trouble comes in threes!

These photos are posted just because I want to show you     - 

   that really! it is  not always fun and games in our lives....

It is now sugar cane cutting season and all the railway lines are buzzing with trains transporting sugar cane to the mill.

But, there is an obstruction on this line.....

no joke , my girl!

with trains approaching from both sides....we eventually had 3 trains waiting ....

                  The wheel fell off...literally!

The boat was too heavy for the trailer....the axle broke just as  Claude crossed the railway line...

sometimes we have to push the limit....

My gran used to say...'there is always a light at the end of the tunnel..."

                 but I would love to have asked my gran : "what if the light is an approaching train?"

The 3  sugar cane trains and trucks were halted  on the lines....

Mariska and I used this opportunity to grab pics for Facebook!

                                                       

                                               




The boat and train in an awesome photo.

Claude keeping the PRO and good relations going...last minute instructions....

and the train and precious cargo could slowly start to move forward......

                                                  the crane truck comes to the rescue.....

                                                                   boat moved out of the way......

                                               and off you go!

moce(good bye)..........


                                           and don't let this happen again!

As you can see it is now seriously dark......

 But at last the boat was on the truck and by 9.30 pm that evening we could relax!

   B  U  T  !!!!!




                                   t r o u b l e     comes       in      t h r e e s !




oooppsss!!

                      the day the tractor got stuck.......

                                                      ( please note the   lack  of any comment..........)

                                     


Fortunately the third oops was smaller.....

                       a broken slasher....

                              Mr Hall fixed it quick enough.....

                                                                                but ended up with an eye infection !

hopefully no more mishaps......!

ongoing work

The work on the farm is ongoing.....

Mary and Madonna , our goats, now have a very fancy shed....in fact, the chickens decided to move in as well!

                            Time is spent doing

                              garden maintenance, 

       

                    building,

                             planting , 

                                               cooking.....

it takes planning to feed all the hungry, hardworking ones!

At the moment we are also working on a new kitchen.  

Our existing eating area has no roof and with the rainy season approaching, we decided that a sheltered cooking and dining area is a priority.

                       This is a pic of the area, work in progress and a photo shop roof over the area.....


But it was also time to say goodbye to helpers....

Julia and Frieda (Germany) spoiled us with a farewell meal - making  a  traditional German dish - spätzle.  Translated it means ' little sparrow '  and is a type of a soft egg noodle - maybe something like gnocchi.  For days we have been saving the eggs that our hen has been laying - it was decided to use it all in their dish!

Frieda cutting up pork and she did a fine job, considering that it was her first time - she is actually a vegetarian!

Spätzle dough typically consists of few ingredients, principally eggs, flour and salt. Water is added to produce a thinner, runnier dough.

Traditionally, Spätzle are made by scraping dough off a wooden chopping board ("Spätzlebrett") into boiling salt water where they cook until they rise to the surface. They are then skimmed and put aside.

Since this can be a cumbersome way to prepare spätzle, several devices were invented to facilitate cooking that resemble a strainer, (colander) or coarse grater ("Spätzlehobel"). As with scraped Spätzle, the dough drops into the boiling water.

Julia had NONE of these......and clever girl invented her own strainer/press.  Using two tins that fitted into each other , she produced the perfect spätzle!

 Julia testing the strainer/ press ....

We thought that the making of the strainer was the hard work...oh no!  Keeping the fire going, and not ending up in the smoke was the hard work for these two!

dodging the smoke......

The spätzle looked something like this when cooked, but unfortunately we were all so involved in the meal , and then eating it - that we forgot to take photos when it was all done!!

 The names of people helping to develop Naciriyawa, are growing on our own  tree of remembrance......

                 
Too soon it is time to say goodbye to our helpers...


Thank you.