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..

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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

Of 'Summer', visitors, geyser and bathroom...

Good morning !  After rain comes shine.. and it did.. all of a sudden, after the heavy rains the sun came out.. and although in Cape Town the temperatures reached into the 25's, it was slightly more modest in the Valley, where the max. temperatures were in the lower twenties, but, for winter it was quite an amazing period ! And this lasted all of 2 weeks ! Totally different and absolutely lovely, winter in the Western Cape is nothing like winter in Holland at all, its not an everlasting grey period with chill, cold and nasty weather, but interspersed with 'summery' conditions.. And.. while the beautiful weather persisted, 'up north' the Dutch were experiencing extremely wet, cold weather, hmm.. ;-) 

So working outside was all of a sudden a pleasure and even painting was possible again, which we did.. We finalized the painting of the walls of the guest cottage, and the plumbers came (I really really tried, but could not figure it out) and installed the solar geyser on the roof, this time WITH electrical back up.. Found out that going 'only' eco and off grid is a great goal, but not entirely comfy when cloud cover persists and results in having to bathe with cold water all the time.. (!) The electricians will come to morrow and connect it to the grid, a special control will be installed inside which will easily facilitate hot water either from the sun, or from the grid, and most of the time  from the sun only !!

 Painted and fresh, geyser on the roof, water system in place, and now on to the next step, the septic tank. A long  30 meters ditch had to be dug towards the meadow, where the tank was sunk into. Bacteria will 'digest' the solids, and the overflow into a 'french drain' will put the remaining, 'grey' water, back into the land.. 

Washing machine- and bath water wil flow back into the garden. Water from the sink will join the water in the septic tank. Not a drop of water will be wasted the way it's all installed in this cottage.. At a later stage a nice rain water tank will be  installed between the kitchen door and bathroom, so for cooking and drinking, fresh water 'from the sky' is available.. no chemical additions, but very pure, as nature intended.. and the TASTE !!! Delicious !

The entire farm, by the way, is not connected to the municipal water, but all water is piped down from 'my' river and well, situated halfway towards the top of the property, and gravity fed to where the cottages are ! Not quite 'white' but drinkable and very usable, and not polluted !.. No energy whatsoever is being 'wasted' to provide any of the cottages or the land with clean, potable water at all.. the word ECO on this farm is not just a word, but being put into action as much as possible, and as much as budget allows... Some examples.. the 'main' part of the cottage is left in tact, and consists of mud brick, built many years ago. The beams supporting the roof come from the property itself. The addition was built from cement blocks, made and pressed just down the road, the geyser sourced locally and 'proudly South African' and  the pebbles for the terrace, delivered by truck (sorry) come from a quarry only 15 km away..

2 x 10 m3 of pebbles, from the local quarry, being delivered for the parking lot, and the terrace.. No "Italian marble" in the house anywhere ;-) We're back to basics here..

The bathroom is also taking shape and has the necessities to make a stay comfortable and perfect.. Bath/shower, toilet and basin, what else does one need.. and all water will be re used ! LED lights will see to it that you're not left 'in the dark'... and consume as little electricity as possible.. not yet solar, but its a future wish ! On the left.. where once there was storage for bales of Lucerne for the horses, there is now a bathroom. Only when you built it yourself, do you find this an amazing feat !

And then.. some time for R&R of course.. Great weather and great friends on the one day last week.. Linda, Katinka and Theresa visited for a day and we went for a ride, discovering one of the trails together, which proved to be very adventurous.. off we went, onto the property of the neighbor (800ha !)  let's go girlzzz..!!! What a great day this was.. still remember it fondly..

From left to right.. Theresa on WhyNot, Linda on GaLaXy and Katinka on Buddy.

Gorgeous girls sharing a gorgeous day !  After the ride a great lunch out on the terrace..

A day just as I imagined it should be on the farm when I started it all.. not just work, but also fun. And fun was had by all.. amazing out ride, lovely company, good food and lovely wine ;-)

Last weekend the rains came back with a huge bangg.. and the wind !!! The property was being pelted by almost horizontal rains and we're back into winter all of a sudden.. What a shame.. Gini came all the way from Holland, and with some 10 riding lessons under her belt, we planned to ride out together, her very first out ride in her life ! The weather decided otherwise, so we had to stay inside unfortunately, but made it nice and cozy, sitting round the roaring fire..with a good glass of wine , of course, from the local winery !!!  Thanks for visiting Gini, better luck next time hey !!!! And.. just now, the 26th of July at 07.15 am, for the very first time since my arrival in the Western Cape, 15 years ago, had to remove ICE from the windows of my car.. it has been freezing last night !!! Totally Amazing @!!

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xRick

Of Rain, Land slides, New Streams and new Camps .....

Well.. there we are again.. happy to say,, after the rains.. The most amazing thing happened at the farm a few weeks ago.. we were hit with a deluge of water for a few days running, and in about 3 days 10 centimeters of the stuff came down, lashing the farm, the house and actually everything unabatedly.  Up to a point it even became a bit scary.. and one night, in between showers, decided the dogs should now really go for a quick walk, so, after dark, put on warm clothes and the wellies (what a great buy !) and out I went... to hear strange sounds at the back of my cottage, and in front of the new guest cottage.. SPLASH.... SPLASH, continuously and had no clue what caused this disturbance, although, maybe a little clue in the back of my mind, but surely, not ?....  Got one of my lanterns from the house and shone it towards the noise, to find that, where the digger loader removed soil to make parking and future entertainment area, rocks  & soil were being washed away, and came a tumbling down onto the parking lot.. Its quite steep back there at places, and planned to build a retaining wall there at some stage, but it seemed 'too late' for that now.. The rains drenched the soil, was running down the slope and washing it away.. which caused the top soil to just fall down. In the end, it was not too severe but while its happening and you don't know when it will stop, its quite scary I can tell you..

Splash, Fledr, Crash.. strange sounds from the dark ! !

hmmm.. what now ?

So.. that next morning (Saturday) I immediately got some extra help from the village, and with the 5 of us started building the retaining wall.. in between the showers, and under cover of building plastic, so the cement, concrete and stones would not immediately wash away again.. That went very well, we had 2 guys rolling down small boulders from the upper slopes, and with the three of us we would stack them, make cement, throw gravel and what have you in between the soil and the nothingness, until our backs gave up, which was about 6 hours later..  We worked and slaved and managed to at least secure the lower parts of the wall, and continued that Monday ! It's not finished just yet, and looks like this right now......

retaining wall, not a moment too soon..

 So we managed to save the guest cottage from sliding onto the parking lot.. which made me happy ! You may also note that some paint was thrown at the cottage in the meantime and the doors and windows are all 'in' and so is the glass.. no easy feat if you consider that the glass sizes were all cut 1 cm too big, and had to be returned to the supplier, and fetched again at a later stage (each time 45 minutes drive)

Anyway.. the picture above gives you an impression of the first guest cottage.. sliding door to future terrace, that will be surrounded by fruit trees, so should guest be 'in season' they can pick their own fruit right outside their door.. how's that for service ?.. nice braai area will be included and of course the seating arrangements.. so left the 'lounge/bedroom area, and on the right the kitchen/dining with behind that the bathroom. Meadow with horses right in front ! 

And next an 'interior' shot, of how its looking at this very moment.. the boxes on the left are the solar geyser, to be installed next week (this time WITH electrical backup).. electricians have been and all switches and powerpoints are in place, to be connected in due course..The roof insulation has also arrived and will be put into place once all the painting has been done.. 5 cm polystyrene which works like a dream to keep the warmth in winter in, and the heat in summer OUT ! And looks nice too.. The beams have been oiled and will remain in full view, to give the interior that cottage feel ;-) The door in back is original and we'll try to preserve that, with the pre historic lock and all.. and crooked as is.. 

Then.. some fruit trees were planted a few days ago, since it was the right moon phase, and once they start 'going' a bit, I'll upload some pictures of my babies.. they are peaches, nectarines and apples,  the Mango's and Granadillas or Passiflora ligularis (my absolute favorites) will be added later, and are on order .

And all of a sudden the weather changed for the better end of last week and we proceeded to make another meadow for the horses, the one right in front here needs a rest, and a switch must  be made.. so the fencing is now in place and we moved the horses there yesterday ! We dug a deep hole and 'presto, there is a well on that slope," so drink in abundance, as well as grazing.. I 'miss' my horses now, cause they can't be seen anymore from my dining table, have to walk to the windows  to take a peek at them.. Happy horsies here on slightly over another hectare (2,5 acres)

This grass in combo with clover and other green stuff.. horsie heaven..Just look at the grass ;-)

Yesterday had a nice and surprise visitor, a lady who will become a friend, and was recommended by some other friends of mine in Cape Town, "she should definitely  come take a look at what I'm all up to", which she did, and we had a fabulous hack (out ride on horses for those not in the know). She also happens to be a journalist and wants to write about the project, what she already shared about her experience here with her friends on face book I would really like to quote  and it sounds promising ! 

"Had a fabuloutastic day and outride in Caledon at what is soon to be the hottest equestrian holiday spot within 2 hours of cape town :D"

Thanks Linda.. you really made my day with this sentence.. was great to meet you and will be looking forward to you bringing your friends, and us exploring the 'other' paths in the area.. what a lovely hack we had indeed,.. and the views .. the views.. too lovely.. the peace, the quiet,  the proteas, the birds,  well, let me stop here... It should be experienced, not described ;-)

And now the sun is out, after battling with the mist this morning.. all was yet again very humid and wet,

The sun, busy burning of the fog early this morning, as seen from my 'desk' ..

and am waiting for the warmth to dry the wood and some walls, and will proceed with some painting to day.. Work was very much delayed due to the enormous amounts of rain, and the cold so  hope to catch up some of the work on the dwellings in the next 10 days, since those should be dry and warm.. to day even 22 degrees, which will be a little later no doubt !

Spoke to my neighbor yesterday and he recommended I should hike to my waterfall, since its flowing like never before.. that, dear reader, I'll do sometime next week.. with one of my guys, since its a bit of a mission, and without cell phone reception in that particular area not a thing I would want to do alone.. I promise I'll take some pictures, so you can share it with me on my next blog.. Some new streams have formed on the land as well.. and  500 mtrs down the slope, on the land of the neighbor, one can nowadays hear a river run ! Amazing.

Enjoy the weekend !!!!!!!!

Rick

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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