In between reading and writing I love watching birds in my garden, sharing my enjoyment of tea, and taking photos of patterns in nature. I enjoy visiting game reserves and enjoy being in the outdoors. I am constantly surprised by the variety of creatures I come across in the garden and by the scribbled notes I find in my old notebooks. This is my space to share all these things.
Something Over Tea 
Great to meet you through the blogosphere, Anne. I thoroughly enjoyed a browse through your beautiful descriptive posts. Captivating stuff. I was raised in PE and parts of the territory are familiar. Just love your bird lists, there’s something fulfilling in reading the variety of sightings 😊.
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Thank you very much. I find your photographs inspiring too.
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I have learnt so much from your blog. Specifically thank you for your article on blackjacks. Since reading it, I have been feeding blackjack plants to my chickens and they are thoroughly loving it!
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I am glad your chickens like the blackjacks!
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Did you identify your “purple flower that looks like a verbena” in your Nov 2 2016 blog and “Sea of yellow flowers at Algoa Bay lookout”
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I am afraid not.
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Good morning Anne, can I contact yo via email.
Clive Walker
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Love your content Anne – if I ever feel homesick will know where to go from my sofa now 😉
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Thank you – I merely record what I see and in doing so have found myself becoming more observant. Enjoy.
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What an interesting blog! The tiniest of things that you have written about make it beautiful!
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Thank you. I hope you will continue to enjoy my odd observations and musings.
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Dear Anne,
Having recently read your blog on ‘Kennetjie’, I was wondering if you have anything on the Marbles we used to play in Primary School ( mine was on the East Rand)
Ours was a H pot scraped into fairly hard level ground. Players would place their mostly) glass marbles (marlies) along the midline of the pot (called staking the pot’ and then retire about 6m away and toss their Ironies or Goens to see who was closest. The Goens would roll into nearest the H.The closest was adjudged as having ‘laid the pot’ and could go first. If somebody hit a Marley in the pot, they threw again
The goen ( steel ball bearing of various sizes) was held between the palm and forefinger of one hand (usually LH if Right handed) They then flicked the goen with the Right forefinger towards the pot. Good players were incredibly accurate and fast.
Once one had hit a marble in the pot as aimed, one could then aim for the nearest competitors goen, and if hit, take their Marley as their own, they could then go for another Marley and Goen and sometimes clean up the pot.
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You describe the marble game very well. I do not recall the H, but a shallow trench scraped into the ground with a ‘boundary’ drawn round it in the dust – perhaps performing a similar function the the H. Otherwise the rules seemed much the same. Where we played it was a winners take all: some went away with a whole lot more glass marbles than they came with, while others went home with fewer. The metal Goens we used were large ball bearings.
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My hubby recalls this game too. They also used the circle as Anne described it.
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Do children still play with marbles, I wonder.
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I don’t know🤷🏻♀️
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Hi Anne
I just discovered your blog this afternoon whilst trying to establish if Common Fiscals “self tame” Your blog came up almost instantly in my Google Search. I have bookmarked it and am looking forward to reading a lot more of your posts when time allows.
I see you hail from the Eastern Cape. My husband was born in PE and I lived in EL for my high school years. We have been living in the Western Cape 43 years.
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It is lovely to hear from you, Des. I hope you will enjoy your relationship with the Common Fiscal and reading my blog from time to time.
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I saw your post about Major Hatherley Moor’s grave. It notes that he was from St. Clement in Truro, Cornwall, UK. You might be amused to learn that our family (Moor) still live in that same house.
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Thank you Gregory, I am delighted to know that!
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So sad to see and hear about what is happening in Australia, but I love this connection with you, Anne……first fires, then floods…are you okay? Also loved your blog on the Malamutes….focusing upon them and your interaction, so different from our NY Karen, who saw a black man birding and called the police!
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Dear Julie, I have enjoyed following your blog for some time now. Thank you for your concern. I live in South Africa though so our main problem is a prolonged drought which, in the Eastern Cape where I am, is now in its sixth year. I am pleased you enjoyed my piece on the Malamutes 🙂
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Nice and great to meet you, Anne.
Hope we follow each other if you do not mind.
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Thank you for stopping by.
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I am visiting South Africa for work in the last week of May, attending meetings in Pretoria and Johannesburg. I will have a couple days free. Any suggestions?
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Around Pretoria you can visit the National Botanic Garden, the Voortrekker Monument or the
Union Buildings. Depending on the time you have and the transport available, I strongly suggest you try to arrange to spend at least a day in the Pilanesberg National Park, where you stand a good chance of seeing lion and rhino among a variety of other animals.
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Birds and Tea are my favorite things to do! We live in very different places, and your photos capture its magic; Inspiring! I look forward to visiting your blog.
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Oh Robbie, I hope you will enjoy my offerings. I love showcasing the birds where I live and tea is what keeps me going!
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Hello Anne,
Bit of a left field one (!) – I am trying to track down a print of the warthogs by Hazel Gearing that you have on your blog. Any steers would be much appreciated!
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Hello Michael, unfortunately I do not know where the Gearings moved to once they left Grahamstown. I bought this print from a stall Hazel ran at the Village Green during one of our National Arts festivals. I am not surprised that you would like a copy of these warthogs – they are absolutely delightful!
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What a beautiful blog you have, Anne! Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for the follow.
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Thank you very much Clare 🙂
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