A Visit to Irene Dairy Farm

Last week we travelled through to Pretoria to visit our doctor with Jenna and on our way back we decided to pop in at Irene Dairy Farm for lunch. We haven't visited there for a while and I wasn't even expecting it to be open but what a lovely surprise when we arrived and it was! It's the most picturesque place! Large rambling farmland and beautiful green fields for their cows. The scenery is really breathtaking.

We had a delicious lunch with mama chickens and their chicks scurrying around everywhere, (both on the tables and off, so sweet!) and then we walked up to see the young calves. As we walked back towards the main buildings all the cows were walking up from the fields, no one was with them, they just seemed to know that it was lunch time, all made their way to the watering hole and then into their cow shed, so wonderful!

They also have a shop there where they sell homemade produce and certified raw milk and cream, I really should have bought more, it was so sweet and delicious! Can't wait to visit Irene again.

I hope you have had a lovely week.
Linda

Autumn Equinox Road Trip

Yesterday we went on a day road trip to Haartbeespoort to visit Bush Babies Monkey Sanctuary, what a wonderful experience!

Happy Autumn Equinox to all those in the Southern Hemisphere and happy Spring Equinox to all in the North:)

xo

Linda

The Vaal Dam, Floods and Cuckoos

Thank you so much to everyone who visited and left such lovely comments about my studio, I am very happy with this new space and it is lovely to have one room where all my things can fit so nicely:) Today we went on a short road trip to see the Vaal Dam. It is 105% full and is overflowing. All the residents in the surrounding areas have been safely evacuated approx 600 people. The water gushing out of the flood gates was amazing, so powerful and terrifying at the same time.

 A view from the bridge we were standing on.

We did manage to stop in at a quaint thrift shop and I saw this gravy boat, I just loved it AND I really need a gravy boat. I love that it has a base plate to catch the gravy that runs down the side, instead of the table cloth...

I finished spinning that rainbow superwash today and have started with another...

I have been hearing a strange bird call in our garden over the past week, today we discovered it was a Cuckoo...

I am so excited about this shot, it isn't the greatest shot, I know, I think I was so over the moon when I saw what was happening that I couldn't keep the camera still! This Robin on the right is feeding this large Cuckoo on the left. I have always heard how Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds nests, in this case the Robin's nest and are raised by birds other than their own mothers. To experience this today was an amazing gift from nature! In this photo above, the Robin had just fed the Cuckoo:)

More Holiday Photos

There were so many photos from our road trip, so I decided to blog them over two days... 

Flowering Aloes were dotted all along the roadside as we travelled.

Swimming in the ocean on cloudy day.

The walkway at Southbroom beach.

Richard and Kye were building a sand castle fort.

There was a sand artist on Port Edward beach and he sculptured the most amazing creatures...

Oh YAY! We discovered the most divine river, hidden away in the Drakensburg. We all played there for hours, it was amazing fun:)

This is me walking up the river to the children.

It was truly beautiful...

A photo of the South African veld (bush, grasslands) with a lonely thorn tree in the middle on a hazy day. We noticed there had been plenty of veld fires down south where we travelled and the green shoots of grass were starting to peek through.

Richard and the boys, so sweet....

These are the last of our postcards from our road trip, such happy memories:)

Happy Monday,
xo
Linda

Postcards from our Road Trip...

We arrived home from the most amazing road trip we could have ever hoped for, this afternoon! It was truly splendid and I know our children and Richard and I, will remember it for years to come... We managed to break up the journey into quite a few stages, so that we didn't spend too much time driving, I think the longest stretch was a 5 hour drive from the Drakensburg to the Port Edward on the South Coast of Natal, South Africa. Kye really does not enjoy the car too much but he coped rather well this time:)

I have returned to the most wonderful Spring garden, the growth while we have been away has been tremendous. Blossoms everywhere, our Oak trees are GREEN! And our asparagus is over a metre high! Love it! I have started with the first load of laundry, there will be many as you can imagine... We had a lovely time... now for some photos...

The landscape on the road to the Drakensburg.

Early morning at Alpine Heath where we stayed for the first 3 days of our trip...

Port Edward Beach, Natal South Coast.

This is a Vervet monkey, there were so many at the resort where we were staying and they would visit us most mornings. This one is sitting on our balcony. They would just appear from nowhere out of the thick bush.

Jen, Erin and Caiden in the surf...

The first morning we were out at the beac at 6 30 am, it was amazing...

Fishermen...

I love photos of lighthouses...

This rock was beautiful, it has been turned into a bowl by the erosion of the sea water...
 

Some special reading time with dad, Kye brought with his favourite book by Jan Brett, The Mitten...

This was the last stop on our journey in the Midlands, Bellwood Cottages, it was a wonderful place, a working stud farm and trout farm. We had fun rowing on the dam in the canoes...

I have missed this space and I am so glad to be back, take care,
xo
Linda