OUR VISITORS HAVE LEFT...

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

MAXDOG here...

Hello there to all my furry friends!

We would like to start of by apologising for being so slack in visiting all your blogs. Hopefully things will settle down at this side of the pond and we will get back on track soon.

We are following a lot of your blogs, but haven't had enough time to comment.

Mom is also finally writing her book...at last!

Please be patient with us?

Well our visitors have finally left us and we are a little sad. The house seems sooooo empty and quiet without them here!

Mom has been flitting around cleaning up the house and getting things organised again.

She says that she feels like 'Old Mother Hubbard!"

(Whatever that means!)

It was really lovely to spend some wonderful time together with our friends!

Us dogs have had extra attention and extra "sneaked" treats. Unfortunately our walks have been rationed but it has been fun to be with our friends!

Mom and her gang took them off to the airport yesterday afternoon.

Look what she did to TAMMY!!!....

My Poor Girlfriend!!!

Anyway, Mom came back with some pictures which I can share with you.

These are photos taken at the airport of some really "professional" organisations in our midst...

And these people (below)had simply abandoned their offices....

Very professional indeed! (Hah!)

Well, thank goodness, our visitors weren't flying with those airlines and that they got off to a very safe and reliable start!

As Mom and the gang were coming home, there were a few thunderstorms brewing.

Mom got some super shots. Here are some...

(Check out the geese above!)

JOHANNESBURG skyline.

The black cloud at the top of the picture was the underside of a huge, dark band of cloud ...signalling:

THUNDERSTORM!!!

Thankfully they all got home safely and we were able to get our supper on time! (Whew!)

Now that the visitors have gone, perhaps our household will return to normal?!?

"MOM, WE WANT OUR WALKS!!!"

Take care, be warm and have a truly pawsome weekend.

Lots of licks

MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA

(NOTE FROM MOM:)

Thank you for all your concern regarding my foot surgery. I have decided to postpone the procedure for the moment. It has been worrying me, so I've decided to abide by my motto:

"WHEN IN DOUBT,...DON'T!"

I want to try some other strategies first before subjecting myself to the scalpel!

Thank you again for your encouragement!

LION PARK ADVENTURE

GREETINGS FROM SUNNY SOUTH AFRICA!!!

MAXDOG here...

Hey there all my bloggie-buddies.

What a wonderful sunny day it is here in JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA. The weather is quite exquisite! We are so aware that many of you are experiencing unprecedented freezing weather with snow-covered landscapes, so we thought we'd post a picture up of our inviting swimming pool.

mmm...lovely, isn't it!?!

Well, I have been having many ear-rubs from all our visitors. All this attention makes me feel quite special, but the humans often leave the house on their adventures and come back with some great photographs.

This week, our visitors were taken to the LION PARK, just outside Johannesburg. It is an exciting tourist attraction where you can view some of our big kitties and other animals.

Check out these GEMSBOK...!

Visitors are able to feed the ostriches too. You have to be careful though that you don't have jewelry around your neck - these big birdies love shiny things and they have quite a strong peck and can deliver a painful nip!


Of course, the lions are the biggest attraction.
Check out this lionness, just parking off in the road...

If there are cubs around, toursists can get to touch (sometimes cuddle) them. This lot seemed very sleepy, but very cute!

Of course the male lion with his big, dark mane is quite a sight. Excuse the quality of this photo, but they had to keep their car windows shut!

They all returned home with lots of stories and fun pictures.

We also have some new residents on our own pavement right outside our house at the moment. These beautiful birds are called DIKKOP's. They are part of the plover family and have the most gorgeous colouring. They have a truly odd trait - to make their nest in an exposed area, directly in the sun. The male always lingers a little way from the nest to provide a decoy for any threat.

What irritates me, is that this pair have set up home directly in my 'free-running' space. I'm really not impressed, because I now have to be on lead there too.

Perhaps I'll chase them away...mmmm?!

This blogpost won't be complete if I don't show you some of Mom's beautiful newly blooming Dahlia's. They are quite exquisite and are perhaps the pride and joy of my garden at the moment.

We have another plant which is sporting a long strand of 'bell-like' blooms. We are not sure of it's name, but it is absolutely beautiful too!...

A closer view of one of the opened buds...

...and another Dahlia...

Well, we are still getting our walks at the moment.

Here is a picture of TAMMY & I waiting at the front door...

Of course TOFFEE tries to get in with the action too...

That's all for today. To all my friends in the Northern Hemisphere...

KEEP WARM!!!!

As for those in the South...

ENJOY THE SUNSHINE!!!

Lots of licks

MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA

JUST A LITTLE NEWS.

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!!!

MAXDOG here...

Hey there everyone! Hope you are all well and settling into this New Year!

Things are still rather hectic in our household at the moment. Our visitors are still with us, so please forgive me if this blogpost is a short one and if we are not posting as regularly as usual.
Hopefully our blogging will get back to normal soon

I have only two bits of random news to report today:

Firstly; SCHNAPPS, the little hamster is flourishing! She seems to have doubled in size since I last checked her out properly. She has become a rather "tasty-looking" morsel, but I know that she belongs to Miss R, so I'll keep to my role as her great protector and not bother her too much. My gentleness is proved in the photograph above, don't you think?

The second bit of news is rather daunting for both me and Mom...

She discovered today that she will have to undergo surgery on her foot....mmmm....not so nice.

She has been trying to avoid this over the past year, but has now run out of options.

I can assure you that this isn't from all her shenanigans on that bridge the other day! It is an injury which has been plagueing her for quite a while.

Mom tells me that she will probably be having the surgery next week and will be on crutches for a week or two. I am hoping that this won't affect my blogging, but if it does, then you know why.

The good news is that the surgery might take her pain away and then she can really embrace this wonderful new year and get back to the things she has not been able to do for a while.

It seems however that I will be taking up my the role as her chair-side companion again while she recovers...not that I mind!

mmm...I wonder how she is going to fit my walks in with those crutches?

Perhaps I will have to seriously nag one of the other humans to take me on my outings.

I can't possibly be held captive all day, now can I?!!!

(Are there any takers???....Don't be shy...feel free to say you'll walk me!)

Other news is that it's been raining here in JOHANNESBURG today and the humans have put on jerseys(?).
(Yes, can you believe it?!?...it's supposed to be summer time!)

In CAPE TOWN however, it is a completely different story. They experienced a sweltering 37 degrees centigrade today....perfect weather for the beach!

I so wish I was there!

So this is me signing off for today. Take care of yourselves, dear doggie-buddies.
Always remember...

We love you stacks!

MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA

IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT YEAR!!!

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!!!

MAXDOG here...

Hello! Hello! Hello again!

Oh, how I have missed all my furry friends (and their humans) from across the world!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

We are back from our invigorating, rejuvenating and thrilling break! It has been truly awesome! Thank you for your patience while we have been away. We are rearing to go and looking forward to the year ahead. We also have lots of exciting news for you...

As you can see, the weather here in JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA is glorious! We have constant sunny skies and evening thunderstorms. It has been 'holiday time', so our home has been full of visitors and family. Most of our time has been spent around the pool, but we have also had some exciting adventures (which we will reveal in this post).

My dogpack is extremely well. I have recovered fully from my surgery and am back to my old "MAXDOG" self. We still get our regular daily walks. My girlfriend, TAMMY, is as beautiful as ever and TOFFEE is no different! He is still arrogant and seemingly 'King' of this household. TOMMY trudges on and is looking a bit battered in his old age. SCHNAPPS, The hamster is vibrant and active (He got a new ball for Christmas!) and our humans seem to be filled with the joys of summer and the promise of a brand new year!!!

Our skies too are exquisite!

Our flowers are all flourishing!

One of the wonderful things that happened that Mom's "son" - our old exchange student from Germany - came to visit us. When our humans collected him from

OLIVER TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,

they were amazed at the new look of the airport - in preparation for the

SOCCER WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT

this year.

This is the new International Arrivals Hall...

...and this is the Maxcot (I mean - MASCOT) for the tournament.

His name is:
"ZAKUMI"

Well, the pool at our house is an attractive venue to get away from our high temperatures. Our humans spend a lot of time there cooling off, while us dogs sleep on the cool patio tiles.

Some of our human friends are adrenalin junkies...

This particular adrenalin junkie, "Mr R", invited all the humans for a day of adventure in the Magaliesburg mountains near Johannesburg. There were 8 of them on that trip and all took part in the activities he offerred, but as you Bloggers will know, many folk don't like their pictures posted, so we are respecting that request.

Here is a picture though of Mom on top of the mountain...

The views were truly stunning from up there (she tells me). The big news is that Mom decided that her age (50years) was not going to hinder her participation at all!!! Yes, she embraced it all and she seems to have come back a totally different person!!!

This is the deep gorge where the ABSEILING took place.

"Mr R" is a fully qualified instructor, so we were really privileged to have him in attendance. ...

That abseiling cliff is about a 12m drop!!! Eish, it was scary!!!

Here is a picture of Mom starting her attempt...

...and this is what she/they went down...

Mom says that it was totally thrilling!!! She can hardly believe that she would ever have comtemplated (let alone accomplished) this. EISH!!!

The view allowed a welcome reprieve from all the adrenalin as the humans went on to the next activity...

Yes, Mom went on the 'foofy-slide' too - about a 20m run...

Truly thrilling!!!

Now for the big stuff:
THE BRIDGE SWING...

"Why?", you might ask...

....dunno...???

Mom says: "Just because I could!!! I was celebrating half a century!!!"

Ready....???

Well, this was a life-changing moment - as mom confronted her "nemesis".

The lesson here is :

IT IS TOALLY POSSIBLE TO CONFRONT AND OVERCOME YOUR OWN FEARS!!!

This is a pretty scary accomplishment - to jump off an 8-10m bridge, relying merely on your harness and the facilitator and totally vulnerable to your fate.

It is a simply amazing and quite awesome experience!!! - no matter how crazy others might think you are.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Well, as for the MAXDOG, I think I will keep my feet firmly on the ground, thank you very much!

I'm too old for such things. But I am glad to see that mom is so inspired. It is going to be an exciting year!!!

(Dear friends, we have missed you all and will be getting around to catching up all your news too. I'm sure it will take a while, but we know you will understand. Thank you for being our friends. We are really looking forward to this year. We love you all)

Lots of licks

MAXDOG IN SOUTH AFRICA