I had a super week-end, specially Sunday, when my friend Louise and self went to Willowmore for lunch, and the to a farm to look at the woman's collection of fossils collected in the koppies (low mountains) of their farm. I was overawed, and now believe that the scientists'e.s stories that the Karroo, that is this very dry part of South Africa on the other side of the mountains from where I live, and where only the toughest farmers and animals survive, is indeed true! It is then no surprise that sheep and goats are the most important live-stock here-abouts. This woman showed us the most wonderful fossils of small animals and also leaves, but the most wonderful was the fossils of all kinds of sea shells, and mussels. Looking over this dry and desolate countryside, it is indeed hard to believe that thousands of years fish swam around and inbetween the koppies!
I have sown a lot of seeds in holders, and now Bush had made beds for him to sow half of the seeds directly into the ground, so that we can see which will do best.
My connection to the main water supply had gone awry, and whatever I did, it would not close properly, with the result that water is spouting out of the sprinklers all the time, and my newly ploughed land was fast becoming sodden! I went up to the municipality's offices, and asked them to ask Oom Vlei, the general over see-er and maintenance man, to come and have a look. It took him about five days, and only after Berty Emil's nanny visited, and promised to work his gall a bit, did he arrive, complete with two helpers!
The helpers looked, hmm and hahed, the told me what I already knew, and that was that the whole gadget was busted.As this connection is the municipality's baby to keep up, I asked Oom Vlei when he would be able to fix it. He looked around my ploughed land, then fixed his eyes on the far hills, and pronounced that they could do it now, but they did not have such a gadget. I thought that they did not have it with them, but no, he said, if I wanted it done, I will have to buy my own, as he had no money left in the kitty to buy one! I was aghast, as he should have this in stock, as all the small farmers would need new ones from time to time!
I just don't know what our country is coming to! So I had to drive all the way to Misgund, and pay for this thing out of my own pocket. But I am just not leaving this case just there, and would complain to the George municipality, of which we are a part of.
But the above sunset scene from my back door when the sun went down was just amazing, and between that and the little Emil's smile, things that bothered me became much less less important.