What sad news we received yesterday, of the passing of Stuart Carty. What a very special friend, a treasured brother IN HIM, a special mentor, and a passionate hunter. Ken first "guided" Stuart when Ken would have been about 11 years old. When we made our very first trip to the USA in 1995, we landed on Stuart and Martha's door, and sort of "adopted" them as US Parents. They opened their home to us, and helped us get started in the US hunting market. Our hearts are sore with you Martha, and we so appreciate the incredible man Stuart was.
What is happening in the bush? Not a whole lot, but a few little bit of news -
What a blessing to have my Mom here for a week all to myself, and now my Dad! He spent some time up in South Sudan, and now on his way back to Australia, he is here for just under two weeks. Sadly he heads home on Saturday, so our time is almost up.
Dennis turned 75, and is in great health! He and Mom keep busy with all sorts of appointments.
Micaela is busy with her 2nd quarter exams. JohnD is preparing to race in the Kremetat cycling race this weekend.
Ken had a fun road trip with Micaela's school Merensky - going to "Nampo". This is the biggest agricultural show in Africa. Merensky sends a group of their agricultural students, with the Agricultural teachers, every year to the show. They had an extra seat on the bus, and were quite happy to let "Micaela's Dad" tag along! ;)
The Sable have settled in nicely, and appear to be frequenting the lodge, which we are very glad about. I have YET to see them, but with one of his walks this week, my Dad caught glimpse of them.
We have had a few more little calves from the cattle. All just tooo beautiful for words.
We have had quite spectacular weather, and are not in the grip of winter just yet! Hunting has been very slow, so we have been using the time to catch up with lots of "other" things.
Please forgive my slow progress on getting the website sorted out... I am learning how it works, and i can't believe how much time each little change takes!
Big hugs to you all, us xx
SHI-AWELA ...What's happening in the bush!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Aardwolf sighting
While Ken and Terry were hunting, Ken was totally blessed to get this amazing picture of an Aardwolf in the daytime... complete with the flies!
How is this for a portrait? ;) I didn't even know Dassies had teeth!!
And this little lady... well she is just the LOVE of Ken's life... I don't know who adores who more... him or her!
The flowers this time of year are just tooo pretty for words!
And it's always great to see the jerrys!
Fishing with Grandpa and Hockey...
Last day of the school holidays, Grandpa Ken and JohnD managed to squeeze in some fishing north of the Soutpansberg.
Micaela had some fun ... she is reserve for the U16 A team, and Center link for the U16 B team.
Our windmill here at home (water supply for the lodge and house) needed a complete service / overhaul... talk about a job!
Some more pretty pictures...
Awesome having Terry Blauwkamp back again with Jo. This was their 8th Safari with us.
One unluck Rock rabbit (Dassie), and one happy python...
Breaker Morant Documentary
Yes, we had some fun with this! The makers of the Australian Documentary on Breaker Morant, needed a sandy dry river bed in which they could film the shooting of Visser... We have a beautiful spot, and we were happy to oblige! Naturally when the producer met Ken and saw how DASHING he is, they asked him to participate. He was suitably kitted out with their uniform, and acted to the manor born! It was a fun day!
It was a REAL joy to have Hennie van Leeuwen back again. He was joined by Eric Swinkels, and we had a fun week of hunting. The most memorable shot was this Impala taken by Hennie on the last day of their safari. This ram was running across the road and was shot while jumping. He died in the air!!!
Tea and cookies?
Snippy and JohnD went after this bushbuck ran, and JohnD made an excellent shot.
I could not believe the out of season lamb that I came accross... just when we think we know what to expect in the bush... we get surprised!
We now also have some sable.... 3 to be exact! I will bake you a cake if you can find them... they sure love the thick bush, and I have yet to see them since they arrived!!!
One of our 2010 Heifers...
We have the first of our winter calves arriving... exciting stuff :)
Photo FEAST!
A brief glance at March and April we had the Foster family here again, with some very fun moments!
Trevor and Snippy after a GNU...
Rhyanne and JohnD did some hunting together...
Ken had some fun with his camera...
Bennett with her Daddy on a koppie
Rhyanne's Blesbuck. They sure worked hard for this one!
Can you believe the zoom on Ken's camera? Pretty impressive!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Fast Forward...
There is no sign of any long term damage to his organs from the Chemo, as all of
the function tests are 100%. His "growth and flourishing" has him approximately 25% above average height, (thanks for those wonderful tall genes Dad!) and average weight on the growth charts. God is FAITHFUL.
.....
So what do we talk about now? The weather??? Well, with such beautiful sunny, and crystal clear days, I can't not comment on the weather! April is truly beautiful! While we were in Pretoria we were so blessed with yet another 64 mls of gentle, soaking rains. Too good for words!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Tribute to A CHAMPION DOG
2007 - 2013 OUR BELOVED CHAMP!
How is it possible that a "rescue" dog, can become such an important and beloved part of our family for six years ONLY. Oh how we miss him. I don't want to dwell on our loss, but I do want to share some of my favorite pictures with you, of this little hero, who gave us so much, and asked so little in return. I know that he was a hero to many of our guests too, and we MISS HIM every day.
If any of you have special memories of him - please share them! He was amazing...
We all know that many breeds of dogs LOVE to hunt, but there should be another category for a "hunting dog" that LIVES every moment to hunt, and hunts so PASSIONATELY, that he goes beyond what we can imagine or expect.
Not just smart, but so handsome too!
Truly a part of our family for 6 years, and soooo loyal!
He never liked photos much, so seldom posed for the camera like some of our other little friends have...
He had a very unfortunate attack from an irritated warthog mid March. He simply was unable to get away fast enough. The xrays showed a very 'sick' liver, which we can only assume was the result of the puff adder bite last year. He completely lost his appetite, his energy, his mobility, his wag in his tail, and his organs began to fail him. He was very underweight, and despite all of our efforts, we were unable to nurse him back.
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