I Also Had A Farm In Africa!

2007-06-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO BULKLIP FARM

John and Kate Fagalde before we started farming

What farming will do for sartorial elegance!

What we started out with

Welcome to Bulklip Farm - tucked away in a little known corner of the southern Free State of South Africa. It was here that John and I discovered a derelict farm that at first glance had very little going for it apart from the most wonderful scenery and an ancient rock that carried traces of the early Bushmen who had roamed the area.

The Bulklip Rock that gave the farm its name

In a moment of madness, we bought the farm and for the next eight years, we set about turning it into a home and a business. During those eight years, we survived the longest drought in living memory, fought veldt fires alongside our neighbours, withstood brutal winds and searing heat. We hand reared a sheep who thought it was a dog and a sheep dog who had romantic inclinations towards the sheep. We cheered the arrival of our first calf and wept over our mistakes, and side by side, we underwent an incredible learning curve.

Benny of Bulklip arrives

We came to the farm knowing nothing about farming and very little about each other, but by the time we left, we knew that if our relationship could withstand the pressures that we put it under, we had a good chance of spending the rest of our lives together, and I am happy to report that "so far so good".

Yes, it does snow in Africa!

With the help of letters that I had written to my parents, a farm logbook and memories that refuse to fade, I wrote the book "Lambs Love and Laughter" which chronicled some of the extraordinary years that we spent on our farm in Africa.

If you are interested in reading my book, please contact me at

cmfagalde@yahoo.co.uk

The reward for a lot of hard work

Read "Lambs Love and Laughter" and you will come to understand why life seems a little odd as we look out of our 17th floor luxury Miami apartment and watch the luxury yachts in the marina below us sparkling in the sunshine . There are still days when it seems a little odd not to have nine people on the party phone line and the post delivered by horseback!