27 March 2017

Hark hark, the Scottie dogs do bark

Come on dudes - time to wake up!
We are all waiting ...
At long last we arrived on Fish Hoek beach for the Scottie Walk. This time last year the Food Lady was hobbling around on a broken foot and this year it is Mac and Kenzie's mom's turn.
But no time for commiserating and admiring Mac's beautiful red bow tie - or Estea in her cricket whites -
 we were all most anxious to get walking.
There were puppies (eeeuw), like this one called Bonnie,
and lots and lots of crazy Scotties - this is Emma -
as well as other dogs that Lad and Harvey were keen to get to know better even if the sentiments were not returned.
One of the humans was even wearing a kilt.
I was wearing my bandana from Renate - Hamish and Findlay's mom,
as were several others. (This photo from Jenny-Lynne Brown Mynhardt.)
The highlight of the walks are the treats that get handed out!
Lad and one of his many loves, Lily.
but watch out Lad, these are just three of Lily's big brothers and sisters.
The Food Lady with me - I am not sure why I was on the lead but maybe the Food Lady thought I would wander off and get lost again. Sometimes I just can't help it. My nose just leads me astray. (Photo by Jenny-Lynne Brown Mynhardt from the Scotties Cape Town Facebook page.)
Then we bumped into Storm who we used to walk with at Wynberg Boys High School,
and her sister Sandy. It was good to say hello to them again.
All too soon we were at the end of the walk. Waiting to say goodbye and to collect donations for the charity of the walk, Tin Can Town, were Angus and Baillie with their humans, Melanie and Le Roux,
and my friend, old Mac who had a sore foot today as he has a torn toenail and had to have it in a plastic bag to keep it dry. Like me, he enjoys his snacks.
Angus and Baillie with Melanie and Le Roux, Snippie with Irene and Mac with Pam.
We then went to see Omie Domes and discovered that Maddie had been quite badly bitten in the stomach by the next door dog and had just come back from the hospital with a fancy pink bandage on. Tomorrow she needs to go for an operation so we are all sending her lots of doggy support vibes.
I spent the rest of the morning shouting rude names at the next door dog on Maddie's behalf.

24 March 2017

Dogs, dolerite dykes and goodbye to Norman

Last Sunday there was no walk as the Food Lady and the Alph had a 60th birthday party in Camps Bay, followed by a wake for Paddington and Rupert's human granddad, Norman Rodseth, at the Rodseths home. When Paddington had finished swimming in the pool he helped Arti light candles
which they floated on the pool for Norman. Apparently, ancient Norwegians used to set fire to boats and send them out onto the sea to liberate the dead person's spirit and Arti's candles were to symbolize setting Norman's spirit free.
By the end of the evening, the whole pool was filled with floating lights.
Then on Tuesday it was a public holiday (Human Rights Day that commemorates a terrible massacre of South Africans by the police in Sharpeville in 1960) and we decided to hit the beach at Llandudno where dogs are only allowed until 9 am.
While I explored the nooks and crannies in the great granite boulders, keeping a wary eye on the cold cold sea,
the crazy Lad found lots of friends to frolic with.
Such a lovely day.
My "own god", the Alph.
Come on you lot! Lets explore up here.
We found another little cove called Logies Bay beyond the main beach as the witching hour of 9 am drew close,
just below a human poo farm. And as you know, I do so love poo.
Laddie pretending to be a dassie in Logies Bay. The Food Lady was wondering about the origin of the name Logies Bay as she thought it might be Scottish, but it seems more likely to be a Muslim name as all these coves and ravines were refuges for runaway slaves and Muslim leaders who had been arrested for anti-slavery uprisings in the Dutch East Indies and brought to the Cape as punishment.
The Food Lady remembered coming here with her Museum Club kids many years ago to examine the interesting dolerite dyke that is exposed in amongst the granite. The Alph and Lad stood on the dolerite for a photo, 
but I was more interested in the smelly kelp and dead fish and the odd chicken bone in amongst the flotsam and jetsam around it.
"Did you get a good photo Phood Lady?"
We then walked back up through the sedges (Ficinia nodosa),
and Grysbietou (Osteospermum incanum subsp incanum)
up and over,
and up some more. I see the Lion's Head!
The Food Lady wants to live in this house on the beach.
And me and Lad wanted to live in this one. Lots of lizards to chase!
The rest of Tuesday was fiercely hot - even if the garden thinks its autumn - and we all spent the day in the shade under the pergola, finishing off with a lovely braai.
And where was our bestieBostie all this time? He was spending a working long weekend with his mom.
Ok, blog done. Time to lick the braai grid now. Yummm.

21 March 2017

The Cancelled Cycle Tour Walk in the Woods

Two Sundays ago we said goodbye to the Alph who set out in a high wind to ride his bike with 35-thousand other cyclists.
We had just seen him off with lots of barks, when he came home again with the news that the tour had been cancelled as the wind was just too fierce, and there were fires in Hout Bay and protests in Kommetjie.
So we went for a walk in the Constantia greenbelt which is always pretty wind-free.
Tails up!
Lad has been taking lessons in tree climbing from Harvey.
A delicious cooling swim,
followed by a good roll in the dust.
We crossed to the section below Kirstenbosch,
where we met some of the cancelled cyclists in full Cape Town Cycle Tour regalia.
Laddie had lots of things to chase,
but I just plodded on.
There were not too many flowers out, but the Australian cherries (Syzygium) were in full bloom.
After we found Laddie again (he had disappeared after a cat into the thick bush), we re-crossed back into the normal greenbelt
for a last swim before getting back into the car,
and driving home past the lifelike rhino in Peter Cloete Avenue. Time for breakfast please!