The Restory Retreat Centre

Maybe I'm exaggerating. But what's left of a good account if you can't stretch it? And somewhere in there is a kernel of truth, and the elements for a solution, if you listen carefully. With all the space we have, it feels as if I’m limited in movement. Here at Tafelkop it rains and rains and rains in summer. And if it's not raining, there's the mist. With the result that anything that can handle that much moisture, and the cold of our winters, thrives. Which is mainly the grass in general and Kikuyu in particular. Like a wave it rises around the orchard and the garden. Our mowed lawn ends against a wall of green. It is a weekly effort to hold back the tide. It is beautiful to behold, but it hampers movement. You feel like you’re going on an expedition just to reach the base of Tafelkop. It’s the same in whatever direction you venture. It’s a challenge for the dogs as well. They totally disappear in the abundant growth. Molly has developed a leaps and bounds style o...

“Francis called all creatures, no matter how small by the name of brother and sister; because he knew they had the same source as himself.”                                                     Saint Bonaventure's Life of St Francis "If humankind could have known God without the world, God would never have created the world."                                                     Meister Eckhart "In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!"                                                   Colossians 3:11 ...

Jasper, the Border Collie, at the river Photograph by George Angus You are the giver of all good things. All good things are sent from heaven above, rain and sun, day and night, justice and righteousness, bread to the eater and seed to the sower, peace to the old, energy to the young, joy to the babes. We are takers, who take from you, day by day, daily bread, taking all we need as you supply, taking in gratitude and wonder and joy. And then taking more, taking more than we need, taking more than you give us, taking from our sisters and brothers, taking from the poor and the weak, taking because we are frightened, and so greedy, taking because we are anxious, and so fearful, taking because we are driven, and so uncaring. Give us peace beyond our fear, and so end our greed. Give us well-being beyond our anxiety, and so end our fear. Give us abundance beyond our drivenness, and so end our uncaring. Turn our taking into giving … since we are in your giving image: Make us giving like y...

Photograph by Matilda Angus His name is Monty. Actually Montgomery, but he is only addressed that way if he’s doing something a naughty Monty would do. I also call him “Montego Bay” or “Wille Waghond” (Afrikaans for wild guard dog). Sebastien calls him “Monkey dog”. About the size of a brick, maybe smaller, with a thimble mouth, he epitomizes chutzpah. He has taken the guard duty of Barowfield onto himself, being of the opinion that it was in a shambles when he arrived here about four months ago. At the slightest noise outside, he’ll run from door to door or jump onto the coach and then into the wide window sill to deliver his warning or to inspect. Among other things, 800 kg bulls are charged and snakes confronted. And he’ll end up with the juicy bone initially given to Jasper the Border collie and will protect it so ferociously that none of the bigger dogs will come near him. With absolutely nothing to his advantage or in his favor but attitude. The love of his life is...

Photograph by George Angus With the shaper running and me busy making a set of blades for a silage cutter, the rhythm of the workshop sets in. Somebody coming in from outside might think I'm running a veterinary field hospital with dogs strewn all over the floor. Jasper the Border Collie close to the small welding machine, Roxy the Labrador with her cheek against the shaper. Healthy and happy. We're just working. God’s in His heaven - All’s right with the world! George