Massage For The Horses

Stonecroft Red Cockade

Why am I feeling sooo Sleepy?

Little Tariq.....I like this Lady...

Stonecroft Ghost

Nothing stops her eating.....

I treated my horses to a massage today! They got the Bremer Blanket put on to help them relax and then the Bowen Teqnique Therapist massaged them. She picks up stuff that myself or the vets sometimes miss! They loved it,the stables are rather quiet with a lot of rather sleepy,relaxed horses there!

By The Grace Of God

My Sunshine Child

Captain of the First Team Girls Hockey

I have no idea why she has a photo of the Coach's legs.....

Star Athlete

She was born at five & a half months,her lungs were not fully developed yet. She fitted in her Fathers hand from head to toe. We were told the chances of her surviving were almost non-existing. She couldn't breathe on her own, you see. She was willful and struggled on, I was not allowed to pick her up very often....she was fed through a tube in her tiny little nose. Still the Doctors insisted that infection etc could set in any day. At three weeks of age they told us she had three large spots on her brain and would be a vegetable for the rest of her life...There was nothing they could do...She was obstinate and wouldn't give in..two weeks later after a scan the doctors told us that unbelievably, all three spots were gone....By the Grace of God, one said. I named her Jessica, meaning "The Lords Grace"  After three months in hospital she was given the all clear and I could take her home...She is now 18 years old.
Thank You Lord

Working The Horses In The Cool of The Evenings

We are working the horses later in the afternoons now that it has turned hot....

This is a very popular make of saddle used for Endurance racing in South Africa. This one is my Husband's...Note the emergency repair...Can you spot it??

Cules (short for Hercules everyone!), you should concentrate on your horse when you work him,you know....

More often than not,we work them at night too! Especially the horses that are going to be new at 120 km and 160km races. They have to be used to being handled and ridden at night. That's dust on the camera lens,it's really dry here at the moment. Have to start watering the ring and arenas every day now...

The Old Outhouse

If this abandoned old outhouse could speak........What stories would it have to tell?

The view from the old outhouse.....

On Golden Pond.... Did you know that the bulbs of  these Lilies contain a very strong Narcotic??

There is this strange little arid piece of land on the farm where Aloes abound...

I have identified at least four different species of Aloes on our farm, note to self,must find out what they are called......

I missed the flowering of this one...!

My B-day Cake and Presents!

Yesterday was my Birthday! I turned a whole old 41 years old yesterday. Hubby and my best friend ordered a very special cake to be made specially just for me! It had a (edible) picture of me and my horse at a endurance race where I was giving a photographer a royal little wave of the hand ( we are going really well here, be sure to take my picture.....),type of wave...and the next minute my horse exploded into a series of bucks like you haven't seen before and royal little Liesl was hanging on around said horses ears for all she's worth!

My Sis in-law gave me this........

Are you trying to tell me something Sis...? She didn't think I was being funny....

I LUV them Sis! Truly I do! They are stunning little baby cactus's. A much better gift than flowers that are going to die on me in a vase. What did hubby get me? If you don't particularly like jewelry and you don't really think perfume is a cool gift what does your husband give you for your b-day....? A spanking new racy blue,vacuum cleaner...that's what!!  I loved it!

Thanx guys I had a great B-Day!

Puppy Pictures of Minki

I found some puppy pictures of Minki last night,they're so cute when they are small..,why can't they stay small? Thinking about it again,have you ever house trained a puppy? I remember Googling the subject like crazy.....what did people do before the Internet? OK, so after waking up four times every night it became three,then twice and after (quite) a bit, it became once, and finally YAJ!! ...she slept straight through the night! Remember to take away food bowl and water bowl early in the evening..it's a handy tip,it works! Why am I remembering the puppy house training days so early in the morning.. I really have no idea! It was a year ago I did all that already! She is all grown up now,she demanded almost as much attention as my daughters did growing up..well,almost! Enjoy your puppies....
Love
Liesl
xoxo

The Hubster doing what he likes best

Someone else is keeping an eye on the chef.....

.....that's NXE Flower,she knows where to settle down for Winter barbeque's.

Winter?? Where's the snow? This IS Africa guys!

Riblets and Rib-eye steak for two..

Kids must have been out with the Boyfriends that night!

I'm feeling kinda hungry all of a sudden...

Stonecroft Ghost

Show Off!

Chickens

Hubby went and got some more hens for me from the local villages! I am so happy,I love hens! 

Look at these two, first day in new surroundings...... 

High alert,high alert!!!

Hubby travelled about 400km today and even bought some from roadside villagers!

New Arrivals And African Sunset by The Lake




Blue Bayou




Yogi Bear

If only I was a little bit older...

 


                                Sunset by the Lake

 






I can catch a hippo Ma!

 


Stingray



Radja and Sun Jewel

Looking forward to the rainy season...



Cute little streams everywhere






Flowers in the pond

 




One of our picnic spots under water

  The dry season is at it's peak now, everything is dry and dusty. We are happily anticipating the coming rains,the past two days we had promising clouds and it seems to be building up...Here are some pics of what the farm looks like in the rainy season.

Minki





Midday nap

Let me introduce you to my Jack Russel terrier Minki.She's not a dog,don't try and convince her otherwise,believe me,she knows she's not a dog.....We do have other dogs,a huge gangly young Greyhound, and three other Jack Russels and a smooth terrier.They Know they are dogs....Minki sleeps on the bed,takes over the house,plays tug of war whether you want to or not and gets very upset when the pickup truck leaves home without her, she never sulks though...she loves attention too much to sulk..At suppertime Minki never begs,she just makes sure no-one leaves food on their plates, she knows that if she stares hard enough hands do automatically raise and puts food in her mouth,that's not begging is it..?

Oh blessed nature.

Spring has sprung here on Stonecroft Farm. The mango and orange trees are in full bloom and the scent coming through my kitchen windows are just so intoxicating...I love the smell,I wish it could stay here forever.No supermarket perfume could ever capture those smells......can YOU smell it? It is so heady coming into the house on the warm spring breeze...