An Autumn Heatwave
The March Lily continue; Moorrees and a playdate with Bagel; first time at Kruistementvlei Farm
After thinking that autumn and its coolness had at last arrived, the weather gods came with a heatwave, starting on Tuesday and Wednesday with temperatures in the 40’s. The rest of the week we still had high 30’s.
On Sunday morning, Bowie and I got up a little late, 7 am, when Toby walked into the kitchen. I cannot wait for Toby to walk into the bedroom before getting up. That’s where I keep Bowie’s food, and he is very protective when it comes to his food, treats and toys.
After publishing last week’s Substack, I split a sourdough that’s been fermenting since last Tuesday. Rye and wholemeal flour. I don’t add sugar until I bake the bread, which makes the dough a little sour. The longer fermentation is supposed to help with gluten breakdown; I’ve become more sensitive with age. Inspired by my sandwich at De Kleine Stoor on Thursday, I’ve added dried chilli, seeds removed, and honey to the dough. I don’t have an oven and use an air-fryer: 180C for 45 minutes, then leave it to cool in the air-fryer.
Then I took the dogs for a walk. It being Sunday, we walked a bit further, around the koppie [hill]. Sometimes, Toby will come along and then our pace is a little slower, more rustig. The sun was climbing over the koppies, which lit up the Parasol Lily and Blood Lily. Lanterns of colour and joy in the ash-coloured landscape.
At times, I can hear the voeltjies [birds] twittering, doves cooing, even bees. Most of the time, it’s Toby’s sniffling, which brings its own joy. Bowie roams, sniffing and discovering. At the dam, Bowie goes for a cooldown, Toby’s not interested.
The fynbos is displaying good recovery now, with sprouting leaves on some trees and what seems to be new flowers developing on one tree. A conebush (genus Leucadendron)?1
After trying beef spleen for the first time last week, which was quite nice, I decided to get some ‘beef bible’2 yesterday while perusing the freezer section in Spar. It took some cooking until the tripe was soft, more than an hour in a pressure cooker. Definitely edible, unless you’re the pizza type.
I spent the afternoon working on my KUDU Journal, which has deadline the end of this month. I got some useful comments on my first draft; good editor guidance is always helpful. The style is different from by usual Substack stories, which does make it challenging in a “I’m learning” way.
Bowie and I then went for a walk; Toby was with his Ma. After a hot afternoon, the day was starting to cool down a bit (an overnight low of 18C is predicted, the fan will be blowing). Bowie was quite patient as I was photographing the blommetjies, which had a different glow in the evening sunlight.
On Monday, something was wrong! After taking the dogs for an early walk, I overcame a large dose of procrastination:
My German bank documents are on their way to Germany. One letter from Piketberg and the same letter from Namibia, by courier.
Also checked all my UK banking, keeping a record of interest accrued for the taxman.
My second draft of the KUDU Journal story has been submitted to the editor. I have made substantiative changes and hope they address the editor’s comments and advice.
After reading a Substack by Robbie Thorpe3, about pancreatic cancer and regular medical check-ups, I’ve made an appointment with a local GP for a roadworthy and bloods (I’ve been meaning to see a Dr since January, as my last PSA and glycosylated haemoglobin was last year around this time)
Ja, a nice catchup with E.v.Z, previously from Leeuwenboschfontein guest farm in the Koo valley between Touws River and Montagu.
This week is going to get hot, so we’ll restrict physical activities to the mornings and evenings. Bowie’s pool has been refilled, and the fan is blowing in the kitchen.
Bowie spent most of the day snoozing in any cool spot that he could find.
On our evening walk, Bowie spotted the guinea fowl again and ran off after them. This time I noticed that he runs around them, as if they are sheep, and then gets very confused when they split into different groups. I do feel that he’s got a natural instinct for herding animals - it’s a shame that we don’t live on a sheep farm anymore. That said, we both love it here op die berg.
On Tuesday it was time for my annual medical examination, this time in Piketberg. My appointment was for 9 am, I eventually saw the doctor at 9:30. Poor Bowie, he’s been sitting in the car for an hour and was quite hot by the time I got back. Lots of water and open windows on the drive to Moorreesburg helped cool him down.
I had a list of questions for the doctor, which included blood tests. I’m overweight, possibly type 2 diabetic and I had a high blood pressure4. Things to work on, dit weet ek [that I know]. I used to teach this stuff, biochemistry and metabolism, and sometimes even used myself as an example.
Me: “Can I can get a pancreas blood test?”
Doctor looks at me quizzically: “Hoekom?” [Why?] (we were speaking mengels)
Now I’m confused: “My laaste Dr het dit aanbeveel” [My previous GP advised an annual check]. “PSA!”5
Ah, prostate! Not pancreas. Somehow, I was thinking about one organ and said another.
Also had an ECG done (I don’t have a clue) and was advised to have a colonoscopy and chest x-ray in 2 years (65 years; my last one was at 55 years). A slightly enlarged prostate - let’s see what the PSA shows.
Then we drove to Moorreesburg, where Bowie had a playdate with Bagel and I was meeting M.B. for a catchup geselsie [chat]. The food at Moorrees Bakery is always exceptional; MB had a Greek flatbread; I had the Mexican Chimichanga. And two vanilla milkshakes to go.
Bagel and Bowie had a nice play, though this time they stayed on the shady stoep. The garden was safe. After our last visit, Jonas the gardener, had mumbled “Daai ****** hondjies” when he came in the next day. Said with a wry smile, Bagel spends all day with Jonas, even carrying in his bag when he gets to working in the mornings.
The stoep was a bit wet when we left, as the dogs had a big water bowl that they regularly drank out of. Nothing that a quick mop wouldn’t remedy.
It was hot on the drive back to the cottage. My car was showing 44C at the bottom of the Versfeld Pass, 41C when we got to the cottage. A shower, wet towel and fan worked for me; Bowie didn’t like the towel and just went to lie in front of the fan.
Then the fan ‘died’, we had a power cut somewhere. No tripped switches that we could find. Fortunately, some sections of the main house still had electricity and C.S. found a long lead so that I had some power in the cottage: fridge, fan and Wi-Fi.
There was a breeze starting up, so I took Bowie for a walk. Hearing a tractor on the next-door plaas and being inquisitive, I went to have a look. It was Foreman Frank, who I know from buying peaches, grading the road that had washed away a bit after the cloud break a few weeks ago. Another one of those time-consuming jobs on a farm that nobody sees.
Pa was bit concerned on Wednesday morning, as neither Bowie nor Toby were anywhere to be seen. Unusual, one of them usually wakes me. Bowie with a wet-nose nudge or Toby with his sniffling.
I checked the gates, all closed, a then walked to the pool with some trepidation. There was Bowie, lying next to Toby. Too mooi, like two bikini-clad vroutjies next to the pool. They didn’t offer me a cocktail but followed me back to the cottage. A small treat, and they we both lying on the stoep outside the cottage.
A hot day lay ahead, and we went for a walk before the sun came up.
An electrician came to have a look at our electricity problem and quickly had it sorted. We are linked to Eskom; a fuse had tripped at the connection to their power lines. We’ve learnt something new and know where to look next time. Just before the electrician left, I noticed a tattoo on one of his biceps: the mark of an electrician, powerlines running around his arm.
“Dit is nou nie asof ek ‘n plumber gaan word nie,” [It’s not as if I’m going to become a plumber] he explained the tattoo. Not a bad thing, I wouldn’t want to know what that tattoo would look like.
Fortunately, it was bearable indoors with the fan blowing and the window blinds closed (app says 38C). However, it was 48C in Clanwilliam and Cape Town was also suffering.
I got one of those ‘memory’ reminders on Facebook. The Nuwerus plaas dogs: Lexi, Sheila, Boeta and the new puppy, I forget his name. That was also the time of feeding the orphaned lambs. Two of them were mine, Kleintjie and Witkol; both are now with oom Toekie in the community kraals.
After going AWOL6 on Wednesday, Bowie jumped onto the bed on Thursday morning, and we had a nice cuddle and a short snooze together. It was an unpleasantly warm night, the heatwave continued for a few days.
Toby stayed at home with his Ma, while Bowie and I went for a walk. As it was going to get hot later, and was already uncomfortably humid, I decided to go for a longer walk to the dam, where Bowie could go for a cooldown swim. The dam’s water levels had dropped considerably, and it was a bit of a mud pool. This, though, didn’t reduce Bowie’s excitement and a dose of the zoomies followed the swim.
The patch of March Lily that I had spotted previously were still in bloom and I decided to have a look. One doesn’t know how much longer these blooms will last, I’m thinking days rather than weeks. Some of the blooms are already withering, with the petals turning a beautiful purple, while other bulbs are still developing flowers.
Bowie was quite patient with me, in between running up and down a stream near these flowers. Once we got back to the cottage, he immediately jumped into his pool and then crept into a cool corner to snooze away the hottest part of the day.
I’ve seen 5 species of the ‘March’ lilies and on FaceBook I saw a beautifully different plant: Brunsvigia marginata7. Somewhat like the March Lily, but red in colour.
Toby seemed to have a sore leg on Friday morning, and I left him at the house when I went for a walk with Bowie. As I can be a bit more adventurous with Bowie, being a young dog, we walked around the koppie and then cut back across the top.
It was a new route for us, with Bowie scampering ahead finding a suitable path. Sometimes, I cannot see him and then a “Where’s Bowie?” has a head popping up, never far away.
We got a bit ‘lost’ in the sense that I didn’t know exactly where we were and had to find a ‘route down the koppie. We were higher than I had thought (about 650 m8) and couldn’t see the cottage below us. However, I did recognize the cottages near us. Slowly, we wound our way down the hill.
While I was plotting a path down the koppie, Bowie waited, looking down the valley. He feels comfortable here, in this landscape, on this plaas9, in our cottage.
It was quite humid with the cloud cover, which lifted later. Cricket commentators would probably say something like: “I would expect the ball to swing today… oh, look, a pigeon.”
Bowie found a muddy spring for a messy cooldown and immediately jumped in his pool when we got back to the cottage. He then found his favourite corner for a recovery snooze.
The Blood Lily are slowly starting to produce berries, while the March Lily are still amazing, even after the heat of the last few days.
The heat was bearable inside the cottage (36C), with a fan blowing and the window blinds closed. Outdoors, though, the sun was intense and to be avoided.
On Saturday, Bowie and I undertook a short drive to Kruistementvlei farm10 , which is where the local farmer’s market is held at the end of each month, for a walk on their trails. I had seen mountain biking trail signs while at the market and contacted them on Friday about bringing Bowie; they got back to me quick as a doodle.
“What time will you be arriving? I usually get up quite early” was the kind of response that I like. Bowie was packed into the car just after 7 am for the 8 km drive to the other side of the valley.
“The dogs are my alarm.” I could hear them as I turned off the tar road, about 200 m from the farmstead. I left Bowie in the car to meet RB and her four dogs, which came running and barking, though not aggressively as they quickly calmed down with some cuddling.
Bowie was, understandably, a little tentative about meeting four strange dogs that were making a lot of noise. A little bit of coaxing and, after a few minutes, all was fine
RB is a bundle of joy and energy! She and the dogs came a short distance with us, and she told me about the farm and the walking trails. The dogs found a small dam, Bowie was in like a flash, and we talked plants, herbs and flowers, visitors and camping.
RB went back to her house; Bowie and I walked the red trail between rocky outcrops. The environment here is subtly different from around the farm, rockier and not quite so ‘fynbos’. A place for new discoveries!
Bowie was quite excited about this new place, clambering over rocks, staring at dassies [rock hyrax]. Aloe and a few rock paintings, the plants will get more interesting once they start flowering.
The farm also has camp sites and self-catering cottages. A simple, rustic atmosphere that I quite liked. If anyone should visit us here in Piket-Bo-Berg, I’ll book them in at RB’s place.
This place is authentically eco-friendly, with campsites having woodburning ‘donkeys’ and the toilets are ‘sawdust’11 long drops, a term I use loosely.
“No generators, TV’s, music or motorized equipment allowed.”
It was starting to get hot and time to go home, escape from the sun. The house was quite, no dogs. I would WhatsApp, I thought, and walked to the car. Where was Bowie’s water bowl? I had left it at the rock paintings. It wasn’t far, we walked there.
Genades, sheep! Fortunately, Bowie was not tempted to do any herding and only stared at them before following me.
Water bowl collected, we saw RB and the dogs returning from a walk. An iced tea would be nice, thank you! A beautiful house, furniture, paintings. The dogs lay on the floor. We chatted about this-and-that. On the way out, we walked through the kitchen.
A wood-burning stove, baking trays on a table. Roasted carob. I tried a small piece and it was a tasty surprise. Slightly crunchie with hints of chocolate and coffee. And then I tried some raw carob. Sweeter, a bit like dates. I’ll get some on my next visit to the farmer’s market. Yes, also herbal teas12. I might be going a bit hippy. Community projects13, definitely worth considering.
In the garden there were guava, quince, pomegranate. Further down the road: persimmons (I know these from Italy as khaki). It’s market day in two weeks.
How could I forget the pigs? Varkie dag!
A new book: Secrets of Namaqualand Succulents.
I was sitting on the stoep with Bowie, enjoying the evening coolness, when Toby joined us. Sitting there, enjoying the dogs, looking at the stars, I saw an owl. I hear it hooting fairly regularly, but this is my first time actually seeing it.
I woke up to a moerse big spider, we’re talking about 10 cm, in the bathroom. It’s welcome to stay. In the kitchen, a gecko scampers down the wall. Across the road, an owl hoots. Bowie’s lying outside, he doesn’t want to move.
Another good start to our day.
Leucadendron salignum Berg.; Family: Proteaceae; Common names: common sunshine conebush (Eng.); geelbos (Afr.) [SANBI]
Beef bible tripe [Nose to Tail]
My Year of Living Dangerously [Robbie Thorpe]
The high blood pressure may have been an anomaly, but I’m going to get a monitor for use at home. It needs to have an above-the-elbow cuff, not a smartwatch or similar
Absent Without Leave, a military expression
The cottage is 490 m
On the previous plaas, I would often have to keep Bowie indoors as there were sheep around the cottage. A farm of 13,000 hectares, and the sheep had to roam the one hectare around the huisie.
Composting Toilet/Humanure [Kruistementvlei farm]
Natural Herbs & Products [Kruisementvlei farm]
Community Involvement [Kruistementvlei farm]
Baking bread. Impressive. I will definitely like to stay in those cottages when I visit....but in the cooler season.🥵 Today I was so busy with writing and then your post showed up ...thanks for the delightful brain break.🌻
Bowie Beertjie is so photogenic...mooi! And nice that he has Toby as company.
Lekker adventures, as always and super duper photo's.
Hope the heat cools down a bit.
Keep blogging those lekker blogs.