After a long visit with family in the USA, we returned to Soyo last Saturday. It is really good to be back in our home here and feeling more settled. We loved the time with family......and miss them all terribly but still it is good to be back in Soyo. Now the time change has required more days than I ever remember to adjust to....finally today, 5 days after arriving back in Soyo, I feel normal and ready at regular hours to meet the day.....
Since returning the most obvious changes here are the increase in building along the roads....increased traffic with many new people moving here, the change in weather....now it is muggy and sprinkling frequently but still no real heavy rains......and one great thing!!!!! Our roof has been repaired so we will not have a waterfall wall in the guest room!!!!! We are so thankful about that!!!!
The garden is producing corn again and this is from the USA and Thailand so I hope it is more edible than what we had before that was so hard I cooked it a long time and then put it in the food processor and made chewy soup with it...... Also the Okra is doing very well, eggplant, tomatoes, a leaf cabbage, and the spinach seeded itself and is producing again.....amazing since the soil is so sandy..... The Winged beans finally were ready to harvest but we were gone so they will be eaten next year and we are using the pods we have for more seeds.....
Ms Kitty was very happy at our friends, Craig and Kris's home. She actually took several days to be able to settle back in here but has now started her usual antics of hide and attack and fetching toys. I think she loved the house with stairs....and misses that.
I have given up on the potty training and brought back a special kitty litter box that is less muss and fuss and less stinky..... We brought more food and clumping litter from the USA that should last a long time......and altho that was a pain to bring in.....and back pain it gave us because the bags were so heavy, it is worth it now.
Just before Bryan left to come to the USA to see his mother who is on hospice, he was doing wash in the back. Now our washer and dryer are out the back door in a covered area. He didn't close the house door completely so Ms Kitty opened the door and headed outside. Bryan told me that it was the most amazing and shocking thing that happened......Ms Kitty ran to the grassy area and the gardener floods the grass with water daily to keep it growing.....so when she stepped on the grass, she stopped because it was wet.....and out of nowhere a huge eagle type bird with a white head and dark body and about 4-5 foot wing span swooped down and tried to pick Ms Kitty up by the head.....Ms Kitty was so startled she leaped about 4 feet in the air twisting around so the bird missed her.....and flew away and Ms Kitty raced back to the safety of the house. Bryan came to see if she was injured by the bird and she was not but was shaking and obviously terrified. Today...she was looking longingly outside so her memory of that near miss is gone, I believe.....
I do feed the birds daily.....these are small blue birds and sparrow types......and I know that there are huge crows that are black with like a white vest.....that are in the area.....but to think there are now eagles looking for prey....makes us even more attentive to keep Ms. Kitty safely in the house......
I must say, I wonder when the wild animals that Africa is so famous for will return to Angola. These were all killed during the years of fighting which only stopped in 2002.....I know the eagles come from the Congo, across the river, but without fighting.....how soon will those wild animals return????
