Weekly Chat, Sunday December 27 2009

A lovely morning 18 C, cool breeze, overcast sky. Expecting 24 C. If only summer was like this. The Caramac manufacturer must be wondering why sales have suddenly increased LOL. Lovely stork story. We watched the Vienna 2010 New Year concert last night. That actually comes LIVE via satellite. It started 9.15 pm here, so according to the wonderful Google, it was 11.45 am in Vienna. I believe it is a morning concert. Tonight we get the delayed 2009 Edinburgh Tattoo.

Christmas is definitely over - letterbox & paper are full of back-to-school adverts. 'Tis summer holidays and first term doesn't start until 27 Jan. They have to squeeze school stuff in before Valentines Day. And so they rush away our year. Not that we aren't hanging out for a certain day in March . . .

This site is still suffering from a hangover - couldn't get back on for a while. I've been Googling Vienna New Concert. Phew! prices of those seats!!! Anyway, our telecast was delayed half an hour. Makes me wonder about real time and what I see on TV.

Dau's Dog is best described, at the best of times, as "a bit thick." But he is very affectionate and a good companion.

Hey AQ and anyone else who manages to log on.  Just gone 4 p.m. here; still gray and cool with sun a pale glimmer behind the clouds.  Nice though.  Did some yard work today; tidied up some plants, watered others, did the laundry, now FINALLY watching the McCall Smith video on Botswana, which is very interesting (not just about Mme Ramotswe).  Dug out a VCR tape and could hear that on the other machine, so something wrong with the DVD bit; now switched decks around and all okay for now.   The Botswana tape is lovely since it gives a larger view of what we see at Pete's Pond; I was hoping they'd mention PP, but not yet....

Hi, Annette: So glad that you have resolved the tech issue. We actually had blue sky and sunshine here today. Very cold, though. -13C/9F this morning. Take some time to rejuvenate and enjoy yourself.

You personally may already know this, but the following link is to Afke's personal blog -- unconnected to the Pete's Pond site. Afke is the person who runs the camera at Pete's Pond. On the page below, you can see a picture of her.

http://africanbushlife.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=7548648&pagesize=60&page=1

ChloeB: Beautiful moon pic!

Alan: Thanks for the stork link! And, Lindybird, thanks for the other link.

Auntie: I read your comment about "Life After People." The Earth probably hopes that we will all disappear for awhile and give her a break. I wish that people could learn to live in harmony with the Earth, instead of exploiting her. Stay warm there in Finland!

AQ: My Dad wants your tomato plants. We can't buy good tomatoes here at this time of year. They are irradiated ones, with hard centers. Yuck. Stay cool!

Emma Peel: That cookbook sounds wonderful!

I hope that Caerann, Margobird, and DjoanS are all recovered from the flus/colds!

evening everyone. Today,this site has been up and down more than................................................(insert words you feel comfortable with!! LOL) .

Glad you got the DVD problem answered Annette, must have been frustrating. Glad you had a quiet day.

AQ sounds lovely and "cool" Have a good rest of the day

Catch up tomorrow

Evening all:  Diane - thanks for the link to Afke's page - I didn't imagine her as a young blonde model-type!  What a wonderful job she has.  I'm still browsing cookbooks while keeping one eye on Farenheit 451 on Turner Classic - one of my all-time favorite movies.  Always liked Oscar Werner - and Julie Christie. 

Hallo to everyone else - do hope you're all okay and staying warm (except for AQ and Wattle of course).

Ah...Fahrenheit 451. Very prophetic book/movie. Gotta love Ray Bradbury!

Annette: Afke does, indeed, have a great job. I would love it! That job would have its dangers, though -- living in such an isolated place, far away from emergency help and surrounded by poachers who resent the game reserve/Pete's Pond. I wonder how many people she has on site with her there? I hope she has security. I'm still coming to terms with the isolation here, so I guess I always think about those issues. LOL

Diane: typed long response then the site went down again. Was wondering about Afke's situation and the security - maybe it's not as isolated as we think?  A companion? Tiny staff?  That would be good.  The Botswana (McCall Smith) video talked about the country having a very enlightened government - good policies, both people and environmental. It's diamond rich (no blood diamonds), but they're trying to develop eco-tourism/photog safaris, etc. as a way to diversify.  Going to post this now before the site goes down again.