Hello Goodbye

Hello Goodbye

Sorry for the absence again guys, but in the Christmas/pony camp rush, we have all been on the go constantly. The weather for pony camp has been truly abysmal and as per usual, as soon as the kids got in the car to go home, literally in that moment, the sun came out, and it has been bright and sunny ever since. What an absolute bummer! But we still had an awesome time though. On the last day Ali drove us all up to Forest Creek and we went on a four hour hike to the waterfalls. It was sooo beautiful and the forest felt like a real rainforest. I felt like I was in a Lara Croft game. Although, we found out later that somehow we had gone to the wrong waterfall, and the one we should have gone to was a huge one where we can swim....damn. But still, it was awesome! Had a great day. Saying goodbye to Stephan, Marli and Kasey was sad. They are all so full of life and bubbly in their own ways. They were hard work but I really was sad to see them go! And I cant believe how empty the house feels without them!

The Gitzner family with their donations for the school

But, living on a guest farm means that every time you are saying goodbye, you are inevitably saying hello to someone else. On the Friday that the kids all left camp, we were welcomed by the Gitzner family from Dubai! The Mum and Dad, Karin and Frederick, their nine year old daughter Gabriella, and Fredericks son, Armarie. They arrived late on the Friday night with their two friends and their two children, so a big group. Karin, Frederick, Gabriella, and Armarie are all here for three weeks, so they will be with us over Christmas and New Year! They are such a wonderful family, on the Saturday night they invited Edith and I to join them for a braii and we got to know eachother. Karin is a joburg girl and from South Africa, as are their friends, so I was very happy to hear them tell me that I had easily adopted a lot of the South African mannerisms. For example I always say “yar” instead of “yes”, I now use the phrase “aw shame” (very South African), if I am leaving I say “See you now now” (and as Edith says, saying this can technically mean “see you never”, haha), and if someone thanks you for anything I now say “pleasure”. I am also hand feeding my injured Rock Kestrel, Hope, every day, so I want to know what else I have to do before I get my South African Citizens badge, because you dont get more of a bush girlany where else!

But yes, the braii was beautiful, braii'd meat is honestly the best thing ever and it certainly was an improvement on the pasta I was going to make for us! The family are really awesome. Frederick works as a hotel manager, Karin works as a teacher, Armarie is studying Hospitality at Port Alfred here in South Africa, and Gabriella is of course at school haha. As Karin is a teacher, and since the whole family is very much into giving back to the community, they were very interested in the school and even brought all these fabulous paints, pencils, scissors, etc for the kids! Which was really lovely of them, and I am positive they will come in use.

And now on to the sad part of my blog. 1. Edith left the farm to go back to Germany this morning, and 2. last night, our goat Tammy (the goat that was shot in the jaw and therefore has her tongue sticking out) went into labour yesterday at 11am and at 9pm last night, exhausted nad knackered, she finally gave birth to her baby, which Ali had to pull out of her, but it was just too late and we lost the baby. So, Edith's last night was not the best one I have to say. It was just so terrible, we all thought that maybe she had had a fake pregnancy, because us and the Gitzner family sat for hours on Sunday watching her from a distance and nothing happened. But literally, the moment we all sat down for dinner last night, we heard the screams of Tammy coming from the stable and we all rushed out. Gosh, it was so sad. The baby was so perfect. But he was already gone before we could do anything. The labour was too long and exhausting for her. Poor Tammy, she was so tired that in between pushing she would fall asleep, but she cried for that baby, cleaning it, and nuzzling it, doing everything she could to get it to wake up. It was so heart breaking. It really was. At this very moment I am writing my blog from the stables where I am watching over her until Ali gets back from dropping Edith off at the Bushveld taxi. It is so sad to see her so distressed, crying for her little one....we are debating putting her in with the baby goats Uli and Rosie, since their mum died they have had to be surrogated onto other mums, who hate them. But we are hoping that Tammy might be so desperate to be able to mother something that she might go for it and it might offer her some comfort.

I can't believe Edith has gone. I really can't. One moment me and Ali were waiting for her and her family to arrive in the dark over at the cottage, and the next minute she is off and away. She was really one of the sweetest girls ever, always willing to lend a hand, always happy to help. And when I got to know her she was so hilarious as well, and I have to admit it, a much better pool player than me haha, although that isnt saying much as I suck at pool! But, seriously, where has this time gone. Where did those six weeks go? In fact, where has the last five months gone? Now I can see why people can do whole gap years away from home, I always thought that was too long, but now I see that the time just flies by.

In other news, our volunteer who was meant to be joining us for 8 weeks from 16^th January, Nadia, has dropped out of coming! Apparently South Africa has too much of a dodgy reputation. I mean I can understand it kind of, what with the fiasco of the interpreter the other day.....but still, I cant believe she isnt coming! I mean, we arent really in a lot of trouble since Ali is now emplying Ness, one of our kids Thando's mother, to come work at the school, and the next volunteer Karna arrives the day after I leave. So, essentially, it doesnt matter, but I am a bit concerned that I wont have any time with any volunteer to show them the timetable and system that we work to here. I may have to start writing a guide for Karina so that she has something to follow when she is lost, because all the volunteers have been taught by the previous volunteer, so it is a bit of a bummer that I get no time with them, but never mind! Que sera sera! Everything happens for a reason right ?

So, all in all, that is the news from here on the Lydenrust farm. Tomorrow we have Ali's daughter Noogs arriving with her dog for the Christmas festivities, we have the staff Christmas party on Thursday, Danie arrives from Dubai on Friday, and I think his son Toni arrives next Monday with his girlfriend Charlene. So it is going to be a busy week of hectic comings and goings with lots of Christmas activities going on and people coming home. I have six weeks left on the farm. I hope it goes slower than Edith's six weeks.....Lekker Slaap everyone, sweet dreams xxxxx

pony camp continued...

Monday

So, I said I would up date you all on what happened yesterday. Well, first of all I took Stephan and Kasey out on a little ride to build up their confidence. I took Kasey in the ring first and got her to practice walking and controlling the horse. She was riding Duncan and man he was being na ughty for her. Horses know when there is an inexperienced rider on their backs, and boy do they play up to it! He was being very naughty and lazy, but as soon as I got on him he behaved! In the words of one of our kids, Liesbeth, “naughty pony!”. Anyway, after the ring work we headed out on our little ride round the forest. Marley went with Edith and Ali because she has a lot more confidence on horse back. But I was very proud of my two, they trotted and everything without any screams haha.

After, we decided to take the dogs out and stopped off at the big dam on the mountain where we swam with the dogs, it was so much fun! I jumped in so many times, swam to the bottom and did handstands in the water. It was like being a kid again, messing around in the water. And the dogs loved it, they were having a whale of a time! When we had swam all we could, we came back and we set up the tents for our evenings camping. I am so proud of my awesome tent making ability! I have found my calling in life, and it is setting up tents! I didnt need any help and I didnt need to call Ali for any help muhahaha. I may suck at DIY and painting, but I knew there was a master outdoorsman inside of me ! After I made lunches for everyone ready for our hike up to the top of the mountain overshadowing the Lydenrust Farm. We headed up and unfortunately Marleys knee started hurting so Marley and Kasey headed back after our little lunch by the graveyard and me, Edith, and Stephan headed up. Man it was hard! The climb up there at the end is a killer on the legs! Stephan wanted to turn back a lot but Edith and I started singing “I like to move it, move it” from Madagascar at the top of our lungs until he either a. got motivated, or b. was so disturbed by our voices that he decided to keep going! Haha, probably the latter....

But boy, it was worth it! The view from the top was incredible! And the best is yet to come! When we reached the top, Edith looked down and was all shocked, I came over to see what she was talking about and she had found an injured Rock Kestrel! It was so beautiful! There was definitely something wrong and so I decided to catch it, which I did, with great success and we discovered it had an injured wing and could not fly. So, we headed down the mountain and showed Ali. We took him to a falconer near by and we found out that a vet would cost R8,2OO to try and fix the wing and that in most cases, the bird wont survive. So we got advice about what the bird eats and we took him back to the farm and put him into the aviary, where he still is now. I have been feeding him ever since on raw chicken. He has really gotten into it and he is such a beautiful bird. I wistle to him when I feed him and he doesnt nip my fingers at all, he just takes the meat! I feel like I am in the world of Harry potter, and this is now my letter carrier, like Hedwig haha, I am so cool!

In the evening we had a lekker braii at Brumby House with chicken and sausage while playing Battleship, Mastermind, and pool. It was so friggen cool, except when it came to start camping and it began chucking it down with rain....and suddenly no one wanted to camp any more! I was all for staying and toughing it but the rain got even worse and eventually even Stephan and I gave in and trudged back to the house. I have to admit, a warm comfy bed with dry pillows was a lot more appealing than a half flooded tent..... And thus the end of Monday arrived. I slept like an absolute log, as soon as my head touched the pillow I was out for the count!

Tuesday

I was out for the count last night, but ohhhhh I did not want to get out of bed this morning! Although, I was surprisingly full of energy after my coffee. The weather was terrible, and has remained so ALL day! It is like God wants us to have a bad pony camp because the weather clears up and goes back to sunny on Friday.....when pony camp ends! Grggggrrrrr! But it didnt stop us from heading out on a ride this morning. Just for a little walk, but still, we got out there regardless! After, Ali said that because of the weather we were going to have a road trip, to try and drive out of this bad weather and go somewhere nice. So we packed our lunches and headed out to the house that looked like a shoe, and the echo caves! It was such a nice day, it really was. We drove and drove and eventually came to our first pit stop where we had an ice cream and visited this awesome shop which sold wood furniture, which sounds boring but the stuff was so incredible! They had this table that takes a whole year to make out of one piece of wood. But it cost R12O,OOO which is around £8,OOO in English money! That is absolutely insane, especially if you could see where this shop was! It is in this little town, populated by poor farmers who earn R1,OOO a month, and the town constitutes of a garage, a police station, and a very pretentious furniture shop. Although, I have said that if I win the lottery that I will buy Ali the table haha.

After we headed to the Shoe, which was cool but it was a bit weird, and slightly creepy as it was filled full with old dolls which always creep me out....and oddly, even though the place was very religious with pictures of Jesus everywhere, it had a very graphic naked sculpture of a naked woman in the bedroom, which was just a little bit strange! Needless to say we didnt stay for long, but it was fun.

After, we went to the Echo caves which were soooo cool! They were used as a hide out by these tribespeople to hide from the Swazis and we were shown all the graveyards, kitchens and bedrooms, and the alarm section. If you hit the rock with a hammer, the sound travels for miles.

And this evening we are having another pool tournament and the kids want to try camping again but we will see how that goes......because the rain is getting even harder! I am so tired now so I will update you all tomorrow, Lekker Slaap everyone xxxxxx

Mountain climbing and Kestrel rescue!

Hope, our injured Rock kestrel, we found her at the top of the mountain ! She is soo awesome!

Hello! Oh my gosh I am once again so tired! But the good kind of tired after a really good, action packed day. I cant say much as I have a bunch of kids who are this moment camping oover at Brumby House as we speak, and if I leave them for too long, who knows what they will do, or burn down, or break!

We have had such a busy day, we have had trail rides, mountain climbs, braii, and tonight we are camping! It has been so good and I promise I will write about it all tomorrow when I have set them up with a movie and I can slip away to write this bad boy. Lekker Slaap all, I know I am going to be sleeping like a log haha xxxx

And pony camp begins!

Well, so much for my plan of writing my blog earlier! But we have been SO busy today that there just wasnt time! The kids arrived very early! Me and Edith hadnt even finished our morning ride and they were already here! Ah, my morning ride is literally my favourite moment of the day. When I take my baby pocket rocket Blue out, and we go to the gallop strip and we just tear up that strip like a racehorse and jockey. It is honestly the most freeing and wonderful moment, it really is ! And the weather at the moment is so lekker for riding, lovely and cool !

 pony camp gang! Me, Edith, Stephan, Marley, and Kasey! <3

Anyway, after our awesome ride, we arrived back at the stables to find Stephan, Marley, and Kasey all here and ready for pony camp action! We let the horses out and started our day! We began with changing into our costumes, taking the dogs for a walk and going for a swim in the big dam. Ah it was so much fun swimming around, but oh my gosh I am not swimming fit! None of us were! We were all knackered after a few lengths and had to get out and go home haha but back at the house we returned to the dam in the garden and hung around there on the surf boards and rubber rings in the sun. Ah it was so nice. And the kids are so awesome! Kasey I have met before a couple of times, and she is the sweetest, most lovely girl ever. And the twins are awesome! Marley is so cool and Stephan is hilarious! He has had me laughing literally all day, he is such a character! Especially when we asked him where England was and he asked if it bordered with Dubai. Ali responded with "yes, England borders Dubai and Zimbabwe". Ah I thought I was going die to laughing at him. We even got the Atlas out to teach him where all the countries were. The best moments were when he thought Sweden was in America, and that Italy was India haha! So now we have decided that instead of pony camp, Edith and I must start running school with them.....especially with focus on Geography!

Stephan on Scotty, and me on my baby Blue !

After the swimming we decided to do a hike up the mountain to visit the time capsule, but we got a quarter of the way up the hill and they were all knackered! Mainly because they all came from Joburg and had been up since 3am! So we had a picnic on the hill and we are going to do the hike tomorrow instead. During the hike though, we encountered a black and red grasshopper. Now, I should have known not to have listened to city kids, but Stephan told us all that this was a poisonous grasshopper, a deadly poisonous grasshopper, so in the end I had to kill it to calm them all down. I later found out that this was a perfectly harmless grasshopper, so I feel really bad about executing a sentient being....I have to say, I said a few words in sadness for the poor grasshopper!

 Keeping it natural.....

Strike a pose ladies!

Then we watched a film and sat and chatted until it was time to get the horses ready for the first ride of pony camp. Well, it didnt go well because we were out for 2minutes and a thunder storm came rolling in and we had to high tail it home! Oh well! We will try for tomorrow morning and see how it goes!

And in the evening we just had Alis famous Coca Cola Chicken and chatted until bed time! It has been tiring but a really fun day! I cant wait for the rest of pony camp! Lekker Slaap all! xxxx

Lets make sports

Today has been my day of getting out and being active. One of the best things about being here, I have to say, is getting back in touch with the notion of making your own fun. As corny as that sounds, it is actually a lot of fun to do basic things again like hikes, horse riding, running etc. I got up and it was so dull and dark! I am loving the weather for sports, lovely and cool, but I am not loving the constant threat of rain and the overcast, depressing look it puts on everything! But, apparently it is here for another week.....lucky us!

Tomorrow is the start of pony camp! We have three kids coming in, twins Stephan and Marley, and Ali and Danies Granddaughter Kasey. I am so excited to have them here and for all the activities we will be doing! It should be such a fun week!

But yes, a busy day of exercise. I am sorry i dont have alonger post, i feel like I have been neglecting my blog a bit! I think it is because I write it at the very end of the day when my brain is like mush. Tomorrow i shall write it earlier on and get a more comprehensive writing going on! Lekker Slaap all xxxx

"I am sorry, thats my Zulu name"

In Zulu, you have your Zulu name and your English name. Now, todays comedy moment came from Edith, attempting to use Ali's credit card in Spar and having to sign for it. She didnt realise you could sign any name and panicked when she started to write "Edith" instead of "Ali". Don't worry though, she had a great excuse. "Ah, I am sorry, Edith is my Zulu name". LMAO! Best excuse for credit card fraud ever hahahaha Ah it was brilliant. 

This of course occured during our weekly town trip to get the groceries. We headed out super early and despite this, we didnt even get back to the farm until 2pm! We also had to pick up some school stuff donated by the Lydenbubrg Junior school, which was really kind of them. They were clearing out their old stuff to make way for the new and we got all the old stuff. It was very thoughtful, although, the old copy of the Yellow pages went to our farm worker Little George. Ali just saw the Yellow pages and said "George, there is a book here for you to smoke" haha. I laughed so much, you see, apparently they use the yellow pages as great paper for their cigarettes. Ah it was funny. 

So, when we got back from town we had all the sorting to do and figuring out what went where. Until it was time for animals when Edith and I went on a trial ride, and we came back to find that one of the goats horns had completely come off! His brain is exposed and everything! Truly horrible! He had been fighting with Jack the other male goat, and all we can do now is hope he lasts the night until Ali can get into town and get him an injection pain killer. poor thing, he must be in agony!

poor thing, anyway, it is really late and I have accidentally wasted most of time on Facebook haha! Lekker Slaap all night night xxxx 

Tears at party time.

Today has flown by, it has been quite a day. Today was the kids Christmas party at Spur. And I didnt expect it to be as emotional and highly charged as it was.
But, from the beginning, I awoke rather early this morning to M.J the rooster at my door crowing into my room....I have had alarm calls from Baby the cat before, but this is a first on the rooster front. He was brought in last night to keep him out of the storm and I have to say, I can see why farmers never sleep in, because it is impossible to sleep through the crowing of those things!

The home made stockings for the kids, made by Lindie and Mené Welgemoed!

 As I was up early anyway, I put the spare time to good use and packed up the bakkie with all the Christmas boxes for the kids and starting taking the horses temperatures so we had a head start on the day. We were so worried at first because everyone was saying that Liesbeth, one of our students, would not be coming as she didnt know about the party. So we were all distraught, thinking she was missing her Christmas party when she turned up. I actually really miss the kids so when we headed off to town, I volunteered to ride in the back with them, just so I could have some more time in their company. I kind of realised today how much they are my world now. When we arrived in town, one of the kids realised I was ticklish on my feet and suddenly all of them were attacking me and tickling me and I was laughing hysterically trying to get them to stop. They seemed to think it was lots of fun seeing teacher Rosie in fits haha.

 Grace and Maggi

The girls with their preschool graduation certificates and teddies!

When we arrived at Spur, we found Lindie, Johnnie, J.L, Leonard, and Mené, all waiting for us! They are such a wonderful family and had organised loads of presents for the kids which they had bought. So, they joined us in the play area and we all enjoyed watching them play. Well, I say I watched, it was more me playing just as much as them. The best thing about kids is that you can do all the crazy childlike stuff that you miss from your childhood, without looking weird. For example, I was running round like a lunatic with the kids today, going round and round and round on the slides, doing races to the top and making pile ups, which would have been really weird if I wasnt there with kids, but since I was, I am just viewed as the awesome teacher haha, little do they know I was having a great time myself lol

percy, the little charmer, who decided to wink at us all all day haha 

The kids with their Christmas blankets!

The kids all had their cool drink, chips and ice cream, which melted SO fast. In the end, Thando came up to me with her spit and slobbered covered soggy cone and gave it to me saying she was "sharing" with me. I just eyed it up and smiled and thanked her haha. I promptly put it in the bin..... But oh my gosh, they were so excited! We had present opening, and face painting, and of course, the kids got to visit their favourite attraction! THE HAND DRYER! hahahahhaha oh man, those kids were washing and re drying their hands constantly....so sweet.

 Liesbeth and I

Charlotte, carrying her Xmas presents home <3 such a cutie !

When it was time to go, I realised that, due to news we had had this morning, which was about the fact that Liesbeth will now be living in town with her mama from now on and will not be returning to school, it really hit me when Ali said I should say goodbye when we dropped her off as it could be the last time we all saw her. From day one I have loved Liesbeth. She is the happiest, most dramatic, crazy, animated, loving little girl there is. And when I hugged her to say goodbye, I just burst into tears. I couldnt help it, I just cried and cried, I tried not to and I had to pretend to the kids that I was sick and had hayfever. I was just so upset. Even though I still have two months left on the farm, it really hit me that with the holidays, and many of the kids going to big school, I may never see some of them again. And it hit sooo hard, it was horrible. My whole life for the past four and a bit months, has been those children. I know every single one, I know which jersey belongs to who, I can tell who is crying even if I cant see them, I know when they are sad or happy, I know each of their personalities like the back of my hand.....and to think that in such a short time, soon they will just be a memory is upsetting. To think that I have to go back into a life that doesnt include them truly hurts. I tried not to let how upset I was show, I didnt want to ruin their happy day, so I just sat with them and appreciated the time we had.

 Happy Girls <3

Saying goodbye is never easy.....Love you Liesbeth....

I love these kids more than anything now, and I really never thought I would ever say that about kids. But to me, they are my kids. When I go home, I will be so happy to see my family and friends, but leaving and saying goodbye to these kids, to the life I have here, is going to be one of the hardest things I will ever have to do. I was sobbing from saying goodbye to one child today, I dont even want to think of what I will be like when I have to say goodbye to everything......But, I will put that to the back of my mind, and appreciate the time I do have here, Christmas is around the corner, and 2O14 will be here before you know it. Lekker slaap all, sweet dreams xxxxx

Clear out

Hey, sorry I havent blogged, but for some reason, my blogger account kept saying it had been logged out from a different place, and then whenever I tried to post what I had written it just wouldnt. And when i tried to reload, it lost my whole post. I was very much unamused! Anyway, so I guess I need to update you all on the goings on! Well, on Monday Edith, Ali and I all took a trip to Nelspruit to do our Christmas shopping. Since we have the kids Christmas party, pony camp, guests, Ali and Danies family coming in, etc, this was literally the only day up to Christmas that we had to get off the farm and get some of it done. I am very proud to say that I actually got all my presents and I only had three nervous break downs! I mean, I love shopping malls and I love shopping....but for me....not others. I hate trying to find presents for people on a budget, if I had lots of money then I would have been great and gotten wonderful gifts, but all that said, I think I got some really nice things. I even wrapped all my gifts last night as well! Talk about organised! I am mucho proud of myself! I cant believe Christmas is just over three weeks away! How crazy is that! I just dont believe it is Christmas, it cant be Christmas when I can sunbathe in a bikini. It has to be cold and snowy !

Anyway, at Nelspruit, poor Ali didnt really do any of the fun side of shopping, as she has done her back in when she tried to move a bed and had to go to hospital to get pain meds and an xray. Luckily it looks like a muscular problem, but it didnt make her day any better! And, me and Edith are gutted because we realised on the way BACK home, that we could have gone to the cinema and seen the new Hunger Games film! Soooo devastated I didnt think about that! Gutted! But I guess that would have defeated the idea of spending the day thinking of others! So maybe for the best!

Today, we have had a massive clear out of the house in preparation of the Xmas festivities and I am proud to say that we have made the house spotless. I am very proud of having alphabetized the DVD collection! Haha! But Ali has pushed herself too far and her back hurts some more! In the afternoon Edith and I had a bit of a road trip and dropped off some things from the clear out to the village close to us. I saw some of our kids and I miss them! Little patience came running up to me and hugged me, it was so sweet! I also thought it was hilarious that she always comes to school in immaculate clothes, with polished hair and looking complete, but today her hair was wild and she had mucky t shirt and shorts on. She is still the cutest thing on the planet. I am sure her parents would be OK with me bringing her home....totally....

Then we had to head into town to get some pigeon food. I am so proud of myself, I was on the verge of breaking and buying cigarettes, I SO wanted to smoke it was insane. But, I was very good, and I bought a magazine instead haha

Oooo and tomorrow we have the special party at Spur for the kids! And the Welgemoeds are coming to give them their presents as well, I am so excited. I plan on sliding and playing more than the kids will. Eeeeee, very excited to see them all, and to see their faces when they get their presents! I will upload photos so you can see as well! Lekker Slaap all! xxxxxx