A day in the life of...

On Wednesday I felt as though I was fighting the Internet all morning. My mails hung in the outbox, my Skype went on and off (more off than on) and my blog? Well, my blog just would not be written/posted. No matter how many times I tried to upload my photos, just as many times the Internet timed out. Eventually after lunch, just as I was about to give up, I saw my mails go out, the Skype come on my blog winking at me to come back and try once more! I managed to upload a few photos to depict a typical day in the life of Jo in Kenya. Hope you enjoy (I aged a decade trying to get this posted, LOL)

Yours truly ready for the day!

Our bedroom with one wall of louvred windows, a "dormer" window and two windows along each side of the bed

The long passage leading from the living area to the three bedrooms and bathroom and shower

The diningroom and the lounge in the sunken pit below

I found a child's school desk and chair in the spare room and set it up in the lounge. I have to use another surface (I think it's part of a food warmer!) for my mouse and other items

My view of the garden from my [humble] home office

Our front veranda from where we sit and view the birds in the evening and soak up the natural African ambiance

One section of my garden where I wish I could reproduce the bird calls and sounds to share with you

Besty, my dear blogger friend from Tennessee, asked how I knew the bird names. We have a huge selection of bird books back home on South African birds. We also have one book on birds in West and Central Africa. The best book we have for our sojourns in Africa is called: Birds of Africa south of the Sahara. But as it is a very thick and heavy paperback, we decided to leave it home this time. Instead we found a book called Birds of East Africa (pictured above). While it is quite imformative, it is not totally comprehensive. Many birds that we'e already seen here, are not featured in this book and many calls of those featured,  are not described. Grant had found a brilliant link on the Internet called Birds of Kenya Online which is how he identified the barbet below.

Ah, I wish I could say I photographed this bird, but I downloaded it from the Internet. I spotted this glorious creature in the thorn tree in my front garden yesterday morning. Grabbing my camera (I already had my binoculars around my neck which is how I got a good look at this chap) I focussed and clicked, focussed and clicked. If only my bird had been more exposed but it insisted on sitting on its perch behind several branches and leaves. Therefore I have photos of clear tree branches with fuzzy bird in the background. I also get so excited and seem to shake more when I have to hurry and capture an image before the subject disappears. Another thing is, I'm adamant to use my Manual setting which is challenging to say the least! This bird, a Double-toothed Barbet, is a phenomenal spotting for us so I just had to share the experience by using the Internet photo (This is exactly how I saw him: the crimson breast, long square tail, huge beak and yellow-ringed eyes)

Many of my blogger friends have asked what kind of mine Grant is at now. It's a Fluorspar mine (first time I heard about it too!) which is a mineral used in the production of ceramics, metals etc.

A heartfelt prayer of mercy and protection for the people in Queensland who are suffering under the YASI cyclone at this time. May God be with you and those in the US who are experiencing crippling blizzards. May He hold you all in the palm of His hand and carry you through this to safety.