Sunday 27th May 2012
Not in the dam yet, but a lot closer
I stomped about the East field in gumboots for a while, looking for a route to the far side of the dam. (Okay – the pond.) By digging out a few stumps and dragging a pile of rotting timber out of the way, I cleared a route through the overflow channel below the wall. The test run was a little like playing Camel Man – getting up the thickly grassed bank on the way out was not encouraging, but I decided that it was worth trying with a half-load.
An hour’s huffing and puffing with a shovel gave me plenty of opportunity to practice different earth-chucking techniques. The idea is to throw the earth as low over the edge of the pickup as possible to put the minimum amount of energy into each spade full. I did use an old groundsheet to protect the paintwork though – I didn’t think Christa would appreciate me chucking several Kilograms of sand and stones at her half of the pickup! The most efficient technique was to let go the left hand and follow through with the right hand, it seems. The result is that I ended up looking like Dame Margot Fonteyn waving to her fans while leaving the stage after a standing ovation, but since no-one was watching, that didn’t matter.
As an antidote to the rather poncy shovel-ballet, getting the bakkie out of there made me feel very butch. Whereas on the trial run it had skidded and slithered all over the place, with a load in the back the vehicle simply sat down on the suspension and burbled up the embankment in second gear. I might even be encouraged to find a way into the dam later.
I’ll be trying to clear at least one load of silt a day until the rains start in earnest. The problem though is that the soil has odd outcrops of sandstone rocks embedded in it, and whacking a spade into one of those can be rather a jarring experience.
I’m also astonished at the amount of glass I’m digging up. Stephen has noticed the same phenomenon on his property. Not really surprising, he says, considering the amount of alcohol consumed in this village over the years! When cultivation and small farming ground to a halt in the area, the pond was apparently more useful as a rubbish tip. The side of the pond nearest the house promises to be a real trial. I shall have to devise a sifting system, I think.
My laptop screen competes with the braai fire
I decided to build a simple fireplace outside and have a braai on Saturday. I left it quite late, so ended up scrambling for suitable wood in near-darkness. I had this romantic notion of writing on the laptop while my three chicken drumsticks sizzled away and the potatoes cooked in the coals.
Ha! Writing requires continuous concentration – and so does a barbeque. Eventually I stowed the laptop and decided to relax with a glass of cheap wine and expensive peanuts. Well, relax between bouts of turning the grill and prodding the coals about. I enjoyed the evening though, but would have enjoyed it more if Christa was here to share it, instead of having to second-guess script changes in Johannesburg. I really look forward to the time when she can spend a bit of time here.
I was going to take it easy today, but in fact ended up doing quite a bit of physical work. I levelled an area for the compost bin cum cabin heater, then slowed down a bit to put together a vegetable and chicken stew. While the stew simmered away in one of my new microwave casserole dishes, I took a walk around the boundary, panga in hand, thinking I would hack lazily at some of the new growth in areas that had been cut. I must be becoming obsessive, because I was away for nearly two hours and worked up quite a sweat. After a brief rest with a cup of tea, I prodded the stew and re-started the microwave, then off I went to shovel a load of soil off the pickup.
I think I’m entitled to try my stew now!