First day at the Wolf Sanctuary.

This was what I woke to this morning  and it looks like there is a clear day ahead.

Today was the first day working for many years on a project that will improve some animals life.  Alice is happier with her life now as she has plenty of piggy friends. the problem was that they will not all be able to get out of the oncoming winter weather. I am busy making them a new home which will be made so it can be dismantled and moved when the re-organisation begins. The wolf Sanctuary is expanding so there will be a lot of re-organising of the animal compounds. I saw today that there are now some new Guinea Pigs for sale and they are house with the Rabbits.

One of my first visitors at the workshop was Benji, he is the male version of Alice and is very affectionate. He makes a lot of grunting noises when he approaches but a scratch behind his ears and he is a pussy cat. I think one thing puts visitors off sometimes is his tusks but I have never seen him use them. He also love apples and acorns and will follow you hoping for more.

I went to see Alice and friends and she is a fat as ever. It is difficult to feed 3 pigs at once as she still thinks everything is for her, I think she has been spoilt in the past but she does share..

Just a few old jokes to finish off the day.

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Have a great day and enjoy your weekend. Go fishing and relax, there are plenty of pothole nearby. 🙂

 

 

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Signs of the Times. :-)

This is just a quick blog as I have been out at the Wolf Sanctuary today but didn`t take any photo`s. all the work is going to plan so the next one should be interesting.

These can be seen on many roads in SA.

This is usually put up for Political Indaba`s as Jonny Walker is free.

Then we have the more rural signs.

This one was taken out of a video I made of a local political rally in the high Street. (2012)

Have a great week and don`t read too much into the signs you may see. 🙂

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Alice`s Wonderingland.

I went to the Wolf Sanctuary today to measure up for a new house for Alice and her new friends. As usual I took snacks with me for the pigs of which Alice decided she would have the pigs share. I was greeted by 3 piglets before I got to her enclosure so the feeding started early. When they found there was no more for then they started digging up the lawn.

Alice soon came  grunting and snorking to the gate to greet me as I entered. We walked to her shelter and she stopped as though she was a bit ashamed of it`s state of repair.

After feeding Alice and her two larger friends they left me alone to measure up for a new shelter. The old one was quite alright when she arrived here but I think they may need a larger one as Winter is on it`s way.  I also think that Alice is pregnant agaian as her tummy is very low and her teets seem quite enlarged. she is also very docile and is resting a lot.

I want to put a wooden floor in, repair the structure and make a lean to at the back of the structure for when it rains. I will be taking more pictures as the work progresses and hope it is as good as the ones I made at the farm. Pigs are usually very resourceful but here they don`t have the resources due mainly to re-organisation.

If Alice is going to have young I must get her a nice place to bring them up, she was a very good mother and very resourceful. she will need some help this time as there isn`t much for her to use this time. When ever another sow starts weaning her piglets they put them in with Alice as she is a very good teacher to the piglets and trains them well.

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Another Day ? :-)

Yesterday the Rain Spider moved away from it`s egg sack but it soon returned and has now encompassed it, I think it will probably die as it has been over two weeks without leaving.

The egg sack is on the far right where the vine tendrils are stuck on my DSTV cable.

At six this morning I noticed a break in the clouds and thought maybe the weather forecast was wrong again, I was right we now have bright sun and it`s only eight thirty. Everything in the new garden is standing up nicely as we had a good rain last night.

This is Alice and a few of her younger friends when I took them a a special meal the other day. She always has first dibs and then lets the rest into the trough. 🙂

I have to take my own bowl as the ones there are fixed.  The little pigs squeal very loud when she pushes them out of the way to get to her goodies.  On leaving I throw a lot of acorns around and it takes them a while to find them all. I haven`t found a pig yet that doesn`t love acorns. even the 15 year old pink pigs will move as far as possible to get them.  This week I will be going to the Wolf Sanctuary to build them a house and recreational area, so will be putting the pics on one of my next blogs. They have a shelter but it`s not in good repair as moving them has been on the cards for a while now. The other pig enclosures have nice shelters and wallows so I must make everything movable for when they expand the area and move these pigs to a new area. Having been retired for over ten years it`s good to be able to do these things as I have always loved animals. Going to the Wolf Sanctuary started many years ago when I started using the avatar “White Wolf”, she became a good friend and used to follow me everywhere when I went there, her name was ” Silver”.  Wolves need calm and a lot of patience but one day some one spooked her and she ran to the main road and was run over.

This one of a Dolphin leading the boat was taken at high speed and looks like it`s walking on the sea. In actual fact it just jumped as I took the photo.

This is an old joke but it was on my desktop..

Maybe that`s not for everyone, so I`ll try again.   It`s only toilet humour. Have you ever seen any like this ?

Enjoy your week and will keep you updated. Leo

 

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. Close Encounters

No.220.  This was taken looking along Robberg beach towards the peninsular at sunset.

I am calling this Close Encounters because of the first few photo`s taken during my boat trips.

This Whale then went under the boat and we had to lift the motors and wait.

There was much excitement on the boat when it emerged ten minutes later.  It swam about 50 metres away and then gave us a display of breaching.

This one is a Southern Right Whale but we have Brydes Whales before and after the main Whale season.

This was close to a Brydes Whale while it was cruising.

But there are Dolphins the whole year round and many species to study.

 

If you remember these, when they had a use, then be very careful when asked how old you are.

 

And don`t let Mythbusters fix your car.

Have a great weekend.        I`m off to see Alice and friends at the Wolf Sanctuary tomorrow.

 

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The Heat of the Day.

Today is a hot day for gardening, I had to spray all my seedlings early this morning as the rain looks like it wont come any time soon. I find it quite exciting to be back at the flat with it`s own private garden. it has been a hard 8 weeks but all the hardware is done now and most of the winter veg and flowers are on their way. with the price and quality of veggies at the local supermarkets I am looking forward to some home grown veg.

i love Broad beans but a lot of people do not double peel the skins off and find them unpleasant. the tomatoes seem to have self seeded and I hope they ripen. i got seedlings for 3 types of lettuce and they seem to be growing well. the other winter vegetables are good for soups like, cauliflower, broccoli, leeks and turnips. There is giant Swiss Chard which is a good substitute for Spinach and beetroot which goes nicely with many meals . All the herbs cam be grown in pots and the excess put in the garden latter as they are also ornamental.

Some Jokes for the Day.

The Smoking Room with a massage.

It`s a wonder it`s not Organic.

I was told this beer is good for you, but it still has alcohol in it. 🙂

Definitely not Organic. 🙂

The only good use for traffic cones.

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A Whale of a Time.

This is ” Fat Boy ” one of Ocean Safaris boats that I took most of my Whale and Dolphin photo`s from. it is launched with a tractor pushing it into the sea.

when it comes back in the come full speed at the beach and slide to a stop. The keel of the boats have strengthening ribs to enable them to slide on the sand.  This is because there is no harbour or Jetty in Plettenberg Bay.

This is a Humpback Whale eating way out in the bay. It`s the first time I have seen one eating so close to  the Fir Seal Reserve. While at the reserve I also saw a Caracul, which is quite a rare sight, and was only found when I zoomed in on the rocks in the background.

It`s a bit fuzzy as it is now zoomed about 100 times it`s size.

For a president,  R3Million is not too much for a luxury toilet. 🙂  I wonder if it has a bullet proof door ?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Leo.

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The funny side of Dogs.

Is this the Dogs version of O.M.G. 🙂

 

 

 

This kept the dogs away when she showed her teeth. 🙂

Some dogs are just lazy, this is my guard dog. He`s taking an early lunch break.

 

Some dogs do seem to look like their owners sometimes.

 

Some dogs just get too familiar and need a cat slap.

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Looking in the Pool and Corners.

I was looking in the pool and found it to be full of Moths and Bugs.  I didn`t realise that Moths wings had a harder skeleton.  I remember putting leaves into rain water until they rotted, and was left with the veins which made a good covering for white lamp shades. When looking up to where the DSTV cable goes I noticed a Rain Spider that had a very large abdomen a few days ago . looking at this photo when it was enlarged it looks like it is spinning a web around it`s eggs.

 

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End of an Era.

Whale Criers  are not common, Hermanus is the only place that has this position. unfortunately he is the last one to hold this position. Town Criers have been used in many counties for hundreds of years, and in some places are still used.

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