Henry_iain

Interesting. I looked at his Facebook profile. I suspect we have some mutual contacts. Also, this is in Port Elizabeth, near a nature reserve, probably Addo National Park. The venom in the mouth is not a problem as long as he hasn't got any cuts in there. If he doesn't swallow and rinses out his mouth thoroughly he should be fine.

They may be Marxist now. They did not start out that way. It stands for the African National Congress. It was founded in 1912.

Christianity is strong here. The churches in South Africa are very active. In my town alone, there are around 30 churches representing several denominations, including Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, etc. Not only does active evangelism happen, but I know a few churches in South Africa that actively send out mission teams to other parts of Africa and the rest of the world. One church has sent mission teams to places like China, Syria, and Pakistan.

Hey. Thanks for asking me. I hope I can help. From the moment this situation started reaching the international news, I've been hesitant and have stayed away from discussing it here. I am distinctly aware that my point of view won't be popular here. So I'm only answering with my best knowledge and according to what I believe. I don't really want to talk about the political/ideological points. I'm not going to discuss the political philosophy behind this in detail. Here is what I will say: The crime situation in South Africa is deplorable. And I do admit that farmers in many areas are in danger. There have been horrific cases. They could use better security. The ANC, especially since the time Zuma came into power, has been the big problem in South Africa. They deliberately keep racial tension going because this gives them excuses for bad decisions. They are not interested in running the country properly. They have, through negligence, incompetence and corruption, destroyed everything that was working well. They are as corrupt as they come. So they need to be removed as soon as possible. I believe the tide is turning, slowly but surely. There are also lots of positive things happening in this country. One positive point is that the ANC and others like them are losing support, even among their traditional power base. They might eventually lose enough support to lose power completely. They lose power, there are opposition parties that could really make a difference. Where I live, we still feel quite safe and everything is working quite well.

I don't really understand politics much so I tend to stay out of it. I vote, of course, and I pray, but that's all. I therefore reserve my opinion. It's not like I can change anything really.

I haven't heard about this organisation. De Doorns is a rural village about an hour and a half away from me. It's one of the towns that's part of the Hexrivier Valley. Lots of fruit farms and especially wine farms around there. It's considered to be a beautiful place. Landfills like these make me sad because they aren't very well managed. It is quite awful near these places. There are also many such strays. They usually come from poor communities where there is very little control. You can try to take the animals away, but they will simply get replaced, and the people are so poor that they don't care. The authorities usually simply give up. So I'm glad such an organisation exists. A friend of mine, who happens to be a vet lives in the area. She may be involved in this, although she specialises in farm animals. I might ask her if she's heard of it.

It's now officially 2025 over here. Enjoy! 🎉🎊🥳

my cousin, and a few other friends who lives in Oceania are already in 2025. Blessings to everyone

I'm painting small wooden canvases. I'm also putting all my presents in boxes I have painted myself. I often make my own cards. As for the actual presents, I got each person several small things, usually including a chocolate or some other treat.

Haven't started with the decorations. We won't be getting a tree until just before the day (for us it will be the 24th, following the German tradition). I'm looking forward to it. At the moment my main preparation is going into painting little art works that I'm going to include with each gift I give.

Yes. Nearly every South African garden has one of these.

I love gardens but I'm not much of a gardener. But I am an artist.

I'll check some other sources to confirm

Apparently not. Here's what etymonline.com says (it's very interesting): ditty (n.) "short song or poem intended to be sung to a simple melody,"early 14c., from Old French ditie "composition, poem, treatise," from Latin dictatum "thing dictated," neuter past participle of dictare "dictate," frequentative of dicere "to say, speak" (from PIE root *deik- "to show," also "pronounce solemnly"). In Middle English used of any literary composition, including dramas, essays, letters. also from early 14c. dithyramb (n.) form of Greek choric composition, c. 1600, from Latin dithyrambus, from Greek dithyrambos, which is of unknown origin, perhaps a pre-Hellenic loan-word. A wild choric hymn, originally in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus, later of other gods, heroes, etc. Related: Dithyrambic. also from c. 1600

400g spare ribs and chips