Blue . . . there is no blue without yellow . . .

Blue is everywhere 

Little blue for happiness 

Plates of joy all in blue 

All in blue

Blue patterns all telling their own stories 

Where time stood still

Stories of far far places 

Blue is always there 

Thanks for visiting 

We will be sharing our post with these wonderful bloggers.  

Please make sure that you also pay them a visit. 

Lots of love 

Sandra 

A delightsome life; Elizabeth & Co; From my front Porch; 

French Country Cottage; Fishtail Cottage; 

Ivy and Elephants; Katherines Corner; Lavender Garden Cottage; My Romantic Home; My Simple Country Living; Revisionary Life; The Dedicated House; Tilly's Nest ; Style Sisters; Savvy Southernstyle; Romantic Home; 

The Tablescaper; The Jenny Evolution; Little Red House; 

The Brambleberry Cottage; We Call It Junkin;

Cosmos flowers and the Anglo Boer War

DeOudeHuize

In autumn - April and May, our area lights up with a multi-coloured cosmos magic. 

A little fragile flower in marshmallow shades of pinks and white. They fill ditches, stand guard and wave in the wind.

In the years from 1899 to 1902, the cosmos seed came over in the horse feed shipped across from Argentina for the British forces. So wherever you see banked rows of cosmos, you will know that there’s a good chance that a British cavalryman may have passed there.
Photo MarkVeePhotography 

In the years from 1899 to 1902, the cosmos seed came over in the horse feed shipped across from Argentina for the British forces. So wherever you see banked rows of cosmos, you will know that there’s a good chance that a British cavalryman may have passed there.

Now it's been discovered that our cosmos comes in 20 different species, and that their lands of origin include Paraguay, Central America and parts of the southern US.
Photo MarkVeePhotography

Thanks for visiting and please make sure to visit our friends
Lots of love
Sandra

De Oude Huize and trains

De Oude Huize and the love for trains started a long time ago.  

Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus

My father, Gerald Fincham, was, as a youngster, working for the South African railways.  The route he used to work on was known as the Great North Route.  That was the track running from South Africa to Zimbabwe.  He had some good and bad experiences while being and employee of the South African Railways.  

Locomotives nr. 243 and 102 in Mafeking station.
The White Train as it was known with the then Princess Elizabeth and family touring South Africa 

The old bridge built during the Anglo Boer War in South Africa situated about 30km from De Oude Huize Yard.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

 A beautiful bridge just outside our town, Harrismith South Africa 
There is the headlight, shining far down the track, glinting off the steel rails that, like all parallel lines, will meet in infinity, which is after all where this train is going.

Today large sections of the rail tracks in South Africa is in disarray.
Thanks to MarkVee Photographs for this beautiful picture telling it's own story.  

Nobody has a perfect past, but everyone has a clear future. It is up to us to take control and become pioneers of tomorrow. Its never too late to jump off your train and head down a different track.

Hope that all of you will have a wonderful day. 

Love from us to you 

Sandra 

Orangerie or Conservatory Dream

Our son got married to a dream girl in October 2013. 

 While they were running around trying to book a venue for the reception in Harrismith,

 it dawn on us that there is not much to choose from. 

 All are big venues and their dream wedding - only 75 guests.

They had their wedding in a little clearing next to a waterfall at the foot of Platberg Mountain
The set-up for the church ceremony

The little waterful.  She is such a wonderful girl, the sparkle in our son's eyes. 

No frills and no curls - beautiful 

This was when our latest dream project was born. 

 We want to add a small hall to our establishment, but not just any hall.

Decisions . . . decisions 

Where we plan to built the venue hall used to be our grow house for the Lisianthus cut flowers that we grow. 

So we thought what about an Orangery or Orangerie or a Conservatory. 

First we had to find the difference. 

An Orangerie was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classic architectural form. The name reflects the original use of the building as a place where citrus trees were often wintered in tubs under cover, surviving through harsh frosts

A Conservatory is a room having glass roof and walls, typically attached to a house on only one side, used as a greenhouse or a sunroom. Conservatories originated in the 16th century when wealthy landowners sought to cultivate citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges that began to appear on their dinner tables brought by traders from warmer regions.

We are already looking out for the right mood!!! 

The above five images are borrowed

Please we are open for advise and if you could come up for our little venue please let us know.
Lots of love
Sandra 

We have to send invitations to this party

Ivy and Elephants; Time Washed ; Homemakers on a dime ; Lavender Garden Cottage; 

From my front Porch; Tilly's Nest ; Boogieboard Cottage; Elizabeth and Co; 

Finding Fabulous;The Trendy Treehouse; Common Ground; 

The Busy Bee; Knick of Time; My Simple Country Living;The Style Sisters; Savvy Southernstyle; The Busy Bhive; French Country Cottage; Romantic Home; Redoux Interiors; 

No Minimalist Here; Fishtail Cottage; The Shabby Creek Cottage;Miss Mustardseed; 

Love it and List it; Cedar Hill Ranch; Coastal Charm; Your Creative Timeout; 

A delightsome life; The Tablescaper;  The Jenny Evolution 

Thornton Bibliothèque suite

We have had a wild time to renovate our attic.  

Read our previous posts here 

and here 

The final countdown . . . . . . 

“Second hand books are wild books,
homeless books;
they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather,
and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.” 
Virginia Woolf

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!
How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!
When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an
excellent library.” Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice

If you have a garden and a library,
you have everything you need.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

I couldn't live a week without a private library - indeed,
I'd part with all my furniture and squat and sleep on the floor before i'd let go of the books I possess
H P Lovecraft 

Thank you for visiting till next time 

Sandra

Thanks for sharing our story  

Ivy and Elephants; Time Washed ; Homemakers on a dime ; Lavender Garden Cottage; 

From my front Porch; Tilly's Nest ; Boogieboard Cottage; Elizabeth and Co; 

Finding Fabulous;The Trendy Treehouse; Common Ground; 

The Busy Bee; Knick of Time; My Simple Country Living;The Style Sisters; Savvy Southernstyle; The Busy Bhive; French Country Cottage; Romantic Home; Redoux Interiors; 

No Minimalist Here; Fishtail Cottage; The Shabby Creek Cottage;Miss Mustardseed; 

Love it and List it; Cedar Hill Ranch; Coastal Charm; Your Creative Timeout; 

A delightsome life; The Tablescaper;  The Jenny Evolution