Unexpected Joy.

Five years ago, on the 7th of July, I opened the front door and nearly got a heart attack when I stepped out of the house and heard a bark next to me. A stray puppy had decided to make the corner of our front stoop his new resting place.

Two years earlier our 2 dogs (which we had in the family for over 15 years) died one after the other and we were ready to get a new dog but had not found anything yet.

As soon as we tried to get near the black puppy he would react strangely and we immediately saw that this puppy had been mistreated. His front paw also seemed out of joint.

We lead him, using the temptation of food, to our backyard. We gave him food and water but he was terrified of everyone but allowed me to touch him.

We asked neighbours if they knew if the dog had a home. Most of them did not even notice the lost puppy never mind know who he belong to.

After eating a hefty meal he started to chew at the gate. We opened the gate to set him free and he left. I was a little disappointed because he seemed to be exactly what we were looking for. I did not want a small dog in the house again nor a huge unmanageable beast of a dog either. We were looking for a playful medium size dog that did not need much grooming.

Three days later we got out of bed extremely early to do some chores. It was very cold and I had to go outside to do something. It was only about 7am and when I came outside the black puppy was sitting against one of the doors leading to the house. When he saw me his whole body started to shake partly from the cold and partly the excitement of seeing me again.

We opened the gate and he ran into the backyard on his own and there he has remained for five years. At first there were days they I did wonder if he was the right pup for us. He was extremely boisterous and the only naughty thing he ever did was dig up our seedlings.

He never interfered with laundry on the line. I was able to teach him to be extremely obedient. He is so playful and loves to catch the ball when I toss it for him.

One day I sat outside and he pressed against my leg. I gave him a firm hug and heard a cracking sound in his spine. I was shocked and after that his paw seemed to be straighter and the little bump he had on his spine disappeared altogether.

No-one can enter the property because he attacks everyone and bites them. I have to lock him away when maintenance has to be done. I like him that way – it makes us feel safe and protected. He loves me so and we have a close bond and I am so thankful for the unexpected little joy that came into our lives five years ago.

                  Here he is eagerly waiting for me to toss the ball so that he can run and catch it in mid air look at the playful excitement in those brown eyes.

The local bakery.

My relationship with my father was always rocky but I remember when there was a period when things went well for a while. My fondest memory of that time was of him rising early on Saturday mornings. I was still at school so I would stay in bed until he returned. He would go to the butchery and the bakery.

Then he would return home with a huge brown paper bag stacked to the brim with fresh bread.

The most awesome fresh bread smell would fill the whole kitchen. We would make strong coffee and each would delve into the bag. Some of us would have crispy rolls and margarine or cheese scones and biltong or a piece of fresh apple pie or rye bread with tomato and cheese or Portuguese loaf with peanutbutter and jam.

Later on in the day we would have French loaf and soup for lunch or raisin loaf with coffee or deliciously hot pies. There would also always be a large box of custard slices and cream tarts and éclairs for my mom.

Sadly, by the time I matriculated and left my hometown the bakery had closed. It is such a pity that one of the best things of my childhood does not exist anymore.

Nothing in particular. My job and dogs.



SOME DAYS YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE NOT GETTING AHEAD ...

BULL MASTIFFS - SO SWEET!

WELCOME TO A PREVIEW OF MY OFFICE.

WHY YOU NEED TO TAKE A KEY WITH YOU TO THE TOILET.

AHHHHHHH ....

MY BOSS (aka THE SKUNK)

MY WORK ENVIROMENT

Metal Detecting Dreamers

When my parents took us to the beach during our summer holidays I would rise early and they would still be sleeping and I would go to the balcony look out at the sea and then notice the elderly people walking up and down the beach with their metal detectors. I often wondered if they were not of a different sort of character than the rest of us. You know what I mean, dreamers.

 

I just read this article about a 75 year old woman who was digging for scrap metal when she hacked into a fibre-optic cable which runs through Georgia to Armenia, forcing many thousands of Internet users in both countries offline for several hours on March 28.

The woman was arrested, charged with damaging property and could face up to three years in prison if convicted.

Taking into account her advancing years, she has been released pending the end of the investigation and subsequent trial.

So many people inconvenienced by a dreamer’s thoughtless act.

My dog loves icing.

My dog enjoys eating icing. Before anyone attacks me, let me say I don't make it a habit of giving it to him often but he gets it about 3 times a year and absolutely loves it. Some pictures here of a dog eating a whole cake.

The Honey People

About fifteen years ago I met a couple. D was a tall thin sinewy man with grey stubble. He stuttered every time he spoke to me. His wife M, was not a very tall woman but she was as wide as a fridge.

For the past two days I have had them in my thoughts, not sure why, because I have not had any contact with them in years.

D had strange hobbies. He enjoyed stitching leather, I am not sure what he made but he was always looking for strong needles and thread suitable to do this job. It was a second marriage for both of them.

M was not a refined woman; at times she was quite crass and liked to order D around. M also had a terrible personal hygiene problem. She would go out in public with a T-shirt which she had obviously worn for a whole week. Rumpled by regular naps and stained down the front by regular snacks but the shocking part was the enormous yellow sweat stains underneath each arm.

I guess they were both in retirement living on a plot of land just on the outskirts of town. I always tried to be polite and I guess they thought I was fond of them when in actual fact I really wanted to avoid them.

There was one part of our conversations which I always dreaded. As soon as the usual pleasantries of greeting and catching up on general news was over D would say “have you read the book How to make friends and influence people?” and my answer would each time be the same “no I have not” and then he would stutter and try and describe a part in the book which really meant nothing to me. Not only did I not get the point he was trying to make, I had more important things on my mind and now fifteen years later I still can’t tell anyone what the point of it all was.

One time, when I saw them, D told me about his bee farming. He would take his hives to other provinces where there are citrus groves and he would offer the services of his bees to the citrus farmer. D thought that I would be interested in trying some of their honey, bottled by his own hands. He even suggested that I try and sell some for them.

M would send him to the shops so that we could gossip and then she would tell us how furious she was with him for taking her plastic kitchen bowls and funnels out of the house to bottle the honey.

I had nightmarish thoughts of him out in a grimy shed, holding a jar with his black fingernails and using her filthy kitchen utensils to mould the honey into the jar (Oh shivers down my spine).

One evening, I went out one evening and when I turned around there D was standing behind me staring and he rushed up to me. I decide then that I really did not want anything more to do with this couple. I felt that D had followed me and was trying to get me alone. I moved to a new house and he showed up one day out of the blue. I asked my mom to get rid of him. We never heard from them again.

Colour in the garden. The Crested Barbet.

This time of year sees the return of the crested barbet to our gardens. The colour and beauty of these birds captivates my attention.

Trachyphonus vaillantii (Crested barbet) 

Kuifkophoutkapper [Afrikaans]; iMvunduna [Zulu]; Mbangura (also generic term for woodpecker) [Kwangali]; Malioache [South Sotho]; Chizuvaguru [Shona]; Ludvonca [Swazi]; Ngoko [Tsonga]; Kôpaôpê [Tswana]; Kuifbaardvogel [Dutch]; Barbican promépic [French]; Haubenbartvogel [German]; Barbaças-de-poupa [Portuguese]

The Crested barbet occurs from Angola and Zambia south to southern Africa, where it is common in a wide range of woodland habitats. It is omnivorous, eating largely insects when fruit is scarce, although the chicks are fed exclusively insects.

Behavior

They are found singly or in pairs. They like to bounce around on the ground looking for food, they usually call from a branch out in the open. They do not fly easily and then only for short distances. Crested Barbets roost in holes in trees. They are very vocal, the call being a trill that can continue for long periods. Crested Barbets are aggressive towards other birds in their territory and chase off both nest competitors such as other Barbets and other birds such as doves and thrushes. They have also been recorded to have attacked a rat and killed a snake.

Breeding

They nest in a hole in a tree or a Sisal log in a garden. They are monogamous and territorial during breeding.

Both sexes excavate the nest, which consists of a chamber dug into the underside of a dead branch, defended vigorously against other hole-nesting birds. It lays 2-5, usually 3-4 eggs which are incubated by both sexes for about 17 days. The chicks stay in the nest for about 31 days, all the while the breeding pair enlarge the entrance hole as they grow.

Distribution and habitat

It prefers moist or dry open woodland, with trees such as miombo (Brachystegia) and Mopane (Colospermum mopane). It also occurs in suburban gardens (where it is welcome, as it feeds on snails) and grassland with patches of alien trees.

Crested barbets are  found in forests, savannah and sub-urban gardens, woodland thickets and watercourses in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Diet

The Crested Barbet feeds on Insects, other bird’s eggs and fruits. It is omnivorous, eating largely insects when fruit is scarce. It forages for insects mostly on the ground, sometimes flying into foliage to eat fruit. The following food items have been recorded in its diet:

• Animals
• invertebrates
• termites
• Coleoptera (beetles)
• Orthoptera (crickets and grasshoppers)
• moths
• snails
• Occasionally, it eats eggs and chicks of other birds.
• Plants
• fruit
• Rhus (karees)
• Euclea (guarris)
• Ficus (wild figs)
• Diospyros (jackal-berries)
• nectar
• Aloe
• Schotia brachypetala (Weeping boer-bean)

http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/lybiidae/trachyphonus_vaillantii.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_Barbet