What's on my mind today!

[SandyB]

No  way  one can  disguise ceylon tea  as  rooibos that flavour one either loves or hates   is distincitive  ,, good thing about  rooibos  is  one  uses a lot more of the plant not only the leaves as in ceylon tea ,,, farming has taken off as there is a lucrative  local and export market ,,,,
below taken from  search extract ,,,,
Rooibos Tea Farming
Cedarberg
South Africa is the only producer of rooibos tea in the world. The plant, which the Khoikhoi historically used to make tea from, grows exclusively in the Cedarberg Mountain region and around Clanwilliam and Citrusdal. It requires specific climatic conditions, can only been grown at certain altitude and in deep sandy soils. It only needs little rain, a combination of factors which apparently only prevails in this part of the world. Cultivation of this wild plant began in about 1930, and the tea then began to be processed industrially.

Rooibos (red bush) is a shrub which grows up to 1.5 metres high with fine, needle-like leaves. The Rooibos roots reach very deep down to the groundwater and can also absorb humidity through a complex root system just under the surface of the soil.      
      
      After two years, Rooibos tea can be harvested. The twigs and leaves are finely chaffed, spread out, wetted and rolled. After the process of fermentation and air-drying is completed, the tea is cleaned, sorted and eventually packed into teabags and packages.

Rooibos tea is a favourite amongst health-conscious people because it contains no caffeine and hardly any tannin, but is rich in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, calcium and iron. It is an exclusive South African drink and is mainly exported to Japan, however, health shops in Europe and America stock it.

Rooibos tea is being internationally marketed by the Rooibos Tea Company in Clanwilliam, the co-op of the tea farmers. Visitors are welcome and guided tours and slide shows are offered.

Top: At the beginning of the rainy season the tea is cut. The plant produces tea for 5 to 6 years.
Bottom: Rooibos plantation in sandy soil. It only grows in deep sandy soils and at altitudes of between 200 and 500 metres above sea level.

[Michael Alexander]

Sand,.... more sand and sand....

Sniffles and crunchy teeth....but at least Shannon is returning today....

[Andrew Darné]

DeBeers and marginal mines... saw on News 24 the other day... Finsch is up for grabs.

And what lies in the market with Zim's latest trade..?

http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/Zim-gem-sale-stirs-blood-diamond-fears-20100812

Don't forget the Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell "gifts"...!

[Michael Alexander]

Eventually got my new motherboard up and running in my main PC..... the caps on the old one went pop.......

It's Friday, so this morning I will be taking the dogs to the beach, best time to walk to the river mouth is on a working day morning, no people or other dogs to bother you...

Looking forward to a few ends of bowls this afternoon and then braai with a live band, bedrock performing at the bowling club.... all welcome....

Tomorrow morning I will make a nice big breakfast..... fancy peri peri chinken livers on toast.....  looking forward to Currie Cup games 2morrow afternoon...... Yahoooooo! I can feel a super saturday weekend on the horizon, must play "Here Comes the weekend" by........? (Pop Quiz for anyone) 10 points!

[Michael Alexander]

The beach was lekker this morning, the actual mouth is now about 40m wide.... and closing..... the beach area was quite, the wind blowing in from the east causing the Atlantic waves to flatten considerably...... with white Sea Horses spraying back into the ocean..... There was however no sand blowing down on the beach itself, although whilst driving to the beach, I noticed the sand springing into the air by the dunes to the east of the town.....

[Paul Alexander]

Roxette, now wheres my frikken 10 points!!!!

I've changed my mind, I am going to braai tomorrow, I can't possibly have two of the finest CC games back to back and sit there eating tofu and salad now can I???? I'll just have to drink in moderation tonight!!!

[Michael Alexander]

No Points, penalty for not using caps properly ....

Whoa betide the man that plans a braai after a bedrock event....

[Michael Alexander]

Whatta strange weekend, Was an off weekend, headed down to the ol' Bowls club on Friday, had a few dops with Clint, Dana...... Damn, thinking of Dana, he mentioned something to me about Oranjemund or something and I remember saying to him, "Man! I must put that online, that's fascinating,"....the problem being, 72 hours have passed and for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was......

Well the bowling club got rather busy, the band started to rock just after 20h00, the fires were a burning and the bar was a fullin' up with miners and the likes thereoff...... you know , the kind of characters one finds on a mine and all..... I know the band wrapped up after one and the bar closed, as per law just after two...... I even know of a few relatives that had to cancel Saturday;s big rugger braai as they had once again over indulged at the Bedrock Revival session....

The weather on Friday and Saturday was amazing here in Omund, I managed to go to the beach twice with the dogs, Friday morn and then on Saturday again, as little Kelvin now knows about the Beeeeeeech.....often standing at the closed front door screaming..."Open!Open!Open Door....Door, Door Beach...Beach............" The thing with little Kelvin is, well...like his sisters he has this magnetic pull towards all things aquatic, so when he toddles off along the rivers edge, he kind lurches into the water.... Needless to say his clothes got soaked....

Monday, Monday, I thought it was gonna be a depressing day, but the morning was fairly busy and time flew by, could not go for my swim, as I had to take a painkiller to prevent a gout attack.....in case you were wondering the gout has gone......

One nice thing about working in a store, is being able to interact with customers, you know to stand there and have a good old skinner, a chat .....

[Michael Alexander]

Feeling better today after having a head cold with a bit of a sore throat...... love to see the shout box in the morning when everyone logs on from around the world,  greetings from afar..... yet we are still together....

Wonder what this day will bring, meant to be the "quiet" day at work, but it never is.....

Thinking that as a child, at OPS, I remember always being at school on the 1st of September...... it stuck in my mind how at OPS there was always a big fanfare about the 1st day of spring......

These days OPS is closed on the 1st.....

I think spring day was a big event for the old timers, to have such diversity in tree's, all blooming in a small place in the desert.....

Wondering if I should go have a bath..... or a shower.... without any power....water pressure to my house is still low.....

and I am still wondering why Andy is walking around on crutches..... just giving me a wry smile in the store.... wonder which horse skopped him this time....

Already looking at the weather report for the weekend, two big events happening in town this weekend...... bash at the Gun Club and GOlf Course, will advertise them later....

Sigh, let's get showered....

Oh! Happy Spring Day to you all, well those of you in the SOuthern Hemisphere at least......

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Its a good day for me to-day my son bun is comming home to visit mommy.
Well actualy for Stephen's big 60 on the 5th.
Springday for me was always the beginning of summer.. the day to tan and have my first swim......this year I think not....blady freezing here this morning.

[Michael Alexander]

Besides you will first have to go out and buy a new Costume, as the one from last year will not be fitting your bod anymore....

[Dalene Steenkamp (Coetzee)]

Now, the non fitting of the costume seems to be a nation 'wide' phenomena ...  kilojules - little critters that creep into your clothes while you sleep and eat them two sizes smaller!!

Quite a windy spring day here in the Kalahari - might be the season in on a 'blow out all the old germs' clean spree.  Decided it be a good thing to get myself cleaned up a bit as well today  -  so, my hairdresser is once again smiling because she had fun and my purse is a bit flatter, but what the heck ...  at least I got a good scalp and neck massage from the deal.  Now I am as lazy as a cat in the sun.  Maybe should just close office for the day, pack up and head home to see if I can cook up some energy to come back tomorrow and jump into spring fever like a teen .....

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Excuse a me Michael.......then you may be right...lost 10kilo's dear boy. So maybe a new cossie is in order.

[Michael Alexander]

Drinking does that to you, you old suiplap!   

Anyhow.... Just saw an old mate of mine. back in town for 10 days, Johan, the man in Orange that flies the Whirlybirds, in Spar with his wife, Krystel and daughter,..... this chap is one staunch Freestate supporter and it is good to see them looking well....... it was also nice to hear them commenting about how the town is looking.....

[Michael Alexander]

Gee! Who would have thought that Roger Moore was 82 years old...

Who was your best James Bond actor then?