There is a bottle in the story.

What a difference 36 hours make.

On Monday I totally focused on my recovery, sleeping whenever he slept, and spending time on fairly low impact activities, to give the back a chance to recover a little as well. I also went to bed fairly early, not worrying about anything and had a goodish night.

This morning, I awoke a new person, felt 10 times better. Played and read some stories to Boeta, then got all the normal stuff sorted and by 8 am he was asleep again. My plan was to try to finish the closing off of the deck, repairing the gate and adding netting on sides to assure him not falling through and hurting himself.

We went to the shop, when he woke, something he enjoys and found amongst other things fresh hot bread that just came out of oven. I am not going to let slip such a chance, and it was still warm when we got home. I helped myself, nothing like this I figure, but gave him a piece as well and he enjoyed it so much, came back for more, hmm-ing as he ate it.

I got going again on the gate, watching him playing inside through the glass, or was he watching me? In any case got it done and when finished, I let him have the space for a test run.

I think it is fairly obvious that it was a hit.

After his afternoon nap, we played some more, then took a walk down to the beach, had dinner and fun bath. In the process of playing, something caught my eye, his bottle, the favorite one I thought we lost on the walk, Sunday. I have no memory of that bottle in the stroller at home, or playpen, never mind how it ended up under the couch! None!

I was more than a little happy at the find. Showed it to him, he also got excited and we hugged! He is now sleeping! What a difference 36 hours make, from mental loss to feeling calm and at peace with myself, finding the bottle just enhanced it, cherry on the cake!

Our Favorite Type Holiday

[caption id="attachment_428" align="alignleft" width="338"] First in, Last out![/caption]

We love going on holiday in secluded spots where we can do our own thing. Some of the reasons why we like it, includes being able to spend quality time together, our love for the open spaces, love for nature and for the first 14 years we had a German Shepard, our first baby, who, I am proud to say, went everywhere with us, except for 2 weeks of her life. She died of a stroke in my arms, while in her bed, next to ours. Gone, but never far from our minds.

One of these places is a farm near the town of Bethulie in the Free State province of South Africa. The farm-house was ours for the duration, the owner having another house on another part of the farm.

From this base we visited attractions, like the reserves in the region, but mainly stayed on the farm, relaxed and took long walks, looking for birds, plants and animals.

Bethulie, about 20 km away, is a small town, with lots of history in South African Boer War, being the location of a large concentration camp.

Bethulie The area is also mainly summer rainfall area, we visited in Spring, after the cold frosty winter and before the real rainfall started. Places like these are so special to us. You leave your home with music and excitement, and when you arrive, your ears ring, because they are used to all types of noises, but after a few days, the ringing stops, and its replaced by birds and silence. Recovery has started, call it rehab for the soul if you like. At the end you go back, slightly sad, humbled and quiet. We rarely play music on the way back, rather keep talking and listening to each other and the fun experiences we just had. I will finish the post with more photographs, but no words, just enjoy!