Something Fishy

/ El Rolyat / 1 Comment

My interest in aquaria was rekindled a couple of years ago when First Born and his delightful English Lass built me a 720 litre fish tank for Christmas.

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Building the stand

We collected sand from a beautiful beach on a near-by island on the river. The sand is bleached white and squeaks when you walk on it.

Collecting sand

Collecting sand

Catching stock

Catching stock

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We don’t own a TV – only because we don’t want to, not because there is no service – and it was a novelty to have something to watch in the evenings.

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The filters had not yet cleared the water but that didn’t spoil the viewing

Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) - striped water dog

Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus) – striped water dog

"Pink Happy"

“Pink Happy”

A couple of Squeakers

A couple of Squeakers

A trio of Banded Jewelfish

A trio of Banded Jewelfish

A series of unfortunate events resulted in this tank breaking. We managed to salvage some of the glass and used that to build a smaller tank but we had to release many of the fish back into the Zambezi.

Knowing my passion for fish keeping, this last Christmas Piet had another tank built for me while I was away in the UK visiting family and I returned to the most wonderful surprise.

My next project will be to create a ‘planted tank’, using vegetation that grows here in the Upper Zambezi River.  In the mean time Piet and I love to sit of an evening, sipping on a Mozi Lager and watching our fish live out their lives in our living room.

African Pike

African Pike

Our ‘Local’ in Muizenberg

/ El Rolyat / 6 Comments

We recently spent a (very short) week in Cape Town. Tucked away in a side street in Muizenberg we found Oroboros Tapas Bar and after one visit it became our ‘local’.

Most evenings we would sit at a table on the pavement, testing every brand of craft beer on the menu and watching the World go by.

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It did taste chocolatey!

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Dangerously delicious!

Cape Town Rocks!

Cape Town Rocks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love that Muizenberg is a dog-friendly place and at most places you go to you will see people walking around with their four-legged friends, some even stopping by in a restaurant or cafe for a bite to eat and a drink.

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To see more pictures of wooden benches visit Travel Worlds.

 

 

 

Jack and Jane

/ El Rolyat / 18 Comments

It was a cool summer evening just after the rain

A toad was out walking – she calls herself Jane.

Hopping and jumping and humming a tune

In her head she was thinking “now, where is the moon”?

The clouds had rolled in, they had covered the stars,

She couldn’t see Jupiter. Or Venus. Or Mars.

It was too dark to see, she may have been lost

To the pond she must get, whatever the cost.

As she stumbled along, her mind full of beaus

She leapt startled, something cold brushed her toes!

“Oh my! What was that?” and thinking the worst

She turned and she stared, her heart fit to burst.

“I’m too young to die! Oh please leave me be”

But as her eyes focused in the dark she could see

Two eyes stuck on stalks were staring right back.

T’was a small slimy snail – he calls himself Jack.

“Oh Jack I was startled! I got such a fright!

You shouldn’t sneak up on such a dark night!”

Jack’s feelings were hurt and he started to cry

“I’m just a small snail. I wouldn’t hurt a fly”.

Now Jane’s not a bully. She can be quite kind

She patted Jack’s back and said “never mind.

But I’ve a party to go to and I can’t be late

I don’t want to miss my important date”.

“It’s Saturday night, all the toads will be there.

That minx they call Sally, no she wouldn’t care

About stealing my Tom if I didn’t arrive

I’m already quite late – it started at five!”

And Jack, he said nothing, no not even one sound

He just slithered aside so Jane could jump round.

He never says much, he has not much to say

In a quietly, gentlemanly, snaily way.

Jane skipped around, she went off with a dash

“Later Jack!” she shouted. He thought her quite brash.

I think that she made it – she met up with Tom

‘Cause there by the pond I hear a toad love song.

Jack and Jane
Jack and Jane

Reblogging this post so that I can include it in Denzil Nature‘s Nature Photo Challenge #16, “Snails“. I believe it’s a perfect fit, what do you think?

Sticky Wheel Tracks

/ El Rolyat / 3 Comments

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The constant circling of the centre pivots, round and round on the same tracks, creates ruts in the fields. Add water to that and you get a muddy, sticky quagmire and the wheels often become stuck.

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This can become quite expensive, especially if it happens at night and the pivot attendants have fallen asleep on the job; the wheels keep churning in one place, digging deeper and deeper into the mud, bearings seize, motors burn out and people lose their jobs!

It was an arduous and back-breaking daily task carting small rocks into the fields to fill in the ruts.

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So this year Piet decided to fix the problem once and for all. We hired a back-hoe, dug ourselves some gravel and deposited it along all the wheel tracks, forming a more solid road for the pivots to travel along.

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This has certainly made life a little easier for everyone.

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Cee's Black and White Photo Challenge: Open Topic

A Muddy Road

/ El Rolyat / 12 Comments

It’s been almost unbearably hot this last week. I think the rains have gone, so there’s no promise of relief until winter comes. Even that doesn’t mean much around here – winter is pretty hot too.

It’s been a relatively dry season this year but we’ve had a few spectacular storms which wreaked havoc on the farm roads, making access somewhat tricky at times.

I took this picture last winter, the quagmire caused by runoff water from the centre pivot. Imagine what a 60mm thunderstorm can do to this road!

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2015 #5

2015 #8