Of Bakkies, Flu, Bruised ribs (and ego) & 'new' Neighbors..

Good day readers, thanks for logging on to my blog again, I do hope to entertain you with some of my adventures on the farm !  Its been over three months now since I officially moved here and am settling in nicely in the meantime ! Country life becomes me and although in the beginning I did have my moments (what the 'F' did I do ?) I am now in the space where I ask myself from time to time, why the 'F' did you not do this sooner ?? Better late than never is my adage so lets not dwell on these questions and answers...

Few weeks ago, through a bit of a mis judgement on my part, crashed the bakkie into a kind of mountain that has been there for a while apparently, and the dear Ford did not survive my parking.. It was a bit of a hoo haa but personally nothing serious, although it did result in my first Insurance Claim in over 30 years !

The darling Ford, she's a goner...

It also got me shopping around for another car with lightning speed, and found it 4 days after the event, so here the results from the Jury in Teselaarsdal, out with the old on the left (not much left of it) and as you can see, in with the 'new' second hand one.. A Toyota Hi Lux.. in slightly better nick than the Ford, as you may agree. ! And now awaiting the Insurance Pay Out.. but.. its on its way so not too many worries there........ i hope..

Proud oWner of a Hi Lux, wonderful car ineed !

Then on we went to the next 'event' which did not have me in stitches, but rather under the duvet for an ENTIRE week.. a bout of flu the likes of which I cannot even remember in my life ! It started the a week after the crash (I did get very wet walking back home trying to get help after the crash, no cellphone reception in the accident area) and was cold right to the bone, maybe that caused it. Whatever it was, it did have me 'down and out for the count' for almost an entire week ! Many packages of Med Lemon and Viral boosts later I fully recuperated and got on with things on the farm.. during the flu  I did have to get into the car every morning and every evening to fetch the laborers from the village and was not too happy about that.. what was even worse, the tennis tournament Roland Garross had ended, and Wimbledon had not yet started, so the timing of that Flu was totally OFF ! Duhghhh ;-))

How much Nat Geo (Wild) , BBC K, CNN, AlJazeera, How the Earth was MAde et ladidaa can a person watch in a week ? How many 'come dine with me's', NewsFlashes, Updates, Volcanoes, Wild Earth's, gardening programmes, Tornado chasers, Cardashians and tele sales sh*te ARE there in a day ??.. well.. let me tell you, wayyyy tooo many !!! I now know that our globe was NOT made in 6 days (as if), the Dinosaurs all turned to stone at a certain stage, my cooking s*cks to high heaven,  we're all going hungry very soon (small wonder if you see all those ingredients they need for a leg of lamb !), the Oceans are turning to soup, the Polar Caps are melting and breast implants don't always go the way they should ...(now THAT was a bit of a disappointment really !) so HURRAAAHHH, when finally, one day, I woke up to find that my sheets had not turned to slosh overnight, my pillow remained dry and even the dog was back on my bed again ! I was cured, and hope this awful period will so not happen again anytime soon, I so do not do Flu, and don't like it either..

I love my dog !!!

Max back on the bed of the bossy..  after this pic was taken.. the bed went hop into the washing machine yet again !!! To get the Flu germs out !

Those who have not had this flu yet.. beware.. she's a b*tch from Hell, and back ! Anyway.. on with the work op die plaas (on the farm) and some relaxation as well.. The thursday of my influenza some (girl)friends from the Cape were supposed to come for a day and a ride.. but that was cancelled due to me not being 100% and the weather not cooperating.. It IS winter here after all, and in the Cape we are  in the middle of the 'rainy season'.. and should be grateful for that, since the summers lately have become drier and drier all the time..  BUT.. last weekend was on top of the world again, so Monday Theresa and Teresa came out from Cape Town and we had the most amazing and wonderful out ride in the area evah ! And do I mean EVAH !!!

 It did not all start too well since I got the saddles totally mixed up and all horses had exactly the wrong saddles on them.. I insisted that my young Appaloosa was going to be the lead horse (after not having been ridden for a few weeks) and he changed direction on the spot (as in a 180 on the hind legs) my saddle slid to the side, and I, totally unprepared for it, dived to the ground, landed on my side and hip, and was totally winded.. but.. two ladies looking on and my pride in the gutter, we changed the saddles, I got back on again and we continued the ride..  (oohhh the pain, physically and mentally, but then... if you don't want to risk falling, one should not mount, hey !)

Views and fijnbos, amazing !

The path at the top end of my property is still not cleared (alien vegetation is clogging up acces to my neighbor, hakea all over the place and can't get through  !) so we took the gravel road direction mountains.. and where I usually turn right, we decided to go wild, and turn left and what a decision that proved to be.. exactly Right, ehh.. well, yes.. we did turn left, are you still with me.. Waiting for the pictures that Theresa is going to send me, but the views !!!!! The path turned in to a beautiful sandy track (where one can canter fabulously) and up and up it goes, into the mountain and once we dared to look back, the views literally blew us away, so beautiful, exceeding my wildest expectations indeed ! What a relief and what an offer to those who may decide to come and ride in the area one day, its too stunning indeed !

The Girlszz T and Th !

An absolutely great day was had by the three of us and I must thank the girls for taking the trouble and coming out here, and be part of my good fortune !

If all goes according to plan.. more friends are to come again this Tuesday, and we'll want to repeat the exercise (but for the fall of course !)

In the meantime work on the guest cottage is proceeding nicely, all be it with some unexpected delays and problems, but those are there to be solved, and solved they are.. as we speak the concrete flooring inside the cottage is being 'poured' and the rains continue to pour at the same time ! Over 50 mil in a week, which is great for the statistics, and the ground water levels.. my waterfall is going beserk and the river bordering the property is a wild stream now !

View from the future kitchen table !

Cottage coming along nicely, to be filled with guests ;-)

Window is in..

We're getting there.. 

And then.. a nice surprise yesterday.. White Toyota HiLux bakkie draws up and two guys get out.. appears they both the better halves of the couples that have farms bordering the top end of my property, and very nice guys indeed.. One married with children and 'in ethereal oils' and the other, partnered with a man (! yep, we now have THREE gays in the valley hahaha) also in oils and self catering cottages.. An extremely very nice afternoon was had, laced with some red wines from Spier (thanks Andrew !!!) and nice talks and chats.. One has a huge farm bordering mine and am allowed to ride over his farm as much as I like !! (Chris) and the other (PieterSarel) happens to have a big dam (water water !) at the lower end of his property, which is my top end) that he does not use, is always full full, and offered me to put a pipe, going to my land, and water my grazing area's (gravity feed its called) to my hearts content whenever needed !! Now how is THAT for good neighbors hey ! I see the start of a great relationship here.. how fab is it to know that some sophisticated neighbors are only a short drive away.. This really made my day and have to go visit them all very soon ! We'll join forces in promoting the area and start attracting more visitors ! I am convinced this could be the start of a great cooperation here, and was extremely pleasantly surprised.. 

As I'm writing this the rains are pouring down again out there.. its cold and wet, and now it IS Wimbledon on tv, so not too much planned for to day.. other than having a great fire going in the woodburner, tv on and let the games begin.. 

Have a great one all, and as you may note from the stories, never a dull moment on the farm in da country !

lotsa hugs and xxxxxxx

Rick

Work and Visitors

Morning all !!! After some very hectic days of rain, today  (Wednesday 1 June) seems to have normalized a bit again.. but for the cold.. its very cold and winter is now really on its way as we say... 13 degrees c out there is very cold for us South Africans.. and for us Dutch too !!! And I'm a bit of both ;-)

Loads of the wet stuff has in the meantime come down, with the most actually on sunday night/monday morning where more than 20 mm fell within 24 hrs, and that is a lot ! Green green is the valley and the streams in the area that had dried out, are all running again.. and where there was 'golden' all over the place... green has replaced it, and how wonderful that looks.. the entire valley is lush and lovely again... sometimes in between showers the sun would come out which resulted in many rainbows, one of which I managed to capture.. seen on the left.. the horses in the meantime have discovered what great shelter the old stables provide.. and in the background Buddy is seen munching away on some Lucerne, we do have to keep the horses well fed, especially when the temperatures are as low as they are now.. but they're all doing just fine !!

Last week got a call, my friend Melody was going to pay me a visit over the weekend and would like to sleep over.. fabbb !!! Same day got a phone call from my friend David that he and Andrew, as well as Jaime and his friend, were planning to come through as well.. great ! Now if that was not an incentive to sort out the mess in front of the house I would not know what would be, so off to Botrivier I went to fetch klippe (pebbles) to now finally sort out the terrace.. Two bakkie loads on two consecutive days then transformed the outside area from this

 

                                                      ..... to this ;-)))

And from here now have this lovely view.. when the sun is out that is !!! When Melody arrived all was well weather wise but soon after the rains started coming down like there is no to morrow.. so on Saturday, although carefully planned.. sitting outside was not an option.. When David and Andrew arrived the rains had stopped for a while and we took a walk up into the fynbos with the dogs.. Help to remind me next time that it is not wise to have some glasses of wine already before you do that ok ?? !!! Lovely walk all the way up... and down, which was great to do again.. I actually don't do that often enough I must say.. Jaime and friend joined us when the sun was setting and I reverted to the 'kombuis' or kitchen to finalize preparations for supper.. All guests brought goodies, for which I would like to thank them again.. wonderful stuff and all very welcome.. some great Spier wines, Chips and Munchies, wonderful bubblies and stunning Vinaigres, and chips I did not know  even existed !!! Yummm... AND D & A also brought a weed eater we still had from the previous farm.. I shall put it to good use on this one I promise ! Thanks guys ! Melody's friend came that afternoon as well and he brought some fabulous cuttings of water wise plants (planted already) and some home baked breads, stunning ! In all.. this was a wonderful and very busy weekend.. which I shall remember for some time to come..Thanks for visiting guys.. I was honored and very much enjoyed it !  Sunday morning lovely sunny weather all of a sudden (with black clouds in the distance) so Mel and me, we took a chance to go up into the fynbos again and had a wonderful hike up the mountain.. once down Mel decided it was 'spoil the horsies time' and carrots and apples were 'plundered' from the fridge and put to good use !!! 

Melody and Buddy.. good friends .. !!!

Mel and Buddy, as well as all the other horses, became very good friends that morning ! Still, however, a little too cold and rain was imminent it seemed, so we did not do an out ride.. next time then ! Not enough sun to heat up the bath water so sorry and apologies !! Have to have an electrical back up on the solar geyser, that is now very clear.. and will  have to sort that out real soon.. cold water some time is no problem.. but most of the time.. ehhh.. NO.

And as for the building ??.. well.. we did manage to finish the tack room inside and out, it now only needs to dry before we can apply the first layer of paint..

 And then continued with the guest cottage, and this is where we are now..Where the veranda used to be the  first rows of blocks are in place.. doors and windows will be fitted and we'll most likely finish the 'rough' before the end of this week, that is, if the rains stay away.. otherwise we'll have to find something else to do.. and That is not too difficult on this property. With some imagination you may see a bathroom, open plan kitchen/dining ?.. maybe not but here they are in the making !

Quite a lot of work still to be done.. but we'll get there and are in no hurry.. although it really would be nice if I can offer accommodation to those who wish to stay over for a bit.. can't wait to finish this and will keep you all updated on progress.. 

Then last but not least.. my first bokkie was spotted ( Yes.. I happened to wear my glasses otherwise I would have missed it no doubt).. the batteries of the camera were fully charged so a picture was quickly made..

Ahhhh bokkie in the distance, near the dam ;-)))

And that's it for now.. have a great one and we'll meet next time !!!!

xx

Rick