Nothing can seperate us from God's love

"What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" Romans 8:31

Our security is based on God's unshakable love for us, The love God has for us is not just an emotion, but an actual fact. God proved His love willingly sending His Son to suffer and die for us. So why would He hold back on any lesser gift? In fact, there is nothing in the whole universe that can seperate us from God's love. What more could God say to us to make us more secure in His love?

Sunrise over the Orange River

The sun rising over the majestic Orange River at Upington in the Northern Cape. I took this photo on our recent biking trip

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Sociable Weaver, Sociable Structure

The Sociable Weaver is found in the arrid savanna and dry woodland of our country

The Sociable Weaver has a highly gregarious nature. It's breeding habits are colonial, co-operative and not entirely monogamous. Colonies of up to 500 birds build and maintain enormous structures in trees, on telephone poles, on windmills and sometimes on rockfaces or under bridges.

While travelling through the Northern Cape on our way to Namibia last week, we passed literally hundreds of these nests built on telephone poles. I photographed one such structure which I posted on Skywatch Friday under yesterday's date.

These nests are built almost entirely of grass and each pair builds it's own nest chamber within the structure, used either for roosting or breeding.

Normally a Pygmy Falcon takes up residence and breeds in this structure as well. The Sociable Weavers benefit from this unofficial guest, as these little raptors eat any snakes or reptiles which may try to gain entry into the nests. The Pygmy Falcons have been known to snack on the odd Sociable Weaver nestling but this is the exception rather than the rule.

It was rather fascinating to me that these nests were visible on almost every second or third telephone pole along the highway to Namibia. However, the minute we passed through the border posts and were on our way across the Namibian countryside, there were no more Sociable Weavers nests. I chuckled to myself thinking perhaps they didn't have passports! Further north though, the nests made their very obvious appearance again and petered out once we crossed the border into Botswana.

Having lived on the West Coast of Southern Africa (now Namibia) and having travelled regularly through this remarkable bird's habitat, I am familiar with this species and it's nests. However, the Sociable Weaver and their engineering feats never cease to amaze me.

Community Living

The sociable weavers' nest is a huge structure built on telephone poles, electricity pylons and trees in the area. I took this photo in the Northern Cape on our recent bike ride through Namibia and Botswana

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Fun in GranJo's Garden

Hope and Confidence in the Lord

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by the long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit." (Jeremiah 16:7-8)

The human heart cannot thrive without something to hope for and someone in whom we can place our confidence. God alone is able to perfectly fulfill both needs. Placing our hope and confidence in Him will help our spiritual lives to flourish.

Placing our hope and confidence in anything but God is like expecting a tree to flourish in a barren desert. Our thirst continues because people are unable to satisfy our deepest needs. But placing our hope in the Lord changes everything, for Jesus said: "The water I give them, takes away the thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life."John 4:14

Home Again!

We received a royal welcome when we arrived home on Sunday after our 6000km/3750 mile bike trip

Last week my husband and I set out on a trip across part of this beautiful continent of ours.

Originally the plan was to enter Namibia, motorcycle north and enter Zambia, cross over into Zimbabwe and spend time at the Victoria Falls.


Alas, this was not to be. Halfway through Namibia, my husband had information that his visa was ready. He decided to ensure that we were back at home in South Africa by Sunday, which we were.


Nevertheless, we did go up to within 350km of the northern border of the country and down into Botswana where we spent to wonderful days seeing the most incredible birdlife and experiencing the African bush at its best. We covered 6000km/3750 miles of awesome terrain visiting touring through of the five countries originally intended. The trip was exhilarating to say the least.

I have decided that apart from this post, I will not be posting about our many biking sorties here. I am about to start a separate blog which, I know, will take me a few days to set up, and share the most wonderful biking experiences and African countryside with my blog readers.

As biking makes up a very big part of our holidays, I have added this writing to That's my World Tuesday.

Container Progress

A year ago, John (the gardener) and I decided to revamp our container garden. (see here) This (above) is what one of the containers looked like...

and this is what it looks like now

Family Fun in the Garden

Manduline

Little Manduline, the youngest cat of the Hedges menagerie, turned 4 at the beginning of November. She is another one of my rescue cats. My dil and gd arrived here from visiting friends on a farm where Manduline, then still a kitten, was being terrorised by the hordes of farm dogs.

I kept this little cat in my guest room for 4 months during which time I could never touch her or approach her suddenly. I would enter the room, place her food on the floor and only once I'd closed the door and left her alone, would she emerge from under the wardrobe and quickly gobble her food.

It has taken another two years to win her confidence and still Manduline does not trust anyone other than my husband or me. She spends most of the day out in the garden and only comes in late at night. She cries under our bedroom window and as she is let in, she dives into the cookie bowl and fills her face! Then she finds a spot inside my wardrobe and falls asleep.

A strange union sprang up between Manduline and Tigger; the youngest cat and the oldest. As Tigger spends a lot of his time on my bed, he and Manduline have become the firmest of friends. It's nothing to see her and her old friend (Tigger is 13) playing catch up and down the passage. This interaction also keeps ole Tigger fit and healthy.

Manduline keeps her eyes on her toys

Another thing that Manduline loves to do, is to play with the many toys I have for her in the bedroom. She has had quite a few spiky mice which she tosses about and chews until there is only a mutilated head left over. We actually refer to this toy as "The Head"!

Above and below: Manduline plays with a selection of toy mice, aka "The Heads"

Neverending play

A mouse toy before it is mutilated by Manduline

Where is it now?

A selection of toys in various stages of their lives!

This is a far cry from the petrified little cat my granddaughter and her mum rescued from a farmyard full of vicious dogs in 2007

Ah, bliss to sleep with Uncle Tigger

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Soft Pink and Blue

Sunset over our home last Friday

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My Rock, My Redeemer

May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart, be acceptable to You, oh Lord, my Rock and mt Redeemer. Psalm 19 14

Garden Enjoyment

Above my husband disappears into one of the "rooms" in my garden
A female Southern Masked Weaver takes a break on the garden gate

Chip and Angie in the background enjoy the cool shade of my white stinkwood trees (Celtis africana )

It's a dog's life!

Megan has a drink

The entire family enjoys the garden

Angie, Chip and our granddaughter enjoy a tranquil moment

Pure perfection...

Off to Namibia

Loaded and ready for our biking/camping tour across the Southern part of our beautiful continent, Africa

When this post is aired my husband and I will be touring the vast neighbouring country of Namibia. This arid country which contains the Namib desert, with the most rugged coast line imaginable, used to be part of South Africa. It was known as South West Africa before independence in 1990. My husband and I arrived on the diamond mines a month during this event and did a 4- year tenure there before returning to South Africa in the mid-nineties.



I digress. Now, having set off on Sunday, today we should by now be in the northern regions of the country. We always take the roads-less-travelled as far as possible; we find the National Highways busy, dangerous and very tedious when travelling on a motorbike...

My husband, who fought in SWA, in the senseless bushwar of the seventies, wants to take me to Katimo Malilo where they were encamped and became hardened defending our borders. In those days, when our men arrived home after their army stint, there was no rehabilitation program. I remember my husband coming home to find the tiny baby he remembered, had grown into a sturdy little boy of 18 months who was walking and talking and quite afraid of this stranger in the house. He also found a harried young wife who had been struggling to make ends meet while he fought for the country. The soldiers were not paid by their employers while they were away in the army.

On the lighter side, en route, we will visit our friends in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. After this, we cross the border into Zambia, down through Zimbabwe where we will visit the Victoria Falls and hopefully see many birds of this magnificent area.

We enter Southern South Africa into Botswana, another beautiful neighbouring country world reknowned for its spectacular wildlife and birds where we will stopover one night with friends who live in the capital city of Gaberone.

When we cross the border from Botswana into South Africa to return home, we will have visited five countries on this beautiful country of ours.

Till then, may you all be blessed and happy as you enjoy our beautiful world.

Fragrant Colour

At the moment I have many colours in my garden: yellow, orange, blue, yellow/orange, white, grey, red, purple...

As can be seen by many previous posts, I always walk around my garden with my camera in my hand, capturing whatever mood presents itself to me. For this post - and probably many more this summer - I've decided to concentrate on colour; the pink colour in my garden.

Above and below are the roses on the hedgerow along my street boundary. These are miniature climbing roses in soft pink.

Below is a close-up of this pretty flower with the sun filtering through the healthy green foliage.

Near the rockery, and behind the large pond waterfall, I have swaths of pink (See below)

These carpets of groundcovering dianthus spp are created by tiny decorative rosy, carnation-like flowers. Not only are these dainty blooms a delight to the eye, but they also smell divine. Dianthus, also known as pinks, are not always pink but I only have this variety in my garden.

Close-up the Dianthus spp resemble miniature carnations, to which they are related

Drawing the eye...

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A Pit Stop

My husband and I came home last Wednesday after a brilliant 6-day motorcycle ride to the Eastern Cape. Before I go on to rave-without- stopping about this beautiful part of our spectacular country, let me say we have just popped in to clean our clothes, repack our bike luggage and go on another ride. (Hence the post heading today!)

To all my fellow bloggers who have commented on my posts which have been aired while I'm away, thank you and bless you for visiting. I will soon be home and visit your blogs. I'm missing you all but am having a wonderful time with my husband at the moment.

To Gymnogene or Not...

Photographing the beautiful clouds above the golf course last week, I inadvertantly snapped this African Harrier-Hawk coming in to land. This graceful raptor was previously known as a Gymnogene and is very visible here in South Africa at this time of the year. It is a natural predator of birds/birds eggs which can overrun the area if the numbers are not kept down in this manner.

I normally don't photograph birds in fligtht with or without my long lense (which is in for repairs at the moment) I rather leave that to the professionals. However, at the time, it was a welcome sighting for my husband, I and the children while out walking the dogs.

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Mirror Image

This time of the year, the sun's rays are still gentle while the air is clear after all the rain. Last week, while strolling, camera in hand through my garden, I saw this beautiful reflection (top and above) of the first water lily in bloom.

Giant Honey Flower

This shrub shot up from seeds dropped by birds or in the compost used on Rosemary bush (visible to the left of the Melianthus major)

The above shrub is known as Melianthus major (Giant Honey Flower or Touch-me-not). Three years ago, I planted one plant and have since had many young shrubs shooting up all over the garden. One reason for this is that the birds love this plant and obviously distribute the seeds.

The other reason is that after the winter months have taken their toll on this shrub, I normally cut it right back. The cuttings then go on the compost heap which is subsequently spread on the garden again! Melianthus major is a fast-growing vigorous, invasive plant which may become a nuisance if not controlled. However, according to my Creative Gardening with Indigenous Plants, (Pitta Joffe), it should by rights not actually grow in my area at all. It is primarily a coastal plant. Therefore I consider myself singularly blessed to have this flambouyant shrub growing so profusely in my garden. I have given many young shrubs away and planted many out in different parts of my garden.

In mid-July I noticed that the one shrub just beyond my patio out back, had beautiful flowers on it. I also noticed that this plant was being visited by Orange River White-Eye, Red-Eyed Bulbuls, Red-faced mousebirds and Malachite- and White Bellied Sunbirds. I was thrilled to identify to latter bird at this time. It only visited my garden for a total of eight days and all that time it spent drinking the nectar from the Melianthus flower. This is the southern-most region for the White Bellied Sunbird to be, hence the excitement at having it in my garden.

The first Melianthus major planted alongside my large pond three years ago

Little Hikers

Above is Brandwag (Sentinel) a huge mountain which stands guard over the park. The children climbed this mountain from the other side (see post below)

Our young grandchildren on the first half of the hike up to the Brandwag

Last weekend John and Debbie took the family to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. You can read here about one of the many trips my husband and I have done into this park.

A short but steep hike in the park, is from the campsite to the top of Brandwag, (Sentinel) a huge monolith of a rock which stands senitinel over the park.

Above the young intrepid hikers, haul themselves the last steep 20 metres up to the summit

This hike is reasonable easy although the last twenty metres to the top is a steep gradient which many people need to use the wire to pull themselves up.

Made it! The children on the top of Brandwag

No problem to John: he took our two grandchildren (6 1/2 and 3 years) on this hike on Saturday. Above, the two intrepid little hikers, scale the top of the Brandwag.

The night we brought them home to the children, our grandson slept with his hiking boots on!

Seeing these photos on the laptop a few days later, my husband decided to bless both children with hiking boots. We set off for the city last week to shop for them. This is easier said than done. There aren't actually hiking boots available in children sizes. While browsing in Woolworths, we came across the next best thing: sturdy trainers. And viola! There was one pair in grandson's size and one in granddaughter's size. On the way home my husband said that he knows that our grandson would be so thrilled with his new footwear, that he'd wear them to bed. I chuckled, thinking this unlikely.

Imagine my surprise, and my husband's "I-told-you-so" expression the next morning when our granddaughter came into the kitchen where we were enjoying a morning cuppa, and said: "Gran, Boetie (Afrikaans/colloquial for "little brother") slept in his hiking boots last night"!

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A Higher Standard, A Richer Grace

Matthew 5:1-10 is the well-known Sermon on the Mount. What Jesus taught the crowds that day while seated on the hillside, is also known as the Beatitudes. However, when I read a little further along in this chapter, I see in Matthew 5:48 that Jesus tells me I have to be perfect. (Huh?) Is this possible? Absolutely. With complete modesty and humility I need to strive to be like Jesus. He is perfect and while I will never attain that complete perfection, I still need to aim for it every day.

Our spiritual lives are energized as we remind ourselves of the two facets of faith in Christ: a higher standard for our behaviour and a richer mercy [grace] for our failures. Neglecting either can lead to spiritual weakness and discouragement. We can become careless through forgetting the higher standard. We can become oppressed by our failures, losing sight of God's forgiveness through Christ.

As a believer, I have to ask myself this question: which facet of faith am I most comfortable with? What do I need to learn from the other. Cultivating a balanced view of both aspects will prepare my heart for further spiritual growth.

Clarice goes to Hospital

Great excitement when we brought Clarice back from the hospital. The dogs, especially wanted to know all about her stay...

Last week I noticed that one of our cats, Clarice didn't get up for breakfast. When I walked in with the bowls of food, she merely lifted her head from the stool where she was lying, looked at me without interest, and placed her head on her paws again.

I let her be, thinking she may have eaten too many birds or mice (she is the family hunter!) But that evening when I served her favourite cookies, she still remained on her chair without moving.

I spoke to my husband about this, and he suggested I phone the vet to see it we could get an appointment. Dr Anne (our family vet for the cats) told me to bring Clarice in as soon as we could. We did and even though the vet examined Clarice thoroughly, she couldn't find anything wrong with her. She said that Clarice was quite dehydrated and asked if we could leave her there in the hospital for the weekend. (which is what we did)

When I phoned on Sunday morning, Sonja the vet's assistant told me that Clarice was on a drip, and quite comfortable but still not eating anything. This continued until Monday when Dr Anne phoned and told me that she had sent blood samples away but nothing untoward has been found.

On Tuesday we collected Clarice and brought her home. She is on a course of antibiotics, vitamins and tonic but we are still none the wiser as to what the problem was. She seems to be bouncing back to being her old self although she has not been far afield in the garden yet. She is still lying near the back door in the sun for most of the day.

I pray that whatever her malady was, it is over now.

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Pastoral Scene

Travelling back from the city at the beginning of the week, I snapped this scene from the car.

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Off to the Eastern Cape

By the time this post is aired my husband and I will be well on our way to the Eastern Cape. We are doing a motorbike trip to see a part of the country we've not been to on the bike. Our first stopover is at Gonubie Beach where we're staying in a Guest House on the beach. I'll be posting about this when we return.

While in this little village, we've arranged with long-time friend and fellow blogger, Lynda to meet with us for tea. Lynda lives in Tanzania with her husband and two small children but has come out to visit her parents in the Eastern Cape. You can read about Lynda's interesting life in East Africa here.

Afterwards my husband and I will spend a few days "meandering" down the coast culminating in a visit to our dear friends, John and Sonja in Port Elizabeth.

We'll be back...

No Blue Sky

We are not experiencing many days of sunlessness. It rains regularly and the sun comes out again, in the bluest sky imaginable.

However, this particular day, featured above, we did have a dull day. I decided to share this photo of part of my garden and a cloudy sky with you.

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Another Grandchild...

Our other precious grandchild by imitates my husband when he hunkered down to chat to him

Aha! That got you thinking that we had MORE news about MORE babies. But no, this is one of our other two grandchildren. On Monday I took this snap of my house lady, Emily's 18-month-old grandson. He always accompanies his mum, Erica who comes in to help her mother with ironing that day. You can read more about my wonderful and loyal Emily here.

Grandchild Number 5!

Above the littlest Hedges confidently holds her bottle while swinging her leg in the air!

Last week John and Debbie broke the happy news that they were expecting another baby. The littlest Hedges has just turned 7 months old and had to be weaned within a week. (Breastfeeding contracts the womb and this could pose a serious problem for the growth of the unborn baby) Being the complacent and adaptable little girl that she is, she is sitting in the feeding chair eating vegetables and cooked oats as if she's been doing it all along. She also took to her new drink of herbal tea and cows milk in a bottle.

John and Debbie had said all along they wanted four children and although this pregnancy has come a little unscheduled, we're all thrilled with the new blessing God has bestowed on our family.

Meanwhile, our younger son and dil, Angus and Amanda are expecting their first (a little boy) early in 2010. We cannot wait to meet him...

All Things Bright and Beautiful

The outdoor bird cage which my husband built is open on the bottom. Its legs sink into the ground and you can lift it and move it around

A few weeks ago I posted about a baby bird my son had rescued in the street. (You can read about this here) We were all caring for it and it slept in the cat-travel cage. However, last week, I noticed that the little thing was losing it's joie de vie. It looked listless and although it always opened it's beak for the syringe of porridge, it hadn't uttered a sound for days.

I voiced my concern to my husband who offered to build a cage so that it could live outdoors during the day. We reckoned that if it could spend time in the sun on the lawn, it would thrive. He proceeded to make the cage and every day I'd pop into the garage to check up on the progress.

We positioned the cage in a sunny yet wind-sheltered part of my garden

Eventually the cage was ready and together with granddaughter (who with her three-year-old brother spent most of day in the garage asking: "Is the cage ready yet, Granddad?") we placed the bird inside the cage. It had a secure lock and because it was open at the bottom (the legs sink into the lawn), it could be moved around the garden.

However, that evening when I closed the bird up in it's indoor cage for the night, I noticed it kept wobbling onto its side. Propping it up in an old dish towel, and covering the entire cage with a baby blanket, I said a silent prayer for its survival.

Alas, next morning when I checked up, the bird was dead. I left it in the cage and it wasn't long before Granddaughter came into the kitchen where my husband and I were quietly discussing this sad event. She was holding the stiff little body in her hands and with tears rolling down her face, she said, "It didn't survive, Gran" I gave her a hug and asked if she'd like to bury it in the garden. When she nodded, I looked at my husband who said, "Come along then and we'll bury the bird in Gran's garden"

It was as if the dogs knew what the sad occassion was. They quietly approached the spot where my husband and granddaughter were preparing the grave for the little bird

I went through to my bedroom to watch the sad proceedings through the window. I could hear my husband's deep voice telling our granddaughter that her bird is with Jesus and much better off there.

In the photo above, is Angie telling Eddy to have respect and sit quietly?

Granddad buries the bird while granddaugher and the dogs look on

After my husband buried the bird, they said a prayer together and he promised our granddaugter that he'd make a small wooden cross for the grave.

As he stood up, I saw the little girl hug his leg and lean her head against it. I didn't want to intrude on this sad moment by taken a photo.

A few minutes later I heard them in the kitchen. My husband was making his favourite little girl a cup of tea and offering her a rusk. I'm know these kind actions helped for her to come to terms with the death of a creature we'd had in our home and hearts for the past three weeks.

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Happy Birthday Eddy

When we walk the dogs on the golf course, Eddy takes the long way around. She is the white speck in the distance having been to the farmer's field along the golf course boundary and back again!
Eddy comes running as she hears my husband's whistle

Eddy the Energetic comes hurtling along!

Eddy had a contemplative look about her. Here she is acting as though she is not interested in the water, but will shortly pounce on an unsunspecting frog or tadpole

Whenever our granddaughter asks how old Eddy is, I tell her, "She is your age, darling." Then she says "Oh, so Eddy is 6 and a half, GranJo"

Eddy originally started off being John and Debbie's dog. Why I remember her age, is that she was spayed on Wednesday 26th March 2003 when she was 6 months old and was brought to my home to convalesce after her operation.

That night, John received from Debbie (who was waiting in Durban to give birth to our first grandchild, aforementioned granddaughter) that she had gone into labour.) Now Durban is 550km / 344 miles from my home town, Marquard. I don't even want to think of what speed limits my son broke that night, because he made the trip in less than three hours. Nevertheless, our precious granddaughter was born the next morning and they returned to Marquard four days later. This was the first time I clapped eyes on our beautiful first grandchild, but that's another story altogether.

Eddy went back home and lived with Debbie and John until they left town for Kwa Zulu Natal in October 2008. Although they took Eddy with them, she was not happy being part of the pack of Jack Russels at YWAM where our family was doing a discipleship course. You can read about this here.

In December they brought her back and she has been living with us ever since.

Eddy is an excellent ratter; in fact we watched her catching a rat in the rough on the golf course last week. (I didn't have my camera with me that day - shows: always have your camera with you! lol!) She is also the epitome of the perfect dog. She looks like a dog in an animal story book. I think she could act in a movie about animals!


Eddy had to be chastised for chasing the cats when she first came to live with us. She is quite good now. My cats have taken her measure and don't awaken the "cat-chasing" instinct in her by running across the yard. Instead, they stroll by calmly past and she ignores them completely.(I mean, what's so exciting about a fat black cat sauntering across the patio, mmm?)

Eddy is the most energetic dog I have ever seen. Last week, while Angie and Megan sauntered along to the dam (see my post yesterday) Eddy, dashed off into the wide blue yonder. She only returned when my husband whistled sharply for her to return.

Eddy LOVES my garden ponds, spending many hours gazing into the water for frogs and tadpoles. She has anhiliated quite a few unfortunate amphibians already.

Nevertheless, we all love Eddy and she seems to love us all in return. She has settled into the Hedges Pet Hotel with ease and she and Angie are inseperabe. We wish her many more years with us.


Happy birthday, Eddy!

Angie Goes for a Swim

Angie strikes out for the far side of the dam!

On Friday we took the dogs and children for a walk on the golf course. The dam, which has filled up considerably from last week's rain, was too tempting for a Labrador. This is the first time Angie has ever been in deep water. As she began to strike out in a doggie paddle and make for the other side of the dam, my husband gave a sharp whistle. She turned and swam back to shore. When I asked him why he had called her, he said she might have gotten into trouble and he knew he'd be the one who'd have to rescue her...

Oopsie, here I come

Whoa, what a lovely shake!

(If you click on the image to enlarge, you will see the glee in Angie's expression and water droplets flying around)

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Tranquility

This is the scene of the golf course dam which a week ago was a mere puddle. We have had wonderful rains in the Free State this summer, which is good for the farmers and gardeners alike!

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