Snow!


I’m sure many of you are sick of the sight of it but I’ve not had many opportunities to see snow (to be precise, twice) so when it snowed on Boxing Day while I was visiting my family in the UK I was delighted.  That the snowfall coincided with First Born’s first night in the UK – and his first ever experience of snow – made it all the more exciting.

As the first flakes fluttered down we all rushed outside, immediately built a snowman and then gathered as much snow as we could to throw puny snowballs at each other. Our laughter and screams of hilarity drew confused neighbours to their kitchen window and we laughed even more when we heard one of them comment “Oh, it’s OK. They’re foreign”.

It's not much to look at, but it's Ours!

It’s not much to look at, but it’s Ours!

Foreign antics

Foreign antics

The following morning my Dad took us all for a long walk around Shire Hill. I  love the crunchy noise the snow makes when you walk on it!

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The snow had hardened by then but that didn’t make the views any less spectacular.

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Looking down on Glossop from Shire Hill

 

More snow was flung around.

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And again the neighbours came to have a look.

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What’s with these foreigners flinging snow all over the place?

Half way up the hill we found this poignant memorial and we stood still for a moment, the only sounds coming from the wind whistling through the trees and the occasional plaintive bleat from the sheep.

Come and sit for a while, and remember me

Come and sit for a while, and remember me

We all felt a little sobered, so it was a great relief to the eyes to see a small splash of colour among the white to cheer us up. First Born’s reaction was delightful – “But that’s so English!”.

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Our ‘Local’ in Muizenberg


We recently spent a (very short) week in Cape Town. Tucked away in a side street in Muizenberg we found Oroboros Tapas Bar and after one visit it became our ‘local’.

Most evenings we would sit at a table on the pavement, testing every brand of craft beer on the menu and watching the World go by.

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It did taste chocolatey!

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Dangerously delicious!

Cape Town Rocks!

Cape Town Rocks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love that Muizenberg is a dog-friendly place and at most places you go to you will see people walking around with their four-legged friends, some even stopping by in a restaurant or cafe for a bite to eat and a drink.

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To see more pictures of wooden benches visit Travel Worlds.

 

 

 

Sticky Wheel Tracks


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The constant circling of the centre pivots, round and round on the same tracks, creates ruts in the fields. Add water to that and you get a muddy, sticky quagmire and the wheels often become stuck.

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This can become quite expensive, especially if it happens at night and the pivot attendants have fallen asleep on the job; the wheels keep churning in one place, digging deeper and deeper into the mud, bearings seize, motors burn out and people lose their jobs!

It was an arduous and back-breaking daily task carting small rocks into the fields to fill in the ruts.

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So this year Piet decided to fix the problem once and for all. We hired a back-hoe, dug ourselves some gravel and deposited it along all the wheel tracks, forming a more solid road for the pivots to travel along.

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This has certainly made life a little easier for everyone.

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Cee's Black and White Photo Challenge: Open Topic

A Muddy Road


It’s been almost unbearably hot this last week. I think the rains have gone, so there’s no promise of relief until winter comes. Even that doesn’t mean much around here – winter is pretty hot too.

It’s been a relatively dry season this year but we’ve had a few spectacular storms which wreaked havoc on the farm roads, making access somewhat tricky at times.

I took this picture last winter, the quagmire caused by runoff water from the centre pivot. Imagine what a 60mm thunderstorm can do to this road!

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2015 #5

2015 #8