On My Walk Today.....

Hello Everyone!!!!

I like to go for an early morning walk, before the day warms up and before the wind starts to gust.....
                The moon was still up ....

and the air was fresh and clean with just a little bite in it .....

    ..... and just as we started our walk, a    jackal cried nearby, but we were not lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it, so on we went ......
              .... An old rhino toilet ......
             (they use communal toilets)

   .....and a rhino scratch pole, the point shiny                            and smooth .......

I really miss them so much!!!The veld feels empty without having to watch out for them!!
....a beautiful Camel Thorn tree.....

(in our second language, Afrikaans, this tree is called a kameel doring - loosely translated, its called a camel thorn tree!!! Kameel = camel and doring = thorn but a kameelperd (camel horse) is afrikaans for giraffe .....

      .... and this is where the giraffe comes in..... These are the seed pods of a camel thorn tree and if you put 2 of them together like this, it looks almost exactly like the spoor of a giraffe!!! Really it does!!! 
And because the canopy is quite high, mostly giraffes eat the top leaves of this tree, and the seedpods, well that's quite a different story!!!! Everything eats them!!! It is loved by all game, cattle, everything and the donkeys looooove it and believe it or not, even my dogs eat it!!!! Crazy dogs!!!

  ..... and these are the thorns!!! Big, sharp and plentiful, they really cover the tree.....

So camel for the spoor of the giraffe and covered in mean thorns...Camel Thorn Tree or  Kameel Doring Tree.....

         
             ....a pretty colorful little lizard....

   ....this funny fan shaped plant...I really have  no idea what it's called but its so pretty, I will have to go look this one up......just look at the huge bulb peeking from the sand!!!It is really really big, isn't it?!!!
              ..
            ...some porcupine quills.....

         .... raw peanuts, the nuts actually grow                           under ground, like roots ....

         .....also known as monkey nuts......

      
       .......... guinea fowl feathers.........

                    ..... a leguaan.....
Boy it's fast!!!Running just like a crocodile, hissing and flicking his tongue, warning us to stay away.....

     ....and just like the rhino,Impalas also                        use communal toilets.......

       ...... this weird tick-like looking bug.....

               .....the sun starting to rise......

  .... the waterhole drying up quickly.....

    .... and this photo was taken later that day    just to show you how dry it really is.....

Now you can see why I am so envious of your lovely green gardens and the very green pathways you walk on!!!! Winter here is very bleak and depressing and when the last rainy season didn't bring our usual rain, it's even worse!!!! We have been in a drought now for more than 4 years!!!! The sand here is like beach sand but even that is turning into powder right now and the wind is just relentless!!! Sandstorms are a daily thing and really terrible!!! The dust gets in everywhere!!
Sooo, enjoy your green and colorful surroundings and make the most of your warm summer days!!!

See you soon....
Love
AMarie

Right Now.....

Hello My Friends


Hope you're all well and happy!!!  Thank you so much for all the lovely comments you left on my previous post!!!  I really do appreciate it!!!!  And I am happy to let you know, Zen's doing just fine!!! Already back at work!!!!  

This is just a fun post to show you what's going on in my life....Right Now.....

Right now.......

                     On my nightstand........

Loving these books!!! This is book 5 of 7!!! It's pure magic!!!

          
                 On my dressing table..............

Elizabeth Arden's 5th Ave!!! It makes me feel beautiful!!!

               On the side of my bath........

Bathtime loveliness!!!!

                   On  my little finger.....

A tiny pink flower!!! So very pretty!!!

                         On my laptop......

Looking for a new project!!! I love this afgan!!!! Mmmmm....maybe!!!

                       On my camera..........

Painting bookshelves!!!  Crisp White!!! They're  as good as new again!!!

                 On my coffee table.......

Magazines!!! I love to page through them and overload  on new ideas!!!

                      On my hook..............

Buntings = happiness!!! 

              On the menu tonight............

Yummy yummy!!!

                On my mind..................
No photos yet!!!  We are moving to a bigger game farm soon!!! The roof is going up in the next week and hopefully it will be ready in 2 weeks!!!  This is the first time we'll be moving into a brand new house!!!!
Very exciting and I'll tell you more about that once we have settled into our new place!!!

Please join me and show us what's going on in your life....Right Now....!!!!

Love
AMarie

My Dollie! My Sister! My Best Friend!!!

Hello my lovely bloggy friends

Today my little sister will be going into hospital for a small knee operation!!! I have a hollow place in my tummy!!!
PS: While I was busy writing this post, she phoned me from hospital and she's out of theatre and doing very well!!! Tears!!! Joy!!! Relieved!!! Oh, so relieved!!!

A broken cartilage in her knee was removed!!
This was as a result of a heavy fall while skydiving!!! More than ten years ago!!! Oh my word!!! Don't even want to go there....

I remember..... 
When I was little, my Mom had a very big tummy!!! She told us that she was growing a little brother or sister for us and eventually she went off to have this little sibling!!!! The only problem was that she came home with a dolly!!! A dolly just for me!!!
I dressed her, I fed her, I bathed her, I walked her .... And I loved her!!!!
I remember.....
How I carried her everywhere, to school that was really far, to church that was even further and up and over a very steep hill!!!! She was just so little and her legs always hurt!!! So I carried her!!!! Stockings, makeup and church shoes, it didn't matter!!! ..... I loved her!!!!!

I remember....
She even went on all my dates with me, school and sport events, it didn't matter, she was always there!!!!  Until the very day that I left home as a married woman, I did all of this....Because I loved her!!!!

I remember......
We got married and moved down to Cape Town, over a 1000 km away!!! I was happy with my new life but I missed my Dolly!!!
I missed my family too but I really missed my little Dolly!!!!
Four months later she flew up and stayed with us for the summer holidays!!! She arrived at the airport holding the hostesses hand and with a big board around her neck saying"FIELD"!!! She was still so little!!!  We had such a ball...surfing, biking, swimming, Xmas, cooking and so much more!!! And I loved her......!!!!

I remember....
This was when my dolly became my sister!!!!!  And so the traveling started!!! By road, by plane, busses.....  And with time the separation became a little easier!!! We both got older and we both grew up!!! And I still Loved her....!!!!

I remember....
This was when my sister became my best friend!!!  And after her heart was broken, she stayed with us for a while 'till she felt ready to face it all again!!! In this time she worked for us in the curio shop and boy-oh-boy, the girl could sell!!! Our leather sales skyrocketed!!! She could sell you ice in winter, I tell you!!! And I loved her...!!!!

I remember...
When we started a family and I saw her dote on my children, just like I did on her!!!  And I loved her sooooo.....!!!!!

I remember....
When she met the love of her life, Alwyn and got married!!! I waited and waited for her to become a mom, but it wasn't to be!!! Why is it that the best parents in the world, don't have kids of their own??? Why???Why???Why??? 
So I share my kids with her!!! And they too became best friends!!! And we love her.....!!!!

Today.....
We go on "smelly highs" anything from candles, body and bath products, fresh linen, food and so on...!!! We swing on vines over the river and walk thru knee deep mud!!! We "speedplay" rummikub games!!!  We sew catnip toys for her cats and...Tah-Dah...she sewed it onto her finger!!!!  Really she did!!!  

We love to go coffee shoppe hopping!!! Coffee and cake!!!!  We can spend a whole day in a bookshop lounge or just a quiet day on the bed, reading!!! We cook!!! We bake!!! We laugh and we cry!!! She's my inspiration and she always makes me feel beautiful!!!!
This is my sister, Zennet!!! She's my best friend!!!!  And I love her....!!!!!!! Always!!!

And now she has a loving husband, a successful career, a lovely home, the most lovable "children" and a family who love her endlessly!!!!

Cousin Joey

Cousin Tammy

Cousin Meew

Cousin Wally

So, now you have met my sister Zennet and you know what??!!!!  I am so lucky!!! because I have another sister, Margaret that I love just as much!!!! and in just a few months she'll be turning 50 and then I get to write an ode to her!!!  And then I also get to do one for my adorable brother, year after next!!!

There really is nothing more important than family!!!  Friends come and go, but family will always be there!!!!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend with your family and love them just a little more, just because you can!!!!

Love you all
AMarie

Everything's going to be OK......!!!!

Hello Again

Well, it's not going so well here in our little corner of the world!!!
Hubby has been unwell for a while now and being the stubborn man that he is, didn't want to go to the doc!!!  As always, he  thought it was something that would just go away!!!  I finally managed to get him to go and just as well!!! 
He was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic!!!  Big, BIG shock!!!  His blood sugar level measured at 31.6!!!  Normal is between 5 and 7!!!  High!!!!  Very, VERY High!!!
He slept the whole weekend and I had to wake him every so often just to make sure he doesn't go into a COMA!!!  
A very bad weekend for all of us!!!
We were both so depressed about this but then one day, while I drove him around (he has double vision - a side effect of diabetes) we were just talking and trying to make sense  of this whole thing, when finally the penny dropped!!!!
It's not a death sentence for goodness sake!!!!  It means medication and tweaking our lives just a little!!! Mainly on the dietary side!!!  No more chocolates!!! We can soooo manage this!!! AND we can do it EASILY!!!!!!!

Luckily he is quite fit and otherwise has good health!!!!  So really, we both have to just stop wallowing in self pity!!! and get on with it!!!!
And we did!!!! Now 5 days later and of course on medication, he's blood sugar is stabilising and  is currently around 10 AND he's doing just fine!!!!  Feeling much, much better!!!!  And so do the rest of us!!!! Happily!!!!

           ....Tablets 2 or 3 times a day......

 .... A tester kit to measure blood sugar levels:                                               test strips, pricker and  a reader.....

and very importantly, keeping a record!!! These get photocopied at each  GP visit and kept on file!!! Here you can see how up and down it's been and how nicely it's starting to stabilise!!! Unfortunately, we only started keeping records a few days afterwards!!! But that's fine!!!
In about a week's time he has to be back at the GP for the results of the blood tests!!!  These test can tell what his blood sugar levels were for the last 3 months!!!
This was a serious wake-up call to all of us!!!
We have been married for 33 years and he just never ever got sick!!!!  I can count the times he had flu or a cold on one hand!!!  Last year he got seriously ill with appendicitis!!! That was the first time he had been in hospital and his very first operation!!!

Here he is with Amber, our very first tiger we raised , inspecting a broken tooth!!!

He had always seemed indestructible!!!
Playing with lions, tigers, rhinos  buffaloes and so many other dangerous things!!!  But it is his love of animals that have led us to living this privileged life on a game farm!!! 

There was something in the bush!!!  A rhino, perhaps?!!

Yes It Was!!!!

But I also tend to forget that he's not a young man anymore!!!
Needless to say, the girls are spoiling him so much!!!! They have been so wonderful not just with him but also with me!!! Thank you, you're the best!!!!!!!

Cuddling with Caracal Kittens!!!!

But you know what!!!  He's still my man!!!  My indestructible man!!! A super hero!!!
              Now just with .... diabetes!!!!

And that's OK!!!!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!
Love you all, 'till next time!!!.....
AMarie