Magnificent bird on R701 outside Smithfield – a long way from home!
We were driving along the R701 dirt road from Smithfield to Wepener when I had to stop sharply and turn the car round to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. An African white-backed vulture, here? I tried to persuade myself that it was a Northern Black...
Three reasons why we wish it was Christmas holidays in Smithfield already …
Three pictures of our roses show what we’d like to share with our friends. Imagine what the late afternoon scent is like – wish you were here! Back verandah, overlooking the mountain Great stoep for sundowners, smelling the roses and watching the kestrels come...
Lilies – where they really belong
Our Orange River lilies are blooming at the moment. A great sight. And they are growing in my garden, virtually along the Orange River, where they belong. Actually only a slight exaggeration: Smithfield is 40 minutes from Aliwal North where the N6 crosses the Orange...
Blue cranes – a whole host of them!
Just back from the Bedford garden festival. And a fantastic time we had – not just in and around this gorgeous Eastern Cape dorpie, but also on the way. Here’s what we saw between Venterstad and Steynsburg: a flock of at least 46 Blue Cranes in some fields at the side...
Why we love the R701 between Wepener and Smithfield …
It’s a dirt road – which means we have fewer trucks and stupid drivers – and it offers some of the best scenery and skyscapes you can imagine. It’s also the most direct route for people coming to Smithfield from KZN or the wonderful Eastern Highlands route, via...
Sad sight along R701 near Smithfield … this is NOT a jakkals
IT’S always a sad thing to see ignorance and prejudice at work, especially when it involves cruelty – and where the perpetrators are proud of themselves. We often see dead jackal hanging over fences along farm roads, apparently to ‘warn’ other jackal that the farm is...
The disappearing mountain
YOU could say that the definition of a really happy person is a Smithfielder when there’s rain. So we have all been delighted with the rain that’s fallen over the last week, little though the total amount might be to people from Gauteng. But it was really odd to wake...
Bloemfontein airport sets example
SOMETIMES public facilities can set an example. In the case of the airport in Bloemfontein I would say, avoid the food at all costs (a way overpriced, poor selection of uninteresting grub) but do check out the gardens. Just outside the arrivals hall there is some very...
Unwelcome stranger in Smithfield, Free State
This is a stranger you smell first, long before any sighting. I was walking with my dogs on the mountain behind the tiny town of Smithfield this morning when the scent reached me: delicious, sweet and spicy. The strong wind blew the smell in all directions but I knew...
SNOW in Smithfield, falling hard and fast
Just back from a few days in warm Durban and woke this morning to the second snow fall of the season. Last one was just a half hour long. This one seems set to continue for a while; it’s a couple of hours now and no sign of letting up. A vintage seed planter in the...