Weird dream last night - three dodgy looking businessmen turned up wanting to go for a ride, but it was supposed to be a two day ride. I didn't feel comfortable taking them out though, and Maryanne couldn't come out to talk to them because she was housebound, so Sherif I think it was was trying to deal with them. Then the scenery changed and we were at the loading dock of a warehouse or a train station or something like that and Maryanne got out of the Jeep (even though she was still injured and shouldn't have been up and about). All Maryanne's staff came running to protect her, jumping barriers and dodging security guards, and she also had protection from some of the Cullens from the Twilight series. Dr. Cullen was there, and so was the blonde sister (I've temporarily forgotten her name). Dr Cullen was standing guard, and the girl was standing on a mattress. The bad vampires (there were two of them) were also around another mattress around 2 metres away. First one of the bad vampires stands on the mattress and levitates himself and the mattress, so our female vampire does the same thing, but lifts the mattress higher. Then the bad vampire gets off the mattress and each of them picks up a corner of the mattress (on a diagonal) and they shake the mattress and another bad vampire falls out of the mattress. I think (because apparently I have seen it before) that there is an angel on the bottom of the mattress who keeps dropping out these evil vampires, and I'm about to tell them how to defeat the bad vampires and the angel in the mattress. It is at this time that a fly runs across my forehead in real life, and I wake up with a start – now that was a really weird dream. The fly is rather insistent and each time he gets brushed off he comes back again, so I decide to get up, and I head over to see how Maryanne is doing. I talked for her for a while, and then I noticed that the small raised lumps on Buffy were caused by tiny immature ticks, so then we frontline'd every dog in the house (and Bella who had snuck off to the guest house).
I then got to head out for a ride with the grooms with me on Wadi. Hassan was on Negmadin, Essam on Dory, big Mohamed on Diva, and little Mohamed on Farhan and Waleed on – hmm – I'm trying to remember if Waleed actually came – maybe not. It was a great day for seeing people out and about, and I tried a new method of camera taking, which involves just holding it and shooting in the general direction of people – some came out okay, others were photos of the ground – lol. There were a lot of people out at the fountain in the village just by Tatouch's place, and a lot of salesmen on their donkey carts. The sweet potato man was also in the village. Then there was the gas bottle delivery truck – er I mean donkey cart, followed by the gentleman selling tomatoes, chilli's and onions, also from the back of his donkey cart, the children washing the dishes in big metal tubs outside the house, while the adults baby sit the young children. The gentleman trying to fix his pump on the side of the road, while a young boy stands watching him.
Little Mohamed was perched on Farhan's back on a bareback pad, but did well walking along, and often trotting to catch up – Maryanne is trying to get Farhan into the hang of life on her farm, he certainly isn't used to the fun of trekking out.Came across one of the dredges today, but at least this time it wasn't working at the time we passed it – and also it was in an area where there were two canals very close together, and it was on the middle section out of our way. Not far from there were some gentlemen sitting under the shade of a tree, beside their field smoking their sheesha – I tried to get a photo, but instead all I got were the bikes (and slightly blurry at that) – oh well, I'll get it one day. The bikes are really cheap chinese crap that probably won't last that long, but there are certainly a lot of them around Egypt at the moment.
For the second day in a row there were women in a field cutting the long grass – different, field, different ladies, but a lot of the time they seem to sit in the shade of the grass chatting, and every once in a while cutting another sheath of grass.
At the end of the lane was a kid hitting his blindfolded donkey with a stick to keep it walking around in a circle, and once he got it going, he would rest on the crossbar behind the donkey, with his feet in the air, while his sister was sitting off to the side near a sheesha pipe (not sure where the men were who were likely to be smoking the pipe. From there we passed down the path to the next village – the ground here was damp, and unfortunately Wadi wiped my leg down the wall – darn it. Not too much damage done however, and we kept riding. As we headed up towards the main road, there were two people riding down the road on dancing horses. One had large white facial markings, and I think was possibly a paint (but that much white on the face in Egypt can't be a good thing for horses. The other was a pretty grey ridden by a small kid. As we walked along the opposite side of the canal from the main road, I saw the hot potato man going down the road. It was an awesome countryside ride (though I am pining for the desert!)
Once back I went over to see Maryanne and Sabine, and we were visited by Erin, who is an equine dentist over here. Sabine insisted on treating my knee. The knee was only slightly grazed and a little swollen, but not too bad. After a nice lunch outside, consisting of some of the leftovers of Pal's roast and some lovely fresh Egyptian tomatoes, I headed back to the guest house to relax for a little bit, and when I headed back to the main house, Tatoush was there visiting. He has a flat that he took Sabine and I to have a look at. He has a beautiful house, with some lovely cats and dogs, and the flat, even though it isn't finished is going to be amazing. It is up on the second floor with the lovely domed roof. And even with no air conditioning and no fan, it was entirely bearable up there. The front door opens out onto the roof of Tatoush's house, and looking across, I could see one of the pyramids at Giza – and then Tatoush showed us the view out over the pyramids at Abu Sir from the other direction. If I was living in Egypt and had the money, I wouldn't mind renting a place like that. And on the plus side for Sabine, she can also take her horse Elvis and keep him in one of Tatoush's boxes – it is absolutely perfect for her! She has a new home :) ... at least she will have once it is finished :)
After a couple of glasses of water and a few cat fights, and a good long conversation, we had to leave when Tatoush had to head out to a showjumping competition (it was a good time to escape), and we drove back and chatted to Maryanne before she headed off to bed and Sabine headed out to check on Elvis.
Here I am typing – a little mouse keeps coming out from under the other couch and running back in if I even look at him – and now a baby gecko is scooting across the floor – he was going to head under the other couch, but he may have been a little scared of the mouse – the body of the gecko is only about 2cm long – and unfortunately I have neither my camera or my cellphone here to get a photo of the little thing – and no doubt if I move,he will run away. In fact, he just ran across the carpet and under my legs, and is now hiding under the table in the centre of the room – he is so tiny and cute!
As I was getting my diary up to date, I had to run into the bedroom to grab my phone off the charger when Morad rang – he suggested I come around to watch the Netherlands vs Uraguay semi of the world cup, so after doing a bit more work on the computer I headed round. Even though it was 9.30 at night, the village was very busy, and all the kids were still up and running around. That is the trouble with a place like this that is so hot – it does promote staying up late and enjoying the cooler weather in the evening.
Morad had friends popping in and out during the game, and the Netherlands won to Morad's disappointment. He actually disappeared before the end, when the score was 3-1, so he missed Uraguay's comeback, when they came so close to actually drawing and taking it into extra time. He was out with another friend (the one who had driven us to see the horses). I joined them outside, and Morad got Birdie out of her stable, and she grazed on the lawn while we sat outside in the cool of the evening with a nice cold beer in hand. Birdie's foal was as inquisitive as ever, and at one stage when I had Birdie's rope in one hand and a full can of beer in the other, he grabbed hold of my teeshirt with his teeth – little ratbag. We sat out on the front lawn for ages, with a nice breeze blowing through – looking up to the north, there was a light in the sky – I'm assuming the pyramids are that way, and that was the light from the light show out there. Birdie really enjoys her time grazing on the lawn, and at one stage, a motorbike turned up – KFC delivery out in the boonies – when I commented on it, Morad said that everyone in the neighbourhood put it under Ramy's name, and they get so much business that it makes it worthwhile. KFC tastes different over here – the secret herbs and spices are the same, but the chicken itself tastes different. Even the coleslaw wasn't as moist, and because of the different taste of the vegetables over here. The chicken was actually a chicken panini – tasty if it wasn't for the gherkins, which I picked out. The coleslaw was probably healthier than NZ stuff – it didn't taste as sweet. And I passed on the rice – give me the chips with extra seasoning any day.
Eventually it was time to head home, and Ramy walked me home.
It was good to collapse into bed at last.
Countryside ride 12:
Distance - 3.37km
Time - 0:58:12
Average speed - 3.5kmph
Max speed - 6.9kmph
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