Redwing Starlings Nesting

These two Redwing Starlings are obviously nesting somewhere in the neighborhood. Every morning, they swoop in and land on a hanging basket on our porch, where they proceed to swipe the coconut coir that the basket is crafted from. 

Above: I don't know much about these birds, but it seems that both the male and female build the nest together. You can see in this picture how both starlings have coconut coir in their beaks. 

Above: Seeing these starlings pulling out pieces of coconut "hair" solves the mystery of the last year's disintegrating hanging basket. I suppose it built a whole village of birds' nests, so it went to a good cause.

Above: It's not an exciting video. In fact, for many people it will be 20 seconds of boring, but if you're interested, you can hear the call of the Redwing Starling. My film skills are such that I turned the camera off just as the birds flew away, the moment in which I might have caught a glimpse of the red color under the starling's wings that gives them their name.

Matilda's First Scotty Cut

Up until recently, our scottish terrier pup, Matilda, was a scruffly little thing. She'd had several health issues as a puppy, and because we'd adopted her in autumn, we decided to keep her hair long during the cold winter months. Now that the weather is a bit warmer, we sent her for her first haircut.

Above: One or two stray hairs (right ear) that were easy enough to clean up with a pair of sharp scissors. We can finally see her eyes!

Above: Well pleased with herself, Matilda poses, showing off her haircut. In this shot, the motley patch of hair on her tail is just visible. I love this angle for photographing her. I makes her look like a cartoon character.

Matilda's Picture Gallery

Scottish Terriers are lovely little dogs, with big personalities and even bigger hearts. Here are some pictures of  our scrappy little Matilda.

Above: Matilda's favorite place to sit in the car - across my shoulders.

Above: Photo bomb! (Note how peeved Princess the cat looks.)

Above: Yin and yang.

Above: Tilly the Scotty with her ostrich bone

Above: Mud dog!

Above: Matilda's Curious Quilt

These photos are all of Matilda without a Scottish Terrier hair cut. I think her scruffiness is very sweet, but I also can't wait to see her looking like a "real" scotty.

Caring for Chameleons

For several months, we had three chameleons living on our porch, Hissy, Bert and Slow Mo.

Above: Bert. He got his name simply because Slow Mo came along first, 

and with a name like that, needed a friend called Bert. 

Above: Hissy, the youngest of the three. 

Hissy got his name because if you went too close, he'd get a fright and hiss at you.

I'm not known for my subtle naming skills.

Above: Slow Mo. The most sociable of the three. 

If you went near him, he would happily climb onto you, whether you expected him to or not. 

Several times I discovered him on my shoulder, in my hair or on my arm.

After a few weeks, Bert and Hissy went walkabouts and didn't come back. I suppose they were looking for a place to call their own. Slow Mo lived with us for a few more months until he passed away. He was a real pleasure to watch. I especially enjoyed spraying the leaves near him and watching the pink tongue lap up the water. Every few days I would mash some fruit or meat and smear it on a twig. The mixture would start to rot, attracting insects for the chameleons to eat.

Here are a few more pictures of the chameleons, Hissy and Slow Mo:
(For some reason I have only one photograph of Bert. See above.)

Above: Hissy on my finger.

Above: Hissy the chameleon walks along the edge of a Hydrangea leaf.

Above: Slow Mo being sociable. A few moments later he climbed right onto the camera. 

Above: Slow Mo on a fern frond.

I've always been in love with lizards, especially geckos and chameleons. Having these three wild guests live with us of their own volition was intriguing. I look forward to finding more chameleons in the garden this year.

A Few Pictures of Hermanus

After fetching the Bernina sewing machine in Hermanus, Matt and I took Matilda for a walk along the cliff path. It's a beautiful area of the cape, definitely something to show to overseas visitors. Quaint hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses sit across the road from the cliff path. On the other side of the path the land drops away to the sea, offering exceptional sea views from the path, the road and the guest houses.

Above: A view of Hermanus from the cliff path. It really is a lovely walk, but be sure to take a beanie or a hat, because the wind can be pretty icy at times.

Above: Matilda in a typical Scottie pose. On the way home, a fellow asked to take a picture of her because he'd never seen a Scottish Terrier without the typical Scottie haircut. Perhaps it's time for her first trip to the dog parlor?

Above: There's a whale in this picture. It's underwater, but it's there, I promise.

Hermanus, and especially this little coastal path, is a lovely place to go whale watching. The best time of year is right now, September, because it is still early spring and the whales will be performing their baby-whale-making shenanigans close to shore. Ask any local for directions to the cliff path near Fick's Pool. The locals are generally friendly and will point you in the right direction.

This small town is a tourist hot spot in summer, offering a variety of accommodation styles; from backpacker's lodges to luxury hotels. There are dozens of activities to choose from (besides whale watching), such as swimming with sharks, hiking, water skiing and line fishing. Hermanus is between 1.5 and 2 hours drive from Cape Town, depending on traffic.

Cute Kitty

This is Princess the Cat. Some days she's nice, some days she's convinced that I only need one arm and she's doing me a favor by removing my other, surplus, appendage for me. But I love her, so I don't take pictures of her on her Crazy Kitty days.
Her Cute Kitty days make up for the scratches, the bite marks, the torn clothing and shattered ornaments that are the result of her Crazy Kitty episodes. (I suppose this is what it must feel like to be the mother of a teenage girl...)

Above: "You can let me in neow!"

Above: Puuurrrrrrr...

Above: "Undercover kitty" is comfy

Above: Princess's very own crochet blankie.

 Above: I saved the best for last... Princess's baby photos.

Cape Town Trance Parties

Well, it's getting to that time of the year again... Soon the alternative clothing stores will be bursting with psychedelic flyers for outdoor parties, and my facebook events list will be filled with tasty invites for my perusal. Party season's here, folks! Here are a couple of pictures I've snapped at past parties, here in the lovely, sunny Western Cape.

Above: Cass and Jace, fire dancers, up to their usual antics.

Above: Local artwork

Above: Poolside at Beartrap's Celestial Beings

Above: Me, with my faithful yellow bowler hat and spontaneous fairy wings.

Above: Late-afternoon gathering on a hill beside the water, Boomerang New Year's Festival.

Above: Cooling off at an Organik outdoor party.

Above: Love birds on the last day of a trance party.

Above: The colorful Sunday sets are always the best. Most local parties take place about an hour's drive outside Cape Town. In these areas, temperatures can reach between 35 and 45 degrees celsius in summer, so water, suntan cream and shade are essential. 

Above: Enjoying a shady spot as temperatures reach almost 40*C at Boomerang.

I'm not as much of a party goer as I used to be. A few years ago, I wanted to be at every party, every season. I wanted to meet everyone, dance all through summer and party hard.
Nowadays, I generally do one, at most two, gatherings a year. I call it maturity, though I'm told by a few of my younger friends that I'm being a granny. I still enjoy a good festival; the camping, the company, the sunshine and the music, but I no longer feel the need to dance for the entire night or constantly be in the the thick of it.
Honestly, these days I'd be quite content to set myself up in my camping chair beneath a tree, with a flask of tea and my crochet basket. Hey, if I'm going to get a reputation for being a granny, I might as well rock it. :)

Pointlessism: A New Artform?

Sometimes I get an itch to take pictures of stuff, any stuff. It doesn't matter what it is, I want to take a picture of it.
I'm not sure what drives meto do this. I'm not a professional photographer, and my subjects are so obscure that the photos that result from these manic must-photograph-everything missions are pretty, well, pointless.

Anyways, I thought I'd share, to at least give the images some purpose. Perhaps now you too can sit and stare at them and wonder what on earth the point of them is.
I've decided to dedicate these photos to an entirely new art form, Pointless Art. You've heard of Pointillism, right? Well, now there's Pointlessism.

End of pointless preamble. Here they are:

Above: Taken in Paarl at the home of a couple who fly hot air balloons for a living. There were so many other things to photograph, interesting things like squirrels and dogs and people, hot air balloons and whatnot, but what did I take a picture of? Half a wine glass, an eighth of a plate and a shrubbery. What possesses me, I wonder, to make this pointless Pointlessism?

Above: Bubbles on the side of a water glass. Need I say more?

Above: The tassles on the skirt I was wearing. This photo session was a real winner. I was too lazy to get up, so I simply photographed everything in my near vicinity.

Above: The bedspread, part of the above photoshoot.

Above: Another snap from the same shoot. (Taken in year one of my relationship with Matt - for those of you who noticed the chain mail relationship bracelet.)

Above: A pucker where a tree branch once was. Relevant to the world at large because... Erm... I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Above: Grass. Because I'd already photographed everything and everyone else within a 50m radius of the car.

Above: My proudest Pointlessism so far; rusted machine parts. Yes, folks, we have discovered the very  heart of Pointlessism, the inner workings, if you will. The moment where your brain scrunches up like a toddler's face on the verge of a good bawl, when your very soul starts to suck its thumb and cry Why? Why?

Because:

It's Pointlessism, that's why.

Spring!

I love spring; the sounds of baby birds screeching for more food, the sudden downpours, the bright green of young leaves erupting from deciduous trees, the look of confusion on the weatherman's face.
Here in Cape Town, there's a certain vibe that occurs in spring. It feels as though everyone "wakes up". It's hard to describe, actually, but there's a feeling of excitement at the onset of summer. Suddenly there are hints of coconut-scented suntan lotion, ice cream and braai smoke. Slowly, the bravest of us begin to bare some skin in anticipation of the bikini and board-short summer to come.

Here are some photos from the garden, from last year's summer and spring. It's still a little early for spring flowers this year, but when they start to show, I'll try to remember to take more photos. These are all South African plants.

Above: Iris

Above: Aloe 

Above: Desert Rose 

 Above: Agapanthus

 Above: Pelargonium (Relative of the Geranium)

Above: Daylily

 Above: Poor Man's Orchid

(In my opinion, the easiest orchid to grow. 
Intense red flowers almost all year round, propagates easily)

 Above: Freesia

 Above: Daisy

 Above: Daisy

 Above: Pincushion