As we woke up this morning the clouds lifted enough to give us a glimpse of what was causing a seriously chilly morning...
Time to leave (reluctantly) and one last view of the snow over the dam..
Most 4x4's can only dream of having this much mud on them...
Seriously like the children's fairy tale of the 3 little pigs - I thought the wind was going to blow the house down. So bad was it that a section of the shopping mall in George lost it's roof during the night. And then came the rain.....and did it rain. Nothing for it then but to seek refuge at Jemima's in Oudtshoorn for a jolly good lunch in front of the roaring fire accompanied by a bottle of Diemersfontein Pinotage. On our way back to Calitzdorp we spotted a stunning rainbow....
Oh dear - the weather followed me into the interior.I've come to visit Peter & Yvonne Bayly who have the most charming little farm just outside Calitzdorp where, amongst their many other talents, they also make a seriously good port. You NEED to buy some immediately!!!! Also try the new white port which a competitor in the dorp (who shall remain nameless) was raving about which shows you just how good it really is.... If you can't get to Calitzdorp then Peter can be found every Saturday at the Neighbourhood Goods Market in Salt River.
It is the most picturesque spot and a great place for a city slicker to unwind.
In case you're wondering the electric fencing in the picture is to keep the baboons from stripping the vines so that Peter actually has some grapes to make port with. If you look closely you can see the paths on the mountain made by the baboons on their way down to the farm. This year they also enjoyed Yvonne's oranges, grapefruit and anything else that looked tasty....a veritable baboon supermarket.
I always love Yvonne's chickens - you can sit & watch them for hours - it's better than television and at the end of the day they obliginly put themselves to bed in their designer chicken house. The freshest of eggs are a bonus......if you can find them tucked away in the middle of the nasturtiums or in another secluded spot in the veggie garden.
CONCLUSION - I wanna live here too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry couldn't resist it......aloe season in full swing and one of my favorites...aren't they gorgeous!!!
Latest excursion is a visit to Calitzdorp. Left Somerset West in the foulest weather imaginable.....gale force winds accompanied by lashing rain. A bit nerve racking over Sir Lowry's Pass especially with all the road building that is happening on the N2 but once over the pass I could relax and enjoy the scenery. Farmers have just planted their wheat and everything an Irish green...
I hadn't quite shaken the rain yet...
Left the N2 just after Swellendam and took the road through Suurbraak and the Tradouw Pass ending up on Route 62 just before Barrydale. Hardly any cars on the road...just how I like it. The following always makes me laugh....not a den of iniquity at all but merely a stop to wet your whistle en route.
There it is in the middle of nowhere....
It might be mid winter here but the plants are still going mad...now it is the turn of things like aloes & the fynbos to bloom their little hearts out. Mum's collection of vetplante (succulents) are no exception..
I thoroughly enjoyed my freedom yesterday. It started off with a visit to the oral hygienist (not my favourite thing to do but it has to be done) but got better with a latte, some shopping & a pedicure afterwards as a reward. Later in the afternoon decided to go for a walk on the beach to take advantage of the beautiful day.
Strand beachfront has changed immensely since we first moved down to the Cape....in the beginning the houses consisted of holiday homes for upcountry residents as well as a good proportion of OAP's and would not,in all honesty, have won any prizes for architechture..
The names reflected the architecture....Seemeeu, Dagbreek, the Melkbaai....(you get the picture) but now the beachfront is changing and names with a European bent are common with the latest addition being Hibernian Towers no less...
The old timers must be turning in their graves! My fellow pleasure seekers on this particular afternoon included adults, kids and a variety of small dogs chasing balls as well as the odd fisherman.....wonder if they ever catch anything from the beach?
Very good for the soul to have this as your daily walk!
Another sunset....
I swear I would be able to fill a whole blog with photographs just of the amazing sunrises and sunsets in Africa....every day is special...so lucky be be here to enjoy them for a while.
I'm back again - have been supervising builders so nothing terribly exciting to report in the last while. Last Saturday we had typical Cape winter weather (wind, rain & chilly for those that haven't experienced it) so the best place to be is a fab restaurant - Cassia - in the Durbanville winelands complete with open log fire and the estate's best red wine in our glasses.
To give you an idea of the weather
And you all know how much I love photographing my food....this was dessert of Rhubarb & Apple tarte tatin...so pretty
On Saturday a pod of 55 false killer whales beached themselves on Kommetjie Beach. Nobody knows why they do this and after many hours of trying to get the whales back out into deep water they eventually had to be disposed of as they were suffering.....a huge blow especially to all the people who valiantly tried to help them. The good news is that the rescuers managed to get 2 of the whales back out to deeper water and they didn't beach themselves again.
And that water us absolutely freezing so hats off to all those people in the water. Even a wet suit doesn't help when the water temperature is that cold. Local residents very kindly set up coffee stations to help the rescuers.