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Monday, October 4, 2010

Another lazy weekend in Khartoum


Gattina from Writers Cramps hosts the blog called What did you do this weekend? As she says, you never know when you might need an alibi! Take a look at the link and do join her and other "weekenders"


Our weekend was as follows: blogging, shopping, (all expats shop at the expat - read "overpriced" supermarkets on Friday mornings) resting (We had three late nights in a row, not normally for the early-to-bed-early-to-rise Hedges of Khartoum!) cooking, tidying the apartment and feeding the animals (domestic and wild). One of the late nights was when we attended a beautiful occasion in the city. More about this, in tomorrow's post. 
One of the young cats I feed in the courtyard below. She's offspring of the mother cat (below with small kittens). The cat one above is so wild, she hisses and spits at me as I place her food on the ground. She eats around the corner from the current litter

I suspect this cat is also one of mother cat's offspring. I took this photo of him on the roof above me  in poor, early morning light

The stray  (regular) mother cat with two of the kittens from the original five. I don't know what happened to the others. One day they were all there and the next day only these two appeared. I always feel so sad (and helpless) at the plight of the feral cats, but try not to get too emotionally involved
I also snapped away at the domestic critters, not least Shadow (above) who's exploring the area under the stairs in our apartment
and (below) also takes up most of my office chair when he needs to rest

On Friday evening I managed to capture a few wild bird antics. The sparrow below was asked to sing a solo at the wedding of the mourning dove at the bottom of the photo series (tongue-in-cheek captions from me)
Awww, no, not me. I'm toooo shy
Oh, do you really think so?  OK, if you insist:

AAAA -  V A Y - YY

M A A - R E E  - Y  - E E -  A A!
Hoo boy, who told that guy he can sing?

On Saturday evening, fifteen minutes before Grant and I were going to sit out on the balcony and enjoy an ice-cold mango juice.(as we normally do) a dust storm came up over from Khartoum
I dashed up onto the roof to get better photos

The storm built up very quickly creating a beautiful sky

Youths always play soccer in the street below. They saw me focussing on them and began to monkey around. BTW they didn't stop their game even when the storm reached us and we'd locked and bolted ourselves into the flat!


Two minutes later, I came downstairs and took these photos from the flat balcony. This is how the storm had worsened in that short time


And wonder upon wonder, we went out for the day on Sunday, to the desert. More about this on Wednesday

For more on What did you do this weekend, click here

The Arabic for domestic animals is al-Ḩywānāt al-Mnzlyh (a Hywunut al Menzliha)

The Arabic for wild animals is al-Ḩywānāt al-Bryh (a - Hywunut - a - Breeha)

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos, especially of the sandstorm. So interesting that the young boys were able to continue playing in the streets despite the storm.

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  2. Hi Jo, What a great group of photos.... Wow--that dust storm looks wicked....

    Love seeing the birds... I can just hear that little guy singing his heart out.... How cute!!!!!

    Those wild cats need to remember who is feeding them....

    Your Shadow is such a cutie. Love the way Shadow takes up your office chair.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  3. Look and sound like you had a great weekend. Love the views from your balcony.

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  4. I have the same feeling when I see the street cats in Egypt. It's so sad that they are not neutred, and have kittens all the time.
    What a beautiful view you have from your balcony ! and Shadow has such a funny fur pattern with his striped leg, lol !

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  5. I am thinking I prefer RAIN storms to sand storms... but what a unique sight that IS to ME! Having never visited a desert, I have NEVER seen a sky like that! WOW! Thanks for sharing those! And I LOVE the birds! Too cute!

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  6. Dearest Jo, you can't rescue every stray and certainly do your part to help them.

    Hard to believe the weather can change so fast as to obliterate the sky with dust.

    Shadow looks like he's seen a ghost in the basement.

    Have fun in the desert. Look forward to more of those adventures.

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  7. Oh yes, batten down the hatches. I was caught in a sand storm in Mexico years ago, got sand in my eye, had to see the doctor, wore a patch and used drops for a week. So glad I didn't have both eyes scratched by sand. I was taking care of two 13-year-olds, and 11-year-old, and a dog for six weeks and couldn't have managed if both eyes had to be covered.
    I love the pictures of Shadow. The street cats make me sad, although I'm glad you're feeding them.
    -- K
    My verification word here is "besilly" which, of course, could only mean "be silly", which I do well.

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