Fabulous Farm Fun!

On the farm in the Bundus:

How shall we describe this? The farm house is situated on the top of a hill and has lovely views. It is a mixture of the old and the new. There is a farm house from I believe  the 18 hundreds and Nicki's brother David has built a complex next to the existing structure from containers. Not the high end structures we see on facebook, but for lack of a better description, simple and comfortable. How he got those containers over the farm road etc is commendable.

We had been positively nervous about the weekend as Ingrid had only met Nicki last week for an afternoon and had met David once before. Quite a couple of question marks... Where were we going? Who were we going to meet? What was in stall for us? I trust Nicki fully, but I think it would not be human not to at least have a reservation or two about the unknown.

Due to it being in the bundu's we were not expecting the usual "comforts of home". Electricity is provided by solar panels. Water I am guessing is from a bore hole or collected in the numerous tanks from the rainwater off of the rooves. I forgot to ask. When I say the usual comforts do not get me wrong. We had everything that we needed, but I suppose I would say that off grid is a better description. An ode to David's work. With fridges and freezers, a dishwasher and a gas stove we had all that we needed. They say that the uncertainty of an event is oftentimes worse than the event itself. The question of where were we going and what could we expect had been answered. Happy!

Meet the parents for Ingrid. I had only met Nicki's parents a few times and that more than 30 years ago. I was unsure of whether I would recognise them, but one glance and I got the facial recognition from the librarian in my brain who pulled the files. Yip. I remember them now! We immediately felt at home! Thank you.

We unpacked the car and moved into our room and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. It was time for a quiet beer. We sat and chatted with Nicki and Mom and Dad until the guests arrived. Brother Dave and his lovely wife arrived as did the other couple of couples. From this point on names have been changed to protect the innocent!

My initial thought was that this is a mxed bunch of fruit. I do not know how to put it...Perhaps I should save the rod and spare the child on this one.  Perhaps I should just dive in with my feeling. Individually they are an absolute wonderful bunch of people. A wonderful bunch of people who had met through their kids and had developed a strong friendship over the years. How special that they get along so well, albiet that they are to my mind so different. More input required.

For dinner we all braaied over the fire and had all brought our own meat. Salads miraculously appeared from the background crew. There was enough for everyone and we enjoyed a few drinks around the fire and then sat down where we could find place to enjoy our meal. Some persons drank more than others and I sometimes wondered how Ingrid was feeling and finding the company of these stangers. I looked at her every now and again and could tell that I did not need to worry about her. She was taking part in conversations and by the end of the night we had thoroughly been entertained by stories for one or the other.

One of the things that I love about the South African is their story telling abilities. Often mixed with consumption of alcohol, a story told around a fire is one of the most entertaining ways to spend an evening. A story probably began an eon ago, but has been embelished on and added to so that the story being told is a magnificent mix of truth and added extras. And that is a truye story! LOL! A barrel of laughs later we hit the sack and not long after the evening was quiet. The sounds of Africa took over and possibly a few noises from the humans on the farm.

The next morning the "camp" slowly awoke. One by one the cockroaches crawled out of the woodwork. Coffee central! Whoever poured the last cup out of the kettle put a new one on for the next person. Everything seemed to flow so effortlessly and since we are changing names to protect the innocent, "Craig" was not going to do anything. He is the 2nd laziest person on earth, by own admission! Craig was also a great story teller.

Ingrid and I took our coffee out around the complex to go drink under the tree at the provided seating. The sun was coming up and there were sheep checking us out across the lawn. Funny creatures they are. Papa Ed came out to join us and we chatted a while. Lovely to talk about real issues and not the shit that people read in papers. Time for breakfast. Once again people just did. Nobody asked or ordered, people just saw what needed to be done and did. That would be unusual in Holland.

After brekkie we got ready for the picnic. Most would drive and 5 of us would walk. 4 vehicles went packed with the necessities for the afternoon braai in the bush. Remember that this is in the gamadoelas (bundus). One has to take everything with one as there are no facilities but the bush in the bush. We, the walkers set off on the approx 4km walk and the cars followed and overtook us at some point. We arrived at the clearing and all helped to unload the vehicles. The Mig had made an appearance at the picnic. We learn every day and have since learned that we should alter the Mig's name to "The Old Lady". She needs no protection.

A fire was made in the braai and boerewors rolls went down a treat. One and the other enjoyed a consumption and some stories from last night had to be retold, but this time by another party who was also a witness. Two sides to the story and now I do not know who to believe? The weather was lovely and the braai was great and we sat and stood and chatted to the closest ear. It almost felt sad to have to pack up and leave.

The walking party had been downsized by 1 as Ingrid had had her weekly dose of pills and is not the strongest walker in the heat at the best of times. Prevention is better than cure. She got into the back of 1 vehicle and they left for the farm. We walked home and it was a beautiful walk along a creek bed and up a mountain and across the grassy plains. We stopped off on the farm at the original farm building which was in a severe state of decay. Boy one of the rooms there felt so neutral. Like a peace was being imposed on you and you had no desire or strength to resist. I could have stayed there for a lot longer, but we pushed on home to the rest of the group and a swim in the pool (Plastic tub about the size of a jaccuzzi). Wonderful!

Saturday night was the party night. We had in fact been invited to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Nicki and David's parents. Tables were laid (No thanks to Lazyboy) and Ingrid was tasked with the job of collecting pine cones as part of decoration on the table. The festivities began under the tree where Ingrid and I had sat drinking coffee that morning. David would play master of ceremonies in a small "fines" meeting. People were fined for things and had to drink a shot of Captain Jack (Tequila drinky thing). If one talked while David was talking they had to down a shot as punishment. Ingrid got fined 3 times in a row before she learnt that quiet is quiet!

David did a great job and the speeches were meaningful and there was laighter and joy in abundance. After the formalities we collected ourselves in the courtyard around the fire and stories were told, drinks were drunk and food was prepared. A feast for Kings for each to dish up for themselves and chitting and chatting. I sat next to Uncle Dave, who is a couzin and owns the farm and other land in the area. I would like to expand on this, but feel that is not my place to do so.

I sat enthralled by the history lesson that Uncle Dave gave me and the evolution of the area. Who was who in that region and the how and what. Fascinating and going back generations! I got a sense of belonging and being connected to the land as his story had a parallel with my family who had farms further away and had generations of life lived there.

After the gorgeous cake we sat around the fire and somehow I was dancing (not my thing) in the crowd. I dunno, the scene just lent itself to it. Ingrid loves a dance and she was also on the floor doing her exotic moves (in my mind anyhow). Now that was a perfect day! I have long sworn not to let a hangover spoil the next day, so I did not succomb to peer pressure and that was duely accepted. On the other hand I did succumb to "Dave the Rave" and his machine! I can not describe the thing exactly because what happens on the farm stays on the farm! Lazyboy kept us entertained with a well rehearsed dance routine and we laughed and laughed. He may be lazy, but he got moves baby!

Once again it was not easy to tear ourselves away, but it was time for bed.