The Big Stain, the encouraging story of a novice

I cannot recall when last a posted a blog. But I can check…It was 20 Feb, which tomorrow, will be 2 months ago. (Wait till I start on string theory, to confabulate the concept of time and dimensions ). It is a far cry from what I had pictured in my mind, when I started my blog 2 years ago, with 2 posts a week.

Talking about expectations and the like, you may have seen my post a few days ago, indicating that I would post how to stain, or how NOT to stain a cement floor, depending on the success rate of this Easter Weekend project.

It is time for the big reveal, and yes, you can assume a sense of excitement and delight. Silver lining and all, even when the project does not turn out how I expected, I love the unexpected. I call it Talita’s chaos theory. Even in chaos, there is a sense of wonder, wondering whether you will get out of this in one piece (for the pessimist) or wondering what adventure awaits at the next turn of events (for the eternal optimist).

The colour was blue. In theory. (Link not mine, but it is a beautiful blue finish)

https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.fa52992fac7c43acca30f720978b733c?rik=8UWBsl%2bdl%2b7%2bTQ&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

In practise: We live in the beautiful red Kalahari sand. Red sand + cement + blue stain = green effect.

Even better, because now the stoep blends in with the surrounding abundant grass. Namibians especially appreciate the transient nature of green grass, so it is especially serene to have the inside blend with the outside. For the rest of the year, it is pretty much dry savanna (if you are lucky) or red Kalahari sand dunes.

Enough of the ethereal wafting. Down to practical basics.

Project planning – OLD overalls most NB

This blog will fill a gap in the world wide web. Nowhere could I find an example how to stain with my product, making patterns or abstract art. There are some advanced examples of epoxy floors made to look like aerial views of Sunkissed beach sand and cool crashing waves. Or lava streams flowing down mountain tops. I think you get the picture I had in my mind.

So there is a reason those posts are with epoxy, and not with cement stain. Cement stain is not predictable. It depends on the colour of your sand, the porosity of your cement, the degree of trowling a smooth finish, the moisture in the air and in the cement floor, and so on. Best I can determine from my experiment of 1, is that you can choose a “Nguni type” finish, or a more evenly spread mottled look.

Nguni is a native cattle brand. Very sought after for their dappled white/brown/black hides.

Baby cow as at August 2021 vs same, but now, Lady cow as at April 2022

The area I had to cover was 117m2.

I had 3 x 5 litter containers of stain. Following instruction to the letter, I first put masking tape on the edges of the floor. Even my friends know I am not a very neat person, so taking that extra precaution is worth the investment unless you like the stain to creep up the walls.

I then applied the stain with a roller brush (short hair), and had a separate small container handy, with which I wanted to create “islands of blue ocean”. I would pour on some stain (the more stain, the more intense the colour), and direct it into shapes by gloved hand. Gloves are important, that is pretty obvious at this stage. The cement drank in the colour, so I was not very convinced whether this was going to work. But, once I start a project, there is no way but forward, so forward I went.

Leave to dry for 24 hours. Sweep it up, (the stain has by now dried to a powder), then wipe with a sacrificial squeegee so as to not wet the floor again.

Phase 2 commences
Stained vs stained & sealed

Then the 2-part sealer, consisting of a polyeurothane Polyurothrane polysomething mix and an activator. Mark your mixing vessel to indicate 4 parts poly, and then another mark for 1 part activator. It is essential not to mix the two tins in their entirety, because pot life is stated at 45- 60 minutes, but you will soon see whether it is more like 30 minutes before the mix becomes a mess of silicone bits stuck to your floor. We recycled the stain container, and clearly marked the one cup level, and +4 cup level to make mixing easier. Using tongue depressors, (or ice cream sticks?) as mixing tool works well.

I had 4 sets of 4+1 litres, but 3 was enough to cover the entire 117 sqm twice.

Having Johannes on standby to cut the corners (in this case, it was not about cheating, it was to apply sealer in the corners which is impossible with a roller brush), and to mix another vessel of 4:1, was a life saver.

Roll one direction for layer one, wait 24 hours, and roll at 90 degrees for layer two.

Sealing process – Sorry – my IT abilities do not reach to rotating videos!

End of story.

PS – do not forget to remove the masking tape as you progress with cutting corners on layer two. Failing which you will have a gel – sealer – crack disaster.

PPS – most important – clean your equipment thoroughly in between sealing layers. The Polysomething mix is touch dry within 30 minutes, but, if you mix the next batch (even 24 hours later), you end up with silicone consistency flecks of semi-dried sealer in your next layer, and that aint pretty!

I think for the next experiment, I would consider using a spray pump to get a more even mottled effect, but then you must tape plastic halfway up the walls.

It looks a little like a google satellite map of our region. The very definition of semi-arid country.

In any event, I hope you find this post useful. Do not be mistaken, a blank canvas is daunting, but when that first stroke hits the cement, push on through, and accept the surprise the universe throws your way.

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

It is the first time I start a blog with no idea where to start, never mind where it was going. You won’t know this, but by the time you hit the second paragraph, I had already rewritten the 2nd para a few times, and have rearranged the two paragraphs. Yes, it is possible to rearrange two.

It’s been a tough, but good, corporate week. However, it was now weekend, and I wanted nothing more than “work the cattle”.

Ireland in Namibia
I’m no Dapper, but this is a pretty picture

So, I guess this blog will be for your lazy Sunday afternoon entertainment, if you had ever wondered about cattle farming.

Our cattle farming started 2,5 years ago, a few months after we bought the farm. We bought tollies, which are neutered young bulls, and our plan was to host them until they gained some T-bone structure.

It is important that I tell you it was a few months after we bought the farm, because then you will appreciate when we say that a couple of months later, upon shipping the tollies out again, we discovered we had 2 young cows amongst the tollies. Never mind, it was in my mind to become more self-sustainable, and farm with cow and calves. So, we dispatched Daisy and Mable to our neighbours to sow their wild seeds.

Daisy came back “with young” but Mable was perhaps a little prudish.

Earlier last year, Daisy gave birth to Valentino. Can you guess his birth date? .

Daisy and a strong Valentino
One shy Valentino
Newborn Valentino & Daisy

We could not understand why Valentino was not picking up weight, until we discovered Mable was supping on Daisy – hence her nickname “Milk Thief”.

It was around this time that we decided even if both cows had come back pregnant, and had they been two heifers, it would take, say 99 years for us to build up a herd.

So, we procured another 38 cows. And one handsome young gun. Unfortunately, a bit too young to take a stance with the ladies.

A collection of cattle

We asked around, and would you believe the nice neighbourliness we have here; a friendly fellow farmer proffered his bull to chaperone the ladies.

A Borrow Bull

It was quite cute when we brought the bull over. The minute he stepped through the gate, young Mable, who had been lazing in the lush green ground cover, stood up with a “well hello there” stance, and sauntered sexily over to bull number 18. He was her first, and she produced our first.

Mable and her first

It is now one year later, and the cows are “producing” left right and centre as the colloquial saying goes.

It is still a small herd, and we had very good rains last year, so our (or rather, the cattle’s fodder) is more than we need, so we had the opportunity to diversify our income streams, and we are renting out two camps to another herd.

It was that herd we had to work this weekend. It was relatively easy, but essential work. Here comes the technical part of the blog.

You need to treat the heifers before they reach 8 months, with Brucella which protects them against abortion later in life. And once a year, treat all cattle, in fact all animals, with a general all round vaccination, which in this case was MultivaxP.

The Syringe

That syringe is the reason I always look the other way when I donate blood. But, if you know where, (in the hollow below the shoulder blade) and you can move fast before the cattle pin your arm in the manga, it is done very quickly.

We don’t have a prodder, and in a way I prefer that, because I think a carrot works better than a stick. Having said that, the cattle don’t necessarily understand what treats wait for them on the other side of the “head scissors” so it takes some coaxing with a rubber pipe across the rump to get them moving. Trust me, the pipe makes more noise than it makes pain, and the cattle do understand the instruction then.

Let me clarify, a head scissor is not a euphemism for removing the brain from the body, it is actually a clamp type structure, which keeps the animal more or less still while you administer the eye drops, or other necessary treatment.

Cattling

One last task was to document the unique tag numbers of each animal, for control purposes. Not only for ourself, but also for the meatboard who issue all tag numbers. Have you tried reading a moving 8 digit target? Not such a simple job after all.

The treat on the other side, in this case, was a refreshing shower, with “eue de anti tick” aroma. Administered with the fire fighter. I can see one wild rave party theme happening here.

And that was that. A most relaxing weekend:

When you do what you love, it’s not work.

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But why?; X 5 (how to solve the problem)

It’s a very odd heading, and there is a reason for it. It comes from internal audit methodology, but also good common sense.

It is important that one understands a topic, and to get to that most basic genuine understanding, one must ask “why”, 5 times.

The response to the first “why”, is generally an assumption. You would be wrong to accept the first answer as the reason for being.

The second response generally demonstrates that the responder has an inkling that you seek a deeper more meaningful response, but still, the second response tends to be symptomatic.

The work force 😉

To get to the root cause, you must continue asking why, and by response 5, you may have an elementary understanding.

The husband and I are constructing a cabin on the farm.

He comes from “construction stock”, but never actually built a dwelling before. I come from numbers stock, and similarly, while I consider myself very creative and pragmatic, never actually built a dwelling before.

Cool construction gadgets

So, what follows, is the application of the 5 why theory, to a real-life situation.

Question (Why 1): Why does the roof have to have a pitch?

Answer 1 (The assumption): Because the rain must run off

Here, the counter argument is: But there are flat roof homes all over the world. To which the response is something like: “But it has all kinds of other engineering issues, and finishing off, and product requirements which I don’t know, so stop arguing and just do what I say”. Trust me, that line of argument does not lead anywhere. No, let me correct that. It does lead somewhere. But nowhere you want to go without your lawyer present.

Why 2: But why can the pitch not be 1 degree?

By now, you must have gathered that these are verbatim questions, and if you know the husband and I, you would at this point get behind the safety glass.

A bit of background to this question. Somewhere in the far-off recesses of my grey matter, I can recall something about the span of the horizontal leg of a right sided triangle, determining the height of the vertical leg, if you were after a certain pitch. But, because I did not bother with the 5 why’s at the time, I could not recall the reason, nor the method of calculation.

The Husband wanted to extend the one wall with 20 cm, which according to him, would give enough pitch. In my calculations, given a 6-meter span, would give something like a 0.1-degree pitch. i.e., effectively flat.

Answer 2 (the assumption): because a steeper pitch means the rain runs off faster.

Technically this is correct, but it is not a complete. And this is why, a third why, is important.

Why #3: But why is the speed of the runoff important. When water runs, it runs.

Answer 3:

Here is where the respondent needs to haul out their patience reserves. Because logic must prevail, and it is important for the other party to understand why, so that the next dwelling they build, is designed correctly to begin with.

(Spock would be so proud of me )

Answer 3: If the speed is too slow, then the water at the bottom edge of the pitch, starts creeping uphill under the roof, back into the house, causing mouldy walls and all.

You better believe it!

Why #4: But why must the vertical wall be 3 m taller (by now reaching a whopping 5,5m in height!)?

Fair question, and one that led to some mental arithmetics, google research, and fortuitously, a better answer.

Answer 4: I’m glad you asked that question. It does not have to be 3m taller. We don’t have to deal with snow fall here in this desert country, so we don’t have to worry about large build ups on the roof coming down on an innocent bystander – like that iconic building in Chicago that now has an entrance on the high wall during winter……

Turns out, a 10-degree angle is sufficient to keep rain run off at an acceptable rate, and co-incidentally, also relatively wind proof. Windproof being an important consideration in this dry dust devil prone country of ours.

Why #5: Advanced grade: But if the one stoep is 3m, and the other stoep is 4m, but they must start and stop at the same heights, then their angles will be different. How on earth are you going to get the two stoep roofs to meet at the corner?

Pitch differences of a wide vs narrow stoep

Answer 5: You ask Dustin, at Frametech Solutions.

But, because it’s important to understand how in the event something does not work, and you have to make a plan, we constructed a 3D scale model to define the problem and see the solution. Turns out, it does not matter. The one pitch (below 5 degrees) meets the cross bar which has its own angle. And the other pitch, (above 5 degrees) meets the same cross bar. The roof sheeting is cut at an angle to meet the cross bar, in progressively shorter sheets. And magically, just like that, the problem is solved.

Happy problem solving in the week ahead!

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A recipe for success

I have become my own worst user. When searching recipes on the internet, I skip right past all the wordy bits, and jump straight to the recipe.

So, let us just get that out of the way, I do not mind if you do that also. 😉

I have written a number of the late-night red wine philosophical debates in the last few posts, so let me change the pace with some kitchen practice.

Yes, I am barefoot most of the time.

(Did I tell you about that time I was stuck in my car, before a meeting, because I had forgotten to bring shoes. Not that I had on sneakers, and had forgotten office shoes, I had NO shoes. Perhaps a story for another time.)

Yes, I am in the kitchen most of the time.

(Did I tell you about that time I nearly clobbered my particularly good friend Anthony: How do you get a woman out of the kitchen – you lengthen her leash…..)

When you do not feel the mood, its hard to create something inspiring to mind, body, soul, and stomach. But, when you match the oddest ingredients, it turns into magic! And that is what I like about ready, steady, cook.

On the farm, you are forced to create with what is in the kitchen. You can try your luck with the nearest neighbours, which in the second least populated country in the world, is not a practicable solution. And I am not driving 2 hours to the nearest mall, for crème fraiche.

Nar Eksisi

As I mentioned, we have really learnt to live off the land. When the bounty of the land is in abundance, you pickle/preserve/experiment to last you the year. Thanks for the bounty of our ex-neighbour turned friend, Marc.

Neighbour bounty

Not sure if this is the correct term, but my good friend Elodé introduced me to this Syrian/Turkish? condiment. I love adding it to especially mince dishes, for an exotic flavour. I was trying to make Pomegranate molasses, so let me just say, adding sugar and reducing on the stove top, by 40%, does not create molasses. But it is a great tasting concentrate. Can even use it as a refreshing drink with soda and lots of ice.

The lesson learnt here, is how to juice a pomegranate. https://familyspice.com/how-to-juice-a-pomegranate/. Thanks Laura. This bowl of fruit yielded eight cups of seeds, and just over four cups of juice.

Top and tail the fruit, then score the skin (quite deep) along the ridges in the fruit. Break into parts and use your nimble fingers to loosen the seeds.

Here you can see our fruit do not yield that deep ruby red colour, but this pale pink palette means your fingers do not appear stained.

Arils – jewels of flavour

Juicing consisted of a mixer blade (to break the juice sacks, without breaking the pips), followed by a last squeeze through a sieve.

Patty pan pleasure

My childhood memories of patty pans are limited to: boil them up, grate cheese over, and you are ready to sit down to dinner.

Baby patty pans harvested, prior to finding King Patty Pan 😉

However, accidently getting caught up during sundowners, I had forgotten that the Patty pans, shallots, garlic, and all kinds of fresh herbs, was roasting under the grill. What a lucky accident that was. The caramelised brown (OK, black) bits added a “deliciousness” of note to this dish.

Sweet potato gnocchi

There is a reason that this does not feature highly on Italian restaurant menus. Perhaps because they do not have sweet potatoes in Italy? But more likely that mashed sweet potato is too wet and does not make such a malleable dough as mashed potatoes do.

Nonetheless, the Gnocchi had a hint of sweetness, and served with a garlic & herbs butter, it was a great (good for diabetics) side dish.

Packaged Gnocchi; Prepared Gnocchi

Pizza plan

Pizza has a dual benefit. I make a large batch of pizzas on the weekend, so that I can get away with a 30 min timetable when it is my turn to cook during the week.

The second benefit is that I use pizzas to empty the fridge. You know all those half jars of all sorts of snacks, pickles, and left-over cabbage….. they find a great home on a fresh pizza base.

This version had (if I recall)

Pizza plan
  • Base case tomato relish
  • Game mince (always finished off with a tablespoon of fish sauce)
  • Onion & garlic mix
  • Fresh tomato
  • Artichokes
  • Pan fried red cabbage with balsamic and carraway seeds
  • Peppers (green/red/whatever is available)
  • Mushrooms
  • And probably a few other surprises (chilli, pickled onions and so on)

Wild Rocket Pesto

Vegan Wild Rocket Pesto – Sheila’s favourite

I make a vegan pesto. Not because I do not eat meat, but because parmesan is so awfully expensive locally. The ratio is more or less, 100g handpicked leaves, 100g cashew nuts, 125m olive oil, pinch salt and black pepper, clove garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind. Blitz. Taste, add a little something. Blitz again.

That’s it.

And that is it. If you had read to the end, you have found the red herring, and you may claim your portion of the next experiment when we next meet.

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On and off switches, and a couple of two’s

The date today, is of course a popular topic. 01/01/2022.

And undeniably, so are new year’s resolutions. My resolution was to write a last post of the year yesterday, perhaps a recap of the most popular dishes for last year. Or a review of the new DBP products launched during the year. But there were snacks to be prepared for the party on the dune, and it had to be prepared x +/- 19 times.

Which reminds me, I forgot, to take a picture of the

Africa Cafe – 108 Short Market Street, Cape Town, South Africa
  • shredded duck on mini pita’s – a la neighbour’s duck (with a couple of steam pot sessions ), with Elodé’s 5 spice sauce from our previous attempt at roast duck.
  • Malawi Nsima sticks with a Mozambique piri-piri dip, both a la Africa Café (A popular restaurant in Cape Town), and an 80’s style 1,000 island sauce.
  • Healthy alternative macadamia nut butter, which I did manage to advertise yesterday.

Anyway, this post is not about last night’s party. (Thanks Jens and Silke – the trouble you went to, to host a New Year’s on the Dune, complete with tables, tents, and farm fresh décor, was lovely!) https://kalahari-scenic-dune-camp.business.site/

This post is about the digits that represent today.

On switches, of which there are two. Off switches of which there are three. And a smattering of twos, which I shall designate as the leapfrog switches.

Alternatively, you can call them inputs, and outputs, plus a smattering of amplifiers. Before the techies out there get all worked up, I am taking the literary liberty to paraphrase from https://www.eleccircuit.com/author/chayapol/

01012022

Let’s cut the convoluted debate to the bone. The message is simple really.

Switch off the contrariness of the last year. I am going to ask you, to stand by me, and let us be the ones to brave the tide of corruption. To the extent that it takes courage to point out circumstances that could be construed as bribery or corruption, and to the extent that we will inevitably pick a longer and more winding road to get to our own goals. But it will be proper.

Switch on that big ticket bucket list item that you have always wanted to do. This is the year to plan for it, and to implement it. For me, it will be the move to living off the land full time.

Lastly, that scheme you invested in the 12 months up to yesterday. Particularly the area in which you invested a lot of time. Unfurl those sails, deploy the banners. This is the year to apply that investment to leapfrog over all obstacles, using the impetus from last year’s successes. I’ll be localising the tax studies I completed last year, to complement my repertoire of business and governance skills and experience, which in turn will allow me to execute my strategy for the year ahead.

2022 = 365 opportunities for you to STOP something, START something else, and CONTINUE with your conquests….

The road ahead – The Journey is Yours