Crabs for grabs

How is that for a sweet water crab. I found it "frozen" on top of the dam. It measured about 15cm. The largest I have seen on the farm so far. Moana, the dog did quite ignore that strange "thing" and only briefly hovered her nose in striking distance of the shears, what a surprise this would have been for her.
Sydney has been planting out the veggies and now we check how much is left after the peacocks have detected the new patch.

Learning to twitter

I try to connect my blog to Facebook and twitter. This is just a test to see if it works.

Koos Kombuis

We had Koos Kombuis a very well known Afrikaans artist and his family staying with us this weekend. He was performing at the Breytenbach center here in Wellington.
Meanwhile Sydney has built a small hothouse for some organicly growing vegetables. The project is also an incentive to get our farm workers involved into growing their own food more effectively to not only feed their own families but also to generate some real income.
The weather is abit tricky, by the time it is not raining and the soil is firm enough for the tractor to drive on the field Murphies law kicks in and something breaks either on the tractor or the implement. My old "Fergi" tractor needs a newer brother soon or a major overhaul.

cleaning the "bankies"

We finally are getting around cleaning under the vines the good old way with a spade as this is one of our organic vineyards.
Mizzy has recovered and is eating healthily again. Sydney has build a small new hothouse and is busy with lots of vegetable seeds. Within two days small little leaves pushed out from the trays. It is always amazing to see nature in action when new life appears from a seed.
On a lesser good side is the continuing attack of vandals on the farm. This week the flags were not only stolen but just cut off.

Poor Mizzy

What a great game. South Africa can be proud of Bafana. Beating the French and still not make it into the knock-out phase of the World cup is no shame. We left the head up from the field. There is still Ghana to represent the continent. And in comparison the German team only made it by a tiny margin. They are top of the pack and just made it into the next round.
Well done Bafana we are all proud f you!
The pitiful picture shows our old lovable cat Mizzi after coming from the vet. She has a skin irritation as is constantly scratching and hurting herself. They shaved the poor thing and now she looks like one of the monsters in Stephen King film. But she is a tough cookie and will recover. She gets all the medication and love from us.

On the farm the leaves have fallen now and pruning season starts. The weather is sunny and enough rain makes everything green and lovely to look at.

Winter chill

(picture courtesy of mentaltoughness.blog.rugbyiq.com/?p=295)
The winter has us in the grip now. The temperatures have fallen and the vines begin to hibernate. It is important for the vines to get this rest but it has to be cold enough and long enough to take effect. Not so for us humans. We are sitting at the fireplace sipping red wine, while outside the rain is turning roads into rivers.
Today we had a serious blockage in the main storm water pipe. And as it turned out it was a pole planted in the center of the pipe by our well meaning thatcher when he tried to stabilize the large thatched umbrella to withstand the famous South Easter (a very strong local wind the Cape is known for).
Finally our wines destined to Europe have left the harbour. Export was seriously delayed by strikes. It is their democratic right to strike for better wages and the effect so short before the Worldcup gave them maximum exposure. So our apologies to our customers but we all have to take it in Africa time :o)
GO BAFANA BAFANA GO GERMANY Sorry Denmark :o( The whole nation is in Soccer Mania US TOO. Ines Even changed her name to Ines Bafana Schumacher ... Well done girl !!

Miss Winelands

The gorgeous finalist of the Miss Winelands Danielle van Staden visited us to promote a social awareness function for AIDS orphans. We added a case of our Eros Potion Rose to the cause. On the photo is Sydney, our winemaker and Danielle in our tasting room. We all hold thumbs for her to win the title of Miss Winelands as not only beauty speaks for her. She comes across as an outspoken, dynamic young woman with a winning smile and aura.
On the farm the leaves are falling and moss is growing in between the bricks and at the trees. The fireplace is roaring every evening now and hearty veggie soups are on the menu.

Segway and Religion

In our daily life on a wine farm we meet all kinds of people and we need services from builders, tilers, electricians and many more. Once in a while something unusual happens. It was this week asking for a maintenance service when we received the following letter from a man that made repairs before in the guest-house (not the winery).

"There is something i want to talk about. Was suppose to do it a long time, but i forgotten about it. I cannot do work for you anymore, because of my belief in God. I only found out a couple of months ago, that i cannot do any work for people that make wine and sell it to the public. My church belief that wine is the course of many breaking up of marriages, accidents, abuse, and etc. And the Bible teaches us that a wine drinker will not enter the kingdom of God. So many people are not going to heaven because of wine."

Is that the beginning of fanatic or just a devoted believer? Won't all the good people in this world be excluded except for the tea totalers?
I know, religion is not a subject to voice ones opinion in public, but I had to share this with you and I mean no offence to anyones believe.
On a lighter note, I took a break from all and spend a few days in Hermanus and as usual took my Segway with. Being used to be the only one I met to my surprise the sales team of Segway South Africa. A local reporter took the photo.
On the farm we dig trenches, regulate the water flow in between rains and do the general winter maintenance. The vines are dormant now and slowly loosing their leaves

Alpaca

The Rift Valley fever has been reported in the Western Cape. It is a disease spread by Mosquitos and attacks sheep, cows and also camelides to which group the alpacas belong. It can be transferred to human but only in very rare cases and only people who are long term in direct contact with the animals and have open woulds or assist with birth. We have had no sick animals and are hoping for cooler weather so the Mosquitos stop buzzing. As in most infectious diseases the symptoms are pretty similar to a typical starting cold and are for the most harmless for humans unless the person is very weak or sickly already.
Finally the late Autumn weather has shown up with rain and drop in temperature.
Time for a glass of red wine in front of a roaring fire place.

"Moan(a) Lise"

Why has this puppy got two names? Well, may I introduce the newest member of the family. We named her Moana Lise because she is as adorably beautiful and moans all the time when ever we leave her for a second. She is a Boerebul/Australian sheepdog cross and a bit timid, just right for the guest house. Balu our alpha dog was too lonely after Juliet, his mother died. I couldn't find a good breed boerbul female from reliable source that I liked and that "connected" like this little female puppy did. She is 8 weeks old and seems to be quite clever and in need of LTC which she is given plentiful by Lise (hence the puppies "family" name).
This week we will atempt again to bottle the "Champagne" and prepaire the soil for new planting if not another urgent repair is throwing us back again, as it just happend with the "grop" being toothless and the "disc" loosing its soul (meaning its axle which carries the discs).
Last week we went to see the Moscow Circus at Grand West. It was most impressive and a fabulous show, in fact one of the best I have ever seen.