On my daily morning walk....

My first leg is to go through the workers villages and whistle for two friendly dogs to join me. With great excitement and tails wagging they gladly follow me... I neèd them to be my ears and eyes, they need to pick up on things I might miss....

In this part  of the world , it could be an elephant, buffalo or even a mamba or Python.

I have named them "viens vite" which is French for "come quick" , but I had better increase my vocabulary fast as maybe these wild animals understand  French too!

The walk is not easy, as there are many hills, high humidity (today was 80%), and plenty stinging flies! My two companions need a lot of encouragement, they are meant to be out in the front protecting me, but it seems the other way round, BUT on the homeward trail, that's a whole different story. They run ahead, furiously wagging their tails, stopping every know and again to look behind and egg me on! 

This reminded me so much of our life walk ..... When times are tough, uncertain and the up hills are wearing us down, our friends and our Faith in God keep us on track, encouraging us to persevere and "hang in there" our turn will come in lagging behind, then at other times life will be a breeze. At times we can even get weary just in "staying strong"... 

Most of us are "out of our comfort zones" these days, so encourage, listen, spur each other on, as we are certainly on the "homeward run!"

GRATITUDE unlocks the fulness of life..........

It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home,
a stranger into a friend.......
(Melody Beattie)

" a washroom with a view"

It's Piton (Python) season they told me with great excitement.....

The six month rainy season started today, and when it rains it comes down in sheets! When the rains arrive the pythons start moving too.... And the Gabonese say Python is one of their favourite meats to eat.... Groan 😟

There is a reward on the ranch for any pythons killed, as they often take calves. One of the herders got lucky last month as he killed 6!

My greatest fear, as I walk daily on the ranch, is coming across a python, not because it will kill or harm me, but just seeing the sight will surely give me nightmares! They say I will be able to smell it before I see it, as they smell putrid..... 

This pic is not taken by me and I do not hope to take a pic either....

Our new place......

Yip, this is our new "home" for as long as we work in Gabon. We have beautiful views and plenty solitude, so come and visit..... These are taken with my Nikon, not iPhone...

View from the verandah...

Back door entrance, check my kitty on the step...

Trees out at the back, that are filled with monkeys in the early morning, will still get shots of them, if they allow...

The blessings of a new day......

I'm so out of my comfort zone....

I've got some work going on in the inside, I'm trying to learn contentment in ALL things.... Not easy!

Doing the "nice", "pretty" and "comfortable" things is just SO much easier.....

. But getting into a smelly truck loaded with people and smelly fish, doing shopping in a town that has NOTHING on your list and trying to converse in a language that is totally foreign! I then needed the loo.....mmmm, I'm not going there, your imagination can! Yip we went to our closest town today (official business)....

Now let me find the blessings instead of the grumblings....

The view all the way there was amazing.

I'm learning a new language.

I'm eating strange things! ( nibbled on a rock today,  they sell it near the garlic, it's for woman's health they told  me, it's like eating chalk, must be a form of calcium)

I have eyes to see all these new experiences...

I have ears to hear some really new bird sounds....

I have health and fitness to work in a very remote part of the world...

I have an adventurous husband who isn't afraid of new challenges! Now tell me, would you find that a blessing or a curse?