Lockdown Day 157 - Sunday 30 August

The weather has turned. Just when I thought we had skipped most of Spring and arrived directly in the middle of Summer with temps in the mid 30s, another cold front has swept across the country. Too chilly and windy for our game drive so we spent the afternoon playing cards instead. With wine and snacks. And chilli sherry.

And the usual animal distractions. Giraffe. Nyala.Male bushbuck fighting.

And a sudden bird commotion led by the Arrowmarked Babblers. Then two owls flew out of the thicket and settled in the tree at our balcony. A pair of beautiful Wood Owls.

Facebook threw up a memory from 2 years ago. Neil snapped by a random commuter in NYC and posted on the social media site "Subway Creatures." Chloe, whom we met in Singapore, seeing the photo and sending it to Nikki, who sent it to us. Funny thing was we were riding the subway to visit Garreth, Nikki's brother at the time. It's a small world after all!

Lockdown Day 156 - Saturday 29 August

Just another day in Paradise. A big elephant family visited us at the river.

The birds were out and about. Late in the afternoon a big bull elephant came to the house and pulled the pipe out of the water tank.

We had to tell at him to drop the pipe so he went off in a huff to the carpark.

He threw the building sand all over the place but luckily didn't do any damage to any of the cars.

I made Ugandan Rolex for breakfast and did US style BBQ pork belly and brisket for dinner. Lots of wine was consumed. We sat outside without sweaters or jackets until really late.

Lockdown Day 155 - Friday 28 August

We left Magoebaskloof early and headed into Tzaneen to do a bit of shopping. Just before we got to the Parsons gate, the trailer tyre blew. Neil waited by the trailer so the cement and wood wouldn't get stolen and Johan drove Ronell and I to the Safari camp and to get a wheel spanner. (I have so many "fond" memories of holidays and trailer woes! )

Rob, Gill and Jo arrived at the gate at the same time as Neil and Johan. As soon as we unpacked at Hippo Lodge we were on the deck for GnT sundowners. Four ellies visited us in the garden and Rob and Gill braaied a delicious fillet which we enjoyed with lots and lots of good red wine. Our life as we love it. 

Today's joke comes from Neil again!

Magoebaskloof : Lockdown Day 154 - Thursday 27 August

We woke up to chilly, cloudy, drizzly weather which set the tone for a lazy day. I got lots of admin and online shopping done while watching the birds in the garden. At one time there were three different species of Mannikin feeding together; Bronze, Redbacked and Magpie.

The birders' cottages are on an avo farm so we were given such good avos, which we have devoured with every meal. Something like wine, then. 

And the image of the day is borrowed from Andrea.