Monday, February 22, 2016

A Telescope & a Tree Named Michael

Hey....

So, we have continued to harvest Dragonfruit this week, God is so good, we have had a bountiful harvest, over 4 tons so far! It is certainly not over yet though and we will harvest again in March-April.
I hear that the services are going well with Oom Peet in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We expect Oom to be back in March.

I forgot to mention that a while back, my Dad bought a telescope! Yep, you heard right! Since we have now acquired the deck, (a great lookout point), we have proceeded to buy this. It is amazing to see the moon and stars so close! My Dad really enjoys his new "toy". We have yet to spot any planets though we're hopeful!

We went out for breakfast on Saturday, it was delicious and then we went to one of our favorite places....a quaint little bookstore and miscellaneous store. We love reading! Later on, we took a lovely walk through the dragonfruit orchards at home, in Claridge. On our way back, I checked on Michael. For those of you who don't know...Micheal is my treasured Avocado plant. My Dad and I nurtured "him" from a seed, once his roots developed, we transferred him to a potplant. He eventually grew too big for it but we were uncertain as to whether we should transplant him or not. Of course, this delay stifled his growth to an extent and he was considerably smaller than his "avo tree peers". Finally, we decided in favor of the transplant and into the ground he went! He has flourished over time and is now taller than the roof of the greenhouses! He has the makings of a magnificent Avocado tree.
I sure enjoyed that walk! Friends, we live in a beautiful country! The weather was cool, the grass was green and the air was crisp and fresh...........

God bless you,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡ ♡


Here is a random photo of Blitzy.

And here she is at night, her eyes become so big and cute!

 My Mom made hake filets and I made the chips! (Yes, South Africans say "chips" instead of "fries").

Joshy is always on places that he is NOT allowed!!

This beautiful granadilla flower.

They bear so well....

...though the monkey's love them too! 


An almost fully ripened dragonfruit.

A look through the orchard.


If you look closely, you'll spot Curly on the pathway!

One of our flower patches.

These are so bright and pretty!


Little Blitzy peeping at us through the window.

See her little face?

My beloved avocado tree, Michael.


Saturday, February 13, 2016

Learning a Language & a Large Harvest

Привет!! (That's Russian for "Hi")

I don't know if I have mentioned this in my blog before but I am currently learning Russian! I love the language AND the food.....Mmmmm.....
I started learning it a few years ago but I only seriously started a course of it this year so, I've only really made much progress this year. I love learning it, the site that I'm using is called Duolingo, here is the link if you're interested :
https://www.duolingo.com/

They have many languages to choose from and you must complete a daily lesson so, it's not a lot crammed into many hours. It just takes a few minutes to do the lesson and it's enjoyable, I definitely recommend it!

Anyway, what's new in Claridge? Well, it's harvest time for the Dragonfruit! We need all hands on deck since we are harvesting from another farm too. Also, Oom Peet is in America at the moment, he's taking services there. Yesterday and today, the fruit was harvested, cleaned and packed. They're ready to be delivered! My Dad says that they may even need to harvest tomorrow.....the fruit might not be able to wait any longer, it ripens quickly!

Curly is missing her bushy fur now, especially her face fur. She loves to groom her "mustache" and she also likes to push the fur over her eyes. We cut her fur around her eyes often and as soon as it grows, she will use her fluffy paws to pull the fur down to cover her eyes! She doesn't like people to stare into her eyes because then she gets all shy and that's why she prefers the fur to conceal those chocolate brown eyes! She's really smart!
Joshy is lounging on the deck almost everyday, he loves to sleep there after the sun sets because it's much cooler then. These days gave been hot! I think there are a few cooler days predicted next week......that's what the weather forecast says! As you all know, one can't really rely on a forecast, things change!
Blitzy is lazy too, she sleep a lot now.....and then gets very hyperactive during the evening and when it's time for us to go to bed!!

До свидания! ("Goodbye" in Russian)
God bless,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡


Joshy lazing around.

Joshy meowing at my room window...

Blitzy is trying to open it for him, how cute?! 

I'm not sure what type of flower this is but it's beautiful!

More flowers around the house...



One of my favorites, yellow roses!


This is a Hibiscus plant, so gorgeous!

Blitzy taking a cat nap on the leather sofa.

Fooling around in her (and my) room.

My Mom and I made Chocolate Lamingtons!


A Dragonfruit flower, can you see the buds above it?

Each plant bears a lot of flowers, My Dad counted over 40 on one! 

The Dragonfruit are harvested when they're not fully ripe.



 

Monday, February 8, 2016

A Few Photo's :)

Hey,

I don't have much news to share with you guys now but I do have some photo's!

Enjoy them and God bless,
Sele'ha Mikhaila ♡

Curly went for a "haircut" this week and this is her before....

And after...

Blitzy takin' a peep outside.

My Mom made some sorji with cream.

A hadida on our deck, these birds are so loud!!

He jumped down!

I did some embroidery with my machine and little Blitz accompanied me.

You see what I have to deal with?

We had Milktart this week too!!

This morning my Mum baked some savory scones for breakfast...yummy! 

Another photo of Curly before her trim...


And after....she looks cuter when she's fluffy but it's Summer now.

A beautiful red rose from our garden....though something's eating the leaves!