YES!!! IT CAN BE DONE!!!!

A very big hello to everyone!!!

It feels like ages since my last post but there has been amazing progress on the house since then!!!

From this.....

                       ......to this!!! 
Yippee!!! It's done!!!! The roof is up and finished!!!!

Isn't it just beautiful?!!!!I get giddy with happiness when I look at that massive roof!!!

Needless to say, the thatcher and builders have all been at work!!! I can now fully appreciate the frustration of them not being at work!!! For sure our house could have been finished and ready for us to move in to,if only they stuck to their schedule!!! But anyhow...

The window panes are in!!! But frustratingly, I have to wait 2 weeks for the putty to dry (can you believe it?) before I can wash the windows!!! Right now, I am just craving clean windows!!!Ugh!!!!

The kitchen geyser,piped and ready to be connected....

  ....There's a light outside at the backdoor.....

.....a  chandelier in the lounge/dining room...

        ...and a smaller one in the kitchen....

and these are the lights for bedrooms and bathrooms, done!!!!

... and there was even some plastering going on!! Only the bottom half the wall gets plastered, the top stays to show the bare brick work!!!

Goodness!!! This roof is really,really high!!!
This is going to be one very cool house in summer!!!

I think hubby is really enjoying working on our house!!!!

Brandy is certainly loving it, while.....!!!

... Dozer and Lola can only but watch it all happen from behind the gate!!! The workers refuse to come if they are not locked away!!!

And the cats...?!!! Well, of course they do it in style and comfort!!!

It's really awesome to see the progress of our house and I can't wait to move in!!!! I feel so absolutely spoilt and privileged to have a brand new home like this!!!

So My Dear Friends, watch this space for more exciting updates!!!!

'Till next time....
Love
AMarie

A New Beginning.....

Hello,hello,hello!!!

Well, it's all done!!!Last week the big move took place and actually, it all went remarkably well!!!

Our temporary home!!! A 2 bedroom chalet!!! At least we have TV for the next month!!!

I am so ridiculously happy with everything right now!!! And that is a good thing!!! As always, (I always stress about everything) I was worried and unhappy about so many things!!!

The front veranda and front door!!!

My biggest concerns were: the house was sooo far from finished!!! Why are builders not capable of keeping to a schedule??? Why??? If the weather is fine and the supplies are all there, why can they not keep to their schedule I ask you??!!! 

The roof looks ridiculously high!!! But I have been assured that once it's thatched it will look right!!! I suppose we'll see about that!!!

And then I was extremely worried about transporting my dogs!!! Dozer is such a big baby!!! But he was a star and so was Lola!!! We loaded them into a lion crate and then on the back of a trailer and set off!!! 300 km and nearly 5 hours later we arrived at our new home!!! They were a little weary at first and quite scared of all the new smells but they soon settled down nicely!!!

The dining room just off the kitchen to the left!!!

We moved into one of the chalet for now with 4 cats, a dog, a parrot and a genet and stored all our furniture in the entertainment hall for now!!! It's complete chaos but it's just temporary!!! Yes temporary, because the 27th September we have our first wedding venue!!! Ooohh, sooo exciting!!!!

My Kitchen!!!Looking out over the game farm!!!Even now we have had buffalo,waterbuck,nyala,kudu and giraffe right outside the gate in the late afternoons!!!

The backdoor and the back gate!!!

At least now that we are here, things are happening at the house!!! Hubby has already done all the wiring and plumbing for the whole house and it only took him 3 days!!!

Little Miss J in the lounge!!! We just fetched some of her study books!!! She has quite a few assignments due in the next couple of weeks!!!

Just between us, I really just wanted to move in, but now I am enjoying being part of the built!!! Painting, plumbing and so on!!!! 

Doorway to the girls room!! They each have their own bedroom with a shared bathroom!!!

Hubby doing the plumbing in the kids bathroom!!!

I just changed my whole kitchen around and I think it's going to be better!!!

My bedroom and bathroom en suite!!! I love all the big windows throughout the whole house!!!

We also choose to not have any guest rooms at the house as there are about 30 chalets for family and friends to stay over in!!!

Piles of thatch lying in the backyard!!! Just waiting to be laid!!! Please Mr thatcher, please come to work on Monday!!!!!

This is the back gate where all the animals seems to come to!!! I think they are after the thatch!!!

There really is still a lot of work to be done, not only in the house but also in the garden!!!
Starting from scratch!!! Luckily, we'll soon be into our Spring season and then hopefully everything will grow easily!!!!

Brandy having a good look around her new front yard!!!! The house is conveniently situated between 2 stores!!! The silver one at the back is filled with lucerne and salt licks for the game and the brick one behind the wall is the workshops and garages!!!

This is how the cats spend their first couple of days but I'm happy to say, they are not such scary cats anymore and have settled down nicely!!!

Popcorn and Pagan!!! Such scary cats the first few days!!!

There is soooo much more to show you but it will have to wait for a next time!!! Right now we are off on a game drive!!! Yippee!!! I love it!!!

Have a fantastic week!!!

Love
AMarie

Saying goodbye....

Hello Again

It's with real mixed feelings that I write this post today......!!!! Excited to start a new adventure but really sad to say goodbye....!!! Because .... I know it so well!!!! Like the back of my hand!!! Every road, tree, animal and bird!!!! I have spend endless hours walking this bush, studying the plants and the animals!!! It's peaceful and private and ever changing!!!!

After a rainstorm these beautiful yellow wild flowers are a sight to behold!!!They grow as "high as an elephant's eye" in the one corner of the farm!!!

Turtles basking in the warm sun!!! They are so cute!!!

We watched our herd of rhino grow from 2 to 6 before the matriarch cow (front with the square horn) was poached!!! A very sad day on this farm!!! A horrible day I will never forget!!!

It's a very humbling and satisfying feeling when a Mommy rhino brings her baby to the house for the first time to show her off!!!!! They trusted us so completely!!!! 

For the last 8 and a half years, the treads of our lives have been woven through this farm from corner to corner, from pillar to post and everything inbetween!!!

Late evening, giraffes and rhinos feeding right at my house!!! This was the view from my front veranda!!! Every day!!!

There has been wonderful adventures, new arrivals, great losses and incredible gains!!!

Roary!!! Isn't he just too cute for words!!!! He always loved pink!!!! Pink pillows, pink blankets and pink bottles for a baby boy!!!!

Amber, our first Tiger, has just become a Mommy herself!!!

My girls grew into wonderful young ladies!!!

Miss Molly!!! Turned 22 this year!!! Eeekkkkk!!!

Little Miss J!!! Will be 21 in November !!!! Eeeek!!! I hate the way time flies!!!

There's been tears but mostly there's been great joy and laughter!!! Well, there's always plenty of that going on!!!

Flamingoes at the waterhole!!! Way back in time when we had a good rainy season!!!What a sight that was!!!!

The most amazing sunsets every night and they were never the same!!!!

The weather played a big part in our lives......

Early morning frost!!! A cold winter about 4 years ago!!!

Rain showers like this was really very few and far between!!!  Every drop was precious!!!! This was after a night of an extremely heavy thunder storm!!!

Young Impala!!! So dainty and so beautiful!!!

A Sable ram!!! Pure muscle and brute strength!!! Very dangerous!!!

Buffalo.  The bull unfortunately learned to open the game fence and constantly escaped into the river!!! We watched one day and saw with our own eyes as all of them crawl through a warthog whole!!! Unbelieveable??!! Well, we still can't believe our eyes!!! But it's true!!!! Why is it that you never have a camera at times like that?!!!

Winston, a very bad tempered leopard!!!Except with Molly!!! She could scratch his head and make him roll onto his back for a tummy scratch!!!

A lazy male white lion snoozing!!!

The African Wild Dog

Sandstorms!!!! Eekk!!! I will not be missing these!!!!

Inside a sandstorm!!!! Just look at the grains of sand!!!! I love this photo!!!Taken by Little Miss J!!!

Amazing storms but sadly very little rain!!!!

I love this photo!!! 2 Beautiful rainbows on a stormy afternoon!!!!

There has been unforgettable parties!!!!

Shani, Molly and Jesse at Halloween!!!!

Country & Western Party!!! A great hit with everyone!!!

Miss Molly's 21st Birthday!!!!

Happy Valentine's Days!!!!!

Xmases was family time!!!Big Xmas eve dinners and lazy summer days!!!

There has been really fun treasure hunts during Easter holidays, lasting all day and over the whole farm!!! I think the adults had more fun than the kiddies!!!!

Little Miss J, Shani and friends during a game drive!!!! Oh what fun!!!!

There were always new little animals but I think this one stole Zennet's heart!!!

And for the first time ever, 4 generations of women,  here on the farm, all together at Miss Molly's 21st!!!

From Left - Right: Shani, My Mom, Margaret and in front little Kensi!!!!
4 Generations!!!! Great Grandma, Grandma, daughter Shani with her baby girl Kensi!!!My beautiful family!!! 

Buffy!!! Our trusted old farm bakkie!!! We have had the most amazing game drives with her!!! Got stuck in the mud a few times!!! Had the most amazing night time drives to see waves of eyes as the Springhares moved in and out of the spotlight!!! Been chased by the rhino's a lot of times and she was even stolen and found again!!!  At least she's going with us!!!

Summer fun!!!

Virtually living in the pool during our hot summer months!!!!

There were a couple of big snakes, but I think this one was the biggest!!!!

So with a big lump in my throat, it's a teary goodbye to this beautiful place and we are incredibly thankful for all the wonderful memories we're able to take with us!!! 

So, for the last time, it's goodbye from here and I'll see you soon on the other side!!!

Love
AMarie