A busy week ahead, travel and the loss of a loved one.

Good morning friends, I hope today's blog finds you all well and ready for the week ahead ?  As I sit typing this there is a very strong northerly wind blowing in the first of three cold fronts, yippeeee.    This week in South Africa we have a Public Holiday on Friday and again next Tuesday so two short work weeks for most people.   Sadly yesterday my precious Hubby's brother passed away after a very long, hard battle against cancer.  He was such a positive, upbeat, happy man and leaves behind  his beautiful wife and two adult sons, and is going to be sorely missed by all that knew him.  R.I.P. Rob.  We are waiting to hear further news regarding the funeral and will then be going up to Johannesburg for a couple of days which will also give us a few hours with the girls and Big Guy.

As I mentioned last week little Cece was spayed, the op went well but due to the  'trauma' and change of location she has regressed a little and we are being very patient with her and trying to re-establish her routine (as well as cleaning the accidents #Face palm).  Thank the Lord she is not obsessed with her stitches like Kiko was and I have not had to use a cone or special collar, that would not have gone well.  Jasper is very funny when she has a melt down, he now looks at her and takes a step back instead of jumping into the fray, even Gemma seems to be more tolerant with her which is a total miracle in itself, the other day while I was out Hubby had both Gemma and Cece on his lap at the same time .   One of the things Cece does which is hilarious is when we call her, we tap on the floor, that is how she locates us,  she then goes down into the crouch / hunt position and after MUCH butt wiggling, and back paws dancing she will jump six inches forward, possibly take a few steps and then start the process all over again, by which time we are in stitches.  Yesterday Hubby walked outside and found a tiny little Malachite Sunbird lying on its back just outside the garage, thinking it was dead he gently picked it up only to see that it was alive, so we gave it some sugar water and put him on the braai shelf and left him.  After awhile, he drank some of the water and then a little later flew off, I personally think he may have flown into the window of the garage and knocked himself out.  As one friend of mine says there is never a dull moment in our 'zoo'.

Hubby dearest is almost finished a commission to build a portable, take apart display rack for someone who wants to display handmade quilts at Markets.  It is looking amazing and the way he has built it is so clever, I'm so proud of him.  Apart from a minor bumper bashing that BabyBear had last week the rest of the family are all well, working hard and doing life.

Folks, as you can imagine I have loads to do, I must admit though not a lot of energy to do it, so I am going to end off for this week and wish each one of you, wherever you are, a fantastic week.  Always make time to love and appreciate your loved ones, they aren't here forever, so don't let opportunities pass to show and tell them just how much you love them.  Be safe out there and Ciao for this week.

The Proteas are blooming, taken in a friends garden.

Recovering Malachite sunbird