‘n Pers Onthou

Die laat lente staan vasgevang in pers op die pad tussen Bonnievale en Robertson in ‘n laan  van Jakarandas. Ek probeer die wonder van die ervaring vasvang met my kamera maar die magiese van die pers bo my en onder my voete ontwyk my lens. Die reuk van die jakaranda blomme kom lê soet en ligpers in my neus waar ek deur die laning stap en fotos neem.

Die jakarandas is maar net die begin van ‘n fees van visuele  plesier wat elke naweek die pad huis toe versier  deur die jaar. Die rye en rye rooi kannas is besig om die pad in Kersfees rooi en groen te tooi en sal teen Kersfees weer mure van rooi teen die groen wingerde en boorde staan.

Die pad huis toe is een van die mooistes en mens arriveer by die huis verkwik deur die skoonheid van die vallei. Waar die vallei ‘n mens dwing om die mooi te ervaar en gedwonge ‘n mens se gedagtes verander na die wonder en mooi van die natuur en lewe. Die kop skuif verander na ‘n hart skuif waneer ‘n mens deur Towerwater se hekke ry.

Skielik kom lê die plesier onder jou hart met die wete dat hierdie lappie vrede vir ‘n naweek net joune is.  Die jakaranda tapyt wapper kortstondig van die teer af op waneer die bakkie daaroor ry net om weer die pad sag en ligpers agter ons te laat.

Ek onthou as kind hoe versigtig ek altyd oor die jakaranda blomme op die gras geloop het by die munisipale swembad in Worcester. Ek is menigmaal deur ‘n by angel verras waneer ek op ‘n by getrap het wat na stuifmeel in een van die blomme op die grond gesoek het.

Die uitrek van die angel en die pynvolle hardloop na die veilige lafenis van die water was amper een beweging.

Met voetsole wat die sagte pers tapyt  van my jeug onthou stap ek deur die hek by Towerwater en die lekker van die tuiskoms kom  lê warm binne my.

A Blessed Garden

November brings with it the old familiar tasks in the garden like harvesting garlic and flattening the onion leaves to assist the bulb formation.

Freshly Harvested Egyptian Pink garlic

Red,brown and white onions getting ready for harvesting

The extensive root treatment that Keith and Shawn gave the oak trees seems to be bearing fruit. A couple of turtle doves have decided to move into one of the trees that are once again covered in leaves. If I was a bird I would also want to make my nest in our garden.

Lunch on the lawn under the oaks

The green lawn spread-out under the oaks is so inviting that one wants to eat every meal outdoors in this little paradise surrounded by the chatter of birds. But the frantic pace of activity on the property only allows for a relaxed meal now and then.

Bee haven

Tomato cages

The bed of flowers at the bottom of the vegetable garden is a welcome haven for bees. With the structures for the tomatoes progressing nicely, the garden is an exciting place with all the reed structures and supports for the different vegetables.

Variety of carrots and beetroot

I love the colours and textures 

The Atomic red carrots were ready for harvesting. I enjoy their flavour and decided to sow them again in the future. The red and orange beetroot made an amazing display in the basket and will be a welcome accompaniment to summer meals.

The Hydrangea flower

The hydrangeas we planted earlier this year are flowering and once more the garden had a surprise installed with the multi petal blooms.

Pomegranate fruit and flower

With the fruit and vegetables starting to ripen and the herbs starting to get bigger, the garden is once more becoming a haven of activity. I will have to start thinking up meals to complement the produce in the garden.

Standing on the kitchen stoep with the sun on my skin and the fragrance of a happy garden spread out about me, I count my blessings and embrace the results of all our hard labour. 

  

Fighting Terrestrial Pulmonate Gastropod Molluscs at a snail’s pace

My eternal struggle against the snail invasion in the garden is well documented. When a seedling disappears because of a wayward snail I am not too heartbroken because I will just sow more seeds. My biggest battle in the garden must be to save the Valencia orange from the relentless attack of snails. The snails have started eating the bark off the branches and are systematically killing the tree.

Snails in attack formation

I have sprayed the tree with soapy water in the hope that the snails will stop eating it but they are undeterred by this method. I imagine them eating away at the bark and leaves with soap suds billowing from their mouths like rabid terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs.

I like the scientific name for snails - terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs – it makes my problem sound serious. If I tell friends in the city that snails are invading my garden they look bored and roll their eyes as if to say how, can snails invade a garden when they hardly move. When I mention at a supper that terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs are invading my garden I have everybody’s attention.

Future test subjects

To understand my problem I had to research how snails eat. Snails have thousands of microscopic tooth-like structures located on a ribbon-like tongue called a radula. The radula works like a file, ripping food into small pieces.  I have seen the damage these snails can cause and it does look like the bark of the Valencia has been filed away.

The Naartjie wearing its copper band

I have decided to try copper bands around the trunks of the vulnerable citrus trees to prevent the snails from getting into the trees. Before I placed the copper around the trunks I decided to try the copper solution on two test subjects. The juvenile subject was placed in the copper wire circle and when it encountered the copper wire it pulled its smaller tentacles into its body. Clearly the description that snails experience a sort of electric shock when encountering the copper wire is true.

In a desperate need for satisfaction to avenge my suffering tree, I was hoping for loud screams from the snail. Unfortunately the whole experiment was silent and very slow. The second subject, an adult, was more determined to cross the copper barrier. It looked as though it was going to use its radula on the copper wire. I decided to move if the snail managed to file through the copper wire with its radula, but luckily it recoiled from the copper wire.

The two test subjects were relieved from the experiment and I am glad to say that they will not harm any plants in the future. Not because the experiment left them traumatised and made them change their plant eating ways but because they were squashed.

Close up of the copperbands around the Naartjie trunk

My trees are now the proud owners of sparkling copper bands around their trunks to prevent snails from attacking them. Now I have to be on the alert for copper thieves.

The Beauty of Traditional Teapots

I have always liked classic pieces of furniture, crockery, cutlery and ceramics. Apart from it never ageing it is always made to be functional yet beautiful in its simplicity.

When I saw a Brown Betty teapot for the first time I just loved the simple lines and the brown glaze. The traditional Brown Betty is a round teapot with a manganese brown glaze known as a Rockingham glaze.

Brown Betty teapots with coloured stripes

Potteries used the red clay that was discovered near Stoke-on-Trent in England in 1695, to make the original teapots. The ceramics made from this clay retained heat better and was used as a material for teapots as early as the seventeenth century. The early pots were tall and looked more like coffee pots. It was only in the nineteenth century that the pots were made round.

The original Brown Betty teapots that started it all

It was the pot preferred by Queen Victoria who popularised tea drinking. The Brown Betty is considered the teapot that makes the best tea. The design of the pot allows the tea leaves more freedom to swirl around as the hot water is poured into the pot, releasing more flavour and less bitterness.

Mottled drip-less Brown Betty teapots

This combined with the better heat retention capabilities made it a popular teapot. The basic design of the pot is considered by many tea drinkers to be the best teapot design ever created.

The teapot was made for the general public as a utilitarian piece for daily use. It needed to be durable and cheap and was made from good terracotta clay which would hold the heat nicely.

I prefer the Brown Betty made by Alcock, Lindley and Bloore Ltd who were located in Clough Street in Hanley from where they operated from 1919 until 1979 when they closed down.

Brown striped Brown Betty teapots

Our collection of Brown Betty teapots has grown over the years, finding their way to Towerwater occasionally as gifts from friends.  Mostly, the collection has grown as a result of our forever being on the lookout for the familiar shape and lid at markets, second-hand and antique stores.

I still get excited when I see one and although I have a reserve price that I am prepared to pay, I have been known to succumb to my love for these pots and paid more.

The Brown Bettys in our collection have become functional pieces of art in commemoration of an era when tea drinking was a way of life.

“Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company” ~ Author Unknown

Advert for Alcock, Lindley and Bloore Ltd's drip-less teapots - Pottery Gazette, April 1953

November Showers

Another busy weekend, with many pleasures and surprises followed at Towerwater, with Keith replacing the heating element of the geyser of the main house. Shawn and his brother Fungani provided the oak trees with their second treatment of iron chelate for the season. The oaks are responding well to the extensive root treatment that Keith and Shawn administered in autumn.

Wedding and Cherry Garland turned to confetti in the wind

I sowed the freshly turned herb beds with basil, Swiss chard (bright lights) for colour, cilantro, celery, arugula and lots of lettuce. The tomato seedlings were big enough to be transplanted. I can’t wait to see what the green and black tomatoes are going to look like.

I sowed my variety of brinjals for the new season and if the seeds come up I will have white brinjals again. All the beans came up standing like little soldiers in rows with a couple of them already fallen to the trick or treating snails, trick for me - treat for the snails. At least somebody was celebrating Halloween.

The bean bed with casualties in the foreground 

Now I need Shawn to complete the supports for the beans and tomatoes. Building the reed structures to support the vegetables is like playing with Meccano Toys and the vegetable beds are getting a very structural feel.

Thai Gold corn and freshly planted tomatoes

The gate bell rang and I met Elana at the gate who had brought a radio presenter to interview us about the house and garden. A whirlwind of a person got out of the car and before I knew what hit me I agreed to an interview taking comfort in the knowledge that it is for radio. Saturdays are usually working days at Towerwater and we tend to spend it in working clothes. I soon learned that radio is not just voice anymore but very visual with videos to place on the website and social media.

We took a leap of faith and decided to trust Haidee, the radio presenter, and relaxed into the interview working clothes and all.  It was quite an experience being directed through the house trying to fit years of history into 7 minutes.

Julia Child's Coq au Vin

Supper with friends later that evening turned into a French themed affair with duck foie gras with figs, coq au vin and salted caramel crepe flambé. I used Julia Child’s recipe for coq au vin to bring in a bit of American influence for our friends that were missing out on Halloween celebrations back home.

Duck foie gras with figs

In South Africa, Halloween is more of a commercial event than the tradition it is in America. The supper provided an opportunity to enjoy the generous gifts of foie gras and salted caramel from our friends in Paris.

Sunday morning was rather blustery with the wind blowing the leaves off trees, petals off the roses and really testing the strength of the structures in the vegetable beds. The wind was serious about announcing the cold front that was on its way, and I realised that I still needed to transplant the tomato seedlings.

The garden as viewed through the screen door.

With help from Keith, planting the tomatoes turned into a mad running with seedlings, making holes, putting the seedlings in the holes and planting them while the rain drops fell in our necks like icy reminders of what was coming. With the tomatoes planted we retreated into the warm comfort of the house and watched the welcome rain refreshing the garden, through the screen on the kitchen door.

Rose petal covered lawn

The wind turned the garden into a petal strewn wonderland and the November showers added a wet glow to the greens, blues, reds, whites, yellows, pinks and oranges in the garden. The drops hanging from the leaves and petals captured different scenes creating miniature artworks reflecting the beauty of the garden before falling to the ground and shattering into a million drops of welcome wetness.