Where did the week go?

I've just realised that my last entry was week ago. Time is flying by this year.

My daughter came down to Durban last weekend. I was expecting to see her at a brunch at my parents on the Sunday just before she was due to go back to Johannesburg. It was a flying visit to attend a wedding of one of her school friends. She travelled down on Friday afternoon with two of her friends but had to also bring Tiny, her miniature Doberman, the bunnies and the guinea pigs in her little car and planned to leave the animals with me. Robynne ended up staying with me as it was so late by the time she arrived and dropped off her friends with their families. So over the weekend we had 6 humans, 5 bunnies, 2 guinea pigs, 3 dogs, 14 cats and 5 fish in da house!

Robynne and I spent time just chatting and catching up on Saturday morning. She had an extra nap and then she dropped Brad and I off at granny's house on her way to the wedding. Granny had offered the use of her Hub account for me to buy Brad a new school bag and shoes for school. Unfortunately, Hub didn't have brown shoes in stock but we did get a nice new bag. Brad has to wear his takkies to school until month end when I will buy a new pair of shoes for him.

Robynne thoroughly enjoyed her friends wedding, which was held at a seaside resort in Ixopo, just past Kingsburgh and her friends were so amazed that she had travelled all the way from Johannesburg to be at their wedding. On Sunday, I got up early to bake a batch of biscuits for Robynne to take with her to Johannesburg later that day and also a batch of muffins for the brunch at granny. She and I went out with two of the baby bunnies to a new pet shop in town. The bunnies are ready to go to new homes and we were pleased with the cleanliness of the petshop. They were soon settled into their new box at the shop. I persuaded her to keep one of her babies, a black and white bunny who is full of character. She was going to send him to the petshop too but I said she would be sorry if she did that. So he is still a part of her bunny family. He is such an inquisitive and playful little chap and full of fun. Robynne packed up and the boys and I followed her down to granny's. Gran and Greg had been hard at work making miniwors, bacon, chips and fried tomato. An informal table was laid on the patio. We just had to make toast and scrambled egg and warm up some baked beans and we sat down to a feast. We ate and relaxed for some time. Then Dael and Brad said their goodbyes and walked back home. After a bit more chatting and some photos, Robynne left with her pets to pick up her other passengers. I always hate saying goodbye. But it was a nice relaxed visit and it was very good to see my daughter again. After a six-hour trip, Robynne was back in Johannesburg, arriving home at 9pm that night.

Bradley went back to school on Monday. He hasn't been the happiest chap this week but he will get back into the swing of things by the end of the week.

My car oil buzzer started buzzing again last week. I spent some of my monthly budget to buy a 5lt can of oil and a new oil filter. Dael drained my oil on Saturday afternoon and replaced the filter. The car was fine on Sunday although I really didn't drive much that day. But on Monday, the buzzing started again. So I am just nursing this car and driving carefully until I can send it in again to the mechanics. Dael was phoned again this week to help the adventure group with a school course but I told him I can't risk using my car for any trips out of town until it is fixed so he had to decline. It is more important at this time to get Brad to school and myself to work than Dael to his courses.

My one baby kitten, the biggest chap, has managed to get the tip of his tail caught in something and it has damaged the tip of his tail. I didn't realise there was a problem but in the last couple of days I had noticed that he has been flicking his tail because it is painful, the tip has lost its fur and was bleeding yesterday. Dael held him and I tried to put a dressing on his tail. The tail is so tiny that the dressing slipped off but we managed to get some ointment on it. It seems a lot better this morning and not worrying him so much but obviously it will never be the same again. Tail injuries are very distressing for cats and dogs so Dael is watching him closely to see that he doesn't wander off.

My oldest cat Joe, one of my first kittens, who was born in 2000, always prompts comments from Greg like "He's on the way out now" and "He won't last much longer". One evening this week, a gecko bravely appeared on the lounge ceiling. Its a sight seldom seen as my cats are active hunters. Immediately Bebe, on her perch on the top of the fishtank and the closest to the ceiling, scrabbled into an upright position and reached her paws up against the wall, trying to reach the gecko which wriggled to safety across the middle of the lounge. As it reached the other side of lounge, "Old Joe" raced up the curtains and grabbed the gecko in his mouth. I ran across the lounge and as he dropped down from the curtain rail, still with gecko in his mouth, I shouted and held him down, before he could think of running outside with his prize. He opened his mouth and the gecko ran for freedom, probably with a few dents from Joe's remaining teeth. He may be old but he can still move when he needs to. He was a bit confused and sat in that position for some time waiting for his prize to reappear but the gecko was never seen again....