🐾 Maybe the reason I love animals so much, is because the only time they have broken my heart is when theirs has stopped beating.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Ground-scraper thrush (Psophocichla litsitsirupa)


Well, I'm beside myself! I've just noticed a pair of Ground scraper Thrushes in my garden this morningl! Now this might seem like an ordinary event to you, but I haven't seen them since we moved from our last smallholding almost seven years ago. I am SO hoping that they will be staying!


They were residents there, loving the loose leaf litter that I left in the garden the gardener had strict instructions that leaves were not to be raked away. I also had a 'wild' garden on the one side, with logs, wild grass and loose leaves where they would usually be found.


They become very tame, standing very erect and motionless, watching one working in the garden, ducking down and running a couple of paces from time to time, standing erect once again when they stop.

They are carnivorous and their diet consists of insects and they would also take mince when offered it.

The Ground Scraper Thrush is found from Southern to Northern East Africa. Within South Africa it is absent from the far Western and Southern parts. They normally stay resident within an area, but some evidence of seasonal movement in the Northern Cape and surrounding areas have been recorded, with influxes late in the rainy season. Other sources suggest at least partial disappearance in winter.

They build a cup-shaped nest, sometimes on a branch quite close to the ground, using vegetation, mud and spider-webs and it is lined with feathers or leaves. Three or four eggs are laid and are incubated for 14 to 15 days. They are bluish with lilac and red-brown spots and blotches.

Since I started the new garden here in 2005, I've been keeping a close record of all the birds as they started moving in - some first visiting for a while and then, as my trees grew bigger, moving in an making it their home, much to my delight.
 
So I am utterly pleased that this pair has taken up residence here!



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Nature's most wonderful treasures


The sea and coast holds a great fascination for most of us, and walking the beach can unearth the most wonderful treasures, from smooth glass to round pebbles, pieces of driftwood and, of course, the most collectible, shells. Unfortunately for these wondrous living creatures, this spells doom, as people will go to great lengths and pay hefty prices for these little creatures, which results in the harvesting of a living infrastructure which will not last forever.

 And living proof of this is the fact that, walking the beach does not often turn up many shells, and in some areas, none at all. I have sketched some of my beach finds, but nothing can portray the beauty of some of these as well as the living specimen.

I personally never buy shells from any shops and only collect what I can find on the beach and my collection dates from many years ago of collecting on the beaches of our North Coast (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa).

Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195
Pencil and ink sketches with colourwash









Today, many of our shell species are endangered, including the beautiful Cowrie shell. Unfortunately, people’s love of the cowrie shell has pushed some species toward extinction. Instead of collecting them, it would be far better to admire them where they are or look at pictures of cowrie shells. 

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Saturday 6 July 2013

Staying inspired

I don't know about you, but it can be hard to stay inspired this time of the year. It's cold outside. It gets dark really early. And gets light really late. I'm an early riser and, as much as I love winter, the cold and long darkness can put a damper on creativity. Especially out in the garden.

Image from Pinterest

So each day I spend a couple of hours searching for inspiration on the internet or scratching around in my store room, trying to find something that I can use in the garden. Isn't the image above absolutely adorable?! I've even gravitated towards my husband's workshop, looking for an old car body that I can utilise like this.


But one needs quite a bit of space to utilise an old car body like that, not very practical or so easy to execute, I mean, who is going to carry it to the garden for me? So in the meantime, all I've come up with is an old wooden wheelbarrow, which I can visualise filled with pansies,  and an old vintage seed planter, which is badly in need of some wood protection for the handles and a coat of paint on the metal parts.


I placed them in the garden and now contemplate the next move. Pansies first and then out with the paint. I can't wait to tackle these two (small) projects and maybe follow up on some other ideas I came across, like this old door and frame somewhere in a corner of the garden.


Or a whole lot of terracotta pots (I'm just MAD about terracotta pots!) placed on top of the wall surrounding my garden. But who will be getting up the ladder to be watering them...?


But first, I'm going inside to warm up with a nice cup of hot coffee! Enjoy your Saturday!


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“May I a small house and large garden have;
And a few friends,
And many books, both true.”
 
― Abraham Cowley


Friday 5 July 2013

July inspiration - amazing Winter


Winter is actually SO amazing. Crisp, clear colours, the bluest skies of the year and the nights are SO black, showing off the beauty of the sparkling stars.

And don't you just love snuggling under a warm blanket in front of a cozy fire, maybe with a good book or just chatting to someone, or maybe watching TV while sipping a cup of hot chocolate? And what about those awesome winter clothes - beautiful coats and warm boots and scarves?

Snow here in South Africa rarely happens, but when it does, it just adds to the enchantment of winter, sending everybody scurrying for those coats and boots we don't often get a chance to wear here.


So here's to hot chocolate, cozy fires and beautiful boots and scarves! Let's enjoy them during our 1 - 2-month, short-lived Winter!

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Saturday 29 June 2013

New 'Winter-look' for my blog


If you've visited and thought you've landed in some strange place, don't worry, it's just me playing with the layout of my blog again! The previous bright, sunny look just didn't seem to match the cold we're experiencing here in South Africa right now. The trees are bare, the lawn is dead and yellow and only the aloes are providing a splash of colour.


And right now there is nothing I would like better than to be sitting on the beach at the North Coast, enjoying warm temperatures and the warm Indian Ocean lapping at my feet.


But don't get me wrong. Winter-time is when the ocean along our North Coast can get really wild and wooley, with huge swells and really massive waves, being the perfect time for the Mr. Price Pro surfing competion to be held in Ballito every July.



One of my favourite spots at the beach in Ballito, just sitting and watching the waves crashing down in front of me.


But let us enjoy this short winter. Winter is the time of basic regeneration in nature. Winter is also pair-forming time for many ducks. What a joyful past-time to be able to watch them in patches of open water and record their courtship behaviour! Let's get outside, connect with Nature in winter and appreciate what she has to offer!

If all you did was just look for things to appreciate you would live a joyous, spectacular life. If there was nothing else that you ever came to understand other than just look for things to appreciate, it's the only tool you would ever need to predominantly hook you up with who you really are. That's all you'd need.
---Abraham

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Wednesday 26 June 2013

A bit of Marketing


As some of you might (or might not!) know, I am an artist by profession and, being absolutely enthralled by Nature, it is natural for me to sketch and paint the beauty I find in our natural world. Who can fail to marvel at the shape of a leaf, the sleek power of a cheetah, the dance of the wind over a grassland? I thank the Universe for this most amazing inspiration, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

Albert Einstein said, “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” I SO agree with him!


I display and have my artwork for sale on various websites. At RedBubble you have a choice of Greeting cards, Photographic prints, Matted prints, Framed prints, Posters, T-shirts and iPhone covers. If you're interested in buying some of my original artworks, feel free to look around in my Sales Blog. This is not a hard-sell site! Please feel free to browse and leave your comments - I'd love to hear from you! Or perhaps you just like browsing art, in which case you can visit me at Art & Creativity - My Sketchbook, where I post a wide selection of art on a regular basis.


Thank you for stopping by and, as always, I really enjoy your comments!

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Sunday 23 June 2013

The White Stork in my garden

As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can. 
- John Muir


In December 2005, as I was doing some garden chores, a White Stork glided over my garden, did a u-turn and clumsily landed with a plop on the lawn, staggering to its feet as it landed. I was quite amazed at this sight and quietly observed him for a while before slowly approaching him. He unsteadily wandered a couple of paces and took shelter in the shade of one of my White Stinkwood trees (Celtis africana), standing quite still, looking in my direction. I've seen many storks foraging on our smallholding, especially after a veldfire, when they snack on the rich pickings of dead and burnt insects, and I've never seen one on its own, they're always together in a small flock.


Not knowing what to do, because he didn't look all that well to me, I let him rest for a while, thinking he would take to the air shortly. They weren't due to migrate for Europe until late-March, early-April, so it's not as if he could be tired. I thought maybe it was a fledgling, but when I later approached him and he made no attempt to wander away, I gave him a close inspection. He was extremely weak and very thin, and the only conclusion I could come to was that it was either a very old bird or very sick.


The garden had enough water in various bird baths and little ponds, so I carried on with my chores and just let him be. By the time it was getting dark, he was still wandering unsteadily around the garden, and finally he just settled next to some leaf cuttings still lying in the pathway.


I went to bed, spending most of the night worrying whether he would be Ok, even getting up a couple of times to check up on him, but, sadly to say, when I went out at dawn the next morning, I found him lying dead on the cuttings, as if fast asleep. I'd like to think that he was an old chap that had led a rich and full life with many a migration under his belt.


The White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae, breeding in the warmer parts of Europe (north to Estonia), northwest Africa, and southwest Asia (east to southern Kazakhstan). It is a strong migrant, wintering mainly in tropical Africa, down to the south of South Africa, and also in the Indian subcontinent.


White Storks rely on movement between thermals of hot air for long distance flight, taking great advantage of them during annual migrations between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. The shortest route south would take them over the Mediterranean, but since thermals only form over land, storks take a detour. The options are limited, because to the east lies the Arabian Desert, where it is difficult to find food and water - and to the west lies the Atlantic Ocean. This leaves two narrow migration corridors: eastern storks cross the straits of Bosporus to Turkey, traverse the Levant (Syria-Lebanon-Israel-Palestine), and then bypass the Sahara Desert by following the Nile, while western ones fly through the straits of Gibraltar. Either way, the storks can get help from the thermals for almost the entire trip and thus save energy.

ISN'T THAT AN AMAZING FEAT?!


"White storks breed in open farmland areas with access to marshy wetlands, building a stick nest in trees, on buildings, or special platforms. Because it is viewed as bird of good luck, it is not persecuted, and often nests close to human habitation. In southern Europe, storks' nests can be seen on churches and other buildings. It often forms small colonies. Like most of its relatives, it feeds on fish, frogs and insects but also eats small reptiles, rodents and smaller birds." This info from "Wikipedia" 

All pics taken in my garden. Camera : FujiFinepix 2800Zoom

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