One interesting, but sad, item about the way things are around here is the "recycling program." What happens is the day the garbage is placed out on the curb, men come and go through the garbage cans looking for plastic, cardboard, etc. that can be recycled. This can be very gross going (through the garbage.) They put the recycling items in a bag on a cart they pull around. We had to replace our toaster (it was working but ever so feebly) so we just took the old one out to a guy that was going through the garbage. He was so thankful and very nice. It was in the original box, and he asked, incredibly, "Does it really work ?" The next week we happened to be out on garbage day and he brought us some keys he found in the garbage. Evidently our landlords had put them in the garbage and he wanted to make sure they should be there. So you can guess this is not the best job to have and it is quite sad that people need to do things like this in order to make some money.
On a lighter note, we did make it to the Lion Park. This is where you can drive through the Lions' area. On a darker note, this is where the lady rolled down her car window and was killed by a white lion. They have always given warnings and told you to keep your windows up, but now, in fact, they put a sticker tape on your windows so you won't roll them down. We had a great time and as you can see in the picture, the Lions were fed so they didn't want to eat us that day. (Well, we kept our windows up, just in case).
One thing that I never expected us to do here, was to set up a little garden. There was a container on our patio area and we thought it looked pretty sad without any plantings. We discovered a beautiful garden shop last week, and purchased flowers, herbs, tomatoes and peppers to plant. In the end it all worked out pretty well (as you will see in the pictures), but it was quite an adventure to do the planting. We set the plants out in a flower bed by our cottage with the intention of planting them in the next few days. We went inside, and when we walked out to go to our car, we noticed that the plants were missing.
We did a bit more exploring and saw little piles of dark rich potting soil around the corner, and then some of the plastic containers we had bought the plants in. Just a bit more looking and we found plants strewn throughout the yard. Well, you probably guessed it by now...the dogs that live at our landlords' place had discovered a new game. We think they liked the crinkle of the plastic, but whatever, we thought they had really ruined our new plants. I am always reluctant to shake young plants before planting, but these dogs did it with sheer abandon and joy, and the result was some pretty nice starts once they were planted. After planting them, we put Irish Spring soap shavings around on the patio, and the dogs have watched the planter a lot (see picture),but haven't gotten near it.
It's a good thing! We really did like those dogs, but got pretty angry at them for awhile. They've been forgiven by now, as long as they maintain good behavior. There must be a parable somewhere in there, but for now, we are just happy to think of the fruit of our labors in a couple months.
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| What good little innocent guard dogs! |
We're loving the work and the life here! The only place we might rather be is home...but that will come quickly, the way time is flying now. We know we're here for a purpose and that we and those at home will receive unmeasured blessings through our service.
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