Today's photo is of a wildebeast in Ngala Private Reserve. I am very grateful now that I did not delete it because it was "blurry," because in fact, it's a really cool picture. Sometimes, you just don't know. Believe it or not -- I did virtually no Photoshopping on this. I believe in taking photos properly in the camera. Which is why I have ordered the $75 Photoshop Elements with my new laptop, as opposed to the $700 full Photoshop version. Get it right the first time and save money.


Moving
Well, the dreaded moving day has passed without much incident, though with international moves, you always wonder if that will be the last time you see your stuff, particularly in this part of the world (Second Lebanon War resulted in a re-routing of my crates when I moved here two years ago). The movers came and packed up the house in about 8 hours and as there were only three of them, it was actually pretty manageable. Hooray.

Question though: why do movers always leave little random items in your drawers and on the shelves? It always happens and it is clearly deliberate, as the items are left in plain view. Maybe they feel like having some control over the process. They feel like they need authority. So, they silently state that they see no reason why I should be taking items such as 1) A New Zealand coin 2) A disposable razor or most-interestingly 3) Pieces of surgical-grade tape for a backless/strapless bra.

Fine, they're all going into air freight.

South Africa pic

Bird of Paradise at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town. A gorgeous garden and quite extensive - I could have spent all day there!

Garage Sale - the Final Episode

Penguins in Cape Town -- they were sooo much fun to watch -- such comical animals!

Today we held the final garage sale installment. Sweetie's daughter, her boyfriend and I had held one for 5 hours on Wednesday, but with few results and one really, really horrendous incident. Today we had even fewer results. So, that's it. What is left is going to charity or the trash.

Back to the horrendous incident -- during the sale, I went inside briefly to make a salad while Sweetie's daughter Sweedle manned the sale. I was quite a distance away (the garage is detached) and had the house door closed. But, even so, I suddenly heard a commotion coming from the garage. So, I rushed out, and watched in complete horror as this very tall and big-boned middle-aged Israeli lady walked around the garage kicking things and generally wreaking havoc for no apparent reason. I was shocked!! I didn't know what to do. I imagined that if I tried to intervene, she would become even more destructive. At one point, she picked a very heavy electrical transformer off the floor and set it down on some delicate Japanese decorative sushi plates!!! I nearly screamed.

She couldn't carry everything she bought (probably because she shoplifted one item and hid it in the double baby stroller she had with her, unbeknownst to us until she left), and came back the next day to pick up the rest. I had her ticket and knew she would try to have a second go at the garage. So, I had her items ready at the front gate and used them as a barrier when she tried to push her way in. I told her everything was gone.

Horrible.

These sorts of experiences really sour us on life here.

Busy Days

Today's photo is of a cell on Robben Island, the island where Nelson Mandela was once held prisoner. A truly incredible place to visit and highly recommended to anyone traveling to Cape Town.

Sorry posts are few and far between these days!

Spent a night at Amirim in the Galilee this weekend. Beautiful and peaceful and lots of good food.

But now it's back to reality.

We're continuing our garage sale efforts -- we held one for two hours on Saturday and it was something else. It was advertised only via our housekeeper and we had almost more of a turnout than we could handle! OMG. My head was spinning. I was powerless against these experienced garage sale mavens who lined up ONE HOUR before opening time. Brilliant strategy, however, as we felt pressured to open the door early and they got first dibs on our priceless treasures (okay, pseudo-junk).

Seal Island

We took a boat trip to Duiker Island which is famous for its seals. The ride was VERY rough and a few times I was afraid the boat would tip as it rode huge swells. Fortunately, that didn't happen and we were able to enjoy watching the seals.

Cape Town

I wish I had more time to write about our fascinating trip to Africa. Though it was marred by the news of the burglary of our house in Israel (got the news on Day 2), we did see some amazing things.

Cape Town had a lot to do, and wonderful weather. Clear skies with great views of the famous Table Mountain. The only problem was security -- it was not advised to walk outside the hotel grounds after dark. Even just to walk a few blocks down the main street.

This pic is from Cape Point.