A Week Away from Rich Ranch

If you are a regular reader then you will know how I appreciate where I live and that I am very happy in what I do but every now and then we have to run away and make sure we can still do the city thing.

This week we came up to Johannesburg and on Monday we celebrated Richard’s birthday with an evening out. Just the two of us – no children and no grandchildren. Call us selfish but we just wanted to enjoy each other’s company and that is what we did.  We ate nearly two kilos of prawns had a bottle of wine and just gassed about every and anything.

We did a little work on the cluster in the garden and had the curbing done so that we can have a bit of a garden and not have too much maintenance. We visited one son in Lonehill, Johannesburg and had the other one over for supper and the rest of the time just enjoyed our home.

Owl Box to be Erected

Now on Saturday we did something that we never have the opportunity to do and that is to take a slow drive and see all the weekend farm stall markets where the locals in that area bring their wares to sell. They sell anything from jams and chutneys to jewellery and plants. We saw an ad in the newspaper about this market and what we actually wanted to see was a gentleman who makes “Owl Boxes”  We are going to put one up on the farm in such a position o that we can draw them nearer to the house. Apparently they will see to the control of our rats and mice situation. I will keep you updated on that.

As you know we did on a previous occasion put some Koi in our dam but the day we released them into the dam was the last we saw of them. They have either been eaten by the bird of prey or they are hiding in the reeds. We actually bought them way too small and this may be the reason they were prey for the fish eagles and the like of them.

Selecting the Koi

Pig Having a Tummy Rub

Pig & Pony

The first Koi farm that we went to the gentleman wasn’t too clued up on the Koi and us knowing absolutely zip about the fish needed some real good advice. Then Richard remembered a Koi farm he had visited many years ago. Off we went and just outside Benoni we found “Joshua Koi”. What an absolutely fabulous and interesting Place. The owner and his family firstly knows their stuff as far as Koi are concerned and had all the time in the world for us and explained what we needed to do with the fish in our natural dam. Then they have all these interesting animals strolling around. There are emus and donkeys, ponies and even a tame pig strolling around. I couldn’t get enough of everything on the property.  Should anyone ever want to buy or know about Koi don’t hesitate to contact joshuakoi122@gmail.com  I will keep you updated on our progress.