Ellisha celebrated her thirtieth the other day. And ofcourse, the matriarch and oldest sibling were still giving her the ins and outs of how to cut the cake etcetera.

But it went without an hitch and everyone, to my surprise, had the same size and quantity as the other.

Nice dinners were enjoyed and after the "blowing out the candles" most of us went to try our luck on the pokies. Well, my loss of two hard-earned dollars blew my budget. But not for some, they went home smoking!

Some of the bods went clubbing afterwards, but as others had to drive home for many kilometers, the night finished around midnight.

Van Harte Gefeliciteerd en tot volgend jaar!

Tree of Wisdom

So, been a while! The keyboard had gone rusty, keys stuck, the button of the Enter key gone walkabout and one of the little legs broken, which made the entire thingo gone wobbly.

Out with the vacuum cleaner and after removal of ciggie ash and biscuit crumbs, a trial was carried out with success and decided to continue this blog again.

Summer has gone by without too many hassles and has been replaced by gusty winds without any real rain, so water restrictions are still adhered to. Those five minute showers and driving dirty automobiles are so common that soon we do not know the difference anymore. We have become more appreciative of the usual take it for granted availability of water.

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to head for Mildura for a weekend of rest and recuperation. For hours we drove past paddocks, bare and burnt. The drought certainly showed and left its mark for years to come.

Sitting under the tree along the Murray River I thought back at the times when our pioneers used this river for transportation in paddle steamers. I spoke to a bloke whose grandfather started the first Coach business and having seen the wagons, it was difficult to believe that it was really not that long ago.

The area is predominantly used for growing citrus fruit and grapes. The drought also had taken its hold on the vines, rows and rows of burnt grape vines were everywhere.

Strange, when the river is so close by and nowadays with pumps etc, this should not happen. Unfortunately it has and I suppose as long as politics are involved, this will remain.