pack and keep on hand until filing for 2019 taxes, which will be in about a year. I’d considered scanning everything, but it’s easier to make organized piles of the receipts than placing them on my computer as a scanned document.
 
Sometimes, the “old” way, not the technological route, is a little easier in a rare instance. We’ll see how it goes.
Suckling baby kudu and her mom.

Today, Tom will cook a lovely Sunday dinner; bacon-wrapped whole chicken breasts (pounded for thinness) stuffed with sauteed garlic, mushrooms, onions, and mozzarella cheese, rice for him, and cooked veggies for me on the side. Sounds wonderful. Tom has become quite the cook.

Have a pleasant Sunday dinner, whatever it may be, wherever you may be.

Photo from one year ago today, April 28, 2018:

Scar Face’s right eye is above the injury but may have been affected. He came to visit for many months, and then suddenly, he was gone. We sadly wondered if he was one of the warthogs that had been culled from the park.  For more photos, please click here.

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