Elemental Me!

Without further ado, allow me to hand over to my very first Guest Blogger...

Hi!  I'm Heathcliff...

Alpha Male, I am, but definitely not your regular kind of dog - I don't have "papers" but boy, do I make up for the lack in personality and verve!

Not to put too fine a point on it, I tick all the boxes when it comes to intelligence, astuteness, spunkiness, ease of transportation (believe me, this is an important attribute!) and, I hold the Platinum Award for Best Indoor/Outdoor Canine Companion...in fact, my merits outnumber any demerits 100 to 1.
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Second time round

Who says you can't have fun the second time round?  Clearly, it all depends on your temperament, because I can happily do lots of things, over and over again and each time, the experience is fun, new and exciting...
 

~ The Grotto ~

Today was a perfect example of this.  My husband needed to return to the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley a second time.  The first trip was to do the initial logging (GPS recording) of each of a number of sites and to do a rapid baseline assessment.

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Rich Or Poor - How Rich Are You?

It all depends on the way you look at things...as so aptly illustrated by the following story.
 

The author is unknown.  I found this on the Pearls of Wisdom website @ www.sapphyr.net

One day, a rich father took his son on a trip out into the countryside, with the firm purpose of showing him how poor people can be.

They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family.  When they returned home from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"Very good Dad!"

"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.

"Yeah!"

"And what did you learn?"

The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home and they have four.  We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden.  They have a creek that has no end!  We have imported lamps in the garden.  They have the stars!  Our patio reaches to the front yard.   They have a whole horizon!"

When the son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are!" his father was speechless.

A simple collection of sticks and stones off set against the peeling bark of our Ulmus Parvifolia (Japanese elm).  The grey spiky foliage of the air plant adds complementary colour and texture.

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Painterly Incas

Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

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Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

I've had a wonderful day!  I accompanied my husband on a field trip to the Hemel-en-Aarde (translation: Heaven and Earth) Valley.  

We left shortly after 9h00 and arrived back home just after 19h00, having successfully accomplished our objective, namely to visit and log the nine individual sites required of this survey.

My husband takes his camera everywhere.  He needs to do so to keep an accurate record for his consultancy work and, now that I'm blogging, I proudly took mine along, too.  What fun I had!
  
To begin, herewith a selection of pictures I took.  I'll also include a few taken by my husband to follow on from these.

View from the highest point on the survey agenda.  This lovely pink pelargonium was growing everywhere.

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Tranquility beyond the picture window

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living.  We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.

~ Dale Carnegie ~

I bought this potted rose last year (sold as a patio rose).  I do not know what it is called, but after it had flowered, we planted it in a larger pot and put it in the garden outside the greenhouse as this is
where the best sun is.

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Hard to believe, but there REALLY is a downside to summertime!

"Oh, please, please, PLEEEZE can we go with?" 

"Yes, YES!  We promise we'll be good!"

These were the expressions my husband had to face first thing this morning.  He (and our daughter, who was visiting for the day) was scheduled to do a site visit on a farm about an hour and a half's drive from where we live.  As they were to be meeting with both the owner of the farm and the developer, it had been decided it would be best to leave the dogs at home with me for the morning.  

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