Journey to Stardom

We purchase De Oude Huize Yard and our family moved to Harrismith on 15 December 2000. Our sons did a huge commitment to leave their schools, sport and friends behind and join this new venture into the Free State. Remembering the night that we travelled to Harrismith and the uncontrolled veld-fires were lighting the skies Pedri commented —so beautiful but so destructive. Our new lives away from the hustle and bustle of Pretoria and “retirement” in the town will have to make a difference.

 Everything’s done on impulse.

We bought the old house to save it from the bulldozer and in the words of Adam Small:

proud ou gabou—pathetic pêllie

still ou—djy fancy djy staan nog...

djy word gedemolish sê ek vir djou!...

Hoor djy die pêrepote vannie bulldozers?

Ever since we have spent all our time in renovating and collecting history about our house and the town. Even though everything that we, Pedri and Gerald-Cecil have done did not come easily we still see this as a blessing and we would like to believe that we have made a difference to De Oude Huize Yard and our neighbourhood.

Our neighbours are the best. On our day of arrival, they welcomed us with tea, coffee, rusk and a lot of help. Strange people opened their hearts and hands to help us to move into a very dialectic house. They treat us with love and open their heart to all off us.

On opening the front door of our new dwelling we immediately decided to give it a name — De Oude Huize. The state of neglect was visible and we decided to keep to the original era of the house and try to safe a little history in Stuart Street. We had little experience of such a big renovating process and as the kids at school asked Gerald-Cecil— do your parents know what they are doing—he could honestly answer I don’t know, I think they don’t know themselves.

 We have read articles on renovating but nothing helps until you start with the process. We have asked stupid questions and work our fingers to the bone.

 The renovation process of the original house was solely done by Hennie, Pedri and Gerald-Cecil. They have sanded floors, scraped down old paint remove rotten notion, wood and carpets. They have cleaned the yard from invasive kakibos. They have levelled the garden and made new beds. They have opened up the Attic, painted every room and replaced old floorboards.

To put the cherry on the cake the new sandstone wing was added on the footprint of the old stables.

Till next time

Hennie & Sandra

Verkykerskop or Binocular Hill

DeOudeHuize

Verkykerskop is surrounded by sandstone koppies the Eastern Free State. 

Five roads leading out to other communities in the area

To this day it portrays the early 19th-century Boere uitspannings plek it started out as. 

It became something of a community during and after the second Anglo-Boer War and a police outpost, school, blacksmith, post office and grain mill were established here.

A drive in the 1948 Chevy Fleetmaster will match the occasion

Starting today with a little story of a legend of the area namely Jan Skambreel. 

Jan was the blacksmith and was the owner of a blacksmith business in Verkykerskop

In the planting, of the crop, season Jan was very busy repairing plow shears for the farmers. 

On a given day, while Jan was doing repairs to implements of the farmers Mr. Very Important came in and told Jan that he is important and his plow needs priority and he has to fix it immediately.

Jan looked at important farmer and utter

“ If I could buy you for what I think you are worth and sell you for what you think you are worth I will be the wealthiest man in Verkykerskop”. 

A fun place to visit

If you like vintage then this is a must visit

 

Beth and Matt or is it Matt and Beth 

owners, dreamers, cooks and builders

Beth and Matt arrived in 2004 and set about reviving the old trading store, injecting style, energy and color into this Free State village. 

They have a great vision but are living firmly in the moment, delighted, eating well and celebrating every day.

Today the village has a strong “green” philosophy. Other than an old mill, most of the original dwellings, dating back to the 1940’s, have been converted into tourist cottages and guesthouses.

Expect piles of nostalgic old items while wander about Verkykerkop

If you are of a certain age, you will know what this is all about:

Curved glass cabinets and the aroma of an old South African country trading store you won’t find anywhere in the world.

Something of a mix of eucalyptus, boxer blend tobacco, remedies
Thanks to Deon Kitching for borrowing some of his photo's  

It is the place to be . . .  

Weddings 

Concerts 

Sunday lunch 

Birthday party  . . . .

Thanks to Melissa and Rudolph for their wedding picture 

Thanks to Adam Truscott for this painting 

We had a pizza lunch and wine on the stoep. Tippex the Labrador joined us.

It is difficult to single out our the greatest asset of this beautiful people but we'd venture to say it's the soul of Beth and Matt 

Thanks for joining us on the stoep at Binocular Hill 
and watch the sun set. 

Sending Lots of Love from South Africa 

Sandra 

Beauty along our roads from a distant turbulent tragic past

DeOudeHuize

Cosmos beauty along our roads 

Today we are sharing our blog with Andrew Barlow.  
He was born in 1931 and he attended school Wartburg Kirchdorf School.  
He is a full-time novelist, historical and current affairs analyst with a love of coffee, horses and cats.  
He was the Head Regional Magistrate of South African Department of Justice.  Andrew and me at a gathering.  

Where does one start with a story which still raises deep seated emotions?
Please read more about this "historical" flowers here 

Along many of our roads all over South Africa the sides of many of our roads and often in the veld for long distances the Cosmos flowers are to be seen in Autumn. 

They are beautiful and are in several colours. 

Many motorists are so captivated by their beauty that they stop and look and and are entranced by the calm serenity and prettiness of these flowers. 

Nowadays only a very few people know where and how these flowers came into the country.

The magic of Autumn in South Africa 

During 1899 to 1902 the South African War was fought between the two Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal on the one side and the British Empire on the other side. 

The total Afrikaner population of the two republics was about two hundred and fifty thousand people.

The British High Command believed that it would need only infantry to wage the war but soon found that against a highly mobile force of Boer Commandos mounted on their Boer Perde it needed ever increasing horse mounted soldiers. 

Apart from the horses available in the country it had to import many thousands of horses from all the colonies and from other countries such as the United States and Europe and especially from the Argentine. 
British troopers needed horses during the Boer War. 
Those horses were sent, via ship, to South Africa.

Horses bound for war, transported via double stalls on a shade-covered ship's deck.
(Horses on Board Ship: A Guide to Their Management, by Captain M. Horace Hayes) 

To feed these horses huge amounts of fodder had to be imported. 

During the course of that war far more than five hundred thousand horses were used. Of these more than three hundred thousand died.

They died from sickness, from being killed in battles and skirmishes and in the case of the Commandos from being ridden to death.

In the fodder imported from Argentine were cosmos and khaki bush.
This photo is the khaki bush in bloom 

Cosmos 

Wherever the British horses moved across the country, all over the Free State, the Cape Colony and the Transvaal the seeds of these plants germinated and grew.

Along our roads, along many of our roads and in large parts of our veld these flowers are a beautiful reminder of a vicious war.

In Port Elizabeth there is a monument to these horses. Of a soldier holding a bucket of water for his horse. 

Whenever I have seen that monument I have had great difficulty to hide my tears. Tears of sorrow that the most noble of all animals has had to die in a senseless human war.

The Horse Memorial (Cape Road, Port Elizabeth, South Africa) bears the words: "greatness of a nation consists not so much in the number of its people or the extent of its territory as in the extent and justice of its compassion" "erected by public subscription in recognition of the services of the gallant animals which perished in the anglo boer war 1899-1902"

If you pass the Cosmos Flowers along our roads salute the horses who brought this flower to this country.

The pink and white patches on the wheat fields 

Dancing in the wind 

Thank you for taking this trip along memory lane 
Till next time greetings from South Africa 
Sandra 

A blue greyish lamp post in our garden

DeOudeHuize

There were oil lamps in the streets and candles in the churches and it was reported that the ladies complained of the candle grease "falling on their wearing apparel". 
The Council embarked on a scheme for electric lighting, at an estimated cost of 19000 Pounds. The work was carried out by Messrs Morley and Dawbarn of London and Johannesburg. 
Mrs Caskie, wife of the Mayor of the day, turned on the lights at a banquet in November, 1904. 
Six beautiful street lamps were donated to the town. 
The according to word-of-mouth it was donated by the British Monarchy.
These  stunning street lamp took poll position in front of the Town Hall. 
When we moved to Harrismith there were still 2 lamps standing 

Some years ago we were driving though town and saw four guys rolling this base of a lamp.

The base of the street lamp 

After a couple of minutes Hennie was convinced he could save the old street lamp. 

In the same year the then museum had to be moved. This was a main . . . main job. There was an old ox-wagon that needs to be removed. Under the ox-wagon a lot of broken pieces of a street lamp, was hidden. 

The then committee entrusted the broken bits and pieces to us. We learnt that it was destroyed by a truck. Biebie de Vos - our town historian - helped with a picture of the original street lamp. 
 Hennie started the restoring the lamp.  

In the words of Mother Teresa

If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. 

To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

Bits and pieces put together 

A couple of years ago this pieces was entrusted to us when it was hit by a truck

"May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out"

JRR Tolkien

A picture of a street lamp in Madison Avenue dated 1924.
This was part of the inspiration 

Bits and pieces 

Hennie started to renovate it as time was available.
He had to make new pieces where pieces were missing.
Painfully he managed to restore it

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of
creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. 

More detail of the bottom tulip shape 

Wonderful to see it standing in our garden

Thanks for visiting and may you have a wonderful time
Love from South Africa
Sandra