Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

The best heart shaped something I could find growing in the bush the other day....

Hope you all get spoiled rotten by your beloveds!

xoxo

Stalked By A Crocodile!

Cules and I went fishing today..it was the first time in many years that I purposefully set out with the full intention of actually participating in the fishing part of the outing...just because Cules was trying out a little boat he wants to buy....The weather was perfect,not hot at all and who can say no to a ride in a boat on one of the local dams just three km down the road from us, right? The first dam we went to,I was assured that there were only one or two small crocodiles and NO hippos..."cool,lets go then" I said."

Beautiful scenery...

Letting the boat in the water...

I just have to mention here that the current owner of the boat told Cules to be sure to "just start up the engine whenever the hippos or crocodiles look like they are getting too inquisitive...."

Apparently that scares them off,and Cules just had to relay that bit of information over to me at this point...

The Titanic and ice bergs made of reeds....why did I think that as we made our way over to the middle of the dam...

The bass like to hide around the bases of those old tree trunks..

Cules forgot to bring a rope to tie us up to a tree trunk seeing as we kept on drifting away on the current and I asked him where the anchor was and he dryly told me that one doesn't use anchors on such small boats...

So I offered my camera case's neck strap....what will men do without our brainpower...?

Cules' first catch of the day...

He caught three bass altogether and the other two were considerably bigger than this specimen...

My first catch of the day! I caught four bass!

We then moved on to the next dam.

As we were arriving there Cules told me we won't be letting the boat on this dam..

"Why" I asked..

"Because there are hippos here.."

Oh boy... 

So while Cules was getting the fishing tack ready I looked around and my eye caught something on the far bank..."Isn't that a croc?" I asked

Cules peered over and said; nah ...no croc..

So I went to the edge of the water and cast a line a couple of times and then got bored and went back to the truck to get my camera to take some pics..

As I got to the truck, my eyes just kinda wandered back to that spot where I saw something earlier on...

I saw something slide into the water..I called over and warned Cules.

...He laughed at me...

I decided to stay on higher ground and took some pics...

Orchids growing on a dead tree stump..

What the heck...???

I shouted a warning to Cules again,this time he saw it too!

Chuckling and hiding behind the tree stump while you keep fishing and lookout for the hungry croc!

Stalking behaviour..ie diving down to get closer unseen..

Cules promptly moved away to a different spot further down..and what do you know...

Mr croc appears close to the new spot, looking straight towards where Cules is standing..

..For the second time it dives under to get closer...

This was where I threw my toys out the cot and told Cules to get back in the car and go home..

Very, very,creepy experience.....

The End.

Gone Fishing!

We went fly fishing at the famous Cheerio Gardens in the Haenetsburg area last weekend...It was more like Cules went fishing and the girls and I went strolling through the woods and gardens,the blossoms are at their best in September when it is Spring and there are so many flowers to be seen it kinda hurts the eyes..if such a beautiful sight could ever do such a thing! Never the less, there was still some stunning flowers,ferns,fern trees and plants all around the gardens,not to mention some really huge trout in those dams!

A view of one of the dams,the shrubs on the other end are mostly Azaleas which are responsible for massive displays of vibrant colour in the Spring.

Mountain mists,pine trees and colourful flowers....food for the soul...

My favourite thing about the mountains...the mist!!

I love the feel of mist dripping on my skin!

Because I don't live there,

 I don't have to complain or worry about mildew growing on everything, I can just go and enjoy it and drive

twenty minutes...

 back home to where mildew is no problem!

Looking back down as we were climbing up into the pine forests...

I am sure that by that time it was only he and the trout...

...we were long forgotten!

We soon discovered that all the trials were covered in soft moss and pine needles and quickly got rid of our shoes and walked the entire day without shoes!

What is it about my family and " hanging about!"

Beautiful moss covered barbecue areas.

Next time we shall definitely try to curb our need for pub crawling and take with a picnic basket.....

When we got back down,the big question to Cules was: "did you catch something?"

To which he replied that he had TWO near misses and those trout were HUGE!

Of course...

The Pine forests

This was were the" old lady" started to get a bit tired and needed to stop and take pictures...

"Come on,get a move on already!"

The End

An Award And Just Hangin'...

I was given the Liebster Blog Award by Annette over at "News from Aspen Meadows"

Thank you Annette!

She has listed a bunch of  fabulous blogs, so please go and check them out!

Lots and lots of glorious blog-hopping to do!!

I walked into my daughters bedroom latish this morning and found her and Trompie still in bed...

...just hangin'...

Hey,Trompie aren't you supposed to be outside in the bush..

...like..doing the warthog thing,..you know...?

.."But I am doing the warthog thing!..

...Look I am reversing back into my hole so you can't throw me out!"

"Hmmm,such a comfy old hole this..."

Minki's way of getting people up and out of bed.....

For a moment I thought she was going to succeed and get them up.....

Oh,you two are useless..!!!

The End

Baked Camembert Cheese And Other Weekend Goodies...

I have discovered baked Camembert cheese! Slice off the top bit (1/2cm),stick in some garlic pieces,dab the top with some extra virgin olive oil...or keep it plain if you don't want to spoil the plain goodness of it...and stick it in the oven at 180 oC for 15-20 min. If you buy the type sold in a little wooden box, make sure it is fastened together with staples,not the ones glued together because they tend to come unglued in the heat of the oven...ask me I tried it!!!

I stuck mine in the oven in a little bowl like this...

Serve it with some crusty french loaf..

Very,very nice!

I found these quirky little miniature loaf pans at a shop the other day and made some little quiches....

The kids loved it cause it looked like the Colonel's little bread loaves....

My efforts at domesticating my husband is paying of big time as he baked a batch of buttermilk rusks ALL by himself today!!

They are disappearing out of the oven as we speak..,they might not make the process of drying out and storing...

We named this guy  Trompie and he is doing great!

He has discovered dog food and is being slowly weaned of the bottle.

He has gained a lot of weight and is strong,healthy and playful.

As you can see, he is totally at home...

That's our weekend wrap up!

The End

International Rock Group Has Narrow Escape In Private Lodge Near Kruger!

Internasionale rockgroep vertel van wildtuin-drama

2012-01-19 22:25I got this article from a local newspaper,Die Beeld, this morning.Google translater doesn't make any sense so I translated the article as I couldn't find it in English.

• Artikelopsies
• Deel
• Kry Beeld op

Die internasionale rockgroep Kongos het gister ’n noue ontkoming gehad toe hulle van die vloedwaters by Klaserie gered is. Links staan Dylan, Jessy, Danny en Johnny. Foto: Cornél Van Heerden

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Pauli van Wyk

An International Rock Group has experienced an African adventure yesterday when the flood waters chased them out of the Lodge at Klaserie, where they had been staying, on the western border of Kruger National Park.

The four Kongos brothers are in the middle of their South African tour.

Johnny, Jesse, Dylan and Danny are the children of  John Kongos, who achieved local success in the  1960’s with the group "Johnny and the G-Men " and  as solo artist.

The brothers,now named "The Kongos",grew up in South Africa and later moved to England so that John could further his musical career.

“When I think back now,ten minutes meant the difference between life and death," said Johnny,the oldest brother.

“A worker at the lodge woke us up at 7:00 and told us we had better get out of there seeing as the other Lodge were under water already",said Dylan.

“I looked out the window,the previous night you couldn't even see the little river through the trees. 

“I got a fright when I saw how terribly close the water was." 

“We flew out of bed and was inside the Land Rovers and cars outside minutes later. In those few minutes the water levels rose terrifyingly fast and parts of the Lodge were already under water."

The group,together with friends of theirs,then tried to reach a nearby Lodge that was situated a little higher in Land Rovers and other vehicles.One of the vehicles hit a stone and had to be left behind.

“We had to search for a way through,so high did the water levels rise in the streams and riverbeds, it was crazy ” said Jesse.

Eventually the group was flown to the  O.R. Tambo-airport in Kempton Park by a military helicopter.

“The pilot said that by that stage he  had already airlifted 80 people to safety” said Dylan.

“With us in the helicopter was a family who had only hunting rifles and cell phones with them,that was all they could save,it was rough." 




A couple of dramatic pictures of some of yesterdays rescues,also published in "Die Beeld" this morning.

This man tied himself to the tree while waiting for the helicopter to come pick him up!

                                              Police man calling him over to strap him up and airlift him...

Up,up and away,safe at last!

The Blyde River Adventure camp being swept away,apparently only a part of one of those buildings are still standing...

This is the Swadini Dam wall that was feared to be cracked at one stage! The dam was 118% full the day before yesterday and they have now opened up the sluices..

This poor lady had her child strapped to her back when she was saved from the river!

Just terrible..

"We made it!!"

Shocked,frightened,but safe...

Thank you to all these brave policeman and rescue service people for doing what you do!!

The End

Flooding in Kruger Park

No lives lost so far,Praise be God! Extensive damage in Kruger Park. Yesterday, the combined efforts of the Air force,police,rescue services and private helicopters has led to the rescue of about 150 people from the roofs of houses and tree tops in the Hoedspruit region,guests in Kruger Park are being moved around in an effort to avoid the waters.Two Oryx helicopters have moved about 60 schoolchildren from two schools in the Bushbuckridge area.

Rescue efforts are continuing today.

I have no idea how many poor animals have drowned or been swept away...

Here is a video clip taken yesterday and shown on You Tube of the flooding in Kruger National Park. This was taken in the Letaba Restcamp.  You can watch it by clicking .here