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Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:28:27 +0200:Nuwejaarsvoornemens vir 2009

Verlede jaar was dit nie cool om voornemens te he nie, dus neem ek aan dit moet hierdie jaar weer 'in' wees.
My grootste en belangrikste voorneme is Rain se akademiese vordering. Dit bly maar my grootste bekommernis op die oomblik, en ek is al heeldag aan die prakseer en beplan: HOE gaan ek meer tyd spandeer, so tussen die melkery- en ander verpligtinge deur, om seker te maak dis 'n goeie jaar, akademies gesproke, vir ons twee?
Ek wil my huis en omgewing so 'n bietjie mooimaak - nie vir ander mense nie, maar vir ons gesin. Ek wil ons omring met die goed waarvan ons hou.
Ek wil elke dag positief begin, en meer positief lewe.
Ek wil elke dag 'n paar dinge onthou wat my gelukkiger laat voel, of wat my bly maak.
Ek wil NOG beter georganiseerd wees.



Verlede jaar was dit nie cool om voornemens te he nie, dus neem ek aan dit moet hierdie jaar weer 'in' wees.

My grootste en belangrikste voorneme is Rain se akademiese vordering. Dit bly maar my grootste bekommernis op die oomblik, en ek is al heeldag aan die prakseer en beplan: HOE gaan ek meer tyd spandeer, so tussen die melkery- en ander verpligtinge deur, om seker te maak dis 'n goeie jaar, akademies gesproke, vir ons twee?

Ek wil my huis en omgewing so 'n bietjie mooimaak - nie vir ander mense nie, maar vir ons gesin. Ek wil ons omring met die goed waarvan ons hou.

Ek wil elke dag positief begin, en meer positief lewe.

Ek wil elke dag 'n paar dinge onthou wat my gelukkiger laat voel, of wat my bly maak.

Ek wil NOG beter georganiseerd wees.

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:03:39 +0200:Kersfees op Hydeaway Farm

Op Hydeaway Farm begin die Kersvieringe op 1 Desember, wanneer die dogtertjies hulle eerste 'Gayle presentjie' oopmaak. Die idee van hierdie klein geskenkies, een per dag vanaf 1 tot 24 Desember, is begin deur Gayle Schmidt, 'n vriendin wat 'n ma-en-kind speelgroepie in die dorp gehad het toe die dogtertjies kleuters was. Gayle was 'n trauma-berader by die Heidelberg Hospitaal, en die speelgroepie was haar manier om 'n bietjie met 'normale' dinge en gelukkige gesinne in aanraking te kom. Nadat ons aangeval is, het sy ook ons berading gedoen.
Die 24ste begin die GROOT KOOK so rondom middagete. Siende dat ek met 'n Engelsman getroud is, sluit dit elke jaar 'n yslike kalkoen in, wat vroeg-vroeg in die oond gedruk is. Omdat die Engelsman ook hoogs georganiseerd is, was daar 'n 'timeline' op die yskas: die kalkoen moet SO LAAT in die oond; die aartappels SO LAAT, die stuffing SO LAAT, nou moet die groente in, nou moet die groente se marinade voorberei word, nou moet dit gekook word - julle kry die prentjie!
Ons kook vir agt mense - ons vier Hydes en die vier werkers wat oor die Kerstyd werk. So net na sewe was ek, Rain en Firn skoon en netjies aangetrek (sjoe, ek't tot 'n ROK aangehad!) en het ons vier aangesit vir ons Kersete. Ek en Jon was gedaan na die middag se rondskarrel in die warm kombuis, en vroeg-vroeg was die skottelgoed gewas en almal in die bed.
Vier-uur Kersoggend is ons spertyd; dan mag die dogtertjies ons maar wakker maak sodat ons kan kyk wat Kersvader in die nag afgelewer het, en, volgens Jon, het Rai hom om 03:58 wakker gemaak. Weens die wereldwye resessie was die geskenkies heelwat minder as in vorige jare, maar hy het tog afgelewer: Vir Rain, 'n swart nommertjie, 'n amper lewenslange begeerte; perdjie-oorbelletjies, en 'n pienk T-hemp met 'Girls drive John Deere Tractors' op. Vir Firn, 'n oranje T-hemp met 'n perd op, 'n perde-borsspeld, en 'n hoogspring vir Hope en Flower. Die dogtertjies saam het ook twee perdespringe gekry: hiervoor was ons buitekant in die pikdonker, want Ou Kersvader het 'n brief geskryf om te vertel dat een geskenk buitekant was.
Kersdag was relatief besig, want ons het die werkers tussen melk-tye af gegee, terwyl ons hulle werkies gedoen het. Jon het die melktenk gewas, ons twee het die blindes en King Arthur (ons jong bulletjie wat oor ongeveer 18 maande vir Moonshot moet vervang) kos gegee, en die kalfies na die Over-The-Hill kamp toe geneem om te wei. Ons vier, met die dogtertjies op hulle perde, het ook die koeie in die veld gaan haal vir middagmelk.
Die uitstappie sal onthou word omdat Jon baie onsuksesvol probeer het om Rain se groot, vet, mak os, Samurai, op te saal nadat Firn Skye afgesaal het.
Namiddag was arme Jon was weereens aan die kook - hy't Turkey A La King vir ons en al die werkers gemaak, en ook 'n sop met die res van die oorskiet-kalkoen gemaak, nadat 'n 'stockpot' heeldag aan die kook was. Tussen die agt mense en die agt honde op die plaas, het ons nie 'n druppel van die allemintige kalkoen vermors nie, maar dit het Jon vir ure lank besig gehou.
Tussen-in het ons goed gerus, terwyl die dogtertjies die honde en perde aan die spring gehou het. Hope het sommer gou-gou oor die hoogste lat van die hoogspring-apparaat gespring, en Firn was in haar noppies.
Nog 'n hoogs suksesvolle Kersdag op Hydeaway Farm - dankie Jon, Firn, Rain en die werkers.

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 09:45:02 +0200:Birthday girl (vervolg)

Kyk net hierdie kosbare geskenk wat ek by 'n vriendin gekry het - is ek nie lucky nie?
My dearest friend, I wish you a thousand golden sunrises pleasant surprises every day Little miracles to make you smile a cup of tea and friendly voices when you need it most.
I wish you more smiles than tears more happiness than fears
The luxury of pure love and loving friends
Happy birthday not only for today but for always and everyday...

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:09:06 +0200:Birthday Girl

Gister het ek verjaar - om uit te vind hoe oud ek is, lees gerus Firn se blog. Sy't blykbaar nog nie geleer om 'n vrou se ouderdom geheim te hou nie.
Van my normale, tradisionele vroegoggendbederf het daar niks gekom nie, want Jon moes al 05:30 by die Heidelberg polisiestasie wees. Hy en 'n klomp van sy buddies het Pretoria toe gery om hulle polisie-uniforms te gaan oplaai, so ek is nou amptelik met 'n student-konstabel (of so-iets) getroud.
Ek kry sommer deja vu; ek's weer terug op skool en ek skryf lang briewe aan my boyfriend op die grens ...
Eergister het ek en die dogtertjies weereens 'n Bontrok-koek gebak. Jon het ook al een vir sy verjaarsdag gehad. En gister het 'n vriendin wat ook melk met twee van haar dogters kom tee drink en koek-en-tert eet en, soos ons twee maar altyd doen, 'koeipraat'. Tussen ons sal jy verniet soek vir gesprekke, soos ek my ma altyd hoor voer het, oor kinders en bediendes. Hier gaan dit net oor koeie en kalwers - letterlik!
Weens die groot verlaging in ons melkprys was daar nie geld vir gekoopte verjaarsdaggeskenke nie, maar ek het drie stunning geskenke gekry: tuisgemaakte kaartjies van Firn en Rain (vol honde- en perde-aanhalings) en 'n brief van Jon. Ons spot dat ek nou met 'n 'limp' loop - waar LIMP staan vir Letter In My Pocket - want ek dra daardie kosbare brief orals met my saam. En sonder om privaat-dinge uit te lap, wil ek tog net een dingetjie aanhaal (vergewe my, Jon): Jon skryf hoe inspirerend dit vir hom is om te sien hoe ek getransformeer het van 'n 'city girl' na 'n 'very competent stockman, farmer and manager.' Komende van 'n perfeksionis soos Jon wat nie sommer komplimente rondswaai nie, voel ek regtig baie chuffed met myself.



Gister het ek verjaar - om uit te vind hoe oud ek is, lees gerus Firn se blog. Sy't blykbaar nog nie geleer om 'n vrou se ouderdom geheim te hou nie.

Van my normale, tradisionele vroegoggendbederf het daar niks gekom nie, want Jon moes al 05:30 by die Heidelberg polisiestasie wees. Hy en 'n klomp van sy buddies het Pretoria toe gery om hulle polisie-uniforms te gaan oplaai, so ek is nou amptelik met 'n student-konstabel (of so-iets) getroud.

Ek kry sommer deja vu; ek's weer terug op skool en ek skryf lang briewe aan my boyfriend op die grens ...

Eergister het ek en die dogtertjies weereens 'n Bontrok-koek gebak. Jon het ook al een vir sy verjaarsdag gehad. En gister het 'n vriendin wat ook melk met twee van haar dogters kom tee drink en koek-en-tert eet en, soos ons twee maar altyd doen, 'koeipraat'. Tussen ons  sal jy verniet soek vir gesprekke, soos ek my ma altyd hoor voer het, oor kinders en bediendes. Hier gaan dit net oor koeie en kalwers - letterlik!

Weens die groot verlaging in ons melkprys was daar nie geld vir gekoopte verjaarsdaggeskenke nie, maar ek het drie stunning geskenke gekry: tuisgemaakte kaartjies van Firn en Rain (vol honde- en perde-aanhalings) en 'n brief van Jon. Ons spot dat ek nou met 'n 'limp' loop - waar LIMP staan vir Letter In My Pocket - want ek dra daardie kosbare brief orals met my saam. En sonder om privaat-dinge uit te lap, wil ek tog net een dingetjie aanhaal (vergewe my, Jon): Jon skryf hoe inspirerend dit vir hom is om te sien hoe ek getransformeer het van 'n 'city girl' na 'n 'very competent stockman, farmer and manager.' Komende van 'n perfeksionis soos Jon wat nie sommer komplimente rondswaai nie, voel ek regtig baie chuffed met myself.

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:25:22 +0200:Journal in a Jar

Dis Jon se nuutste projek. Ons skryf almal vrae neer vir Jon se ouers. Hierdie vrae word dan uitgeknip en in 'n bottel geplaas, wat hulle saam met 'n boek present kry. Die gedagte is dat hulle min-of-meer elke dag 'n vraag trek, en die antwoord neerskryf. Wanneer die joernaal voltooi is, kry ons dit weer terug.
Die vrae word met die hand neergeskryf, sodat die dogtertjies bietjie hulle skrif oefen, en ook om die geskenk 'n bietjie meer persoonlik te maak.
Ons het die vrae vanaf 'n webwerf afgetrek en aangevul met ons eie. Dit sluit in:
Why was your name chosen for you?
What was happening in the world when you were born? What is your earliest memory of home? What was your favourite hiding place as a child? What is your favourite hiding place as an adult? What was your favourite store and why did you like to go there? What were your chores as a child? What did your mother do during the day? What did you do on summer days? What did you enjoy in the winter? What was your favourite fairy tale or bedtime story? What was your favourite doll or toy? What was your favourite treat? What pets have you had? What pet did you always want? Do you remember what an ice cream cone cost when you were a child? What does one cost today? What kind of car did your family have? Describe how people dressed when you were a child. Describe your favourite outfit as a child, and as a youth. How were children expected to behave? How did you learn about God? Who set a good example for you? What was your favourite scripture as a child? What is your favourite scripture now? What was your favourite television show as a child or youth? Describe getting a Christmas tree with your family as a child. How did you decorate it? When did you put it up, and when did you take it down? What is your favourite season of the year? Describe the sights, sounds and smells of that season. In your opinion, what has been the most significant world event that has taken place during your lifetime and why? Write about some places you went with your mother. Tell about your civic or political activities. What frightens you and why? What is your advice to those younger than you? What is your child-rearing philosophy? What is your greatest joy? Greatest sorrow? What is your personal secret to happiness? What is your secret for good health and long life? What lessons did you take as a child? What personality trait do you admire and why? What was your most embarrassing moment? What would you like to be remembered for? Where, when and why did you go to college? Write about some places you went with your father. Describe your mother=A2s wedding dress. What do you know about your parents=A2 wedding? Describe the town and shops of your childhood at Christmastime. Did you and your father share any interests? Tell about your relationship. Did you have a close relationship with any of your grandparents? Tell about= it. Did you receive your education somewhere other than school? Did you wish you had more (or fewer) sisters and brothers? Why? How do you feel about death? Tell about your philosophy of life after death. How, when and where did you learn to drive? Have you had any memorable driving experiences? List each of your aunts and uncles and tell one thing about each of them. Tell a courtship story about your parents: How they met, etc. Tell the same thing about your courtship. Tell a story about you and each of your brothers and sisters. Tell about a special date you had with a girlfriend or boyfriend. Tell about a teacher or class that had a great influence on you. Tell about family traditions: Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving= , etc. Tell about home cures or wives=A2 tales: Hiccups, toothaches, colds, warts, earaches, etc. Tell about retirement: When, where, what you will do with your time. Tell about teenage social life: Your friends, dances, movies, dating, church activities, etc. Tell about your first "crush". What was he or she like? Tell about your fir= st Christmas as a married couple. Tell how religion was practised in your home, faith promoting stories, etc. Were you ever in drama, speech, sports, pep or glee club? Tell about it. What are your favourite foods? What foods do you detest? What colour was your house, your bedroom, your living room as a child? What convinced you most in your choice of a spouse? What did you do as a child that got you in the most trouble with your paren= ts? With your teacher? What games did you play in your home or neighbourhood? What kind of music do you like? How does it make you feel? What places in the world do you want to visit, and why? What was winter like where you grew up? What did you like to do on winter days? What were your fears, expectations and anticipations about getting married? What is the biggest lesson in life you have found to be true? What is the most trying experience that ever happened to you? What is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to you? What is your favourite book? What do books mean to you? What is your favourite colour? Why? What are your most precious and deeply embedded values? Where did your grandparents live? What was their home like? Did it have a certain smell or look? Where is the most exciting place you have ever been? What made it interesti= ng? Which of your mother=A2s personality traits do you share? Which of your fat= her=A2s? Would you choose differently if you could choose your occupation again? Why and how? Do you remember any of your great grandparents? What are your memories of t= hem? Tell about the changes you have seen in your lifetime: Society in general, technology, fashion fads, morality, politics, etc. Tell about the houses you lived in up until the time you got married. Do you remember any addresses or phone numbers? Tell about your life as the children left home: New interests, what you did with the extra time, new employment, moves, hobbies, etc. Were you responsible for any household chores? Which household chores did you enjoy the most? The least? What are the advantages and disadvantages of your position in the family of= oldest, youngest or middle child? What is the most important lesson, message or advice you have learned that = you would like to pass on to others? Tell about your father: Personality, characteristics, stature, colouring, talents, temperament, his role in your home, family stories about him. What are his best and worst traits? Tell about your mother: Personality, characteristics, stature, colouring, t= alents, temperament, her role in your home, family stories about her. What = are her best and worst traits? Where were you and what were you doing when these events occurred: World Wa= r II ended, John F. Kennedy was shot, the Berlin Wall came down, Neil Armst= rong first walked on the moon, and the space shuttle Challenger exploded? Tell about each of your children: Names, birth dates, where they were born,= circumstances surrounding their birth or adoption, characteristics and dif= ferences, raising them, problems, joys, sorrows and accomplishments. Do you have a best friend? Tell about him or her. How did your father support your family? How did you become engaged? How do you feel about winning? Losing? Tell about your bicycle experiences. One word on how to live successfully. Explain. Tell about a favourite vacation from your childhood? Tell about family reunions. Tell about some family words or phrases. Tell about the pets you have had. Tell about your Boy Scout or Girl Scout experiences. Tell about your family=A2s cars. Do you have a favourite author? Who is it and why? What do you think brings good or bad luck? Describe a childhood birthday. Describe your Sundays. Tell about your wedding day. Describe a trip downtown as a youngster. Describe a favourite Christmas with your children. Tell about a favourite vacation from your childhood. Tell about a favourite vacation in your married years. What is your favourite movie and why? What do you think about movies? List all the places you have worked and tell something about each one. What things do you enjoy doing today that you also enjoyed as a child? Do you remember any special fears, fantasies, etc. that you had as a child? Tell about them. Describe your first home as a young married couple. Have you met or worked with any famous people? Who, where and when? Tell about a frustrating experience you have had with a car. Tell about skills you have learned from your elders: Food preparation, will= ow whistles, pottery, quilting, whittling, etc. What kind of music do you like? How does it make you feel? What is the most important lesson, message or advice you have learned that = you would like to pass on to others? What musical instrument can you play? What games did you play in your home or neighbourhood? What is the biggest lesson in life you have found to be true? What was happening in the world when you were born: President, news events,= movie stars, hit songs, etc. What has been your biggest disappointment in = life? What is the thing you love most about being a mother/father? What is the most difficult thing a mother/father has to do? What does real success in life mean to you? What is the value of pursuing a vocation, hobby or activity that you love?



Dis Jon se nuutste projek. Ons skryf almal vrae neer vir Jon se ouers. Hierdie vrae word dan uitgeknip en in 'n bottel geplaas, wat hulle saam met 'n boek present kry. Die gedagte is dat hulle min-of-meer elke dag 'n vraag trek, en die antwoord neerskryf. Wanneer die joernaal voltooi is, kry ons dit weer terug.

Die vrae word met die hand neergeskryf, sodat die dogtertjies bietjie hulle skrif oefen, en ook om die geskenk 'n bietjie meer persoonlik te maak.

Ons het die vrae vanaf 'n webwerf afgetrek en aangevul met ons eie. Dit sluit in:

Why was your name chosen for you?

What was happening in the world when you were born?
What is your earliest memory of home?
What was your favourite hiding place as a child?
What is your favourite hiding place as an adult?
What was your favourite store and why did you like to go there?
What were your chores as a child?
What did your mother do during the day?
What did you do on summer days?
What did you enjoy in the winter?
What was your favourite fairy tale or bedtime story?
What was your favourite doll or toy?
What was your favourite treat?
What pets have you had?
What pet did you always want?
Do you remember what an ice cream cone cost when you were a child?
What does one cost today?
What kind of car did your family have?
Describe how people dressed when you were a child.
Describe your favourite outfit as a child, and as a youth.
How were children expected to behave?
How did you learn about God?
Who set a good example for you?
What was your favourite scripture as a child?
What is your favourite scripture now?
What was your favourite television show as a child or youth?
Describe getting a Christmas tree with your family as a child.
How did you decorate it?
When did you put it up, and when did you take it down?
What is your favourite season of the year?
Describe the sights, sounds and smells of that season.
In your opinion, what has been the most significant world event that has
taken place during your lifetime and why?
Write about some places you went with your mother.
Tell about your civic or political activities.
What frightens you and why?
What is your advice to those younger than you?
What is your child-rearing philosophy?
What is your greatest joy?
Greatest sorrow?
What is your personal secret to happiness?
What is your secret for good health and long life?
What lessons did you take as a child?
What personality trait do you admire and why?
What was your most embarrassing moment?
What would you like to be remembered for?
Where, when and why did you go to college?
Write about some places you went with your father.
Describe your mother’s wedding dress.
What do you know about your parents’ wedding?
Describe the town and shops of your childhood at Christmastime.
Did you and your father share any interests?
Tell about your relationship.
Did you have a close relationship with any of your grandparents? Tell about it.
Did you receive your education somewhere other than school?
Did you wish you had more (or fewer) sisters and brothers? Why?
How do you feel about death?
Tell about your philosophy of life after death.
How, when and where did you learn to drive?
Have you had any memorable driving experiences?
List each of your aunts and uncles and tell one thing about each of them.
Tell a courtship story about your parents: How they met, etc.
Tell the same thing about your courtship.
Tell a story about you and each of your brothers and sisters.
Tell about a special date you had with a girlfriend or boyfriend.
Tell about a teacher or class that had a great influence on you.
Tell about family traditions: Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.
Tell about home cures or wives’ tales: Hiccups, toothaches, colds,
warts, earaches, etc.
Tell about retirement: When, where, what you will do with your time.
Tell about teenage social life: Your friends, dances, movies,
dating, church activities, etc.
Tell about your first "crush". What was he or she like? Tell about your first Christmas as a married couple.
Tell how religion was practised in your home, faith promoting stories, etc.
Were you ever in drama, speech, sports, pep or glee club? Tell about it.
What are your favourite foods?
What foods do you detest?
What colour was your house, your bedroom, your living room as a child?
What convinced you most in your choice of a spouse?
What did you do as a child that got you in the most trouble with your parents?
With your teacher?
What games did you play in your home or neighbourhood?
What kind of music do you like? How does it make you feel?
What places in the world do you want to visit, and why?
What was winter like where you grew up?
What did you like to do on winter days?
What were your fears, expectations and anticipations about getting married?
What is the biggest lesson in life you have found to be true?
What is the most trying experience that ever happened to you?
What is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to you?
What is your favourite book?
What do books mean to you?
What is your favourite colour? Why?
What are your most precious and deeply embedded values?
Where did your grandparents live?
What was their home like?
Did it have a certain smell or look?
Where is the most exciting place you have ever been? What made it interesting?
Which of your mother’s personality traits do you share? Which of your father’s?
Would you choose differently if you could choose your occupation again? Why
and how?
Do you remember any of your great grandparents? What are your memories of them?
Tell about the changes you have seen in your lifetime:
Society in general, technology, fashion fads, morality, politics, etc.
Tell about the houses you lived in up until the time you got married.
Do you remember any addresses or phone numbers?
Tell about your life as the children left home: New interests, what you did
with the extra time, new employment, moves, hobbies, etc.
Were you responsible for any household chores?
Which household chores did you enjoy the most? The least?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of your position in the family of oldest, youngest or middle child?
What is the most important lesson, message or advice you have learned that you would like to pass on to others?
Tell about your father: Personality, characteristics, stature, colouring,
talents, temperament, his role in your home, family stories about him. What
are his best and worst traits?
Tell about your mother: Personality, characteristics, stature, colouring, talents, temperament, her role in your home, family stories about her. What are her best and worst traits?
Where were you and what were you doing when these events occurred: World War II ended, John F. Kennedy was shot, the Berlin Wall came down, Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, and the space shuttle Challenger exploded?
Tell about each of your children: Names, birth dates, where they were born, circumstances surrounding their birth or adoption, characteristics and differences, raising them, problems, joys, sorrows and accomplishments.
Do you have a best friend? Tell about him or her.
How did your father support your family?
How did you become engaged?
How do you feel about winning? Losing?
Tell about your bicycle experiences.
One word on how to live successfully. Explain.
Tell about a favourite vacation from your childhood?
Tell about family reunions.
Tell about some family words or phrases.
Tell about the pets you have had.
Tell about your Boy Scout or Girl Scout experiences.
Tell about your family’s cars.
Do you have a favourite author? Who is it and why?
What do you think brings good or bad luck?
Describe a childhood birthday.
Describe your Sundays.
Tell about your wedding day.
Describe a trip downtown as a youngster.
Describe a favourite Christmas with your children.
Tell about a favourite vacation from your childhood.
Tell about a favourite vacation in your married years.
What is your favourite movie and why?
What do you think about movies?
List all the places you have worked and tell something about each one.
What things do you enjoy doing today that you also enjoyed as a child?
Do you remember any special fears, fantasies, etc. that you had as a child?
Tell about them.
Describe your first home as a young married couple.
Have you met or worked with any famous people? Who, where and when?
Tell about a frustrating experience you have had with a car.
Tell about skills you have learned from your elders: Food preparation, willow whistles, pottery, quilting, whittling, etc.
What kind of music do you like?
How does it make you feel?
What is the most important lesson, message or advice you have learned that you would like to pass on to others?
What musical instrument can you play?
What games did you play in your home or neighbourhood?
What is the biggest lesson in life you have found to be true?
What was happening in the world when you were born: President, news events, movie stars, hit songs, etc. What has been your biggest disappointment in life? What is the thing you love most about being a mother/father?
What is the most difficult thing a mother/father has to do?
What does real success in life mean to you?
What is the value of pursuing a vocation, hobby or activity that you love?





 
Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:49:48 +0200:Tower-oomblikke




Daar was daardie wat ek as 'derde-party' magic moments sou beskryf; met
die dat die plase rondom ons in wildsplase omskep word, wag daar 'n
verrassing om elke hoek en draai op ons grondpad: 'n 'serval' wat oor
die pad hardloop (ek dag amper dis 'n luiperd, maar het na baie mooi kyk
besef dis nie), drie klein vlakvarkies, en dan die meer alledaagse wild
elke dag.  


Ek en Firn gaan eendag kalfies haal met Firn op Skye, en ons betrap 'n
jong jakkalsie, te klein om te weet van bang wees, by sy gat.  Ons kom
tot seker so 10 m van hom af, en hou hom vir 'n lang ruk dop, terwyl hy
rondom sy gat grawe en ons rustig bekyk.


Gister hou ons 'n ontbyt-piekniek en in dieselfde kamp sien ons vir
Rover, die impala-rammetjie wat verlede jaar by ons gebly het, met 'n
ooitjie en 'n tweeling. Weereens kom ons tot baie naby, terwyl hulle
rustig bly staan.


Op ons grasperk voor die huis wip-wip 'n hoep-hoep gesinnetjie. Ma, Pa,
en twee kleintjies. En die blou koppies van die tarentale hardloop
orals. In 'n boom aan die suidekant van ons plaas broei daar
sekretarisvoels. 


Amper elke dag is daar nuwe lewe op die plaas, en ons drie girls is
meestal by wanneer die kalfies gebore word.


Maar hierdie natuur-betowering is nie 'n patch op die magic wat ek elke
dag in ons huis leef nie: Firn wat se ek's haar beste maatjie, Rain wat
my seer kop vir langer as 'n uur masseer, die ongelooflike liefde tussen
my en Jon wat net al sterker word.


Op ons stoep hang 'n bordjie: "Om met jou hele hart lief te he, is soos
om 'n stukkie van die hemel te ontvang".








Daar was daardie wat ek as 'derde-party' magic moments sou beskryf; met die dat die plase rondom ons in wildsplase omskep word, wag daar 'n verrassing om elke hoek en draai op ons grondpad: 'n 'serval' wat oor die pad hardloop (ek dag amper dis 'n luiperd, maar het na baie mooi kyk besef dis nie), drie klein vlakvarkies, en dan die meer alledaagse wild elke dag.  



Ek en Firn gaan eendag kalfies haal met Firn op Skye, en ons betrap 'n jong jakkalsie, te klein om te weet van bang wees, by sy gat.  Ons kom tot seker so 10 m van hom af, en hou hom vir 'n lang ruk dop, terwyl hy rondom sy gat grawe en ons rustig bekyk.



Gister hou ons 'n ontbyt-piekniek en in dieselfde kamp sien ons vir Rover, die impala-rammetjie wat verlede jaar by ons gebly het, met 'n ooitjie en 'n tweeling. Weereens kom ons tot baie naby, terwyl hulle rustig bly staan.



Op ons grasperk voor die huis wip-wip 'n hoep-hoep gesinnetjie. Ma, Pa, en twee kleintjies. En die blou koppies van die tarentale hardloop orals. In 'n boom aan die suidekant van ons plaas broei daar sekretarisvoels. 



Amper elke dag is daar nuwe lewe op die plaas, en ons drie girls is meestal by wanneer die kalfies gebore word.



Maar hierdie natuur-betowering is nie 'n patch op die magic wat ek elke dag in ons huis leef nie: Firn wat se ek's haar beste maatjie, Rain wat my seer kop vir langer as 'n uur masseer, die ongelooflike liefde tussen my en Jon wat net al sterker word.



Op ons stoep hang 'n bordjie: "Om met jou hele hart lief te he, is soos om 'n stukkie van die hemel te ontvang".






 
Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:28:41 +0200:Engele op my pad




Omdat dit nie goed gegaan het hier nie, dis hoekom ek vir 'n hele lang
ruk glad nie geblog het nie. Eendersyds omdat ek te besig was om vure
dood te slaan, andersyds omdat ek nie energie gehad het nie.


Eintlik wil ek vandag dankie se vir die engele op my pad wat my deur 'n
rowwe tyd gedra het. En as ek dalk iemand uitlaat, vra ek sommer nou al
om verskoning.


Eerste kom my gesin: Jon en die dogtertjies. Almal geduldig, lankmoedig,
hulpvaardig, liefdevol. Kyk, ons vier ken van saamstaan, veral as dinge
skeefloop.


En dan 'n hele klomp vriende en vriendinne, met elkeen wat bydra op sy
eie manier. Andre en Antoinette, wat ons mentors in die suiwelboerdery
was en is, al vir solank ons melk. Arme Andre het weer verlede week
halsoorkop uit Heidelberg gejaag om te kom help met 'n koei met erge
melkkoors. Antoinette en Johan, wat vir Rain 'n merrie en vulletjie
present gegee het toe Rivr sy been gebreek het. Lesley en haar kinders
wat alles net so gelos en kom troos het. Kevin wat die hele storie
namens ons hanteer het. Debbie, vir wie ek 25 jaar gelede laas gesien
het, my versugting na 'n bietjie skoonheid in my blog gelees en onthou
het, en hier aangekom het met die mooiste, fynste nagrok wat my na 'n
prinses laat voel. Al die internet-tuisonderrig vriendinne wat my deur
die jaar ondersteun het met bemoediging en raad, selfs al het ek hulle
nog nooit ontmoet nie.


Ek is baie bly oor julle almal. En ek sal nou weer 'n bietjie meer blog.








Omdat dit nie goed gegaan het hier nie, dis hoekom ek vir 'n hele lang ruk glad nie geblog het nie. Eendersyds omdat ek te besig was om vure dood te slaan, andersyds omdat ek nie energie gehad het nie.



Eintlik wil ek vandag dankie se vir die engele op my pad wat my deur 'n rowwe tyd gedra het. En as ek dalk iemand uitlaat, vra ek sommer nou al om verskoning.



Eerste kom my gesin: Jon en die dogtertjies. Almal geduldig, lankmoedig, hulpvaardig, liefdevol. Kyk, ons vier ken van saamstaan, veral as dinge skeefloop.



En dan 'n hele klomp vriende en vriendinne, met elkeen wat bydra op sy eie manier. Andre en Antoinette, wat ons mentors in die suiwelboerdery was en is, al vir solank ons melk. Arme Andre het weer verlede week halsoorkop uit Heidelberg gejaag om te kom help met 'n koei met erge melkkoors. Antoinette en Johan, wat vir Rain 'n merrie en vulletjie present gegee het toe Rivr sy been gebreek het. Lesley en haar kinders wat alles net so gelos en kom troos het. Kevin wat die hele storie namens ons hanteer het. Debbie, vir wie ek 25 jaar gelede laas gesien het, my versugting na 'n bietjie skoonheid in my blog gelees en onthou het, en hier aangekom het met die mooiste, fynste nagrok wat my na 'n prinses laat voel. Al die internet-tuisonderrig vriendinne wat my deur die jaar ondersteun het met bemoediging en raad, selfs al het ek hulle nog nooit ontmoet nie.



Ek is baie bly oor julle almal. En ek sal nou weer 'n bietjie meer blog.






 
Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:21:01 +0200:Die Week Wat Was




Lees gerus Firn se blog vir meer besonderhede oor die doen en late van
mens en dier op Hydeaway Farm hierdie week. Maar wat sy, interessant
genoeg, verswyg, is die Blou Maandag wat 'n Blou Week geword het.


Maandag hou ons 'n vergadering met die plaaswerkers en Jon noem 'n paar
dinge waarmee hy ontevrede is. Besluit Patrick (wat 'n jaar lank by ons
werk, die kortste van ons plaaswerkers) hy bedank summier. Nou ja, ons
smeek niemand om te bly nie, ek se net 'teken hier' en Jon laai hom op
die dorp af. Beteken ek boet my Maandagmiddag in die dorp in om sy werk
te doen.


Dinsdag is net 'n waas. Ek en Jon begin 04:45 kalfies kosgee, en ek
strompel 17:30 uit die stortreen die huis in. 


Woensdag bring Jabu, terug van verlof, vir Elias, ons nuwe werker. Maar
hy moet alles geleer word, en ek werk saam met hom. Malmesbury kalf,
maar die kalf is yslik groot en ek en Firn trek haar.


Donderdag sit die restbrot-trok vas omdat die drywer nie vir my
geluister het toe ek hom verduidelik het waar om te ry nie. En Job laat
die sleepwa vassit binne-in 'n hek waardeur die koeie van die melkstal
na die voerstal moet loop. Ek skree op hom (en ek doen dit regtig nooit
nie) en ys dat hy ook gaan bedank.


Vrydag kry ek 'n noodoproep van Job: Lollipop is doodsiek. Ek hol
kaalvoet in die ingangskamp se modder in, sak in tot amper by my kniee,
en spuit haar net daar 60 cc Calcitad en 10 cc Predef.


Dit was die week wat was (o ja, en tussen-in het ons ook heelwat
skoolwerk gedoen).





 
Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:40:18 +0200:Beeld-artikel




Hier is 'n uittreksel uit 'n amazing artikel deur Ds Rudi Swanepoel wat
in Beeld verskyn het:


"Wat sou met ons wereld gebeur as elke pa (ja, oom Angus, elke pa
), of
hy nou n boer is of n bankier, n rekenmeester of
 n
rolbalbaan-opsigter, n prokureur of n predikant, twee uur
 meer van sy
werksdag inboet om aan sy gesin af te staan?


Wat sou gebeur as n pa saam met sy kinders om n tafel sit
 en hoor van
die boelie met sy windgat selfoon en sy skurwe prentjies?


Wat sou gebeur as n pa en n ma gereeld kon oogkontak maak
 en skalks
kon saamglimlag oor die aweregse opmerking van n kleuter?


Wat sou gebeur as die "feite van die lewe" om die etenstafel bespreek
kon word eerder as agter die seunstoilette by die gepoleerde privaat
skool?


Wat sou gebeur as ons weet wat ons eet, kon dink oor ons liggaam, mekaar
inspireer om nadenkend en gematig te lewe?


Wat sou gebeur as ons nuus kon uitruil, kon praat en lag en huil oor die
alledaagse, oor wat in die wereld gebeur, en leer om die tekens van die
tye beter te lees en te verstaan?


Ek wil jou waarborg, waar ek sit in my sonnige studeerkamer in die
beautiful Bedford, dat die wereld sal verander. Die hele wereld. 
En sy
mense.


En moenie met my oor gehaltetyd praat nie. Ek glo daar geen snars van
nie, en jy gaan my ook nie anders oortuig nie. Daar is geen
plaasvervanger vir tyd (baie daarvan), fisieke aanraking (die kan nooit
te veel wees nie), aktiewe luister en simpatieke kommunikasie tussen
ouers en kinders nie. Geen. Daar is geen plaasvervanger hiervoor 
nie.


Die koninkryk van God sal inderdaad kom as pa's en ma's mekaar liefhet
en waardeer en wanneer hulle hul kinders wys dat hulle kosbaar genoeg is
om tyd te kry."





 
Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:31:03 +0200:Tweetaligheid (vervolg)




Jon se ek 'kroek' as ek afskrifte van my eie briewe op my blog plaas.
Hier is in elk geval een:


Hallo Almal


Dit gaan op 'n drafstap hier by ons met nuwe perde, koeie wat kalf, siek
koeie en kalfies, en balleteksamens.


Ek hoop om later in meer besonderhede hierop in te gaan, maar ek wil tog
eerstens baie, baie dankie se vir almal wat soveel moeite gedoen het om
op my boodskap te antwoord, en voorstelle vir boeke te maak. Ek het al
die antwoorde gehou en sodra dinge kalmer hier gaan, sal ek alles mooi
stadig sit en deurlees en implementeer wat ek kan.


Ek wil darem net gou-gou se dat ek en Jon baie gepraat en gedink het
hieroor, en ons dink die kwessie het om die volgende redes ontstaan:


1. Ons het die afgelope paar maande (seker maklik 'n halwe jaar of so)
verskriklik verdiep geraak in 'n reeks Engelse boeke. Voor dit gebeur
het, het ek altyd die boeke wat ek vir die dogtertjies gelees het,
afgewissel: een Engels, een Afrikaans. Dit kon ek dadelik regstel deur
'n Afrikaanse boek te begin voorlees.  Ons luister ook nou heelwat meer
na Afrikaanse musiek.


2. Firn skryf haar boeke in Engels, en lees elke hoofstuk wat sy voltooi
vir Rain. Dit is op sigself nie 'n probleem nie, maar die dogtertjies
hou baie daarvan om gedeeltes uit die boeke te dramatiseer, wat
natuurlik in Engels plaasvind. Dus het hulle stadigaan al hoe meer in
Engels begin speel, en ook met mekaar begin Engels praat. Ons wil die
voorlesery en spelery nie ontmoedig nie, en dus doen ons op die oomblik
niks hieraan nie.


3. Rain is op 'n "Daddy"-stadium, en, soos die werkies ook op die plaas
uitgedeel word, is dit Rain en haar pa wat vir die groot 'projekte'
verantwoordelik is, asook saam ontbyt maak oor naweke, terwyl ek en Firn
help met die versorging van die diere. Hoewel Rain dus in die week,
wanneer Jon werk, meestal by my is, bring sy baie tyd in die naweke saam
met hom deur, en identifiseer sy baie sterk met hom. Hieraan wil ek ook
nie verander nie - die band tussen die fyn dogtertjie en haar groot pa
is vir my te pragtig en kosbaar.


Ons het mooi vir die dogtertjies verduidelik hoe belangrik my taal vir
my is, en hulle werk 100% saam om hulle Afrikaans te verbeter. Firn
skryf nou weer gereeld (in Afrikaans) op Tuisleerders - en sy doen dit
uit eie beweging. En Rain probeer ook hard; sy se sy geniet die
Afrikaanse musiek (veral Laurika Rauch) en die boek wat ons lees. Sy wil
ook graag op Tuisleerders skryf, maar sy't 'n bietjie hulp van my kant
af nodig, en sodra ek kan, gaan ek haar ook daarmee help.


Ek skryf later weer hieroor.


Lekker week vir almal; ons het heerlike reen gehad.




Dinki





 
Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:28:59 +0200:Woensdag 12 November 2008




Plaasdinge:


Gisternag 2-uur wakker geword en besef Patrick is nog nie terug van
verlof nie (ons weet, want die werkers bly agter 'n elektriese hek wat
slegs ons na donker kan oopmaak). Bietjie wakker gele, beplan en
geworry, en maar verder geslaap. Uiteinde was dat Jon en Firn vanoggend
gemelk het totdat hy, een uur laat, opgedaag het. Hy verloor dus sy hele
maandelikse bonus van R75.


Dit gaan 'n bietjie woes op die plaas. Bettie is baie siek, maar ook na
aan kalf. Firn het gister vir die eerste keer 'n bietjie binne-in 'n
koei rondgevoel. Ons het uiteindelik maar ietsie soos galsiek
gediagnoseer, en haar gisteraand net voor donker en vanoggend weer
gespuit. Odette en Anemay, altwee hoe produseerders, is ook siekerig en
kry ook antibiotika, lewerstimulant en Vit B. Die klein kalfie, Elfie,
se magie werk en sy't gister antibiotika gekry. Twoie, Firn se bok, kry
'n anti-inflammatoriese insputing daagliks vir haar seer oog. Malmesbury
is na aan kalf en haar mis lyk snaaks.


Skooldinge:


Firn't 'n lekker Afrikaanse briefie op tuisleerders geskryf. Sy
korrespondeer ook heerlik met ons gasvrou in Durban - hulle praat lang
stories oor skryf, boeke, en nog wat. Sy't 'n e-pos van 'n tuisskoolma
gekry oor 'n skryfkompetisie vir 'n kinderstorie vir kinders van 9 tot
13 jaar, by Maskew Miller Longman (ons het 'n jarelange verbintenis met
hulle, want hulle't my pa se Wiskunde-handboeke uitgegee - ons kry nou
nog 'n bietjie tantieme elke jaar). Firn is hoogs opgewonde, en ek dink
die storie begin al broei ...


Die 'to do' lysie vir die dogtertjies werk goed, ook hulle eie e-pos
adresse. Rain korrespondeer met Antoinette oor die perde, en ek kan vir
Firn sommer lekker werk aanstuur - soos om 'n faktuur, van Jon af
ontvang, elektronies te betaal. Rain moes byvoorbeeld vanoggend die
reenmeter lees, leegmaak en die reenval op excel insleutel.


Altwee dogtertjies het 'n volledige sessie Wiskunde agter die rug vandag
- dankie tog! En ons het verder gelees in Twee vir 'n Stuiwer. Rain het
fudge gemaak vir Jon se boereverenigingvergadering vanmiddag.


Die dogtertjies het hul heel laaste balletklas vir die jaar gehad - ek's
'n bietjie verlig, kan voel die jaar staan nou einde se kant toe.





 
Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:20:12 +0200:Besige(r) tye




Ek gaan 'n bietjie van my normale formaat afwyk, omdat daar so
verskriklik baie nuus is.


Gistermiddag het ons na balletoefening by Wiesenhof gaan koffie drink en
muffins eet, en 'n lang gesels oor Afrikaans en dagtakies gehad. Die
gesprek is tuis met nog 'n gesinsvergadering voortgesit (arme Raintjie
was amper aan die slaap op haar stoel), met die volgende uiteindes
vandag:


Jon het gisteraand 'n rekenaarstelsel aanmekaar geslaan waarin ek die
dogtertjies se spesiale takies aandui. Hulle kan dit dan opdateer na
'gedoen' wanneer hulle dit voltooi het. Rain, byvoorbeeld, moes vandag
al die honde se veearts-sertifikate bymekaarkry (die staatveearts kom
hulle Donderdag teen hondsdolheid ent), 'n bredie kook vir aandete, en
my help met Jabu se betaling. Dit is nou bo en behalwe die hoenders
kosgee, een bondel wasgoed was, kalfies help melk gee, en haar perde
versorg. 


Ons het begin lees uit 'Twee vir 'n stuiwer.' Meestal, moet ek eerlik
se, omdat dit die eerste geskikte Afrikaanse boek was wat ek in my
boekrak kon vind. Maar die dogtertjies geniet die mossies se manewales
nogal baie. Ons het sommer twee vliee met een klap geslaan: Vir Arwen &
Siobhan saam met Skye in 'n klein kampie gesit (Kevin se instruksies),
en hulle observeer terwyl ons gelees het.


Die dogtertjies spandeer ongelooflik tyd by hulle perde op die oomblik
(soveel so dat Firn slegs gister se Wiskunde nagegaan het vandag, maar
self geen Wiskunde gedoen het nie). Rain begin meer op haar gemak by
Arwen raak, en sy en Siobhan is die grootste maatjies. Ek en Firn is in
die huis, maar toe ek Rain laas gesien het, was Siobhan besig om aan
haar hare te knibbel.


Onderwerpe wat vandag sommer net 'opgekom' het, en waaraan ons so 'n
bietjie geknibbel het, is 'The Statue of Liberty', 'The Seven Wonders of
the Ancient World' en 'The Seven Modern Wonders 2007.'


Ek maak my telefoon oop, en sien Rain het 'n nuwe nota bygevoeg (sy't my
foon by haar gehad terwyl sy alleen by Arwen en Siobhan was). Die nota
lees soos volg:


'The horses are grazzing. Arwen, Sky and Siobhan. Siobhan likes standing
next to me, and bothring me. She is tring to eat me! Ow, and tring to
eat the phone, and thip on it now.'


Dis baie besig op die plaas, met heelwat siek diere. More vertel ek meer
daaroor.








Ek gaan 'n bietjie van my normale formaat afwyk, omdat daar so verskriklik baie nuus is.



Gistermiddag het ons na balletoefening by Wiesenhof gaan koffie drink en muffins eet, en 'n lang gesels oor Afrikaans en dagtakies gehad. Die gesprek is tuis met nog 'n gesinsvergadering voortgesit (arme Raintjie was amper aan die slaap op haar stoel), met die volgende uiteindes vandag:



Jon het gisteraand 'n rekenaarstelsel aanmekaar geslaan waarin ek die dogtertjies se spesiale takies aandui. Hulle kan dit dan opdateer na 'gedoen' wanneer hulle dit voltooi het. Rain, byvoorbeeld, moes vandag al die honde se veearts-sertifikate bymekaarkry (die staatveearts kom hulle Donderdag teen hondsdolheid ent), 'n bredie kook vir aandete, en my help met Jabu se betaling. Dit is nou bo en behalwe die hoenders kosgee, een bondel wasgoed was, kalfies help melk gee, en haar perde versorg. 



Ons het begin lees uit 'Twee vir 'n stuiwer.' Meestal, moet ek eerlik se, omdat dit die eerste geskikte Afrikaanse boek was wat ek in my boekrak kon vind. Maar die dogtertjies geniet die mossies se manewales nogal baie. Ons het sommer twee vliee met een klap geslaan: Vir Arwen & Siobhan saam met Skye in 'n klein kampie gesit (Kevin se instruksies), en hulle observeer terwyl ons gelees het.



Die dogtertjies spandeer ongelooflik tyd by hulle perde op die oomblik (soveel so dat Firn slegs gister se Wiskunde nagegaan het vandag, maar self geen Wiskunde gedoen het nie). Rain begin meer op haar gemak by Arwen raak, en sy en Siobhan is die grootste maatjies. Ek en Firn is in die huis, maar toe ek Rain laas gesien het, was Siobhan besig om aan haar hare te knibbel.



Onderwerpe wat vandag sommer net 'opgekom' het, en waaraan ons so 'n bietjie geknibbel het, is 'The Statue of Liberty', 'The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World' en 'The Seven Modern Wonders 2007.'



Ek maak my telefoon oop, en sien Rain het 'n nuwe nota bygevoeg (sy't my foon by haar gehad terwyl sy alleen by Arwen en Siobhan was). Die nota lees soos volg:



'The horses are grazzing. Arwen, Sky and Siobhan. Siobhan likes standing next to me, and bothring me. She is tring to eat me! Ow, and tring to eat the phone, and thip on it now.'



Dis baie besig op die plaas, met heelwat siek diere. More vertel ek meer daaroor.






 
Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:20:54 +0200:Boeremeisie




Dis 'laataand' vir my. Volgende keer vertel ek van die wonderwerk van
Arwen en Siobhan. Vandag volstaan ek met twee e-posse: een deur my aan
die 'tuisonderwys' groep, en 'n antwoord deur Karin van Oostrum, 'n
ervare tuisskoolma.


Ek het geskryf:


Hallo Julle


Ons is 'n tweetalige gesin - Ma Afrikaans; Pa Engels. Ons het begin
navorsing doen oor tweetaligheid toe ek ons oudste dogter, Firn (nou 11)
verwag het, en besluit op die sg "OPOL" (One Parent One Language) reel.
Van die begin af het Pa dus Engels gepraat, en Ma Afrikaans. Ons het dit
konsekwent toegepas.


Baie skoolwerk is egter in Engels gedoen weens twee redes: Die
moontlikheid van oorsese studie, en die wyer verskeidenheid materiaal
beskikbaar.


Ek en my man praat ook Engels met mekaar - bloot omdat ek baie gemaklik
Engels praat, en hy 'n bietjie sukkel om Afrikaans te praat.


Nou sit ek met 'n probleem - my kinders verengels al hoe meer. Hulle het
vroeer Afrikaans met mekaar gepraat, nou praat hulle egter Engels met
mekaar, en soms moet ek hulle ook aanspreek om nie Engels met my te
praat nie.


Vandag tydens middagete het ek voorgestel dat ons 'n eie tafelgebed
skryf. Rain het twee stellings gemaak wat my so ontstel het dat ek
onmiddellik die tafel verlaat het - eerstens, daar mag nie Afrikaans in
die gebed wees nie, en tweedens, as daar wel Afrikaans is, wil sy nie
die Afrikaanse deel se nie (ons leer gewoonlik 'n tafelgebed en elkeen
in die gesin se 'n reeltjie).


My man steun my 100% dat hulle nie hul Afrikaanse taal of kultuur moet
afskeep nie.


Ek't gedink ons moet meer Afrikaanse boeke lees. Ons het omtrent al
Dalene Matthee se boeke gelees, en die kinders het dit baie geniet.
Ongelukkig handel so baie Afrikaanse boeke oor jag, en die kinders (en
eintlik ek ook) hou nie daarvan nie.  Ons het ook al 'n bietjie Alba
Bouwer gelees - 'Rivierplaas' en 'Bergplaas'.


Ek het twee vrae:


1. Kan iemand Afrikaanse boeke aanbeveel (veral oor die plaaslewe en
diere), maar wat nie jagverhale is nie, en
2. Enige ander raad?


Ek voel verskriklik sterk hieroor. Ons het 'n gesinsvergadering hieroor
gehou en ek was in trane!


Dankie




Dinki


En Karin het my so geantwoord:


Hallo Dinki


=20


Ek is so jammer oor die penarie waarin jy jou bevind. Ek kan verstaan
dat dit jou intiem raak en na verwerping voel, want =E2=80=98n mens is se
identiteit is so nou verweef met jou moedertaal.=20


=20


Ek stem saam dat dit belangrik is om iets daaraan te probeer doen: =E2=80=
=98n
kind is net soveel ryker as hy hom in meer as een taal kan uitdruk. Ek
stem saam dat meer Afrikaans lees en skryf beslis =E2=80=98n verskil sal ma=
ak.
As dit kon, sal dit natuurlik ook onmiddellik =E2=80=98n verskil maak as jy=
 en
jou man Afrikaans met mekaar praat. Dit verhoog dadelik die status van
die taal in jou kinders se o=C3=AB. Dieselfde kan ek s=C3=AA oor Bybellees =
uit die
Afrikaanse Bybel.


=20


Ek kan vir jou die skrywers noem wat ons die afgelope 4/5 jaar in ons
Boekwurm-leesklubs vir tuisskolers lees. Ek en die ander ma=E2=80=99s wat d=
aarby
betrokke is, vind dat dit beslis die kinders se taalvermo=C3=AB verbeter. Jy
kan self besluit oor die volgorde waarin julle dit lees =E2=80=93 jy sal ook
vind dat julle van sommige skrywers meer sal hou as van ander, maar
beskou dit as =E2=80=98n ontdekkingsreis, en aanvaar dat sommige jul gunste=
linge
gaan wees. Dmv voorlees kan =E2=80=98n mens gelukkig doeltreffend sif waar
nodig. Baie van die boeke gaan oor diere, nie soseer oor jag nie,
behalwe miskien Jan J van der Post, oor die Boesmans en hulle manier van
leef en jag.


=20
(LANG LYS VAN SKRYWERS HIER)


Twee opmerkings:


(1) Ek het al voorheen geskryf oor die lees van =E2=80=98n skrywer teenoor =
die
lees van los boeke. Soos jy kan sien, is ek tans baie meer ten gunste
van die lees van =E2=80=98n skrywer =E2=80=93 jou kinders wat so graag self=
 skryf, sal
ook baie meer daarvan hou, omdat =E2=80=98n mens die skrywer agter die boeke
leer ken, en ook sy unieke skryfstyl leer uitken. Ek vind dit self baie
leersaam, en wens ek het voorheen geweet hoeveel meer sinvol dit is om
so te lees. Cornelia (20) moet heeldag by haar sussies hoor oor hierdie
of daardie skrywer wat sy MOET lees, en wens dat ons ook so gelees het
toe sy klein was.


(2) Jy sal merk dat daar nie so baie =E2=80=9Cmoderne=E2=80=9D skrywers by =
is nie. Die
rede daarvoor is dat die meeste van die moderne Afr skrywers in =E2=80=98n
verskonende, geradbraakte Afrikaans met =E2=80=98n baie beperkte woordeskat
skryf, waarvan die belangrike woorde in Engels gegee word (min of meer
soos die skoolkinders praat), of waar daar deurgaans bv  =E2=80=9Cactually=
=E2=80=9D ipv
=E2=80=9Ceintlik=E2=80=9D gebruik word. Dit is alles seker maar =E2=80=98n =
simptoom van die
kultuur van die dag, waaroor =E2=80=98n mens baie kan bespiegel. Feit is dat
kinders wat net sulke boeke lees, NIE =E2=80=98n smaak vir Afrikaans gaan k=
ry
nie, maar eerder =E2=80=98n soort renons daarin. Al lyk dit dus baie =E2=80=
=9Coutyds=E2=80=9D,
het =E2=80=98n kind nodig om die ouer taal en leefwyse wat daardeur uitgebe=
eld
word, deel van homself te maak, voordat hy self Afrikaans uit keuse sal
begin gebruik. Jy kan natuurlik al Charlotte Mason se idees op die lees
van klassieke boeke in Afrikaans toepas, soos terugvertel, kopiewerk,
diktee, ens.






Hoop dit help jou =E2=80=93 ek glo daar is hoop, en dit is nie =E2=80=98n o=
nomkeerbare
proses nie. Kinders gaan ook maar deur fases, en ek vertrou dit is net
=E2=80=98n fase by jou kinders.=20


=20


Vriendelike groete


Karin





 
Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:53:16 +0200:D-day minus one




Plaasdinge


'n Middernagfees het die dag afgeskop - ek, Firn en Jon het net na
middernag wakker geword met wat in die Hyde-huishouding bekendstaan as
thundering-ing-ing and lightning-ing-ing. Ons drie het te lekker
ingesnuggle in ons bed en hot chocolate gedrink.


Vyfuur, en dit reen steeds. Ek doen walkabout in sagte, deurdringende
reen maar ek gee niks om nie, want die reenmeter se 16 mm en dit reen
steeds.


Laaste oggend sonder Aletta, en ek hol al die pad. Die dogtertjies help
kalfies melk gee in die reen, ek help oraloor, net waar dit nodig is, en
ons kry om een of ander rede 30 minute later as gewoonlik klaar.


Spot-On en Out In Front het gister meel gesteel (my skuld; ek't die
kruiwa in 'n bereikbare plek gelaat) en hulle het vanoggend suurpens.
Firn spuit hulle Kyrophos en ons gee hul Kyrogest Antacid in.
Enniversary en Bors se mae loop; Firn spuit hulle sommer 'n dubbel-dosis
Nuflor. Firn se ou bok, Twoie, het 'n nare oogbesering en ek hou vir
Firn daar weg. Ek spuit haar Lentrax en sit antibiotika in die oog.
Maxi, ons baie ou GSD, se pote is rou. Ek sit ekseemsalf op en draai
verbande om beide voorpote.


Gelukkig jaag ek die koeie uit weiveld toe, en ek sien Dimanda is na aan
kalf. Ek en Jabu sit haar in die blindes se kamp, en hier kort na 11
produseer sy 'n pragtige versie. Firn soek op babynames.com en ons
besluit uiteindelik op "Dakota" (en nie Dimanda se Donnerse (ekskuus)
Daisy", wat ook voorgestel is nie). Rain gee vir Dakota, een uur oud,
haar eerste bottel kolostrum.


Skooldinge:


Dis Vrydag, en dus word geen Wiskunde vandag gedoen nie. Eintlik is dit
die dogtertjies se afdag van plaaswerk, maar, omdat Aletta en Patrick af
is, moes hulle dit vandag maar opoffer. Met al die diere wat moes aandag
kry, en Dimanda se kalwing, doen ons geen formele skoolwerk nie. Firn
sleutel al die dierebehandelings, asook Dimanda se kalwing, in, bereken
tot wanneer Dimanda se melk onttrek moet word, en tot wanneer haar koors
na elke melking gemeet moet word.


Rain sleutel Arwen en Siobhan se besonderhede op ons plaas-adminstelsel
in. Ek en Rain gee ook vir Jabu instruksies oor die regmaak van hulle
kamp se heining.


Firn lees steeds vir Rain voor uit 'Miraclan'.


Dit reen, dus is dit pannekoekdag. Die dogtertjies berei die deeg
heeltemal op hulle eie voor.


Rain werk al van Dinsdag af aan twee spreadsheets: 'n 'To Do' lys vir
Arwen en Siobhan se koms, en 'n 'Questions' lys vir Antoinette en Kevin.


Ons't chillies en pietersielie geplant, en sommer 'n bietjie deelsomme,
vir Rain, tussen-in gedoen: As daar 9 pietersieleplantjies is, hoeveel
kan elkeen plant as daar 3 van ons is? Ook basiliekruid en roosmaryn.


Firn en haar skryfwerk:


Gisteraand laat kry Firn 'n e-pos: Die artikel met foto's oor haar en
haar kalfie, wat sy aan Animaltalk gestuur het, gaan in die Januarie
2009-uitgawe van Animaltalk gepubliseer word. Firn is hoogs opgewonde;
ek en Jon ook. Rain slaap dwarsdeur al die opgewondenheid, asook die
reen, weerlig en middernagfees.


En nog 'n paar ekstra goedjies:


Ons het te lekker pannekoek gebak en ge-eet. Die dogtertjies is net
hoogs ontsteld dat ons net een vir Jon oorgehou het. Hulle voel vere dat
hy by 'n upmarket business lunch in Rivonia is; hulle weet mos ons
pannekoeke smaak lekkerder as daai restaurant se smart kos, en dat hy
veel eerder saam met ons sou wou pannekoek eet!


Een van my naarste werke op die plaas in die somer is koeie gaan haal om
14:30 om gemelk te word. Heerlik in die winter, maar goor in die hitte
van die somer. Vandag was anders. Die dogtertjies het altwee saamgekom;
Rain met 'n klein stukkie pannekoek vir Samurai, haar 600 kg
Jersey/Fries os. Maar ou Samurai wou nie die pannekoek eet nie, en Rain
gee dit vir Babe, Firn se Jersey koei. Babe het te lekker gesmul
(voordat iemand my van onverantwoordelikheid beskuldig: dit was 'n 1cm
by 1cm stukkie).


Die verse wei ver, en ons gooi vir Apollo in die krip, waar hy te lekker
swem. Bekka, Hope en Amigo is ook saam, en dit word 'n absolute fees.
Ons vergeet maar van die feit dat die hek waardeur ek die koeie tel,
oopgelos is, en die koeie dus nie getel is nie.


Ons bure aan die suide het ons genooi vir 'n braai more-middag. Gelukkig
fluister iets in my oor, en ek bel vanoggend, net om te bevestig dat die
dogtertjies ook welkom is. Nee, se hulle, dis 'n 'parents-only' braai.
Ek het hulle maar baie mooi hoflik vertel dat ons nie sulke goed bywoon
nie.


More kom Arwen en Siobhan! Ek hoop Raintjie slaap vannag ...





 
Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:30:02 +0200:Donderdag (en Durban)




Plaasdinge:


Omdat ons verlede week van Woensdag tot Vrydag in Durban was, is ek nou
minus 2 plaaswerkers, in plaas van minus die gebruiklike een.


Jon moes op baie kort kennisgewing, en op daardie spesifieke dae, Durban
toe gaan. En dit val toe net mooi binne-in Aletta se verlofweek. Ek't
haar gevra om asseblief die drie dae langer te werk, en sy't dadelik
gese sy help my graag, want ek help haar altyd. Maar daarom oorvleuel
haar en Patrick se verlof, en dus doen ek vir hierdie drie dae Aletta se
werk, behalwe vir die heel, heel lekkerste deel van haar werk:
beeswagter. Ek is mal daaroor om die plaas vol met die koeie te loop,
maar ongelukkig laat my tyd dit regtig nie nou toe nie.


Lollipop, wat Maandag 'n verskalfie gehad het wat doodgebore is (ek en
Firn het die kalfie getrek, en dit was baie ontstellend vir Firn; as ek
geweet het die kalfie is dood, sou ek haar nie toegelaat het om my te
help nie), se nageboorte is nog nie heeltemal uit nie, en haar koors is
klein bietjie hoog. Sy't dus vandag 'n paar inspuitings agter die rug.


Ons het 11 koeie wat in November moet kalf (en nou se die MPO ons moet
minder melk produseer - go figure), dus wag 'n besige tyd op ons almal.
Firn kan egter nie wag vir al die nuwe kalfies nie.


Terwyl ons in Durban was, het Exquisite gekalf - 'n versie van 'n hele
15 kg op 4 dae oud (normale geboortegewig is 25 - 35 kg). Elke keer
wanneer Elfie haar bottel klaar drink, klap ek, Firn en Rain vir haar
hande. En natuurlik het die dogtertjies vir haar 'n ou balletrompie
aangetrek, 'n foto geneem, en dit vir die balletjuffrou geneem. 


Durban:


Ons het Woensdagoggend 03:20 gery, want Jon wou net na 8 by die werk
wees. Die selfsorg-kothuis in Durban-Noord waar ons gebly het, het ons
perfek gepas. Netjies, skoon, goed toegerus, net reg. Met 'n pragtige
tuin en 'n lekker groot swembad vir die dogtertjies. Hulle't hulle harte
uit geswem - gemiddeld drie keer per dag, vir 'n uur lank elke keer. Ek
weet, want ek't elke minuut daarvan langs die swembad gesit. Dit was
lekker om 'n rukkie die plaaswerk agterwee te laat, en die girls se
geselskap te geniet. En dit was lekker om vir Jon 'n klein stukkie
'huis' te gee as hy saans na 'n stresvolle dag 'tuiskom' - met kos soos
ons elke dag kook, 'n vinnige swem met die dogtertjies, en almal teen
agtuur vas aan die slaap. Al teleurstelling was dat ek nie so baie admin
gedoen gekry het soos ek wou nie - weens die skool en die by die swembad
sit.


Firn en ons gasvrou het dadelik gekliek: sy is aan die skryf aan 'n
'epic children's fantasy in eight books', sy skilder, en sy kyk Animal
Planet se rescue-programme. Ons het heerlik met hulle - 'n afgetrede
paartjie - gesels, en dit geniet om na al die mooi kuns in hulle huis te
kyk.


Vandag:


Dankie tog, Firn gaan net aan met haar Saxon Maths, soos 'n masjien. En
Rain werk te lekker in haar Graad 2 Wiskundeboekie. Firn lees vir Rain
uit haar fantasie-avontuur, 'Miraclan', reeds omtrent 350 bladsye lank,
maar nog nie heeltemal voltooi nie. Al twee girls het 'n paar e-posse
gestuur, en natuurlik was daar heelwat gesels oor die Amerikaanse
Presidentsverkiesing, en wat dit beteken om in 'n demokrasie te woon. Ek
en Jon het gisteraand na Barack Obama se toespraak geluister - werklik
inspirerend, maar ek wonder of hy sal kan deliver?


Hier teen net na 11 vanoggend was ek gedaan (was al van 04:00 wakker),
en ek moet tot my uiterste skaamte erken dat ek 'n halfuurtjie geslaap
het. Die dogtertjies het by my kom le en 'The Silver Brumby' gekyk, en
ook darem heelwat in hulle biblioteekboeke gelees.


Rivr se ongeluk, en Aletta en Patrick se afwesigheid, het my emosioneel
en fisiek uitgeput, en ek hoop ons kan volgende week bietjie skool
opmaak - dis nou te se as ons nie heeltyd 'perdeskool' doen nie. 


Laatmiddag, nadat al die plaaswerkies afgehandel is, het ek en die
dogtertjies bietjie in die tuin gewerk. Tiemie en soetpatats geplant,
kool gesaai, en die tuin natgespuit na vandag se verskriklike hitte.


Dit gaan goed met die dogtertjies, dink ek. Hulle mis vir Rivr, maar
hulle is SO opgewonde oor Arwen en Siobhan. Ek en Jon sukkel altwee nog
'n bietjie om vrede te maak met Rivr se dood.





 
Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:49:46 +0200:On horses, Christianity and friendship




Rivr came into our lives when Rain was five years old. He didn't have a
name, but someone had spent a lot of time teaching him two tricks: to
say 'thank you' by holding up his front feet in turn when he got fed,
and to lie down and play dead if you sat on his back and pulled the
reins in a certain way. With Rivr, who was a thoroughbred, came Skye,
then known as 'Meisiekind', a much younger mare of uncertain breed who
was his very best friend.


Poor old Riv was accident-prone: he cut himself rather badly on a fence
post, fell into a huge aardvark-hole and had to winched out, got a
porcupine quill through his nose and had colic twice - when only very
quick thinking by Firn saved his life. His luck finally ran out on
Monday, November 3, when he broke one of his front legs.


Our riding instructor, Kevin, responded so quickly to our call for help,
and confirmed that the leg was, indeed, badly broken. Our much-beloved
Dr Louis's opinion was that it had very little chance of healing, and he
recommended that Rivr be put down.


Jon tried to break the news to Rain as gently as he could, and left the
decision up to her. She very courageously decided that we should ask
Kevin to put him down.


After a phone call at 05:00 yesterday morning, Kevin arrived on the farm
at 06:00, and with great compassion did what was the best for all of us.
O Kevin, you are a true animal lover and I will be eternally grateful to
you.


I stayed on the farm while Kevin was, on his own, busy with Rivr. Jon
took the girls to town for breakfast. 


It wasn't an hour after Rivr's death that the offers of help started
streaming in: Kevin offered an unbroken two-year-old stallion for free,
Antoinette offered a three-year-old unbroken mare with her month-old
foal. Lesley offered to bring her two kids, Rain's best friends, to
spend the day.


But now, I must back-track a bit. Some background is needed on both Rain
and Antoinette. See, three years ago, Rain lost her very first dog when
we were attacked, tied up and robbed. The robbers poisoned little
Sheppie, Rain's border collie. And Rain took it very, very hard. We have
travelled a very long and very hard road in learning to cope with that
particular loss and the trauma  accompanied by it. 


Antoinette's husband contracted bone marrow cancer not so long ago. She
started a Friesian horse stud during this period, and made a promise to
God that she would use her Faeriewood Friesian stud to His glory, if He
would make her husband well. After an absolutely harrowing time and a
bone marrow transplant, Johan recovered fully and Antoinette started
wondering what to do with her little Nooitgedacht mare and her foal. She
considered giving her to a school for autistic children, but it just
didn't feel right. And when she heard the news about Rivr, she knew that
giving Arwen and Siobhan to Rain was the right thing to do.


This was not the first time that Antoinette and Johan had lent a helping
hand - they were the first people on the scene after we were attacked. 


I left the choice as to which offer to accept, to Kevin, who knows both
horses and Rain like the back of his hand. Kevin phoned yesterday to say
he thought we should accept Antoinette's offer, and we went to look at
Arwen and Siobhan yesterday. 


We had an incredible roller-coaster ride of emotions yesterday; from the
terrible sadness about Rivr to the intense joy of Arwen and Siobhan.
Kevin is going to help Antoinette and Johan to load and offload them on
Saturday.


I am so amazed by Rain's maturity in making the most difficult decision
of her life; by Kevin's compassion, generosity and understanding - for
Rivr and our whole family; by Firn's unconditional love, support and
understanding of her sister's grief, while grieving herself, by friends'
support (thanks, Lesley, Robert and Kathleen, who shared the day's ups
and downs with us), and last, but not least, by Jon: steady as a rock,
yet incredibly sad. Jon had the unenviable task of spending most of
yesterday morning burying Rivr, then shot off to a client in Germiston
to resolve a crisis, and home again to accompany us to Antoinette's
farm.


Yesterday, I grieved and rejoiced with Rain, but today, I grieve for
myself, for Rivr. I'll miss you, Riv.



 
Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:46:27 +0200:Monday, October 27, 2008


 
Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:13:15 +0200:Dinsdag, 21 Oktober 2008




Plaasdinge:


Firn het vandag saam met my walkabout gedoen. Ek voel sy kry nie genoeg
oefening nie, want sy gebruik elke moontlike minuut om voor die rekenaar
te sit en skryf. O ja, wou nog se ek het haar eerste twee boeke, 'Pinto'
en 'Strength lies in the heart', deurgelees. Ek is ongelukkig nie
objektief genoeg om 'n opinie te lug nie!


Firn het my en Patrick ook gehelp om die kalfies kos te gee, en ons drie
girls het die kalfies melk gegee. 


Blinkers is nog steeds nie great nie, en ek het haar en Bontes elk
vitamiene en 'n lewerstimulant gespuit. Exquisite se kalfdatum van 15
November is duidelik verkeerd; haar uiertjie is kliphard en sy vorm
edeem onder haar pens. Ek't haar dus gister op opstoomvoer gesit, en
ons't haar vandag 2 inentings en Vitamiene A gespuit.


Ek en Job het 10 kalfies teen BVD ge-ent, en ons't vir Job 'n beurt met
die stetoskoop gegee. Hy't dit verskriklik geniet. Ek't foto's van hom
met die stetoskoop geneem; hy gaan vandag op sy week af, en ek wil vir
hom 'n foto saamstuur huis toe om mee te gaan 'brag'.


Kom 14:30, en ek en Rain loop heel onskuldig op perdekamp toe, om die
koeie te gaan haal om gemelk te word. Kom daar, en daar is nie 'n ENKELE
dier in die kamp nie - die perde is in die baalkamp en dus veilig, maar
71 koeie en verse, 1 bul, en 1 donkie is skoonveld. Lang storie kort,
die donkie, Benjamin, het 'n hek oopgemaak en die hele spul het
'ontsnap'. Ons het hulle darem almal weer gekry.


Skooldinge:


Firn het 'n les Wiskunde gedoen, met 3 foute, onder andere 'n
interessante bewerking wat sy gedoen het: Trek die honderde af, tel die
tiene bymekaar, en trek die ene af. Rain het 'n halwe les gedoen, en ek
en sy het dit saam nagegaan.


Met oggendete het ons 'n lang gesprek oor idiome gehad. Die arme
dogtertjies moes luister na 'n preek oor my twee gunstelinge: 'A stitch
in time saves nine' en 'Ledigheid is die duiwel se oorkussing.'


Ons het iemand opgespoor wat ons bulkalfies by ons sal oorneem (verniet
weggee op 4 dae oud), maar hy weet niks van kalfgrootmaak nie, en Firn
het 'n groot deel van die oggend spandeer aan 'n kalfgrootmaakhandboek,
wat sy in Afrikaans vir hom skryf. Skool op sy beste!


Ek en Rain het lank in die tuin gewerk, en wortels gesaai. Dit was
regtig kwaliteit-tyd saam; gewoonlik stry sy en Firn om 'n spreekbeurt,
en nou was dit net ons twee. Die lekkerste lekker. Rain het ook 'n
spreadsheet begin, waarin ons rekord gaan hou van alles wat ons plant of
saai.


Tydens en na aandete het ons 'n gesinsvergadering oor televisiekyk
gehad. Nou ja, almal weet ek het al baie gedreig om die ding uit te
gooi. Jon het voorgestel dat ons van DSTV na DSTV Compact oorgaan. En,
wonder bo wonder, ek het dit teengestaan. Hoekom? Want dan het ons nie
meer die movie channels nie - en onthou, ons was in die 11 jaar sedert
Firn se geboorte EEN maal by 'n movie, en ons verloor ook Nat Geo Wild.
Sien, my renons in TV kyk is wanneer Jon die TV aanskakel sodat hy sy
brein kan afskakel, allerhande strooi kyk, en die girls saam met hom
kyk. Maar ek dink tog TV is 'n belangrike instrument wanneer mens dit
reg gebruik. Dus het ons saam besluit op die volgende reels: Die girls
moet self besluit watter programme hulle wil kyk, en ons toestemming kom
vra, met 'n volledige motivering. Dit was Dinsdagaand, en sedertdien het
ons nog net almal saam "Survivor" gekyk, en geen verdere TV nie. Mag dit
lank so voortgaan! Ek moet ook net byvoeg dat CartoonNetwork, Disney
Channel, en soortgelyke rubbish heeltemal verbode was - vandat ons DSTV
gekry het, en dit sal beslis so bly.











 
Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:00:04 +0200:Maandag 20 Oktober 2008




'n Hoogtepunt was ons melkresultate - ons het einde April laas ons melk
laat toets - hoe het die tyd so vinnig verbygegaan - en dit lyk goed.
Ons bactocount is 21, ver onder die vereiste onder 200. Maar ons MUN
(Milk Urea Nitrogen) is baie hoog op 25. Dit behoort tussen 13 en 18 te
wees, en as dit so hoog is, beteken dit daar is 'n wanbalans tussen die
energie en proteine in die koeie se voer, naamlik die proteine is te
hoog (weens die rest brot op 33%) en die energie is te laag. Ek en Firn
het dus heelwat navorsing oor MUN en hoe om dit reg te stel, gedoen. 'n
Finale besluit sal volg na Dr Louis se kuddebesoek komende Saterdag.


Ek en die dogtertjies het ook pryse vir bosluisopgietmiddels gekry en
vergelyk. Sommige pryse het BTW ingesluit en sommige nie, dus moes ons
eers die BTW uitwerk en daarna die pryse vergelyk. En op 20 liter
opgietmiddel het die pryse sommer met meer as R800 gewissel, dus 'n baie
goeie les vir die dogtertjies.


Ek en Firn het Job se ure en salaris uitgewerk, en Firn het hom
elektronies betaal.


Ons het met Firn se stetoskoop na siek en gesonde diere se longe
geluister, en probeer om die verskil te hoor. Firn het dit goed
reggekry.


Ek en Firn het vir Opal en klein Firn (die kalfie) gespuit
(longontsteking na die reen) en Firn het die behandelings ingesleutel.


Ons drie girls het 'n klein rukkie in die tuin gewerk. Firn het 'n les
Wiskunde gedoen en nagegaan. Rain het 'n halwe les gedoen, en ons twee
het dit saam nagegaan.


Die dogtertjies het elk 'n 40 minute balletles gehad. Dit gaan heelwat
beter met Firn se 'Singing in the Rain'; ons het dit ook 'n bietjie by
die huis geoefen.


'n Lekker, maar baie besige dag. Ek't kwart oor 8 aan die slaap geraak,
doodmoeg.








'n Hoogtepunt was ons melkresultate - ons het einde April laas ons melk laat toets - hoe het die tyd so vinnig verbygegaan - en dit lyk goed. Ons bactocount is 21, ver onder die vereiste onder 200. Maar ons MUN (Milk Urea Nitrogen) is baie hoog op 25. Dit behoort tussen 13 en 18 te wees, en as dit so hoog is, beteken dit daar is 'n wanbalans tussen die energie en proteine in die koeie se voer, naamlik die proteine is te hoog (weens die rest brot op 33%) en die energie is te laag. Ek en Firn het dus heelwat navorsing oor MUN en hoe om dit reg te stel, gedoen. 'n Finale besluit sal volg na Dr Louis se kuddebesoek komende Saterdag.



Ek en die dogtertjies het ook pryse vir bosluisopgietmiddels gekry en vergelyk. Sommige pryse het BTW ingesluit en sommige nie, dus moes ons eers die BTW uitwerk en daarna die pryse vergelyk. En op 20 liter opgietmiddel het die pryse sommer met meer as R800 gewissel, dus 'n baie goeie les vir die dogtertjies.



Ek en Firn het Job se ure en salaris uitgewerk, en Firn het hom elektronies betaal.



Ons het met Firn se stetoskoop na siek en gesonde diere se longe geluister, en probeer om die verskil te hoor. Firn het dit goed reggekry.



Ek en Firn het vir Opal en klein Firn (die kalfie) gespuit (longontsteking na die reen) en Firn het die behandelings ingesleutel.



Ons drie girls het 'n klein rukkie in die tuin gewerk. Firn het 'n les Wiskunde gedoen en nagegaan. Rain het 'n halwe les gedoen, en ons twee het dit saam nagegaan.



Die dogtertjies het elk 'n 40 minute balletles gehad. Dit gaan heelwat beter met Firn se 'Singing in the Rain'; ons het dit ook 'n bietjie by die huis geoefen.



'n Lekker, maar baie besige dag. Ek't kwart oor 8 aan die slaap geraak, doodmoeg.






 
Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:30:28 +0200:18 Oktober 2005




Op 18 Oktober 2005 is ons in die vroee oggendure deur 4 of 5 gewapende
rowers in ons huis oorval. Hulle het Jon oor sy kop geslaan met 'n
bobbejaanspanner en ons al vier vasgebind. Ons het vir ongeveer 2 ure so
gele terwyl hulle ons huis omgekeer het, op soek na geld, vuurwapens en
juwele. Die rowers het ook twee van ons honde, Rocket, 'n jong Duitse
Herdershond, en Sheppie, Rain se Border Collie, vergiftig.


Dis nou drie jaar later en ons almal het 'n moeilike pad geloop na die
aanval. Ons het gelukkig geen fisiese letsels oorgehou nie, maar die
emosionele letsels is daar. Tog kan ek vandag se dat ons al vier baie
beter is as drie jaar gelede, hierdie tyd. En daaroor is ek baie bly.


Ek wil vandag in baie groot liefde terugdink aan Rocket en Sheppie. Ons
sal hulle altyd onthou.








Op 18 Oktober 2005 is ons in die vroee oggendure deur 4 of 5 gewapende rowers in ons huis oorval. Hulle het Jon oor sy kop geslaan met 'n bobbejaanspanner en ons al vier vasgebind. Ons het vir ongeveer 2 ure so gele terwyl hulle ons huis omgekeer het, op soek na geld, vuurwapens en juwele. Die rowers het ook twee van ons honde, Rocket, 'n jong Duitse Herdershond, en Sheppie, Rain se Border Collie, vergiftig.



Dis nou drie jaar later en ons almal het 'n moeilike pad geloop na die aanval. Ons het gelukkig geen fisiese letsels oorgehou nie, maar die emosionele letsels is daar. Tog kan ek vandag se dat ons al vier baie beter is as drie jaar gelede, hierdie tyd. En daaroor is ek baie bly.



Ek wil vandag in baie groot liefde terugdink aan Rocket en Sheppie. Ons sal hulle altyd onthou.






 
Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:17:52 +0200:Saterdag, 18 Oktober




Rain en Jon is besig met 'n Hydeaway Farm-resepteboek. Daar is al 'n
hele aantal self-uitgedinkte resepte in die boek, en ek weet wat ons
behoort te doen, as ons net die geld had: 'n klein gastehuisie op die
plaas, vir Rain om te bestuur. Sy floreer daarop om mense met kos en
aandag te bederf, en ek behoort regtig ten minste meer kere mense oor te
nooi vir 'n ete, al is dit net omdat Rain dit so geniet.


Jon het vanoggend vir die eerste deel van die oggend my werk gedoen:
walkabout, kalfies voer saam met Patrick, en 'n vinnige paar draaie in
die melkstal. Ek't wasgoed gewas en probeer inhaal op my agterstallige
boekwerk.


Ons't ook tien koeie in die drukgang gesit vir verskeie inentings,
ontwurmings, en vitamienes.


Ek, Rain en Firn het Jon se super-duper verjaarsdagkoek klaargemaak. Dis
'n yslike affere met 8 lae deeg en lae kondensmelk en vla tussen-in. Die
dogtertjies het nog nie die kuns van reg beplan onder die knie nie (ten
spyte daarvan dat ek baie hard daaraan werk), want hulle kon slegs
"Happy Dad" op die koek skryf, die "Birthday" moes weens 'n gebrek aan
spasie in die slag bly.


Onder groot gelag en gesukkel het Firn, wat doodbang vir 'n vuurhoutjie
is, omtrent tien minute geneem om die enkele kersie op Jon se koek aan
te steek, en daar is ons toe die slaapkamer in, al drie in gelid, Rain
voor met die koek, terwyl ons uit volle bors "Happy Birthday" sing. Soos
Jon altyd se, "Our job is making memories".


Die middag is ek stal toe, het beplan om heelmiddag in die stal te bly
en al die koeie-in-melk vir bosluise te behandel. Maar skaars 'n uur in
die behandelings in, sien ek die reen is op pad en dus moes ek daardie
plan laat vaar - die behandeling is nie effektief as dit gou na
aanwending natreen nie.


Jon en Rain het by vriende gaan kuier, terwyl ek die fort gehou het,
jubelend in die gietende reen. Eers hier teen laatmiddag, toe die reen
regtig erg geraak het, my mond vol kalfiehare was, en ek klomp keer die
kalfies moes oortel het, omdat ek aanmekaar 39 in plaas van 40 kalfies
getel het, het ek begin wens die reen moet net 'n klein bietjie lig.


Ons is baie dankbaar oor ons 4 mm, 5 mm, en 12 mm wat ons die afgelope 3
dae gekry het.


Saterdagaand het ons viertjies almal saam gebraai. Jon het hoevele kere
gese hoe lekker dit vir hom is dat ons almal, al is dit dan ook onderdak
op die stoep, saam rondom die vuur sit. En dit was 'n kosbare aand wat
ek nie gou sal vergeet nie.








Rain en Jon is besig met 'n Hydeaway Farm-resepteboek. Daar is al 'n hele aantal self-uitgedinkte resepte in die boek, en ek weet wat ons behoort te doen, as ons net die geld had: 'n klein gastehuisie op die plaas, vir Rain om te bestuur. Sy floreer daarop om mense met kos en aandag te bederf, en ek behoort regtig ten minste meer kere mense oor te nooi vir 'n ete, al is dit net omdat Rain dit so geniet.



Jon het vanoggend vir die eerste deel van die oggend my werk gedoen: walkabout, kalfies voer saam met Patrick, en 'n vinnige paar draaie in die melkstal. Ek't wasgoed gewas en probeer inhaal op my agterstallige boekwerk.



Ons't ook tien koeie in die drukgang gesit vir verskeie inentings, ontwurmings, en vitamienes.



Ek, Rain en Firn het Jon se super-duper verjaarsdagkoek klaargemaak. Dis 'n yslike affere met 8 lae deeg en lae kondensmelk en vla tussen-in. Die dogtertjies het nog nie die kuns van reg beplan onder die knie nie (ten spyte daarvan dat ek baie hard daaraan werk), want hulle kon slegs "Happy Dad" op die koek skryf, die "Birthday" moes weens 'n gebrek aan spasie in die slag bly.



Onder groot gelag en gesukkel het Firn, wat doodbang vir 'n vuurhoutjie is, omtrent tien minute geneem om die enkele kersie op Jon se koek aan te steek, en daar is ons toe die slaapkamer in, al drie in gelid, Rain voor met die koek, terwyl ons uit volle bors "Happy Birthday" sing. Soos Jon altyd se, "Our job is making memories".



Die middag is ek stal toe, het beplan om heelmiddag in die stal te bly en al die koeie-in-melk vir bosluise te behandel. Maar skaars 'n uur in die behandelings in, sien ek die reen is op pad en dus moes ek daardie plan laat vaar - die behandeling is nie effektief as dit gou na aanwending natreen nie.



Jon en Rain het by vriende gaan kuier, terwyl ek die fort gehou het, jubelend in die gietende reen. Eers hier teen laatmiddag, toe die reen regtig erg geraak het, my mond vol kalfiehare was, en ek klomp keer die kalfies moes oortel het, omdat ek aanmekaar 39 in plaas van 40 kalfies getel het, het ek begin wens die reen moet net 'n klein bietjie lig.



Ons is baie dankbaar oor ons 4 mm, 5 mm, en 12 mm wat ons die afgelope 3 dae gekry het.



Saterdagaand het ons viertjies almal saam gebraai. Jon het hoevele kere gese hoe lekker dit vir hom is dat ons almal, al is dit dan ook onderdak op die stoep, saam rondom die vuur sit. En dit was 'n kosbare aand wat ek nie gou sal vergeet nie.






 
Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:16:00 +0200:Vrydag, 17 September 2008




Farmtime:


I did walkabout on my own this morning, because every Friday, it's the
girls' turn to have the morning off. I helped Patrick feed the weaned
calves (and really missed Rain, who has been 'protecting' the weak
calves' and goats' feed).  I supervised a bit in the milking parlour and
the feeding parlour, and Blinkers, who is a lot better, got her last
antibiotic, and Odette her second. Bontes and Curly did not finish in
the feeding parlour, and I gave them a mixture of bicarb and rumix.


Firn and I helped the workers inoculate 5 calves against brucellosis.


Aletta and I weaned and moved nine calves, and moved 5 calves, on the
point of being weaned, into the 9's camp.


This afternoon brought another sick calf - Primrose, who ate nothing at
afternoon feed. I injected her with a liver stimulant and a
broad-spectrum antibiotic, as I am not sure what is wrong with her.


Ai tog, en namiddag bring woes admin en rekeninge inhaal, en daar kom ek
toe (baie laat, ek weet) agter dat die Midimel-voer wat ons vir ons
koeie voer (en ons gebruik 7 50-kg sakke per dag) met R12 per sak
duurder is, vanaf twee weke terug. Dit het my sommer lekker platgeslaan.
Ek het my hart uit gewerk hierdie week, nie sommer net oor hard werk
nie, maar ook omdat ek moes inhaal wat ek verloor het na al ons dinge
(verandering na Restbrot, siek koeie, siek gesin, siek ek, siek koeie
weereens). Ek was regtig moeg. En nou dit, na die sny in melkprys wat
ons vanaf 25 Oktober moet vat!


Schooltime:


The girls had a one-hour riding lesson, mostly involving jumping. The
lesson was cut short as Kevin had a fire on his farm.


We did our Zoology curriculum today. It included two interesting
experiments: firstly, we had to impregnate 20 cotton balls with 20
different scents, choose a scent, and find it while blindfolded (to
illustrate a bat's keen sense of smell). The scents we used were:
coffee, perfume, vinegar, paint, conditioner, bath gel, pepper, paprika,
mustard, vanilla essence, savlon, milo, pencil shavings, surgical
spirits, honey, and calol - a strong-smelling calcium supplement for
cows with milk fever. Firn chose vinegar, Rain vanilla essence, and I
calol, and we were all successful in smelling out our 'bat babies',
although it took some time (and lots of laughter).


We moved on to our next topic, flying reptiles, and we had to do another
experiment: to illustrate how hard a paleontologist's job is, we had to
choose a photograph of someone we had never met, but whom someone else
in the family knew quite well, and describe that person with only the
photograph as reference. Firn chose Pirrouette, a persian cat that Jon
and I owned for some years, and Rain chose Kajima, a
greyhound-cross-great dane, owned by Jon's sister. 


Rain and I started baking Jon's birthday cake (yes, I know, his birthday
was on 30 September, but it was really my first chance). It's a
complicated cake with 8 layers that each have to be baked separately and
it kept us occupied for most of the afternoon, with some admin and
accounting getting done in between.


Hoe was die dag?


'n Goeie dag, behalwe vir die voerkoste-skok. Ek't sommer net na 8-uur,
en heel moedeloos, aan die slaap geraak. More is nog 'n dag ...


O ja, en ons is baie bly oor ons eerste somerreen, al was dit net 4 mm.








Farmtime:



I did walkabout on my own this morning, because every Friday, it's the girls' turn to have the morning off. I helped Patrick feed the weaned calves (and really missed Rain, who has been 'protecting' the weak calves' and goats' feed).  I supervised a bit in the milking parlour and the feeding parlour, and Blinkers, who is a lot better, got her last antibiotic, and Odette her second. Bontes and Curly did not finish in the feeding parlour, and I gave them a mixture of bicarb and rumix.



Firn and I helped the workers inoculate 5 calves against brucellosis.



Aletta and I weaned and moved nine calves, and moved 5 calves, on the point of being weaned, into the 9's camp.



This afternoon brought another sick calf - Primrose, who ate nothing at afternoon feed. I injected her with a liver stimulant and a broad-spectrum antibiotic, as I am not sure what is wrong with her.



Ai tog, en namiddag bring woes admin en rekeninge inhaal, en daar kom ek toe (baie laat, ek weet) agter dat die Midimel-voer wat ons vir ons koeie voer (en ons gebruik 7 50-kg sakke per dag) met R12 per sak duurder is, vanaf twee weke terug. Dit het my sommer lekker platgeslaan. Ek het my hart uit gewerk hierdie week, nie sommer net oor hard werk nie, maar ook omdat ek moes inhaal wat ek verloor het na al ons dinge (verandering na Restbrot, siek koeie, siek gesin, siek ek, siek koeie weereens). Ek was regtig moeg. En nou dit, na die sny in melkprys wat ons vanaf 25 Oktober moet vat!



Schooltime:



The girls had a one-hour riding lesson, mostly involving jumping. The lesson was cut short as Kevin had a fire on his farm.



We did our Zoology curriculum today. It included two interesting experiments: firstly, we had to impregnate 20 cotton balls with 20 different scents, choose a scent, and find it while blindfolded (to illustrate a bat's keen sense of smell). The scents we used were: coffee, perfume, vinegar, paint, conditioner, bath gel, pepper, paprika, mustard, vanilla essence, savlon, milo, pencil shavings, surgical spirits, honey, and calol - a strong-smelling calcium supplement for cows with milk fever. Firn chose vinegar, Rain vanilla essence, and I calol, and we were all successful in smelling out our 'bat babies', although it took some time (and lots of laughter).



We moved on to our next topic, flying reptiles, and we had to do another experiment: to illustrate how hard a paleontologist's job is, we had to choose a photograph of someone we had never met, but whom someone else in the family knew quite well, and describe that person with only the photograph as reference. Firn chose Pirrouette, a persian cat that Jon and I owned for some years, and Rain chose Kajima, a greyhound-cross-great dane, owned by Jon's sister. 



Rain and I started baking Jon's birthday cake (yes, I know, his birthday was on 30 September, but it was really my first chance). It's a complicated cake with 8 layers that each have to be baked separately and it kept us occupied for most of the afternoon, with some admin and accounting getting done in between.



Hoe was die dag?



'n Goeie dag, behalwe vir die voerkoste-skok. Ek't sommer net na 8-uur, en heel moedeloos, aan die slaap geraak. More is nog 'n dag ...



O ja, en ons is baie bly oor ons eerste somerreen, al was dit net 4 mm.






 
Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:04:32 +0200:Kort opsomming: 16 Oktober




Dis laat, en ek het nie dwarsdeur die dag so tussendeur geblog soos ek
gewoonlik doen nie, so hier is slegs die hoogtepunte:


1. Firn het 1 les Wiskunde gedoen, en dit nagesien (1 agterlosige fout).
Rain het 'n halwe les Wiskunde gedoen, en ek en sy het dit saam nagesien
(geen foute). Ek en Rain het die volgende les se eksperimente - meting
van vloeistowwe - saam gedoen.


2. Ons het aan ons spreadsheet gewerk, en 'n hele aantal kruie bygevoeg.


3. Firn het 'n kortverhaal geskryf en aan ons voorgelees.


4. Rain het vir Jon 'n gedig gelees.


5. Die 5 ton weeklikse restbrot aflewering het gearriveer, en dis groot
opwinding. Almal kom kyk hoe die 'skip' leeggemaak word - elke kind met
'n hond op 'n leiband.


6. Ek't hard gewerk op die plaas, weereens met baie hulp van Rain. 


Ons is laatmiddag weg Balfour toe - 'n klein dorpie nie te ver van ons
nie, maar in Mpumalanga, met die beste vee-arts, die beste Afgri, die
beste Dairy Care, en die lekkerste koekies. Terwyl Jon daarna Pick 'n
Pay toe is vir die weeklikse kruideniersware, het ek en die dogtertjies
Milo by die Wimpy gedrink, en 'n hond uit 'n bos gesels. Te lekker!








Dis laat, en ek het nie dwarsdeur die dag so tussendeur geblog soos ek gewoonlik doen nie, so hier is slegs die hoogtepunte:



1. Firn het 1 les Wiskunde gedoen, en dit nagesien (1 agterlosige fout). Rain het 'n halwe les Wiskunde gedoen, en ek en sy het dit saam nagesien (geen foute). Ek en Rain het die volgende les se eksperimente - meting van vloeistowwe - saam gedoen.



2. Ons het aan ons spreadsheet gewerk, en 'n hele aantal kruie bygevoeg.



3. Firn het 'n kortverhaal geskryf en aan ons voorgelees.



4. Rain het vir Jon 'n gedig gelees.



5. Die 5 ton weeklikse restbrot aflewering het gearriveer, en dis groot opwinding. Almal kom kyk hoe die 'skip' leeggemaak word - elke kind met 'n hond op 'n leiband.



6. Ek't hard gewerk op die plaas, weereens met baie hulp van Rain. 



Ons is laatmiddag weg Balfour toe - 'n klein dorpie nie te ver van ons nie, maar in Mpumalanga, met die beste vee-arts, die beste Afgri, die beste Dairy Care, en die lekkerste koekies. Terwyl Jon daarna Pick 'n Pay toe is vir die weeklikse kruideniersware, het ek en die dogtertjies Milo by die Wimpy gedrink, en 'n hond uit 'n bos gesels. Te lekker!






 
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:30:55 +0200:Wednesday, October 15, 2008




Farmtime:


Rain did walkabout with me this morning, which was great. We spent about
10 minutes together as a family while Jon was having his breakfast. I
helped Patrick to feed the weaned calves - a lot quicker, with 16 of
them having been sold. I supervised in the parlour and dealt with the
milk buyers. 


The girls, Aletta and I weighed all the bottle-fed calves, fed them
their bottles, and dewormed and weighed the 9 newly-weaned calves.


Firn entered the weights and deworming treatments on computer.


Blinkers is sick again (or still?) and I've put her on a new course of
antibiotics. Capuccino, just dried and six weeks from calving, got
deworming, vitamin A, and two inoculations to protect her unborn calf
from scours.


Odette got a mixture of bicarb and rumix, and so did Bontes, just to
settle their tummies.


Schooltime:


Firn did Lesson 12 in Saxon Maths, without a single mistake! Rain did
half of Lesson 39, and she and I reviewed her answers together - one
silly little mistake. Rain read two longish Roald Dahl-poems to me. 


At breakfast time, we discussed resolving conflict by using 'I
messages'. The topic arose because Firn and Rain often argue when
dealing with their horses. Firn can be bossy at times, and Rain doesn't
like to be told how to do something - a certain recipe for conflict.


We are still busy with our gardening project, and we spent quite a long
time on our Excel spreadsheet, which has the following headings (chosen
by the girls): Plant, Season, Shade or Sun, Depth, Spread, Days to
Sprout, Lifespan, Days to Harvest, When Does It Bloom, Size, Latin Name,
Family, Good Companion, Bad Companion, Uses and Remarks.


Firn went to the library again, having finished all three her library
books from Monday.


Special kids:


The girls rode their horses, and each girl had a 30 minute ballet
lesson, wearing their character shoes for their national dances - German
in Rain's case, and Swedish in Firn's case.


Firn and I spent a short while this morning practising her modern dance,
which is 'Singing in the Rain', with very difficult choreography and
lots of umbrella use.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


The highlight of the day was the amount of time Rain spent with me on
the farm. I have felt lately as if there was very little connection
between us, but I have rediscovered the magic little girl who has
enchanted me so in the past. Just great!








Farmtime:



Rain did walkabout with me this morning, which was great. We spent about 10 minutes together as a family while Jon was having his breakfast. I helped Patrick to feed the weaned calves - a lot quicker, with 16 of them having been sold. I supervised in the parlour and dealt with the milk buyers. 



The girls, Aletta and I weighed all the bottle-fed calves, fed them their bottles, and dewormed and weighed the 9 newly-weaned calves.



Firn entered the weights and deworming treatments on computer.



Blinkers is sick again (or still?) and I've put her on a new course of antibiotics. Capuccino, just dried and six weeks from calving, got deworming, vitamin A, and two inoculations to protect her unborn calf from scours.



Odette got a mixture of bicarb and rumix, and so did Bontes, just to settle their tummies.



Schooltime:



Firn did Lesson 12 in Saxon Maths, without a single mistake! Rain did half of Lesson 39, and she and I reviewed her answers together - one silly little mistake. Rain read two longish Roald Dahl-poems to me. 



At breakfast time, we discussed resolving conflict by using 'I messages'. The topic arose because Firn and Rain often argue when dealing with their horses. Firn can be bossy at times, and Rain doesn't like to be told how to do something - a certain recipe for conflict.



We are still busy with our gardening project, and we spent quite a long time on our Excel spreadsheet, which has the following headings (chosen by the girls): Plant, Season, Shade or Sun, Depth, Spread, Days to Sprout, Lifespan, Days to Harvest, When Does It Bloom, Size, Latin Name, Family, Good Companion, Bad Companion, Uses and Remarks.



Firn went to the library again, having finished all three her library books from Monday.



Special kids:



The girls rode their horses, and each girl had a 30 minute ballet lesson, wearing their character shoes for their national dances - German in Rain's case, and Swedish in Firn's case.



Firn and I spent a short while this morning practising her modern dance, which is 'Singing in the Rain', with very difficult choreography and lots of umbrella use.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



The highlight of the day was the amount of time Rain spent with me on the farm. I have felt lately as if there was very little connection between us, but I have rediscovered the magic little girl who has enchanted me so in the past. Just great!






 
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:55:52 +0200:Dinsdag, 14 Oktober 2008




Plaas:


Ek't walkabout in rekord-tyd gedoen, want ons het 'n afspraak gehad om
27 osse vanoggend 9-uur te laai vir die Vereeniging-veiling. Ook goed
so, en al my rondhardlopery vanoggend, want om 07:45 daag die trok toe
op.


En hoe haat ek dit nie! Die skokstok en die oorywerige gebruik daarvan -
hierdie is mak melkosse, nie wilde vleisbeeste nie. Maar einde ten
laaste is 24 osse gelaai, en ons kon aangaan met ons oggendtake. Die
dogtertjies is streng aangemaan om in die huis te bly, en het die
narigheid vrygespring. Hulle het darem vir Aletta gehelp om die klein
kalfies hul bottels te gee.


Tioctan is steeds siek, so ook Odette, maar Blinkers is beter. Star en
Elite het mastitis en ons bly besig.


Skool:


Firn het Les 11 in Saxon Maths gedoen, en nagegaan - net een agterlosige
optelfout. Rain het amper 'n halwe les gedoen, en ek en sy het dit saam
gemerk.


Ons het nuwe teken-sagteware so saam-saam geleer om ons tuinuitleg op
grafiekpapier te teken. Dit het meer as 'n uur geneem, maar ek is nou
gerus dat die dogtertjies hulself nuwe programme kan leer - deur trial
and error en ook handleidings lees. Ons het ook heelwat oor vorms
geleer.


Ons het die Restbrot-houer gemeet en in 7 gelyke dele gedeel, sodat ons
ons verbruik beter kan skat en meet oor elke 7 dae. Dus meting, breuke,
en deling.


Firn het vir ons 'n kortverhaal gelees wat sy self geskryf het, en die
dierebehandelings in die rekenaar ingesleutel.


Die dogtertjies het in hulle biblioteekboeke gelees. En na middagete het
ons almal op die bed gaan le en Shrek The Third klaargekyk - ons kyk dit
al die afgelope paar dae so in paaiemente, wanneer ons tyd kry. Ek's 'n
GROOT Shrek-fan.








Plaas:



Ek't walkabout in rekord-tyd gedoen, want ons het 'n afspraak gehad om 27 osse vanoggend 9-uur te laai vir die Vereeniging-veiling. Ook goed so, en al my rondhardlopery vanoggend, want om 07:45 daag die trok toe op.



En hoe haat ek dit nie! Die skokstok en die oorywerige gebruik daarvan - hierdie is mak melkosse, nie wilde vleisbeeste nie. Maar einde ten laaste is 24 osse gelaai, en ons kon aangaan met ons oggendtake. Die dogtertjies is streng aangemaan om in die huis te bly, en het die narigheid vrygespring. Hulle het darem vir Aletta gehelp om die klein kalfies hul bottels te gee.



Tioctan is steeds siek, so ook Odette, maar Blinkers is beter. Star en Elite het mastitis en ons bly besig.



Skool:



Firn het Les 11 in Saxon Maths gedoen, en nagegaan - net een agterlosige optelfout. Rain het amper 'n halwe les gedoen, en ek en sy het dit saam gemerk.



Ons het nuwe teken-sagteware so saam-saam geleer om ons tuinuitleg op grafiekpapier te teken. Dit het meer as 'n uur geneem, maar ek is nou gerus dat die dogtertjies hulself nuwe programme kan leer - deur trial and error en ook handleidings lees. Ons het ook heelwat oor vorms geleer.



Ons het die Restbrot-houer gemeet en in 7 gelyke dele gedeel, sodat ons ons verbruik beter kan skat en meet oor elke 7 dae. Dus meting, breuke, en deling.



Firn het vir ons 'n kortverhaal gelees wat sy self geskryf het, en die dierebehandelings in die rekenaar ingesleutel.



Die dogtertjies het in hulle biblioteekboeke gelees. En na middagete het ons almal op die bed gaan le en Shrek The Third klaargekyk - ons kyk dit al die afgelope paar dae so in paaiemente, wanneer ons tyd kry. Ek's 'n GROOT Shrek-fan.






 
Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:08:55 +0200:Monday, October 13, 2008




Farmtime:


I did walkabout feeling decidedly better and more motivated than I have
been feeling for quite a while. I spent from about 05:30 to just after
9, rushing here and there, helping here and there, and checking here and
there. This meant the cows went grazing at 9, I saw most of the problem
animals, I bottle-fed the calves with Aletta, Firn and Rain's help, I
wrestled a few calves, rushed the guys along, and just had quite a
hectic time. But at 09:12, the vacuum pump went off, at least 20 minutes
earlier than the last few mornings when I was quite out of it.


Firn injected Tioctan with a liver stimulant and a painkiller. I spotted
her yesterday, and gave her a shot of long-acting antibiotics yesterday.
But this morning, her temperature was 40.5, so we had to help her a
little bit.


Back on the farm, after ballet, I found that Blinkers had hardly eaten
anything in the milking parlour, so I injected her with a different
antibiotic, after consulting our vet.


Schooltime:


Firn did an investigation, and checked her work. Rain did 11 sums, and
we went through it together. Rain and I calculated George's wages, as
well as his shopping and loan deductions, and Rain paid him
electronically.


Firn downloaded learning outcomes for Grade 5 (USA standards) from the
Internet, and she and I spent some time checking them, and looking up
the ones she had not met.


I also did this yesterday for Rain, and we're busy slowly working
through them.


October is our gardening month, so we paced our garden, and Firn drew a
rough map of the outline of the garden and its landmarks. We are busy
doing a map, to scale, on a 1 cm grid, of the garden.


We also started a spreadsheet, which we want to use to plan the seeds we
will sow.


Both girls read quite a lot in their library books.


Special kids:


The girls spent quite a lot of time playing a game with Firn on
horseback and Rain trailing on foot. They also each had a 40 minute
ballet lesson, and we went to the library. It was free choice day - poor
Firn is finding it hard to find a book that she's not read yet at the
kiddies section, and the librarians (who, as Firn correctly observes,
are more interested in drinking tea than actually helping) won't make an
exception and allow her to check out adult books.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


A fairly good day. School was interrupted by a fire not far away; I had
to jump in the bakkie with the kids and go and look at it during school
time, which I hate. Turns out it's a planned fire, but the farmer didn't
think to advise his neighbours. I was cross!








Farmtime:



I did walkabout feeling decidedly better and more motivated than I have been feeling for quite a while. I spent from about 05:30 to just after 9, rushing here and there, helping here and there, and checking here and there. This meant the cows went grazing at 9, I saw most of the problem animals, I bottle-fed the calves with Aletta, Firn and Rain's help, I wrestled a few calves, rushed the guys along, and just had quite a hectic time. But at 09:12, the vacuum pump went off, at least 20 minutes earlier than the last few mornings when I was quite out of it.



Firn injected Tioctan with a liver stimulant and a painkiller. I spotted her yesterday, and gave her a shot of long-acting antibiotics yesterday. But this morning, her temperature was 40.5, so we had to help her a little bit.



Back on the farm, after ballet, I found that Blinkers had hardly eaten anything in the milking parlour, so I injected her with a different antibiotic, after consulting our vet.



Schooltime:



Firn did an investigation, and checked her work. Rain did 11 sums, and we went through it together. Rain and I calculated George's wages, as well as his shopping and loan deductions, and Rain paid him electronically.



Firn downloaded learning outcomes for Grade 5 (USA standards) from the Internet, and she and I spent some time checking them, and looking up the ones she had not met.



I also did this yesterday for Rain, and we're busy slowly working through them.



October is our gardening month, so we paced our garden, and Firn drew a rough map of the outline of the garden and its landmarks. We are busy doing a map, to scale, on a 1 cm grid, of the garden.



We also started a spreadsheet, which we want to use to plan the seeds we will sow.



Both girls read quite a lot in their library books.



Special kids:



The girls spent quite a lot of time playing a game with Firn on horseback and Rain trailing on foot. They also each had a 40 minute ballet lesson, and we went to the library. It was free choice day - poor Firn is finding it hard to find a book that she's not read yet at the kiddies section, and the librarians (who, as Firn correctly observes, are more interested in drinking tea than actually helping) won't make an exception and allow her to check out adult books.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



A fairly good day. School was interrupted by a fire not far away; I had to jump in the bakkie with the kids and go and look at it during school time, which I hate. Turns out it's a planned fire, but the farmer didn't think to advise his neighbours. I was cross!






 
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:22:57 +0200:Terugslae vir Hydeaway Farm




Ek skat die eerste een was toe ek Dinsdagmiddag siek begin voel. Ek't
dadelik, hier rondom half-vyf, in die bad gespring, my hare gewas, en
(gross) bo-op my kop vasgemaak sodat dit uit die pad kon wees vir die
onvermydelike opgooi.


Woensdagmiddag, toe ek vaagweg bewusword 'n koei is aan't sterf, het ek
krom-krom gesurface. Jon was by die werk, Firn het die plaas bestuur en
Mary was dodelik siek.


Donderdaglaatmiddag is Mary toe ook dood. Tweede terugslag.


Vrydagoggend breek aan, en weereens is daar 'n paar siek koeie; onder
andere Blinkers, Firn se koei, met dieselfde simptome as Mary. Ons
besluit dus om maar die vee-arts te laat kom. Na 'n deeglike ondersoek
van die siek koeie, asook 'n post mortem op Mary, kom hy tot die
gevolgtrekking dat sommige 'n metaboliese steurnis en sommige
longontsteking had, maar hy is onseker van die oorsaak.


Intussen, ook Vrydagoggend, laat weet ons melkkopers ons dat hulle hul
melkwinkel verkoop het, en gee ons kennis dat hulle slegs tot 29 Oktober
ons melk sal koop. Ek't gevoel of dit die laaste strooi was.


Een-of-ander oggend terwyl ek siek was (seker Woensdag) het Anemay
gekalf, maar die kalfie is doodgebore - twee maande te vroeg.


Maar ons hou maar uit en hou maar aan. Het 'n ander melkkoper gevind,
maar, natuurlik, daar's 'n prys te betale. Hy betaal 30c per liter
minder, wat beteken 'n maandelikse verlaging van inkomste van R6000. En
hy betaal slegs een maal per maand, waar ons huidige koper een maal per
week betaal het - dus 'n veel hoer risiko.


Wel, Donderdag het ek maar nog aan- en af geslaap, en die dogtertjies
het elk 'n balleteksamen-foto vir hulle ouma gedecoupage en versier.
Firn het ook Les 10 in Saxon Maths gedoen en nagegaan. Rain het 9
berekenings gedoen, en ek het dit saam met haar nagegaan.


Friday we learnt how to calculate the radius, diameter, and
circumference of a circle, as we were designing a new wagon-wheel camp
for our smaller, unweaned calves. We also did a bit of rounding and Rain
got a lot of practice in using a calculator. We also did quite a bit
about nutrition and growing children's nutritional requirements. We
compared our actual intake to the ideal and decided where changes need
to be made. And we started planning our new vegetable garden.


So, it's Saturday afternoon, and Beauty and Blinkers are still sick,
but, I believe, a bit better. Mermadia has a very damaged, and Anemay a
very blocked, teat.


Now, I want to know this: are we brave, or foolhardy, to continue
milking?








Ek skat die eerste een was toe ek Dinsdagmiddag siek begin voel. Ek't dadelik, hier rondom half-vyf, in die bad gespring, my hare gewas, en (gross) bo-op my kop vasgemaak sodat dit uit die pad kon wees vir die onvermydelike opgooi.



Woensdagmiddag, toe ek vaagweg bewusword 'n koei is aan't sterf, het ek krom-krom gesurface. Jon was by die werk, Firn het die plaas bestuur en Mary was dodelik siek.



Donderdaglaatmiddag is Mary toe ook dood. Tweede terugslag.



Vrydagoggend breek aan, en weereens is daar 'n paar siek koeie; onder andere Blinkers, Firn se koei, met dieselfde simptome as Mary. Ons besluit dus om maar die vee-arts te laat kom. Na 'n deeglike ondersoek van die siek koeie, asook 'n post mortem op Mary, kom hy tot die gevolgtrekking dat sommige 'n metaboliese steurnis en sommige longontsteking had, maar hy is onseker van die oorsaak.



Intussen, ook Vrydagoggend, laat weet ons melkkopers ons dat hulle hul melkwinkel verkoop het, en gee ons kennis dat hulle slegs tot 29 Oktober ons melk sal koop. Ek't gevoel of dit die laaste strooi was.



Een-of-ander oggend terwyl ek siek was (seker Woensdag) het Anemay gekalf, maar die kalfie is doodgebore - twee maande te vroeg.



Maar ons hou maar uit en hou maar aan. Het 'n ander melkkoper gevind, maar, natuurlik, daar's 'n prys te betale. Hy betaal 30c per liter minder, wat beteken 'n maandelikse verlaging van inkomste van R6000. En hy betaal slegs een maal per maand, waar ons huidige koper een maal per week betaal het - dus 'n veel hoer risiko.



Wel, Donderdag het ek maar nog aan- en af geslaap, en die dogtertjies het elk 'n balleteksamen-foto vir hulle ouma gedecoupage en versier. Firn het ook Les 10 in Saxon Maths gedoen en nagegaan. Rain het 9 berekenings gedoen, en ek het dit saam met haar nagegaan.



Friday we learnt how to calculate the radius, diameter, and circumference of a circle, as we were designing a new wagon-wheel camp for our smaller, unweaned calves. We also did a bit of rounding and Rain got a lot of practice in using a calculator. We also did quite a bit about nutrition and growing children's nutritional requirements. We compared our actual intake to the ideal and decided where changes need to be made. And we started planning our new vegetable garden.



So, it's Saturday afternoon, and Beauty and Blinkers are still sick, but, I believe, a bit better. Mermadia has a very damaged, and Anemay a very blocked, teat.



Now, I want to know this: are we brave, or foolhardy, to continue milking?






 
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:52:15 +0200:Tuesday, October 07, 2008




Farmtime:


Once again, did walkabout in a foul mood. Moaned and groaned at the
poor, uncomprehending animals. I'm sure they 'felt' my animosity, and
no-one came for a good morning rub, not that I can blame them!


As the morning progressed and it became clear that there were no new
sick animals, my mood lifted somewhat. After walkabout, I rushed inside
to give everyone their morning drinks, prepare inoculations, and rushed
out again to help Jabu feed the weaned calves. Thereafter I was off to
the old parlour, where the lactating cows get their second, and the
heifers at the bull their first, feed of the morning. 


Of the 13 sick cows, only 1 remains very sick: Mary. I single-handedly
put her in the crush, injected her with calcium, a vitamin B-complex,
and a pain killer. Three cows did not finish all their food but do seem
much improved: Bontes, Oepsie, and Mrs X. They stayed with the blindes,
together with Corne, who is painfully thin and needs to be fed up a bit,
as well as Butterfly and Anemay, who are close to calving.


Note: After I had written this, Butterfly calved at about 14:00 - a
bullcalf, whom Rain named 'Boudjies'.
Firn and I gave Butterfly her Reviva, and I gave Boudjies a colostrum
bottle when he was about 1 1/2 hours old. I also cleaned his umbilical
cord.


We also gave Lollipop, Exquisite, and Malmesbury two inoculations each -
all three are 6 weeks from calving.


I have been concentrating on the cows, and Aletta and Firn have taken
over my calf-feeding duties for now, but I miss them sorely, and I hope
to be able to feed them tomorrow.


Schooltime:


I've been feeling quite despondent about school for quite a while now
(no, hey?) and I've been giving it a lot of thought, coming to the
conclusion that I have the following options, given our circumstances:
Either send the girls to school (actually not an option, for me), or
sell the cows (would be terrible for Jon and Firn), or not do my farming
job properly (I would absolutely hate that), or cope somehow. A while
back, I read an e-mail from Leendert van Oostrum, in which he explained
how children learnt alongside their parents in the days before the
industrial revolution. I grabbed onto that like a drowning man, and gave
the girls a talk, explaining the above options. I agreed with them that
I'm going to try to involve them more in my accounting and
administrative duties, otherwise I would really feel that I'm failing
them badly, schooling-wise.


Today, Firn checked her answers to about 4 or 5 maths lessons. She
helped me to calculate Jabu's wages, and paid him electronically. She
checked whether the milk buyers had paid (thankfully, they had), she
checked whether Jon had enough money in his credit card to do the Pick
'n Pay shopping tonight. She checked whether we had enough money in our
farm account to cover the weekly Afgri cheque. I read an article to the
girls about earth's oldest footprints, at 570 million years old, and,
taking into account the description in the article, Firn did a drawing
of what she thought the animal could look like. She prepared a parcel to
her grandparents, containing a newspaper cutting and a letter describing
her experiences at the show. She wrote a thank-you letter to the owner
of the heifer she had borrowed for the show. She also entered all the
animal treatments on computer.


Rain was still feeling under the weather and spent most of the morning
watching CBeebies. She spent the afternoon constructing a den and doing
some needlework. Firn did a lot of writing, but also collected and took
some hay to Twoie, her sick goat.








Farmtime:



Once again, did walkabout in a foul mood. Moaned and groaned at the poor, uncomprehending animals. I'm sure they 'felt' my animosity, and no-one came for a good morning rub, not that I can blame them!



As the morning progressed and it became clear that there were no new sick animals, my mood lifted somewhat. After walkabout, I rushed inside to give everyone their morning drinks, prepare inoculations, and rushed out again to help Jabu feed the weaned calves. Thereafter I was off to the old parlour, where the lactating cows get their second, and the heifers at the bull their first, feed of the morning. 



Of the 13 sick cows, only 1 remains very sick: Mary. I single-handedly put her in the crush, injected her with calcium, a vitamin B-complex, and a pain killer. Three cows did not finish all their food but do seem much improved: Bontes, Oepsie, and Mrs X. They stayed with the blindes, together with Corne, who is painfully thin and needs to be fed up a bit, as well as Butterfly and Anemay, who are close to calving.



Note: After I had written this, Butterfly calved at about 14:00 - a bullcalf, whom Rain named 'Boudjies'.

Firn and I gave Butterfly her Reviva, and I gave Boudjies a colostrum bottle when he was about 1 1/2 hours old. I also cleaned his umbilical cord.



We also gave Lollipop, Exquisite, and Malmesbury two inoculations each - all three are 6 weeks from calving.



I have been concentrating on the cows, and Aletta and Firn have taken over my calf-feeding duties for now, but I miss them sorely, and I hope to be able to feed them tomorrow.



Schooltime:



I've been feeling quite despondent about school for quite a while now (no, hey?) and I've been giving it a lot of thought, coming to the conclusion that I have the following options, given our circumstances: Either send the girls to school (actually not an option, for me), or sell the cows (would be terrible for Jon and Firn), or not do my farming job properly (I would absolutely hate that), or cope somehow. A while back, I read an e-mail from Leendert van Oostrum, in which he explained how children learnt alongside their parents in the days before the industrial revolution. I grabbed onto that like a drowning man, and gave the girls a talk, explaining the above options. I agreed with them that I'm going to try to involve them more in my accounting and administrative duties, otherwise I would really feel that I'm failing them badly, schooling-wise.



Today, Firn checked her answers to about 4 or 5 maths lessons. She helped me to calculate Jabu's wages, and paid him electronically. She checked whether the milk buyers had paid (thankfully, they had), she checked whether Jon had enough money in his credit card to do the Pick 'n Pay shopping tonight. She checked whether we had enough money in our farm account to cover the weekly Afgri cheque. I read an article to the girls about earth's oldest footprints, at 570 million years old, and, taking into account the description in the article, Firn did a drawing of what she thought the animal could look like. She prepared a parcel to her grandparents, containing a newspaper cutting and a letter describing her experiences at the show. She wrote a thank-you letter to the owner of the heifer she had borrowed for the show. She also entered all the animal treatments on computer.



Rain was still feeling under the weather and spent most of the morning watching CBeebies. She spent the afternoon constructing a den and doing some needlework. Firn did a lot of writing, but also collected and took some hay to Twoie, her sick goat.






 
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:05:48 +0200:Dinki resigns




Did walkabout in a foul mood, after Jon was up for most of last night
thanks to a power failure - first running the generator to make sure the
milk cools and for the electric fences and alarm, and then staying awake
to switch over to mains again.


Got back into the house (thankfully nothing had died in the night) and
told Jon I was finished with milking. I'd had enough. I was resigning
from this job.


But why? Well, for one, I'm exhausted. I hardly ever have time off; in
fact, when we went to the show in late September, it was the first time
since April 1 that I had spent one single day not doing at least some
farmwork, except for that one day when I had a complete collapse and lay
in bed the whole day.


I'm tired of dealing with semi-literate, unmotivated, and, in the case
of George, belligerent staff. I have to tell them the same, simple
thing, a million times over, and then they still get it wrong and I
can't be certain whether it's on purpose or not. Example: each calf gets
his own feedbowl. Count the calves in the pen, and give the same number
of feedbowls. What do they do (and this is my foreman): four bowls for
five calves!


I have very little, verging on no, social contact. We don't go out at
night, as bedtime is anywhere between 19:00 and 20:30, otherwise the
next day is a total disaster. I have almost no alone-time with Jon, as
one of us is often asleep before either Firn or Rain or both.


Ek smag na skoonheid. Dit is veral nou sleg - vaal en stowwerig, buite-
en binnekant, en ek lyk ook vaal, stowwerig, en vuil, meeste van die
tyd. "n Vriendin SMS dat haar rose begin oopgaan ek smag na hulle geur
en om hulle te sien. Daar is nie 'n enkele blom in sig hier by my nie,
en bitter min groen gras. Op ons etenstafel staan 'n lee coke-bottel met
'n verdroogde azalea - 'n perfekte metafoor vir my omgewing - Rain deel
ook my versugtinge na 'n bietjie skoonheid. Gisteraand het dit so erg
geraak dat ek vir Firn gevra het of ek asseblief in haar nagrokkie kan
slaap - 'n poging tot 'n bietjie vroulikheid. 


I look gaunt, drawn and like a semi-skeleton. No matter how much I eat
(and I have a cookie-jar in the bedroom, which I often raid at night), I
remain stick-like - because of all the hard physical work on the farm. I
walk many kilometres each day, I wrestle cows and calves, and I run when
an animal's life is at stake. I push heavy wheelbarrows and carry
baskets filled with calves' bottles and heavy foodbowls.


En dan is daar die finansiele sy. Ons verarm by die dag. Ja, ons toon
wel kapitale groei in ons kudde en ons toerusting. Maar daar is geen
geld vir luukses nie. Ek lyk maklik 10 jaar ouer as wat ek is - ook
omdat nagroom net 'n luukse van die verlede is - deesdae slaap ek met
vaseline op my wange. Die kinders het amper geen nuwe somersklere gekry
nie. Raintjie is so 'n fraai ou dogtertjie, sy verdien mooi ou rokkies
en fyn sandaaltjies vir dorp toe gaan. Ons tuisskool op 'n
spreekwoordelike shoestring - geleende kurrikula, die minimum
toerusting.


Ek is ook bekommerd oor Rain se akademiese ontwikkeling. Sy is beslis
agter by haar ouderdomsgroep, en ek behoort ekstra tyd met haar deur te
bring - tyd wat daar nie is nie, oftewel, geen energie oor wanneer daar
wel 'n tydjie af te knyp is nie.


Nou ja, hoekom gaan ek dan aan? Want (min-of-meer in volgorde van
belangrikheid):


1. Ons moet mos maar almal werk, en hierdie werk kan ek ten minste
meeste van die tyd saam met my kinders doen.


2. Dis my man se lewensdroom.


3. Ek wil graag met diere werk.


4. Ek wil graag buitekant, na aan die natuur, werk.


5. Ek wil nie hoef werk toe te ry nie.


Dus is dit maar voortgaan en vasbyt. More gaan dit hopenlik weer beter,
en miskien spaar ons wel 'n bietjie geld met die goedkoper Restbrot.


Volgende keer vertel ek oor ons eerste skooldag.








Did walkabout in a foul mood, after Jon was up for most of last night thanks to a power failure - first running the generator to make sure the milk cools and for the electric fences and alarm, and then staying awake to switch over to mains again.



Got back into the house (thankfully nothing had died in the night) and told Jon I was finished with milking. I'd had enough. I was resigning from this job.



But why? Well, for one, I'm exhausted. I hardly ever have time off; in fact, when we went to the show in late September, it was the first time since April 1 that I had spent one single day not doing at least some farmwork, except for that one day when I had a complete collapse and lay in bed the whole day.



I'm tired of dealing with semi-literate, unmotivated, and, in the case of George, belligerent staff. I have to tell them the same, simple thing, a million times over, and then they still get it wrong and I can't be certain whether it's on purpose or not. Example: each calf gets his own feedbowl. Count the calves in the pen, and give the same number of feedbowls. What do they do (and this is my foreman): four bowls for five calves!



I have very little, verging on no, social contact. We don't go out at night, as bedtime is anywhere between 19:00 and 20:30, otherwise the next day is a total disaster. I have almost no alone-time with Jon, as one of us is often asleep before either Firn or Rain or both.



Ek smag na skoonheid. Dit is veral nou sleg - vaal en stowwerig, buite- en binnekant, en ek lyk ook vaal, stowwerig, en vuil, meeste van die tyd. "n Vriendin SMS dat haar rose begin oopgaan ek smag na hulle geur en om hulle te sien. Daar is nie 'n enkele blom in sig hier by my nie, en bitter min groen gras. Op ons etenstafel staan 'n lee coke-bottel met 'n verdroogde azalea - 'n perfekte metafoor vir my omgewing - Rain deel ook my versugtinge na 'n bietjie skoonheid. Gisteraand het dit so erg geraak dat ek vir Firn gevra het of ek asseblief in haar nagrokkie kan slaap - 'n poging tot 'n bietjie vroulikheid. 



I look gaunt, drawn and like a semi-skeleton. No matter how much I eat (and I have a cookie-jar in the bedroom, which I often raid at night), I remain stick-like - because of all the hard physical work on the farm. I walk many kilometres each day, I wrestle cows and calves, and I run when an animal's life is at stake. I push heavy wheelbarrows and carry baskets filled with calves' bottles and heavy foodbowls.



En dan is daar die finansiele sy. Ons verarm by die dag. Ja, ons toon wel kapitale groei in ons kudde en ons toerusting. Maar daar is geen geld vir luukses nie. Ek lyk maklik 10 jaar ouer as wat ek is - ook omdat nagroom net 'n luukse van die verlede is - deesdae slaap ek met vaseline op my wange. Die kinders het amper geen nuwe somersklere gekry nie. Raintjie is so 'n fraai ou dogtertjie, sy verdien mooi ou rokkies en fyn sandaaltjies vir dorp toe gaan. Ons tuisskool op 'n spreekwoordelike shoestring - geleende kurrikula, die minimum toerusting.



Ek is ook bekommerd oor Rain se akademiese ontwikkeling. Sy is beslis agter by haar ouderdomsgroep, en ek behoort ekstra tyd met haar deur te bring - tyd wat daar nie is nie, oftewel, geen energie oor wanneer daar wel 'n tydjie af te knyp is nie.



Nou ja, hoekom gaan ek dan aan? Want (min-of-meer in volgorde van belangrikheid):



1. Ons moet mos maar almal werk, en hierdie werk kan ek ten minste meeste van die tyd saam met my kinders doen.



2. Dis my man se lewensdroom.



3. Ek wil graag met diere werk.



4. Ek wil graag buitekant, na aan die natuur, werk.



5. Ek wil nie hoef werk toe te ry nie.



Dus is dit maar voortgaan en vasbyt. More gaan dit hopenlik weer beter, en miskien spaar ons wel 'n bietjie geld met die goedkoper Restbrot.



Volgende keer vertel ek oor ons eerste skooldag.






 
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:41:25 +0200:Back on the farm




It all started with the first phone call we received during our journey
back to the farm: at about 13:00 Job informed us that the tractor had
run out of diesel, out on the lands. We knew that we would have to tow
it back to the shed after we got back to the farm, which we expected to
be at about 18:00, so our spirits were quite low.


At 15:00 we received another, and completely unexpected, phone call: the
Restbrot was finished. Not low, but finished. They had finished it
during the morning feed, and not thought to let us know, so we could
make a plan. I was not cross, I was not exasperated, I was not angry; I
was absolutely furious. It was completely and utterly inexcusable.


The animals therefore had to eat dairymeal and calf pellets instead of
Restbrot for the Wednesday afternoon, as well as the Thursday morning,
feed. And we are still feeling the consequences - more about that later.


Wednesday evening, we duly arrived home at about 18:00, but instead of
offloading the car and cooking a healthy supper, we were engaged in a
circus: battling to tow the tractor home.


Thursday morning dawned, and I waited with baited breath for the
Restbrot, promised for 06:30, to arrive. It eventually arrived just
after 08:00, by which time my stress levels were sky-high. At 08:45 I
realised that Jersey SA were scheduled to do their 6 monthly herd visit
to class my first lactation animals - I thought the visit was scheduled
for Friday and I was nowhere near ready!


After some frantic activity on my part, I was ready with 17 animals to
be classed by the time Wikus arrived just after 9 (and after a breakfast
of tea and a dry breadroll)! The visit went quite well, and the rest of
the day was spent in washing 6 bundles of washing and unpacking.


Friday morning dawns and suddenly, I have a herd of sick animals:
Bontes, Mrs X, Bindi, Firn, Meisiekind, Kulula, Brabbelwoggel, Magtig,
and Firn's old goat, 257. Not only do we have to inject and 'TLC' all of
them, but the treatments (and milk withdrawal, where applicable) must be
carefully entered on computer.


And Jon is under the weather. Really not feeling well. Did an urgent job
for one client, and jumped into bed. And doesn't want coffee (yes, the
same guy who goes to reservist training with a kettle, coffee, sugar,
milk, and 9 mugs twice a week; the same guy who drinks about 15 cups of
coffee a week).


Lunch without Jon, and when fetching the cows our best cow, Corne, can't
get up. My first thought: Milk fever - lethal, and quick. So I inject
her with 10 cc cortisone, 40 cc calcium, and phone the vet. 


Editorial note: This was written on Friday. It is now Sunday morning,
and I've had 12 sick cows, 1 sick ox, our bull's been sick, Jon is still
sick, and so is Rain. Poor little Rain vomited hourly for most of
yesterday.


Needless to say, I've had an extremely anxious and tiring time over the
weekend. The financial implications of the illness (and we're still not
quite sure what caused it) are massive - about 50 litres' drop in milk
production per day, and I've spent literally thousands on animal
medicines.


So, I'm an unhappy, worried rice krispie at the moment.








It all started with the first phone call we received during our journey back to the farm: at about 13:00 Job informed us that the tractor had run out of diesel, out on the lands. We knew that we would have to tow it back to the shed after we got back to the farm, which we expected to be at about 18:00, so our spirits were quite low.



At 15:00 we received another, and completely unexpected, phone call: the Restbrot was finished. Not low, but finished. They had finished it during the morning feed, and not thought to let us know, so we could make a plan. I was not cross, I was not exasperated, I was not angry; I was absolutely furious. It was completely and utterly inexcusable.



The animals therefore had to eat dairymeal and calf pellets instead of Restbrot for the Wednesday afternoon, as well as the Thursday morning, feed. And we are still feeling the consequences - more about that later.



Wednesday evening, we duly arrived home at about 18:00, but instead of offloading the car and cooking a healthy supper, we were engaged in a circus: battling to tow the tractor home.



Thursday morning dawned, and I waited with baited breath for the Restbrot, promised for 06:30, to arrive. It eventually arrived just after 08:00, by which time my stress levels were sky-high. At 08:45 I realised that Jersey SA were scheduled to do their 6 monthly herd visit to class my first lactation animals - I thought the visit was scheduled for Friday and I was nowhere near ready!



After some frantic activity on my part, I was ready with 17 animals to be classed by the time Wikus arrived just after 9 (and after a breakfast of tea and a dry breadroll)! The visit went quite well, and the rest of the day was spent in washing 6 bundles of washing and unpacking.



Friday morning dawns and suddenly, I have a herd of sick animals: Bontes, Mrs X, Bindi, Firn, Meisiekind, Kulula, Brabbelwoggel, Magtig, and Firn's old goat, 257. Not only do we have to inject and 'TLC' all of them, but the treatments (and milk withdrawal, where applicable) must be carefully entered on computer.



And Jon is under the weather. Really not feeling well. Did an urgent job for one client, and jumped into bed. And doesn't want coffee (yes, the same guy who goes to reservist training with a kettle, coffee, sugar, milk, and 9 mugs twice a week; the same guy who drinks about 15 cups of coffee a week).



Lunch without Jon, and when fetching the cows our best cow, Corne, can't get up. My first thought: Milk fever - lethal, and quick. So I inject her with 10 cc cortisone, 40 cc calcium, and phone the vet. 



Editorial note: This was written on Friday. It is now Sunday morning, and I've had 12 sick cows, 1 sick ox, our bull's been sick, Jon is still sick, and so is Rain. Poor little Rain vomited hourly for most of yesterday.



Needless to say, I've had an extremely anxious and tiring time over the weekend. The financial implications of the illness (and we're still not quite sure what caused it) are massive - about 50 litres' drop in milk production per day, and I've spent literally thousands on animal medicines.



So, I'm an unhappy, worried rice krispie at the moment.






 
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:00:07 +0200:Nasionale Jeugskou 2008 - Williston




Na Saterdag se groot pakkery en plaas voorberei vir ons afwesigheid, het
ons Sondagoggend 05:00 hier weggekom en Sondagmiddag twee-uur was ons by
Travalia in Drie Susters. 'n Lekker rustige middag, maar tog 'n bietjie
teleurgesteld dat die plek agteruit gegaan het.


Maandagoggend 04:00 was ek en Firn wakker, 'n uur later was die hele
gesin op en 06:00 is ons weg, op pad vir die laaste 4 uur se rit na
Williston. 


Die eerste item op Firn se agenda was die geskrewe eksamen. Sy't heel
rustig saam met 'n horde ander kinders skool-in verdwyn, terwyl ek, Rain
en Jon die Williston-metropolis gaan verken het.


Die middag was besig, met Firn se volgende twee items: was en
voorbereiding. Ek en Jon moes ook maar bontstaan om seker te maak sy het
al die regte toerusting, die regte kleredrag, en is op die regte tyd by
die regte skouring. Rain het koffie en tee gekoop en aangedra. Ons was
almal baie tevrede met Firn se 5 de plek vir was en 4 de plek vir
voorbereiding. Tussendeur moet die kalfie, wat op stal staan, gereeld
geneem word om te drink.


Vroegaand was dit tyd vir die formele opening: 'n optog deur al die
kinders, 'n paar toesprake, en 'n paar kort vertonings. Dus 'n
laataand-ete in Williston se enigste restaurant, met die dogtertjies wat
aan tafel wil-wil aan die slaap val.


Dinsdagoggend nooi ons gasvrou, op 'n plaas so 10 km buite Williston,
ons vir tee, wat toe ook sommer in 'n ontbytetery en lekker gesels
ontaard. Jon was totaal en al betower deur die stadige pas waar tyd
ooglopend nie 'n kwessie vir die meeste Williston-inwoners is nie.


Net na middagete Dinsdag was dit Firn se beurt in die skouring. Ons het
gehoop vir 'n vierde, maar sy moes met 'n vyfde plek tevrede wees. Ons
het ook die seniors se voorbereiding en skou gekyk, en heelwat daaruit
geleer.


Dinsdagaand sommer vroeg gaan eet (by die einste enigste restaurant,
waar anders?) en weer 'n bietjie saam met ons gasvrou gekuier.


Woensdagoggend 5-uur het ons weggespring op pad huis toe, en van die
krisisse wat ons tuis begroet het, vertel ek volgende keer.








Na Saterdag se groot pakkery en plaas voorberei vir ons afwesigheid, het ons Sondagoggend 05:00 hier weggekom en Sondagmiddag twee-uur was ons by Travalia in Drie Susters. 'n Lekker rustige middag, maar tog 'n bietjie teleurgesteld dat die plek agteruit gegaan het.



Maandagoggend 04:00 was ek en Firn wakker, 'n uur later was die hele gesin op en 06:00 is ons weg, op pad vir die laaste 4 uur se rit na Williston. 



Die eerste item op Firn se agenda was die geskrewe eksamen. Sy't heel rustig saam met 'n horde ander kinders skool-in verdwyn, terwyl ek, Rain en Jon die Williston-metropolis gaan verken het.



Die middag was besig, met Firn se volgende twee items: was en voorbereiding. Ek en Jon moes ook maar bontstaan om seker te maak sy het al die regte toerusting, die regte kleredrag, en is op die regte tyd by die regte skouring. Rain het koffie en tee gekoop en aangedra. Ons was almal baie tevrede met Firn se 5 de plek vir was en 4 de plek vir voorbereiding. Tussendeur moet die kalfie, wat op stal staan, gereeld geneem word om te drink.



Vroegaand was dit tyd vir die formele opening: 'n optog deur al die kinders, 'n paar toesprake, en 'n paar kort vertonings. Dus 'n laataand-ete in Williston se enigste restaurant, met die dogtertjies wat aan tafel wil-wil aan die slaap val.



Dinsdagoggend nooi ons gasvrou, op 'n plaas so 10 km buite Williston, ons vir tee, wat toe ook sommer in 'n ontbytetery en lekker gesels ontaard. Jon was totaal en al betower deur die stadige pas waar tyd ooglopend nie 'n kwessie vir die meeste Williston-inwoners is nie.



Net na middagete Dinsdag was dit Firn se beurt in die skouring. Ons het gehoop vir 'n vierde, maar sy moes met 'n vyfde plek tevrede wees. Ons het ook die seniors se voorbereiding en skou gekyk, en heelwat daaruit geleer.



Dinsdagaand sommer vroeg gaan eet (by die einste enigste restaurant, waar anders?) en weer 'n bietjie saam met ons gasvrou gekuier.



Woensdagoggend 5-uur het ons weggespring op pad huis toe, en van die krisisse wat ons tuis begroet het, vertel ek volgende keer.






 
Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:12:22 +0200:Tuesday, September 23, 2008




Farmtime:


I did walkabout in quite a rush, as I wanted to finish morning chores
early again, so schooltime could start at a reasonable hour - we aim at
09:30, here on Hydeaway Farm!


I quickly sorted out the family, and went out to help Patrick with
feeding the weaned calves. Rain, Firn and I also bottle-fed the calves.
Bindi is quite, quite sick - she couldn't drink on her own, so Firn
injected her with an antibiotic and a cortisone.


By 09:00, all the animals on Hydeaway Farm were fed, apart from the
chickens - quite an achievement for us - and we could sit down to
breakfast.


Schooltime:


Firn did a full lesson in Saxon Maths. Rain finished Lesson 37 (at
last!), but I think she did quite well, this morning. I was able to
spend about 10 minutes with her, explaining a sum which she did not
understand. I used baking terms to help her, and it was certainly
inspirational, as I am sure that she understands the concept now. She
didn't want to use a fixed procedure to do her maths (she's normally
what I would call 'an intuitive mather'), but I explained that it was
like a recipe that she had to follow.


Firn studied a little bit in her Youth Show Manual. The exam is on
Monday, next week.


Firn washed a heifer, while Rain and I were the judges, and we timed her
and gave her marks for each procedure. After the washing, we had a
meeting to discuss Firn's progress, and Rain added up Firn's marks for
each procedure to get to a total, using an Excel spreadsheet.


We did quite a bit, for us, in our Narnia curriculum - I would estimate
about 1 1/2 hours. We started a new chapter, so it was vocabulary words
first, and Rain learnt how to spell 'chatelaine'! To help the kids
remember, we took turns being a prig.


I read Chapter 6 of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to the girls.


We did some Bible concordance, and looked at pictures of Robins. Firn
drew a robin, and Rain drew a robin's nest. I read a robin poem to the
girls.


We had a discussion about trust, under the 'critical thinking' section.


Firn entered Bindi's treatments on computer.


At lunch, I told the kids about Thabo Mbeki's resignation, and the
appointment of Kgalema Motlanthe. 


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


Not a bad day, all round. Now the challenge is to keep it up!








Farmtime:



I did walkabout in quite a rush, as I wanted to finish morning chores early again, so schooltime could start at a reasonable hour - we aim at 09:30, here on Hydeaway Farm!



I quickly sorted out the family, and went out to help Patrick with feeding the weaned calves. Rain, Firn and I also bottle-fed the calves. Bindi is quite, quite sick - she couldn't drink on her own, so Firn injected her with an antibiotic and a cortisone.



By 09:00, all the animals on Hydeaway Farm were fed, apart from the chickens - quite an achievement for us - and we could sit down to breakfast.



Schooltime:



Firn did a full lesson in Saxon Maths. Rain finished Lesson 37 (at last!), but I think she did quite well, this morning. I was able to spend about 10 minutes with her, explaining a sum which she did not understand. I used baking terms to help her, and it was certainly inspirational, as I am sure that she understands the concept now. She didn't want to use a fixed procedure to do her maths (she's normally what I would call 'an intuitive mather'), but I explained that it was like a recipe that she had to follow.



Firn studied a little bit in her Youth Show Manual. The exam is on Monday, next week.



Firn washed a heifer, while Rain and I were the judges, and we timed her and gave her marks for each procedure. After the washing, we had a meeting to discuss Firn's progress, and Rain added up Firn's marks for each procedure to get to a total, using an Excel spreadsheet.



We did quite a bit, for us, in our Narnia curriculum - I would estimate about 1 1/2 hours. We started a new chapter, so it was vocabulary words first, and Rain learnt how to spell 'chatelaine'! To help the kids remember, we took turns being a prig.



I read Chapter 6 of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to the girls.



We did some Bible concordance, and looked at pictures of Robins. Firn drew a robin, and Rain drew a robin's nest. I read a robin poem to the girls.



We had a discussion about trust, under the 'critical thinking' section.



Firn entered Bindi's treatments on computer.



At lunch, I told the kids about Thabo Mbeki's resignation, and the appointment of Kgalema Motlanthe. 



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



Not a bad day, all round. Now the challenge is to keep it up!






 
Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:37:55 +0200:Monday, September 22, 2008


 
Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:41:25 +0200:Thursday, September 18, 2008




Farmtime:


Jon did walkabout while I fed the dogs. By 06:15, the girls and I were
outside, helping Patrick to feed the weaned calves - still a circus
while they are getting used to the Rest Brot.


Then rushed off to help with the circus in the old parlour, while Firn
helped with milking. The girls and I bottle-fed the calves, then rushed
back to the old parlour, where we finished at 10:30 (one person normally
finishes this job at 08:30, this time it was Patrick and George, with
the girls and I helping most of the time).


After the last heifers had left at 10:30, it was time for the blindes'
brunch, which the girls and I fed to them (another Rest Brot circus!),
and we finally had our own breakfast at about 11:00.


Firn was feeling pretty despondent and tired at breakfast; I was quite
surprised that Rain was still going strong and having fun. Just shows
you, you must never put your kids in boxes!


The afternoon (normally spent either on extra-murals with the kids or
doing admin and accounting) was more of the same. Rain, Aletta and Jabu
milked. Rain manned the computer for the entire milking and entered the
production for each of the 52 cows in milk, as well as compared their
productions to the previous afternoon's - maths done for today!


Firn and I did Aletta's work: we made bottles, bottle-fed the calves,
watered the weaned calves, and thereafter helped Patrick with the Rest
Brot circus, feeding all the weaned calves. We left the house at 15:00
and got back inside just after 18:00.


Schooltime:


We are still preparing for the Youth Show. It was too windy to wash
Liriekeraai, so we did a Show Preparation Checklist, and Firn prepared
her while Rain and I were the judges. This entails brushing with a soft
brush, baby powder on the udder, cleaning and putting shoe polish on the
hooves and dew claws, and cleaning the ears, nose and eyes with a soft
cloth. All of this must be done within 15 minutes. Firn did very well,
and Rain learnt how to spell a few words.


I'm afraid that this was school for the day, due to the Rest Brot!


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


Quite a disastrous day, school-wise. But, relationship-wise, an
excellent day. We worked hard, but it was all accompanied by much
giggles and fun, and there are some pictures from today that will stay
in my mind a long time: Patrick carrying a calf (Baie Bly, at just over
50 kg) piggy-back style (Miesies, hy's te swaar), Apollo 'helping' Firn
to water the calves and snaring her with the hosepipe, us three girls
calling the blindes in Zulu, imitating our workers, to come and eat
their Rest Brot-mix, Rain entertaining the calves with her acrobatics on
our farm gate, and the way the workers bastardise the cows' names (Curly
is Coolcat, Ballerina is Barrelina, Postoasties is Potastos, Blinkers is
Blanket).








Farmtime:



Jon did walkabout while I fed the dogs. By 06:15, the girls and I were outside, helping Patrick to feed the weaned calves - still a circus while they are getting used to the Rest Brot.



Then rushed off to help with the circus in the old parlour, while Firn helped with milking. The girls and I bottle-fed the calves, then rushed back to the old parlour, where we finished at 10:30 (one person normally finishes this job at 08:30, this time it was Patrick and George, with the girls and I helping most of the time).



After the last heifers had left at 10:30, it was time for the blindes' brunch, which the girls and I fed to them (another Rest Brot circus!), and we finally had our own breakfast at about 11:00.



Firn was feeling pretty despondent and tired at breakfast; I was quite surprised that Rain was still going strong and having fun. Just shows you, you must never put your kids in boxes!



The afternoon (normally spent either on extra-murals with the kids or doing admin and accounting) was more of the same. Rain, Aletta and Jabu milked. Rain manned the computer for the entire milking and entered the production for each of the 52 cows in milk, as well as compared their productions to the previous afternoon's - maths done for today!



Firn and I did Aletta's work: we made bottles, bottle-fed the calves, watered the weaned calves, and thereafter helped Patrick with the Rest Brot circus, feeding all the weaned calves. We left the house at 15:00 and got back inside just after 18:00.



Schooltime:



We are still preparing for the Youth Show. It was too windy to wash Liriekeraai, so we did a Show Preparation Checklist, and Firn prepared her while Rain and I were the judges. This entails brushing with a soft brush, baby powder on the udder, cleaning and putting shoe polish on the hooves and dew claws, and cleaning the ears, nose and eyes with a soft cloth. All of this must be done within 15 minutes. Firn did very well, and Rain learnt how to spell a few words.



I'm afraid that this was school for the day, due to the Rest Brot!



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



Quite a disastrous day, school-wise. But, relationship-wise, an excellent day. We worked hard, but it was all accompanied by much giggles and fun, and there are some pictures from today that will stay in my mind a long time: Patrick carrying a calf (Baie Bly, at just over 50 kg) piggy-back style (Miesies, hy's te swaar), Apollo 'helping' Firn to water the calves and snaring her with the hosepipe, us three girls calling the blindes in Zulu, imitating our workers, to come and eat their Rest Brot-mix, Rain entertaining the calves with her acrobatics on our farm gate, and the way the workers bastardise the cows' names (Curly is Coolcat, Ballerina is Barrelina, Postoasties is Potastos, Blinkers is Blanket).






 
Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:37:21 +0200:Wednesday, September 17, 2008




Farmtime:


Had enough time during walkabout to notice the sun, a red ball of fire
rising behind the mountains. Called the girls to come and admire.


Rain, Aletta and I bottle-fed the calves. Firn got a break as she and
Jon are attending a farmers' day at an award-winning dairy farm not far
from us today.


Firn and Jon prepared a spreadsheet, calculating our feed changes, as we
are introducing a new feed product, Rest Brot, today.


Jon spent most of the afternoon helping with the feed switch-over, and
the girls and I pitched in as soon as we returned from the library. We
finished after supper!


Schooltime:


Rain listened to her times tables CD. Firn did Lesson 4 in Saxon Maths
Gr 5, and checked her answers - not a single mistake!


Special kids:


Rain and I sorted out her cupboard, and she made a spreadsheet listing
each family member's requirements for summer clothes and shoes. Jon and
Firn attended a farmers' day.


Rain and I went for lunch at our favourite tea garden, and we also
bought some craft supplies to make Jon's mom two birthday presents.


Each girl had a 30 minute ballet lesson.


We went to the library. This week is free-choice week, except for Firn,
who hasn't finished her Afrikaans book from last week, and had to renew
it.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


I had a lovely morning and lunch with Rain. Part of my exhaustion is
caused by the girls' constant bickering. I'm going to have to put a stop
to that. Not looking forward to managing the feed switch on my own (i e
without Jon's help) tomorrow morning!








Farmtime:



Had enough time during walkabout to notice the sun, a red ball of fire rising behind the mountains. Called the girls to come and admire.



Rain, Aletta and I bottle-fed the calves. Firn got a break as she and Jon are attending a farmers' day at an award-winning dairy farm not far from us today.



Firn and Jon prepared a spreadsheet, calculating our feed changes, as we are introducing a new feed product, Rest Brot, today.



Jon spent most of the afternoon helping with the feed switch-over, and the girls and I pitched in as soon as we returned from the library. We finished after supper!



Schooltime:



Rain listened to her times tables CD. Firn did Lesson 4 in Saxon Maths Gr 5, and checked her answers - not a single mistake!



Special kids:



Rain and I sorted out her cupboard, and she made a spreadsheet listing each family member's requirements for summer clothes and shoes. Jon and Firn attended a farmers' day.



Rain and I went for lunch at our favourite tea garden, and we also bought some craft supplies to make Jon's mom two birthday presents.



Each girl had a 30 minute ballet lesson.



We went to the library. This week is free-choice week, except for Firn, who hasn't finished her Afrikaans book from last week, and had to renew it.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



I had a lovely morning and lunch with Rain. Part of my exhaustion is caused by the girls' constant bickering. I'm going to have to put a stop to that. Not looking forward to managing the feed switch on my own (i e without Jon's help) tomorrow morning!






 
Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:54:22 +0200:Tuesday, September 16, 2008


 
Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:08:17 +0200:Monday, September 15, 2008




Farmtime:


Once again, an uneventful walkabout, allowing me to take the time to
notice the beautiful sunrise. A bit of panic as both our cooltanks (1150
litre, and 850 litre) were full to the brim by the time the milkbuyers
arrived.


Firn, Rain and I bottle-fed the calves. We put Dimanda (dried up on
Saturday) in the crush, weighed and dewormed her and injected her with
Vitamin A (to prevent retained placenta). Shumba (estimated 1 1/2 weeks
from calving) also got a Vitamin A injection, and Butterfly (3 weeks
from calving) got an inoculation to prevent diarrhea in her calf.


Firn practised with Liriekeraai for the National Youth Show, which is in
two weeks' time. I played 'judge'.


Shumba calved at about 12:00. She had a bullcalf, who Rain named 'Sir
Simba The Strong'. Shumba is Rain's cow, and Simba is her third calf. We
immediately gave her her Reviva, and defrosted some frozen colostrum for
Simba.


Rain fed Simba 1.5 litres of colostrum at about 14:00 and again at about
17:30.


Schooltime:


Firn did lesson 3 in Saxon Maths Grade 5. Rain listened to her times
tables CD. 


The girls each did a scrapbooking page with ballet photographs, words,
stickers, and glitter for their ballet teacher, to thank her for her
effort leading up to the ballet exam. We listened to a Beethoven CD
while doing the scrapping.


Firn helped me to calculate Job's hours and wages, she did his paysheet,
and paid him electronically.


We did a tiny bit in our Narnia curriculum, but we were interrupted by
Shumba's calving.


Rain entered Shumba's calving, treatment, and Simba's details on our
farm computer system.


At suppertime, we tried to name all the towns in South Africa that are
named after towns in other parts of the world.


Special kids:


The kids did their usual with the horses and chickens.


Each child had a 40 minute ballet lesson and played with a friend while
the other had her ballet lesson. Firn learnt her modern dance 'Singing
in the Rain' today - quite beautiful, but also quite difficult.


Jon gave the kids a bit of a speech about first time obedience, and I
gave Firn a speech about being disrespectful.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


I tried today to rush the kids to get a lot of learning done. It is
still hard for me to let life happen and believe that the learning will
come. As a result, Firn got somewhat upset with me for rushing her. I'm
going to try to be more relaxed about school and learning tomorrow.








Farmtime:



Once again, an uneventful walkabout, allowing me to take the time to notice the beautiful sunrise. A bit of panic as both our cooltanks (1150 litre, and 850 litre) were full to the brim by the time the milkbuyers arrived.



Firn, Rain and I bottle-fed the calves. We put Dimanda (dried up on Saturday) in the crush, weighed and dewormed her and injected her with Vitamin A (to prevent retained placenta). Shumba (estimated 1 1/2 weeks from calving) also got a Vitamin A injection, and Butterfly (3 weeks from calving) got an inoculation to prevent diarrhea in her calf.



Firn practised with Liriekeraai for the National Youth Show, which is in two weeks' time. I played 'judge'.



Shumba calved at about 12:00. She had a bullcalf, who Rain named 'Sir Simba The Strong'. Shumba is Rain's cow, and Simba is her third calf. We immediately gave her her Reviva, and defrosted some frozen colostrum for Simba.



Rain fed Simba 1.5 litres of colostrum at about 14:00 and again at about 17:30.



Schooltime:



Firn did lesson 3 in Saxon Maths Grade 5. Rain listened to her times tables CD. 



The girls each did a scrapbooking page with ballet photographs, words, stickers, and glitter for their ballet teacher, to thank her for her effort leading up to the ballet exam. We listened to a Beethoven CD while doing the scrapping.



Firn helped me to calculate Job's hours and wages, she did his paysheet, and paid him electronically.



We did a tiny bit in our Narnia curriculum, but we were interrupted by Shumba's calving.



Rain entered Shumba's calving, treatment, and Simba's details on our farm computer system.



At suppertime, we tried to name all the towns in South Africa that are named after towns in other parts of the world.



Special kids:



The kids did their usual with the horses and chickens.



Each child had a 40 minute ballet lesson and played with a friend while the other had her ballet lesson. Firn learnt her modern dance 'Singing in the Rain' today - quite beautiful, but also quite difficult.



Jon gave the kids a bit of a speech about first time obedience, and I gave Firn a speech about being disrespectful.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



I tried today to rush the kids to get a lot of learning done. It is still hard for me to let life happen and believe that the learning will come. As a result, Firn got somewhat upset with me for rushing her. I'm going to try to be more relaxed about school and learning tomorrow.






 
Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:13:57 +0200:Sondag, 14 September 2008




Walkabout was lekker koud, met 'n ysige wind wat om die huis se hoeke
gehuil het.


Ek en die dogtertjies het die kalfies melk gegee. Sondae is ook Firn se
beurt om die 8 honde se kos te maak, terwyl ek gou-gou vroegoggend die
huis bietjie regruk.


Nadat die kalfies versorg en die koeie uitgeneem is om te wei, het die
dogtertjies dadelik gaan opsaal en is ons 3 girls (Jon moes na 'n
reserviste-skietoefening), Apollo, Becca en Whisky, en die twee perde,
Skye en Rivr, op 'n uitstappie op die plaas. Ons het eers die koeie gaan
soek, en ontbyt, wat in Rivr se saalsakke saamgedra is, in 'n oopte naby
die koeie ge-eet. Perde en honde wou net ons broodrolletjies met
eier-mayonnaise steel, en ons moes keer vir 'n vale. Verder geloop, na
'n klein gronddammetjie waar Becca en Apollo te lekker geswem het, en
Firn ook genoeg moed bymekaargeskraap het om in te loop met Skye, wat
net wou speel. Rain en Rivr het dit net in die heel vlak kant gewaag.


Na omtrent anderhalfuur van plaas verken, is ons terug huis toe, net
betyds om vir Jon, wat na die skietoefening eers gaan help vuurslaan
het, koffie te maak.


Laatmiddag is ek en die dogtertjies honde-opleiding toe. Vandag het ons
net gehoorsaamheid gedoen, gewoonlik Apollo se heel slegste, maar vandag
het dit baie goed gegaan. En op pad terug was ons bure se
swartwildebeeste, zebras en rooi hartebeeste (insluitende 'n klein
kalfie) reg teenaan die pad, teen die ondergaande son.


'n Magic, magic dag.








Walkabout was lekker koud, met 'n ysige wind wat om die huis se hoeke gehuil het.



Ek en die dogtertjies het die kalfies melk gegee. Sondae is ook Firn se beurt om die 8 honde se kos te maak, terwyl ek gou-gou vroegoggend die huis bietjie regruk.



Nadat die kalfies versorg en die koeie uitgeneem is om te wei, het die dogtertjies dadelik gaan opsaal en is ons 3 girls (Jon moes na 'n reserviste-skietoefening), Apollo, Becca en Whisky, en die twee perde, Skye en Rivr, op 'n uitstappie op die plaas. Ons het eers die koeie gaan soek, en ontbyt, wat in Rivr se saalsakke saamgedra is, in 'n oopte naby die koeie ge-eet. Perde en honde wou net ons broodrolletjies met eier-mayonnaise steel, en ons moes keer vir 'n vale. Verder geloop, na 'n klein gronddammetjie waar Becca en Apollo te lekker geswem het, en Firn ook genoeg moed bymekaargeskraap het om in te loop met Skye, wat net wou speel. Rain en Rivr het dit net in die heel vlak kant gewaag.



Na omtrent anderhalfuur van plaas verken, is ons terug huis toe, net betyds om vir Jon, wat na die skietoefening eers gaan help vuurslaan het, koffie te maak.



Laatmiddag is ek en die dogtertjies honde-opleiding toe. Vandag het ons net gehoorsaamheid gedoen, gewoonlik Apollo se heel slegste, maar vandag het dit baie goed gegaan. En op pad terug was ons bure se swartwildebeeste, zebras en rooi hartebeeste (insluitende 'n klein kalfie) reg teenaan die pad, teen die ondergaande son.



'n Magic, magic dag.






 
Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:05:52 +0200:Saterdag, 13 September 2008




Jon het, soos gewoonlik op 'n Saterdag, walkabout gedoen, terwyl ek en
Rain lekker in die bed gele het.


Ek het Aletta het vinnig die kalfies melk gegee. Die dogtertjies en Jon
het solank ontbyt ge-eet, want ons wou al die koeie, bul, osse en
versies ouer as 6 maande teen Slenkdalkoors ent. Dit is altyd 'n gejaag
om klaar ge-ent te kom, sodat die koeie genoeg kan wei voordat hulle
weer gemelk word, en vandag het dit regtig vinnig gegaan, want 10:00 was
die koeie, groot osse en bul klaar ge-ent en kon hul loop. Jon het
ge-ent, ek het die nekklamp gewerk en sommer ook condition scoring
gedoen, Firn het rekord gehou, en Rain het naalde omgeruil, want elke
dier word met 'n skoon naald ge-ent.


Ek en die dogtertjies het 'n rustige res-van-die-oggend gehad, maar Jon
het nog rondgevroetel en gewerk op die plaas.


Namiddag het Rain 'n bestuursles gehad. Sy begin al regtig goed bestuur,
en geniet die spesiale tyd saam met Jon. Firn vermy dit so ver moontlik,
want sy vind dit baie senutergend. 


Die dogtertjies het gehelp met aandete - skaapboud, rys, aartappels en
groente, en Rain het 'n melktert onder my toesig gebak.


Ek wou nog 'n bietjie voorlees uit 'n biblioteekboek, maar ons was almal
te moeg, en het vroeg-vroeg gaan slaap.








Jon het, soos gewoonlik op 'n Saterdag, walkabout gedoen, terwyl ek en Rain lekker in die bed gele het.



Ek het Aletta het vinnig die kalfies melk gegee. Die dogtertjies en Jon het solank ontbyt ge-eet, want ons wou al die koeie, bul, osse en versies ouer as 6 maande teen Slenkdalkoors ent. Dit is altyd 'n gejaag om klaar ge-ent te kom, sodat die koeie genoeg kan wei voordat hulle weer gemelk word, en vandag het dit regtig vinnig gegaan, want 10:00 was die koeie, groot osse en bul klaar ge-ent en kon hul loop. Jon het ge-ent, ek het die nekklamp gewerk en sommer ook condition scoring gedoen, Firn het rekord gehou, en Rain het naalde omgeruil, want elke dier word met 'n skoon naald ge-ent.



Ek en die dogtertjies het 'n rustige res-van-die-oggend gehad, maar Jon het nog rondgevroetel en gewerk op die plaas.



Namiddag het Rain 'n bestuursles gehad. Sy begin al regtig goed bestuur, en geniet die spesiale tyd saam met Jon. Firn vermy dit so ver moontlik, want sy vind dit baie senutergend. 



Die dogtertjies het gehelp met aandete - skaapboud, rys, aartappels en groente, en Rain het 'n melktert onder my toesig gebak.



Ek wou nog 'n bietjie voorlees uit 'n biblioteekboek, maar ons was almal te moeg, en het vroeg-vroeg gaan slaap.






 
Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:18:53 +0200:Friday, September 12, 2008




Did an uneventful walkabout, which is always nice.


Then rushed around finishing inside chores, as we were going on a field
trip. As usual with the Hydes, it was dairy-related. But before we had
even travelled 5 km, we encountered an old couple stuck on the side of
the road, and it took us almost two hours to get them mobile again,
after which we were on our way to Riverdance Jerseys, not far from
Deneysville.


While Jon was sorting out the broken-down car, Rain kept the old lady
company while Firn and I helped Aletta to feed the calves.


We spent a very enjoyable and interesting hour or two looking at his
cows, calves, heifers and grazing, which is green, green ryegrass and
clover under irrigation from the Vaal River.


On our return, we did some school work on bats, our current science
topic.


Firn finished her friend's birthday present, and went off to the party,
which started at 18:00. Although it was a sleepover party, Firn didn't
feel up to the sleeping over part, and Jon picked her up around 21:00.
The two girls and I jumped into our bed and had a nice long chat about
the party, so we all went to bed quite a bit later than usual.








Did an uneventful walkabout, which is always nice.



Then rushed around finishing inside chores, as we were going on a field trip. As usual with the Hydes, it was dairy-related. But before we had even travelled 5 km, we encountered an old couple stuck on the side of the road, and it took us almost two hours to get them mobile again, after which we were on our way to Riverdance Jerseys, not far from Deneysville.



While Jon was sorting out the broken-down car, Rain kept the old lady company while Firn and I helped Aletta to feed the calves.



We spent a very enjoyable and interesting hour or two looking at his cows, calves, heifers and grazing, which is green, green ryegrass and clover under irrigation from the Vaal River.



On our return, we did some school work on bats, our current science topic.



Firn finished her friend's birthday present, and went off to the party, which started at 18:00. Although it was a sleepover party, Firn didn't feel up to the sleeping over part, and Jon picked her up around 21:00. The two girls and I jumped into our bed and had a nice long chat about the party, so we all went to bed quite a bit later than usual.






 
Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:25:24 +0200:Dinki's day off




Yesterday, I had the whole, entire day off. I slept quite badly the
night before, but, above all, I had reached the stage where I had
absolutely nothing left to give. Not only was I physically and mentally
tired, but I was emotionally completely exhausted and empty.


Jon did walkabout, got the girls started on a project on Norway, gave
the staff their jobs, injected where injecting was required, and made me
endless cups of herbal tea.


The girls cooked lunch (roast chicken, rice, roast potatoes, beans and
carrots), did their project on Norway, tended to their horses, and
sorted themselves out with supper (Jon was at reservist training in the
evening).


I read a kiddies book, dozed, and just lay in bed. The way I felt was
actually scary. I didn't care about anything, I wanted nothing to do
with anyone, I just wanted to see no-one and do nothing.


Of course, being a dairy farmer, I'm always flirting with burnout. On
this particular stretch, the last time I had one whole day off from farm
work, was the 1st of April this year, which feels very long ago. And I
think I spoil my family a bit!


Today, I feel a bit better. But how do I prevent it from happening
again? On a dairy farm, the work doesn't stop. Jon works very hard and
deserves some pampering. Homeschooling is a huge responsibility, as is
everything about those two precious little girls entrusted to us.








Yesterday, I had the whole, entire day off. I slept quite badly the night before, but, above all, I had reached the stage where I had absolutely nothing left to give. Not only was I physically and mentally tired, but I was emotionally completely exhausted and empty.



Jon did walkabout, got the girls started on a project on Norway, gave the staff their jobs, injected where injecting was required, and made me endless cups of herbal tea.



The girls cooked lunch (roast chicken, rice, roast potatoes, beans and carrots), did their project on Norway, tended to their horses, and sorted themselves out with supper (Jon was at reservist training in the evening).



I read a kiddies book, dozed, and just lay in bed. The way I felt was actually scary. I didn't care about anything, I wanted nothing to do with anyone, I just wanted to see no-one and do nothing.



Of course, being a dairy farmer, I'm always flirting with burnout. On this particular stretch, the last time I had one whole day off from farm work, was the 1st of April this year, which feels very long ago. And I think I spoil my family a bit!



Today, I feel a bit better. But how do I prevent it from happening again? On a dairy farm, the work doesn't stop. Jon works very hard and deserves some pampering. Homeschooling is a huge responsibility, as is everything about those two precious little girls entrusted to us.






 
Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:26:13 +0200:Wednesday, September 10, 2008




Farmtime:


Discovered on walkabout that Firn (the calf) and Meisiekind had quite
severe diarrhea.


Firn, Rain and I bottle-fed the calves. Rain and Firn practise walking
Bindi and Bors, two very young calves, on halter every morning.


Firn injected Firn and Meisiekind with an antibiotic, which we'll repeat
every morning for 5 mornings.


We inoculated 8 calves between 4 and 6 weeks against a variety of nasty
illnesses.


Schooltime:


Firn started on Lesson 1 of Saxon Maths Grade 5 this morning. This
lesson was so easy, that she wondered if we had got her Grade 3 by
mistake. She is also, quite interestingly, upset because the last
grade's work is not reviewed - she is worried that she'll forget her
Grade 4 work.


Rain is about one-third of the way through Grade 4. She got upset with
Firn when Firn tried to explain a new concept to her, and I'll have to
talk to her some time about her attitude.


At breakfast, we had a long discussion about fiction vs non-fiction,
about what constitutes heroism, and about constructing plots for books
or movies.


Rain wanted us to buy Weetbix, and I saw this as the ideal opportunity
to teach her to use our computerised grocery shopping list (I'm not
married to a computer programmer for nothing, am I?)


Firn captured the inoculation treatments. 


A friend faxed us details about a writing competition that Firn wanted
to enter, but on scrutinising the rules, we discovered that it was only
open to residents of Johannesburg.


We watched a documentary on bats, which we have been studying as part of
our science curriculum.


We read an article on  Przewalski's Horse.


Special kids:


The girls each had a 30 minute ballet lesson. They got their exam
results and both achieved 80%, with which I am very happy. The ballet
teacher wants Firn to skip a grade next year; we'll have to wait and see
how that goes.


We went to a gift shop to get items for a scrapbooking page that each of
the girls want to make for the ballet teacher to thank her for all her
efforts; we'll probably work on that during schooltime on Friday
morning.


We went to the library. It is Afrikaans week, and each girl has to take
out one Afrikaans book. Rain took the thinnest book she could find, and
Firn chose a Rivierplaas- book by Alba Bouwer, one of my favourite
Afrikaans authors. I will certainly also read the book!


Rain offered to read her Afrikaans book to me, and I jumped at the
chance. It did not go too badly, but she does exactly what she does with
English reading - she guesses at some words.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


Better, farming-wise. I wasn't so fed up with the staff today.
School-wise not great, as I washed Firn's hair during schooltime (hence
we watched the bat docu while I was combing out her hair, which takes
about 20 minutes!). 








Farmtime:



Discovered on walkabout that Firn (the calf) and Meisiekind had quite severe diarrhea.



Firn, Rain and I bottle-fed the calves. Rain and Firn practise walking Bindi and Bors, two very young calves, on halter every morning.



Firn injected Firn and Meisiekind with an antibiotic, which we'll repeat every morning for 5 mornings.



We inoculated 8 calves between 4 and 6 weeks against a variety of nasty illnesses.



Schooltime:



Firn started on Lesson 1 of Saxon Maths Grade 5 this morning. This lesson was so easy, that she wondered if we had got her Grade 3 by mistake. She is also, quite interestingly, upset because the last grade's work is not reviewed - she is worried that she'll forget her Grade 4 work.



Rain is about one-third of the way through Grade 4. She got upset with Firn when Firn tried to explain a new concept to her, and I'll have to talk to her some time about her attitude.



At breakfast, we had a long discussion about fiction vs non-fiction, about what constitutes heroism, and about constructing plots for books or movies.



Rain wanted us to buy Weetbix, and I saw this as the ideal opportunity to teach her to use our computerised grocery shopping list (I'm not married to a computer programmer for nothing, am I?)



Firn captured the inoculation treatments. 



A friend faxed us details about a writing competition that Firn wanted to enter, but on scrutinising the rules, we discovered that it was only open to residents of Johannesburg.



We watched a documentary on bats, which we have been studying as part of our science curriculum.



We read an article on  Przewalski's Horse.



Special kids:



The girls each had a 30 minute ballet lesson. They got their exam results and both achieved 80%, with which I am very happy. The ballet teacher wants Firn to skip a grade next year; we'll have to wait and see how that goes.



We went to a gift shop to get items for a scrapbooking page that each of the girls want to make for the ballet teacher to thank her for all her efforts; we'll probably work on that during schooltime on Friday morning.



We went to the library. It is Afrikaans week, and each girl has to take out one Afrikaans book. Rain took the thinnest book she could find, and Firn chose a Rivierplaas- book by Alba Bouwer, one of my favourite Afrikaans authors. I will certainly also read the book!



Rain offered to read her Afrikaans book to me, and I jumped at the chance. It did not go too badly, but she does exactly what she does with English reading - she guesses at some words.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



Better, farming-wise. I wasn't so fed up with the staff today. School-wise not great, as I washed Firn's hair during schooltime (hence we watched the bat docu while I was combing out her hair, which takes about 20 minutes!). 






 
Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:12:20 +0200:Tuesday, September 09, 2008




Farmtime:


Did walkabout feeling very sleepy, as Firn woke me at 02:30 to let
Flower out, and I slept about 30 minutes in total after that.


Firn, Rain, Aletta and I bottle-fed and weighed the calves, and marked
the 4 heifers that are being weaned by putting tape around their tales.
We also weighed the 3 recently-weaned heifers.


We inoculated 4 calves that are almost weaned against Blackquarter, and
injected them with a multivitamin.


Schooltime:


Rain captured each calf's new mass onto our computer system, and she
also captured yesterday's milk sales in a spreadsheet. Then, she went
into Internet Banking and checked our milk buyer's weekly payment, which
she entered into the same spreadsheet and she checked that the payment
balanced to the sales.


Firn wrote out a cheque for the first time in her life, and she found it
very stressful. I explained what all the entries on a cheque meant, and
how the bank tries to prevent fraud.


Rain prepared a roast chicken for lunch.


Rain also practised the new modern dance they learnt at ballet
yesterday, with Firn joining in just for fun (as she had learnt it last
year). Rain held a mini-concert for our two female workers, Aletta and
Emily.


For Narnia, we had to investigate Peary, the first man to reach the
North Pole. In true unschooling fashion, this led us to the race to the
South Pole, to underwater explorers, and to Sir Francis Drake, a distant
relative (Jon's mom's maiden name is Tyrwhitt-Drake).  Firn did quite a
bit of narration.


We also had to compare the sizes of a Shetland Pony and a Reindeer,
which led us to measure the girls' height as well.


We did the vocabulary of Chapter 4 of the Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe, and I read the chapter to the girls.


During lunch, we talked about plots and characters in books, about
heroes and villains, and eventually about the Lord of the Rings. We
looked up the books in Wikipedia, as well as J R R Tolkien. The girls
were particularly interested in whether these books were written before
the Narnia series, as well as in Tolkien's life.


We had an impromptu family meeting about setting up the girls with their
own Instant Messenger accounts, so that they may chat individually with
their dad. Jon did a quick session on Internet safety - we've actually
covered this subject with the kids in the past.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:
Quite a good day, school-wise. The staff are making me grumpy!








Farmtime:



Did walkabout feeling very sleepy, as Firn woke me at 02:30 to let Flower out, and I slept about 30 minutes in total after that.



Firn, Rain, Aletta and I bottle-fed and weighed the calves, and marked the 4 heifers that are being weaned by putting tape around their tales. We also weighed the 3 recently-weaned heifers.



We inoculated 4 calves that are almost weaned against Blackquarter, and injected them with a multivitamin.



Schooltime:



Rain captured each calf's new mass onto our computer system, and she also captured yesterday's milk sales in a spreadsheet. Then, she went into Internet Banking and checked our milk buyer's weekly payment, which she entered into the same spreadsheet and she checked that the payment balanced to the sales.



Firn wrote out a cheque for the first time in her life, and she found it very stressful. I explained what all the entries on a cheque meant, and how the bank tries to prevent fraud.



Rain prepared a roast chicken for lunch.



Rain also practised the new modern dance they learnt at ballet yesterday, with Firn joining in just for fun (as she had learnt it last year). Rain held a mini-concert for our two female workers, Aletta and Emily.



For Narnia, we had to investigate Peary, the first man to reach the North Pole. In true unschooling fashion, this led us to the race to the South Pole, to underwater explorers, and to Sir Francis Drake, a distant relative (Jon's mom's maiden name is Tyrwhitt-Drake).  Firn did quite a bit of narration.



We also had to compare the sizes of a Shetland Pony and a Reindeer, which led us to measure the girls' height as well.



We did the vocabulary of Chapter 4 of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and I read the chapter to the girls.



During lunch, we talked about plots and characters in books, about heroes and villains, and eventually about the Lord of the Rings. We looked up the books in Wikipedia, as well as J R R Tolkien. The girls were particularly interested in whether these books were written before the Narnia series, as well as in Tolkien's life.



We had an impromptu family meeting about setting up the girls with their own Instant Messenger accounts, so that they may chat individually with their dad. Jon did a quick session on Internet safety - we've actually covered this subject with the kids in the past.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:

Quite a good day, school-wise. The staff are making me grumpy!






 
Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:27:28 +0200:Monday, September 08, 2008




Farmtime:


I checked on Blinkers at 05:00 and did my first 'walkabout' without
having to use a torch.


Firn, Aletta, Rain and I bottle-fed the calves, so it went quite
quickly.


We put Heidi in the crush, because Job dried her yesterday, and we
dewormed her and injected her with Vitamin A, which assists in
preventing retained placenta after calving - she is due to calve in 60
days.


Buddy and Preposterous were sold today, and Firn gave them each a shot
of a wide-spectrum antibiotic, as a preventative measure. We helped the
buyer to load the calves.




Schooltime:


Firn helped me to calculate the hours George had worked during the past
four weeks, then calculated his wages, based on his hours, calculated
his shopping and loan deductions, and paid him electronically.


Firn also entered the weekend's treatments and helped me to work out
which calves needed to be weaned.  


Both girls communicated with their dad on Instant Messenger.


We loosely followed the Narnia curriculum. We had to resort to a lot of
narration, because Firn is busy painting a frame, which is to be a
present for a friend whose birthday party is on Friday. We dramatised
sections of the book and Firn told a story with a theme similar to that
in Narnia. We read a scientific article about the differences between
caribou and reindeer.


We looked up how to write 'dog' in Chinese, as the party has a Chinese
theme, and Firn is going to do a drawing of dogs of Chinese origins, to
put inside the frame.


We had to answer the question, "What am I?". Firn was a dog, Rain was a
horse, I was a cow and we said that Jon would be a human. We named the
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species (or looked it
up, when we didn't know) of each of these.


On our way back from ballet, we talked about books and movie versions of
the books, how screenplays are written, special effects, animatronics
and computer animations.


We went out for supper and talked about how people learn, and what the
most effective ways of learning were.


Special kids:


The kids tended to the chickens and horses, and each had 45 minutes of
ballet practice. Each girl played with a friend while the other was busy
in ballet class.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


Quite productive, but I lost my temper with Rain three times today. She
is often not very enthusiastic about participating in our activities.
She often says that she is bored or tired, and I get quite upset,
because I work very hard to make learning fun, and to run with whatever
interests the kids. I sometimes feel that she is unappreciative of my
efforts.


A friend's daughter read to me today. She's a year younger than Rain,
and I feel that her reading is quite superior to Rain's. It bothers me a
bit.


We're all a little bit tired after having to stand in for Aletta, and
the ballet exam and the dog show. I dream of taking an entire day off.








Farmtime:



I checked on Blinkers at 05:00 and did my first 'walkabout' without having to use a torch.



Firn, Aletta, Rain and I bottle-fed the calves, so it went quite quickly.



We put Heidi in the crush, because Job dried her yesterday, and we dewormed her and injected her with Vitamin A, which assists in preventing retained placenta after calving - she is due to calve in 60 days.



Buddy and Preposterous were sold today, and Firn gave them each a shot of a wide-spectrum antibiotic, as a preventative measure. We helped the buyer to load the calves.





Schooltime:



Firn helped me to calculate the hours George had worked during the past four weeks, then calculated his wages, based on his hours, calculated his shopping and loan deductions, and paid him electronically.



Firn also entered the weekend's treatments and helped me to work out which calves needed to be weaned.  



Both girls communicated with their dad on Instant Messenger.



We loosely followed the Narnia curriculum. We had to resort to a lot of narration, because Firn is busy painting a frame, which is to be a present for a friend whose birthday party is on Friday. We dramatised sections of the book and Firn told a story with a theme similar to that in Narnia. We read a scientific article about the differences between caribou and reindeer.



We looked up how to write 'dog' in Chinese, as the party has a Chinese theme, and Firn is going to do a drawing of dogs of Chinese origins, to put inside the frame.



We had to answer the question, "What am I?". Firn was a dog, Rain was a horse, I was a cow and we said that Jon would be a human. We named the Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species (or looked it up, when we didn't know) of each of these.



On our way back from ballet, we talked about books and movie versions of the books, how screenplays are written, special effects, animatronics and computer animations.



We went out for supper and talked about how people learn, and what the most effective ways of learning were.



Special kids:



The kids tended to the chickens and horses, and each had 45 minutes of ballet practice. Each girl played with a friend while the other was busy in ballet class.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



Quite productive, but I lost my temper with Rain three times today. She is often not very enthusiastic about participating in our activities. She often says that she is bored or tired, and I get quite upset, because I work very hard to make learning fun, and to run with whatever interests the kids. I sometimes feel that she is unappreciative of my efforts.



A friend's daughter read to me today. She's a year younger than Rain, and I feel that her reading is quite superior to Rain's. It bothers me a bit.



We're all a little bit tired after having to stand in for Aletta, and the ballet exam and the dog show. I dream of taking an entire day off.






 
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 07:40:57 +0200:Friday, September 05, 2008




Farmtime:


Once again, I was outside at 05:00 to check on Blinkers, who was lazily
chewing her cud and looking quite OK. Just an amazing sight - hold on,
old girl, don't get milk fever!


I bottle-fed the calves on my own, since the girls had a riding lesson
scheduled for 08:00. What an exhausting task!


We enticed Moonshot (our bull) into the crush with his foodbowl, and I
treated him for ticks. Blinkers got her usual calcium supplement (she
must be dead tired of this whole scene by now), and Brietta (also known
as Mashaya - the one who hits) got injected with a hormone to open her
cervix, since I spotted last night that she was battling to get rid of
some blood and stuff after calving about a week ago.


We burnt three little heifers' horns - Out in Front, Lilly, and Niggie.
Really my least favourite job on the farm, but essential for the
animals' well-being.  The girls don't help with or even witness this, as
it is just too upsetting.


Blinkers didn't finish her food at afternoon milking, so we put her in
the crush and gave her a calcium supplement, broad-spectrum antibiotic,
and cortisone. Jon checked on her just after 20:00, and she still did
not look well, so we put her in the crush and injected her with 100 ml
of calcium.




Schooltime:


The horse trainer had a problem with one of his own horses, and he
arrived just as I was finishing with the calves' horns. The girls went
for a lovely long ride - over 2 hours - and arrived back home hot,
sweaty, thirsty and exhausted. Hence, no formal school for today. But
Firn spent quite a bit of time writing, Rain visited some educational
websites, and she communicated with her dad on Instant Messenger. This
is what she wrote:


Hi dod, we just came in from horse riding. Kevin had a cap on I said
"Last one to touch Kevin's hat is a bat Potato!". Kevin run for it with
us trotting hot on his heels. 


Yet another bad day schoolwise. 








Farmtime:



Once again, I was outside at 05:00 to check on Blinkers, who was lazily chewing her cud and looking quite OK. Just an amazing sight - hold on, old girl, don't get milk fever!



I bottle-fed the calves on my own, since the girls had a riding lesson scheduled for 08:00. What an exhausting task!



We enticed Moonshot (our bull) into the crush with his foodbowl, and I treated him for ticks. Blinkers got her usual calcium supplement (she must be dead tired of this whole scene by now), and Brietta (also known as Mashaya - the one who hits) got injected with a hormone to open her cervix, since I spotted last night that she was battling to get rid of some blood and stuff after calving about a week ago.



We burnt three little heifers' horns - Out in Front, Lilly, and Niggie. Really my least favourite job on the farm, but essential for the animals' well-being.  The girls don't help with or even witness this, as it is just too upsetting.



Blinkers didn't finish her food at afternoon milking, so we put her in the crush and gave her a calcium supplement, broad-spectrum antibiotic, and cortisone. Jon checked on her just after 20:00, and she still did not look well, so we put her in the crush and injected her with 100 ml of calcium.





Schooltime:



The horse trainer had a problem with one of his own horses, and he arrived just as I was finishing with the calves' horns. The girls went for a lovely long ride - over 2 hours - and arrived back home hot, sweaty, thirsty and exhausted. Hence, no formal school for today. But Firn spent quite a bit of time writing, Rain visited some educational websites, and she communicated with her dad on Instant Messenger. This is what she wrote:



Hi dod, we just came in from horse riding. Kevin had a cap on I said "Last one to touch Kevin's hat is a bat Potato!". Kevin run for it with us trotting hot on his heels. 



Yet another bad day schoolwise. 






 
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:19:02 +0200:Thursday, September 4, 2008




Farmtime:


I was outside at 05:00, to check on Blinkers, who was lying peacefully
chewing her cud. What a beautiful sight! 


Firn and I bottle-fed the calves, while Rain listened to her times
tables CD for maths time.


We put Blinkers in the crush after morning and after afternoon milking,
and fed her her calcium supplement.


The girls and I also took care of the afternoon calf-feeding; Rain still
in her ballet exam hairstyle, which looked very out of place on the
farm.


The horses were ridden to the bale camp and fed before lunch, because we
were unsure what time we would return from ballet.


Schooltime:


We were all tired after having to do some of Aletta's chores, so I
washed the girls' hair and pampered them a bit in preparation for the
afternoon's ballet examination, and thereafter the three of us lay on
Firn's bed and read our library books. Firn read a pony book, Rain a
ballet book, and I read 'Shrek - a novelisation'. Not exactly
Shakespeare, but great relaxation before the exam.


After supper, we plonked ourselves down on our bed and Firn read to us
from one of her short stories - The Faerie Hound. Unfortunately, I fell
asleep after about 10 minutes' reading - this was at about 19:45, and I
slept until Jon came home from police training at about 21:00! By which
time poor little Rain had put herself to sleep, and Firn was still
reading. Bad, bad mommy!


Special kids:


The ballet exams went quite well, according to the girls. Rain enjoyed
it a lot, although she was quite nervous beforehand. Firn did not feel
nervous beforehand, but the examiner had lost her report card, which
rattled her a bit, but she thinks it went OK.  The girls looked
absolutely beautiful all in pink - pink leotards, pink skirts, pink
tights and pink satin ballet shoes. The ballet teacher made very
intricate buns with a tiny pink rose in each ballerina's hair.


Dinki's conclusion about the day:
Terrible, school-wise (again!), but I suppose the ballet exams
constitute some form of excuse. The girls had worked very hard at their
ballet throughout the year, and I'm quite relieved that the exams are a
thing of the past. They'll just be doing fun medal dances until the end
of the year, which both girls enjoy a lot.


We are coping (just) with Aletta's absence, but I'll be very relieved
when she returns.








Farmtime:



I was outside at 05:00, to check on Blinkers, who was lying peacefully chewing her cud. What a beautiful sight! 



Firn and I bottle-fed the calves, while Rain listened to her times tables CD for maths time.



We put Blinkers in the crush after morning and after afternoon milking, and fed her her calcium supplement.



The girls and I also took care of the afternoon calf-feeding; Rain still in her ballet exam hairstyle, which looked very out of place on the farm.



The horses were ridden to the bale camp and fed before lunch, because we were unsure what time we would return from ballet.



Schooltime:



We were all tired after having to do some of Aletta's chores, so I washed the girls' hair and pampered them a bit in preparation for the afternoon's ballet examination, and thereafter the three of us lay on Firn's bed and read our library books. Firn read a pony book, Rain a ballet book, and I read 'Shrek - a novelisation'. Not exactly Shakespeare, but great relaxation before the exam.



After supper, we plonked ourselves down on our bed and Firn read to us from one of her short stories - The Faerie Hound. Unfortunately, I fell asleep after about 10 minutes' reading - this was at about 19:45, and I slept until Jon came home from police training at about 21:00! By which time poor little Rain had put herself to sleep, and Firn was still reading. Bad, bad mommy!



Special kids:



The ballet exams went quite well, according to the girls. Rain enjoyed it a lot, although she was quite nervous beforehand. Firn did not feel nervous beforehand, but the examiner had lost her report card, which rattled her a bit, but she thinks it went OK.  The girls looked absolutely beautiful all in pink - pink leotards, pink skirts, pink tights and pink satin ballet shoes. The ballet teacher made very intricate buns with a tiny pink rose in each ballerina's hair.



Dinki's conclusion about the day:

Terrible, school-wise (again!), but I suppose the ballet exams constitute some form of excuse. The girls had worked very hard at their ballet throughout the year, and I'm quite relieved that the exams are a thing of the past. They'll just be doing fun medal dances until the end of the year, which both girls enjoy a lot.



We are coping (just) with Aletta's absence, but I'll be very relieved when she returns.






 
Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:27:04 +0200:Wednesday, September 3, 2008




Farmtime:


Jon did walkabout, so that I could get up 30 minutes later. Firn and I
bottle-fed the calves. We put Odette in the crush and injected her with
something to open her cervix, as I saw yesterday that she still had
something that looked like a piece of afterbirth inside her. We gave
Blinkers a calcium supplement. She is due to calve soon, and she always
gets milk fever after calving - which is potentially fatal. We are
therefore trying our best to prevent this.


Firn's bokkapater (what is the English for a castrated male goat?) has
got, we suspect, accidosis. Firn's been injecting him with Vitamin B and
a liver stimulant, and giving him an oral antacid.


Just before 12, ProNutro's water broke and at 12 she gave birth to a
bullcalf. Firn, who was on her way to the bale camp with her horse, saw
the little calf hanging out and literally 'caught' him. She thought he
looked very silly, hanging out, head swinging, and promptly named him
'Preposterous'. Before leaving for ballet classes, we gave ProNutro her
Reviva drink, and I fed Preposterous a bottle of colostrum.


Job injected Odette with Fentocin (the hormone Oxytocin, to stimulate
milk let-down and excretion of any remaining afterbirth) in the parlour.
He will do so at afternoon milking for 3 afternoons.


On our way back from ballet, Job phoned to say that Blinkers, who is
Firn's cow, was calving. Just after 4, she gave birth to a bullcalf,
named Boris. I fed Blinkers her Reviva and Firn fed Boris his colostrum.
The girls made him a lovely little special pen, and cleaned his
umbilical cord. Firn entered both calvings into the computer.


Job and I put Blinkers in the crush and fed her another bottle of
calcium.


The girls and I also bottle-fed all the other calves (which Aletta
normally does), and our outside chores were finished just after dark!


Schooltime:


I taught Firn how to make her favourite dish - called 'Lekker Hoender'
in our house. Both girls did no maths today - Firn has her scheduled
break, and Rain was not feeling too well this morning.


Firn captured Odette and Blinkers' treatments. 


Rain made oats cookies for Jon for his farmers' meeting tonight. She had
to read and follow an Afrikaans recipe, while I just helped with the
more difficult words.


Firn wrote a business letter in English, requesting sponsorships for
herself and the Gauteng team for the National Youth Show Championships,
in which she will be participating in the dairy cattle class. She
e-mailed the letter to her Dad for his approval. She made a spreadsheet
in Afrikaans with questions for the team manager.


Both girls communicated with their Dad on Instant Messenger (like MXit,
just on a computer).


Dinki's conclusions about the day:
Not bad, farming-wise, but quite bad, school-wise! Hoping for a better
day of school tomorrow. We can't keep on suspending school because of a
crisis on the farm.








Farmtime:



Jon did walkabout, so that I could get up 30 minutes later. Firn and I bottle-fed the calves. We put Odette in the crush and injected her with something to open her cervix, as I saw yesterday that she still had something that looked like a piece of afterbirth inside her. We gave Blinkers a calcium supplement. She is due to calve soon, and she always gets milk fever after calving - which is potentially fatal. We are therefore trying our best to prevent this.



Firn's bokkapater (what is the English for a castrated male goat?) has got, we suspect, accidosis. Firn's been injecting him with Vitamin B and a liver stimulant, and giving him an oral antacid.



Just before 12, ProNutro's water broke and at 12 she gave birth to a bullcalf. Firn, who was on her way to the bale camp with her horse, saw the little calf hanging out and literally 'caught' him. She thought he looked very silly, hanging out, head swinging, and promptly named him 'Preposterous'. Before leaving for ballet classes, we gave ProNutro her Reviva drink, and I fed Preposterous a bottle of colostrum.



Job injected Odette with Fentocin (the hormone Oxytocin, to stimulate milk let-down and excretion of any remaining afterbirth) in the parlour. He will do so at afternoon milking for 3 afternoons.



On our way back from ballet, Job phoned to say that Blinkers, who is Firn's cow, was calving. Just after 4, she gave birth to a bullcalf, named Boris. I fed Blinkers her Reviva and Firn fed Boris his colostrum. The girls made him a lovely little special pen, and cleaned his umbilical cord. Firn entered both calvings into the computer.



Job and I put Blinkers in the crush and fed her another bottle of calcium.



The girls and I also bottle-fed all the other calves (which Aletta normally does), and our outside chores were finished just after dark!



Schooltime:



I taught Firn how to make her favourite dish - called 'Lekker Hoender' in our house. Both girls did no maths today - Firn has her scheduled break, and Rain was not feeling too well this morning.



Firn captured Odette and Blinkers' treatments. 



Rain made oats cookies for Jon for his farmers' meeting tonight. She had to read and follow an Afrikaans recipe, while I just helped with the more difficult words.



Firn wrote a business letter in English, requesting sponsorships for herself and the Gauteng team for the National Youth Show Championships, in which she will be participating in the dairy cattle class. She e-mailed the letter to her Dad for his approval. She made a spreadsheet in Afrikaans with questions for the team manager.



Both girls communicated with their Dad on Instant Messenger (like MXit, just on a computer).



Dinki's conclusions about the day:

Not bad, farming-wise, but quite bad, school-wise! Hoping for a better day of school tomorrow. We can't keep on suspending school because of a crisis on the farm.






 
Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:51:20 +0200:Tuesday, September 2, 2008




Farm and school:


At early morning walkabout, I got a huge fright. The cows normally
almost come running to the parlour when the vacuumpump starts, but today
they weren't interested. I immediately thought all of them had to be
ill, as the milk production had also been dropping radically the last
few days.


I still don't know what their problem was, as they all ate and milked
OK. Maybe they just wanted to give me an adrenalin rush for the morning!


Rain and I bottle-fed the calves, while Jon, who spent the morning
working from home, helped Firn with some maths. Firn has finished her
Saxon Maths Grade 4, and is now entitled to a week of no maths, as a
reward. Rain also weighed the 17 bottle-fed calves, as well as two
newly-weaned calves.


After breakfast came a minor crisis: Aletta's brother had passed away
this morning and she needed to go home. As we run the absolute minimum
of staff, this means that the girls and I will have to stand in for her,
and this week we have three afternoon commitments which we cannot
change, namely the last ballet practice before the exams, the exams
themselves, and the dog show on Saturday afternoon.


For school, we unpacked and sorted staff groceries and looked up prices.
And, unfortunately, between comforting Aletta, a visit from a feed rep,
an early lunch so Jon could get to his client, and each girl going
through her ballet curriculum under my supervision, not much school got
done.


We dried up Anemay this afternoon, as she was becoming uneconomical to
milk. This means that tomorrow, we'll have to put her in the crush and
weigh and deworm her. We also have to put our bull, Moonshot, in the
crush to treat him for ticks. Something I'm not looking forward to!








Farm and school:



At early morning walkabout, I got a huge fright. The cows normally almost come running to the parlour when the vacuumpump starts, but today they weren't interested. I immediately thought all of them had to be ill, as the milk production had also been dropping radically the last few days.



I still don't know what their problem was, as they all ate and milked OK. Maybe they just wanted to give me an adrenalin rush for the morning!



Rain and I bottle-fed the calves, while Jon, who spent the morning working from home, helped Firn with some maths. Firn has finished her Saxon Maths Grade 4, and is now entitled to a week of no maths, as a reward. Rain also weighed the 17 bottle-fed calves, as well as two newly-weaned calves.



After breakfast came a minor crisis: Aletta's brother had passed away this morning and she needed to go home. As we run the absolute minimum of staff, this means that the girls and I will have to stand in for her, and this week we have three afternoon commitments which we cannot change, namely the last ballet practice before the exams, the exams themselves, and the dog show on Saturday afternoon.



For school, we unpacked and sorted staff groceries and looked up prices. And, unfortunately, between comforting Aletta, a visit from a feed rep, an early lunch so Jon could get to his client, and each girl going through her ballet curriculum under my supervision, not much school got done.



We dried up Anemay this afternoon, as she was becoming uneconomical to milk. This means that tomorrow, we'll have to put her in the crush and weigh and deworm her. We also have to put our bull, Moonshot, in the crush to treat him for ticks. Something I'm not looking forward to!






 
Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:42:51 +0200:September 1, 2008




Farmtime:
Outside at 04:45 to check on Boeremeisie, who has still not calved. Did
walkabout at 05:45, still nothing. Bottle-fed the calves with Firn. 


At 22 to 12, Boeremeisie's water broke and just after 12 she had calved
- a pretty little bullcalf whom we have as yet not named, as Firn and
Rain cannot agree on a name.




Schooltime:
I'm pretty exhausted and we took things easy. Firn did virtually no
early morning maths as I was busy outside with the milk buyers, and she
needed money manipulatives, which she could not find. O, how I wish to
have enough time to review tomorrow's work today, and make sure they
have everything they need! Rain did some maths; I haven't checked their
maths for ages and it is a great worry to me.


After breakfast, we investigated a box which was still unpacked from our
move to the farm over 8 years ago, and we found quite a few interesting
photographs, as well as an old Woodworker's magazine of my dad's, dated
1934, and a dedication to my grandfather and grandmother who did a lot
of charity work with the poor Afrikaners in the 1930's. So a little bit
of a history lesson got done.


Firn and I calculated Jabu's hours and pay. We did a spreadsheet for Jon
to compare Makro's prices with Pick 'n Pay's, for the staff grocery
shopping which should really have happened yesterday.


Rain read two poems to us.


Special kids:
The girls did their usual short bit of horseriding.  They each had a 40
minute ballet lesson.








Farmtime:

Outside at 04:45 to check on Boeremeisie, who has still not calved. Did walkabout at 05:45, still nothing. Bottle-fed the calves with Firn. 



At 22 to 12, Boeremeisie's water broke and just after 12 she had calved - a pretty little bullcalf whom we have as yet not named, as Firn and Rain cannot agree on a name.





Schooltime:

I'm pretty exhausted and we took things easy. Firn did virtually no early morning maths as I was busy outside with the milk buyers, and she needed money manipulatives, which she could not find. O, how I wish to have enough time to review tomorrow's work today, and make sure they have everything they need! Rain did some maths; I haven't checked their maths for ages and it is a great worry to me.



After breakfast, we investigated a box which was still unpacked from our move to the farm over 8 years ago, and we found quite a few interesting photographs, as well as an old Woodworker's magazine of my dad's, dated 1934, and a dedication to my grandfather and grandmother who did a lot of charity work with the poor Afrikaners in the 1930's. So a little bit of a history lesson got done.



Firn and I calculated Jabu's hours and pay. We did a spreadsheet for Jon to compare Makro's prices with Pick 'n Pay's, for the staff grocery shopping which should really have happened yesterday.



Rain read two poems to us.



Special kids:

The girls did their usual short bit of horseriding.  They each had a 40 minute ballet lesson.






 
Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:56:17 +0200:30 en 31 Augustus 2008




'n Besige naweek, vol plaasdinge.


Saterdagoggend kalfies melk gegee. Ook walkabout op my tradisionele
'afdag' gedoen, want Jon is skietoefening vir reserviste toe. 


'n Maatjie het by Firn kom kuier en ballet oefen. Om vir hulle 'n
bietjie alleen-tyd te gee, het ek en Rain 'n woes ingewikkelde
sjokoladekoek gebak en versier.


Saterdagmiddag die hele liewe middag in die melkstal deurgebring; al die
lakterende koeie 'n opgietmiddel teen bosluise op die rug gegooi.


Saterdagaand het ek, volgens my, 07:45 aan die slaap geraak, maar Jon
sweer dit was 07:15! Glo my, ek was moeg verby.


Sondagoggend doen Jon walkabout en ek staan eers 06:06 op! Maar daarna
hol ek weer al die pad. Kalfies melk gegee, die opstoom- en droe koeie
teen bosluise behandel, 'condition scoring' op al die vroulike diere in
die 'A' span gedoen.


Die huis lyk soos 36 varkhokke, want Emily is op verlof, en ek spandeer
elke vry minuut Saterdag en Sondag aan wasgoed was, skottelgoed was, en
huis aan die kant maak.


Sondag-laatmiddag hondeopleiding, en 'n absolute fees. My hele lyf is
klaar seer soos Apollo my rondgesleep het, maar dit was LEKKER.


En hier moet ek stop, want dis slaaptyd vir die dogtertjies.








'n Besige naweek, vol plaasdinge.



Saterdagoggend kalfies melk gegee. Ook walkabout op my tradisionele 'afdag' gedoen, want Jon is skietoefening vir reserviste toe. 



'n Maatjie het by Firn kom kuier en ballet oefen. Om vir hulle 'n bietjie alleen-tyd te gee, het ek en Rain 'n woes ingewikkelde sjokoladekoek gebak en versier.



Saterdagmiddag die hele liewe middag in die melkstal deurgebring; al die lakterende koeie 'n opgietmiddel teen bosluise op die rug gegooi.



Saterdagaand het ek, volgens my, 07:45 aan die slaap geraak, maar Jon sweer dit was 07:15! Glo my, ek was moeg verby.



Sondagoggend doen Jon walkabout en ek staan eers 06:06 op! Maar daarna hol ek weer al die pad. Kalfies melk gegee, die opstoom- en droe koeie teen bosluise behandel, 'condition scoring' op al die vroulike diere in die 'A' span gedoen.



Die huis lyk soos 36 varkhokke, want Emily is op verlof, en ek spandeer elke vry minuut Saterdag en Sondag aan wasgoed was, skottelgoed was, en huis aan die kant maak.



Sondag-laatmiddag hondeopleiding, en 'n absolute fees. My hele lyf is klaar seer soos Apollo my rondgesleep het, maar dit was LEKKER.



En hier moet ek stop, want dis slaaptyd vir die dogtertjies.






 
Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:23:36 +0200:Friday, 29 August 2008 - Pretoria Jersey Youth Show




After doing my normal early morning 'walkabout' to check all the animals
on the farm, and to see that milking gets underway, I bottle-fed the
littlest three calves, injected Firn (the calf) with cortisone, Niggie
with Advocin, had a quick breakfast and a quick bath, and the four of us
jumped in my bakkie and headed for Pretoria, where we had to be at 11:00
so that the girls could take part in the Youth Show.


Our bakkie was loaded with all the show paraphernalia - hose pipe with
special nozzle, shoe polish, baby powder, shampoo, a change of clothes
for the girls, various brushes and sponges, towels, the works. 


Only to find out on our arrival that the animals had already been
prepared and we had about 2 minutes to rush back to the bakkie, get the
kids' boots on, grab the calves and get into the show ring.


Firn got an eight-month pregnant heifer, named Amy, and Rain a slightly
younger and smaller, but also pregnant, heifer called Candy. It soon
became apparent that Rain would not be able to handle Candy. She was
aggressive and had Rain in tears. Firn very kindly agreed to swop with
Rain. Her thank-you e-mail to Candy's owner tells the rest of the story:


Hello


I'm the girl that lent Candy for the youth show on Friday. I'd like to
thank you very much for lending me Crazy Candy, as I'll always remember
her by that name. Candy was crazy.


By the way, how did it go with Crazy Candy and you in the show ring
after the youth show?


When I heard Candy's name I immediately thought of what famous author
and vet James Herriot once wrote about Jerseys: "I sometimes wish all
cows were Jerseys, small, gentle, doe-eyed creatures you could push
around without any trouble, with padded corners and fragile limbs. Even
if they kicked you it was like a love tap compared to a clump from a
craggy Friesland." Actually Crazy Candy did try to kick the Judge on one
occasion.


In fact, Herriot said that about a gentle old Jersey whose name was
Candy, so of course when I heard Crazy Candy's name 'small, gentle,
doe-eyed creature' sprang to mind.


Oh my. What a small, gentle, doe-eyed creature that thing was!


Well, thank you very much for lending me Crazy Candy. Though I don't
think you'll believe it, I really liked Crazy Candy. I even enjoyed
being hauled about in the show ring. And despite of it Crazy Candy and I
won.


"Not thanks to you," I said fondly as I tried to hook the rosette onto
her halter when she was calm for a split second.


I'll always remember Crazy Candy, with fondness, because I like her,
though people might think me mad. Maybe I'm just as twisted as Crazy
Candy.


I came expecting to be an elegant calf shower. I left a bruised,
victorious and rather bemused buffalo wrangler. But I tell you, I don't
think being the elegant shower would be nearly as fun as the buffalo
wrangler was!






Despite our concerns about Rain's readiness, she came second in the
class, after Firn. Amy's owner very kindly asked her daughter to join
Rain in the showring, and I think it helped to calm her.


Both girls received a medal and a rosette, and both said they enjoyed it
very much. I was exhausted after watching poor Firn's struggles with
Candy, and we headed for home soon after the girls were finished. Poor
Jon cooked supper while I lay about, utterly spent.


Of course, it would happen that 10 calves went missing the same late
afternoon, and while half the farm was hunting them, I hauled myself off
my comfortable chair and set about watering the rest of the bunch. We
ended up feeding them their powerfeed by torchlight.








After doing my normal early morning 'walkabout' to check all the animals on the farm, and to see that milking gets underway, I bottle-fed the littlest three calves, injected Firn (the calf) with cortisone, Niggie with Advocin, had a quick breakfast and a quick bath, and the four of us jumped in my bakkie and headed for Pretoria, where we had to be at 11:00 so that the girls could take part in the Youth Show.



Our bakkie was loaded with all the show paraphernalia - hose pipe with special nozzle, shoe polish, baby powder, shampoo, a change of clothes for the girls, various brushes and sponges, towels, the works. 



Only to find out on our arrival that the animals had already been prepared and we had about 2 minutes to rush back to the bakkie, get the kids' boots on, grab the calves and get into the show ring.



Firn got an eight-month pregnant heifer, named Amy, and Rain a slightly younger and smaller, but also pregnant, heifer called Candy. It soon became apparent that Rain would not be able to handle Candy. She was aggressive and had Rain in tears. Firn very kindly agreed to swop with Rain. Her thank-you e-mail to Candy's owner tells the rest of the story:



Hello



I'm the girl that lent Candy for the youth show on Friday. I'd like to thank you very much for lending me Crazy Candy, as I'll always remember her by that name. Candy was crazy.



By the way, how did it go with Crazy Candy and you in the show ring after the youth show?



When I heard Candy's name I immediately thought of what famous author and vet James Herriot once wrote about Jerseys: "I sometimes wish all cows were Jerseys, small, gentle, doe-eyed creatures you could push around without any trouble, with padded corners and fragile limbs. Even if they kicked you it was like a love tap compared to a clump from a craggy Friesland." Actually Crazy Candy did try to kick the Judge on one occasion.



In fact, Herriot said that about a gentle old Jersey whose name was Candy, so of course when I heard Crazy Candy's name 'small, gentle, doe-eyed creature' sprang to mind.



Oh my. What a small, gentle, doe-eyed creature that thing was!



Well, thank you very much for lending me Crazy Candy. Though I don't think you'll believe it, I really liked Crazy Candy. I even enjoyed being hauled about in the show ring. And despite of it Crazy Candy and I won.



"Not thanks to you," I said fondly as I tried to hook the rosette onto her halter when she was calm for a split second.



I'll always remember Crazy Candy, with fondness, because I like her, though people might think me mad. Maybe I'm just as twisted as Crazy Candy.



I came expecting to be an elegant calf shower. I left a bruised, victorious and rather bemused buffalo wrangler. But I tell you, I don't think being the elegant shower would be nearly as fun as the buffalo wrangler was!







Despite our concerns about Rain's readiness, she came second in the class, after Firn. Amy's owner very kindly asked her daughter to join Rain in the showring, and I think it helped to calm her.



Both girls received a medal and a rosette, and both said they enjoyed it very much. I was exhausted after watching poor Firn's struggles with Candy, and we headed for home soon after the girls were finished. Poor Jon cooked supper while I lay about, utterly spent.



Of course, it would happen that 10 calves went missing the same late afternoon, and while half the farm was hunting them, I hauled myself off my comfortable chair and set about watering the rest of the bunch. We ended up feeding them their powerfeed by torchlight.






 
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:48:45 +0200:Thursday, 28 August




Farmtime:


Firn and I bottle-fed the calves, while Jon (who is working from home
again today, hurray!) and Rain prepared a science experiment involving
dissolving an eggshell in vinegar.


Niggie looked a bit under the weather, so Firn and Rain calculated how
much Advocin to inject, if she weighs 73 kg and the dosage is 1 in 20.
Firn injected her. This evening, Niggie did not finish her bottle, so
Firn injected her with a cortisone.


Anemay, one of our lactating cows, has a damaged teat, and Job is
treating her with antibiotics, which are inserted directly into the
teat.


Our top cow for today is Corne's Elite, who produced 25 litres for the
day.


Special kids:


Apollo was still not eating well, and we were beginning to suspect that
it was the Montego dog food, to which we had switched recently. We
therefore needed to go to town to buy some Pedigree, and it sounded like
the perfect excuse to have breakfast at the Wimpy. Although this meant
that schooltime was reduced by about an hour, the precious, special time
spent together as a family more than made up for it in my book. I told
stories about my dad, whom the girls had never met, and whom Jon met
when he already was in an advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease. Jon and
Firn went to buy Pedigree, while Rain sat on my lap and the two of us
had a lovely chat.


Firn and Rain each had a 45 minute ballet lesson, while I sat and
watched. And as a special surprise, Jon popped in for the last few
minutes of Rain's lesson, which meant a lot to her.


During the ride home, Firn and I talked about what a strong work ethic
is, and why it is so important to us as a family.


The girls did their usual routine with the horses.


The late afternoon and early evening were spent in getting ready for
tomorrow's Pretoria Show. The girls learnt about the importance of
making lists and ticking each item as it gets packed.


Schooltime:


Firn finished a full Saxon Maths lesson. Rain did a portion of a lesson.
Firn wrote various e-mails about the books that she had written. We did
about 45 minutes of our Narnia curriculum.


Rain and I made a spreadsheet listing the cakes that she is considering
baking for a little friend whose birthday is in October.


During supper, we discussed the "Mayday" call and we read up a bit on
the internet about the origins and protocol surrounding the call. We
also explained the principle of rhesus incompatibility and its
consequences.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


I did very little farming today, and as a result I feel a bit more
rested. Although I did not get as much work done as I would have liked
to, it was a successful day in respect of togetherness as a family.








Farmtime:



Firn and I bottle-fed the calves, while Jon (who is working from home again today, hurray!) and Rain prepared a science experiment involving dissolving an eggshell in vinegar.



Niggie looked a bit under the weather, so Firn and Rain calculated how much Advocin to inject, if she weighs 73 kg and the dosage is 1 in 20. Firn injected her. This evening, Niggie did not finish her bottle, so Firn injected her with a cortisone.



Anemay, one of our lactating cows, has a damaged teat, and Job is treating her with antibiotics, which are inserted directly into the teat.



Our top cow for today is Corne's Elite, who produced 25 litres for the day.



Special kids:



Apollo was still not eating well, and we were beginning to suspect that it was the Montego dog food, to which we had switched recently. We therefore needed to go to town to buy some Pedigree, and it sounded like the perfect excuse to have breakfast at the Wimpy. Although this meant that schooltime was reduced by about an hour, the precious, special time spent together as a family more than made up for it in my book. I told stories about my dad, whom the girls had never met, and whom Jon met when he already was in an advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease. Jon and Firn went to buy Pedigree, while Rain sat on my lap and the two of us had a lovely chat.



Firn and Rain each had a 45 minute ballet lesson, while I sat and watched. And as a special surprise, Jon popped in for the last few minutes of Rain's lesson, which meant a lot to her.



During the ride home, Firn and I talked about what a strong work ethic is, and why it is so important to us as a family.



The girls did their usual routine with the horses.



The late afternoon and early evening were spent in getting ready for tomorrow's Pretoria Show. The girls learnt about the importance of making lists and ticking each item as it gets packed.



Schooltime:



Firn finished a full Saxon Maths lesson. Rain did a portion of a lesson. Firn wrote various e-mails about the books that she had written. We did about 45 minutes of our Narnia curriculum.



Rain and I made a spreadsheet listing the cakes that she is considering baking for a little friend whose birthday is in October.



During supper, we discussed the "Mayday" call and we read up a bit on the internet about the origins and protocol surrounding the call. We also explained the principle of rhesus incompatibility and its consequences.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



I did very little farming today, and as a result I feel a bit more rested. Although I did not get as much work done as I would have liked to, it was a successful day in respect of togetherness as a family.






 
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:56:53 +0200:Wednesday 27 August




Farmtime:


Once a week, we weigh all the bottle-fed, as well as the newly-weaned,
calves to monitor their progress. Rain and Firn helped me to weigh 18
calves, from the smallest, Opal, at 35 kg, to the biggest, Brilliant, at
104 kg. We compared their weights with last week's to see if they had
gained any weight, and we calculated how much weight they had gained.
Firn entered these treatments into the computer.


I put Fiona in the crush and gave her another two shots of vitamins.


Firn injected Apollo with penicillin, as he is still not eating well.


Job inoculated 5 calves against Brucellosis, with the rest of us,
including the girls, assisting. Firn captured the inoculations in our
farm system.


Firn and Rain helped me to fill the 6 2-litre bottles of milk that I had
to take to ballet this afternoon.




Schooltime:


Firn and Rain got up a little earlier, and Firn easily finished a whole
Saxon maths lesson before calf-feeding time. Rain wanted to listen to
her times tables CD, so she listened from the 1 times to the 10 times
table.


Rain helped me to calculate Emily's wages. As she only worked for a
portion of the month, we had to calculate her daily rate, and multiply
it by the number of days worked. We also had to find the prices of, and
deduct the groceries that we supplied to her during the month. I sat
next to Rain while she entered the information and formulas on a
spreadsheet.


Rain also entered our daily milk sales in a spreadsheet, under my
supervision.


We spent about one hour on our Narnia curriculum. 


A turbo pipe on my bakkie came undone on the way to town today, which
meant that I literally had to crawl to town and back. Jon taught Rain,
being more mechanically minded than the rest of us, how to fix it.


Special kids:


The girls each had 30 minutes of ballet class in their beautiful new
studio (although I think that I was more excited about it than they
were). During Firn's class, Rain played with the ballet teacher's
daughter, who is a good friend of hers. As usual on a Wednesday, we went
to the library and the girls each chose three books. Firn will probably
finish reading hers by Friday.


The normal short, bareback horseriding took place. I am really proud of
the way the girls look after their horses. It is the one chore from
which they hardly ever get a break.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


The morning was quite hectic, but the afternoon was lovely. It was so
nice to just sit down and relax in beautiful surroundings, and watch the
girls dancing. I feel fairly happy about what we achieved today. I also
had an interesting conversation with a mom at ballet, who told me how
badly the competitiveness at school was affecting her daughter - a
lovely little girl in Rain's ballet class. She couldn't believe it when
I told her that the kids at the homeschooling Eisteddfod don't get
marks, just comments. A completely different world!








Farmtime:



Once a week, we weigh all the bottle-fed, as well as the newly-weaned, calves to monitor their progress. Rain and Firn helped me to weigh 18 calves, from the smallest, Opal, at 35 kg, to the biggest, Brilliant, at 104 kg. We compared their weights with last week's to see if they had gained any weight, and we calculated how much weight they had gained. Firn entered these treatments into the computer.



I put Fiona in the crush and gave her another two shots of vitamins.



Firn injected Apollo with penicillin, as he is still not eating well.



Job inoculated 5 calves against Brucellosis, with the rest of us, including the girls, assisting. Firn captured the inoculations in our farm system.



Firn and Rain helped me to fill the 6 2-litre bottles of milk that I had to take to ballet this afternoon.





Schooltime:



Firn and Rain got up a little earlier, and Firn easily finished a whole Saxon maths lesson before calf-feeding time. Rain wanted to listen to her times tables CD, so she listened from the 1 times to the 10 times table.



Rain helped me to calculate Emily's wages. As she only worked for a portion of the month, we had to calculate her daily rate, and multiply it by the number of days worked. We also had to find the prices of, and deduct the groceries that we supplied to her during the month. I sat next to Rain while she entered the information and formulas on a spreadsheet.



Rain also entered our daily milk sales in a spreadsheet, under my supervision.



We spent about one hour on our Narnia curriculum. 



A turbo pipe on my bakkie came undone on the way to town today, which meant that I literally had to crawl to town and back. Jon taught Rain, being more mechanically minded than the rest of us, how to fix it.



Special kids:



The girls each had 30 minutes of ballet class in their beautiful new studio (although I think that I was more excited about it than they were). During Firn's class, Rain played with the ballet teacher's daughter, who is a good friend of hers. As usual on a Wednesday, we went to the library and the girls each chose three books. Firn will probably finish reading hers by Friday.



The normal short, bareback horseriding took place. I am really proud of the way the girls look after their horses. It is the one chore from which they hardly ever get a break.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



The morning was quite hectic, but the afternoon was lovely. It was so nice to just sit down and relax in beautiful surroundings, and watch the girls dancing. I feel fairly happy about what we achieved today. I also had an interesting conversation with a mom at ballet, who told me how badly the competitiveness at school was affecting her daughter - a lovely little girl in Rain's ballet class. She couldn't believe it when I told her that the kids at the homeschooling Eisteddfod don't get marks, just comments. A completely different world!






 
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:38:01 +0200:Tuesday 26 August




Farmtime:


Firn and I bottle-fed the calves. We often have great chats while
feeding the calves. Today, we talked about post-natal depression and
depression in general, and its causes. Jon, who is working from home
today, helped Rain with her maths while Firn and I fed the calves.


We injected Opal with her third shot of Advocin, and Nerina was injected
with penicillin, as her horns were burnt recently, and one horn is
slightly infected. We also sprayed the horn with antibiotic spray.


Jon has written a new report that lists the cows in order of their
production for the previous day. I put it up on the notice board in the
milk room and went through it with the workers. Our foreman, Job,
especially found it very interesting. I would really love to take him to
the next level of computer literacy as he is intelligent, keen to learn,
and very interested in the production and other figures.


We 'lost' two animals in our "A" group (lactating cows and followers)
and I loaded the girls, Flower and Apollo on the back of Jon's bakkie to
go and search for them this afternoon. We found them fairly soon - they
had escaped from the horses' camp and joined the weaned calves' herd.
But this meant that I got very little admin and accounting done this
afternoon.


Brietta calved while we were on the search. Luckily, Jon was here to
give the new little heifer, Bindi, her calf rescue (a concentrated
colostum) and Brietta her 20 litres of Reviva. This is like a
'cooldrink' for cows, which they love, and which replaces lost fluids
and electrolytes, and helps to prevent milk fever. Bindi got her first
bottle of colostum just after six, her umbilical cord was cleaned by
Rain, and Firn weighed her at 37 kg.




Schooltime:


Rain (and Jon) worked on their early-morning maths. Firn did a full
lesson, but got very despondent towards the end of the lesson when
dividing a three-digit number by a two-digit number. We had to ask Jon
to help, as I (to my great embarrassment) couldn't remember how to do
this at all.


Rain calculated how much Lentrax to inject Nerina, if she weighs 73 kg
and the dosage is 1 ml per 20 kg. She did this using a calculator as she
doesn't know her tables or how to divide as yet. However, she knows what
the sum should be, which is more important than the actual method, which
is easily taught and remembered.


At the breakfast table, we talked about when we use 'a' and when we use
'an'. Rain could do it perfectly, but didn't know the rule. Firn knew
the rule and asked why we say 'a' ewe and not 'an' ewe. None of us knew,
but we guessed it had something to do with the pronunciation - the word
almost sounds like it should start with an 'h'.


We spent about 45 minutes on our Narnia curriculum. We've finished the
first book, and started with Chapter 1 of 'The Lion, the witch and the
wardrobe' today. Firn managed to spell 'anthropomorphism' entirely on
her own, after I repeated the word once!


The girls each sent an e-mail to the organiser of the Youth Show. Here
is Rain's:


Dear Robyn


My calf's name is Babeica. Her tag number is 08004. Her date of birth is
04/02/08. 


Must I wear white gumboots at the show? I only have pink and blue ones.


Regards


Rain Hyde


I had to help her to spell 'wear' and 'white', as well as 'Babeica'. The
rest (including the grammar) she managed on her own.


Here is Firn's e-mail:


Dear Robyn


My calf's name is: Lerie


Her tag number is: 07024


Her date of birth is: 27/07/07


Are there any specific clothes we must wear (special t-shirt, cap,
etc.)?


We don't have leather show halters, so we're bringing rope halters. Is
this okay?


Is a Brucellosis and TB certificate necessary?


Thank you


Firn Hyde


Sorry, Jon, but I have to say this: Firn's spelling is better than yours
(and possibly better than mine, too)!


At lunch, Rain and Firn calculated how many rooms there were to a bar in
the Germiston Hotel, where Jon lived in his early twenties, if there
were 20 rooms and 3 bars. I'm afraid that the conversation deteriorated
into Jon's bar stories after that, so not much learning took place!


Jon explained to Rain how a tap works.


Special kids:


The girls practised their showmanship for a short while this morning.
They rode their horses from the horses' camp to the bale camp and back.
Rain went to town with Jon this afternoon to buy a new tyre for my
bakkie. Firn did some reading and some writing. Rain played with blocks.


Dinki's conclusions about the day:


A day in which I felt overwhelmed and over-busy.  The afternoon,
especially, did not go as planned with the missing animals and Brietta's
calving. Late afternoon was a huge rush to get Jon fed and off to
reservist training on time. One of my greatest challenges is to not
belittle the girls' anxieties, however trivial they may seem to me.
Rain, for example, is worried that she will not be able to change her
earrings. I pooh-poohed it this afternoon, but felt bad about it and
apologised to her tonight. 








Farmtime:



Firn and I bottle-fed the calves. We often have great chats while feeding the calves. Today, we talked about post-natal depression and depression in general, and its causes. Jon, who is working from home today, helped Rain with her maths while Firn and I fed the calves.



We injected Opal with her third shot of Advocin, and Nerina was injected with penicillin, as her horns were burnt recently, and one horn is slightly infected. We also sprayed the horn with antibiotic spray.



Jon has written a new report that lists the cows in order of their production for the previous day. I put it up on the notice board in the milk room and went through it with the workers. Our foreman, Job, especially found it very interesting. I would really love to take him to the next level of computer literacy as he is intelligent, keen to learn, and very interested in the production and other figures.



We 'lost' two animals in our "A" group (lactating cows and followers) and I loaded the girls, Flower and Apollo on the back of Jon's bakkie to go and search for them this afternoon. We found them fairly soon - they had escaped from the horses' camp and joined the weaned calves' herd. But this meant that I got very little admin and accounting done this afternoon.



Brietta calved while we were on the search. Luckily, Jon was here to give the new little heifer, Bindi, her calf rescue (a concentrated colostum) and Brietta her 20 litres of Reviva. This is like a 'cooldrink' for cows, which they love, and which replaces lost fluids and electrolytes, and helps to prevent milk fever. Bindi got her first bottle of colostum just after six, her umbilical cord was cleaned by Rain, and Firn weighed her at 37 kg.





Schooltime:



Rain (and Jon) worked on their early-morning maths. Firn did a full lesson, but got very despondent towards the end of the lesson when dividing a three-digit number by a two-digit number. We had to ask Jon to help, as I (to my great embarrassment) couldn't remember how to do this at all.



Rain calculated how much Lentrax to inject Nerina, if she weighs 73 kg and the dosage is 1 ml per 20 kg. She did this using a calculator as she doesn't know her tables or how to divide as yet. However, she knows what the sum should be, which is more important than the actual method, which is easily taught and remembered.



At the breakfast table, we talked about when we use 'a' and when we use 'an'. Rain could do it perfectly, but didn't know the rule. Firn knew the rule and asked why we say 'a' ewe and not 'an' ewe. None of us knew, but we guessed it had something to do with the pronunciation - the word almost sounds like it should start with an 'h'.



We spent about 45 minutes on our Narnia curriculum. We've finished the first book, and started with Chapter 1 of 'The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe' today. Firn managed to spell 'anthropomorphism' entirely on her own, after I repeated the word once!



The girls each sent an e-mail to the organiser of the Youth Show. Here is Rain's:



Dear Robyn



My calf's name is Babeica. Her tag number is 08004. Her date of birth is 04/02/08. 



Must I wear white gumboots at the show? I only have pink and blue ones.



Regards



Rain Hyde



I had to help her to spell 'wear' and 'white', as well as 'Babeica'. The rest (including the grammar) she managed on her own.



Here is Firn's e-mail:



Dear Robyn



My calf's name is: Lerie



Her tag number is: 07024



Her date of birth is: 27/07/07



Are there any specific clothes we must wear (special t-shirt, cap, etc.)?



We don't have leather show halters, so we're bringing rope halters. Is this okay?



Is a Brucellosis and TB certificate necessary?



Thank you



Firn Hyde



Sorry, Jon, but I have to say this: Firn's spelling is better than yours (and possibly better than mine, too)!



At lunch, Rain and Firn calculated how many rooms there were to a bar in the Germiston Hotel, where Jon lived in his early twenties, if there were 20 rooms and 3 bars. I'm afraid that the conversation deteriorated into Jon's bar stories after that, so not much learning took place!



Jon explained to Rain how a tap works.



Special kids:



The girls practised their showmanship for a short while this morning. They rode their horses from the horses' camp to the bale camp and back. Rain went to town with Jon this afternoon to buy a new tyre for my bakkie. Firn did some reading and some writing. Rain played with blocks.



Dinki's conclusions about the day:



A day in which I felt overwhelmed and over-busy.  The afternoon, especially, did not go as planned with the missing animals and Brietta's calving. Late afternoon was a huge rush to get Jon fed and off to reservist training on time. One of my greatest challenges is to not belittle the girls' anxieties, however trivial they may seem to me. Rain, for example, is worried that she will not be able to change her earrings. I pooh-poohed it this afternoon, but felt bad about it and apologised to her tonight. 






 
Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:49:27 +0200:Monday 25 August 2008




Farmtime:


Firn and Rain helped me bottle-feed the calves. Firn injected Opal with
2 cc Advocin. She's not drinking well and I suspect the problem is
diarrhea.


We put Fiona in the crush and injected her with Vitamin B and a liver
stimulant. She has recently calved and her vagina is pale, which
indicates either gallsickness or that she just needs a bit of a boost.


Butterfly is 6 weeks from calving and we injected her with Scourguard
and Bovilis-S. These are innoculants that enter the colostrum and
protect the calf against E.coli and Salmonella.


Corne has mastitis in her back right quarter, and Job will be treating
her with antibiotics (straight into the infected quarter) for the next
three days.


Firn gave Ogies and Imagine their booster shots of Nuflor - a strong
broad-spectrum antibiotic. This is a subcutaneous injection, which I
battle with, and I normally ask Firn to do it for me!


The girls helped me to fill the milk bottles for the 8 litres that I
sold to ballet moms this afternoon.


Schooltime:


Early morning is unsupervised maths time. Firn completed about 3/4 of a
lesson in Saxon Maths. Rain also did some Saxon Maths, but I haven't
checked yet on how much.


Firn helped me to add a new beneficiary to our bank account, then to
calculate Patrick's working hours and his wages, based on the hours
worked. She then learnt how to pay a beneficiary electronically.


Firn also helped me to fix the Excel spreadsheet that we use for the
workers' timesheets. The date had gone wonky and together, we figured
out how to fix it.


Jon wanted us to look at a website on osteo-arthritis in dogs. Firn and
I skim-read the website and gave Jon our feedback.


For handwriting, Rain wrote the workers' names on their timesheets for
September. Rain helped me prepare our PAYE reconciliation by typing the
figures for each month into a spreadsheet.


We did 1 hour in our 'Narnia' curriculum. We're doing the last chapter
of the first book - The Magician's Nephew. Rain played with blocks while
she listened, and Firn drew.




Special kids


There is a small chance that Firn and Rain may be showing their calves
at the Pretoria show on Friday. They practised with Liriekeraai (Firn)
and Babeica (Rain).


Just before lunch they rode their horses from the horses' camp to the
bale camp.


Ballet exams are around the corner, and the girls each had homework.
They practised for about 5 minutes each.


The afternoon was spent in ballet classes - 40 minutes for each girl, as
well as the travelling there and back.


The girls rode their horses from the bale camp to the horses' camp, and
also helped George (on horseback) to round up the calves.


This evening, at supper, we talked about angles - Rain showed us
different sizes of angles, using her arms. This was because the ballet
teacher told her class to make a 90 degree angle with their arms when
they do their arabesques.


Random Dinki


Apollo did not finish his food this morning. I offered him some pellets
with sauce at lunch time, which he refused. I offered him some rice with
sauce late afternoon, which he refused. I offered him some of our soup,
which we had for supper, which he gobbled up. He's obviously not quite
well, but we'll see how he eats tomorrow, and then make a decision on
injecting him. His gums are pink, so it's not biliary.


(Firn had to show me how to spell 'biliary')


My challenge is organisation of our home. It is in a mess. It drives me
nuts when we can't find pencils, schoolbooks, and Rain's special riding
top, which all happened today! The girls ate biscuits in the car, and
just left the empty wrapper on the floor. I moaned at them quite
severely.


Dinki's conclusions about the day


All-in-all a quite productive day. Although I feel the girls learnt
quite a bit, it wasn't exactly delight-directed learning, which I'm
aiming at. Because the PAYE reconciliation was due today, and because I
didn't do it over the weekend, I had to do it during school time, and I
tried to assuage my guilt by roping Rain in. Because I didn't transfer
money into the correct account, I had to do Patrick's wages during
school time, and once again I pulled Firn in. I'd like the girls to have
to work a little bit less and follow their own hearts a little bit more.


The lack of time (or energy, or priorities) irks me. We often go to town
not looking as well-groomed as I would like us to look, for various
reasons. Today, it was because our summer clothes were all in feed bags,
from which we had to hurriedly retrieve them, and because Emily doesn't
have a clue where to pack our clothes. And the washing!  Will it never
end?








Farmtime:



Firn and Rain helped me bottle-feed the calves. Firn injected Opal with 2 cc Advocin. She's not drinking well and I suspect the problem is diarrhea.



We put Fiona in the crush and injected her with Vitamin B and a liver stimulant. She has recently calved and her vagina is pale, which indicates either gallsickness or that she just needs a bit of a boost.



Butterfly is 6 weeks from calving and we injected her with Scourguard and Bovilis-S. These are innoculants that enter the colostrum and protect the calf against E.coli and Salmonella.



Corne has mastitis in her back right quarter, and Job will be treating her with antibiotics (straight into the infected quarter) for the next three days.



Firn gave Ogies and Imagine their booster shots of Nuflor - a strong broad-spectrum antibiotic. This is a subcutaneous injection, which I battle with, and I normally ask Firn to do it for me!



The girls helped me to fill the milk bottles for the 8 litres that I sold to ballet moms this afternoon.



Schooltime:



Early morning is unsupervised maths time. Firn completed about 3/4 of a lesson in Saxon Maths. Rain also did some Saxon Maths, but I haven't checked yet on how much.



Firn helped me to add a new beneficiary to our bank account, then to calculate Patrick's working hours and his wages, based on the hours worked. She then learnt how to pay a beneficiary electronically.



Firn also helped me to fix the Excel spreadsheet that we use for the workers' timesheets. The date had gone wonky and together, we figured out how to fix it.

 

Jon wanted us to look at a website on osteo-arthritis in dogs. Firn and I skim-read the website and gave Jon our feedback.



For handwriting, Rain wrote the workers' names on their timesheets for September. Rain helped me prepare our PAYE reconciliation by typing the figures for each month into a spreadsheet.



We did 1 hour in our 'Narnia' curriculum. We're doing the last chapter of the first book - The Magician's Nephew. Rain played with blocks while she listened, and Firn drew.





Special kids



There is a small chance that Firn and Rain may be showing their calves at the Pretoria show on Friday. They practised with Liriekeraai (Firn) and Babeica (Rain).



Just before lunch they rode their horses from the horses' camp to the bale camp.



Ballet exams are around the corner, and the girls each had homework. They practised for about 5 minutes each.



The afternoon was spent in ballet classes - 40 minutes for each girl, as well as the travelling there and back.



The girls rode their horses from the bale camp to the horses' camp, and also helped George (on horseback) to round up the calves.



This evening, at supper, we talked about angles - Rain showed us different sizes of angles, using her arms. This was because the ballet teacher told her class to make a 90 degree angle with their arms when they do their arabesques.



Random Dinki



Apollo did not finish his food this morning. I offered him some pellets with sauce at lunch time, which he refused. I offered him some rice with sauce late afternoon, which he refused. I offered him some of our soup, which we had for supper, which he gobbled up. He's obviously not quite well, but we'll see how he eats tomorrow, and then make a decision on injecting him. His gums are pink, so it's not biliary.



(Firn had to show me how to spell 'biliary')



My challenge is organisation of our home. It is in a mess. It drives me nuts when we can't find pencils, schoolbooks, and Rain's special riding top, which all happened today! The girls ate biscuits in the car, and just left the empty wrapper on the floor. I moaned at them quite severely.



Dinki's conclusions about the day



All-in-all a quite productive day. Although I feel the girls learnt quite a bit, it wasn't exactly delight-directed learning, which I'm aiming at. Because the PAYE reconciliation was due today, and because I didn't do it over the weekend, I had to do it during school time, and I tried to assuage my guilt by roping Rain in. Because I didn't transfer money into the correct account, I had to do Patrick's wages during school time, and once again I pulled Firn in. I'd like the girls to have to work a little bit less and follow their own hearts a little bit more.



The lack of time (or energy, or priorities) irks me. We often go to town not looking as well-groomed as I would like us to look, for various reasons. Today, it was because our summer clothes were all in feed bags, from which we had to hurriedly retrieve them, and because Emily doesn't have a clue where to pack our clothes. And the washing!  Will it never end?