A chipper challenge

The branches were piling up much faster than I could burn them. So I bought a small electric garden shredder to convert the thin branches into mulch. Larger chippers cost a fortune - if you can find one.

Champion Rose

Well, maybe not officially, but it is in a champagne glass! The rose was picked from Odessa's rose bush, and it has the sweetest smell.

Brilliant Splendor

No, this is not a section of the Milky Way on a clear night. It is, in fact 'obscure' bathroom window glass, rippled on the inside, that is wet from rain and being lit by a single incandescent light, at night. Taken without flash, my K850i cellphone camera, in macro mode, did a good job in capturing the effect.

Knocking at my windows

Almost every day guinefowl come to the glass doors, and sometimes fly up to the upstair windows, and tap loudly on the glass with their beaks. I don't know why they do that. I used to think that they were asking for food but they run far away as soon as they see me and they still do it even though I have not offered them food for years. Maybe they have some sort of inherited memory of the time that I used to feed their ancestors.
To get this close-up picture, I hid behind an arm chair and they did not see my little cellphone/camera.

Money Talk

Today I attended a talk by Ciaran Ryan, a freelance business writer for a number of South Africa's top financial publications, and author of a number of books, including McGregor’s Dictionary of Stock Exchange Terms. The talk was about trends in the economy, what is happening now, and what to expect over the foreseeable future.
I now consider myself an expert! And I can see how strong the Rand really is. The current weakness is artificially caused by panic withdrawals of investments by countries that really do have problems. Now is a good time to exchange your foreign currency (or withdraw foreign cash investments) and for foreigners to buy Rands. Expect the inflation rate to drop sharply and for everything else to also improve over the next few months.

Valley Sweep

The Beverley Grove Crime Forum spent an hour walking through the valley. They found a disgusting amount of garbage and came back with five black bags full - and the dogs collected a few ticks. Other than that, it was a very pleasant exercise. I was amazed that most residents of Beverley Grove have never explored this nature trail in our 'back yard'. Some are scared of being mugged - an unwarranted fear in my opinion, because in the 30 years that I have been visiting the valley I have never felt unsafe. But someone should ask a school to organise a valley cleanup and put up a few 'Keep our valley clean' signs.