Scavenger Hunt Sunday #2

FAVORITE

A recent shot which I've posted on several blog and Facebook posts which remains a firm favorite. My dog - his wet front paws visible -  waits patiently while I photograph the wildflowers! 

ANGLED

After a wonderful shower of rain last week, the sun came out again in time to set. I loved the pink clouds over our son, Angus and daughter-in-law's house next door. The angled roof made for an interesting photo

CURVED

Tipsy, one of our five cats, sits in the window surveying the garden. I managed to capture his tail curved over the burglar bars! 

CROPPED

My dog, exactly nine months old today, in perfect Labrador stance. I cropped the photo which emphasizes the hairs and water droplets on his tail and legs 

TEXTURE

The rough texture of sandstone (which is prolific in our area) on this fence pillar , 

just begged me to take a photo! 

I'm linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday here

Scavenga Hunt Sunday # 1

LIGHT

The grandchildren are the light of our lives: Bethany is in the foreground; at the gate, Eryn (our oldest grandchild) presides over the race regulations! Abby is at her right, with Israel holding onto her shoulder. Next to Israel is Elijah and Joel standing with his back against the gate

We only have two sons but between them they gave us nine grands. What blessings! 

Eryn carries Elijah as she races the other children! 

Eryn, the oldest (almost thirteen) and Liam, just turned one, is the youngest Hedges . Eryn, Joshua, Bethany, Elijah. Israel and Kerren-Happuch belongs to our older son, John. Liam, Abby and Joel are Angus, our younger son's children

Abby and Joel and Liam (shown in photo above) live right next door to us; we see them often

SKY

An African Reed-warbler sitting atop an electrical pole - with the gorgeous African sky behind it. I love birds/birding and love Africa - especially her big sky ! 

UNDER 

The cattle gathered under this windmill during a very dry spell earlier this summer

ARTIFICIAL LIGHT

Christmas lights adorn the tree at our community Carols evening before Christmas. The carols sung are alternately sung in Afrikaans (as above) and the next on  in English

SPACE

Traveling home on the country roads, we often come across agricultural vehicles which are not legally permitted to use public roads. Fortunately this one moved over to give us space as we passed

Like her big sky, Africa offer big spaces as well. Here the dogs run down to the golf course which we visit every day. Note the dry surrounds - it has greened up beautifully since mid-January when the drought was broken by good rains which are still falling! 

Our plumpest cat, Chappie always finds the smallest space to lie in. Here she is in the chest of drawers

I'm linking my post to Scavenga Hunt Sunday hosted by Ashley Sisk here

HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU ALL. 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday # 4

I've not posted on this meme since 26 October. I had personal things to do (husband having surgery in hospital and subsequent follow-up doctor appointments) but here I am now! 

WINTER:

I live in the Southern Hemisphere and it's full summer here now. But we had a BBQ after watching a match on Rugby World Cup on the telly during October. 

MAIL:

With technology these days, we don't receive many things by snail mail. However, last week I received two Christmas cards in our post office box. The card on the left from my dear blogger friend, Penny, Snap That, sent from Canada. And the one on the right from my birder-blogger friend, Margaret, Birding for Pleasure, sent all the way from Northern Ireland. Penny and I met up in 2011 in Kenya and have mailed each other for years. Penny has been a stalwart friend, albeit online and supports me in prayer; we also share a lot of each having a parent in an old age home. I haven't met Margaret yet (note I say "yet" as I believe we'll meet one day, maybe at a common birding site!) but she has supported me in prayer and with encouraging words.  She also prods me gently to take part in this interesting meme! Thank you, my two beautiful blogger friends. 

A CUP OF CHEER:

I'm probably supposed to respond to this word by posting about mulled Christmas drinks such as Gluwein. But I'm teetotal and would much rather enjoy a cup of Rooibos tea. I've posted about this South African beverage before but there you have it. This is my cup of cheer. 

TRADITION:

Watching rugby is a religion in South Africa. A tradition followed by many. Watching Rugby World Cup is no exception and we all watched the matches every Saturday evening. 

Even the dog, Skabenga got to know the time the family sat down and bellowed and yelled at the TV screen! 

LIGHTS:

Once again, I imagine the word prompt should have me posting about Christmas lights. But I love sunrise and sunset. And this was the sun rising - with the street lights still ablaze - over a township along the N1 National Freeway between Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Johannesburg.

I'm linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday here

Scavenger Hunt Sunday # 3

After a hectic but final week of eye procedure, I'm managing to catch up on my blogging. 

The hunt for photos for this week's words was great fun.

Here goes:

LEAVES

Leaves of the Spathiphyllum in my office

We're full into summer here in the Southern Hemisphere, so autumn leaves are just not available to photograph. 

Instead I photographed the leaves on our mulberry tree

A HAT

When my neighbor, Pienkie moved to the retirement center, she gave me two hats - these red ones! 

The black hat on the left is very popular with the African people; the larger hat in the foreground is Grant's pride and joy - a genuine Akubra all the way from Australia

STOP

A stop sign at the intersection up our street. We live in a quiet area of town and many most people don't heed this sign! 

MY TOWN

 The main street of my town: Marquard. It's a small town in the Eastern Free State

The same main street facing downwards

UP

Since democracy 21 years ago, South Africa's essential services like water and electricity have taken a serious dive. We now depend on this water tank to be filled from a large dam in Lesotho and then pumped to our homes. Last week "something" broke and we were without water for eight days

The highlight of our day is to see the marker half way or more down the edge of the tank . We have two water 2500 lt tanks behind  our garages and when this municipal tank pumps water, our tanks are filled. BLISS !

I'm linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday here

Although it's Monday, I decided to hold my post over to Monday.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead! 

Scavenger Hunt Sunday # 3

Due to family commitments and extensive travel this week, I was concerned that I'd not get images for the Scavenger Photo Hunt. But I did and here they are!

NUMBERS

Our house number is on the front corner of the building. This worked fine until we added palisade fencing and wooden slats around the property last year

Grant bought another number five and screwed it to the wall outside

Our house number is now clearly visible at the right side of our gate as enter our garden

HOT

We had a barbecue in the Jetmaster after watching SA rugby (World Cup) on telly last night

These flames are not only beautiful; they are also hot

PUMPKIN

In South Africa we have every type of pumpkin available. Having grown up in a predominately Afrikaans home, the traditional way to cook pumpkin is with sugar and butter. However, these butternuts above are delicious cut in half,  de-pipped and boiled until soft. I fill them with sweetcorn, topped with cheese and grill for a few minutes. Much healthier and kinder to on hips!

We also have mini-squashes and pumpkins which are "savory". These are delicious roasted with mushrooms, red peppers and whatever else you like, sprinkled with olive oil, herbs and course salt and grilled. Yummy!

QUIET

My ever-growing Labrador pup, Skabenga is quiet when he lies asleep below my desk

FULL

I filled this curio beer mug (from our goldmine sojourn in West Africa ten years ago) with water...

...placed it in the sunny window and snapped

I'm linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday here

Happy Sunday to you all!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday # 2

I struggled to find an autumn drink image as spring has just finished here Southern Hemisphere and we're entering a hot, dry summer. 

However, going through my archives, I found two images of my all-time favorite beverage which I enjoyed while on holiday in May (our autumn/winter) Rina and I met up with an old friend of mine and we had tea at the local Bistro. I always drink rooibos tea (pronounced roybos) which is a bush tea cultivated in South Africa. Please click on the link for more information. (It's interesting, I promise) 

Autumn Drink

Rooibos tea with my health breakfast at The Bistro, Mtubatuba

Later that week, Rina and I stopped for tea after a day on the beach in St Lucia. She ordered Cuppa-chino and I, well I ordered rooibos tea.  

Rooibos tea at Thyme Square, a quaint but upmarket tea garden

Rina and I specifically stopped off at Thyme Square as I wanted to meet Carla,  theyoung  proprietress. She didn't know that she'd been a teeny little girl when I last saw her. Grant, I and our boys were staying with her parents, Paul and Karen at the beach. The year was 1994 and Carla was a cute four-year-old. She latched onto me and would spend ages watching me do my make-up (which I used on her too) and also go through my jewelry case. Although she couldn't remember any of this, Carla loved my reminisces -  her,  a successful entrepreneur in a thriving holiday town. 

At home this week, we've been bombarded (literally) with ripe mulberries. John, the gardener picked two large bucketfuls. Rina cleaned them; I weighed the fruit, placed into two large pots/saucepans, added equal amounts of white sugar and we made jam! 

Wooden

I always use wooden spoons for cooking and jam making

The mulberry jam bubbling away on the stove - wooden spoon at the ready

I added the finished product for effect!

SEASONAL 

The (seasonal) mulberries on the tree at the corner of our house

The fallen mulberries are a little messy but the season should be over soon

MY OUTFIT TODAY

Rina celebrated a birthday last Sunday

That day I didn't tell her I'd invited a dozen or so friends to join us for tea on Tuesday. Of course I had to tell her on Monday; she bakes a beautiful chocolate cake and milk tart. I made savory sandwiches and bacon cheese puffs. 

Part of my outfit showing beyond the set party table

We Marquard ladies have a tradition. Instead of buying separate gifts, one friend will send out text messages saying she is collecting [cash] for the birthday girl.  Then that person will take the birthday girl (after the party) to buy an ornament, household gadget or jewelry. Well, Rina doesn't wear bling (that's my vice) and our house is so full, she cannot have anymore ornaments or gadgets. Instead she opened her birthday card and the cash was stashed inside, I suggested she buys a set of new inertia seat belts for her 1964 Toyota which has just had a make-over. She was thrilled!

MY VIEW

Of course, the view from my office is onto the lawn and the perennials against the wall

I love the restful shadows playing across the garden

And then: a photo from my East African archives. Way back in 2011, when we lived in a remote valley within the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, I was low down photographing some little white flowers on a school sports field. I wanted to capture the dainty blooms with the majestic mountains in the background. My friend, Sue, was photographing birds (something we did on a daily basis together); she turned around, saw me and snapped! 

MY VIEW - tongue in cheek!

I'm linking my post to Scavenger Hunt Sunday here

Happy Sunday to you all!