Beans

For the past four months we have had a huge amount of beans from our one bean plant.  It is quite amazing that this little bush can produce so many beans.  And, the more you harvest the more they produce to be harvested.  This little bean bush is so very kind to us.  We have had many meals with beans as one of the vegetables, and when I say this I mean at least a handful of beans for each of us.

What a wonderful pastime our veggie patch is.  We've been blessed with potato's, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato's, lettuce, cabbage, leaks, spinach, rocket, maize, butternut and are waiting for the pumpkins to happen.  We are putting stuff away in the freezer for the winter months too.  Our crop of weeds is remarkable, but then they are the garden companions we share and do battle with.

The trick, it seems is to have an unlimited supply of kraal manure and some snail bait.  Water is nearby so the summer months are fruitful.  And on the subject of fuit, our apple tree has been breaking it's branches to give us hundreds if not thousands of apples.  The plumb tree was a great supplier of fresh fruit for the table but, alas, it has stopped it's production of fruit for the season.

I wish we could eat the fruit of the lawn.  That mix of eragrostis and kikuyu is waging a war against the lawnmower.  Never mind, the winter will take over the labours of the lawnmower when the season changes.

Getting the garden sprayed with bug spray

Do you think it's a bit ambitious having someone come and spray the veggies with bug spray?  Perhaps a bit "over the top", as it were, (damn puns) but great fun to watch.

This plane was about thirty feet off the top of the maize at this point.   The pilot had to climb to get over the telephone line and the power line.  That's a 24 foot wooden telephone pole bellow the plane and the power poles are to my right (out of the pic).

I do so wish I was the pilot and I do miss my flying days, but that was so long ago.

These crop sprayer pilots are really good at what they do.  His turn around time landing, refilling the hopper, getting airborne and back to the fields again is around five minutes. Fantastic!  They do get a helping hand now days using GPS systems that mark the dropping lines in the fields.  In one circuit he sprayed three fields and then around again for the next run.  The three fields of maize were sprayed in about 35 minutes.  Now that saves a lot of labour and farm machinery wear.

Oh yes he did fly over the fence and in fact the power line on to of the pole on the right.

Over the maize and almost to our veggie patch

Of course he was a gentleman and did not disturb the cats too much.  Amazingly quiet these turboprop engines now days.

Then!  In the early afternoon the wind got up and blew hard at me and then the rain came bucketing down.  In twenty minutes we had 65 mm in the rain gauge.  We had a lot of hail along with the rain and the poor veggies got a good pounding. They survived pretty well, however and I collected a good handful of beans.

The Little factory got flooded and so production is at a halt.  A little bit of cleaning in the next few days and things will be back on track.

Drak Challenge Canoe Race: Umzimkulu River, Underberg

As I write this the first leg of the Drak Challenge is underway.  The start is at Castleburn where the Umlambanjwa river joins the Umzimkulu river.  In the past we have  had over one thousand entries, local and overseas, to this adventurous race.  Tomorrow the second leg of the race begins at 08:00 and the first canoe's should pass our cottage at around 11:00.  We have planned to go down to the river, which is about 50 metres from our front door, to watch.  We have some friends and relatives coming to join us so it should be an interesting day.  Hopefully the rain that is falling in the mountains today will raise the river for better racing on the second leg.

I may be able to put up some pic tomorrow evening so there will be more to see on this site.  So keep an eye out folks.

2012 We are in the future!

2012 We are in the future!

Dear family, friends and visitors,
We wish you all the very best for 2012 and may all your dreams for this year come true.
Kind regards and be happy.
Rob & Liz


2012 Мы находимся в будущем!

Дорогие семьи, друзей и посетителей,
Мы желаем вам всего самого наилучшего в 2012 году и, возможно, все ваши мечты на этот год сбываются.
С наилучшими пожеланиями и быть счастливым.
Rob & Liz


2012 We zijn in de toekomst!

Lieve familie, vrienden en bezoekers,
Wij wensen jullie allemaal het allerbeste voor 2012 en mogen al je dromen voor dit jaar uitkomen.
Met vriendelijke groet en gelukkig zijn.
Rob & Liz


2012 Wir sind in die Zukunft!

Liebe Familie, Freunde und Besucher,
Wir wünschen Ihnen alles Gute für 2012 und können alle Ihre Träume für dieses Jahr wahr werden.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen und glücklich sein.
Rob & Liz


2012 Mēs arī turpmāk!

Dārgie ģimene, draugi un apmeklētājiem,
Mēs vēlam jums visu labāko 2012 un visi var savus sapņus šogad piepildīsies.
Ar cieņu un būt laimīgs.
Rob & Liz


2012 Jesteśmy w przyszłości!

Drodzy rodziny, przyjaciół i gości,
Życzymy wszystkiego najlepszego w roku 2012 i może wszystkie swoje marzenia na ten rok się spełniły.
Pozdrawiam i być szczęśliwym.
Rob & Liz


2012 Rydym yn y dyfodol!

Annwyl teulu, ffrindiau ac ymwelwyr,
Dymunwn y gorau iawn ar gyfer 2012 ac efallai y bydd eich holl freuddwydion gyfer y flwyddyn hon yn dod yn wir.
Cofion cynnes a bod yn hapus.
Rob & Liz


2012 ми знаходимося в майбутньому!

Дорогі сім'ї, друзів і відвідувачів,
Ми бажаємо вам всього самого найкращого в 2012 році і, можливо, всі ваші мрії на цей рік збуваються.
З найкращими побажаннями і бути щасливим.
Rob & Liz