Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A lovely morning in Greyton

Gorgeous climber rose in The Post House's delightful garden
Today was one of my favourite kind of days. A day when I had the freedom and time to explore a little of one of my favourite South African villages, namely Greyton. This quaint settlement, so reminiscent of an English country village, is situated in the beautiful mountainous region of the Western Cape. While Greyton gives the impression of being thousands of kilometres away, it takes a mere hour and a half to drive there from Cape Town.


Fountain in The Post House garden
So, what was I doing there? Well, as regular readers of Driftwood Ramblings will know by now, I occasionally get to accompany my husband on 'field trips'. Today was one of those occasions, but with a slight difference. Instead of joining him and all the other specialists 'on site', my husband felt I'd be far happier 'doing my own thing' in the village, while they tackled the hot, dry, barren site. I couldn't have agreed with him more!



I was dropped off at The Post House, a wonderful original old building erected in 1860 as, you guessed it, a post office! Today, it has been beautifully refurbished, retaining its charming history, but serving now as one of Greyton's most luxurious Guest Houses. Since I had not eaten breakfast and it was just past 9 am, I followed my nose to where a wonderful coffee aroma taunted my olfactory sense. After ordering a cup of freshly brewed filter coffee, I sat happily anticipating my breakfast of eggs, bacon, grilled tomato, mushrooms and farmhouse toast with homemade peach preserve. When it arrived, I tucked right in and only after I'd enjoyed the last yummy morsel did I realize I'd missed a photo opportunity.  I did, however, snap a few pictures of the dining room while awaiting my meal...






The next four pictures I'll call "A Study of Old Chairs" since I found the different designs of the dining room chairs rather captivating...





And below, we have a view taken from the street side verandah of The Post House...


After having satiated myself with a second cup of coffee to end my meal, I ambled into the very pretty garden and snapped several more pictures...








The vegetable patch is named after Beatrix Potter's famous farmer and each of the guest rooms is named after a character from her books...
Mr Mc Gregor's vegetable patch.
I climbed the time worn ladder stairway to the loft room in order to get this photograph of the rather tempting pool area.
Each guest room has its own private patio seating overlooking the gardens.
These pretty stained glass windows define the ends of each length of covered verandah adjoining the guest rooms.
These two lovely palm trees tower above the garden providing shade from the hot sun and nesting opportunities for several birds.

I must say, time has a habit of passing all too quickly when I'm enjoying myself and so, after a couple of hours had elapsed, I realized I'd better move further along the road, lest I miss out on taking in a little more of the village scene...

This extra-length chair was placed invitingly on the pavement outside an eclectic shop selling all sorts of things belonging to a bygone age.
One of the colourful village shops. This one was unfortunately closed for business on Tuesdays, so missed out on my visit. I photographed it, because the peacock tails were decorated with mirror and reflected ever so prettily in the bright sunlight.
A pretty garden welcomes one to this particular Estate Agent's offices.
I wandered in and out of several little shops, looked at properties for sale on the boards outside a couple of estate agents to get a feel for the property market in Greyton and then discovered a rather delightful interior decor and gift shop, where I spent another good while gazing at all that was on display.

My iced tea, a brand I had not yet seen, was very pleasant.
Having eaten a hearty breakfast just a couple of hours earlier, I did not order anything to eat with my iced tea, but I did think the menu looked quite tempting for another time
This mosaic water feature was on the wall behind where I was seated. I thought it was very cleverly executed.
By this time, I'd built up a bit of a thirst. Two cups of good, strong coffee has that effect on me, so I trundled across the road and seated myself on a large wooden couch beneath the cooling shade of a vine covered pergola and ordered an iced tea. Once again, my eye was drawn to my immediate surrounding and I couldn't resist snapping another couple of pictures. I'd just finished my iced tea when my husband called to say he was on his way back to collect me. And so ended a perfectly delightful morning!

30 comments:

  1. What fun you had, I bet you wish your husband could have shared everything you saw, but at least you knew you could share it with us. That shop looked so interesting, hate that it was closed ( that happens to me too much looking for shops).Loved the last mosiac fountain, thanks Des!!

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  2. Desiree, thank you for another of your wonderful blogs on exciting places in SA accompanied by your beautiful photos. And please thank your husband for inviting you along so we, too, could travel along. I ALWAYS love your blog on whatever subject matter...thanks again. in Virginia, USA

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  3. Dear Desiree, what a lovely place you have been to. I love the fountain and the garden. The stained glass window is lovely! And Mr McGregor [hehe] very nice photos my friend. Such a delight to see today after a grey and dull day here in Dublin. Thank you so much for sharing and have a lovely evening.

    Eva

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  4. What a delightful place! I loved those chairs. I've never seen those types of chairs without cushions over them before! You get to see the most wonderful things Des! Thanks for sharing them with us!

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  5. I'd say you were long overdue for a perfectly delightful morning, dear Desiree. I'm happy knowing you were out and about exploring shops and gardens again. These are not pictures you have on display. They're postcards. Swimming pools do not excite me but fountains surrounded by lily pads and creations like that mosaic water feature surely do. Thank you for taking us along on your latest sightseeing tour, dear friend, and please give your K-9's a loving pat for me!

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  6. What a pleasant time you had waiting for your husband in the little town of Greyton! I took one look at that first picture of the garden outside the cafe where you had breakfast and went "Aaaaahhhhh!" I love to check out the pictures of what's for sale in estate agent's windows too (we call them realtors here in the U.S.). Love the mosaic water feature, so clever! Thank for this lovely post and for taking us along with you.

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  7. May I say that I'm in love? I can imagine myself walking along and chat with you!

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  8. What a lovely visit I've had while visiting with you. I adore the tea party fountain. Green grass, blooming flowers, blue sky. Thank you for sharing your morning.

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  9. Wowwww what a beautiful place to be.....i enjoy your post darling........love from me....xxx....

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  10. I would say, your morning was well spent and savored, Desiree...I enjoyed it too.

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  11. a very pretty place! i like the ceiling beams inside the restaurant area, and the chair seating with the webbed netting is cool. beautiful gardens again, desiree!

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  12. Wspaniale, że pojechałaś z mężem, bo dzięki temu zobaczyłam bardzo interesujące miejsce. Podobał mi się stary budynek poczty , jego wyposażenie ( krzesła, witraże) i otoczenie ( roślinność, fontanna ). Dalszy Twój spacer był również przyjemny. Dziękuję za tą wycieczkę i pozdrawiam bardzo serdecznie. *** It is great that you went with her husband, because doing so saw a very interesting place. I liked the old post office building, its equipment (chairs, stained glass) and environment (vegetation, a fountain). Further Your walk was also enjoyable. Thank you for this trip and I greet warmly.

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  13. I'm so glad you take us along on your field trips! So much history, art, beauty surrounds you at every turn! I'm so relaxed now.

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  14. The pink roses are heaven! And everything looks so fresh and sunny. It was lovely to visit these beautiful places with you today. Truly, the photographs evoked a sense of peace and wonder in my heart.

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  15. You and Linda sure have a unique way of finding the most beautiful and interesting places to spend some leisure time. With my love of hearing the sound of running water as in a stream I really loved the fountains but all the photographs were so beautiful and as always South Africa looked like a paradise. I know when I see your header that I am in for a treat. Thanks and take care. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
    Hugs,
    Odie

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  16. I loved this wonder around the village you have shared with us, I don't like the look of the first chair but the others look good. I do like the look of that water feature quite different.......

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  17. What a delight! There's something about a restaurant with tablecloths. We so seldom see that over here unless you go to a really expensive restaurant. The building, the garden, the pool, the fountain, the places nearby...ahhh! It's been quite a while since I was able to go on a little excursion with you. Yup--delightful!! A real treasure. :)

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  18. What a lovely day you had. I'm so glad we were able to enjoy it with you. I love the tea pot fountain. So clever! I like your new profile picture, Desiree!

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  19. I have been wondering when we could tag along on another one of your delightful adventures! You have such a wonderful way with words and photos - I feel as though I have enjoyed a very pleasant break myself....

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  20. What a beautiful place. I was taken with how very Canadian the inside of the restaurant was, and how absolutely not-Canadian the outside looked. I could almost feel the sunshine as I enjoyed the gardens and buildings. Thanks for the lovely tour.

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  21. How delightful to be taken around the Post House by you Desiree - I liked the old chairs and the stained glass windows is very nice indeed.
    The village is very pretty too. It looked like a beautiful day in which to do your exploring. The mosaic water fountain was so clever.
    A beaut collection of photos.

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  22. What a fabulous place to explore. Thanks for sharing your photos. It really does look like a wonderful spot to wander around.

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  23. Hi Des,
    What a lovely day you have had. Have I mentioned that since we've become blogging buddies visiting South Africa is now one of my dream trips? Yep! You live in one of the most beautiful and lovely and enticing areas of the world. So maybe one day....!
    Until then, I'll keep getting my vicarious thrills via your blog!
    Loves~

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  24. You really are quite the tour guide. Thank you for the beautiful and colorful tour. We are starting to get blooms here in South Carolina so colors will be popping up all over shortly. I cannot wait. Seeing the gardens in your pictures make me feel so happy! Thank you again!

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  25. Desiree you astound me with your prolific and gorgeous photos! (It takes me forever to get photos on my posts . . . I don't know how you do it!)

    There wasn't a photo I didn't love; the flowers beautiful, and all the neat chairs, and other cute things like the teapot mosaic!

    Thanks for sharing your journey. You make me feel like I'm right there with you!

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  26. I am sad to say that I've never been to Greyton. Looking around it must be a great little town to explore. I love the water feature on the last pic. Some people come up with the most amazing features.

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  27. That teapot fountain is really creative. I love it. I also am crazy for peacocks so I can understand your fascination with the bizarre little shop that wasn't open. Too bad, but next time you'll have to try that Vanilla Cafe which looks anything but vanilla. :)

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  28. It's always fun to tag along on your travels!

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  29. Just checking in to see you are still up and running? You ok ? Blogging can be a pain and a drain. big hug, miss seeing your happiness and enthusiasm, Gina

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