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

Musical Birds

I am prompted to write this following a strange happening yesterday. It is winter in the Eastern Cape, and it had been raining for much of the morning and the previous night, but in the afternoon the wind had dropped to a serene calm – not enough to stir the wind chimes on my porch. I was watching one of the few local satellite Olympics channels, when the wind chimes started ringing out their music – something these particular chimes had not done for many a day, since the sail and clapper had been missing for some time. I decided to investigate this weird occurrence and peered out through the window.

Some time ago I had made a perch for a pair of swallows nesting just a few feet away. It is just a length of stiff electricians wire put there to replace a string of Christmas lights that the swallows had become used to. There on the wire was perched a glossy yellow-eyed starling, a frequent visitor to our yard. The starling had decided to play with the shiny silver tubes of the chimes and with the strings from which they are suspended. I would be interested in hearin whether this was typical of the behavior of this species.

An External Facelift

The New Look

It's now a couple of months since Liz returned to the States to stay with her daughter - I will follow just as soon as I have sold the farm. Speaking of which, I decided to carry out a bit of a face lift on its exterior. I had been quoted R23,000  by a traveling decorator from Natal a couple of years ago - no doubt a quote today would be far more. Well, I hired a local man (actually he also doubles as the local preacher ) , who gave me a quote for the complete job for R750 (labor only). I supplied the materials and hardware and Headman got to work at the end of last month - he finished the job yesterday, and as a result what was a dirty pink color that had been untouched for more than 20 years is now a pristine white with a gray trim. Total cost R1,150 for materials and R1,000 for labor (I gave him a bonus of R250), one tenth of what was originally quoted. The sole object of this exercise is to try to get the farm sold a little quicker.

The Old Look

If by chance you're interested in more details you can see them here. I'm very happy with the results.

Reflections

It has been quite chilly of late, especially early in the morning, which is to be expected in May in South Africa, since the Sun is already 6 weeks into the Northern hemisphere. Today is quite unusual - 87°F (that's 30°C) here in Martindale. The farm is looking good after the 2 inches of rain we had during a thunderstorm about a week ago. The lawn is green but has just about gotten into its winter hibernation program. This is the time of year when molehills start appearing, but so far there are just scattered examples - warnings of things to come. 

The farm is still for sale (and will remain so until sold). One prospect who looked over the place 3 weeks ago took 2 weeks to let me know it was too far from Grahamstown and lacking in security. How little they know, this must be one of the most secure farms in the area - not one incursion in the six years we've been here, other than the locals collecting firewood, which I have no objection to. I have enough wood here to build a couple of houses and to keep the stove hot for several years. A German couple turned up with Philip, an old friend, on Saturday to look over the place. They are interested but have to sell their property in Deutschland. They did enjoy the Guavas though, and carried of a few handfuls. I'm glad someone likes them - I personally cant stand them, and I have 14 guava trees (4 pink and 10 white) on the property, as well as nartjes. A local farmer phoned a few minutes ago and has taken the details of the farm. He seems fairly interested so will join the list of hopefuls.

 Headman, who is the local preacher and "odd job man" had his last remaining teeth removed yesterday - presumably at the government hospital in Grahamstown. He was told, and I find this odd, to expect his false teeth to be ready for a fitting in December - 7 months? I guess that's yet another sign of the way things are going in this country. I think everyone (except for HRH Robert Mugabe) knows how Zimbabwe became a god forsaken country. It seems as if South Africa is going the same way - a little more slowly perhaps, but the signs are all there. Even today there was an extensive item on CNN investigating the gradual failure of democracy in the country.

 Liz  has now been back in the US of A for 2 weeks - how time flies, and yet the days are very long when she's not here. We chat either on the phone (MagicJack) or Skype every afternoon or evening for a good 30 minutes or so. She looks very happy, and clearly enjoys being with Dena and the kids. Come on someone - buy this little corner of Paradise so that I can fly myself and Katie across the Pond to be with her. What I need is some keen philanthropist who wants to set up a small home industry school, or some other project, for the local Martindale community. At present they just exist, and there will be few opportunities for the 14 kids who attend the farm school in the future, unless someone steps in. This place would make an ideal base for such a project. Indeed, one of my prospective purchasers (who was turned down by the banks) had such a project in mind, had the sale gone through.