Walks with Kerneels – 2 August 2018

What an interesting walk we had today! We took a different route through the bottom part of Die Skema, then around the Willem Appeldam, and through the village back home.
As we turned the corner, a few metres from our house, there was a lot of commotion. A burst water pipe which was being fixed.
There’s new life sprouting everywhere… bare branches are shooting new leaves, many trees and plants are flowering. The coral or flame trees, Erythrina, make a beautiful display with their flame red or bright orange flowers on bare branches against the blue skies. I am ever so thankful for every beautiful tree in the village and those that are newly planted. When the town was laid out in 1857, a hundred oak trees were planted, and some of them are still standing.
Kerneels and I are making new friends along the way. A day or so ago we met Charly and his human mom, Doris. They settled in the village almost two years ago and own a deli in Hermanus. Like Kerneels, Charly is also a rescue dog. He has a beautiful, and even bushier tail than our Kerneels.
In Die Skema, we today met little Gemia and her friend Sentino. Also Gemia’s father, Christiaan and some of his friends. It is Gemia’s birthday today and she turned four. We sang to her! What stunning little kids! (It’s also the birthday today of our own granddaughter Kara who turned fourteen! How time flies!)
I had to laugh at some of the dogs in the Skema… Many roam the streets freely, and would bark “fiercely” at passers-by, in this case, Kerneels and I, but the moment I pointed my camera at them, they made a beeline for their own homes!
On the village green the children’s soccer team were practising. After a cup of tea at Thys and Johette (my son and his wife), we headed home. As we passed one house in Church Street, I heard strange bird sounds, and tried to see where it was coming from. As I looked up into what looked like a completely bare tree, much to my surprise, there was a hadidah in her nest feeding her three little chicks!
Further down, in De Bruyn street, we walked past two joggers. One stopped and introduced himself, Richard Opperman, whom we had passed by earlier on. He has the most amazing story! A cancer survivor, he and his wife and children came to Stanford a year and a half ago, changed their whole lifestyle and after first starting to walk regularly, Richard is now running!

Again I say: how blessed are we!!!!!

The Barn

Kerneels meeting Charly

Charly and his human mom, Doris

Melanie Lourens and Gerry Fourie walking, later jogging

Leonie on her balcony

View across the old cemetery

Entrance to the old cemetery

De Bruyn Street where a burst pipe had to be dug open and fixed

Trees, tress, beautiful trees!

And more blue gum trees

Four-year old Sentino

Birthday girl, Gemia.

Gemia, her father, Christiaan, and friend, Sentino

Gemia and Sentino

At first fiercely barking, but when I pointed the camera onto them they turned into timid dogs who went straight home!

Dogs everywhere

And more…

View of the Kleinrivier mountains across the Willem Appeldam

Richard Opperman stopped to have a chat with some of the men on their way home.

Angels in the window at Angel’s Cottage

Bauhinia flower

Bugler’s Cottage… Bugler’s Cottage is so called because Mr Swart, the man who brought the post from Hermanus, lived here. When he crossed the bridge over the Klein River with his horse buggy, he used to blow his bugle to alert the villagers that the post was coming. Swart was slightly crippled and thus known as Hans Hinkepink. Note the low door height, as well as generally low height of this dwelling. The thatch roof is original to the simple cottage style of the late 1800s.

This is the oldest church in Stanford and was built around 1880. The Moore family carved some of the pews and the pulpit and the material for the thatch roof came from the surrounding area. In 1892 the Bishop of Cape Town gave permission that weddings could be performed in the chapel. The church did not have a resident minister and was served by the Anglican minister from Caledon. One of the most touching traditions takes place early morning on Easter Sunday, when the congregation walks singing through the streets of Stanford to put flowers on the graves of loved ones.

This building next to the St Thomas church served as the St Thomas Mission School. By 1914 the school had two classrooms and more space was needed. In 1939 the school was moved to the present site of Die Bron Primary School in Stanford South. The building was still used as two classrooms until 1983.