Farm talk - Bath delights

"Solitude is not a luxury - it's a right and a necessity!" 

I've had a couple of requests to 'share' a bit more about where I live on my little piece of African soil, so I decided to do a short series of my home in Tarlton, South Africa, situated on an 8.5ha smallholding. This is purely for fun! I would just like to mention that, when building and decorating my home about 7 years ago, I have taken inspiration from Africa, and nature in particular, surrounding myself with natural (and sometimes living!) objects and colour. I am not ostentatious by nature and prefer the simple and natural things in life. Hope you enjoy and find this interesting! I know I just LOVE to see other people's living spaces, be it small or large, simple or ornate, in suburbia or the country, in a basement or a sky-scraper, inland or at the coast.

Nothing soothes the soul better than a long hot bath in winter. Or ANYTIME for that matter! I'm not a shower person, unless it's in the middle of the day, and I've been out in the garden all morning and need to get cleaned up quickly! I much prefer the "soak" thing, with foam, aromatic oils and lots of candles on the side of the bath, meditating or sometimes even listening to some soothing music or reading a couple of chapters of a good book.

Spending time by and with myself is essential to me for a healthy mind and outlook on life. It brings things into perspective and allows me to connect with my inner strength that gets scattered by everyday life pressures.

The 'work station' part of the bathroom - His & Hers Sandstone basins set into a concrete top, inlaid with river pebbles. The plumbing is on-surface copper pipes, with mirrors set in between the pipes, and built-in concrete shelves below offer storage for all sorts. 

Above and below : my seating area where I pamper myself with creams, powders and oils - concrete inlaid with river pebbles and finished off with Bushmen rock paintings. A grass-woven basket holds spare towels and a vase filled with Restios grasses from my garden is behind it. A large candle on a tall Indonesian candle stick provides soft light to minimise wrinkles and other imperfections! (lol!) 

The shower - concrete seating and floor inlaid with river pebbles for a non-slip effect - the plumbing is copper piping on-surface with a big, vintage shower-head above (shown below). 

The shower just below the ceiling, which is made of "latte", (de-barked Blue gum saplings). 

The view from the bath through open doors into my private, walled garden. The Wild Olive tree is about 8 years old and they grow naturally on the southern slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain range in the kloofs, woodland and down to the river bank areas of the Magalies River. The Fan Palm in the corner is home to my resident Wagtails' nest, from where their two youngsters fledged just 3 weeks ago. I watched them every morning as I bathed for 3 or four days, hopping around the court-yard, being fed by the parents until they were strong enough to fly over the wall. It really was a thrilling couple of days! The garden is also home to many lizards and geckos who often visit the bathroom, adorning my walls like living ornaments! 

View from the court-yard into the bathroom 

A collection of pebbles on the side of the bath in a carved African bowl 

Some Coral Tree seeds found in Ballito and a Lobster tail I found on the beach, in a carved wooden bowl with Porcupine Quills tied on the edges 

The facecloth rail is a Blue gum tree branch tied with silver wire to two curtain rod hooks and a collection of Porcupine Quills on the bathroom counter in an earthenware pot. I only collect Porcupine quills that I find and pick up myself. There are some stores that state on their packaging that only dropped quills are collected and no animals are harmed during the collection of their quills, but who knows whether that is the truth or not...? I removed all the make-up and face cleansers and hand creams that normally clutter this corner just for this pic! he he!

There are still many Porcupines around our area and I find many quills in the veld, but the vegetable farmers are getting more and more exasperated by these animals digging up their potato crops, and killing them has become an every day occurrence over the last few years.

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And slowly Autumn creeps in...

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White-browed Sparrow Weaver (Plocepasser mahali)

Camera : Canon EOS 550D
Location : Taken in my garden, Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa

While working in the garden, I was absolutely thrilled to see a pair of White-browed Sparrow Weavers (Plocepasser mahali – Koringvoël in Afrikaans) visiting one of my bird feeders. These large, plump, short-tailed weavers are not shy at all and don’t fly off easily, even when walking quite close past them. Their boldness is utterly charming and besides a harsh ‘chik-chik’ call which they use to let one another know they’re still around, they have a beautiful, loud, liquid ‘cheeoop-preeoo-chop’ whistle which I haven’t been able to figure out yet.

Pic from Biodiversity Explorer - I've got no pics of the Hosue Sparrow, these little brown jobbies are really hyperactive and I've just not been able to get a good capture!

This Weaver is often confused with the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), but lacks the black mask surrounding the eye and black throat typical of the House Sparrow.

The White-browed Sparrow-Weaver is found in greatest numbers in north-central southern Africa, so seeing them in my garden has been the highlight of the season and I’m hoping they will either move in or at least become regular visitors.

Found throughout central and north-central Southern Africa, it mainly eats insects, seeds, fruit and fleshy leaves, doing most of its foraging in flocks of 4-10 birds (sometimes along with other species), plucking food items from the ground and will even visit bird-feeders.

These birds are monogamous and colonial cooperative breeders, living in groups within which each bird has their own nest. However there can only be one active breeding pair per group who are usually the largest in size, remaining dominant until their death, at which point another pair steps up to the plate. The group is highly territorial, vigorously defending their 50 meter long foraging territory, often chasing intruders out of the territory.

The nest is built by both breeders in about 5-30 days but maintained throughout the year, consisting of an untidy, retort-shaped structure made of dry grass, with two entrances one of which is closed by the breeding pair. It is typically wedged into the branches of a thorny tree, but it may also use telephone wires, power lines and fences.

 

Nest images from Biodiversity Callie de Wet 

 

 

 

 

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Farm talk - Surrounded by Karee's

The front entrance of my home, densely framed by two species of Karee’s – Karee viminalis (White Karee) and Karee lancea (black Karee) and various indigenous grasses and aloes.

I’ve had a couple of requests to ‘share’ a bit more about where I live on my little piece of African soil, so I decided to do a short series of my home in Tarlton, South Africa, situated on an 8.5ha smallholding. This is purely for fun! I would just like to mention that, when landscaping my garden about 10 years ago, I took inspiration from Africa, and nature in particular, choosing to plant only indigenous trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers, with the result that I have a rather wild garden with not much colour, as indigenous flowers and shrubs tend to be less spectacular than most exotic plants, which just don’t do well in our climate at all, with very hot and sometimes dry summers and winters that can dish out the coldest of frosts.

I am not ostentatious by nature and prefer the simple and natural things in life. Hope you enjoy and find this series interesting! I know I just LOVE to see other people’s living spaces, be it small or large, simple or ornate, in suburbia or the country, in a basement or a sky-scraper, inland or at the coast.

A garden ornament hanging from a Karee Viminalis (White Karee), and Jacko sitting at the front door 

An old (and now rusty!) paraffin lamp provides some light at night. On the corner of the pathway is a clump of Restio (Cape Reed grass) and right at the back is planted some Zebra Grass (Miscanthus). Grown in India, Australia and Madagascar, South Africa and other warmer countries in Europe. 

The Zebra Grass gets these beautiful white plumes at the onset of winter before dying down. 

One of the many bird baths in my garden. An old log is being cleaned up by some termites (I’ve been chasing them all over the garden by pouring Diesel down their holes and this is the latest spot they’ve surfaced!) 

My vantage point on the patio from where I survey the birds and my garden. A concrete-relief gecko adorns the patio wall. 

Rhamnus prinoides (Dogwood or Shiny Leaf) front right of the pic – (Afrikaans) : blinkblaar, hondepishout) – a tall, conspicuous evergreen shrub, or small tree – a root decoction has been used to treat pneumonia, and the leaves used as a liniment for sprains. Parts of the plant are also reputed to have protective powers against lightning and evil spirits. It’s a rather scrambly plant and seems to be taking over this section of the garden. Planted it in the wrong spot ...

My Acacia karroo (Soetdoring) in the foreground – I just LOVE this Acacia’s beautiful thorns and little yellow pom-pom flowers. It also provides shelter and safe nesting spots for the Red Bishop and Masked Weaver (but not for the Lone Ranger! lol!)

 A large metal Gecko adorns the wall of the garages

The chicken coop next to the garages where Artemis and the girls spend their nights. During the day they terrorise my garden!

The lawned driveway leading to the garages

The fenced area of my wildlife pond where Torti, my Leopard Tortoise, lives

 A vintage metal plant stand on my patio housing some of my succulents

(Camera : FujiFinepix 2800Zoom)

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The ordinary

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the ordinary. 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Camera :Canon EOS 550D
Taken in my garden after days and days of rain

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The way of nature

Nature - it is breathtakingly beautiful, it is life, it is death. Nature brings us great joy, but it is full of sadness as well. That is the way of Nature.

The great debate is whether one should interfere with nature or not, whether to help or 'rescue' an animal in peril or not. The problem is that it is human nature to rescue things and my take on it is normally to let nature take its course. If you should find a baby bird in your garden, it is best to leave it alone as the parents know it's there and will continue feeding it. That is how it learns to fly, how it gets to know its territory and learns all it needs from its parents for survival. If you have dogs or cats, this could present a problem, so, if possible, try and get the fledgling back to its nest or at least up into a tree. It's a myth that the parents will abandon it if they 'smell human contact' on their baby, they will still keep on tending to it.

But sometimes one is presented with a situation where it is impossible not to interfere or to help, like finding an owl entangled in a barbed wire fence or finding an animal with a serious injury that requires medical attention. And living on a smallholding in the country, I am often faced with scenarios like that.

On the home-front side, it's terribly hard to watch when a hen decides it's time for her babies to make their own way in the world. But that's the way of nature. Solly's hen (above) had 8 of the most gorgeous babies and she was a really wonderful other, tending to their every need, finding them succulent insects and protecting them and keeping them warm.

But when they were the tender age of 7 weeks, she decided it was time to go back to Mr. Rooster and besides, nature was calling and she wanted to lay an egg. She started pecking and chasing them and generally being nasty until they were too scared to go near her. She then took off in search of Mr. Rooster. They clumped together, walking around the property, constantly calling for her, absolutely breaking my heart.

One of the chicks, forlornly standing at my studio door and constantly calling for mommy

They soon found solace in my garden where they kept close to me as I went about my chores. They knew me very well, as from birth I would take them snacks and seeds which they eagerly took out of my hands. They even allowed me to pick them up, trustingly sitting in my hand while I cuddled them. 

Now they are almost 4 months old, just about fully grown and quite independent, joining the rest of Solly's chickens when I feed in the mornings and afternoons and often looking for me in the house, hoping for a snack of minced meat, their favourite.

Yesterday I heard a strange, forlorn call in my garden, and not recognising it, I went outside to investigate. There was this 'unknown' bird sitting on my internet aerial, so I got the binoculars to have a better look and soon realised it was a juvenile Red-winged Starling, therefore I never recognised it's call. I have never heard a young Starling calling for its parents and it sat there for a half an hour, calling and calling, with no response from anybody, until it eventually took off to search somewhere else. So, so sad...

Many a time I have also watched as the Mynah's lead their off-spring out of the garden, taking them to another area to fend for themselves, returning alone a couple of days later. That is nature's way of protecting the food source in an area and from over-population. However, Laughing Doves do not seem to adhere to this law of nature - I have hundreds in my garden - where they breed, they feed! Smile!

 Laughing Doves early watching and waiting as I prepare the feed tables at 6am.

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