Breakfast

I'm really enjoying living with a flock of happy chickens and their delicious daily offerings. This my breakfast today - a golden-yolked poached on toast!

Positioning the steps, stone edging and route

Wiseman the gardener and George got digging again this morning. The project continues to grow in scope and size and today we were digging out the old stone wall behind the 'Yin' pool so that the waterproof lining can be incorporated. I hope we haven't gone too Yin! They removed one large stone and there was a huge black toad and then a swarm of flies arrived.

The Xhosa people are very suspicious of toads and river creatures as they consider them to be manifestations of 'ancestral' spirits. We will have to make sure that there is enough active sunlit golden Yang elements to balance the energies in the garden.

Watching the ripples in the stone basin

We set up the suikinkitsu and enjoyed listening to the tinkle of the flowing and dripping water through a copper tube. The Japanese use long bamboo poles to amplify the sound. Anna and her friend spent quite a long time playing with the water and listening to the suikinkitsu - lovely to see. The chickens and dog seem to enjoy it too.

My visit to the beach

Later we returned to the beach; the sea rolls and roars on the cobble stones and I picked up several large abalone shells and a selection of basalt pebbles.

George and a friend drove to town to buy agricultural fleece and black, waterproof epoxy paint to create the pool and lay under the gravel and keep the weeds under control.