Still knocking around

You may be wondering (or not) whatever has become of Brazen monkey and his crew in this drought that we're having.
They are still knocking around the place, teasing the neighbourhood dogs, eating whatever fruit they can find, destroying property and messing up the place.

Caught them in the act this morning traversing the wall

Jumping on the bare trellis

Brazen rudely staring at me

Purposefully sitting on the wall for a LONNNNGGGG time to make poor Brownie go crazy.
I was going to record a video but Brownie was barking up a storm....it was too noisy.
Gosh these monkeys are driving us crazy, and it seems that Brazen has taught the youngsters how to be brazen just like him, but they are taking it to a new level..
They now jump down into the garden and take their time to swagger across the grass to the other side.   No amount of shouting or shooing makes them stop in their tracks or hasten their pace...very brazen indeed......time to call the trapper.

A Lovely Day!!!

When I looked outside this morning, the most beautiful rainbow graced the sky.
No sign of rain in the sky, just that teeny weeny cloud that had probably just drizzled a few drops....thus the gorgeous rainbow with each colour easily discernible.
I knew it was going to be a lovely day.
I began to sing the words of one of my favourite songs...."And I know it's gonna be a LOVELY DAYYYYYYY!!!"

I was anxious to get my day started....so much to be done.
Look who else was rearing to go.

Yes, Mr. Brownbie lying with his nose poked outside the gate waiting impatiently for me to open it so he could go outside and start his day.
No sooner than I did so he was off and running to face the new day....what enthusiasm.
Hope today was as good for you as it was for us.

Lovely Day by Bill Withers...one of my all time favourite songs.

House Rules

After a lovely Mother's day yesterday, today was another lovely day.
I saw this on the Online Vet's page and it made me laugh out loud.
The First Rule is THE one that I have to keep reminding some of my friends that drop by....Brownie lives here.....so don't comment about him barking at you especially if you show up unannounced.

A House for Brownie????

Today I left Beast at home and took a minivan into the city.
As you know I do this every so often because I like a change of pace.
The day was HOTT and I made sure I conducted my business as fast as I could so I could return home quickly.
We are still under water restrictions until the end of the month and the rain has not even showed up as yet...it is some really crazy weather we're having...just heat all day and all night long.
I had made sure that I sat in a window seat to be cooled by the breeze as we traveled along.
Traveling in the minivan warms my heart because I am able to relax and have a good look around me.
Waiting at a stop light I glanced over to the side of the road and this is what I saw....

Ain't that the most adorable dog house you ever did see?
I came home and showed it to Mr. B, but he was not impressed.

 Hope Mum isn't thinking of getting me a dog house...I like living in a big house....don't get any crazy ideas Mum.
Dog house????  Perish the thought!!!

The Day After

Another year gone by.
Yesterday afternoon was my yearly Swap/Tea Party with my closest girlfriends.
The time came around so quickly that I couldn't believe it.
The official May Day holiday falls on May 1st, but since that was a Sunday this year, the following day (May 2nd) becomes the bank holiday. The invites were written for May 1st but some of the girls preferred the afternoon of May 2nd so the date was changed as requested.
May Day Bank holiday is my day to be surrounded by my "girls" to chat, share, uplift, console, laugh till we cry, tell funny stories, enjoy our sisterhood for one evening and give thanks for our incredible friendship.
Friends like these are very hard to come by and the relationships that we share have been nurtured over the years creating an indestructible bond.
I love them all for who they are and what they bring into my life....they are all special to me in their own way.
Once again, I don't have any decent photos of the event because I was so busy enjoying myself, even though I had chided myself that I would capture the event on camera this time around no matter what....well that didn't happen.

Three layer English Trifle - one slice leftover

Mini Cupcakes and one tiny piece of Lemon Fool

Other tasty snacks for the evening included Apple Cobbler, Fruit Cake, Sandwiches, Fish Cakes, Conkies, Pizza Sticks, Chocolate Mint Swirls.

To wash it all down there was Ginger Beer, Mango Juice, Guava Pineapple Juice, Herbal Basil Iced Tea and an assortment of sodas.

My dearest friend cruised in with a package in her hand and promptly placed it in the fridge exclaiming in one breath, "My husband sent this for you, he's into organic farming now if you please."
Thank you Leonard!

Another girlfriend gifted me with a large head of red leaf lettuce....thank you Eureka!!!
These are the friends that know me well and bestow the most appreciated hostess gifts.

 

My spoils from the evening.

I spent the day putting the house back together, tidying up and cleaning.
Entertaining is fun but it can be hard work...but hey I am not complaining, I love it.
I usually borrow my glass top desk from my office for the display of items in the swap. When I pulled it away from the wall a day ago, a large gecko ran out and started running all around and acting all crazy.
Grabbed my Citronella BOP insecticide and gave him a couple of sprays which made him run behind my other desk.... he stayed put.
I forgot all about him, but today as I began to tidy up, I got a big whiff of him....yes another dead gecko lizard I had to search around for.
Thank goodness I found him quickly this time.

He had crawled into the lower shelf of the book case behind my mum's old prayer books and expired.  After disposing of the body it was time to get rid of the scent.
Cleaned the shelf thoroughly with disinfectant but that dreaded smell remained.....until I remembered about vinegar.
Sprayed the entire shelf liberally a couple of times throughout the day until there was no hint of the scent at all.
Tomorrow I will pack the books back on the shelf and push the bookcase back into position beside my work desk.
Glad that Mr. Gecko is gone.
I am hoping that ten more don't show up for his wake...that would be just my luck.