Preparations for Robyn ’s 30 are well under way, we arrived home much earlier than normal, for an unbelievably busy weekend ahead. Rita and Dan arrived at about 6.00 and then Robs, Kirsten, Troy and Barbara too. I made a delicious chicken curry, lit a fire, much banter around the fire, and once again finalising Robyn’s 30th birthday, and the evenings events discussed ad nauseam. It was a really superb evening, with all chirping their 2cents worth and then plenty of yays and nays following. Stupidly we sauntered off to bed later than we had wanted to, but when you are having a good time, why spoil it by going to bed, far too much fun! The following morning Dayle Jason, and various other mates arrived, with kids for a weekend on the farm. People literally popped out of vehicles made their way into a bedroom,a nd then reappeared to announce they were all off for a trip down the river on a barge and a light lunch would be included. I was delighted, less stress of sorting lunch for all the newcomers! All then left (girls mainly) for their boat trip and luncheon on the Breede River at Viljoensdrift. It was a magnificent day , so a lunch was prepared for those who stayed for a relaxed wine with breads and cheeses, pates, and cold meats. Once all the gang returned, they were then dutifully bundled back into their cars, and taken down the road, to a farm about 4 km’s away where they were booked into chalets for the Saturday evening. This was at Night Sky Caravan Park , Gesina’s farm. Superb wooden cottages located right on the river! They popped into Gesina again to collect the cakes, a chocolate and the other a vanilla custard cake. She is a star baker, and these were ordered for the birthday girl a week previously. All came back to quaff and buff for the evening, which went on till very late!. We partied on! One guest even brought his own set-up of a dj thing…. Music was of course deafening, being an old fart I suppose and of concern were the neighbours but the evening was so beautiful, NO Miggies or Mozzies, just outstanding. We also placed citronella candles in brown paper packets filled with sand for a lighting effect as well as controlling the midgets in the garden, which was stunning. The food was delicious, lasagne, salads and breads,. Speeches, happy company, and laughter resonating across the valley all amounted to one huge successful evening. Even the kittens were hiding from the onslaught of noise and people, only to reappear later in the evening. They now each have their own personalties, with Lucy being the most timid, and the ginger job being the most aggro! It was decided that Rita would be taking my favourite kitten home to her ill Dad for company, and comfort. So I said a tearful goodbye to Lucy, she is going to a very special home, and to a very special elderly man….I will miss her but always knew that she and the others would go to their new respective homes.



George was not feeling to well, and kept me up most of the night with vomiting… It was horrendous. Lack of sleep did not help his cause either. Poor puppy, my heart ached for him, but there really was nothing I could do. We had arranged a golf day for our friends, as Robyn was going to continue her Birthday celebrations with her friends en route back to Cape Town , they were stopping for lunch. We teed off at 9 next morning in Robertson, a superb day once again. We played a full 18 holes, and near the end of the 16th I got a call to say George had taken a turn for the worse. As soon as I got home I called the vet…yes, he was in Robertson, 30 km’s from where I had just come from! He suggested to give him liquids, rooibios tea, sugar and salt, in equal portions to rehydrate him, so every 10 mins, then every half an hour then every hour, I spent the night helping him with a kitchen utensil that one uses to suck up gravy !!! It worked, and that was what was important. So each time I stuck this utensil down his throat he would be forced to swallow the liquid, but within a minute it would all come back up again. This went on the entire night….I was seriously concerned about my little boy, and tried not to panic at his projectile vomiting action. I was so worried that he would not make it! But all seems good right now, this morning he was very lethargic, but managed to eat some of the kittens fish! Ugh! He too managed some of my cereal, with milk (2%) just so that he would have something in his belly, he must have been starving. I prayed that the little man had turned the corner

Its Monday, and it rained today on and off, so good to be at the farm… so quiet, the house is in a shambles, but getting there… nothing new, getting used to having guests for an entire weekend….one big problem the toilet blocked…oh crap! Yes, and poor Dan and Vince had the arduous task of clearing the blockage. Perhaps the funniest was noticing a small amount of turn precariously placed on Dan’s head at one point, but not do dissuade him of his assistance at the time, we kept quiet till the deed had been completed. That is a true friend, who is prepared to clean other people’s poo, and then still have a token of thanks on his pip!!! We have a septic tank on the farm, and being so many girls, there was a system overload on the loo paper, and the blockage was imminent. It resulted in me calling in the poo patrol truck from town (Bonnievale) the following week to ‘suck’ the tank of its contents! YUCK!!!



Tomorrow is a big day for Nuts and White Cat. They are off to have their respective operations to ensure that neither of them will be making or having anymore babies. I managed to contact the local SPCA, and they would accept a reasonable donation for both cats. I reckon a fair deal. Montagu is quite far from here… about 35km’s so I will probably spend the morning there…once I have dropped them off, and then return later in the day to collect them. Not sure. Had an amazing experience with all the cattle, called them once I was in their camp, and they listened, all trundling back home… felt really good about talking cow! Such an amazing feeling, calling so called dumb animals….







This morning woke up with George snuggling in my arms! Nuts had spent the night with him, and he decided at 4.00a.m.that he needed the loo… it is pretty cold right now, and also very dark, although last night was a full moon, stunning.

Rushed to get organised, get the cats in, and then box them ready for their journey of pain… what a cock up, Nuts escaped before we even had a chance to close the lid, idea # 2, turn the plastic crates on top of each other, and tie the handles…. It certainly worked for 200m…then white cat got out, and proceeded to climb onto the seat next to me. Nuts stayed in the crates, and meowed a few times. White cat sat and purred most of the way. They were delivered to Winelands SPCA at 8.30, paid R200 and collected them at 12.00. I decided to drive to Robertson, to spend the morning there, popped into a local little coffee shop where I had a juice and toasted sandwich and read the Cape Times , and felt wonderful about being able to read the Cape morning newspaper! Completed some final grocery shopping at the local Pick ‘n Pay, as Dan and a colleague are coming for the evening…they are doing a business trip.



Both cats really seemed in pain when I fetched them, Nuts stayed in the crate, White cat felt happy on the seat next to me… but before all that, she was put on the floor on a blanket, and within 2 minutes crapped an enormous amount… whew pretty darn ripe, I literally pulled the blanket from under her, and tossed the debris out of the car!. They have been asleep all afternoon, it is very cold, but Nuts is in the family room, on their blankets/pillows in a deep anaesthetised sleep. Found white cat in the garden, in the sun, feeling very sorry for herself. She has as yet to see to her kittens… it is now 6 hours after their op.



Had a wonderful evening with Dan and Piet… had a rump steak braai, and superb apple tart and cream for pud! Retired early as it had been a long day, taking Nuts to bed with me! He slept all night, shame had a few blood spots on the towel, and I discovered later in the morning that he cannot jump! I really feel for him. I later saw white cat feeding her babies at lunch time, poor thing, she seems to be very complacent too, and handling herself carefully.

After a week in Cape Town we returned May 6th, with me dutifully compiling the staff wages in the bouncing car, missing packet after packet and cursing colourfully as I retrieved the notes and placed them into the patiently waiting envelope. In my defence I was fast getting used to the road and the uneven surface, and I was beginning to master the art of lining up the notes and the sachets.

Kai greeted me with a huge yelp of excitement, as I opened the car door. There was a nasty scratch on his nose and I had to wonder what he’d been up to in our absence.
The kittens had all grown and bounced around us like fluffy balls of joy.

Ray and Elaine Vincent’s brother and sister in law, arrived for Saturday evening, and left again on Sunday early in the morning. It was Mothers Day, and we had made arrangements to have lunch in Robertson with Albert. Tentative arrangements were to meet at Bon Courage, but upon our arrival…it was closed…BUGGER! So we agreed to lunch at Albert’s home instead. Driving along the road, to Robertson we detoured via excelsior Wine Farm, and I was blown away by the view of paradise right in our own backyard. Horses grazed peacefully in the surrounding meadows and the vineyards boasted vines almost ready to explode from their winter silence into the lush green foliage that would hide the precious harvest contained within bursting berries in just a few months. Other wine farms and horse stud farms displayed similarly deceptive camouflage and yet Winter has its own beauty in the valley, in varying monotones.

We had already collected 22 tons of dried grape mulch to be bedded down at the roots of the vineyards and used as fertilizer for the vines. We collect both pips and stems.

Monday morning Piet came by with a seriously infected hand. It clearly needed an antibiotic, which he of course refused, only allowing me to apply an antibiotic cream and plaster to his grubby, gnarled hand. He swallowed a couple of painkillers before heading out to work.

I started out the week by ordering some herbs and managed to arrange for their delivery within the week. In our isolated neck of the woods a courier service is certainly the most cost effective way to get what we need.

Stephen got to work organising the beds and the soil, and I ordered bags so that each little seedling can be planted in a plastic bag and sold individually later on.

All our female labourers were out picking naartjies at Van Zyl’s farm. When there is nothing to do on our own farms, we are all happy as a community, for them to work on adjacent farms, with the consent of the farmer on whose farm they reside. Vince was clearing the field adjacent to the main store, to plant winter oats. Oats pretty much do their own thing and need little water to sustain them. Great idea from a neighbour.. plant oats when the sun is setting, leave open let the dew moisten the seed, and then close over first thing in the morning! This also stops the birds from eating all the seed!


Today, the 11th of May, the morning began with a beautiful thick mist. It took until about 11.00 a.m for it to lift. We went for a walk, the dogs, and Nuts, my beloved cat… not able to see much with the heavy fog but we could hear so much in the silence of the fog! Listening to the droplets fall was amazing. By now we have a ritual. Dress warmly in the morning, peel off by lunchtime, then dress warmly again late afternoon.

Just before noon, Vince walked in with Koos. We are getting our first cows along with a calf, only 2 weeks old! Two of the cows are pregnant and will give birth in about two months. The two men need to go to Swellendam to get the assorted medicines they will need to combat various indigenous threats and parasites. Vince looks like a kid who’s just been given an entire packet of sweets. He’s always wanted cattle. I must admit I grinned at him in his wellies and shorts…A farmer indeed!

I offered to do the trip to Swellendam to fetch the mootie, while he waited for his beloved cows to arrive. It was a fabulous trip through the mountains, stunning views, different vegetations, and farming. Swellendam is a historic farming town about 50km’s from our farm. It’s beautiful and has B&B’s from one end of the main street to the other. A really superb little ‘dorp’.

Went to the SSK and paid R 1250 for the anti parasite mootie to combat the ticks in our region, mostly found when the cattle graze along the river’s edge. I got home just as the truck was leaving and there they were! Eight of varying colours, ages and sizes. We named the very pregnant one Bella (Isabella). All she did was eat and eat and eat. We gave them plenty of Lucerne and thankfully Koos arrived as if he had been sent for! He kindly assisted us and showed me how to inject the mootie. The calf is beautiful…( I secretly named her Moo) Doi is delighted. These are his babies now and he proudly assured me that he would look after our new herd as if they were his own. I too walked them to their new camp once we had injected them. I was most proud of our new herbivores. The satisfaction and glee on V’s face too were expressions I would remember forever. Kai watched, and kept a close eye but George barked and scared them. So he went to play in the vine wood piled high for winter fires, sniffing out mice, rats and perhaps even snakes! Later that afternoon, I took another walk to the kraal and was pleased to see that they had settled and were grazing peacefully.

First thing the next morning, I had to go and see how our new family were settling.. all good. Sadly we have to go back to Cape Town next Monday, so will miss our novel kin. Happily however my herbs arrived at 10- 2- 7 on Thursday morning, via courier, (Smitties) R43! Driving to Cape Town and back would have cost me R400 in petrol alone!

May 21th ...Friday spent the day transferring 250 rosemary, and 225 thyme seedlings into black bags and supports. Dawid the bee man, arrived to clear the hives of their bounty of honey.
Saturday morning I took a walk to see how the cows were doing. Kai ran under the barbed fencing in his haste to join me, and then it happened. He ripped his back paw open to the bone on the barbed fence as he streaked through it and the blood just poured out. I immediately called out to him and when he came running over, I realised that this needed emergency treatment. I ran into the house, called the vet in Robertson, and was told to bring him in immediately. Robertson is about 30 km’s away, so I need to move quickly. He was attended to immediately and spent a few hours there, undergoing some serious repair to his seriously damaged foot. He came out of the surgery rather woozy, and I brought him home (R700 less!) with a tightly bandaged foot, and a recommendation not to get his foot wet at all! We put plastic shopping bags around his foot, and hoped for the best. Being an active dog, this was going to prove to be a real challenge! Woolies bags were pretty solid, as well as the Parmalat ones! So made sure we used those. Shame he was in some serious discomfort and was quiet the whole weekend. We had a relaxed weekend. Most of the farmers were otherwise occupied so we landed up just having our neighbours Jurie/Helen. Helen arrived with a jar of homemade processed cheese, superb!

Back to C.T. on the Monday a.m. without Kai but Liesie promised to keep an eye on him. My stomach knotted. I loathe leaving a sick animal unattended to. But all went well, and he literally came unglued when we came home on the Friday with Andrea, his best friend! It had been a hectic week in C.T. out every night, dinners, friends, and then full shopping days.