The antibiotics kicked in at last and I am weak as a mewling kitten but slowly getting better. The housemate may need to go into hospital for more tests and meet with a cardiologist. And this week there will be protests and strikes all around us, police and army moving in, the farm workers desperate for pay increases.
But right now it is quiet and overcast, birds mobbing the red flowering clusters dripping nectar on the ‘farmers’ weeping bean tree’ next door. This broad-spreading tree (Schotia brachypetala) is one I know from much higher up in Africa, beyond Limpopo and Swaziland, across Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and it is also known as the huilboerboon, tree fuchsia or African walnut. The clusters of brilliant scarlet flowers overflow with copious nectar. This is such a feast for the birds and there is enough nectar for all of them, from the larger starlings to the malachite sunbirds and white-eyes. The seeds can be roasted and eaten as beans and the heartwood is a dark walnut once used to make wagon wheels. When I was a child, my sister and I would sit on rocks near to the flowering tree and try to count birds.
And right now I must take my blank head and feebleness back to bed. The dogs find me a very dull companion and I’m not much of a blogger either. Taking it slow.
