Slaving away in the bush

I wonder what BP15's last slave died of? Yesterday I decided to refurbish the upstairs balcony decking which had gone a rather grimy shade of black with mildew and dust, etc. I bought, at great expense, some stuff you paint on and it miraculously turns the wood back to the shade it was originally - NOT! When I re-read the instructions on the can, after slurping liberally over the whole deck, I realised it had said to only do small sections at a time and with a pot scourer - scrub it!! Oh Bugger! I got a bucket of water and discovered that if you re-wet the stuff it was easy enough to scrub with the pot scourer but filthy, slimy and needed washing off immediately or it dried again in lumps. It took me the whole of the morning in the boiling sun and when I had finished finally, dragged the hosepipe upstairs and washed it off with a hard, fine spray and went downstairs I realised that the whole stoep beneath was covered in the stuff and in pools of grey water. So I had to wipe down, rinse off and hose the stoep as well. By the time I had finished it was time for lunch - big mistake, sitting down for an hour as when I tried to stand up and walk I had stiffened into a sitting position! Anyway this morning I loosened up by applying a coat of yacht varnish and then had breakfast. BP15 (Beloved Partner of 15 years) went up to inspect my handiwork and came bouncing down saying "I reckon you could apply another coat now before we go out" (what? before I make the kebabs and salads for the braai we are going to? before I have a shower? before I make the bed and tidy the house?) no wonder he never managed to sustain a long-term relationship EVER before! I am just too lazy to start all over again on my own!!
Sitting drinking sundowners out back a couple of days ago, watching the Weaver birds in the Fever Tree getting ready for bed, we suddenly saw a Boomslang making its way along the thorny branches towards a nest. As the snake got towards the end of the branch it would sag alarmingly taking the snake further from the nest. SO it would turn back and try another branch and another nest but always coming back to one where I knew an egg or a baby was (I'd seen the mommy weaver taking food in there during the day). Eventually it found the way along the branch the nest was hanging from and as it slid onto the actual nest we could hear the mommy squawking inside. As the snake got to the entrance the bird flew out, highly agitated, and into the next tree. In went half the snake and stayed there for about 10 minutes after which it came out and went off to investigate the other nests. By this time we had run and got a torch as it was too hard to see anymore. Next morning the weavers pulled those nests the snake had touched off the tree and for a few days no birds were seen at the tree. This morning a male weaver was back pulling still more nests apart and it's with great hopes that we will watch to see if they build more and raise more babies. I am racking my brains for a way to stop the snakes from going in the tree, but I think in vain. Last year we saw a snake and a mongoose in the same tree so it's obviously well known to the local wild life! Last night we had a braai and threw our chop bones over the stoep into the veld below and were lucky enough to see a Greater Spotted Genet eating the bones later.
We've had loads of rain and the river is rushing contentedly past, clean and cool but we haven't had flooding as in past years. Beloved Grandson is only about an hour away (at Sun City) with his dad and I keep hoping we get a call to go and fetch him!! But I guess he's at that age where he can entertain himself as long as he has the money or the gadgets to do so!! He loves it here and Daughter #1 has booked in for the 28th to the 31st December. Can't wait!