Friday, August 20, 2010
Eugenes art work
I know that Eugene will not object to my posting some of his work, he has been a brilliant help to me in the garden these past two weeks and any exposure that I can get him will be some way of repaying his kindness.
He is succesfully selling his animal studies and landscapes to the local markets, but his more abstract stuff cant find an audience here in the Northern Cape.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Photos
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The trip to Riemvasmaak
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| From the base of the ravine Look at the shape of the African continent in background. |
Trip to Riemvasmaak
We have had a busy few weeks, with visitors from Cape Town for a couple of nights and catching up with everyone here after our trip home.
Little has had a long weekend back at the farm arriving early on Friday 6th August and departing on Monday 9th, taking the Intercape bus on a 12 hour journey back to school for Tuesday morning.[ he is back safe and sound at school now!]
Louise, Christen and Floyd Fox Jnr.
Both fed up with chasing 3 year old Floyd over the rock maze as he skipped over it like a goat!
On Sunday we were invited to join the Fox family [they live in Augrabies] to take the trip to Riemvasmaak, hot springs in the mountains that we can see from the front of our farm.We met the Fox`s at the entrance to their farm at 10.30am ,[ with instructions to bring plenty of cool drinks, ice and a toilet roll!] We travelled for a half an hour North West, on tarmac roads towards Namibia. The vines around Augrabies are already budding, it being even a few more degrees hotter than we are in Marchand [only 15 km down the road].
After a while we turned onto a gravel road, which brought us steeply through a stunning twisty ravine in the mountains where the Orange river is crossed by a huge new bridge.
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| The plateu in the background marks the Namibian border |
Then we turned onto an even more makeshift track, and travelled into the wilderness for about an hour meeting only one donkey en route.
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| Amazed that this donkey was snapped as we were travelling at great speed over rocks at the time! he was the only living creature we saw on our trail, and was as amazed to see us as we were to see him! I can just imagine him thinking ..."WHAT!!!" |
Big, negotiating the terrain
Down into the ravine
The land has been given to the black community here; they run this site under the auspices of the Reevmansmaak Trust. We paid around 70 Rand [ £ 5/6]to spend the day there. It is totally undeveloped with small handwritten signs and nothing but a dangerously steep decent [and acsent] to and from the hot springs.
At the base of the ravine are bulbous rocks forming a maze, which once negotiated, lead to three hot springs. In the maze of rocks, there are small areas where one can set up a braai and cook, apart from a small building with toilets on the main approach, there is nothing commercialised about this site at all.
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| Hot spring in the rock face |
The natural acoustics, created by the sheer rock faces that surround the valley, cause a strange echo, so that one can sit and take in the stunning contrast of the blue, blue sky and the oranges rocks and listen to the peeling cry of the black eagles that circle way above in the thermals. There is no mobile reception here at all, so you do feel completely removed from the rest of the world.
Two of the natural warm springs here, have been manicured and bricked around to produce two small cobbled areas around the warm springs, the third is an area where the water has carved a deep bowl in the stone face and the water is clear and tepid and quite beautiful.
Little chillaxing in his "SIMPLES" t-shirt
Taz you will be delighted to see Little wearing the tee shirt that you gave him!Floyd tells us that many of the local farmers will come here late in the afternoon, pitch a tent between the rocks, or rent one of the three chalets perched on the sides of the ravine. They will braai down by the springs until late at night..the night sky is stunning as the rockscape here, and then when everyone has had enough, they will meander back through the rocky maze to find their beds. It is apparently a regular day/night wilderness trip for many locals, who clearly don't consider themselves already close to nature in their farms along the Orange River.
Little relaxing on top of a rock while the boys get the braai started.
I was told that the name means "Ox tie up". This is where the drovers of years ago rested their cattle, having driven them through these inhospitable mountains; they bathed in the warm springs, in readiness for the long haul to Upington. Probably a further 175 km from here.
When we arrived Big was already churlish about the place and Little was being quite teenagerish over the whole thing, but as the day wore on, all of us began to relax and chill..it turned out to be a fantastic day. Very different to our usual Sundays!
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Kissing rocks on top of the ravine...We kept fingers crossed that we wernt here when another earth tremour started.. |
Fined at the Poffadder/Augrabies Junction
A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO "P.O.E.T.S" DAY
On Friday I collected Little from Up airport at 7.30am, we did some food shopping [ I managed to get three packs of chorizo and some herbs! Wehey!!!!]and raced back to the farm.
In so doing I completely forgot to stop in Kak, and collect little's Intercape coach ticket back to school on Monday evening. The tourist office in Kak issues these. So realising that we were facing a Bank holiday Monday and he was meant to be travelling on Monday night, we flew back into Kak to get the ticket at about 3.00 on Friday afternoon.
I always try to avoid the roads on Friday, as its payday at lunchtime and this brings flocks of people out onto the roads. and I really do mean "ONTO" the roads.
It amazes me quite how rapidly alcohol must be being consumed in order for people to be weaving across the roads and lying semi comatose in the lay-bys so soon after they have been paid. But this is what every Friday afternoon is like here. A whole new meaning to "P.O.E.T.S" day
Upon approaching the junction where one can turn left to Kak or right to Poffadder, there is a large stop sign. The lady in the car in front of me, did stop and I trickled along behind her, following her out onto the road as one can see for about a mile if one looks to the right..No traffic! [not unusual on our roads]
No sooner had I turned left, than a very exuberant policeman jumped out into the road right in front of me. The fact that I managed to avoid running him over, is proof that I was going at the pace of a snail! [they are quite crazed ,the policemen here!]
I was charged R 400 for failing to come to a complete stop at the junction, in spite of my protests that there was nothing coming, also my pointing out that there were several drunken souls weaving across the road to our left, along with an assortment of ramshackle vehicles that were whizzing past us, with number plates hanging off and without indicator or brake lights.
A small buggy passed us with at least 20 people squeezed in the open back and at least 10 more pressed up against the windscreen inside..No, this young man was not to be deterred in getting his ounce of flesh from a cross woman in J6NUT.[ "what does that number plate mean? And where does it come from?] Finally this road side drama ended [much to the sadness of the growing crowd of drunken workers who were lining up haranguing one or the other of us.]
So Little and I headed straight for the Kak police station to pay my fine. A group of drunken workers had just been committed to the cells for fighting in the street, and all was chaos there.
Not topic approprite but I did not use my camera during this experience!
An exceptionally large quiver tree..probably well nourished!
Nevertheless I managed to explain why I was there, this caused great mirth to the coppers behind the desk for some reason. Later I discovered that no-one pays their fines immediately here, and everyone writes some sort of objection to the courts and gets their fine reduced, fines are levied high on the roadside, to take this into account..In my case I could have reduced it to R50, if I had of sent an official complaint..But how was I to know? The policemen were boggle eyed when I handed R400 over the counter. [About £30-35]. And I left still hugely irritated at having to pay for an innocuous offence, when all around me were committing far worse. But I suppose this is not the point!On Friday night we ate at Lake Grappa, and fun was had by all, at my expense..hey ho!`the joys of being an Englishwoman in the desert!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Morning Visits
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| This Little fellow has taken to tapping on my window most mornings. |
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| I dont know what he is, maybe one of the many weaver species here. |
SHAPES
SHAPES is the name of the new "Ladies" only gym in Kak. It boasts many new fangled pieces of equipment and the ladies of Kak are queuing to gain membership. Apparently one sets out at speed at instrument of torture No 1, and works ones way through to instrument of torture no 6, all in the space of half an hour!
Since I qualify hugely on account of my fulsome shape, I am quite sure they would greet me with open arms, but I have historically struggled with the very idea of Gyms, and the thought of an all ladies gym fills me with great trepidation.
I was introduced to the lady who had opened it last Thursday night at Willams birthday "Sun downer celebration", she said "You will love it." [Of course she would say that!]
But I am rather aware of how much I am lacking exercise, my increasingly adventurous dog walks seem to be having great effect of Bongo, rather less on Bee and even less on me.
So I am in two minds whether to go and have a trail session. Even the thought of it makes me groan. It's not really the machines, it's the interaction with other members, so if I go, I shall put on my black cat suit, scrape my hair back and to all intents and purposes go as a senior "Lara Croft", Daring doo but incredibly unsociable.
Incidentally Jessie they have municipal shower facilities. Which I most definitely will not be availing myself of, and shall return in a disgusting condition to the privacy of the farm for my shower. If I go at all!
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| Treasure in the desert |
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| Story stone |
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| Winter blues |
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| Footprints found in a dried river bed in the middle of the wilderness....look at the direction of the prints...headless chickens come to mind! |
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| Coarse and dry |
RAMBLING POETS AT CYBER CAFE
RAMBLING POETS AT CYBER CAFE.
Some of you may remember me becoming involved with a poetry writing thread that appeared on the Authonomy website that I has used to raise the profile of ARK [The book]. Memories of Dung beetles?
The "conversation" took place over a period of eight months and was started by one verse of poetry, the idea was to be inspired by this verse and create an add another verse or entirely new poem. This worked and many people became involved.
I have for many weeks now, not even looked on the site, since Gerry started to help me edit ARK I have been working on its completion and getting it out to publishers and agents. One rejection so far..but I`m quite chilled and still putting it about [but not on the Autho site, the book has now been made private so you won't be able to see it.] Trying to keep its profile high was taking up inordinate amounts of my time, and I have other stuff to do.
I was recently contacted by the originator of the poetry thread, Zan, [who lives in Bermuda], she asked if I, along with five other regular contributors,[ also living in the far flung corners of the world] would consider self publishing the "conversation" that we have had on the poetry thread.
This is not what the experts would call "Vanity publishing". it's a new idea where work is uploaded [in this case to a site in America called Creatspace https://www.createspace.com/ ], the writer, does his or her own editing and mastering of text, adds their own artwork and cover. The book is then proofed, this is where the $ 140 start up cost comes, and is then listed on the Creatspace site. Leaving the author/authors to raise awareness and market as they see fit, and for readers to order a copy from Creatspace for the costly amount of around $11 per copy plus P&P which will not be cheap from the States.
Well this is as new a territory for me, as writing my first book. But I understand that Self publishing is becoming the new way to showcase work, the publishing industry is metamorphosising into an altogether different creature these days, with such wide access to the internet and many schemes around to publish "on demand".
Not one to miss and opportunity, I have agreed, and along with the six other members, we are currently sifting, sorting, and arranging our collection. I have to admit to being "hands off" on the technical side. One amongst this group of scarily gifted people, has self published before and all of the other members are published authors or poets in their own right. YIKES!
I shall keep you updated on the progress , and yes the collection is called : Rambling Poets at Cyber Cafe.
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| Some landscapes from my dog walks |
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