A Knight Carrier of note… Friesian horse….

The Friesian is a horse breed originating in Friesland in the Netherlands. Friesians are graceful and nimble for their size. It is believed that in the old days ancestors of Friesian horses were in great demand as war horses throughout continental Europe. Their size enabled them to carry a knight in armour.

Though the breed nearly became extinct on more than one occasion, the modern day Friesian horse is growing in numbers and popularity, used both in harness and with a saddle. Most recently, the breed is being introduced to the field of dressage.

At the Kathu horse trials/show/dressage/jumping competition, (I don’t know what to call the two day event) I was introduced to the Friesian horse… the shear size and colour had me running to get near for photos… the horse exudes shear power, yet in the hands of this little lady was as gentle as a moon beam on the skin….

It had the most exquisite gait, and pride seemed to shine in its face…

“Look at me with my Knight in shining armour”…..

“and I do as I’m told… such a gentle nudge will have me perform as she wants…”

I only got photos of this horse warming up… but its performance in the ring was brilliant… his head came up and the chest went out … a total look of pride…. oh what a horse….

Hi to all… I’m back for a while…

It seems so long since I was able to get on-board here. Been busy at Wingate and Sishen Golf Club with their OH and Safety induction. What a wonderful experience to be back up early everyday preparing for work before sun up….

We had a weekend off last and my son took us to Witsand, a place we had as yet not been to, this is what they say about it on a website…

“Witsand Nature Reserve in the Northern Cape is an exceptional eco-destination featuring geological and climatic anomalies that cause the desert sand to ‘roar’. This natural attraction is one of the Green Kalahari’s best-kept secrets. The birding here is exceptional, and you’ll see plenty of dry land wildlife.”

You have to know we went there full of excitement and I made the cardinal sin a photographer can make… I went with low batteries, no backup charged ones and of course forgot the charger at home. My video camera had just enough for me to capture something Linda and I would not have believed if we did not experience it….

It happened whilst sitting at the camp fire latish in the evening, having eaten well and just enjoying the noises of the bush, also feeding the genet cat that came to visit. Three springbok came up to the fire to visit with us. Linda and I kept quiet at first and stared in disbelief. ANIMALS ARE SCARED OF FIRE my brain screamed.

One started to lick on the braai grid that was cool, then came and started to lick in the ash of the fire. “THE FIRE IS HOT” I screamed under my breathe…. these springbok actually started to seek out pieces of charcoal that were not still glowing red, but warm and ate them.

This all happened within two to three metres of us and when we started to talk to each other in disbelief they carried on totally ignoring us…. I captured this on video and when back in civilisation I will download it to “youtube” and add a link for you to see…. here are a few photos first from Witsand and then a few from yesterday which I had a chance to get out and capture…

We leave tomorrow for Pretoria for a short while (a week) and then on the road again… but this will give me a chance to catch up a bit with you all… look forward to that… and to the odd blog I’m going to be able to post…

Kalahari Storm… a blessing for the arid area.

Yesterday saw the storm approach and drop a few drips followed by a rainbow, then the heavens opened and the rain fell with a vengeance.

The approach….

The signs of a hail storm somewhere….

and then a small rainbow…..

a quick trip to the golf course and the heavens open…

and when the rain stopped, I saw the poor bird soaking wet, but with bad eyes this is the result of a close encounter…

and then the reward of a sky that says “hope you enjoyed that rain”….

Lucky the rain and scenes don’t need a good eye, Auto Focus can do the job for me…

Here; but not much good.

Well we made it to Kathu and even brought rain with us… the bush will now green up beautifully. The car repairs took longer than we expected, and somewhere down the line my eyesight has gone all wonky… my left eye is giving me a double vision vertically and my right eye a double vision horizontally.

Do you know how odd this is??… I now see three of everything, unfortunately it means that photographs are out of the question as I cannot see to focus in the view finder and the screen means nothing.

So I will not be returning with anything to show at the end of next week, but we are back up on the air, and life is still good. Eye specialist are non existent here so will have to make an appointment on our return, which will probably only be in the new year. But life is good, it is warm (no hot!!!!!!) and the swimming pool is cool, so you know where I spend my days….

a picture from the past…..

Crested Barbet.. a visitor to the Pretoria fruit salad tree.

Crested Barbet (Trachyphonus vaillantii)

You can’t miss this bird with its very colourful plumage the Crested Barbet is unmistakable. This small bird has a speckled yellow and red face with a small black crest. The belly is yellow with red speckles, wings are black with white specks and it has a broad black band on its neck. Yellow head and body with black and white feathers, with red markings on the head of the body, its colour blends in so well in the bush. A coat of many colours.

But this one I’ve been trying to capture at the right time of the day.. but had to put up with bad light and all the wrong conditions that all the experts say you should not bother shooting in and captured him today at midday..

and now for the fashion show showing this years trends….

TaaDaaaaaaaa ….. Now for our first shot we show the black back with white flecks, very in fashion this season….

Notice the orange hues of the neck and darkening of the ears.. all make up should concentrate in this area for the season….

Red around the backside is very in this season so do concentrate on that and ensure your trailing tail is black with white dots….

Chew fruit this year rather than gum…. and dye the front of your hair red…

Note the red dye in the front of the head… (Red hair is in Blonde out) wear a black and white bib..

This gives one a better perspective of the black and white bib.. always wear yellow dress with red flecks or dots… very in this year Ladies…

please send full size photos of your like fashion to this site for critique from the fashion Guru…the Bulldog…

And that Ladies and Gentlemen concludes our fashion show for the day…