Boatbird is bitten

Of all the biting creatures in this neck of the woods, I have been virtually immobilised by a common or garden bloody Horse Fly. They are nasty little critters (not so small actually) that are present, pretty much, world over. You may have come across them in dear old England – I was bitten by one once before, when out on the river, and the back of my thigh swelled up something awful. Even the pharmacist winced.

This time, the blighter got me on the top of my foot, near the ankle. Once again it has swollen dramatically, so that putting any weight on it at all (ie walking) is excruciatingly painful. Even John (Mr Sympathy – not) could see that I would not be able to operate the clutch pedal and rushed me to Kleimond (nearest town likely to have a chemist) this morning. At the expense of his flying too.

I had brought the Anthisan cream with me, as part of the first aid kit, as I know the mozzies love me. I applied this yesterday, often, but it just doesn’t cut it when it comes to Horse Fly bites. Has to be the anti-hystermine pills then, which for some unknown reason, I failed to pack. Can’t say there’s been any improvement so far, still red hot and very painful, but I guess these things take time; I shall have to suffer a little longer.

Other than that, the last few days have been fairly uneventful. Blissfully so. A positive whirl of hazy laziness,  spent largely in the hammock and punctuated by laundry duties, making salad to accompany the braai, a scramble up the mountain at the back of us, incorporating a guided tour of the farm boundary – impressive. Oh, and the odd visit to the hotel. Just to be sociable you understand. I did, to be fair, also do a major shop at Spar (the equivalent here to Tesco) in order to make sure we have provisions over the holiday period. I figured that, hating shopping as I do, it makes sense to do it in one big hit. John, even more sensibly, holed up in a nearby bar while I endured this.

Especially good to stock up as we have a working fridge now AND a freezer. Forgot to mention the freezer – it seems its been working all along, on the electricity, but we just hadn’t thrown the right switch before. But looking at the master controls, it’s hardly surprising.

The weather here has settled down and is more like what I remember from last year. Lovely blue skies and sunshine – must be mid 20’s plus now. Perfect. The breeze always gets up here in the afternoon so stops it feeling sticky and, a master-stroke of note was moving the bus well back into the trees. Keeps it shady and cool indoors.

We may fly the coast along to Hermanus and back, over the mountain and back to the strip. Maybe Wednesday, weather and foot permitting.  It’ll be about an hour’s flying and should be a good opportunity to get some aerial shots – see what I can do. Depends how tightly I feel the need to hang on I guess… It will mean getting out of bed at around 5am in order to get airborne before 8 and avoid the afternoon wind; makes landing a little more challenging. See pics for other hazzards at Bird Valley:

Road trip no 2 is also in the planning stages for after the holidays. Once more to PE (via a stop over at friends near Knysna) and then across country, through Ladismith to Anysberg.  Somewhere John has always wanted to go and says is lovely. Another part of the country to explore. Brother Phil has friends near East London so may look them up also – see if they remember me.

John has got his 125cc motorbike going and is currently off to try it out on the road. Good luck with that. It’s a lot more economical for trips to the airfield/shop for a paper or whatever, and, means I get the use of the car when he’s off mechanicing for the day in Hermanus.

I’m going to apply more cream to my sore ankle now. I’m sure it got worse while I’ve been writing. Did I say how bloody painful it is?