Skip to main content
c.1770CLOUDSKRAAL
Field notes

Flower season, 2023

18 to 27 August 2023. The vineyard rows filled with yellow flowers, the wine was poured in the veld, blue cranes danced on the lands, and the community cooked roosterkoek on the coals. On the 24th the krans was photographed at its sunset viewpoint.

Vineyard rows seen straight from above, filled with yellow flowers between the vines
The vineyards in flower season, the rows filled with yellow flowers.

Yellow between the vines

Between 18 and 27 August, the vineyard rows were filled with yellow flowers. Looking along the rows, the planted lines and the flowering ground share the same frame. Flower season does not sit apart from farm life here; it passes through the vineyards, the lands and the places where people gather.

Wine, birds and the coals

The wine was poured in the veld, with the colour of the flowers behind the glass. Elsewhere, blue cranes displayed on the lands. At a community gathering, roosterkoek cooked on the coals. These are different scenes from the same stretch of August: a glass outdoors, birds moving across the fields and people preparing food together.

The last view west

On 24 August, the krans was photographed at the sunset viewpoint. The view opens west over the Knersvlakte, away from the closer details of flowers, food and wine. It brings another scale to the sequence, with the plateau edge and the wide country below forming the closing scene.

A bottle of Nieu Sauvignon Blanc standing among pink and white wildflowers
Nieu Sauvignon Blanc in the wildflowers.
Wine being poured into a glass against a blur of orange and yellow wildflowers
Wine in flower season: the Nieu Sauvignon Blanc poured in the veld.
Three blue cranes in a green field, one with its wings raised in display
Blue cranes in a mating dance.
Four people cooking roosterkoek over an open fire in front of green hills
Cooking roosterkoek over the coals in spring, a Nieuwoudtville community gathering.
The sandstone krans at sunset, looking west over the Knersvlakte far below
The sunset viewpoint on the krans, looking west over the Knersvlakte.