Day 534 - Lazy Day With Malva Pudding

After a late night skype with Sylvia, Drayton & baby Colton, and a late night chat with Jaco, it was nearing 0500 by the time I got to sleep. Needless to say this morning didn’t happen! It was 1330 by the time I woke up. Can you say jet lag?

It was super hot out today. I can’t believe how beautiful the weather is! I immediately felt guilty for sleeping so late when it’s this hot out! I made up for it by sweating in the sun while I read the latest issue of Cesar’s Way that Jaco picked up for me when we were in Barbados.

It was a good thing I read the magazine, as there were some helpful hints in it. Later that afternoon, the neighbor lady stopped by & had her dog with her. Sis went crazy. She had this wild look in her eye & would NOT stop barking. I did my best to ‘shhhht’ her up, but it didn’t last for long. It was interesting to note the behaviours of Petro, Jaco, & the neighbor towards Sis. Where do you draw the line on stopping the barking? You want the dog to let you know if someone is coming into the yard or if she hears a strange noise, but how do you get the dog to know the difference between company, strangers, noises, & just plain old barking? In any case, Sis settled down briefly & then we went outside.

Petro made a delicious supper for us. She is such a great cook. We had a delicious salad, roasted veggies, fresh chicken & my favourite – Malva Pudding! Wow. We bought some from the shop the other day & it doesn’t hold a candle to Petro’s! I think she could open a shop in Canada on that dish alone!!!

After dinner we went outside & I took some photos of the house. A car port has been added since I was last here & the granadilla plant has grown out of control! There are plenty of blossoms & grenadillas ripening as I type! Petro showed me how to assist Mother Nature & pollinate the flowers so that a grenadilla will develop. Very interesting! Not so interesting was the big hairy spider & her sac of baby spiders next to one of the flowers. Yuck.

I had a nice skype visit with Jenn in Texas & got to see Harrison & Heidi. They are growing so much! Harrison was laughing hysterically when I would catch the kisses that he blew my virtual way. It was fun! I’m so proud of Jenn & her continued weight loss. Her blog is My Romance

The rest of the night was frustratingly spent trying to upload photos onto the blog. It is NOT working & I keep getting one or two photos out of forty-five. Highly frustrating. I did, however, watch Charl Schwartzel win the 2011 Masters. He’s South African you know! Exciting times!

Lekker slaap,

xxxxMaria & Jaco

 Grenadilla blossom

 The fruit being vine ripened

 What a creation!

 The plant!

 The base

 New fruit forming

 Helping pollinate

 Done!

 Spider!

 Spider's nest. Yuck.

The vine growing like crazy!