Facebook | Casey James (American Idol)

Facebook | Casey James (American Idol)

Olde architecture

Many of us pass this area without giving it a second thought, a long time survivor in Port Elizabeth. One wonders for how long this solitary building in the area will remain, a footnote to the South End of long ago.

Presently change is ongoing in the city, driven by the need to house an ever growing population. At the moment this area is uncertain about which way to go, represented as it is with dwellings like this and light industry just half a kilometer further on, actually less than that.

It is interesting to ponder the ultimate direction of the area, especially with the Baakens river not far away, which is occasionally prone to extensive flooding. Do you remember 1968?

Before Hoopoe in the kitchen

It all began when my wife and I heard shuffling in the under-drawing. We thought the starlings had rediscovered a nesting location. My first move was to block their entry point with wire netting. I remembered the previous residency of breeding starlings when at one stage it seemed almost to rain lice. We were not keen on the same again.

Using a ladder I peered through the trap-door in the bathroom ceiling and there to the left, about three meters away was this hoopoe looking right at me with what seemed like no fear at all. I asked my wife to pass up my camera and was lucky enough to get a number of satisfactory shots. What amazed me was the apparent lack of fear on the hoopoe's part, not even a wing flap. I then returned outside and removed the netting.

My plan was to discourage the bird from taking up residency and building a nest with its mate, so I left the electric lamp up there, hoping it would perform the duty of a scarecrow. Needless to say the ploy did not work. I then decided to leave be and allow nature to take its course.

The following few weeks proved to be a busy time for the birds. I suspect it was the male we saw regularly swooping past the kitchen window with a worm in beak, food for the female who was incubating the clutch. The sight was a rare treat. I am sure that they shared incubation duty, although on this I could be incorrect. Soon the new chick or chicks made their presence known with insistent high pitched chirping that really made feeding time a demanding chore for the parents. The frequency of colour swooping passed the kitchen window increased with the need to keep the food chain moving, relieving the tedium of my dish washing chore as I gazed through the kitchen window.

After roughly twenty nine days the activity ceased. Another happy task completed by nature.

That was not quite the end of it though. We were to meet one of the hoopoes fairly soon, but that is another story.

Hoopoe in the kitchen

I was lucky enough to find this hoopoe in our kitchen. It had gained entry through a small hole in the ceiling. I ushered the dogs out of the kitchen and grabbed my camera. A real opportunity!

I think this is the chick of the pair that had been nesting in the ceiling. It all started when we began hearing noises in the under-drawing. I blocked the entry gap in the tiles and went up to investigate, and there was this hoopoe, not starlings as I had thought. I remove the blockage so as to allow freedom of movement. We were obviously thrilled with our new tenants. It was a real pleasure to see the parents busy back and forth at feeding time, which seemed to be all the time.

After that things seemed to quieten down and we thought the birds had left the nest, until this morning when I heard the shuffling in the ceiling. As it turned out, most fortunate, as it resulted in my getting the luckiest shot of all.

I thought that this kind of thing only happened to other people!

Fish dish.

Fish dish.

Main ingredients.

2 tins light meat tuna.
A tin of denny mushroom soup.
The larger packet of crisps, any flavour of your choice, I tend to stay away from cheese flavour, or any other that may be overpowering.
3 level teaspoons of English mustard powder should go into the roux making the white sauce.

Make the sauce
Drain then add the tuna
Add the tin of soup
Add most of the crushed chips
Pour mixture into baking dish
Sprinkle the surface with balance of crushed chips.

Bake at 170 for 25 minutes

Allow to stand for 5 minutes

Then serve with leafy salad

Optional: Fresh fruit and cream for dessert

The Mess

Sunshine

Sunrise
All bright colours pushing up on the horizon, heralding the start of a new day, the hills bathed with soft light, growing stronger as the shadows shorten with the rising of the sun. Feel the warmth on your face, on your back if you turn, warmly enveloped from top to toe.

And it goes on
Sunshine encouraging growth, giving birth to a flower, many times over with such variation of colour, pleasantly perfuming the air where ever you are.

And you
With warm. welcoming smile, sparkle in your eyes and softness all about you.