Rachel Elisabeth - Our Eternal Treasure

Greetings to all!

It has been so long since I posted on here...not sure if any of our dear followers and readers are still around on the Blogger blogosphere. If you are, I trust that all is well with each and everyone!

Life in New Zealand is very different to that of South Africa so Rachel and I experienced a different lifestyle here with a lot more freedom to go for walks and hikes and outings with family and friends. As we grew older our focus changed from some of the earlier interests to others and, of course, there were different decisions to make and more responsibilities to take on, etc. I'm thankful to say that what is most important hasn't changed - our walk with and love for the Lord; by God's grace it has grown deeper and stronger and more wonderful day by day and we're ever grateful to our lovely Lord Jesus.

It is the Lord who has been our anchor and strength throughout and shown Himself to be true to everything He promises in His Word to be.
God has proved Himself to be the great Comforter....Last year, February 2016, after a sudden and short illness, our Lord saw best to call my precious sister, Rachel Elisabeth, Home to Heaven.

Our family never imagined that something like this would ever happen and not having Rachel here with us on this earthly journey will always be a great sorrow; we miss her so terribly much! Yet there is also great joy in knowing that she is Home safe and completely well and full of joy in that wonderful place just beyond the curtain of time and in knowing that our parting is just temporal and some glorious Day we will be re-united again!!
We have wonderful memories of Rachel, she was always so loving and kind, she left behind an amazing testimony of a life lived for the Lord and in the 20 years she was here, she touched many lives. God has always been so good to our family. He truly carried Rachel, my parents and I through her illness and passing and He is ever-close to us, in His Word and preforming the supernatural in so many ways to confirm His Presence. We know without a doubt that Rachel could have been healed to carry on this life's journey but the Lord has shown us over and over again that it was her time to go Home. We may not always understand the reason why but we, (and as Rachel did) trust God completely knowing as He promises, that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord! Praise His holy Name!!

I could type pages and pages about my wonderful sister but I will end this post off now with a Scripture that reflects Rachel's life:

 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

   ~ 2Timothy 4:7-8

Thanking all who read this blog and took an interest in the little bits my sister and I shared here; thank you for all the nice comments and the kindness.
Although I will check back here from time to time, I probably won't post again on this blog but if you'd like to keep in touch you can comment here or email me by clicking on the "Contact Us" button on the right-hand side near the top of the page. Please include a link to your blog if you still keep one, it will be good to catch-up with what's happening in your life. :)

God bless you!

One glad Day we shall walk together again!


And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus
~Philippians 4:7

A Mid-Winter's Day

At the moment we are in mid-winter here in South Africa. In the northern part of the country we get very little rain in winter so things can get quite dry and dusty. Except for when there’s a cold front passing by, the days are usually warm and sunny and the nights cold. As I’m typing this the time is 2:30 p.m. and the temperature is 23⁰C/75⁰F.

Here are some very recent photos taken about a week ago on a typical winter day:

Sunrise photo taken through the bedroom window

We have an old rusty table which we use to put out fruit and other treats for the birds. Here a Black-collared Barbet is enjoying a fruit mix. :)

The Wild Garlic is blooming - there is a long, wide flowerbed in the back garden filled with these flowers. They are always enjoyed by the bees.

Wild Garlic is an indigenous plant/herb. Besides being pretty it has many uses. There is also a belief that planting this around the house will help to keep snakes away! Well, I can tell you that doesn't work! One of our farms had lots and lots of wild garlic planted all around it and we still had snakes visiting by the dozen!

Although there are not as many butterflies around now as at other times of the year there are still some about to enjoy.

A favourite place for lizards - they like to bask on the rocks and quickly disappear into the Ivy-leaf Geranium whenever danger is near. They don't sit still long enough for us to get a photo of them.

Lama, our Bull-terrier/Wire-haired terrier cross enjoying a game with me. You can see how much browner the grass is after the frost we had a couple of weeks ago and how it affected some of the plants.

Winter's almost-always cloudless blue sky.

I couldn't resist putting in this picture of Lama just about to come down the back steps - she looks so cute! The dogs and cats enjoy basking in the sun as much as the lizards do! :)

The Stream

There is a stream that runs across the back of the garden - it actually comes off one of the many lakes in the area. As we don't often get rain in winter here in the northern part of the country, the stream sometimes dries up then. In Summer though it is always filled and this past summer we had so much rain that it was close to overflowing many times.
The stream is one of our favourite places on the property and we have spent many happy and interesting times here. You can spent hours here although in Summer it's usually too hot to be outside except in the early morning and late afternoon or evening.
The area around the stream gets left pretty wild and natural there are always lots of facinating creatures and things to see.

Lama (above) on a path through the thick, wild area on the south side of the stream where it enters the property.

Upstream there is a wild, boggy area - just right for frogs and toads and tadpoles.

Also a place for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, water beetles and all other interesting things. There was even an otter enjoying the stream this summer

If we sit really still, the frogs and tadpoles and little fish come out of their hiding places among the reeds and plants and carry on with their lives just as if we weren't there. One of the most common frogs we have here in the stream is the 'platanna'. They don't stay still long enough for us to get a photo of them but below is a pic of what they look like.

We also get the African Bullfrog here - they grow very large and can be aggressive sometimes.

Down by the stream is also a lovely place to sit and have some quiet time with the Lord.

Lots of birds nest in the thicket. The Masked Weaver (above) likes to build it's nests at the end of branches hanging over the stream.

Of course the dogs love it down at the stream as well, but we don't love it when they come back all wet and dripping! The cats find it an especially facinating place, but they make sure that all four paws stay as dry as possible! :D

I don't have to tell you that it's also a favourite place for our flock of 11 geese! Whether swimming in the deep part at the northern end of the stream or gliding up the narrower part, they spend most of the day here.

So please come and take another 'walk' with us and in picture form and enjoy some moments down by the stream :)

"When I would beget content and increase confidence in the power and wisdom and providence of Almighty God, I will walk the meadows by some gliding stream, and there contemplate the lilies that take no care, and those very many other little living creatures that are not only created, but fed by the goodness of the God of Nature – and therefore trust in Him!"

Treetop Windows and Willow Curtains

Rachel and I had our bedrooms on the top floor of our house until a few months ago when we moved to the downstairs bedrooms. Since then we've been using my old room for arts and crafts and Rachel's to put up the table-tennis in. We really enjoy spending time up here - not only do we have wonderful views all around, but we also get a glimpse into the "treetop world". :)

There are two large willow trees that grow close to the front of the house, on either side of the driveway, and whose branches reach right up to the upstairs South and East-facing windows and "curtain" them with green leaves in the summer. From here we have very good views of many different kinds of birds which nest and perch amongst the branches. It's also lovely to watch all kinds of butterflies and other insects fluttering and flying around up here.

Nest hole of a blackcollared Barbet

Blackcollared Barbet (above)

A Crested Barbet pair also nest in the same willow tree, just a few branches down.

The trees top branches are also a favourite place to perch for a pair of Spotted Eagle Owls. We often hear them hooting at night and when we still slept upstairs, their calls sounded very loud right outside our windows!

The eastern windows also look down on the driveway and front gate so we can see when Dad arrives home or there are visitors at the gate. :)

Across the road is a large vegetable farm and we often see the workers in the fields busy planting or harvesting different crops.
Of course in winter when the willows loose their leaves, we can see even further across the veld to a small lake. The leafy "curtains" are then drawn back and we get to admire the lovely shapes of the branches.

View from the South window

From the North window we have a good view of that side of the garden.

In winter when some of the trees are bare we have a view of some of the other smallholdings across the road and the horses in the fields there and can watch them being ridden down the horse trails.

The north window is also the warmest in winter and at this time of year, in the late afternoon, hoards of ladybirds fly up into the thatch overhanging it and spend the night there. They land on the window pane and some even find their way inside and crawl along the blinds. There are ladybirds just everywhere!!

But as we get to 'share' the treetops with so many creatures we don't mind the ladybirds sharing the window with us. :D

This Is Where We Live

Our family moves around a lot! Since I was born we've moved house ten times and Jessica can add on an extra two moves in her sixteen years. We've often wanted to settle but somehow that doesn't seem to be the Lord's plan for us, so soon we'll be packing up and moving once again! Sometimes one does just long to be able to stay in one place but then it's as though the Lord gives us the extra strength we need whenever a move comes up and He always so wonderfully smoothes the way! Every move we've made has a wonderful testimony behind it. Also we've really been privileged to travel around the country, see and experience so many different places and meet different people, all of which would never happen if we stayed in just one place. So yes, we actually enjoy the 'pilgrim' life we lead, it can be difficult at times and hard work, but it's full of excitement, miracles, surprises and fun. :)

Come and take a walk around 'in pictures' to get an idea of where we are living at the moment: :)

Our house

The back of the house and Gran's cottage are enclosed by wall which gives it a sort of private garden and seperates it from the rest of the property.

Northern side of the property in early morning light.

Our flock of geese out on a walk!

Two of our dogs, Tula and Lama on the lawn on the southern side of property

Above & below: flowers, shrubs and trees, oh and Tom, the cat :)

The trees and bushes grow thick here - often all we see of our neighbours properties are a bit of thatch roof and the lightning conductor poles.