Big Boys' Toys

Last week the men in our company were beside themselves with excitement. After three LONG  months since the new contract was signed,  the first of the new earthmoving machines arrived on site: three shiny new drill rigs.
  
Grant, Johan and Steve spent the entire lunch hour discussing the merits of these new machines and the whole of Saturday afternoon they assisted the South African transport team to offload them from the low-beds!  

Grant collected my camera and returned to the workshop to photograph these welcome beauties. I must say I was a little disappointed when I downloaded the photos for him and saw that they weren't yellow. Caterpillar machinery (which I'm used to) is yellow and these machines were Sandvik which is red. Oh well, it was obviously only I who was "behind the times"! 

One thing I did notice about the machines was the beautiful blue African sky behind them; I decided this image would make a lovely photo for this week's meme, Skywatch Friday.

I'm packing to leave site tomorrow  at 4am. As you can imagine the cats are milling around me, climbing inside the luggage and sniffing at things as I pack!

I hope you've all had a wonderful week.

A princess in the garden

...the Hedges menagerie increases! 

As many of my blog followers may have discerned from Ambrose' post, we have a new kid on the block. A dog, no less! No sooner had we relocated two foster cats from Tanzania to South Africa, that a little puppy was thrust through the gate (this is true) by a group of children. 

Once I'd bathed her in flea deterrent, dewormed her and fed the dog, Michael found a flat box into which I placed an old pillow and the little mite was soon fast asleep.

Next morning, Grant met the pup for the first time and gave it a name: she was Princess and boy, does she live up to her name! Princess now has a selection of chewy toys in her bed; she also has a variety of homemade toys  - an empty water bottle, a toilet roll inner tube, an old slipper -  as well as a tennis ball in the back garden for when she "helps" Michael with his chores. 

 A bed fit for a Princess

Princess plays with her tennis ball

Princess chews her old slipper

Of course, the cute little girl would just LOVE to play with the three fluffy kitties in the Hedges garden. But they're still not used to her. We're hoping they will eventually show generous feline spirits (ha-ha, up my sleeve) and make friends. They should because by the time we return from leave in a month's time, Princess will be towering over them! 

Princess tries to befriend Ambrose, who so far, is the only one of the Tanzanian Trio to show a little friendliness

Shadow casually stretches but it was just an eye blind. A minute later, Princess ventured to close to him and she felt Shadow's sharp claws on her nose!

All the Hedges pets relax in the afternoon sun

Princess has proved that being small, cute, highly intelligent and very friendly, can melt even the crustiest old lady's heart. Toffee is one of the two dogs in our big garden. Buster, the male is very friendly and over the two years we've been here, it's been much easier to gain his confidence. Until three weeks ago, Toffee only came to me if I was proffering a bone and then only to grab it from my hand and dash off to eat it. Now with a puppy which I feed on the doorstep three times a day, both Buster and Toffee come and sit close by. Why? Because in between Princess eating, I normally take out a piece of meat and offer it to the bigger dogs. Apart from that, Princess has not taken "no" for an answer when it comes to wanting to play with her Uncle Buster or Aunt Toffee. In the beginning they snapped at her but as time has gone by, she has gotten under their skins. 

 Buster and Princess having a play!

Toffee and Princess playing on the lawn

As can be seen by Toffee's grey muzzle (photo below) it should have taken a lot longer for her to allow Princess to take the liberties she does. Not so...

Princess takes a lunge at Toffee's bottom lip and hangs on! 

Princess' whole head disappears into Toffee's mouth! 

Can you see the resignation on old Toffee's face as Princess climbs all over her head!

What a wonderful day it was on 17 December 2013 when dear little Princess came into our garden, our lives and now has crept into our hearts. Now all we have to do is convince the three Hedges cats!

Last birding before our leave

The past weekend was our last here on site before we go out on a month's leave.  While in SA we'll see birds, but because there is so much [else] to do on holiday, this pass-time doesn't take center stage. (Although I ALWAYS take photos of the many birds in our Marquard garden and while we're on the road touring by motorcycle or car!)

So here goes for our last East Africa birding until mid-February.

Striped Kingfisher

Just after driving through the boom gate near our home, we spotted three birds in quick succession. A Striped Kingfisher, a Common Kestrel and a Black-headed Heron.

Common Kestrel (Male)

 Black-headed Heron

Along the bush road on the way to the dam, we saw many dik-dik (more than a dozen in several places); a little family of bush-rats, many mousebirds, sparrows, and a couple of seed-eaters which I still need to identify. I also photographed a canary which I have ID'd but I'm waiting for confirmation from Jez who's on leave in Ireland.

In the bush opposite the dam wall,  I photographed a Purple Heron; a Slate-colored Boubou (very shy and very difficult to photograph); a Madagascar Pond Heron (not shown here); quite a large flock of Reed (Long-tailed) Cormorants and  a pair of Grey Wagtail with the male displaying beautifully.

Purple Heron

Slate-colored Boubou

Reeed (Long-tailed) Cormorant at the water's edge

Reed (Long-tailed) Cormorant drying its wings

Grey Wagtail

Grey Wagtail male displaying 

For more bird posts around the world, please click on Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by Steward Monkton.