Sunsets mean endings, but also new beginnings ..... (Sunset from our front veranda a few weeks ago)
I just want to say a great big THANK YOU to every single one of you for your lovely comments and emails after the loss of my beloved Zonde on Monday. It really does help to ease the pain a little, knowing that there are so many people around the world who care … I appreciate each and every one of you and wish that I could meet you all in person one day !
Justin and I picked a beautiful spot to bury her, under a peach tree in a quiet corner of the garden overlooking the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Justin, who has cared for Zonde for the past 8 years of her life is absolutely devastated. He says that Zonde was the first dog he ever knew that taught him what wonderful creatures dogs are & that knowing Zonde made him realize that dogs are loving, feeling, intelligent animals. All our staff have given their condolences which is unusual because traditionally people here do not make a great fuss of an animal dying. Our gardeners and askari have all stood around the grave, and told us how very sorry they are. Given the fact that Zonde used to chase them all and bark at them if they got too close to the house and generally make their life a misery, I think this is amazing and a true testament to the wonderful spirit she had, and the effect on other people’s lives, & it is wonderful to think that her memory will continue to live on in their hearts.
Having my mother-in-law staying with us & being out of my usual routines, plus the fact that we’ve been away on safari and my heartbreak with Zonde means that I am so behind with my emails and so many of you have sent emails to me that I promise to reply to soon. Please don’t think I’m ignoring you ! Also, all the blogs I regularly read I have not even visited for a week or so now – likewise all the comments I get I always visit the blog of the person commenting, as you can see I have not been commenting at all lately but I will be back soon to catch up with my fellow bloggers !
I have over 100 photo’s from my safari to sort through and I will be starting to post some of them and write about our weekend away soon – we had a wonderful time and it was nice to be back in the Tanzanian bush for a few days.
I also wanted to say (well of course I’m sure you’ve already noticed it !) that I have finally re vamped my blog as I wanted something more personal than a standard blogger template & something that reflected my personality a little more. I know I promised a new look ages ago but you know what they say “There’s No Hurry In Africa !”.
I want to thank Diana of Sass n Scrap Designs who helped me with the design & who was so patient with me as I am quite fussy & was very specific about what I wanted, and I made so many changes along the way until I had exactly what I wanted & with Diana’s skill and creativity, it looks exactly as I pictured it. Thanks, Diana !
I hope that you all like the new look - please do let me know what you think of it !
Last but not least, thanks once again to each and every one of you who ‘reads’ me. I have had almost 30 000 hits since I started this blog 8 months ago and I cannot tell you how much it means to me to know that so many people the world over read me every day. I have always loved writing and have always kept daily diaries – blogging is a natural extension of that for me & I have to be honest, living the life I do can feel quite isolated and it can be lonely at times & as I sit typing away in a remote corner of Africa, looking out over my banana trees & Kilimanjaro beyond & at times only having the company of my husband, daughter and staff for weeks on end, it makes me feel less isolated knowing that I am connecting with so many people out there in the ‘real’ world. So ….. thank you !
Justin and I picked a beautiful spot to bury her, under a peach tree in a quiet corner of the garden overlooking the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Justin, who has cared for Zonde for the past 8 years of her life is absolutely devastated. He says that Zonde was the first dog he ever knew that taught him what wonderful creatures dogs are & that knowing Zonde made him realize that dogs are loving, feeling, intelligent animals. All our staff have given their condolences which is unusual because traditionally people here do not make a great fuss of an animal dying. Our gardeners and askari have all stood around the grave, and told us how very sorry they are. Given the fact that Zonde used to chase them all and bark at them if they got too close to the house and generally make their life a misery, I think this is amazing and a true testament to the wonderful spirit she had, and the effect on other people’s lives, & it is wonderful to think that her memory will continue to live on in their hearts.
Having my mother-in-law staying with us & being out of my usual routines, plus the fact that we’ve been away on safari and my heartbreak with Zonde means that I am so behind with my emails and so many of you have sent emails to me that I promise to reply to soon. Please don’t think I’m ignoring you ! Also, all the blogs I regularly read I have not even visited for a week or so now – likewise all the comments I get I always visit the blog of the person commenting, as you can see I have not been commenting at all lately but I will be back soon to catch up with my fellow bloggers !
I have over 100 photo’s from my safari to sort through and I will be starting to post some of them and write about our weekend away soon – we had a wonderful time and it was nice to be back in the Tanzanian bush for a few days.
I also wanted to say (well of course I’m sure you’ve already noticed it !) that I have finally re vamped my blog as I wanted something more personal than a standard blogger template & something that reflected my personality a little more. I know I promised a new look ages ago but you know what they say “There’s No Hurry In Africa !”.
I want to thank Diana of Sass n Scrap Designs who helped me with the design & who was so patient with me as I am quite fussy & was very specific about what I wanted, and I made so many changes along the way until I had exactly what I wanted & with Diana’s skill and creativity, it looks exactly as I pictured it. Thanks, Diana !
I hope that you all like the new look - please do let me know what you think of it !
Last but not least, thanks once again to each and every one of you who ‘reads’ me. I have had almost 30 000 hits since I started this blog 8 months ago and I cannot tell you how much it means to me to know that so many people the world over read me every day. I have always loved writing and have always kept daily diaries – blogging is a natural extension of that for me & I have to be honest, living the life I do can feel quite isolated and it can be lonely at times & as I sit typing away in a remote corner of Africa, looking out over my banana trees & Kilimanjaro beyond & at times only having the company of my husband, daughter and staff for weeks on end, it makes me feel less isolated knowing that I am connecting with so many people out there in the ‘real’ world. So ….. thank you !
