It is only when you catch up with far-flung friends that you are aware of how long it is since you last saw them.
We hadn't realised that Linda had a 7 year cycle for visiting Carol & Leo since they returned to SA from the Orient. 14 years ago, Jodie had just been born, 7 years ago Jessica was within days of arriving and this year we arrived in the middle of Jodie's birthday celebrations. We also got to meet Jared - who they adopted 4 years ago - for the first time.
After a big family dinner- with 17 at the table it could have been a pub night in Canada - we slept surprisingly well - despite the group of 14 year old girls celebrating at the other end of the house.
On the road by lunchtime - after a bit of essential shopping - and a 400km drive to Graskop which sits on the eastern edge of the Escarpment looking out over the Lowveld.
From an overcast 29C in Joburg, we arrived to misty low cloud and 16C - felt just like a summer's day at Moyhill!
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Getting there
Despite accumulating a considerable number of air miles in my time, long haul travel has never been one of my favourite activities.
However our journey from Shannon via Heathrow to Johannesburg was relatively painless. Everything went as planned, the SAA cabin staff were quite pleasant, the food was fair and they were generous with the wine. We landed ahead of schedule, our bag came of the carousel quickly and the car hire was efficient and gave us the vehicle we had booked. What more could you want!!
Slightly concerned when we unloaded the bag at our first port of call to discover that the lock had been cut off and the bag had been well and truly turned over - apparently a regular problem at Joburg. Fortunately our meagre collection of valuable equipment was in our hand baggage and we haven't identified anything which was taken.
Take note if you plan to fly down here!
However our journey from Shannon via Heathrow to Johannesburg was relatively painless. Everything went as planned, the SAA cabin staff were quite pleasant, the food was fair and they were generous with the wine. We landed ahead of schedule, our bag came of the carousel quickly and the car hire was efficient and gave us the vehicle we had booked. What more could you want!!
Slightly concerned when we unloaded the bag at our first port of call to discover that the lock had been cut off and the bag had been well and truly turned over - apparently a regular problem at Joburg. Fortunately our meagre collection of valuable equipment was in our hand baggage and we haven't identified anything which was taken.
Take note if you plan to fly down here!
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Twelfth night
January 6th is a day I remember being spent taking down the decorations and clearing up the mess of removing the Christmas tree from the living room. However it is celebrated here as Little or Woman's Christmas.
The woman of the house - who has been working flat out for the last few weeks preparing, serving and clearing up after the family for all their celebrations - is treated to a day of care and pampering. Not sure how much attention is paid to the old traditions now, but it strikes me as one which should be spread more widely.
Over the last few years it has also become the day when our focus changes from events at Moyhill to packing for our winter trip. This year we are heading south - South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland - in search of sun, safari, beaches and some great wines.
We are leaving from Shannon via Heathrow to Johannesburg on Thursday and will start our trip with a visit to the Kruger Park. I have promised to keep the blog up to date as we travel around - so watch this space!!
The woman of the house - who has been working flat out for the last few weeks preparing, serving and clearing up after the family for all their celebrations - is treated to a day of care and pampering. Not sure how much attention is paid to the old traditions now, but it strikes me as one which should be spread more widely.
Over the last few years it has also become the day when our focus changes from events at Moyhill to packing for our winter trip. This year we are heading south - South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland - in search of sun, safari, beaches and some great wines.
We are leaving from Shannon via Heathrow to Johannesburg on Thursday and will start our trip with a visit to the Kruger Park. I have promised to keep the blog up to date as we travel around - so watch this space!!
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Goats arrive
We collected our two male kids today and have settled them into the shed for the next few days - the brown one is very friendly while the white one is very nervous.It will be fun to see how they get on with the sheep!
Thursday, 12 April 2012
New Arrivals
Today our first swallows returned to join a couple of other newcomers.
Linda's two new hens - Sussex Ponte's named Sue & Minnie -arrived about 3 weeks ago and they have just been accepted by the remaining Hockey Girls - Karen & Jinty. Egg laying is not quite as regular as hoped but I am sure they will settle down soon.
We think that one of the ewes miscarried while we were away but the other one delivered a ewe lamb last week - just in time for Easter. We had to help with the delivery because the lamb was in an awkward position but all went well and she is now running around like a mad thing.
Finally, we are due to collect our latest newcomers on Sunday - a couple of male goat kids which were orphaned and have been hand reared. They should provide some company for the lamb and go the butcher at about the same time.
Only pigs and ducks to go and we will have our meat supply sorted for the year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
