Saturday, February 25, 2012

Showing off to my friends!



I have just had an old friend (now living in England) stay for a few days. I hoped she would love Utopia and she did! Who wouldn't?  We've had an exceptionally hot summer and so wallowed in the rock pools below the house every day.  On the first day we drove through to Pilanesberg and spent the day birding and seeing animals - I am allowed to put it this way round as she, too, loves birding.  We fed the Catfish at Maletse Dam and then ate brunch in the hide while watching two young male elephants indulging in a spot of horseplay in the water.  They pushed and shoved each other and played just like kids do in a pool!  An older bull came down and also went into the water, pushing between them and immersing himself briefly then out he got and  had a dust bath, while the youngsters carried on playing in the deep water.  It was magical and we must have spent the better part of two hours just watching.  We left the park in the late afternoon and were home in time for sundowners and a swim before supper outside on the stoep in the cooling night air.  Next day Jane and I went off to do a Canopy Tour nearby.  Great fun, considering we are both OAP's!!  Enough adrenaline to make you feel alive whilst knowing the gear and staff were both in good nick and your life wasn't hanging in the balance! See above pics. I thought I was the first in the family to do this but then discovered that Special Elder Daughter had pipped me to the post a year or so ago!  Where was I that I didn't know?  That night we introduced Jane to "Computer Games"!!!!!  I am an addict and play as much as possible; favourites being Zuma and Bejewelled and now SED has introduced me to Hidden Object games.  I downloaded Mortlake Mansion and OAP was intrigued and sat next to me "helping" then became hooked himself!  Then SED introduced us to Dire Grove which took us nearly 2 weeks (off and on) to complete. So now we introduced Jane to both and within hours she was rubbing the back of her neck and her eyes and was reluctant to leave it and go to bed!  On Sunday SED and Favourite Grandson came for the day and we hiked up to Mushroom Rock and Cederberg Kloof where he and Jane splashed each other in the pools before we trekked home.  He found a gorgeous piece of ripple rock and insisted on carrying it home - it weighed 11 kilos (I weighed it on the bathroom scale!) and we put it in my backpack and he and SED took turns!  They wouldn't let me have a turn - too old and frail!! So old age DOES have its benefits! Jane left on Monday and by Tuesday was back in drizzly, windy, chilly England walking her dog and wearing four layers of wet, muddy clothes instead of walking in a shirt and shorts.  Shame!