7 quick takes

10 August

7 quick takes

My favourite view.

Good morning! I think half of the readers today will feel like they are melting because it is so hot, while the other half will be wearing every piece of clothing they own because it’s so cold. At least that’s what I gather from Social media; Europe is suffering in a heatwave while Cape Town is battling a strong cold front. I am somewhere in the middle. It’s a little cold in the morning, and when I just walked out to say goodbye to Hartmut, the soil felt very cold to my feet. But I was barefoot so it’s not all that bad. Soon the sun will heat up the soil and it will be warm and pleasant again.
One girl is on the makeshift podium, dancing her heart out. The other one on the sofa, following every move of the dancing sister. While I write this, I am half looking at a dazzling dance show, with frequent costume changes and innovative dance styles. The girls take turns and encourage each other in their dances. I am very grateful for YouTube, for many different reasons. My latest bout of gratitude is fuelled by the plentiful presence of ballet instruction videos. It makes that Sophie can have ballet classes, which she attends fully dressed up in a ballet outfits, even though I am pretty sure that the closest ballet teacher lives a two-hour drive away.
We now know the signs. She starts making typical noises, and she will triple around her house, seeming a bit uncomfortable. It always happens around midday. We will then lock her up in her house and about an hour later she will start to complain because she wants to be let out. When we do so, we always find an egg on her nest. An egg that we take away immediately. Not so that we can eat it ourselves, but to prevent others from eating it. Over a week ago, our chicken started to lay eggs, and we were very happy because we love chicks. Every day she was laying one egg, but after a few days we discovered that all the eggs were gone. I had an idea about the culprit, but no proof. When I looked the next day, I found the shellof a newly laid egg in the sand outside the house and a guilty looking monkey in the tree next to it. And the day after that, I saw a big male monkey climb up the chicken house. He peeked inside while the chicken stood underneath, nervously cackling. But the monkey turned away, disappointed, because he did not find an easy meal. It wasn’t because the chicken had not laid an egg, but because we started to take them away. I am not entirely sure about our strategy but I think that in a few days, when we have more eggs, we will put them back in the nest and hope that she will start sitting on them, to protect them from the monkeys.
My shoulders are a bit stiff, because they have been doing some work this weekend. We have made a pond for the ducks and in order to do that, we had to lug buckets of water, sand and rocks. I know, we live right next to the lake and in theory, that’s where our animals could go to drink and wash. But most of our ducks are scared of the lake so that isn’t really an option. It was a fun project, and the almost finished product looks beautiful. It was only after we made it that we realised that it will probably not only serve its intended users though. I think it will be a water point for all the ‘wild’ neighbourhood animals, and I am pretty sure that the goats and the monkeys will love the effort that we put in. Oh well, it will be like the water points that most lodges have, and it will provide us with many entertaining animal observations.
For a long time (way too long for my liking), Elsa was the standard of beauty and the authority on just about everything in our house. The Frozen songs were on repeat; not because I would play them but because the girls would sing them over and over again. We watched the movies at most 5 times but the girls can quote everything that is said in the movies. Challenging them on that is useless because they are always right. We would sometimes watch other movies, but they would always declare that ‘it’s nice, but not as nice as Frozen.’ But now that has suddenly changed. Elsa is no longer the queen in this kingdom because Moana has taken that spot. Suddenly it’s her look that the girls are after, her songs that they are singing and her lines that they are quoting. I can’t say that I am sad about it. Moana feels like an upgrade in many ways.
When I walk outside these days, there is a peculiar smell. Not strong, a little sweet, a little musky. The first time that I noticed it, I probably didn’t recognise it. But now, three seasons later, it’s a smell with a promise. The promise of mango season! Most of the trees in our garden are mango trees and right now they are in full bloom. Some trees have already lost their blossom and small mangoes have taken up the space of the flowers. They will need to grow for a few months, and we will wait impatiently until the first juicy, ripe mango appears. They will be on the market before they will be in our garden, as other regions in the country have a slightly earlier mango season. And we will buy them because since we live in Malawi, we have learned a thousand ways to incorporate mangoes in every meal and snack of the day. We cannot wait!
I have to start doing other things. The dance show is over and the girls have moved on to Lego. I need to make soup for lunch and come up with something for supper and I have a few emails that deserve an answer. There isn’t much on our agenda this week, but I am sure that somehow, time will fly and we will be busy. When I talk about ‘our’ agenda, I am only talking for the girls and me. Hartmut is very busy at work. He enjoys it though, so he won’t complain. I wish you a happy new week!