Thursday, July 19, 2012

Update on last two weeks!

Been very busy doing lots of things lately...A 23 year Matric Reunion,what a blast..,buying and selling Historical Boerperde and Arabians....,buying sheep and goats....,doing repairs on the farm,fences etc...and a horrible event much too close too home and all too common these days here in South Africa that left me shaken and upset.....I try to only focus on the positive but this I feel I must share....


Let's get the BAD off and done with first...last Thursday afternoon as I was about 7km away from our farm travelling very slowly with a huge load off round grass bales I purchased for our horses and blissfully thinking about what to wear and pack for Cules and I for  my 3 day long Matric Reunion event we were leaving for the next day...I get this call from my daughter Tarien's  girlfriend......" Aunty Liesl,Aunty Liesl,it's Anna..., come quick.... my Dad has just been shot at the chicken house....!!!!.....and the phone goes dead......I immediately phoned Cules and told him (he phoned the police) and drove on as fast as I could...I was first on the scene and there stood our friend, blood streaming of his face and holding a shattered arm (bullet wounds)...he was standing right next to the road and had been for a while and not one car stopped to help!!!! About one minute later Cules and another friend arrived and Cules drove the victim to the private hospital in Tzaneen..I got a frantic call from his wife and tried to calmly tell her her husband is alert and on his  way to hospital....After X rays and cleaned up they discovered FOUR bullet marks on his head...he calmly told the doctors how the thieves tried to execute him by shooting him in the head from behind and how each time when he sensed the shot was going to be fired he tried desperately to move his head aside...it worked and the bullets glanced of his skull every time....! We are all so relieved that he is OK...words cannot express how I feel about crime in this beautiful country...If I could, I would take my kids and move to America in a heartbeat and leave everything here....


OK,rant over...moving on....

The Historical Boerperd Stud I went to visit to find some horses for various customers...




The Three Musketeers..
In a herd of about 30 something horses these three brothers were hanging together all the time...

"Buy me,no buy me,no,no me!!"..was what they seemed to be saying to me...

The beautiful big dark bay on the left had an injury so I left him..

The stunning cream in the middle has a tendency to buck..so needless to say he stayed as well...

The tiny,ugly Roman nosed little dun however..I am going to fetch this morning..I already bought and sold a huge bright bay gelding from this herd last week...





This was hilarious..the big steel grey (recently gelded ) stallion crept up on his sons and created a bit of havoc in their genteel day...





As a final test for some special horses...I made the owner turn the whole herd loose after they have been standing in the corral the whole day,,as you can see it was dusk by then...

As the horses disappeared in the far distant setting sun...I asked the owner to call them back again...

and this big blazed mare whom I liked very much and a yearling filly were the only ones to come back immediately.

Unfortunately the mare has an old injury and the filly is still too young...

I have to try really hard not to buy all the ones I like!!

My husband would KEEL me!!




The 23 year Matric reunion!!

These pics were all taken with phones so excuse the quality.




Eruka and me.

I was the only girl who had given up dying her hair for the moment..hrmph!!!

I see that my huge glass of vino is almost empty here..no wonder I am laying my head down on Eruka's shoulder...




I never touched alcohol in school and was very keen to show the everyone that 23 years on,I had learned a thing or two about Chocolate Tequila Shot drinking!!!

What fun we had!




Everybody partied and chatted very late into the night....For three days running!





My very best friend from Gr 1 right to Gr 12!

Heila has just recovered from breast cancer....

You go Girl!!


The End




22 comments:

  1. Very very sorry to hear of the violence in your beautiful country. I have a friend in another town which is going through the same thing. I pray for peace and safety for you all.

    The horses are absolutely beautiful and I'm glad you had a nice time at your reunion. Would you believe I've never been to a reunion. I figure since I don't keep up with any of these people we likely wouldn't have much in common.

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    1. I also thought some of us might not have much to say...but being adults we all had a blast catching up on each other' news!!!

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  2. That sounds like a really scary act of violence against your friend. I'm so glad to read that he is ok.
    Lovely horses, my middle daughter loves horses - I must show her your pictures.
    Looks and sounds as if you really enjoyed your reunion. It's always nice to meet up with old friends.
    Keep safe!!!!

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    1. Hi Ellie, we are all so happy he is Ok too! The reunion was so much fun!

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  3. oh, liesl. i am so sorry to hear about your friend being shot! how terrible! i hope that they can catch the thieves and attempted murderers! that would scare me, truly!

    i loved the horses. so glad your buying and selling is going well. and you are just as cute as can be with your short grey hair! love it!!!

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    1. Hi Teresa,I am scared,every morning is a blessing...I love my life and just do what I do best...horses,grey hair and all!! Thanx for the compliment!

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  4. Those are really amazing pictures of the horses, WOW. And I believe this is the first time I've seen a picture of YOU? Nice to see you!! :)

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    1. Hi there,those horses were quite something! Glad you got to see what I look like!

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  5. It happens all too often this is my second story in two day of a near miss. I worked for a chiropractor in Jhb and almost all our patients were from stress rather than back problems. I will not go into the cause of the stress!

    I love duns, everyone I have ever known have been good show jumpers. Take care please. Diane x

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    1. I am waiting for the dun to settle in a bit,he is scared to death of the pigs and my arena is close by...need I say more...These close calls I would love to call a thing of the past...only option is to move to States...

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  6. The story of your neighbor is frightening! Of course, we have violence here in the US but not, I think, like you are experiencing. So frightening! I love your hair. I think about letting mine go grey but I worry that I will lose my job if they know my age... It shouldn't matter but but the culture of my organization is "young and energetic". One of these days though, I will. I love the dun, he's very cute.

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    1. Not fair about not being allowed to look your age in your job!! You would look super! The situation here in RSA is not good at all...

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  7. We really don't hear about the violence in South Africa. Has it increased since the end of apartheid? It is a shame that people resort to violence for whatever they feel they will accomplish. I am relieved to hear your friend had the sense to do what he did under those extreme circumstances.
    I love your hair just as it is, Liesl! Would you tell my sisters to do the same?

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    1. Hate to say it Jim,but during Apartheid we were all safe,black and white,except for the political ones that fed on violence for personal gain..,now we are all open targets....Thank you for the compliment...your sisters are so gorgeous I can understand why they don't want to go grey yet!

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  8. So sorry to hear the story of your neighbor. I hope the police catch the criminals.

    That reunion looks like fun! Love your hair - both the cut and color.

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    1. I doubt much effort will be put into finding them....Thank you for the compliment...

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  9. Holy Cow! What a story. I sure hope things are going well for that poor man. So good to see pictures of you enjoying yourself! You look great!

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    1. Thank you Lori,he is fine now..except for the emotional scarring..I had a real blast cause all this happened just the day before and I figured I will live every day like it is my last...

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  10. What the heck!? That is horrible and super amazing at the same time. Hard for us here in the states to take in I think. Come here! You can live with me! Bring your horses!

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    1. Bringing all the horses might be a little too expensive...I've put them on the market and are on my way!!!!!

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  11. So sorry to hear that about your friend! What a horrible incident, but miraculous that he survived.

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  12. We came to visit your country in 2006 after an invite from a young man from Malmsbury on the Western Cape. He taught us to be on guard for acts of violence while we were there and never let us out of his sight. He left SA for Australia in 2007 and has only been back to visit once since then. When we met his parents on a visit to Australia they too expressed how at ease and safe they felt being out of the country. IT IS A SHAME!!!! SA is so beautiful. People like you are welcome in the States. I have a facebook friend who left SA for Nebraska also.

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Hi,thank you for stopping by "A Little African Magic" and joining my adventures in South Africa. I do enjoy and appreciate to hear from each and every one of you!