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The Sweet Life

 


Our brother-in-law, William, loves the simple things in life – sunsets, a nice cup of coffee, hearty meals with family, a bowl of home made Barrowfield yoghurt, a good joke. Growing up in Douglas in the Northern Cape instilled in him this deep appreciation for the gentle beauty and value of ordinary things.

For the largest part of his adult life – 31 years to be exact – he has worked as an electrical engineer at Sasol in Secunda. Not the ideal setting for someone touched by matters that feed the soul. 

We weren’t surprised when he started beekeeping a number of years ago. It suits his character and acted as a very good counter-balance to his work at Sasol. He placed 2 hives behind the stone wall in our garden and it has been a wonderful journey for us too, learning through William more about these little miracle workers of nature. And we feel rich beyond belief when our bottles of “liquid gold”, tasting of Barrowfield, stand on the pantry shelf at the end of a good season.

In the course of last year, William, Juanita and the children made the leap of faith. William decided to resign at Sasol end of 2020, move to Wakkerstroom and be a full time beekeeper, among other things. They will be arriving end of February this year.

We are so proud of them, taking this courageous step. They remind us of Henry Thoreau’s famous words on why he decided to go and live at Walden Pond: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life….”

For the last couple of weeks, Matilda tended our share of December’s honey harvest. In the absence of a centrifuge extractor, she places the honey combs on a wire rack over a large dish or basin, pokes holes through them with a knitting needle, covers them with a net and waits for the honey to drain. A very slow process, but it gets the job done. 

She filmed the process and sent the video to the “newly retired” William. Falling back on decades of writing reports and assessments, he responded in his best Sasolish: “Thanks to Team Barrowfield for living the values of Wilkin & Son Honey Company by keeping a focused approach during the honey extraction process  and completing the process within the agreed budget and set timeframe limits as set out in your performance contract.”

We are quite chuffed as well.


George


 


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