April has started.... with noise !

Morning All.. ! From the Farm in Teslaarsdal here we are again with a 'progress report'.

Work work work and finally the coming week I'll not have my workers at the farm, time for some rest and just pottering around a bit on my own.. last week the retaining wall around the front terrace was finished, and we found that we had to move quite a bit of soil to fill it up ! Waited with that, cause it would have meant driving up the property, to the 'sand pit' filling up the bakkie, driving to the cottage, and unloading it, time and again, lots of work. Heard that the digger loader was in the area so smssed William, the owner of the earth moving company and he popped round for a quote.. The second quote I might add, and to my delight he was 3 times cheaper than the first quote, so he got the job of course.. Prices do vary when you shop around!

He was going to start on Friday morning, which he did, and the results are starting to look very good.. want to level out the area between cottage one and two, and possibly build a pool cum entertaining area between the two. But first we got a tree out that was in the way, and it miraculously turned into fire wood drying out behind the cottage for the cold winter days, lovely.. It was a big Port Jackson, another alien that should not be here, and now, isn't ;-) Gives quite some space behind the cottage which made me think maybe to add a bedroom to the cottage instead of going into the roof, but that is for later..so this was the terrace before we started the work

 

Then the noise started and the diggerloader came rumbling up the narrow path, which was too close to the house, so we also moved the road out a bit.. and started digging in between the cottages, like this : 

Starting the work ;-)

In the meantime we also started with the roof painting, which I personally think came out a bit too light grey, needs another coat, and think I may go for the darker variety ?

During the work

And the way it's now.. quite a more spacious impression and can't wait to see what it all will look like when this is finished ....

Light grey roof (must I go darker?) and impression of the results.

And on the other side it now looks like this., on the 3rd of April. You can see the bakkie parked, which is still pointing quite a bit upwards.. that should be level, after we're finished... pushing out the soil towards the grazing area, which is also very slanted in front of the house, and will be levelled out while we're at it.. 

Happy with the progress so far.. Time to reflect on how to finalize the fencing of the grazing area, and soon can concentrate on ... providing a home for some horses. (and later some Alpaca's too)... which for me is the ultimate goal of moving into the country.. Animals !!! Meeting with Michelle from Rheebokskloof in the coming week, who has horses for sale and for lease, and lets see if we can make a plan and help each other out during the coming winter.. I can learn an awful lot from her, and I will !

I'll keep you posted on the outcome of our meeting of course.. and am very excited to slowly reach that point !

Found out by now that there is water in abundance on the farm, the top part is bordered by a small stream, originating from a well  higher up the property, and even after one of the driest summers, its still running ! Its being piped down the property through the fynbos and provides the cottage, a little dam and some of the land with water.. Will have to make a plan for irrigation of the meadow, up from the cottage, but will make a plan ! After Easter the rains usually start, so ample water indeed !

In the meantime had 2 open job applications, and am considering them both, one from a friend from London who has  no horse experience but with a fabulous hospitality background,  and one from a facebook friend  from Prince Albert, who has lots of experience with horses, and could give horse riding lessons, and teach me a thing or two about keeping horses so all those options are open and lets see where that leads to.

And today ?... cleaning up the 'mess' a bit, and preparing a warm welcome for Mark, Glenn (its his birthday), Judith and a friend of theirs, who will be visiting from Hout Baai, for a Brunch and Braai and a hike up into the fynbos, enjoying the land and the views.. . Great ! Very much looking forward to yet again a day with visitors.. Tuesday off to STanford, a little village in the area to look at an antique dresser for the cottage and lunch with Micael who lives there, Wednesday off to Cape Town to have brunch with the girls from the Monhtly Brunch Club,  a coffee with Annemarie if she's at home, maybe meet Gerald if he's not working, and later that day, or week, a meeting with Michelle ! Never a dull moment, which is exactly why I started this project.. 

The dogs by the way are doing extremely well.. It was Zarah's 16th birthday last week, and she is getting used to the farm life, Max has recuperated very well from his stretched tendon, so all very much o.k. on the animal front !

Oh... and am I happy with my solar geyser ?.. Absolutely, provides me with more than enough hot water and up till now I've never been without.. Moreover, we had another price hike for electricity of 25%  (!!!) last week so the next step is investigating and possibly obtaining solar panels to generate my own electricity, so I will be completely off the grid ! Tips more than welcome from those who have experience in this field, do mail me !!

Have a lovely Sunday, I know I will, and we'll all keep in touch.. 

xxxx

Rick