REDEEMED PIONEER

Seven hundred and thirty one days ago, in the dead of a Free State winter, a hunkingly handsome silver-haired man walked the prettiest, most radiant young bride down the aisle to meet up with her picture-perfect attractive young groom in front of the alter.    With the blessing and guidance of the most compassionate and wisest minister, these two youngsters vowed faithful commitment to each other in a matrimonial partnership of a lifetime. The handsome silver-haired hunk is my beloved Assie.    The prettiest radiant bride is our beloved Jess, the youngest of our awesome foursome offspring.    The picture-perfect attractive groom is Martin, our beloved newest son-in-love.    The compassionate, wise minister is Charles James, team-leading  dominee  of my beloved  Pellissier Gemeente  and precious friend.    The date is Saturday 30 July 2022, the venue is Memories4Ever and the gracious host is Henrihet Human, who just about moved heaven and earth to ensure the bride got exactly what she w

  My beloved Assie and I spent a few days on a Free State farm last week.    During the day, from the outside verandah of our cottage, we enjoyed the breathtaking view of the open expanse of the African savannah.    At night, Assie proved himself to be polished pyromaniac with enviable engineering skills in building remarkable fires in our indoor fireplace.   Assie is a keen and pretty knowledgeable bird watcher, and although I will likely never share his passion for this particular pastime, I have taken some interest in observing the feather-winged creatures of the sky.    Often, I find myself more amused by the perceived paradoxical ambiguity and/or lack of consistency in bird naming convention and the translation thereof into either one of the two languages in which I am proficient.    I have noticed that it would appear that, sometimes, when initiative lacks, the term CAPE is slapped on as a prefix to an English bird name, and more interestingly, then translated into Afrikaans as