Day 532 - Third Birthday In Africa

Today was my birthday. The third one to be spent in Africa. Crazy! Last year I was mauled by lion cubs. This year I was getting over jet lag. Suddenly getting mauled by lions sounds pretty good! Ha ha. 


We slept late. Really late. I think I only woke up after 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I was getting ready for what was left of the day when Petro came & asked if I wanted to come & say goodbye to Gustav, Crystal & Zandrie, as they were leaving for home. So much for the visit! I guess we'll have to make another visit soon!


After they were gone, Jaco & I went to the grocery store to pick up some food. We checked out the new Checkers. The Hermanus Train Station is now a 'shopping mall'. There are about 6 shops & a grocery store. Technically Hermanus has never had a train come through town, but I guess they wanted a train station because... Well, who knows? In any case, it was nice to observe what was new & different in town. We also drove to the beach as the sun set & watched the waves for a while. I love the smell of the ocean & the sound of the waves. It's rejuvenating!


Once we were back at the house, Petro made dinner for us & I warmed up the Malva Pudding. Petro is a great chef & talented baker, so I'm sure my store bought Malva Pudding didn't win any awards, but in any case, I put it in the oven to warm it up. 


Now, ovens are in Celsius over here. I've only baked in Fahrenheit, the few times I have actually baked. I couldn't tell what was bake, broil or otherwise, as the symbols looked nothing like the ones we have at home. I put it on a random symbol & waited patiently. Petro had slipped out for something, so I couldn't ask her & Jaco certainly didn't know. A few minutes later, I open the door to check the pudding & there is a cloud of smoke coming out & filling the kitchen, choking the oxygen out of the room. And me. 


I open the outside door to let some fresh air in & smoke out. That's when Petro arrived. I'm sure she thought me a complete nincompoop. In any case, she flipped a few switches on the oven & no more smoke, just nice heat & warm Malva Pudding. We all enjoyed a nice dish with cherry ice cream. Happy Birthday to me.


I'm happy to have made it to 32 years of age. After this past year or three years, I'm happy to reach another year of life... happy & healthy.


xxxxMaria

Ooooh! Hey there Hot Stuff! 

 Brr! This ain't Barbados anymore!

 Sunset!

 moody scenes

Artwork as life!

Day 294 - Arrivederci Hair.

Well, it's official. My hair has officially started to fall out. Yesterday I counted 5 on the edge of my plate at breakfast & this morning after my usual moisturizing application (on my head) I counted 37 (!) little hairs on my hands. Sigh. I was hoping I would be lucky & not lose my hair. Yeah, I shaved it & I liked it, but I was hoping it would stick around. Oh well... Talk about a humbling experience. Vanity sucks.


Speaking of vanity, I had Mom take a few photos of me before it gets any thinner! See below...


I was up at 0100 to take my pill. Actually I woke up at 1247 to the sound of my husband snoring & his elbow grating my spinal column. Oh it's bliss, alright! I looked at the time & knew I'd have to take my pill in 10 minutes, so I used the loo & 'pee'ked out the window to see if the stars were out. 


I had seen on Facebook something about a meteor shower, so I was pretty excited to see that it had cleared of enough to see the stars. Since we only pass through Swift-Tuttle comet trail once a year, I thought I better get out to see it (& since I was already up!) I thought I'd sit out for 10 minutes & sneak back in before my alarm went off in order to avoid waking Sleeping Beauty. (Okay, fair enough, I'll be gentle on him - he did go 44 hours without sleep) As my luck would have it, the meteors were pretty awesome & I didn't make it back in before the alarm went off. A very confused Jaco came to the door to see what on Earth I was doing. He didn't share my love of the Cosmos at that particular moment. 


I sat outside & counted 12 or 14 meteors. I lost track after awhile. They were beautiful & lit up the entire sky! I wished I could have photographed it & captured it in the memory books forever. I've already forgotten what Hale Bopp was like! In any case I went back inside to try & sleep again & Jaco was NOT impressed that I had woken him up. Whoops. My bad.


Of course, then it was the dog waking me up every few hours. She was in her 'big girl bed' & didn't like it much. She kept jumping up onto the bed, even after I'd moved the bench a good foot from the end of the bed! Then, at 0730, I woke up to the sound of her ripping all over the place. She was running & tearing around like a house on fire. I let her out of the room.


Then Jaco woke up. Then Mom stormed around. Then the dogs barked. Then Jaco hammered away on the treadmill, shaking my room. FINE! I'll get up! 


I visited Joe at EVIC for awhile to help him out while Shauna is away, but it wasn't busy, so he sent me home to see Jaco. 


When I came inside, there's my jet-lagged hubby hard at it on the treadmill. I guess he's sticking to his routine. I should take some lessons! I took the time to type up a bit of the blog (behind again!) while he worked hard. 


After he finished up, we took at drive to town for some groceries, as he wanted to pick up a few things. We decided to stop for ice cream afterwards. Scoops & Snacks was closed :o( but Frontier Candy was still open. I don't enjoy Frontier as much, because their scoops are smaller & more expensive. Yes, I'm an ice cream SNOB. Five summers of scooping ice cream & you would be too! 


When we walked up to the shop, the only clerk was outside having a cigarette break. Jaco & I walked in & looked at the flavours. I watched the clerk come in, grab a bite of a broken waffle cone & then make eye contact with us, asking us if we wanted anything. I was waiting for him to wash his hands. Sick. He didn't. I told Jaco I would ask him to wash his hands if he wouldn't do it after I placed my order. I placed my order. He picked up my spoon & dish. He proceeded to head for the ice cream buckets. WITHOUT WASHING HIS HANDS!!!! Call me crazy, but that's disgusting! So, I said, 'Sorry, but would you mind washing your hands, I have a compromised immune system.' He looked at me & said, 'Yeah, sure.' I watched, in horror, again, as he RINSED his hands under the water, WITHOUT SOAP. The dispenser was directly to his left. He then proceeded to dry his hands on his apron. GAG. I suddenly didn't feel like an ice cream anymore. 


As soon as we arrived home, I googled 'Health Inspector Calgary'. I managed to find Alberta Health Services with a listing of cities, restaurants, & best of all, their inspection reports & findings! Click Here, but be warned, you may NEVER eat out again! 


Jaco & I made our first meal together. Well, he cooked & ate chicken & I made tacos. It was an interesting experience as he helped me clean up & unload the dishwasher. Wish us luck folks! It's going to be a journey!


We walked the dogs down to the barn to let Mom's horse out & then it was time to hit the hay. Tomorrow's an exciting day with Drayton & the Dinosaurs! Rrrrrroar! 


xxxxx
Maria, Valentina & Papa

Leaning on a tree

Leaning on another tree.

Leaning on what used to be a tree

Thinking about leaning on a tree

Smiles

Mother tries to make me laugh 

Jaco liked this one 

 Adios joined us at the end of the shoot

Tall Timothy