🐾 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 3 January 2012

January gifts - Cape Reed Grass



green and tawny gold tall grasses . swaying in the breeze
a tumbled tangled garden . that needs cutting down
everywhere I look . love and gratitude follow
- Unknown

Yesterday I went outside to soak up some of this glorious weather we’ve been having and take some pictures. Ambling along my pathways, I was suddenly surprised to find my path blocked by some of my Cape Reed Grass (family Restionaceae). When did this happen? I thought. It has spread beyond belief in just a couple of weeks, even covering some of my miniature Phormiums.

Time to do something here, I decided. So, spade in hand I separated it into clumps, wondering what I would now do with it. Scratching around in my potting shed, I found an old Everite pot which seemed ideal, so in went drainage stones, potting soil and one of the clumps.

I found an empty corner and placed the pot amongst some Marigolds and Hen 'n Chickens (Chlorophytum comosum) and filled the area with a couple of rocks. I think a pot like this is excellent as it will contain the plant as well as show off the grass's natural beauty. Now off to find some more pots....



Another clump of Cape Reed grass that needs to be thinned out



How was your New Year's weekend?
...
Pictures taken in my garden in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) - Camera Kodak EasyShare C195 - Back-ground texture by Kim Klassen

Sunday 1 January 2012

Stay ever-amazed in 2012!



As the year closes I am reminded of how rushed I sometimes was over the past year - many times not stopping to enjoy the moment, rushing on to the next appointment, the next painting, the next blog to up-date. I never make New year's resolutions, but for 2012 I set myself the intention to slow down, sit for a few moments longer enjoying my early morning coffee, stopping at each plant in the garden just a bit longer in stead of just rushing through, making notes of what has to be done and to listen more intently to the sound of the birds, the sound of life happening outside my studio.

So...

in stillness and motion . embrace this day

listen to whispers on the wind ...

become ever resourceful

remain ever reflective

continue ever reaching

stay ever amazed

- Unknown



May your 2012 be reflective and ever-amazing.


Saturday 31 December 2011

This is life...



As the year draws to an end and I stroll through my garden, it always amazes me the peace I find here. I'm grounded here, on my own tiny piece of African paradise...

The White Karees (rhus viminalis) and Black Karees (Rhus lancea) have now grown to about 15m, offering shade to the plants and home to all the lovely birds that have chosen this as their home. I feel honoured.

Every morning as I step outside to fill the bird feeders and give my special whistle, they sit watching me intently, hardly able to wait for me to finish. Then I spend a while sipping my coffee at the patio table watching as they flit from one table to the other, not being able to decide what to try first - the suet and fruit section or the mixed seeds. There's a lot of scrambling and busyness for a while, but it soon quietens down as they settle into the serious business of eating.

I finish my coffee with a sigh and head for my studio.

I just want to say thank you to all of you for stopping by, reading, commenting and sharing my experiences of the past year as I whirl through this journey called life. It means a lot to me.

May your new year also be filled with JOY, LOVE, SPARKLING LIGHT and INSPIRATION.

Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195. Flowers of the Acacia 'karroo' - Pic taken in my garden in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa.

Thursday 29 December 2011

Speckled Emperor Moth

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
~ Richard Bach



A Speckled Emperor Moth, (Wattled Emperor Moth, Mopane worm) resting on a Restios plant in my garden. It is from the Saturniidae (Silk Moths) family. I actually found her inside the house and brought her out to safety (not sure how SAFE it is...?) and she seemed quite content to just rest a while before disappearing into the thickets.
Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195 Digital

This moth is widely distributed throughout southern, central and east Africa. Across most of its distribution, the species is bivoltine, with the first generation emerging from pupation in November to December and the second in February to March, only in more arid areas is it univoltine.

Adult moths lay a single cluster of 50 to 200 eggs around twigs or on the leaves of host plants over a two month period. After approximately ten days, the larvae emerge and then pass through five instars before pupation. Instars I to III of the caterpillars are strictly gregarious and will forage together in aggregations of 20 to 200 individuals. After moulting into instar IV, caterpillars disperse immediately to become solitary. The larval stage lasts approximately 6 weeks, during which time the caterpillars undergo a 4000 fold increase in body mass. At the end of the larval stage, the fifth instar caterpillars burrow into the soil, where they undergo a period of diapause. Eclosion occurs either one or six to seven months after pupation, depending on the generation. The non-feeding adult stage lasts only two to three days, during which time the only function of the imago is to find receptive mates and to oviposit.
Info from "Mopane.org"

Saturday 24 December 2011

The Starling and Christmas in Africa 2011



A bit of festive fun with one of my sketches - The CAPE GLOSSY STARLING (Lamprotornis nitens) having a wonderful festive season with his friend Tweetie in my garden! (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa).

Starling to Tweetie : Have you heard Tweetie? Maree has already bought all our presents! Suet, peanuts, minced meat, mealworms, wild birdseed, mixed birdseed, apples, bananas, paw paw and peanut butter!
  • A Merry African Christmas and a stunning 2012 to all my blogging friends!

Friday 23 December 2011

Pippin, the Bushbaby


W&N watercolour in my Moleskine Nature Journal

This is Pippin, whom I was lucky enough to have in my life for a few weeks after I rescued him from children who were stoning him, as a result of which he lost the use of his left eye. After nursing him back to health, he spent a couple of weeks living in my indoor garden in my lounge, often bounding onto my shoulder for a snack. When I was satisfied that he had fully recovered, I released him in the thickets on the banks of the Magalies River, which was in the vicinity where I had found him. I just hoped and prayed that he had learnt a lesson about people and would stay out of reach of the children ...

Galagos, also known as bushbabies, bush babies or nagapies (meaning "little night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa and
are almost exclusively seen only at night.

I did this sketch from a photograph I took of him, as he NEVER sits still long enough to be able to sketch him!

Friday 16 December 2011

Hedgehog Country

HOME FROM HOME

Hedgehogs like to live where their food - largely insects and soil animals - is abundant, and where there are plenty of broad-leaved trees, whose dead leaves they need for making their nests. This means that hedgehogs are widely found in forest and traditional urban farmland, and also in that most artificial of habitats, suburbia.

They are scarce in wetlands, conifer forests, moorlands and mountains, where there are few nest sites and often little food.

But is the hedgehog running out of space, as the bricks and concrete spread across our countryside?


Cemeteries are an ideal habitat for hedgehogs - plenty of nooks and crannies, plenty of food, little disturbance, and no deadly traffic.

Although it is better able to cope in built-up areas than many other animals, it needs parks, gardens, cemeteries and other open spaces in which to forage and nest. If these get built over or tidied up too much, hedgehogs will die out.
Info from "Everything You Want To Know about Hedgehogs - Dilys Breese"Align Center

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