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