Been a while again..

Good morning dearest blog readers.. been a while again since I went online to post some stuff.. but here I am again.. putting pen to paper, or more correctly, putting my fingers to the keyboard.. first I would like to say a big thanks to all those wo sent comments and birthday wishes  on my birthday ! They were almost too many to count, and really made my day into a very special one so baje dankie as we say in Afrikaans here.. ! 57, dear dear.. blessed to be allowed to reach such (an over???) ripe age.. !

Between the last blog and this one we tackled the 'snag list' of the things that were still left to do in the cottage, and managed to furnish it just on time for the first guest, my dear friend Theresa Beckwith Hendrikse, who popped round on 'womans ay' .. yet another holiday in SA.. Any excuse for yet another public holiday, of which this country seems to have a never ending supply ! When she came to visit the snag list was not quite done yet, but, the bed was made up, the lounge was furnished, and the bathroom was ready to be used and the kitchen table and chairs were in place, just to make it homey for the first guest.. She's a good friend and did not come with a magnifying glass to check on it all, since as said, the snag list was not yet ready to be promoted to the circular file (bin) !

But.. it looks like this on the inside, and you will agree, its looking quite comfy and cosy, no ?.. 

on the left.. the fabulous super size bed, ready for the first guest. Nice and warm and totally fab.

And on the right the furniture in the lounging area, with the fireplace connected and going...

Dining table in the open plan kitchen..

And on the right.. the finished bathroom..

Theresa brought some yummie stuff to cook, and made a fabulous Risotto a la vegetariana that evening, laced with red wine, which was highly appreciated, because on the morning before her arrival, there was absolutely nothing yet in the cottage at all. So you may say that we did work a bit to get it ready and habitable ! It was all still a bit in the 'rough' but you get the idea..

Theresa cooking up a storm in my (not quite finished) pantry.. but hey.. first the guest cottages, then my humble abode.. You really have to love the light fitting ;-)

And the next day, of course we rode up into the mountain again, through the protea fields, which was yet again a stunning experience with wonderful views.. this time we still had to (for the last time I promised myself) go up there over the steep gravel road, but.. last week we finally managed to make a meandering path over my property, connect it to the property of the neighbor, so that ride is now finally sorted too.. pity, we were gonna explore the new path to day with some friends (Katinka and Jesse, sorry girls, next time) but as I'm writing this the rains are really just bucketing out of the sky (winter has come back all of a sudden) so we have to postpone that ride to a more suitable day with at least some better weather prospects !

Yesterday (monday aug 23) went direction Hermanus to fetch the floor paint for the kitchen in the cottage, and stopped over at a nursery.. where I bought some trees to be planted around the new cottage.. indigenous of course ! Once there, Max really went beserk and started running around through all the plants and trees in the nursery, and got stung by a bee apparently, and was in quite some pain all of a sudden. To my great fright his cute little face started swelling, so hop in the car I jumped, dragged Max into it as well, and raced off on the gravel road, into Hermanus, into the first veterinary surgery I could find to have him treated.. People who were sitting there waiting their turns, kindly let me jump the q and in we rushed for whatever injections would benefit him.. Pffff... that was on time and not a moment too soon.. poor thing ! The swelling in the meantime has abated and he is his old self again.. anyway.. on the way back fetched the trees I bought, and now they are standing outside waiting to be planted.. and, although I am now a real real farmer, this farmer does NOT work when the rain is pelting the roof, so it has to wait for  better times, which will be  to morrow no doubt..  for the rest of the day, I'll just park my nose in a good book, stoke the fire in the wood burner a , and just cocoon @ home..

Oh and yes, did fetch the paint, but its not really water based, and have to have widows open when you apply it.. let some air through, and with this rain, that is not an option, so book.. here I come.. !!

tata.. till next time..

x
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Rick

Of Waterfall, Visitors, rides and pictures..

Overview Klein Watervalplaas..

Good morning all.. Sunday morning, 7th of August, and we had another night with frost.. I noticed the car freezing over at 5 a.m. yesterday morning, and again to day.. caused by clear skies and wintery conditions.. During the day it warms up to about 19 degrees celcius, and early early mornings temps just drop slightly below zero.. Today promises to be quite a nice day again, and two virtual (girl)friends will visit to come ride in the area, and I get to meet them in RL (real life).. Those who say that social networks have an isolating effect, could not be more wrong ;-) Because, yes, through recommendation and indication I met these girls online.. Thank you mr. Zuckerberg !

Not to bore you constantly with how renovations are proceeding in this little farm tale I'll let you enjoy some of the pictures of the 'grounds'  that were taken last week, again by a visitor and soon to be friend (?) Lucien, who accompanied his girlfriend Linda, to the farm.. She, to come ride with me, 

Up in the protea's.. lovely views, lovely ride.. thanks Linda !!!!

he, to hike over the property.. And hike he did.. after pointing out on Google Earth where the elusive waterfall was supposed to be, he uploaded some app into his HTC and walked right to it ! Technology..  after he came back, we connected his phone to the Mac, and kaboom.. every step he took was registered on the google earth place mark of the farm, so now we have his hike on record..unfortunately am not able to transfer this link to the blog site.. but believe you me, its amazing !

According to the neighbor the waterfall should be in full flow and indeed, the pictures speak for themselves.. I'd like to share them with you !

 

 And yes you can click on them and they will be enlarged.. the one on the right.. taken from top to bottom, you will notice that there is indeed quite some water flowing here.. Not quite Niagara Falls, but a little waterfall none the less, which explains the name of the farm "Klein Watervalplaas" or Litlle waterfall farm..

You just may notice the blue skies on these pictures.. and yes, it's winter in South AFrica.. but this winter is quite a good one.. When it rains, it pours, and when the sun comes out, its WARM.. this day it was about 22 degrees out there.. and later the same week.. we had rains again, lots of it (24 mil in 24 hrs) for it to change again into sunny weather a few days later.. We're very lucky indeed.. Talk about the 'secret season' as they say in tourism.. secret because.. tourism season is at its lowest, but they miss out on everything being lush and green (and wet at times) out there ! (and on the winter rates in most Guesthouses and Hotels !) shame..... 

The horses on the farm are doing well.. in spite of it being cold at times.. they still thrive out there.. difficult to keep them 'fat' so, after consulting with my friend Michelle we changed the feeding regimen.. They now get Lucerne Chaff in the mornings and early evenings (Lucerne being high quality hay, but at the moment, that same quality leaves a lot to be desired, so I buy it cut up in ready bites) and at noon they get Mixit with Berga Horse, great food with an added  powder that fattens them up a bit.. with results ! They are looking much better now.. !

Not Fat Fat.. but not too skinny either.. they do get enough food !!!!!You may just notice the rainbow...

And to end this little blog episode .. ok then.. you may just wonder what happened to the guest cottage that I've been going on about on this blog.. well.. it should be ready this very coming week.. We worked and slaved and am happy to say that the fire place is in, the hot water works, the bathroom has been installed, the kitchen is almost ready, the roof insulation is in place, the floors have been painted (EarthCote Crunchy Biscuit) and we're busy with the terrace.. Of course it will all be planted around the cottage.. some ornamental plants will give it a nicer look, but fruit trees will be the most important addition.. As a refresher let me just, for old times sake, remind you of what it looked like before I started sprinkling some 'fairy dust' around..

<<------------- before

after ------------->>>>>

  

Before the fairies visited !

<<-------------------

And, after removing a wall and doing 'some work' ..(and chasing those fairies off the property)  ---------->>>>

Rustic, not overly luxurious, but befitting it's surroundings ! A real mud brick cottage, restored and made glorious, if I may say so myself.. Furniture will be added on Monday.. really really can't wait.. and then.. ready for the first guest.. (and me for the Physio, what with all the schlepping, hammering, breaking, building @cetera !)

Hmm.. some clouds out there, and still cold.. its 9 a.m... do hope it clears later on.. let me throw some wood into the wood burner and have a coffee.. so.. ciao for now all.. have a great rest of the weekend, till next time !!

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Rick