|| dailies 103 ||

These are Liesl's two little bedtime buddies, Elle (#1) and Moo.  Elle has been her pal since birth and Moo joined the party at Omie's and came home with us.  Well, they needed a bath the other day.  They looked cute hanging on the washing line. So, I thought I'd take a photo and do a little post on laundry.  

Remember, I'm trying to dissolve all the big, scary myths of living here.  Yes, we have a washer and dryer (surprise, surprise!).  :)   The machines are located across the small yard from my house in the laundry that Leon's grandfather built. Unfortunately, our dryer is not blowing hot air at the moment.  But we are managing just fine because we are entering the hottest months of the year.  Laundry dries within an hour or so on the line...a little longer for heavier items.  

Laundry has always been my #1 favorite household chore.  There are a few things that I miss about doing laundry back home (namely: Tide, dryer sheets, and the convenience of a machine in the house).  But that is outweighed by my favorite thing about laundry here.  That is:  hanging the washing on the line.  I feel so domesticated.   I love it!!  And the sunshine smell is amazing.  

We had a full-time laundry maid up until a few months ago.  For various reasons, we do not currently employ a full-time girl for laundry.  It is working out fine, though.  Between me and my maid, the washing for this house gets done.  And for my sister-in-laws house, her maid does their washing.  For all the extra washing (church towels, main house linens, etc...), that is shared between all the maids.  

Also, with the power cuts, laundry duty has gotten a lot more interesting.  Sunday and Monday, the power is out from 8 am - 4 pm which is basically the working day.  So I've begun doing a few loads after church on Sunday night and hanging it on the line for it to be done for Monday morning.  Monday and Tuesday have been a bit hectic this week so my ironing pile is massive.  Zondi is going to be ironing for at least an hour tomorrow!!

About the ironing...right before I was married, I remember someone looking at me in mild disgust and surprise before mentioning an exaggerated fact they had heard about living here. That is:  putzy flies (not sure of the spelling).  Supposedly, putzy flies embed themselves into every piece of wet clothing that has exited a building and then they implant their eggs into your skin and you have to squeeze a worm out!  Ewww.  Uh, not really.  Out of all the family members who have lived here over the past 50+ years, only one putzy fly occurence floods into the memory.  Is it possible? Yes.  Is it likely?  Not really.  So  what do we do?  We throw everything into the dryer for a short while as an extra precaution.  Right now, the dryer isn't working.  We iron basically everything.  Putzy flies are attracted to wet, stagnant clothing.  That isn't possible in the current heat.  It is most likely to occur in the rainy season.  So we most certainly will have that dryer fixed by November.  Even in the rainy season though, it is possible to avoid a putzy fly.  

I am also ironing more than I normally would at this point because the dryer is down. It makes the clothes softer and enhances the softener smell.  Oh.  And I brought back two massive boxes of dryer sheets from the States.  On top of the sunshine smell, clothes tossed in the dryer with a dryer sheet just about equals bliss.  Which reminds me that I need to get on the dryer repair process!!!

So there you have it.  Laundry.  One of my favorite dailies about living here.  :)

|| the pottery man ||

In our town, this man is known for his pottery.  Prior to my trips to the States, my sister-in-law and I stopped by his place.  I wanted to buy a few small gifts to take back home.  Unfortunately, Mr. Luckson had been busy for a while so he didn't have a huge selection.

However, Mr. Luckson gave us a tour of his studio!  My goodness.  What this man produces on so little.  It is truly humbling.  He also threw a bowl while we were there.  All of the clay is gathered locally.  Every step of the pottery making process is done by him right there.  The only product from outside sources is the glaze.   

BEGINNING....

TAKING SHAPE...

SWITCHING OFF THE WHEEL.  THERE YOU HAVE IT!

And this is his kiln....

The kiln is completely handmade and heated by electrical coils inside (you can see them a bit to the left).  When he is ready to fire, he bricks up the front.

I was absolutely amazed by the limited resources he has yet he continues his craft.  Two of my favorite pieces of his are a mid-sized bowl that I use for fruit and a gorgeous pitcher that my sister-in-law designed.

Seeing Mr. Luckson throwing the pottery on the wheel really brought life to the verse Isaiah 64:8.

          But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we are all the     work of thy hand.

|| dailies no. 102 ||

Sometimes, I join Leon for his afternoon walk.  I think Monday nights will be my weekly walk because we have no power at that time every week.  Last week, I caught some beautiful snapshots of the afternoon.

It is so beautiful, so peaceful here on the farm.  When I'm out walking, I am overcome with the beauty in my life and I wonder why I don't go for a walk more often!!

Here is a classic picture of life here.  Yes, we have green grass.  BUT, you must irrigate.  :)  On the right is grass that we are letting rest for the winter.  Soon, the rye grass on the left will die and the star grass on the right will be fertilized and irrigated.  

These fields are for the night grazing for the cows.  The watchmen count out a specific distance and set up the electric fence.  The cows are put in there to graze after the afternoon milking.  They eat their fill, then are put in paddocks closer to the milking barn for the morning milking.  

One major thing Leon has completed this year was to lengthen the electric fence around the farm.  This has done several things.  First of all, it has made the paddocks in the picture above more organized and clear.  (I guess, this would be an improvement for me alone!!)  Now, it is very easy to see how the night paddocks are laid out.  Before, I struggled to understand where the cows were exactly and where they were going next.  Now, you can clearly see the two fields of rye grass and the two fields of star grass.  Also, he has managed to get at least one ant hill flattened and lots of rubbish trees removed because of installing the new fence.  Another benefit of the new fence is that the cows don't have to walk as far for night grazing and they are safer within the realm of the electric fence.  Lastly, having a wider electric fence has instantly created a very nice walk for me and Liesl within the farm.  Any time I talk of safety on the blog, I try to re-iterate that I am very safe here.  However, I don't necessarily feel too comfortable walking very far outside the fence by myself.  Yes, I will do it.  Yes, Leon would agree I'm fine, I just don't make a practice of it.  However, there's a very nice little walk out the back of the property to a little retention pond for me and Liesl and I quite enjoy it!  

Another peek into life here...