Endings and beginnings

We had a sad time at Vastrap last week, saying goodbye to our first puppy, Shiloh and our beautiful 8-year old Boerboel, Tumi on the same day. Shiloh went off to his new home in the Eastern Cape and by all accounts has settled in beautifully. Tumi sadly passed onto a higher place. Somewhere I hope she is getting all the rubs and cuddles and love she demanded in her time here on earth. She was a gentle giant, the matriarch of our pack and was incredibly patient with the puppies in her last days. She had ovarian cancer, which spread aggressively and could not be treated once we realised she was sick. Her spirit lives on in her blind daughter Paris, who still seems a bit confused by what has happened (see “How Paris ‘sees’ the world“).

The puppies have thrown our whole routine off course so we will have to slowly establish a new equilibrium once we settle back to ‘normal’. The second puppy, Rosebud was collected by her new owners today. She has gone off to Johannesburg with a very chuffed little girl who is going to take good care of her and their other Beagle Josh. The last two, Spike and Poppy will stay with us for another week. Our puppy Hope, is turning into a very spirited little thing. She seems to have no fear and leads the pack in most things mischief! It is so cute seeing the world through their little eyes as they discover things for the first time, like coming face to face with chickens in the garden and the delights of sheep and cow dung… ugh! Hope is yet to integrate herself into the bigger Vastrap pack, but over time I have no doubt she will fill a little corner of the gaping space left by Tumi. A sad ending followed by a new beginning, such is the cycle of life.

Happy Days!

This past long weekend was a treat. Having visitors to stay always presents an opportunity to enjoy things that farm life has to offer, like the space, outdoors, instant activities for the kids and of course long lazy breakfasts, lunches and dinners! The cherry on top was that Ashley was also here. She has lost both her front teeth and I just love her new toothless smile! The kids had a ball riding their bikes, skate boarding, playing tennis, riding on the back of the bakkie, feeding cows and horses, herding sheep, collecting chicken eggs, riding horses, making lemonade with a pile of lemons they picked from the tree, playing on the swings at Living Life while the adults enjoyed a lazy lunch and digging holes in the excavator with Quentin. The celebration of Heritage Day in South Africa coincides with Braai Day on 24 September, which makes some kind of braai or barbecue an absolute must. We enjoyed delicious farm lamb chops, boerewors and steak with charred grilled sweetcorn. The farm is still extremely dry, but spring is alive and well in the garden with the wisteria almost past its prime and purple orchids in full bloom. Sadly, outside the areas we water the grass is still dead and brown desperately waiting for the first summer rain.

Our troop of five Beagle puppies are a constant source of entertainment and they have become extremely playful at 7 weeks of age. Their little ears are hilariously long! The first little one, Shiloh, is leaving for his new home in a few days’ time so we are making the absolute most of their last days together. I had a big scare this morning when Shiloh went missing… until  now they’ve never wandered off and have tended to stick in their pack. After looking in all his favourite hiding spots I heard a puppy barking in the mountain above our house. It sounded too far away to be true, but there was no mistaking that it was him. I ran as fast as I could up the rough path behind the house and eventually also heard Coco barking. Low and behold, he had got himself stuck on a rocky outcrop on the lower slope of the mountain! I was so relieved to see them both, but couldn’t believe that he had wandered so far! The poor little thing was quite shattered and cried all the way home, while Coco looked relieved that her baby had not been harmed. After a good sleep he was back in fine form bouncing around the garden. I’ll have to keep a much closer eye on them now that they’re becoming more adventurous so that they can all make it to their new homes safe and sound.

Celebrating Spring!

I’ve been very out of touch with the seasons this year. The onset of Spring hasn’t been quite the event it was last year perhaps because we had such a warm winter. But in general, my attention hasn’t been focused out of doors. I spent most of winter worrying about my pregnancy and feeling a little fragile, then there was pregnant Coco to fuss over and after that the puppies. In between, all our energies were focused on our auction which left very little time to think about the garden or go on our usual long walks with the dogs on the farm. I’m still a little ambivalent about the garden, but getting more and more excited for summer and the changes in store for us over the next few months.

The good news is that my pregnancy is progressing well and I’m now more than half way there. My bump is starting to show and I’m feeling her movement more clearly. Packing away our heavy winter clothes and unpacking summer stuff this morning, I was left with only a small pile of things that I’ll be able to fit into by the end of the month when I transition into my third trimester. By the time we meet her in early January, it will be the best time of year in the garden with the Dahlias and roses in full bloom. My biggest conundrum is what to plant in the veggie garden this summer given that I’ll hardly be in a fit state to do daily harvests. But that didn’t stop me from ordering a load of seeds from Living Seeds this week – I just couldn’t resist their amazing selection of heirloom beans and tomatoes, but steered well clear of the zucchini!

On the farm it is extremely dry and conditions will only get worse as temperatures rise. The veld and our wheat crop are thirsty for rain. The willow trees have sprouted green leaves, but the poplars and oaks are still bare. More than anything I love the change in light at this time of year, which brings a special glow to the early mornings and evenings when I’m generally out on the lawn playing with the puppies. Another winter has passed. Welcome back summer!

Viva the Spice Girls!

It was freezing cold this weekend, which put a bit of a dampener on our celebration of Spring Day. The Aga stove was fired up full steam hopefully for the last time this winter. The days are noticeably brighter and lighter and the jasmine outside my kitchen door is in full bloom so things can only get better from here! Fortunately, the cold weather didn’t stop us having a very enjoyable weekend, especially on Saturday when I joined three friends from cooking club to participate in the annual Masterchef competition at the Ladybrand church bazaar. It was a first for all of us, but we had a blast and our team, The Spice Girls, walked home with first prize!

The rules of the competition are simple. You need to bring all your own cooking equipment and be ready to face the elements cooking outside. Each team of four people has three hours to conjure a delicious main course dish using a meat cut provided by the judges and ingredients from the pantry. The judges had to score based on innovation, technique, creative use of ingredients, taste, presentation and team spirit. Heidi, Jenny, Vicky and I came well prepared with two Weber braais (gas and charcoal), a two-plate gas stove and every piece of kitchen equipment we could think of, including our pasta roller and ravioli cut-outs. We were only limited by the fact that there was no electricity so everything had to be done by hand. We had great moral support from our husbands, who sat in the morning sun drinking sherry and whisky happily banned from touching the fire or helping us in any way. My sister and nieces popped past for a visit on their way back from the farm to Johannesburg. City-slicker teenager, Sibella was mortified by the old-school “Boere musiek” blaring from the loudspeakers, but Sophia and Ashley were blissfully happy chomping cinnamon sugar pancakes and enjoying the cute home-made treats on sale at the bazaar.

The look and feel of the Spice Girl tent was very understated compared to the other teams who went all out with coordinated uniforms and brightly decorated stands. We didn’t allow this to distract us from the task at hand though! At 9am the judges revealed that we had to cook with a rack of pork, which was a bit of a surprise as we were sure it would be lamb or beef. After a few minutes of consultation we rushed to the “pantry” to gather our ingredients. There was a reasonable selection of produce, but we had to make do without butter and olive oil and luxuries like parmesan and sage. We decided to risk it anyway and stuck to our plan of making ravioli to showcase some of the skills we’ve learnt over the past year in our cooking club. We made our own ricotta and two types of ravioli to complement the pork, one with roasted butternut, sweet potato and ricotta and the other with spinach and ricotta. We slow-roasted some tomatoes for a sauce. The pork was poached in a fragrant broth of apple, clove and thyme and then marinated in a sweet honey, ginger and mustard sauce before being seared on the gas. Instead of chops, we cut the pork into medallions for more elegant presentation. The crackling was salted and cooked on the braai until crisp and then cut finely and crumbled over the final dish to add texture and flavour.

We had lots of people stopping by to watch the pasta-making and the pork turned out deliciously succulent and full of flavour. The only down-side was the time it took for the judges to make their way to our table, which left the food ice cold! Fortunately, that didn’t matter too much and the Spice Girls went home victorious. All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning and we really enjoyed ourselves. My preggie belly especially enjoyed the steaming hot cinnamon pancakes our support team fed us through the morning and of course I could not leave without devouring a bowl of bazaar trifle for pudding! The things we do for entertainment in a small town….