drought

As Jan and Nina had big water tanks, they could at least keep their veggie garden going, and I also benefitted from that, as the surplus was always given over to my side. Poor Skramunkel broke my heart as she stood at the chicken wire fence, looking with longing at the wonderful green food on the other side, and Nina ogling her with cold eyes in case she managed to get through the fence and devour their stuff, ready to do battle!
We were once again all together on Xmas day, but for once everybody did their own thing on Xmas eve, and it felt very strange to not have all my kids together.
But we all joined in to cook a Xmas lunch, and sat under the huge old pepper tree, just talking, some giving a snore now and then. It was quite cold, and we had to put on jackets, and that in the middle of summer! But Haarlem, I found out only after I bought my place, was one of the coldest places in South Africa.
We all went to Under Kouga, a beautiful place deep in the mountains, where the river was still flowing, taking the kayaks, as the kids became a bit bored with just lying around, as all their friends were away on holiday. It was a lovely day, and just rowing along the riverbank was so peaceful, and all the worlds troubles were forgotten for a few hours.
I lay on my back on the slow running water, as I am lucky to have very porous bones, or something, as I can lie for ages without moving, just drifting, and watching now and then to see where the water was taking me. I had a fright when the kids in the kayak suddenly splashed me with the oars, turned on my tummy, and felt my glasses slip off my face and into the water, never to be found again. The boys dived for some time to try and locate it, but that pair of sunglasses had disappeared forever.
All too soon the holiday was over, and we had to face reality again.

I went to get some food for Skramunkel one morning, but was told that there was none to be found anywhere, as the farmers were holding on to every scrap they had, and even the dry pellets that I used lately were not available anymore. I did not know what to do, as I had depleted the small source of fresh grass, and with no hope of getting food for the horse, I was feeling very, very helpless.
I drove all the way to George, where I found some horse feed at the co-op, but knew that the three bags they still had was only enough for a short while, and first thing every morning I went out to see if there were any clouds in the sky.
The field fires became more frequent, and sometimes came close to my house, and I had to use my small amount of alotted water to wet the roof, which was by now very dry, and would catch fire from only a small piece of ash that was hot enough to ignite the thatch.