This Sunday was one of the most pleasant Sundays I have had in a long time. Even though it was drizzling when we started off to the Midlands for our little excursion to the Howick Meander we were really looking forward to being tourists.

This is a tourist attraction and has the most exquisite shops; wine testing and the views are amazing. We saw art that is very different and has prices that would make your hair turn grey if it was not already Grey! R36 000 for a pink plate in the shape of a fish with ceramic pottery on - I think not. Not my taste I have to admit nor is it for my pocket!

Now this is trip has been planned for weeks and we were invited by Bern’s Boss for a Spring Day celebration. The weather man must have heard because the rain bucketed down all week and the poor flowers were bombarded by sheets of rain that seemed to be a warning to us that we need to start building our ARKS!

My hair in this weather, oh well I just decided to give up trying to make it sleek and pretty and flat and went with the “OH MY there is a monster look!” So Sunday arrives and I take out my trusty Hair Dryer and Magic Kit, realize I am totally wasting my time. The minute I walk outside Whoosh the rain will undo my handy work and I will be the drowned rat I am sure I was destined to be in Durban.

We leave early enough to arrive at the designated place and the trip is very pleasant and calm.

That is the last bit of calmness. We are met by Jomo, Sharon’s wonderful killer kisser Labrador. He is a magnificent specimen of a Labrador. He is a year old now and is still very much a puppy at heart, but his size is that of a stocky big dog; he still has some growing to do as he has left a permanent foot print on my white sox and believe me when I tell you, the whole sock is one big brown splodge.

I sneak, run, and hop into the house as my balance is not so good while I am dodging the big brute of an animal.

We are served Champagne and Orange juice and decide where we are going to go first. I remind Sharon of my 1st introduction to wonderful Jomo 7 months ago when we were house hunting.

We stayed at Sharon’s house, and were pleased to have the invite. Bern and I pulled up her drive way and we saw this then 8 month old puppy come to greet us.
"
Oh how cute" says Bern. She opens her door and Jomo climbs right in onto her lap. That was the last time her shorts were ever Khaki in colour again. He had just gotten out of the horses water trough and was a mess of black farm stuff and goo and he was so happy to greet us.

I watched in horror as this pup would have bowled me over in a second flat. Now I love and adore animals but I had only brought so many changes of clothing for the house hunting stint.

Sharon came out to rescue us and Jomo did exactly as he pleased. Bowled me over, jumped on my kissed me with his horse/dog breath and I fell head over heels in love with him. I think the feeling was mutual; he kept on taking me by my hand with his wonderful germ free mouth (NOT SO MUCH) and pulling me to play with him.

Who am I to argue with an animal that must weigh at least 40kgs of solid muscle at 8 months. Besides with his jaw firmly on my hand in a vice grip that could crush a sheep if he was so inclined I was not going to argue. The one time I did try to hide my hand in my pocket I was rewarded with a big jaw clench on my wrist and lower arm and my hand was ceremonially ripped out my pocket. Those trousers are now history too.

Sharon does not allow smoking in her house and quite rightly so, so I would have Jomo keep me company outside

Bern and I were sitting outside drinking a glass of red wine looking at the most gorgeous garden and wishing we could have a paradise like this. When my glass was taken out my hand, ever so gently by Jomo. He stood there with this glass in his mouth as gentle as a saint, stem of the glass sticking out his rather large mouth and his voluminous tongue licked the glass and he tipped it up so to get all the liquid. I was terrified he would crush the glass in those Bear like jaws and I would be taking him to the vet to get the shreds of glass removed.

In a quiet haste, I took the glass and tried to slip it out his mouth. You can be assured, Jomo was not going relinquish the well rounded smooth - with a slightly floral woody taste wine to me. So we played tug of war and eventually Bern used her deep voice and told him to let go of the glass which he did very quickly.

Bern has this voice of authority that animals listen to without hesitation. One day she came into the lounge and this is when I had six German Sheppard dogs and they were causing riot in my lounge. They were unruly and so excited to see us.

She walked in and said ‘SIT!” Well I fell into a side splitting guffaw as everyone sat down, the dogs, the children and our guests!

Jomo looked up at Bern and he decided this was not on and proceeded to maul her arm in gently nips and apologies and danced around us in delight as I am sure the glass of wine was taking effect.

This Sunday Jomo was in his element and stalked me and terrorized me. We went up to the top of Sharon’s Farm to the view point to marvel and the sight of the farms and surrounding fields. I imagine this is what England looks like, all green with patch work type fields and we sat there in awe of Gods Beauty and his wonderful mix of colours.

The peace and serenity was broken when one minute we were talking to Sharon and the next she was flat on her back on the grass. Jomo had snuck up behind her and clipped her knee in just the right place and she fell like a ton of bricks. Thank goodness there was no serious damage, he then catapulted off in Bern’s direction, and jolted her nearly off her feet and she only managed to stop herself falling down the embankment.

I was doing the dodge and move dance to try and miss the steam train of wild excited animal. I hid behind Bern in the hopes that we would not be bowled over like 10 pin skittles! Just as quickly as his onslaught happened he darted off after a butterfly or some flying insect.

We descended in careful steps, watching out for the hidden holes in the ground and also kept an eye out for the JOMO! He was watching us and decided to show us just how clever he was is he climbed right into the horse’s trough and lounged in the water like a hippo.

As we descended off the view point on the farm which is very uneven we watched him very gingerly as we knew he would be this wild puppy if he got to excited and run for us and rugby tackle us. He took one look at us and rushed us with the speed of a bull in a china shop and proceeded to shake this black, brown slush of water all over us. He was in his element.

I am so glad I have Jinx to content with, as I swear I would never leave the house if Jomo lived with me.