Van Stadens

2017.06.19 As our next door neighbor Thomas does not want the pipe lane across the property anymore we agreed on an alternative route and Ellie and I went to check it out.   Here I look at the new buffalo game fence and how we are going to lead the pipe along it. The new […]

2017.06.14 Time to get some of the debris out of the arboretum and make it a bit more user-friendly again. Most of the old trees have been spared but the Widdringtonias along the netrance and the side have burnt so it is quite a job to remove them. Part chainsaw, part lopper but we will

2017.06.11 One can dwell on all the damage that the fire has done, all the signs gone, the bird hide gone, our water supply gone, picnic tables gone, some of the planting burnt etc. but that is pretty self-defeating so we try to look for the positives and the opportunities this new situation brings. For

2017.06.11 I’m catching up with this blog because it has been quite hectic after the fire which was the most extensive fire in the reserve for years. It apparently started in Longmore forest and, due to very strong westerly winds, made its way to the Van Stadens gorge and burnt large areas around Thornhill, Lady

2017.0.03 The monthly meeting for a change was not about work but about enjoying ourselves and we were curious how the forest coped with the drought. It was remarkable how dry and sparse the vegetation on the forest floor had become and how many leaves the trees had shed. A positive aspect of this was

In our efforts to find out the names of some of the plants in the reserve we made these collages and sent them to the experts. Senecio ruwenzoriensis Osteospermum polygaloides and we also wanted to find out the difference between the Widdringtonias. Amazing how much scope there still is to discover plants.

We carried on with the irrigation pipes in the arboretum to make life a little easier when watering the trees, just trying to keep on top of things. Later we worked in the nursery, mainly weeding and discovered these lovely Brunsvigias in one of the beds behind the misting house. We will keep an eye

We fooled ourselves into thinking that today would be a relaxing day as there wasn’t much on our to-do list which had been in any case left at home. By now we should know better. As Ellie had arranged for the ride-on mower to be fetched for service one of us had to stay behind

We may be overdoing it with the work parties judging by the bad turnouts but there is just so much to do. There may be light at the end of the tunnel as the cases of corruption and self-enrichment have been discovered in the municipality and one of the outcomes is that Goodman now has

We couldn’t wait to attach the hose connection and test last week plumbing and we were pleased with the outcome. For some reason the water pressure has been excellent lately and we had quite an impressive fountain. It took a bit of effort to collect some rocks to make it a bit more porcupine proof