More Southern Scenery...

My cycle rides down south of Washington are fast becoming my favourite routes. There are corn/mielie fields down here, to be sure, but there aren't miles and miles of endless monotonous corn fields. There are woods and pastures, donkeys and cattle aplenty! And lots of rolling country roads! :)

Little donkeys grazing in a field.

Cattle in a pasture well south of Washington.

Beautiful Flowers...

Some more beautiful flowers bloomed recently in our garden. Here is a lovely iris that Candace planted in the front by our pavement/sidewalk. :)

And here is a beautiful peony in the back garden. :)

Family Outing...

We drove up to Candace's parents' house recently, and we decided to take Rusty along with for the drive. We didn't really want to leave him at home for so short a time - since this would mean putting chairs and obstacles on top of the couches to keep him off our furniture. Needless to say, he loved his drive with the family. (Although I was rather squashed with a dog on my lap the whole time!)

Family selfie while loading up the kiddos.

Juvenile Robin...

American robins are common throughout Indiana (and most of America, in fact), and we recently had a small juvenile in our garden. American robins are actually in the thrush family and are called robins because they have an orange breast, like the robin found throughout Europe. This individual's parents would come and feed it throughout the day. :)

Giant Ichneumon Wasp...

This scary-looking creature made its appearance in our back garden last Sunday. We initially thought that it had a super-long stinger, but it is, in fact, the insect's ovipositor. This is a female individual (hence the long ovipositor) and flew off after several minute's resting on the ceiling above our back stoep.

This photo shows the true extent of the wasp's ovipositor. :)

Ping-Pong Table...

We played some ping-pong on our dining room table recently. It had been a while and we'd missed this action. We last played back in Sandbaai, South Africa, in 2014. And even though the table was somewhat smaller than regulation size, it was still lots of fun! Here Riaan is trying his hand at table tennis. :)

Candace and I have played some intense games in the past and we're looking forward to many fun games in the future! :)

Lego STEM Projects...

Our eldest has been taking an active interest in STEM projects recently. He was really excited to discover that there are a lot of STEM-like things you can do with simple Lego bricks. We made this cool Lego writing crane - that draws circles - lately. Riaan has also been using Lego Technic elements to create many functional items. :)

Cycling with Daddy...

I took both kiddos out for a cycle on the back of the hybrid bike recently - although obviously not at the same time! It was probably Riaan's last time in this bike seat. He's certainly grown a lot since his first ride back in 2017 - as the photos below attest! :)

Pretty iris on Eliza and my cycle.

Eliza in the bike seat.

2017 and 2021.

A closer view of Riaan then and now. :)

Sunday Bonfire and Walk...

We had a relaxing lunch-time bonfire and picnic followed by a family walk/cycle in the early evening recently. I love our weekends. We may not be able to have road trips or travel to many state parks at the moment, but we still find ways to have fun together. This truly is family time at its best! :)

Bonfire picnic. :)

Rusty relaxing in the shade of the big tree.

Walking/cycling along the neighbourhood roads. :)

Late Season Snow...

It may have been late April, but it can still get quite cold here. We even had a smattering of snow early one morning - and we had to protect our sensitive plants from the cold that night. It just shows that winter can still throw one or two surprises before it's finally out of here!

Late season snow.

Sunset Drive...

Driving towards the setting sun in rural Daviess County, Indiana.

Cycling Scenes...

The calm April weather meant that I had lots of opportunities to be active and get out on the bike. Here are a few photos from my recent bike rides around Daviess County, starting with my trusty Cannondale at the East Side Park. :)

Rural water tower in southern Daviess County.

Over the river in Knox County looking down on the bridge over the White River.

About to cycle across the old metal bridge into Daviess County.

A caravan/camper on stilts by the river.

Tractor in a shed.

Rural farm scene.

Entrance to Camp Illiana, south of Washington.

Horse and barn scene in Washington.

City water tower in Washington.

Cycling over the red bridge at the East Side Park.