A brief update of going-on's since arriving in July

As many will know my move down here was not uneventful. Two hundred Km's from Bloemfontein the gearbox on the Isuzu packed up & I barely limped into Bloem. I found Vissie & Piet from Isuzu very obliging in their druken state & they began organising a gearbox during the weekend. They dropped me off at the Hugenoet bed & breakfast where I spent the weekend with a couple that could not be from more different worlds. A Kiwi lady Jane & hubby a typical Afrikaans platteland se boerseun with dreams of sailing around the world - He also happened to be a farmer which started a very steep learning curve. All this was post the other Isuzu burning out its engine as a result of a leak in the heater radiator - I had no idea they were even linked so Eddie,a friend of thirty years brought me down & we survived a weekend of braaing & gas heating water to bath in. The house when I arrived had an electrical compliance certificate but no electricity & no water. The previous owner illegally took the pressure pump which pumps water from the tank to the house & so I had to get water shipped in @ no small cost - Next time I will buy bottled Evian & use the savings for Bath salts!! Since then it is a bit of a two steps forward, one step back process. The thing about buying a big farm as opposed to a small holding is maintanence, This is two,sometimes three days of the week. The balance is developement. So when people ask what I have done I get a little "'woes "and take a deep breath. Things are moving along slowly. I have a prize bull .. emphasis on prize as he is a prize fence jumper better than any I have seen.. he chases other peoples bulls & breeds with their cows leaving mine all alone. Generally he is a prize dick - no pun intended & a constant worry like a naughty child. So I have some cows & some goats & a whole lot of game I don't really want like bushpig, warthog, Dyker , Vervet monkeys & Bushbuck. Lovely to watch but absolute thieves. I was warned to watch the locals when I got here. I did not realise they were speaking of the animals. Then I rolled my other bakkie - new engine converted to a diesel. Thinking insurance would write it off I bought a land rover..in September which here in May has still not arrived due to mechanical this & electrical that - just one big bulldog headache. Fortunately for me insurance did write the Isuzu off so i bought it back & repaired it with some change to spare ( a good bit I might add) Since then I have a R220K tractor which I have damaged already - but repaired - & a 2nd tractor which cost me ten thousand rand with a bushcutter which I prefer as it actually is good for most jobs - lesson - spend in haste repent at leisure. New skill includes - driving my old mercedes bull nose truck @ speeds in excess of 90Km/h - it can only do about 85 but downhill in neutral it does more. I learned this fetching Macadamia trees from Levubu on the Zim border. With a thousand trees on the back I am sure I got 120 as I was overtaking cars in my way.. but cannot be sure. Thus I conserve my estimate.The trip took 55 hours up & 60 hours down. Injections of any sort that are not on a vehicle I detest but in truth it is a regular part of my weekly functions. What they do not tell you about the coast is that animal diseases are more prevalent & therefore so is prevention. Dipping is not enough. So I now can perform intramuscular and sub cutaneous injections. Still working on intravenous much to the changrin of the goats. Other new skills include building, concrete mixing, making bricks, rain water capture, express snake escapes & serpent murder, speaking goose (voetsak jou bloodie ganeese), removing ticks, chasing cows, rugby takling goats & several other unmentionables. Oh I forgot to mention tree felling - not exactly a newly aquired skill -as I have yet to master it - but I will leave this for another episode. Hope you are all well and look forward to any contributions about your lives.

Gonubie Valley View

Gonubie Valley View
A landscape typical of the area

28 July 2007

The Bush War




It seems that the only effective way to make space is with a bulldozer. So this last week the constant noise of a heavy duty machine has been pushing bush to make way for Macadamia trees and grazing lands. Sometimes what seems to be a smallish piece of land ends up been
a large piece of downhill. The ideal was get rid of the wattle. Now I wonder if the wattle might not have been a sign that here is where I should place the border. Anyhow done is done & the bulldozer must keep moving. At least now we can get to the dam.
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Nutbush city's first children


The first progeny have been born. On the 9th of July Kelth was born in honour of Chris & Clare's visit. Chris helped to dose the cows for worms while I injected & Clare wrote the numbers. It was a team effort & so the first born is a blend of Kelso & Smith. The second born, also a male calf was born yesterday the 26th of July.
His name is Jada after Dave & Janine since they also came to visit & I don't wish to
forget this.The fist goat, a female has also been born but not named mainly because that might be an insult to friends, so maybe I'll name it after family or emigre's. HEHEHE. Anyhow the past few weeks have been tough & bad news so the births are a relief in at least I have done something right. Looking forward to some more new life & hopefully some visits to. The first picture is of the newly born Jada with Kelth standing close by jealously watching Jada drinking. He ran back to Mommy (pic2) so Mommy could lick him clean. Maternal instinct is amazing. The mothers actually hide their babies in the bush for the first few days.
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26 May 2007

Snow wonder it's cold

This is the Amatola mountain range. Beyond those mountains is the Hogsback. The Hogsback is the Magaliesburg for the East London folk.When they want mountains and nature this is where they escape to. For potential Berry farmers, B&B owners & eco-tourism this is the place the tourists flock to when they are not game viewing, hunting or gambling. Just ask Cobus & Alet - I am sure that they could post a nice pic or two. This was the view from the farm on Tuesday the 22nd of May - recorded 2 degrees C. Felt a whole lot colder. The goats had to be bribed with mielies into the Kraal - the Geese Toytoyed for more mielies & the dogs decided they were sleeping inside. From Autocracy to democracy in a few degrees. Maybe South African might be less apathetic under similar conditions. Afterall the Northern Hemisphere countries with cold weather seem to have much better government administration & incredible social services. Hail to the New ICE AGE.
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