Donuts, my favourite type of peaches 🍑

This 'gem' dropped out of my togbag this morning: Solifugae zandvleitrust.org.za/archive/art-...

Last week, this time, the sky was a hazy grey. The veld fire was moving towards us, I was popping myself

Back on the plaas, Toby was waiting

Hello Mimi 🐕🐕

After waking everyone up at 6:30, Bowie's back to snooze mode 💤🐕 Mind you, my friend's snoring woke me at 3 am. Bliksem, like a dump truck! good morning 🌻

Padkos for a 22:00 pickup at CPT

"Inspired by undergraduate researcher Anna Ramey’s cocker spaniel, the study is the first to pinpoint the genetic basis underlying ear size in canines." futurity.org/dog-ears-length-genetics-3320382

"Social movements tell a new story. In this way they acquire leadership, gain adherents, and develop a capability of mobilizing needed resources to achieve success." The Power of Story in Social Movements dash.harvard.edu/entities/pub...

At the fruit farm, they're on their breakfast break. Maybe they've still got some perskes, I'm off to CPT tonight 🍑

“satire isn’t the absence of thought. It’s what happens when thought has nowhere left to go.” www.facebook.com/share/1ALcfV...

🌻🔥

On the ash-strewn soil, these tracks. Ants collecting seeds?

We've found a new walking path, previously hidden by the brush 🐕🚶‍♂️

My niece sent me 📷, no elaboration. I sent a response 📷, in kind 😇

Bowie's not keen on the cap, it keep sliding forward, and the shoes were off in 30 seconds. The cooler jacket was probably the best buy #CoolDog

"Nobody with a functioning conscience and a working empathy center in their brain is interested in becoming a billionaire." open.substack.com/pub/caitlinj...

"...the more vaccinations, the smaller the chance of infecting those most vulnerable to it, like the elderly and the immunocompromised." thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/11/01/Polio-Vaccination-Lessons

some people learn, others get upset 👇 theafrican.co.za/politics/2023-08-10-aluta-continua-the-struggle-song-in-democratic-south-africa

"The next phase of conservation needs to be about more than just saving species. It must be about redesigning the human footprint so that mammals are assured of spaces that still have..." theconversation.com/bats-bushbabies-and-aardvark-edge-closer-to-extinction-in-southern-africa-273978

From the ashes [protea seeds]

sun's up good morning 🌻

my kids 💚

Our Story, approved by Bowie & Toby: What a week! [Part 2, 28 Jan 2026] oppad.substack.com/p/what-a-wee...

This morning, no smoke in the sky, I smell buchu. Coffee time, good morning 🌻

11 pm, a short patrol. all good, no flames 🌜🐕

🌻

Bowie and I walked up a nearby koppie. Mooi, né!

Our Story, Approved by Bowie & Toby: What a week! [Part 1; 27 Jan 2026] open.substack.com/pub/oppad/p/...

a semblance of normality

House water restored 🚰

The fire truck was pulled out by a neighbour; another neighbour is coming later to help reconnect the house water; my cottage is still standing; Bowie has been a star. Big blessings! For everything else there is Mastercard

The above-ground tree stump is now 'dead', though still worried about burning tree roots 🔥

my fok, Marilies! Fortunately, spotted by a fire patrol. Fire is under control, but I'll stay there today, these tree stumps are etters!

still in bed 🐕 good morning 🌻

🐕💚

Today's hot spots on the farm seem to have burnt themselves out. Sadly, there's a moerse fire on the other side of the mountain

A local farmer put in a temporary fix so that we can fill the tanks. We'll get proper fittings etc when the mênse are back on the farm

The fires seem to be under control, except for one log here that stubbornly refuses to submit. I was looking for my keys; left them on the secuity gate at 1 am 🙄. Switched on the borehole pump and didn't open the red tap🙄🙄. I'm off to find my brain 😊

6:15. Two flare-ups this morning. The 1 am log is still burning, I'm going to let it burn out. A protea tree flared up next to an irrigation tank. Relatively minor damage compared to what could've been 🙏

6 am. Where's dad? 🐕🐕💚

y'all, 'Our Story - Approved by Bowie' will be a bit late this week ✍️

Here on the farm,the fire has been controlled, at least for now. Thick smoke on neighbouring farms & will do patrols overnight. Other farms have suffered substantive damage.

🤞 that the breeze holds. as it seems to be pushing the fire past the farm. Pumps are on standby if the fire heads down the koppie 🔥🚒🚁 Short lunch & coffee break ☕️

Our dorp treat, with two corridors. Time to head back to the plaas, things need doing 👨‍🌾 and Bowie wants to snooze 🐕

a few minutes ago, these two were fighting over a treat. Pa jumped in, pulled them apart by the scruff of their necks and they got a bit of skel! All's good now, klein bliksems 😊

Afval & walkies in the pot 👨‍🍳

"Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out." fs.blog/eb-white-hum...

Piketberg