20 YEARS WITH CRUNCHIE

This magnificent tortoise is 90 years old and is said to be in his prime. He is a bachelor at present and the zoo is trying to hook him up with a girl. Such a good looking fellow, its surprising he hasn't got a girlfriend already! He has a life span of approximately 150 years.

20 years ago, when my son Brian was 5 years old (now 25) he begged me to buy this little chap from the son of a friend of mine, a friendship going back to early school days. Brian grew up and is a father himself now, everyone has left home except Crunchie. I am still taking care of the pets, so why am I now surprised ........ there were cats, dogs, mice, hamsters, the list goes on and on, and on .......

However, as most people know tortoises live to grand old ages and I doubt Crunchie is going to be any exception. He is a small rock tortoise and when he came to us 20 years ago he was old then......I won't even try and guess his age! He is so a part of my life that I would miss him terribly should some fate befall him.

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Despite his age he is very lively. During the winter months, which fall in the middle of the year in South Africa peaking in June and July, he hibernates. In May he will search for a suitable place, a shoe, dark corner or quiet cupboard. He takes up residence there for about 6 months and in October he crawls out looking for food and water.
The next 6 months are summer, we put the board across the front door to prevent him escaping from the flat. He eats constantly the entire summer and constantly expects a substantial diet of fruit and veggies. Dare a forget and a sharp nip to my toes or heel from his v shaped beak reminds me of his ongoing quest for nourishment. If I am slow with the water (he only drinks about 3 times a week) he makes for the bathroom where he must instinctively associate with water. So he makes himself very well understood.

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These pictures were taken over a period of 20 minutes. He's a real rock 'n roller isn't he? Slow to think, slow to move and act. Maybe that accounts for his long life, no stress or rush!
In the Picture below I am holding him to give you an idea of his size. It is January now so he is on top of his game. Widget the parrot drops bits of apple and seed shells and Crunchie is not above trying out anything he finds on the floor.
In the well known childrens' story "The Tortoise and the Hare" - the hare really underestimated the tortoise when he took him on in a race.

We can learn from this though, strong and steady wins the race. Unlike the hare who slept and took short cuts, the tortoise plodded on and yes, we all know the end of the story!

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Imagine if goliath at the top lived with us, one thing would be certain, we not have to worry about him crawling through the safety gate door and escaping!

WHEN THE WORLD WENT MAD

This pic was taken in 1974 when the war in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was just getting started. My husband at the time was in the police force, and we had use of the police cottage, which was a wonderful retreat. The picture below is in black and white because we were unable to buy colour spools at that time. I also found myself in the ridiculous situation of having been thrown into the pool by my husband, all of 7 months pregnant. And check out those cloth nappies ladies, no pampers in those days. Also no washing machine at the police cottage!

A few months later we visited the cottage again, the baby is 6 months old now. It was on this trip that, for the first time, one of my babies fell off the bed. I was devastated. What strange things we remember when looking at old photos.
Below is the cottage in the background. Quite quaint. Lots of atmosphere and it was like being alone in the world. In was at this time that terrorists were infiltrating this area so we were constantly looking over our shoulder and listening to all the bumps in the night. It was about 10 o'clock one night when we heard a bump, bump, bump against the wall. We had gone with friends and both men were armed with weapons. In those days weapons were our new best friends and came with us most places.

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My husband and his friend picked up their weapons while his wife, myself and my baby huddled in one bed hardly daring to breath. The men had devised a plan of action. They would both leave by the back door and go in opposite directions, meeting at the front door.

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Silence. More silence. Then we heard them roaring with laughter. Our terrorist was a large beetle attracted to the light, and it was bumping against the wall!
We used to take the little boat provided out onto the dam, the men tried to fish and kids loved it. Kyle dam provided most of the country with its water and was vast. These pictures were taken 4 days before the dam overflowed for the first time.
Beautiful countryside, happy memories, the end of wonderful retreats, but I have these pictures and memories forever.
They closed this cottage not long after this trip and there became fewer and fewer places we could go. But it was just the other day I was speaking to the couple who came with us on that trip and in retrospect, even when times were becoming harder, we can still laugh!

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I AM glad it was only a beetle.