This project was started nearly 3 years ago and today the last pieces of the ceiling were put in place. It looks absolutely stunning!

The last gap tp fill.

James passing the last piece of ceiling board to Tony Moody.

Fitting the last piece of ceiling board.

It's in and the job is finally done!

Sometime has come and gone since last I posted here. We are still waiting for you – whoever you are – the next owners of this beautiful property.
James and I have in the meantime tested our sea-legs with a sailing cruise to Madagascar from Richards Bay and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s crazy to be trying this kind of thing at our age, but then I’ve just qualified for my motorbike license so never say die! Confidentially, we have caused quite a stir in the village and quite a few villagers have said they admire our courage!
There has also been a lot of development with the Dome and it is really looking good. I will post some photos very soon.

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!

I recently bought a 2nd hand Samsung S8300 or Tocco cellphone for the bigger screen, fantastic resolution and its 8MP camera. Bought it off bid or buy and that in itself is a whole exciting story! So far I am thrilled with it even though I’m having to make do with no qwerty keyboard and a few other small inconveniences. She is just so damn sexy, I can barely keep my hands off her – a real keeper and potential “Fossil” of the cellphone range!!

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 .

For the last 3 days we have had the kind of weather that Hogsback is well known for. A dramatic mountain storm complete with tiny balls of ice flung with exuberance down on our roof with a jolly rat-tat-tat sound, highlighted by flashes of lightening. Then a heavy down pour which lasted a few hours, followed by silence and gentle mist clouds rolling in. Soft rain has followed with wonderful insistence and the resultant green is so much more than verdant.

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 one of those bright, sunny Sundays on the mountain!

So what is there to do on a weekend in Hogsback? Of course the tourist kind of stuff is an option, but locals normally only go that route when they have visitors staying over and they have to play tour guide. Normally, it’s doing very little, in our case at least, and includes late mornings, leisurely breakfasts, loafing about reading, a spot of sun tanning in the garden and maybe a trip to one of the many local restaurants for lunch. Actually, we opted for afternoon tea at the Coffee Barn – great eats and enjoyable chats with the owners, Lesley and Ron.

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!!

We’ve got posters up in the village, we’ve got flyers out, we’ve got the website as well as this blog site going and now all we can do is wait for the people who will buy this property to make their appearance.

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!

Just watched a beautiful sunset from the deck looking out over the valley at the opposite hill in the direction of Plaatjieskraal.

Web site up
http://adev.co.za

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.