Feels far too early – but there’s no arguing with the evidence! Autumn is slowly making herself felt on the fringes of our creeper. Soon all the leaves will turn a deep russet red before they float off and the creeper goes to sleep for winter.

Over this last weekend we had quintessential Hogsback weather with mist pouring in by the windows and doors and some much needed rain. It was a good time to hunker down under a warm blanket and watch movies. Surprisingly, even with the wet weather, 2 lots of viewers came around to have a look at the plots on Sunday. It’s good to see that there is interest in property buying still, even with the economy as tight as it is.

Monday has turned out bright and sunny, but there’s a crispness about the air which means we are all walking around with our light weight jerseys on. I’m willing to bet it’s much warmer down off the mountain, but that’s a lovely plus living so close to heaven!

Anyway – I digress! What I want to post here are some photos I took of the mountains on a trip back from East London. It’s late afternoon, so the light”s not the best and without too much practice I took these shots with the Samsung. NOW I know to press the button down half, until you see a little green square on the screen and then press the button all the way, so these photos don’t do the Samsung credit, but they are nice and exactly why I wanted a cellphone with a decent camera; I’m always getting stuck longing to take a photo of something and then my camera’s at home. Something I am sure a professional photography never has to deal with – but then a professional photographer would also shudder at the limits of a cellphone camera .

The best thing ever is sipping a cup of coffee while watching the shifting cloudscapes over Mensie’s Kop and the Thyume Valley.

It’s really the kind of living folk in cities dream about having, pay a lot of money to have when on vacation, and yet we have it on tap! The only reason we would leave it is a good one, in this case, the desire to go sailing around the world, otherwise we wouldn’t be budging!!

Having sold properties for other people it is interesting to be on the other side, where I’m the one having people go around our property and waiting for feedback once they’ve left, and not getting any. We did ask a local agent, Mike Griffiths to come and list our property and typically he has not pitched, so we are going ahead on our own. Right now we are waiting for some people who said they would be coming around this afternoon, but it is almost 6.30pm and no sign of them, so we wait some more…..

In the meantime James has got his day skipper certificate and is spending every available moment on the internet browsing sailing blogs. We decided the name of our boat “Escape Clause”. After 28 years of being on the mountain, I’m nervous, but excited about the chance of traveling around the world by sea. My only concern is finding a home for my two little cat girls, Oreo and Tattoo.

Well – even after texting, there’s no response from the viewers, so it’s time to get ready to go out to a friends to celebrate her birthday! We’ll drink to many happy returns for her, and a happy exit for us!

Minimal to zero traffic drone.

Sound of frogs serenading the rain.

http://highhog.wordpress.com

Blinding starlight at night.

Mist shrouded hills and forests.

Friendly and supportive neighbors.

These are just a few of the civilized experiences  to be had in this little village at the foothills of the Amatola mountain range, called Hogsback.