A Little Cowgirl Turns Four...

 

This precious little girl celebrated her fourth birthday on Sunday...

Gabrielle, Rebekah and Sofia...

Sofia loves horses and just about anything to do with cowboys, and has been talking for months about riding... 

Thus, we thought taking her for a ride on a miniature horse would be the perfcet way to treat her for her birthday...

Of course all us girls wanted to go along to see our sweet little sister ride a horse for the first time, and I wanted pictures and videos of the special event!

 

I was quite surprised at how relaxed and comfortable Sofia was astride her horse...she had no fear and knew exactly what do as if it came naturally to her...  Her position was wonderful too...I think we may have another horse lover in the family...

Nancy and I had hoped to create a special horse themed cake for Sofia...we thought of a ''grassy'' field with horses and little fences dotted around, but sadly we couldn't find any mini plastic horses, and we weren't going to try a horse's head again after the last episode!

In the end, we decided to go with a simple rainbow cake which Beth and I baked and Nancy, Sindy and I decorated...

 

It turned out perfectly and Sofia was thrilled with the different colours.

 

I think little Sofia will always remember her fourth birthday...

In the evening we looked through all her baby pictures and videos and oh my!  You should have heard the giggling that came from our living room!  

 

Ah, such delightful memories and I hold them ever so dearly...  Sofia was the second baby I blogged about, and these past four years have gone by incredibly swiftly...Sofia is a wonderful addition to our family, and she is very loving towards all of us.

Seven sisters...oh, what JOY!

~ From oldest to youngest...Kelly-Anne {18}, Sindy {17}, Nancy {16}, Beth {11}, Gabrielle {8}, Rebekah {6} and Sofia {4} ~

I couldn't imagine a single day without her, and praise Jesus for giving us the privilege of welcoming her into our family four years ago.

Dearest little sister Sofia...oh, we love you so very much!  Happy birthday, little one!

P.S.  In case you are wondering, Sindy is a recent member to our little family...we feel so blessed to and humbled to have another sister to love, and I will be introducing you to her sometime this week...{{smiles}}

~

A blessed Tuesday to you, dearest readers!

I Am Still Here!

Hello everyone!!  I am still here!  I really miss posting but know that I will as soon as we get internet on the farm which should be very soon!  This is just a little post that I am doing from an internet cafe to say we are all fine!


We are busy building a fence around our vegetable garden out of wattle droppers and it looks wonderful!  We are also busy planting and having a lot of fun!

I have finally gotten the saddle on the horse I ride down the road, called Hazelnut and we are doing lots of flatwork in our friend's arena.  I will share photographs of her soon!

The girls are growing nicely and they are really enjoying themselves!  School is coming on and at the moment I am busy with a gradening diary!

I hope all is well for you and I will be doing regular postings soon!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Kelly-Anne

Hello Again!

Hello again!! It feels so good to be on my blog again! We haven't yet got Internet on the farm as we are too far out!! I tried going to the library, but each time I went, they were offline! Fortunately my dad has been working in Cape Town so I came down with him to stay at my best friend, Heidi-Mari. I am staying for five nights - but I am really going to miss the farm!


Now I want to tell you a bit about the farm!

...It is BEAUTIFUL!! Never in our lives have we felt so happy! There is so much freedom and we are NEVER inside (except of course when we are sleeping) We beg to be allowed out, but not until our chores are done!!

Our cute cottage, what do you think?

There are also many down sides but we are choosing to focus only on the good!

Snow on the mountains!

Beautiful sunset!

There are two horses: Gaylord and Snowflake. Snow is pregnant!! Very exciting! I ride our neighbour's horse called Hazelnut. She is three and has only just been broken in but she is so gentle and sweet and
thinks she is a human. She comes to you for cuddles and hugs and is so good with the little ones even though she is still so young! I am teaching her to trot properly and to stop (she doesn't like to stop) and we are starting to canter! I ride bareback all the time because she is not trained to have a saddle! We ride up and down the road! Snow and Gaylord are very nosey. Snow loves my mom and she comes onto the porch! Gaylord we call 'Dopey' from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - he always looks sleepy!

Snowflake

Gaylord......"Hello"!

Trying to eat my breakfast of maize meal...as you can see I was having a bit of trouble....!  I actually got a bit of horsey slobber on my bowl...yuck!

The guinea pigs are doing so well! Cocoa gave birth to Tammy, Peanut and Butter a week or two ago, and Candy, my guinea pig, had her babies just before I left - four, the most she has ever had, or so we thought! This morning my mom sms'd to say that she had two more during the night!! She now has six!! Now there are 13 to look after till it is time to sell them! (Nancy didn't keep Honey.)




















Peanut

Butter

Cocoa with Peanut and Tammy.  They are feeding!!!

There is a forest at the bottom of the farm where we have picnics and collect small pieces of wood for the little coal stove in our living area.

The little ones play all day on their bicycles riding up and down the drive! They play with mud, tadpoles and sand toys!!

Nancy and I are enjoying living on a farm! I planted lettuce, radish, onion and Swiss Chard seed the other day. The Swiss Chard is for my guinea pigs!

The sunrises and sunsets are ten times better than in the city. The frogs croak all night, sending us to sleep, crickets chirp and a little bird hops about, tame as ever on our porch! Life is harder and tougher than in the city but there is a purpose to living - there is freedom and beauty all around us and we are wonderfully happy!





















This move was good - we are where we are meant to be - praise be to God for opening this door!!!

Blessings to all,
Kelly-Anne

Showtime

On Saturday the 19th, I took part in my third showjumping event. I rode Flashy Lady again, a cute little pony who is an amazing jumper!

I competed in the 50cm competition, 60cm accumulator class and the 70cm competition. The jumps were raised in the competition's jump-offs!






























It was a difficult show for me. I was so excited that it tired me out. I was so unaware of everything that I didn't even hear the announcer calling me into the ring!

In my first class I didn't get placed at all. I did fine in the first round of the 50cm, but, in the 60cm jump-off, I forgot to do up my riding helmet. That caused me to lose concentration and I jumped the wrong jump and got eliminated!
I also didn't get placed in the 60cm accumulator class.

In the 70cm competition I got second place! I was a tiny bit nervous, but it soon evaporated when Flash and I were flying around the course!








































































The 80cm jump-off was exciting! I was holding the lead but then someone achieved a faster time than me! I got second place which was pretty good for a pony pair, at least I think so!

















Next time I hope to do better, but for now I must be happy with peformance, even if it wasn't the greatest! I cannot be frustrated, I have to be happy that I got to at least compete!

Having So Much Fun!

We have been having so much fun here at home and we have been very busy with markets.

I am sorry I don't blog as much as I did in Winter, but now the sun shines and we go to the beach very often! I love boogie boarding and swimming in the beautiful ocean, and we are very blessed, as Fish Hoek beach is a very child-friendly beach! Even 5-year-old Beth boogie boards!

We have started a new market at Longbeach Mall on a Friday. It is a very good market, and although it is tiring, it is worth it!

We have also been busy with christmas boxes for the under-priviledged children. It has been great fun to go and buy goodies to put in a shoe box, and I will do a post on them maybe later or tomorrow.

I have been in the garden a lot lately too. I love weeding and checking on 'my vegetables'! We are growing sweet peppers, potatoes (by accident), strawberries and lettuce. We are also waiting for our cherry tomatoes to come up! We still plant in tyres and it is working out well!















The Little Ones' carrot seeds have been growing nicely!
















We are busy experimenting with potatoes.















My mom ate that strawberry in the middle. She chopped it into her homemade muesli and said it was so sweet! The next biggest I'M having (when it is ripe)!

We have had such beautiful days here, and we have had breakfast, lunch and supper outside almost everyday! We were given a lovely table and bench set from the man who owns the markets. it is so nice to sit outside in the early morning and breath in the fresh air!

Horse riding is going well and I have another show on December 19th. So stay posted for pictures of the event! I fell off last week, but I didn't get hurt (thankfully)!

The days and weeks seem to be flying past! Before you know it, Christmas will be here! So now you know what is keeping me busy! But I will try and post as often as I can!

World Cup Show Jumping!

Yesterday afternoon all of us, except my mom and Rebekah, went to the World Cup Qualifier.

It was the highlight of the weekend for me! I had been looking forward to this event for many weeks!

All of the famous South African riders jumped in this class, so I got to see some of my favourite riders in action, and most of all, their beautiful, amazing horses!

The World Cup was a 1.50m class and my breath my taken away when I saw the sheer size of the jumps! I couldn't believe how 'effortlessly' the horses cleared the jumps!

I had great fun taking photographs and holding my breath for clear rounds for some of my favourites'!

It was very, very hot at Glenellen Farm, where the event was hosted! That was exactly why my mom decided to rather stay home with the baby.

Being able to watch this event was one of my dreams come true!
















Tamlyn Clegg on 1st For Women, Glendon
















Jade Hook













Laure Smorenberg













Barry Taylor












Dominy Alexander on Alzu Shiraz













Tamlyn Clegg on 1st For Women, Glendon














Oscar Ncube
































Shaun Neil on Gold Rush













Lorette Knowels-Taylor













Gareth Neil and Mirage 85













What a winner! The fabulous Gold Rush and Shaun Neil. They were also awarded Victor Ludorum.

We had great fun! When I say "we", I mean me! I don't think the others enjoyed it so much!

A Trip To The Stables

Today was horse riding. My dad is on school holidays, he took me to the stables. I asked him if he would take some photos, which he did. Nancy, Beth and Gabrielle came too, to get some fresh air (very fresh since it is blowing a gale outside)!

I rode Flash again and had a pretty good lesson.

My dad only stayed a little while as the others were getting cold from the never ceasing wind. He managed to take a few photos, but really disappointed me by leaving about ten minutes into the lesson! I do understand though, it was very cold and probably very boring since my dad is not exactly a 'horse lover'!



























The others had fun playing games while I was tacking up, and my dad took some nice photos of all of them!














A random photo that came out pretty well.



































I am very grateful that my dad and sisters would give up their morning to take me to riding, its not like they got anything out of it! I am very privileged to have a family like mine!

A Bad Fall!

This is Flash if you have never heard of her before. We have won a class together before. She is a great pony!

Aaaaaah! I am in so much pain! I took a nasty fall off Flash today.

My wrist is so sore! I landed on it.

There was a very large, 70cm spread jump, that I was doing. Flash and I jumped an almighty jump that caused me to land on her neck my back facing the saddle! I slipped off her side and landed on my wrist.

Flash galloped away at top speed, as she had gotten a fright! My teacher went to fetch her for me.

I had to get on again so that I would not be scared of jumping again! I was full of sand and very wet as the sand was wet from the rains we have been having. I did the jump again, and a second time too, just to be extra certain that I had not lost my nerve. The second time I fell off again - although not so badly this time! I had to do that jump again, and by that time I was very wet and cold, and cross that I had fallen off - again! I jumped that one properly, and rode back to the stables happy that I had mastered it!

We had been doing so well up until then! We jumped 70 cm and 80 cm jumps for the first time and doing gymnastics on a straight line.

I was a bit nervous of that 70 cm jump before my fall, as it was quite a wide spread.

The other children that I ride with are away in the Karoo, so I had a lesson on my own.

I like having jumping lessons on my own, as I can have my teachers full attention. She told me she wanted to see how high I could jump today. I was so excited! Flash is such a great jumper and my teacher says she has little springs in her legs! We jumped 20 cm higher than we usually jump!

I am not really scared of 'jumping high' but I am a bit nervous of a spread!

I had a great lesson otherwise! It is just a bit tricky - doing everything with one hand.

I can't do writing schoolwork, so I am a little frustrated!

I guess these things happen and I just have to learn to get on with it. I have my wrist in a Wrist Guard now! Nancy has to do lots of things for me, including putting the toothpaste on my toothbrush!