Monthly Archives: September 2023

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: It’s Heartwarming To See Honesty Boxes

“You put your money into the honesty box that’s on the table and then go home with your beautiful plant.”

PHOTO BY PIXABAY

September 25, 2023

When you drive up from the nature reserve, there’s a little table of plants in front of a polocrosse field. I often get strawberry plants and other little flowers from there to spruce up my garden. They have labels with a price or just a sign that says R10 or something. And you put your money into the honesty box that’s on the table and then go home with your beautiful plant.

The boys even bought a little strawberry plant the other day for a local Gogo’s birthday. Their dad helped them deliver it to her door, and the next week she had two fresh strawberries in her pot. They also bought me a blackberry bush so that we can grow our own sweet berries to eat. It’s very prickly and I haven’t found a good place for it yet. Didn’t Farmer McGregor have a blackberry hedge that Peter Rabbit hid behind? Maybe I’ll try that.

If I’m Honest, There’s So Much To See In Oribi Gorge

The honesty table even had a geocache by it a while ago! The boys were very excited to spend an afternoon doing that with their cousins and have found all sorts of little treasures in our area here.

Plus, if we drive slowly enough, we can see the ostriches that live at the polocrosse field, a sight that really excites little imaginations. They’re spectacular birds, though it seems odd to call them that.

They’re nothing like mannikins or the lovely sunbird that’s back making her nest on my porch this year again. They can’t soar over the deep gorge and farmlands like the majestic vulture colonies we adore here. And they don’t sit still in the shadows and blend in with the green like the gorgeous Narina trogons, either.

In any case, seeing ostriches in Oribi Gorge shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s a place that takes your breath away for many reasons, including the beauty of still being able to have an honesty box in the neighbourhood.

Don’t forget your R10 notes next time you come up here. You might get a flower or shrub for your garden to remind you of this beautiful part of the world.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Up Close and Personal With Nature

“How wonderful that we get to see these creatures right here at home, sharing this space with us.”

PHOTO BY PIXABAY

 

September 18, 2023

How close have you stood to a buck? Could you see the roughness of its coat shimmering in the sun as it twitched its nose at you? Could you see the concern in its bright black eyes at your proximity? I’m always surprised at how big some of them are.

The other day, I was running through the macadamias. I was on a little detour from my usual route, just on a whim. Why not? The sun was out.

A Surprise Encounter Could Have Gone Either Way

A few kilometres further, I was following the fire break’s very uneven path. It made it hard to run fast, but at least the cliffs and river made for gorgeous views. I was trying to find my way back to the main farm road to head home. I knew the general direction but it’s not easy to see over hills and around big trees for grass tracks.

Going up one steep, I had my head down. Admittedly, I was puffing and panting a bit at that point. So, I didn’t see the huge reedbuck in the bracken right next to me. It must have been lying down. And suddenly, about two metres from me, it jumped up and charged, thankfully in the other direction.

As its hooves thundered, all I could think of was how grateful I was that it wasn’t a bushbuck. Those charge at you – ask one of our neighbours who landed up in hospital!

The Antelope’s Size Up Close Is Breathtaking

I remember being in the Drakensberg as a child and suddenly finding myself at very close range to a few eland grazing by a little stream. The beasts were absolutely gigantic. I was standing near enough to see their ears flicking the flies away and the ticks on their rumps.

As an adult, I’d be standing quite a bit further away I think. Those horns and heavy bodies aren’t worth a selfie. But they’re so beautiful. I see them down the road here every now and again, but always at a distance on this game reserve’s hills.

How wonderful that we get to see these creatures right here at home, sharing this space with us. I think it might be a good idea to stick to the main roads on most other days, though. ‘Trampled’ isn’t something I hoped to have on my tombstone.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Ever-Changing Gardens for Those Who Walk in Them

“It’s time to prune in order to grow.”

Lavender in bloom.

 

September 5, 2023

The thorn tip that attacked my wrist is finally out, and the scratched-up wrists and arms are almost healed already. This garden is thorny, and I’ve left it quite a long time to itself with small babies growing in me, and then being on my hip these last few years.

But this time of year is the final opportunity to get things chopped and pruned and weeded while everything is dry and dying. It’s easier to pull things out. It’s also easier to see into the dense bush and tree in case there are one of the many venomous snakes hiding. We have so many here.

Blood, Sweat, and Some Tears in Our Thorny Garden

So, bleeding arms, blisters, and cut up shins are just par for the course when trying to handle lantana and the many other thorny things I’m trying to get under control.

There’s even an extremely poisonous vine that pops up, with three pronged leaves. Apparently, there are a few species around. The ones with purple flowers are okay. The orange-flowered ones have poisonous fruit and leaves, so even pulling them out is a bit treacherous.

There’s always a bit of sadness, too, at seeing the gaping holes in the garden where the weeds were or where we chop it back. But come summer, that fills in rather quickly. I’m almost through the blackjacks here now. But the moon-shaped burrs are still going crazy. They’re much harder to pull out than blackjacks, too. We’ll get there.

Looking Back, It’s Worth It

If I look back at the garden we arrived to six years ago, or rather the dense, weed-filled bush that surrounded the house, a little bit of pride pops up at how far it’s come. It’s still bushy and rough, but it’s beautiful to me. It’s growing and changing. It’s thinning out here and there and showing some results for all my hours of work.

Like our family that is growing up faster than the weeds, it’s worth the struggles and the blood. And in twenty years or so, we might look back in wonder at all the progress. I hope so.

Published here.