Bathing Ducks

I did not even check the temperature this morning when Chester and I went on our walk.  I didn’t even check it when we got home and now around noon it is 27C with a predicted high of 33C and possible thunderstorms to follow.  It was very pleasant for our morning walk, so I am guessing it was about 20C under a sunny sky with just a slight breeze.  We saw a Mallard Duck family having their morning bath and a sparrow that I think is a Savannah Sparrow – but these little guys are so hard to know for sure.

I didn’t get any more done on my livingroom yesterday and I’ve heard that the Assiniboine Park Zoo now has a butterfly garden, so I expect one of my next weekend days will be spent there.  They also have a new bird flight show that I will have to take in.  I’ll make sure I have my camera batteries all charged up for those 2 new features. 

Mallards Bathing July 16

Mallards Bathing July 16

Mallards Bathing July 16

The ducks seems to be enjoying themselves and paid no attention to Chester and I standing there watching them.

Savannah Sparros July 16

I’m not 100% sure of any of my sparrow IDs, but I think that might be what this guy is.

After my exercise class today, followed by the big breakfast at The Red Top, I came home to water my flowers.  I felt like a bad flower mom when I saw how wilted the poor little things were.  I seldom come or go from the front door and hadn’t realized how dry everything was.  My impatience are what I see when I go out to get the mail and for some reason they were looking very good.  But everything is watered now and hopefully they will recover from my neglect.

Today on Africam, we have seen Rhinos, Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Nyala, Waterbuck and more.  Click here to see today’s pictures.

Birds and Water

Today’s walk with Chester was after my exercise class at the Y followed by a big breakfast at the Red Top Restaurant – a Saturday tradition.     I didn’t check the temperature when we left, but it was 9C when we got back and I have no idea how long it took for this walk.  I’m going to have to map it out to see how far we go on nice days.  I have pictures of the water and pictures of birds, along with another beaver cut tree.  This tree is close to where the other one is and looks like i is freshly cut – maybe the other one was too.  I hope I get to see the beaver one day and I wonder where he is building his home.  There is no way he could even consider building a dam on the Red  River.

Beaver Cut Tree Apr 23

Big Tree Apr 23

bird April 23

bird April 23

Canada Goose April 23

Mallard Duck Apr 23

Mallard Duck Apr 23

Weekends are when I get a chance to get things done around the house – or sometimes I just spend my day watching the cams at Africam    I spent most of yesterday (Good Friday) watching the cams – so today I am getting outside and doing some raking in the yard.  The weather is gorgeous and the temperature has risen to 14C  in just the few minutes that I’ve been sitting here getting this ready to post.  I didn’t even turn the cams on while sitting here because I know myself well enough to know that the raking would go undone.  My other option was to head out to Lockport and see if I can get pelican pictures again.  It was a few years ago that I got some great pictures there, but lost the originals when my computer crashed with the pictures not saved.    I do have pictures on my blog though from that day – its just that they are re-sized.  I am hoping that next weekend has more than one nice day so I can use one for a pelican day.  If you are interested in seeing those pictures you can search for pelican day or pelicans.  I am going to post this without getting the link 

Have a great day – I’m heading out to rake now.

Yippee!

It warmed up today!  Instead of that nasty -40C stuff from the last few days (my days off, of course), it is a reasonable -12C with a windchill of -19C.   I sure hope those bitter cold days are gone until next winter now.

So – I got up early for my early shift at work, watched Africam while I ate my breakfast, came home after work and then went out to Olive Garden for an early supper of soup, salad and breadsticks.  When I got home, I watched Africam some more.

All in all a pretty uneventful day.

This morning on Tembe though, there were workers laying the cable to move the microphone away from the hide (we could hear people coming and going all the time) and much closer to the waterhole (where we will hear the critters).   We had a bit of excitement when a big bull elephant came up very close to the vehicle they had beside them.  They men all got on the opposite side of the vehicle compared to where the elephant was.  He didn’t seem to pay any attention to them, but it looks like one of the men was taking pictures of the elephant.   So, that is my picture of the day. 

Elephant and Workers at TE

Another Friday

I woke up to the radio announcer saying that it was -41C with the wind chill.  How is that possible?  That’s just too cold!    The actual temperature was -30C – but the wind can sure make a difference when it’s that cold.

But – I had an appointment for a mammogram this morning, so after breakfast (no fasting required) and a bit of Africam viewing – I headed out for the appointment.  What fun – letting them squish my frozen breasts to take pictures.  They are actually very good there – but it is still uncomfortable.

Then I went to get my hair cut and stock my shelves with groceries.  At home Chester was still waiting for his walk, but I was still hoping it would warm up some more.  It was up to -26C by the time I got home, but they were not reporting on the wind chill.  I decided to have some lunch and watch the cams in the hopes that it might be a bit warmer later.  We finally went for our walk around 2pm when it reached -24C and then it suddenly started to warm up – it was -23C by the time we got home and then -21C about 20 minutes later.  The sun is shining as it usually is when its very cold.

The dog walking was followed by my regular Friday chores – vacuuming, dusting, giving Chester a manicure, cleaning Jewel’s cage (that is obviously done more than once a week, but it’s a more thorough one on Fridays).  I will be taking Jewel upstairs for a shower soon too – but I needed another Africam break. 

At 4pm my time, it is midnight in Africa – so another day has begun there.  If you want to see the pictures from today, you can click here.

Black Backed Jackal at NK

The picture of the day is actually from yesterday of a Black Backed Jackal at Nkorho.  He was having a little snooze, but one of the others must have woke him up for a minute.  He went right back to sleep after this picture was taken. 

Too Much Snow

When the snow stopped coming down last night, the temperature began to drop.  By morning it was -20C.   I went out early to shovel around the car before leaving for my exercise class.  Luckily for me my wonderful neighbour Andy had cleared behind the cars with his snowblower.  I knew I would have to leave the house early enough to get all the snow off the car – but hadn’t thought about all the ice – since the car was warm when I parked it yesterday and the first snow on it would have melted.  It took me awhile to scrape enough ice off it to be able to drive it.

I went to the exercise class, then went for my usual big breakfast at the Red Top, then came home and walked Chester.  I couldn’t put off shoveling any longer, so then got out the shovel, planning on getting the mound just left by the snowplow behind the car first.  Luckily for me,  Andy beat me to it – so I got the roof rake out to get the roof cleaned up first.   I’m learning – last time I cleaned the steps and sidewalk first and had to re-do them after dumping the snow from the roof on the steps and sidewalk.  Of course the pile of snow was much larger – but it was better than doing it twice.    Most years I only have to use the roof rake once, but this is the 2nd time this year – sure hope its the last.  I hope I’m not too stiff and sore tomorrow.

We had a bit of excitement on Africam today when 4 new male lions spent some time at Nkorho.  Unfortunately, we did not get to see them – but could hear their roars and Karin from the lodge said they were new, possibly from Kruger and were beautiful.  I hope she got some pictures for us and will post them tomorrow.

I didn’t take any pictures today – too busy shoveling to get the camera out – so the picture of the day is a Zebra that I took at the zoo here last summer.

Zebra

January 12th

It is a little cooler here today – was -21C when I got up, but has now risen to -18C where it is supposed to stay until evening when it will drop to -22C.  Still not bad for January weather though.

I am sitting here with my breakfast (from Howwa’s Virtual Boma Cafe, of course), watching the cams at Africam and planning my winter in Africa.    There is a herd of Impalas and one Waterbuck comfortably settled near the Elephant Plains waterhole with several Oxpeckers checking out the Impalas for their bug meal.  Its funny watching the Oxpeckers on the little Impalas.  The same birds look so tiny on the Cape Buffalo and so large on the Impalas.

Impalas with Oxpecker

We just heard that a family pack of Wild Dogs have been released into Tembe.  This is exciting news as there have not been Wild Dogs in Tembe for about 100 years and they will be a welcome visitor to the waterhole.  Sightings of these dogs are always welcome 

On my walk to and along the Red River this morning, I took a picture or two and thought it would be ok if I had more than just one picture of the day 

Trees across the Red River Jan 12/11

I thought this picture with the mist and the hoarfrost on the trees was kind of pretty and then when I got back to my own yard, I saw one of my trees looking pretty nice with some blue sky in the background.

Hoarfrost

Hope you have (or have had) a great day!

January 7th

Lots of running around here today.   Temperature wasn’t bad (-19C low to -12C high), but there was quite a nasty wind earlier.

I had some Africam viewing time while eating breakfast at the Boma Virtual Cafe run by Howwa and then watched some more until my daughter was ready to take her car in to have the cd player repaired. When she bought the car late last month, her one main requirement was a cd player. We did not have a cd with us to try it out, but the salesman assured us that it worked. I don’t imagine he had ever tried it or he would have known it didn’t work. I went along in my car in case the work was going to take awhile so we could go somewhere while it was being fixed. After waiting about 1/2 an hour we were told that it was the laser (or something) and that it would be $300. to replace the whole unit. We were also told that the dealership was not prepared to cover any of the cost of it. The salesman intervened and we did end up with an agreement to get it fixed. What they are prepared to do is to go to my daughter’s old car (which is just waiting to be towed away) and remove the cd player from it and to place it in her new car. They will cover the cost of the labour and she just has to pay for a faceplate and new connectors, if required.  They also agreed to removed the interior warmer from her old car and put that in the new one at the same time.  This should all happen some time early next week.

When I got home, it was time to walk the Chester dog along the Red River.  The wind was still quite nasty, so it was a pretty quick walk and no pictures were taken.  Then it was grocery shopping time.  I usually head out first thing in the morning for groceries to avoid lineups – but since it was after noon by then, I didn’t avoid the lineups but I did get everything that I wanted.

After about 20 minutes of Africam viewing, it was then time to take Cyrus to the vet.  He has been very congested lately and this is a recurring problem with him.  So, he is back on pills for the next several day.  Apparently, this is a virus that he has and stress can cause bacteria to build up in his nostrils which causes the stuffiness.  I guess he has had some stress over the last few months, with the move back here and the death of both Dakota and Sable.   The next time this happens, we are supposed to get him in right away and get him on nose drops, which will have to be given once or twice weekly.  The nose drops should stop the bacteria from causing the congestion.

I finally got home a little after midnight (central African time) and settled down to watch the cams for the rest of my evening 

The last few days, we have had a pair of Cape Buffalo bulls visiting the Elephant Plains waterhole and spending much of the day comfortably snoozing away.  Today Hanneke got a wonderful picture of one of the bulls fast asleep on the bank with all but his feet out of the water.  I thought that would be a great picture of the day.

snoozing buffalo

December 4th

Winter is officially here weeks before it is officially here.  We now have more snow than we had all last year, but I know there will be more – lots more, before we get spring.  The temperature is not bad today -10C as I write this around noon, but that usually means more snow and today is no exception as the snow is currently coming down.

After my workout at the Y and breakfast at the Red Top and walking the Chester dog, I proceeded to give Chester a bath.  He really does not like baths but we both survived.    A few years ago I bought a dog bath that is elevated to make dog bathing easier on me and the dogs.  Dakota was a water dog and loved her baths – but Chester fights them all the way.  This bath has a tie down to keep him in and also has a hose with a spray wand to make it easier to get him wet and to rinse him off.  Unfortunately, the tap on the sink has become jammed so I can not get the hose on to the faucet, and I have to use a pail to get him wet and rinse him off.  This takes more time and more effort and does not do as good a job on him, so I rinsed him with about 100 pails of water to make sure all the shampoo was off.  All that rinsing takes more time and that means Chester gets more upset.  But, as I said we both survived and he is now happily shaking and drying himself off.  Now that it is winter and snow is covering the ground, he should stay clean for several months 

I haven’t been taking many pictures as the Red River is now frozen and is not changing much each day.  These pictures were taken November 30th when there was still a bit of open water and that is now gone.

Red River November 30th

Red River November 30th

We have had more lions at Nkorho on Africam to report.  By the time I got home from work on Thursday, I heard that 2 or 3 lions were lying in a dark area at Nkorho and we could just barely see a light spot or 2 where they were.  Amazingly enough they stayed right there until dawn and we could get a good look at them.  There were 2 lionesses and they were very relaxed until the landie drove out so the guests at the lodge could see them.  At that point they left.  A  brave bush buck walked very close behind the girls at one point, seemingly unaware of the lions who also seemed unaware of their potential meal.

Lionesses when starting to get light

Lionesses after colour added to camera

Lioness zoomed in

Lioness

This is the way she was looking when the bush buck walked behind her.  Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture – but luckily someone managed to get a video.  You can see it here.

Well – that’s it for today.  

February 6th

Wow – another week has gone by already! Believe it or not, we are having another warm spell here. Its -4C this afternoon with puddles on the streets.

Yesterday was my day off work and do you know what I did??? I built a stable on farmville (with the help of my friends and neighbours). Then today – I went to an exercise class at the Y, where Connie got to try out all sorts of new torture on us poor unsuspecting victims.

Of course, the class was followed by breakfast at the Red Top Restaurant where I filled my belly as usual.

Then it was walk time for the dogs and I. Its great walking in the warmth – but we still can’t walk too far because Dakota gets quite tired. She gets so excited about the walks, that she is tired before we even leave the yard, but we are managing a 20 minute walk for now. Being on the Rimadyl, she is not stiff and sore, but she definitely has weakness in her legs. Her back legs will collapse a couple of times during the walk and although she always gets up quickly, I do worry that one day she will not be able to get up. At 80 lbs, she is too heavy for me to carry. I will be making a vet appointment so I can get an opinion about her back legs and if this is likely to get worse soon. I have the stairs blocked off during the day so she does not try to go upstairs, but she still insists on taking the trip up there at night so she can sleep on the bed. I follow right behind to assist her as most of her weight is on her back legs going up and she often has problems about 1/2 way there. She doesn’t have a problem going down in the morning so that is lucky.

Tomorrow morning at the Y is a pancake breakfast to end the leaders 24 hour famine and to raise money for Haiti. The leaders will have spent the night there and I am hoping the place is decent and ready to open at 7am as usual. Since I am working there anyway, I plan on having some pancakes. The leaders all raised some money just to be able to participate in the sleepover and we are hoping for a successful breakfast to cap it off.

During one of my walks along the river this week, I saw someone with a huge kite and had to take a couple of pictures (of course). I always take my camera with me and never know when there will be something to shoot.

Kite Flying on the Red River

Kite Flying on the Red River

I was quite a distance away from him, so this is zoomed in to max.

January 23rd

I woke up to some fresh and very wet snow this morning.  The white stuff was still coming down – but with a temperature of 0C, it was turning to mush as it landed.  It is going to be very icy when this freezes but it is now +1C.

After my workout at the Y, I had the normal big breakfast special at the Red Top and then came home to take the dogs for our walk along the river.   Walking was difficult in the heavy wet snow, but it was very pleasant out anyway.  Then I came home and shoveled the sidewalks.  Then it was time for the dogs’ pedicures and some laundry.

The last week at work was pretty uneventful – so nothing to report about that.  The part that doesn’t seem quite right is that I do not have to write an article for the birds site at BellaOnline since I resigned from the position after last week’s article. I don’t know how long it will be before someone else takes over, but when that happens, all my articles will be removed and replaced. Until then, you can still read everything I have put up there over the past 8 years. Even after a new editor takes over, my articles will remain until overwritten – but they will not be featured and will not be in the archives, so they will only be found by searching.

A very interesting thing happened at Elephant Plains on Africam the other night. A hippo has been hanging around the waterhole at night and a couple of hyenas began harassing him when he left the water. Luckily, Morris was there recording this and you can see his video at Hippo Harassment. I don’t imagine that they thought they would be able to kill the hippo – so what were they doing? Were they like a group of bored teenagers (of the people variety) who just thought this was something fun to do?

Right now I have the Nkorho waterhole camera up and am listening to the night sounds in Africa.  A critter could come for a drink at any time so I have to watch for that too – but just listening is fine.

I am still trying to get my computer back to normal.  It is amazing how much we have in these little boxes.  My problem right now is that I can not find my disc for Money and I know I had it right after Christmas because I re-installed it after the first crash.  It is not with the rest of the discs and I can not figure out where I would have put it.  Anyone have any suggestions as to where I can find it???        Just as I typed the above, I moved one more piece of paper and found it.  I guess I’ll be installing it again now!

My neverending battle with MTS continues.  Last week I e-mailed them after my frustrating conversation with one of the employees.  Their response a few days later was that the bill would be sent out on the 21st, without any indication of the amount – but I assume it is what the employee told me and is therefore way too much.  I haven’t received it yet, and I expect to be giving them another call when I do.