Rain ! Rain ! Beautiful Rain !

Yes ! 

We had some rain ,

 I mean proper rain at last ! 

Not just the drizzles

 we've been having but rain to replenish the underground reserves. 

100mm+ on thursday(reports in the area says 130) and 31mm on saturday. 

The rain on thursday brought some damage - but nothing we can't handle ! 

The one tree fell over but the main root is still in the ground 

so it will not die and actually it looks pretty cool with the tree lying at this angle. 

Bets is planning a garden around "Fallen Tree".

The dogs love it as they are now also able to climb the tree 

and follow the cats into the tree : 

and at a different angle you can see "Fallen Tree" : 

Stompie (an asperger cat) having a rest after being chased way up into the tree by Boela :

Boela having a lie down after chasing Stompie into the tree :

The rain on saturday damming up a little bit :

Today the clouds are building up and it looks like more rain is coming. 

I am afraid that there won't be many postings this week as 

Henk, Tracy and Amelia is arriving tomorrow for the Christmas period !

Until Next Time !!

PS : I am still hoping to get a Kindle  for Christmas ! 

PS 2 : Sorry about all the embedded links !

 I was playing with Amazon and learned how to try to sell some of their 

amazing products that they even deliver to South Africa and any other country !

Rain ! Rain !

Just a quick note to let you all know that after I wrote yesterday that we haven't had enough rain yet the rains came last night. I was unable to measure the exact amount but the rain meter, which measures up to 100mm of rain, was full! and that was at 4 a.m. The whole plot looks flooded , but the only damage so far is a tree that fell over and flattened our fence around the house. ( we have one fence around the house and one fence around the plot )

Pictures will follow - if not tonight when I get home from work then tomorrow !

Cheers !

It's Been A While ...

At last a quick chance to update the blog - what a hectic run-up to the festive season ! I have been too busy to get to the blog !

The puppies are now two terrors ! Sasha survived her tick bite fever X 2 that she had - both canine and human strains ! Virtually every afternoon we have a thunderstorm - mostly just thunder, lightning and power failure with very little rain. Although we've had a bit of rain it is not nearly enough. The soil is so dry that it actually cracks.

In the meantime we started picking the small yellow pear-shaped tomatoes - can one describe something as extra-super sweet ? Here are some pictures of some of the produce growing currently :

Artichoke

Borage

Note that the borage flower is said to be the only blue edible flower - tasting like cucumber. In Afrikaans the name of the plant is "komkommerkruid" - translated that means cucumber weed !

Artichoke

Cherry Tomato

Savoy Cabbage

Echinacea

Flowers

Peppers - yellow

Brinjal

Tomatoes

Maize 

Onions

Peppers

Till later !

Artichokes and Peppers

This week we harvested the first artichokes ! What a pleasure. We love artichokes. I only learned about this delicacy after Betsie and I got married. She taught me the way they eat it in Chile.

The artichoke is soaked in saltwater for about an hour.
The artichoke is then steamed.
Then it is served while still hot on a plate with a small bowl of a vinaigrette.
The leaves are broken off one by one and dipped in the vinaigrette sauce and then the fleshy part of the leaf is scraped off against your bottom teeth.
You do this repeatedly until you reach the core or the choke.
Here care must be exercised that you do not eat or get any of the immature florets in your mouth as this is very uncomfortable - like eating the thorns of a prickly pear.
The centre arrangement of the immature florets must then be carefully removed from the base of the flower - this base is what is sold in tins as artichoke hearts. The base is called the involucral bract. The tinned variety can never ever even be compared with the fresh as far as flavour and taste and experience is concerned. This core of the artichoke is absolutely delicious. I was so overwhelmed by the taste that I forgot to take a picture for the blog and if Betsie didn't remind me I wouldn't have taken any pictures : At the start of the meal :

And this is what is left over  :

The peppers are progressing nicely and hopefully we will be able to pick the first batch at around Christmas or if not then the first week in January.  Here are some pics to show the progress :

And then there is Boela relaxing :

See you soon !

Depressed Dog in Dreamlands

Our elderly dog is depressed ! She doesn't want to eat. She doesn't want to play . We thought she was starting with tick bite fever and thus I gave her treatment. All that resulted in is that she now also refuses to eat her favourite treats as I crushed the tablets , mixed it with butter and put it on a little dog biscuit for her. No way man ! She ate the first one. The second one was eaten with apprehension. The third one she still ate the butter and by the fourth one it was virtually impossible to get her to eat it !

This afternoon she started playing and drinking small amounts of water. Maybe she'll get better - we'll see !


This week I spent some time mowing the weeds : Here is the ..before..

 

and the ..after..

And a wallpaper of Dreamlands :

Until Next time - Remember to be Awesome !

Home Security and Sleeping Dogs

It is time I share some home security tips with you. At this stage I would like to throw some ideas around. Please note that comments are welcome ! 

Home security is something we must all consider. Here are the major low-tech considerations : 

For me home security starts first of all with perimeter security as you don't want to wait until the criminals are inside your house. So, look first of all at the natural barriers that surround your house. Hedges, trees, cacti followed by walls and fences. These are all passive barriers to the would-be criminal. 

The second barrier includes dogs, geese and any other animal that will make a noise when someone approaches. The problem here is that these barriers are alive and because they threaten the would-be criminal he quite often resorts to killing these animals.

Your next line of defense to be employed with the noisy animals includes early warning systems that alert you to the presence of anybody in the vicinity - noise-makers attached to tripwires that are set at such a height  that domestic animals can pass underneath unhindered ! These tripwires must be placed in order to cover all approaches to the house - the obvious as well as the obscure - especially the latter !! Remember that if the would-be criminal is determined these are only means to warn you - if he then reaches your house at least you must be ready and alerted of his/their presence !

The importance of dogs cannot be stressed enough. They must be vicious and alert and ready to attack at all times - unfortunately I have a problem there as my dogs are always sleeping in the most comfortable positions imaginable. Here are some examples of Luce sleeping on her back - and no, she is not deceased but merely sleeping :

Last week we harvested a large quantity of basil leaves and Betsie made pesto . Yesterday we had pesto-smothered T-bone steaks  with fresh baby leaks from the garden :

Sorry no sunset photographs today as we have been getting a bit of rain lately (with power failures) !

Until next time !

Power Failures and Frustration

We have been experiencing Highveld storms every afternoon before sunset. When the wind blows or if there is one small lightning strike in the vicinity of Vereeniging then we have the inevitable power failure. There are many reasons for this regular - read daily - occurrence but it is outside the scope of this blog to go into the details of the why and the how ( that is apart from the electrician on duty getting , and I quote " sparks in his eyes ".

Thank goodness for petrol generators and rechargeable batteries ! I am always on the net looking for alternative sources of energy in the hope that we will be able to become self-sufficient as far as power is concerned. We are there already for vegetable supply for most of the year. I am currently looking at wind generators as we have enough wind here to power the whole continent. 

Have you seen this nifty reader that is available from Amazon ? This is at the top of my Christmas wishlist ! You can read any electronic document while lying in bed or wherever for that matter. And there are millions of books available in electronic format - many to buy and many more for free such as from the Gutenberg Project . If you want to find Gutenberg just type in Gutenberg Project in the search bar !

Until next time ! Hang loose ! 

Dogs and More Sunsets

Some dog pics - 

Echinacea :

The greenhouse:

 

 

Sunsets : 

 

 

 

 

and that's all folks !!