Some great new additions to the menagerie, 2 cute Bush Pigs, they arrived at about one week old one took to the bottle straight away (Babe) the other we could not teach to drink from a bottle (Pig) so in desperation we put a bowl of milk down and he started drinking. He is a little smaller than Babe but doing well. Jim Crow is a real character he sleeps on the tires of the dog baskets, the dogs almost knock him over but he is not phased. We could not work out why Zulig had bird poo on his nose ever morning, soon realized why... The two orphan calves are doing well, the one still not really drinking properly but seem to swallow the milk, they hang around with Mary the lamb and go everywhere together, so cute except when they eat my herbs or use the flower beds to play in. Easter looks like we are going to be busy - with lots of bookings. Rick and I will be on the farm for all the April holidays, if you need to get hold of me the best is the farm line 036 4881751 (evenings). Horses are flying out of the Ranch, all the young horses I have brought down to Shongweni to sell have gone to great homes, which is so important. I try and keep in touch with everyone so I know how all the horses/ponies are doing. The appaloosa's really are a very special breed. They have such calm temperaments and are very hardy because they are brought up wild for the first 2 years. Tully the Great Dane is in pup and should be having her puppies about the end of March, word really gets around and most of them are booked already. Toody and Pudy the two orphan cats are so cute and getting really big, if we go for a short walk around the garden or to the river they run along with us darting up trees and stork butterflies. A clip from Rick...... My mom and Mike have been talking about the sale of the Roses for a couple of months now, more and more frequently so I asked them what all this talk was about. (it sounded to me like a charity project?!) they said Mike was going to a Brahman sale which was by invitation only. This is the first time Mike has been invited to this exclusive event and he was extremely excited. He told me that he was preparing three very special cows with their calves for the event and that he was quite nervous. At lunch time the day before the truck came to fetch the cows, Mike took away their food. You do this so the animals do not defecate upon one another and spoil their beautiful coats which the owners have worked hard on. The truck was meant to arrive at 5am after loading our neighbours cattle at 3am. At this time of year it is still dark at 3am, luckily the farmer had flood lights. However this is Africa and things do not always go as planned. To Eskoms precise intervention and timing the truck left the farm 3 hours l ater.......due to load shedding, so that also delayed Mikes loading by 3 hours. Eventually they left Rolling M with Mike escorting the truck driver until the driver said he needed to stop for Diesel. Mike drove on another 20km to Parys and waited, and waited. after an hour Mike phoned the driver and enquired as to his whereabouts. The small town he had stopped for diesel had none so the driver in his infinite wisdom decided to head back to the high way drive to the next town 100km away instead of the 20km to the Dome in Parys where the sale was to be held.. Mike told him to turn around and head for Parys Unfortunately he ran out of Diesel..... When you run a diesel engine dry you have to "bleed" it which evolves opening a number of valves and pushing diesel through. Now they have to find a mechanic to do this... It starts hailing. Finally at 9pm they arrive at Parys looking very rough but the next day the cows go on auction and they are sold for a price which Mike is very happy with... Hope to see you all at the Ranch soon. Regards Jo & Mike

Bull's Party Weekends - A note for Bachelors Ukuthula Bush Camp is an ideal place for a Bull's Party Weekend! No one to bother; nowhere to drive; no inhibitions - an absolute party. Contact Jo on 083 489 7834 for our special rates. Team building and mini conferences at the Rolling M Ranch As the ranch is remote from all distractions, a great variety of organizations find it an ideal venue for team building, mini- conferences and training seminars ... More info