Last days on the farm

On Saturday morning there was great excitement as little J, next door to my sister, was celebrating her 5th birthday. All week this sweet little girl had been looking forward to her big day. Her granny had made her a princess dress and there was princess cake, princess party packs and a fantastic spread of sweet and savoury food for the adults to enjoy. The kids and some of the adults had great fun on a water slide too!

The little princess with the girls.

Later in the afternoon the kids took to the pool. The heat in this part of our beautiful country is sometimes almost unbearable.

In the evening we enjoyed a braai (barbecue) Free State style (lots of good meat!) with my sisters neighbour and some of her friends. My sister and I went into her prolific vegetable garden to pick the salads for the braai. Her garden is just amazing. She started it about 2 months ago and we have enjoyed eating from it every day! Just look at the size of the marrow!

Sunday was a quiet day as I had been up during the night with Z who was not well. We all enjoyed the tranquility around the cottage. It was a day spent enjoying books and catching up on some rest.

My sisters husband was also busy with honey and the sweet aroma filled the cottage.

Late afternoon my sister took us for a drive to the old stone church on the farm. The Caledon River lies just below and the views across to Lesotho are amazing. The setting is tranquil and the church beautiful even though it has had the floors etc removed.

A view from the church.....

A stop on the way back to the cottage....

Monday was our last day and hubby and I made a last dash into town with the girls for some last minute shopping at the Chinese stores. In the afternoon much of the packing was done and K got in a ride on one of the ponies.

Late afternoon we joined up with the Vdl family and all went fruit and veg picking. It was amazing how much was picked in such a short space of time. The kids had fun riding around the farm on the back of the bakkie . We picked peaches, apricots, nectarines, marrows and patti pans.

Back at the cottage we sorted the huge haul of fruit and veg for the 3 families, and we were blessed to be able to bring home as much as we wanted to. (It has been shared with many grateful friends and family members since we have been home, and today I plan to cook up the last marrows!)

The Vdl family joined us at the cottage for our last evening and fun was had as all 10 kids and 6 adults enjoyed a meal of baby marrow quiche, tuna quiche, salads from the garden and a delicious apricot dessert.

Z who was still not feeling 100%, snuggled down with one of my sisters dogs for the night. As I lay my head on my pillow and drifted off to sleep, the tears just rolled down my cheeks spontaneously........

It was the end of an amazing holiday with my sister and her family and we would be waking at 4

a.m to make the long journey home....