Jody Daniel: Blog

Hi all!

I am breaking out the winter woollies as we speak. Old man Winter did not creep up on us. He landed with an Airbus A380 full of all the necessary ice and chill he could lay his hands on. Well, you guys and girls out in the Northern Hemisphere – enjoy your summer! Enjoy mowing the grass, watering the garden, long lazy days in the sun, and all that.

Here I’ve packed away the lawn mower. Coiled up the leads to the leave blower and the hedge trimmer. Now I can focus on what is important – BEING LAZY! LOL.

Things are starting to happen in Estralla de Asis. The plot is coming together very well.

Speaking of the Star of Assisi, it is with sadness that I heard about the passing of the Pope. He was a good man that tried his best to get people the world over to unite and stop the wars that had been raging. And reading between the lines, I think that the new Pope will carry on where the late Pope Francis stopped off.

Why is the Pope mentioned in this blog? Well, the Estrella de Asis has a little to do with the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. But not quite... Next time you are in Italy, be sure to visit the Basilica of St Francis. But you won’t find the Star there... LOL.

Well, as I write this, it is Friday and the weekend starts. The two rascals will be home and that means life will have a faster pace. I have finished my prep for publishing chapter 17 on Monday morning early. I found that if I upload it before 07:00 in the morning. It is published by 11:00 SAST. Good news to some of you that can’t wait.

One last thing: Have Donald Trump imposed postage on emails? Either that, or you guys and girls has stopped emailing me. I miss you in my in-box. (sniff)

BTW: That stink about whites being murdered and their property being expropriated from them? Do not believe all you hear in the media. It is a reality, but not that bad. So far, the Democratic Alliance as part of the Government of National Unity has been doing very well in curbing some of the disasters proposed by the ANC. And it looks like the youth has started to open their eyes to the lies of the ANC. Secrets burn, but the truth echoes...

Here’s Chapter 17 of Star of Assisi. Enjoy!

Wishing you all the best — until next week!

Bye for now!

Hi all!
Monday, Monday, so good to me.
Monday mornin', it was all I hoped it would be…

Ever since I retired, Mondays have started to feel just like any other day — no early alarms, no rush to get ready, and best of all… no traffic! That might just be the highlight.

Now, I get to spend my Monday mornings sharing a new chapter of a story with you all, hoping to brighten your week just a little.

Here’s Chapter 16 of Star of Assisi. Enjoy!
Wishing you all the best — until next week!

Bye for now!

Hi all!
I hope this finds you all well and healthy and rested. For those of you that went on Easter egg hunting – I hope you got some good ones.

Well, the rascals have reached the end of their loooonnnggg Easter weekend. And today it is back to the salt mines for them. The cats are going to enjoy the bliss and solitude.

I hope you are going to enjoy the build-up to the story with Anderson slowly getting the message that he is not wanted in the Cape. Fiona and Roy still need to find the Star, but a lot of water has still to run into the sea before that can happen.

A few new (old) faces are making an entrance from out the wings on left stage. That’s for you that were crying out for the Angels.

Here is chapter 15 of Star of Assisi. Enjoy!

I wish you all the best! Until next week!

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!

Another week has passed and having the red head at home for eight days was, shell we say, interesting! The “honey do…” list got knocked back a little. LOL. (I seem to have lost the other to-do lists somehow.)

But that aside. You guys and girls were hinting and winking and subtly suggesting. Well, okay! Let me give you what you want. So, in this chapter… meet Ashwin Windsor and Dr. Angelique Rothman. (LOL).

Also, to answer your questions if Roy could learn to fly? READ this chapter and let me know if you like it. (Evil Laugh.) It looks like Roy has more than one ace up his sleeve. (Advice: Never play poker against Roy.)

Here is chapter 14 of Star of Assisi. Enjoy!

I wish you all the best! Until next week!

Bye 4 now!

Hi all!
While winding down for the day, I usually enjoy reading. This time around I was reading a story of a well-known SOL author that I really enjoy. (Well, I confess, I was reading it for the third time.)

Some readers do comment on the stories and since the last time I read it, the comments were updated. This had me raise an eyebrow.

The comment was about “bucks”, “does”, and “kids”, like in goats. That I know. But the reply of the author had me in stitches. He said that a goat male is a “buck”, and he knows this because he raised goats. Yes, well, that's in the English USA. (Please remember there are over 160 dialects of English in the world.)

Now that brings me to why I had to laugh. The reader that commented that a male goat is a ram, I know, as he comments on my stories as well. Thus, I know that he resides in Namibia, an independent African country. I presume that his spoken language is Afrikaans, English and he might speak or read some German, as Namibia was occupied by Germany many, many years ago before it became a South African Protectorate. Eventually Southwest Africa gained independence to become a sovereign country, renamed to Namibia. This reader sometimes emails me in Afrikaans, and we also confer on the WhatsApp social media group. (The same with my one reader in Seattle, USA, that also chat with me on WhatsApp.)

I grew up with Afrikaans and to us a goat is a “bok”, like in “Boerbok”, “Angora Bok” etc. I will not dwell on the other types of “bokke” that you get. We know that a male goat is a ram, a female goat is an ewe, and a baby goat is a lamb. (In Afrikaans.)

This morning, I paid special attention to the meat price index as presented by the South African Radio Station RSG (Radio Sonder Grense or translated: Radio Without Borders.) And there the presenter gave the goat meat prices as: “Rams at x Rand a kilogram, Ewes at x Rand a kilogram, Lambs at x Rand a kilogram, and Store Lambs at x Rand a kilogram.” Then he repeats the same classification for sheep. (I still want to know what is “Store Lamb” could be.)

A quick Google search explained that: “A male sheep or a goat is called a ram.” Huh?

ALSO: “A male goat is called a buck, or sometimes a Billy goat. You may also hear them referred to as a ram, but this is more commonly reserved for sheep. There are other names to refer to different kinds of males and females at different ages, but buck is the most commonly used for a male goat.”

So, my conclusion is that the Afrikaans language DO NOT differ between genders of Sheep, Goats and certain antelope. Thus, the names like “Boerbok”, “Springbok”, “Blesbok”, “Waterbok”, etc. A “bok” is a goat, a deer, antelope, etc. There are other exceptions also, like why do we call a Springbok female an ewe, and a springbok male a ram, while a Kudu female is called an ewe, but the male Kudu is called a bull?

There is a difference in the female deer or antelope in the Afrikaans language. That has to do with the number of teats she has. Two teats = “ooi” (ewe), while four teats = “Koei” or cow. But we all know that cattle cows are a different species than a female antelope, goat, sheep, or deer. LOL.

Language is a funny, interesting subject. So, my esteemed reader in Namibia and the esteemed author on SOL – ARE BOTH RIGHT! It just depends on what language you grew up with.

Also, I hope that sometimes when I use a term you are not familiar with, to ask me to explain. I DON’T write my stories in Afrikaans and then translate it. (Google Translate sucks!) I write directly in English. Sometimes to the amusement of my editors! Like when I DO call a male goat a Ram. LOL.

Here is chapter 13 of Star of Assisi. Enjoy!

I wish you all the best! Until next week!

Bye 4 now!