I got up at 6.30 a.m. and went for walk, what a superb morning. I too saw the peacock at old house, spreading its ample plume wide and far. What an awesome sight so early in the morning. Of course Kai chased it, with me shouting for him to leave it be. The weather forecast is 38 degrees today, so another hot day ahead. Ambling along off the main road, I came upon an eroded section of land and in this gully noticed all of the household dirt. I was aghast. The dirt was collect on the tractor on a Friday and taken ‘somewhere’ on the farm. Well this was the ‘somewhere’. I immediately resolved this would not happen any more. Smashed glass from broken bottles, and tins, and of course old plastic packets, a definite no-no for the land, and its creatures. Came back from my latest discovery on the farm, each day a little further I venture, discovering the entire 104 hectares…..

Oh dear, got back to Vince in a foul mood, both tractors were giving problems, which resulted in him going to Bonnievale twice today. Very frustrating
Dan also called this afternoon to say he and Rita were coming for the weekend. It is always so good to have family and friends for the weekends.
Thursday night Vince went to his first members meeting at the cellar. I was poop scared on my own. The sky seemed a blacker octopus ink colour, the stars less together with the stillness in the air, I was certain something was prevailing. This was my first time by myself. Although it was only to be for about 3 hours, I really felt scared. So best form of attack is hit the internet and do some research on these herbs that I have intended to plant in the greenhouse. 4 Hours passed slowly but undisturbed at Buitensorg. All was quiet, until I hard the rumblings of the approaching bakkie on the gravel road….whew, Vince was home!

Friday morning woke to rain, gentle soflty falling droplets of water. It is still very humid though. All the staff are to go on leave until the 1 April from today. Once again the weekend promises to be busy, with Mark and Mardi, Vonnie and Donny, Dan and Rita all coming. Coming home from town this m orning, I noticed our pole with our name on it was missing…yes, we learnt that the now pissed off previous owner had removed it for his keeping…not so sure why, maybe he felt an attachment still to the farm, and its name! Mark and Mardi have mentioned they are staying till Monday, as it is a long weekend. Am thrilled, her dogs Peaches and Horace are here too! We too are off to Cape Town on Monday and will come back on Thursday, as we have family arriving from PE.

All started well this weekend. Had a great braai Friday night, as usual far too much laughter and alcohol…with great friends. Saturday morning everybody other than Rita left to play golf in Robertson. The agreement was that Rita and I would join the clan after golf, and we would picnic on the banks of the river. Great idea. It was already pretty damn hot at about 11 a.m. and I suggested to Rita that I drive her around the farm, and show her the ample size of the land. Sir George joined us, in the back of the bakkie…wagging his tail in anticipation of some fun. We drove a little of the way, when Rita noticed that Sir George was missing out of the back. I immediately did an about turn tracing our steps, and Sir George was nowhere to be found. Eventually we stopped at where we thought he may have been ‘man overboard’, and there he was sitting under a shaded tree, feeling very sorry for himself! He had obviously jumped, and being such a little man, rolled and eventually dusted himself off, deciding best to stay where he was till hep arrived! I ran toward him, grabbed his little shaky body and hugged him as tightly as I could. Poor little bugger….hope he learnt his lesson, NOT to jump of a moving vehicle.

We came home, laughing at my stupidity of even putting him in the back, shame man! But seeing as it was so hot, and now fast approaching lunchtime too, we concluded we could have aGin and tonic. Whilst sipping away on the second cool drink, I heard Kai bark, but a very different bark than he normally yaps, and bent my head in his direction. The bark became a lot more alarming, and I was by now shouting at him to stop! I truly did not feel like another Saturday from hell. Oh boy….eventually Kai cam to the family room where we were sitting, and now seriously barked, which I realised was a ‘come, follow me’ bark!
Reluctantly, I followed. Seeing no person, I chastised him once again, but noticed little Horace and Sir George a little perplexed in the driveway. Peaches was non plussed, so again I took it as what the hell does he want attitude…..and then as we passed the pillar which was covered in ivy, a sudden movement caught my eye. HOLY CRAP it was a huge snake, slithering downwards through the green foliage. Immediately I called all the dogs shutting them in the office and then screamed for Rita’s help. My heart sank, what the hell do I do. The pillar was a metre away from the office door, and there was a deadly snake making its way out of there and then where to?? Once we were all in the office behind the security of the door, I noticed Enigma on the low wall adjacent to the pillar. Oh no, she is very pregnant, and how am I going to get her inside the safety fo the confines of the house.. She is after all a bit wild, so catching her is out of the question. She by now has her head checked to the side, eyes wide open, and checking out every movement in the shrubbery. “I know” I yell…I will go and fetch her some ham…maybe she will allow me to offer her some, then grab her and bring her into safety!. Running down the passage, I am now trying to fathom out how and what to do with this snake. I grabbed the ham, ran back down to the office, and slowly opened the window adjoining the front door. Enigma was distracted as the snake was making progress as it slid further down into the sandy area. I threw a piece of ham in her direction, and immediately she responded…hooray, I could now grab her, if I can climb through the window….but she was seriously about half a metre away from the snake! How I did it I do no remember, but I managed to pluck her to safety and get my ample self back in through the window, shutting the casement with such force, I almost shattered the glass. All animals were safe…but were we? I now grabbed the phone and started to call as many neighbours as I could to come and shoot this bastard…but in vain, 3 of them were not at home. Finally I called Evelyn , and she said she would come down and shoot it, but they live about 4 km’s from where we are. Patience is not my middle or first name, but this time I had to accept, at least help was on its way. I too uttered that this was the last time I was going to be at the farm on my own, Vince too needed to be here and take control…stuff it! Evelyn did mention to keep my eye on the snake…do not loose sight of it! Ok, if that was all I had to do, I could do that.

Finally Van Zyl arrived Evelyn’s husband…brandishing a mother gun. He asked to be shown where the snake was, as by this time it has disaappreared into the foliage on the ground and had hidden himself . He suggested I get a broom, and force it out, yes, that is right ME…persuade it to leave is safe place. He then would shoot it once it name an appearance. Oh my word, this is not what I had understood I would have to do, but there was nobody else. I returned to the patio with my broom, now tightly gripped in my hands, and was given instructions by Van Zyl, as to what to do. He all the while was holding the gun just in case this big momma made herself known. I bent over, again under instruction, and tantalised the ground cover with the handle tentatively whilst praying the slippery swine would just come out…but please not on my side. As I bent a little closer, coaxed by my new snake charmer, to go further into the ground, I suddenly felt a tap on my arm…..”arsehole”, I yelled, only then realising it was him vexing me. Not a good time to play games. I was seriously in one hell of a state, our first snake. Van Zyl then suggested as there was no response from the prodding that he would go and get a worker and perhaps he could help him, or in fact was I sure there was a snake??? Had it not gotten away? Rita and I reaffirmed our sighting, and were adamant that the reptile was just holding out. So Klaas arrived in the back of Van Zyl’s bakkie, pissed as a fart. He fell out running toward the pillar, with no fear at all. I immediately shouted at him to stop, but he would not her of it, all the while trying to be the big brave man. My helpful neighbour realised now that this could turn ugly, and suggested we all stand back, and he would just fire into the ground where the sneaky pest was, and that should bring him out, again he reiterated, if he was there! We all held our ears, the shot was fired, and slowly, yes very slowly this enormous slippery eel, made its way onto the patio and out of its hiding place. Immediately Van Zyl shouted for us to clear away, and a single shot was fired displacing the contents of the snake all over the wall, and the ceiling. It was gross to say the least…but the relief was enormous. It was an incredible sight. Natures predator nil mankind 1. Its body was laid out in the gutter for Vince to witness as another repulsive experience I had to endure, whilst he had fun playing golf.

Later that afternoon, Rita and I had planned to join all the others, and their cooler bags had been packed ready for collection and taken to them in Robertson. After settling our nerves we decided on leaving a little earlier and making our way to the proposed meeting place, at Albert’s in Robertson. Mardi had suggested I drive her double cab and then all the dogs could also join us. I opened the door for Horace and little Sir George to get in and of course Kai took that as an invitation, jumping in as I was closing the door. Oh crap, all I heard was an incredible yelp, I turned around and realised I had closed his tail in the door. Releasing the vice like grip on his tail, I opened the door, and crapped all over him…shame was not his fault, he was so keen to leave the farm his sentry duties now having been in overdrive. By this time I am seriously stressed, and Rita and I pull out of the drive chuckling at the days happenings….but looking forward to having a nice cold cider once we had arrived at Albert’s home. We sure had deserved this! Everybody arrived simultaneously, cooler bags were opened, and of course the general laughter as we retold our experiences earlier in the day. When it came time for Rita as well as our cooler bag to be opened we realised that we had left them on the low wall at home at the office, in our haste to depart. Not expecting them to be there when we returned, as this was absolute manna from heaven, and entire bag filled with booze for the staff, should they have called at the house. That was not so funny…what a cock up of a day.