Anybody else out there, who turns the magnifying mirror over to get the bigger picture, only to discover that you are already on the bigger picture? Who writes down September only to discover that we are in October and that there are only 8 weeks to Christmas and in nine weeks we will be in 2012…gasp!

As I write this we are experiencing 32° temperatures and no sign of any rain on the horizon. After a beautiful Spring, things are looking a little crispy round the edges. The roses have been spectacular, probably the best we have seen in four years. The Wisteria was magnificent with – stopped counting at 24 – bumble bees flitting all over, great for all doing close up photography!

We had a group of energetic senior cyclists recently who did a tour on all the back roads from Ficksburg to Clarens, Golden Gate and return back to ficksburg, 350 km in 5 days. They have previously done the ‘follow’ the Tour de France route and reckoned that this trip was just as spectacular! Yay for the Eastern Free State! And well done to all of the cyclists…

We have once again heard, and seen, the Piet-my-vrou. Shane was hard pressed to select four of his pictures (out of the hundreds taken!) of the many other birds that live and sing – such a calming cacophony of sound, ok well, maybe exclude the Hadeda in the calming bit! – at Wyndford.

Hamilton, Schummie and Button, our pot-bellied pigs are a little lonely since we moved all the chickens and rabbits to a new home, where the layers used to be. Not sure if you remember the picture of Peter Rabbit by Beetrix Potter, squeeeeeezing under the fence, to get to the veggie garden…we discovered a 3cm gap in the fence allowed the bunnies access to heaven….rows upon rows of lettuce and strawberries, fortunately full bunnies are slow bunnies and the lettuce (mostly) survived.

We have put together some exciting weekends for next year, Stargazing, Art, Glass and Mozaic and have a Bowls week coming up from 28 November to 2 December 2011. Call Angelique or Pat on 058-2230274 or drop us an email to reception@wyndford.co.za to find out more. Also on the cards for next year are two pick up tours for seniors (that sounds a bit like dating for the oldies- not what I meant) If being collected by bus, two day trips and a week at Wyndford and safely returned home sounds good, we can give you all the information.
Our winner this month is Jamie Phillips. Congratulations!
Warm regards from us all at Wyndford.