Isle of Kintyre Plain Jane Mature Cheddar. Still tasting remarkably fine after flying itself over from Inverness, Scotland to Zimbabwe in January 2016.
Plain Jane Mature Cheddar!
You have no choice but to endure more and more posts – about more and more fencing! Its that much fun as you can see in the next 3 pictures!
We are using the first 600m as our testing ground – to work on our technique and get it right – ready for more challenging times ahead of us.
George and Garikai – enjoy that fence puller!
George and Garikai – enjoy that fence puller!
George and Garikai – enjoy that fence puller!
Tendai
Burying the bottom of the fence
and moving stones to hold the bottom down securely
The bottom of the fence is bent outwards and trapped with boulders
George and Tendai
Bonox veld fence going up
Meet one of our early challenges
Mr Artwell is actually hammering the staple sides together to make sure they are parallel and easy to hammer into the posts
Used as a tool holder
George the senior fencer on THAT boulder
The hands that built Hornbydale
Garikai taking it seriously
And these days we can’t end a post with pictures of nice poles. (Now more important than doggie pics!)
Beautiful poles
Need I say more!
The pole dipping factor being decommissioned
In clearing the fireguard area more completely this year we have been able to tackle a large area of Wattle trees and make our own fencing poles and droppers (narrower supporting poles).
The Wattle is a highly invasive foreign species i.e. a weed in Zimbabwe that is out of control. Seeds can stay dormant for 50-70 years so its not going away anytime soon. Based on the clearing of the fireguard last year I can see new saplings (from previous roots) growing to 2.5m high in a single year! That is no joke when it comes to trying to control the spread and growth of this tree.
Wattle trees on the boundary
Loading 3m droppers on the trailer
Loading 3m droppers on the trailer
Wattle droppers loaded up
Arriving at their temporary resting place to be skinned by hand
Below right you can see the already de-barked poles left to dry in the sun.
Ramius and crew unload
Off they come
Mid air wattle
Garikai with de-barked pole
Wattle pole before drying
Still very heavy as you can see
Wattle poles after a month or so of drying in the sun
OK lets end with a true local botanical – at least in the foreground (wattle and pine in the background of both pictures below – you see the challenge!)
Indigenous aloe in winter bloom. Mufenge to left and right.
Aloe arborescens blooming on Hornbydale
It’s that time of year again = time to prepare for the inevitable bush fires.
With Hurler the Tractor overlooking Troutbeck Lake
Hurler brings water supplies
Refilling backpack sprayers
The three of us fill up with glyphosate
And 4 weeks later ..
Ramius and Co scrub the 6m strip of land
Tendai in profile against the fireguard
Below you can see to left and right of the fireguard the dead trees – i.e. a reminder why a denuded strip of land is necessary.
Hornbydale fireguard
Mufenge overlooking Troutbeck Lake
My favorite tree: Mufenge (Cussonia spicata) {NB: soft ‘g’ in chiShona}
Mufenge growing new leaves (in winter)
Pics of the main house and surrounding gardens
Hornbydale, Troutbeck, Zimbabwe
Front Lawn of Hornbydale, Troutbeck, Zimbabwe
Megan chasing Leo on the back lawn, Hornbydale
Leo at Hornbydale
Treescape in Hornbydale Garden
Petra, Leo and Huckle, Hornbydale
Leo of Hornbydale!
The Troutbeck School
January 2016:
The Troutbeck School opens for its first full year!
The Troutbeck School
There is a special website for the school: www.thetroutbeckschool.com
The Troutbeck School
And a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thetroutbeckschool/
The Troutbeck School
April 2014:
We are the owners of Hornbydale Estate, situated above the clouds at 7200ft, 2200m, in Troutbeck, Zimbabwe. Today the 129 acre, 52 hectare, estate comprises the main house, holiday cottage, staff quarters, tropical gardens & tree ferns, arable and virgin land with natural springs. Situated at the top of the hill we have commanding 180 degree views of the Troutbeck Valley and lakes, Worlds View to the north west, and the mountains of Mozambique to the east.
Hornbydale Estate, Troutbeck, Zimbabwe
Eastern Highlander 