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| Swirling mists hide the cliff-face of the mountain, today, a sign of impending rain. |
The Helderberg mountain peak is completely obscured by today's low hanging cloud. An ambitious ray of light attempts to penetrate the cloudy mass, foiled repeatedly by the swirling mists.
For a fleeting moment the very first bloom of a three-petalled lily I have growing in the pot outside my study window, is lit as if by a stage spotlight. I take this as a sign to grab my camera and head outdoors to try and capture the beauty of the moment...
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| Tigridia pavonia also known as Mexican shell-flower, each bloom lasts only one day but each stalk can produce several flowers over time. |
Please click the read more button below to continue ;)
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| A tiger-flower with leopard spots! |
The cicadas in the willow tree are putting on a world class performance, clearly eager to outdo yesterday's.
I can hardly hear my own thoughts rattling around in my head right now...I decide to submit to their humming and entertain myself in the garden...a while longer...before the promised rain arrives. I love these cool, cloudy days...so rare in a Western Cape summertime!
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| This clematis is putting on its second showing of the season... |
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| I absolutely love this colour in the garden! |
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| A flower within a flower ~ such exquisite detail! |
Earlier, when I was speaking on the phone, the cicadas seemed hell-bent on trying to drown out the person with whom I was attempting a conversation. I had to keep interrupting, saying, "Sorry...I didn't catch that...would you please repeat yourself." In the end, we both gave up trying.
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| There is no silence anywhere, indoors or outdoors, today. Their high pitched humming, which I usually rather enjoy, is beginning to get to me and I find myself wishing for just a moment's SILENCE, a moment when they'll grow tired of their incessant serenade. |
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| ...and so I keep strolling, pointing my little camera at anything that catches my eye... |
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| Hello, what have we here? Another 3 petalled flower! |
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| This Veronica (Hebes) is such a delightful shade of lilac and reminds me of my grandmother. Lilac was her favourite colour. |
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| Old watering cans have a charm of their own - I was so lucky to find hooks to match mine. I always smile when I walk past this spot along the path! |
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| Every garden needs a resident frog even if only a "fake bronze" brass-look-a-like :) |
I'm afraid there'll not much chance of SILENCE until the cicadas go into hibernation, or whatever it is they do when they suddenly disappear. I think all the stragglers in this season's brood have now hatched out and are determined to make up for lost time.
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| For another brief moment, the sun pushes through the cloud and the garden dragon roars with pleasure. |
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| My son made this when he was 11 or 12. Over the years, some of the original clay has chipped off. | | |
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Anyone for Bird's Nest Soup tea in this instance? |
By now, you're probably thinking those cicadas have affected my brain. I agree there's very little logic to my pictures, today, but I did warn you earlier that I have just been drifting around the garden allowing things to "catch my eye!" There wasn't any PLAN. I'm just allowing myself to be lulled into a state of trance-like reverie by the cicadas' Sunday Serenade...
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| Delicate vine entwines itself amongst the decorative bars of a bird cage which hangs in the greenhouse. |
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| Fine satiny hairs begging to be stroked! |
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| Spiderweb draped fairy ponders Nature's miracles in the greenhouse. |
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| Self-seeded moss and emergent, infant, maidenhair fern find safety in the bark nest of an orchid in the greenhouse. |
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| This gardener's dream fulfilling itself in the greenhouse... |
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| ...100% genuine aging (moss on teracotta pot)!!! |
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Now, look down at the floor. Those of you who are regular visitors to this blog...do you see that the bare brick has all but disappeared beneath the mossy covering...???
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| Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain. ~Henry David Thoreau |
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| ...so soft and cushioning beneath your bare footfalls! |
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| My greenhouse bromeliad proudly puts forth her blooms of the new season... |
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| Sharp, spiky beauty - look at me, but don't touch! |
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| Myriad droplets clustered like frogs' eggs ~ truly remarkable Nature cannot but stir us to the depths of our being, reminding us of her unending capacity for healing, regeneration and beauty...would that foolish mankind heed her and learn from her! |
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"There is a way that nature speaks...
most of the time we are not patient enough,
quiet enough,
to pay attention to the story."
~ Linda Hogan ~
The detail in your pictures is truly beautiful. I especially love the moss - so fine and pretty... nature's carpet!
ReplyDeleteI was on my way for my daily fix of your wonderful photos and noticed you had posted a comment on my blog. Thank you kind person. It's nice to know I occasionally get it right :)
ReplyDeleteThis flower is a work of art. I am particularly fond of lilies but I've never seen a three-petalled lily - what a beauty!
Ah! do you mind if I hang around a while and enjoy the colour? - outside all we have are dead branches...we've a wait yet for Spring!
Thank you again for commenting - it means a lot to know people make the effort.
Carol
Hi Linda & Carol:
ReplyDeleteLovely to have you both visit so soon after I'd posted this! Super surprise :)
You have no idea how much it means to receive your lovely comments - it inspires me to try harder!
Hugs,
Des xoxo
Well, as for me, I don't mind that there's little rhyme or reason to your pictures, because they're so lovely to look at.
ReplyDeleteThe water droplets on the maidenhair fern especially. And the bromeliad. I have clay treasures too, that my son made at about the same age. I need a greenhouse to display them in.
I have a similar problem when I'm on the phone, but it's because of tinnitus and age-related hearing loss. It's so tedious for the other person to have to keep repeating.
Love the quote that you ended with as well -- I remember the first post of yours that I read had a quote from Gerard Manley Hopkins on it, a favorite poet. I know when I come here that I can rely on great quotes.
OK, now I have to know -- what is the red leaf with the green edges?
Gorgeous view, with or without the mist. And the lily is so unusual; I've never even seen one like that in a florist's.
ReplyDeleteThat clematis is a beautiful shade of deep purple and the greenhouse certainly has sprouted a luscious green carpet!
ReplyDeleteI love your resident frog. The lady who owned this house before me was potty about frogs, so we have frog tiles in both bathroom and kitchen and a coloured frog in the glass on the front door. There was also a huge frog sticker on the door of the cupboard under the stairs, but I managed to peel that off! You can have TOO much of a good thing!!
I love your photos. You live in a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard cicadas and can't even imagine them being so loud it drowned out your phone conversation. I can imagine you'd like just a few minutes quiet now :)
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing your pretty garden and flowers today. We are covered everywhere with moss right now, it's loving the cold, wet weather.
A gorgeous wander through your garden - can almost hear the cicadas over here ... uh, oh, yes - they're ours! LOL. It's funny how they just pick a certain area - then again, how could they resist your brilliant garden.
ReplyDeleteThe froggie tap handle is an absolute gem - love it!!
Your dragon is priceless too :)
Thank you for this lovely post.
Hello Susan!
ReplyDeleteWonderful to have you pop by - I've just been on over to return the visit and have joined up as a new follower! Greatly looking forward to keeping in regular contact with you via our respective blogs :)
Thank you SO much for the lovely compliment you've paid here about my garden!
Hugs,
Des xo
PS LOVE the picture of you getting down & dirty...after all, that's what gardening's all about :)
I was delighted to see you'd joined my site and will enjoy exchanging visits.
ReplyDeleteThank you too for mentioning my picture, it'd been a great day out in the orchard!
Cheerio :D
i've been drinking bird nest soup every night (i only get the homemade kind back at home). the only reason why i drink it is because it's supposed to be good for complexion.
ReplyDeletei’ve been taking the store-bought kind online (e.g. www.geocities.jp/hongkong_bird_nest/index_e.htm of famous branded only of course) which is directly mailed from Hong Kong. this would be at a more affordable price.
Hi Katherine:
ReplyDeleteHow very interesting! I've never had it myself, nor have I known or met anyone who has :) Thanks for the info!