Freeing the mind

Workwise I have had an extremely illuminating time recently. I have been writing the content for a number of mini-websites - so far about 60-odd with hopefully more to come. Writing web content can be both interesting and didactic, especially when researching a completely new subject – new in the sense that one previously has known little or nothing about it. As an example, about a year ago I was contracted to rewrite the content for an Orthotics &Prosthetics Practice website. Where, beforehand, there was a void in my knowledge, there is now enough understanding to hold at least a brief conversation on the subject, and at the same time a lot of sympathy for the unfortunates who have to make use of these artifacts.

Recently my writing has been around motivation, and has included such subjects as life coaching, investing, trading, property investment, motivational speaking and the like. Since I was involved in Jaycees (or Junior Chamber) many years ago I have always maintained a keen interest in motivation, although I am ashamed to admit that I have frequently lapsed in the past. This present assignment has re-awakened my mind, and taught me how it is possible to completely change one’s life around for the better by positively controlling the mind. Now I may be getting a little ancient for that right now, and living where I do prevents me from attending any of the local seminars anyway, but I am deeply grateful to CL for giving me the opportunity of doing the work for him.

Our smallholding remains unsold. As I write there are three or four glossy starlings chattering away to each other in the wild plum tree by the gate. The largest of our four cycads has been carrying two huge cones for several months, and only during the last few days have they started to split open, revealing the fleshy red fruit inside. Some species of cycad are indigenous to this part of the Eastern Cape, and one species, Encephalartos latifrons, is close to extinct. Cycads are known to have been around for more than 250 million years, one of the oldest of all plant families.

Last night I managed to have a lengthy telephone conversation with Liz, who is now awaiting her first Christmas with her daughter and grandchildren in Washington State. This will be our first Christmas away from each other in the ten years we have been together. If it were not for Katie I think I would have gone crazy months ago. She is my constant companion and guards the property on my infrequent trips to either Grahamstown or Port Alfred. Since the new shopping mall opened at Rosehill a couple of years back I have been avoiding trips to G’town, and only venture there once a month to pick up my prescription. Shopping at the Rosehill Super Spar is a far more pleasant experience anyway.

Blog Followers

What do I have to do to get more followers? I guess it would help if I were a little more active in this blog for a start. If any of my readers can leave a comment with a constructive idea I would be most obliged. I currently share on Twitter and Facebook - some ideas please!

Back to reality. Still stuck here at the farm. Things are moving out there though. I had a viewer come through a week ago, and another query from an East London estate agent specializing in farms on Monday. I'm being very positive about it, more than anything else because I miss the Love of my Life. Today I will repost some farm ads.

Liz has been back in Washington State for six months now - sent her a GPS unit for Christmas so she can find her way around. Liz was never that good at navigating, and when working for Chris & Terri in Woodmead would phone me at KDHS asking for me to email her directions to some address in Pretoria or Sandton or wherever. I don't miss the big city at all.

There's a steady drizzle falling at the farm today, in this idyllic corner of the Eastern Cape. My nearest neighbor is some 2 miles away and occasionally stops by with farm eggs , home cured bacon or, a couple of weeks ago, a honeycomb. Talking of honeycomb, a couple of years ago a bee-keeper who has a honey farm near Southwell stopped by and asked if he could place some empty hives on the roof of our workshop - of course we agreed and he left four. He collected them, each full of bees, a few months later. We were most surprised when, a few weeks after collecting them, he dropped off a container with 2½ kgs of honey - I still have about a kg left over. That's the way things work in the countryside!

The swallows have finished rebuilding their nest and are now lining the interior with small pieces of straw and feathers. When they've completed it they will raise a new nest of fledglings - last year there were 3  . By the way honey, sorry I didn't vm last evening but my landline was down. Seems to be working gain today though. I'll see you in my dreams.

Update

I've been very lax about keeping my blog up to date over the past couple of months - I think mostly because I have been kept extremely busy - have written content for some 60 or 70 mini websites during that time, as well as content for a South Carolina holiday resort company. I must say that writing for the local company has gotten me very motivated as well as opening my eyes to wealth creation methods that I didn't think were open to the likes of me.

Liz has been back in the States for 6 months now - we chat either on Skype or the telephone just about every day. She now has a job, working for the DoD no she's not joined the Marines! - something to keep her occupied and bring in a few dollars locally until I can get this farm sold and join her. The farm sometimes feels as though it is an albatross around my neck. Liz has gotten over the culture shock of returning from a third world country (let's face it - we may as well be!) to what is technologically the greatest country in the world. She has rediscovered what it's like to be up to date with the latest tech. She's been busy too - a presidential election, a hurricane, the extreme heat of the Louisianna summer and now the advent of winter.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, the swallows have returned for their third year. They broke their nest again and have just completed rebuilding it with a third entrance tunnel, having blocked off the first two, which are still there attached to the roof of the patio. Back in October we had 400ml of rain in three or four days - the worse I have seen here in Martindale during the seven years we've been at the farm. So much rain that the water table was higher than some of the rooms, and there was an inch of water in two of the bedrooms, the lighthouse room and my office. Fortunately all but the office are tiled, so not too much damage. I was forced to move my office into the lighthouse room, which is where I am now.  I'm getting a regular trickle of people interested in the farm, but no actual offers since those first two I shook hands on a year ago. I shall endeavor to be a little more active in writing this blog in future.

Martindale Make and Mend

Today I decided to give myself the day off; after all, this government has its Women’s Day and its Youth Day and a number of other totally unnecessary local holidays, so I decided that today, here in Martindale, it would be My Day. Yes, today I awarded myself a Make and Mend. Now many of you will not be familiar with the term, so let me explain. It is a term that is used to this day in the Royal Navy to designate an ‘afternoon off’ – however in my case I decided to take the whole day off. The term goes back to the times of the old sailing ships when sailors would be given time off to ‘make and mend’ their uniforms. Since Liz has been back in the States for nearly three months, leaving me to stay behind and get the farm sold, I decided to carry out a little necessary maintenance. My “favorite” tracksuit trousers have been coming apart along some of the seams, so I have carried out the necessary work, having found Liz’s stash of needles and thread in the storage room.

Once my work was complete I decided, for a change, to sit outside in the sun. The temperature was up in the seventies, unusual for this time of year in the Eastern Cape. But here on the farm it is peaceful, and today you could see the sea from right where I am now sitting. The Coral trees (we have eight of them) are a mass of color, and I armed myself with a pair of binoculars and the Book of South African Birds to try to identify some of their visitors. Although you cannot see all of them, the air is filled with the constant sound of songbirds. Up in the Coral trees a pair of weavers were competing with each other for the sweetest blossoms, and for the first time I witnessed two  Black Sunbirds with their wonderful long curved beaks feasting on the sweet nectar found deep in the heart of the Coral blossoms.

A Fiscal Shrike had staked its claim in our Wild Plum near to the front gate, and from time to time would sweep down to pick up a bug it had spotted, sometimes landing just a few feet from away from me. Most of the birds I saw today were common local residents – species such as the Redwinged Starling, the Glossy Starling and the Drongo. I did get to see a few not-so-common visitors, notable of which were a Blackcollared Barbet and a trio of Trumpeter Hornbills, which had taken up positions in our huge Rubber Tree, and were taking it in turns to announce their presence.

I have been in Southern Africa for nigh on forty years now, but the time has come to move on, which is why the farm is up for sale. I shall miss the peace of Martindale and the friendliness of the local farmers. But while I am still here, waiting for that elusive offer, I will make the best of the peace and tranquility that this farm has to offer.

Thinking of Relocating

Thinking of escaping from the big city? This is the ideal property to escape to, with 7.3 Hectares of peace and tranquility. The traffic consists of a few farmers' bakkies that pass by each day, and maybe a couple of cattle or pineapple trucks. When you do want to get to town it's a quicker drive than that daily commute in the city. We came here 7 years ago, and have not regretted a minute. The time has come to sell so as to be closer to our grandchildren across the Pond.

The property consists of:

425 m² mainhouse with 13 rooms and tiled throughout. There's a Jetmaster fireplace in the lounge and enough wood on the property to last for years.

300 m² Steel constructed shed with single phase electricity and large inner lockable workshop/storeroom 

75 m² Cottage - could be converted to quarters or to tack room & stable or just keep it as a cottage 

Land consists 2 sweet-veldt camps, 2 dams (both full), 1540 l/hr borehole with the sweetest water within 50 kms, a guava orchard, nartjie trees, and close to the house are 8 Coral Trees, a huge shade rubber tree and 4 Cycads, the former full of sunbirds at this time of year. Security is excellent.

View our website http://martindalefarm.weebly.com for a full photo gallery and a short 2 min video of the property. All reasonable offers will be considered

The price has just been reduced for immediate sale. We are relocating overseas so as to be closer to family. If you are interested, please contact me and I will be happy to show you around the property at 24hrs notice.

Property can be sold with all appliances & furniture.

Nature and wildlife are abundant along with peace, quiet and serenity - a truly small corner of paradise, with numerous private game farms in the surrounding region. Some of the birds I have personally seen on the property may be seen on my blog.

By the way, adjacent to the property are 212 Ha of land that are available for purchase from a separate owner, which together would make a perfect private game farm.

Bathurst 18km, Port Alfred 30km, Grahamstown 30km

Click on Location link at bottom of blog to see a Google Map of the location of this property

GPS: -33.3745 +26.8325

Contact me through the link in the sidebar or at (+27)046 636 2505