On top of a hill

A while back I found myself on top of this hill on a late winter’s afternoon. It was hazy and typical for this time of year but it was quite scenic. This man-made dam is about 45 minutes drive from my home.
There are a lot of very new and expensive housing developments going on around the shores…..
….including this exclusive golfing estate.
There is an old tower situated on the hill, about 20 feet high and overlooking the valley and dam. The story goes that it was built at the beginning of the 1900’s by a Frenchman who owned the property at the time. He would bring all his young ladies up there and coax them into making love to him with the champagne and flowers he gave them.
Beside the tower, this interesting tree presented itself against the watery sky.
An aloe had just started to get it’s flowers but they were not going to open for another couple of days.
There are many colorful rocks laying around……
…and on the otherside, you could see the hill continuing and I was wonder how long it would take before this beautiful view would be covered with houses too.
The end of winter marks the end of the Protea’s. They are our national flower an come in many different varieties which all bloom in the colder weather.
The sun was setting fast as it always does at this time of year……
…and with one final shot of the reflection of it on the water, it was time to head for home.

The time for Pansies has arrived

The name pansy is derived from the French word pensée meaning "thought", and was so named because the flower resembles a human face; in August it nods forward as if deep in thought.
Pansy breeding has produced a wide range of flower colors including yellow, gold, orange, purple, violet, red, white, and even black (dark purple) many with large showy face markings.
A large number of bicoloured flowers have also been produced. They are generally very cold hardy plants surviving freezing even during their blooming period.
Plants grow well in sunny or partially sunny positions in well draining soils. Pansies are developed from viola species that are normally biennials with a two-year life cycle.

The first year plant produce greenery and then bear flowers and seeds their second year of growth and afterwards die like annuals.
Because of selective human breeding, most garden pansies bloom the first year, some in as little as nine weeks after sowing.
Plants grow up to nine inches (23 cm) tall, and the flowers are two to three inches (about 6 cm) in diameter, though there are some smaller and larger flowering cultivars available too.
This is one of the dwarf variety.

One legged grasshopper - Garden Locust (Acanthacris ruficornis) Acrididae

So what am I going to show you today? How about a one-legged grasshopper I rescued again. He was almost chewed up by a bird but I scared it off by coming around the corner just as he was about to have his meal. LOL!! Poor thing!!

Lonely petunia in an onion patch

Well not quite, but close enough. These flowers are like weeds and come up all over the show. They do not have seeds so I am not sure how they propagate themselves, but I do know the ants love them. They have pink and white flowers and grow to a height of about 3 foot. Very often they are found in places like this:
There is not a scrap of soil in this rock so it is putting out roots on the side.

A loving couple

While waiting fo the bank to open, I spotted these two pigeons on a high shelf on the one side of the building. They were very lovingly grooming each other and the male was definitely enjoying all the attention.

Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli) Lycaenidae

Okay, it is time to quit fooling around and get down to the serious stuff. This hairstreak is about the size of a 5c coin and is fairly common in our gardens. A very difficult subject to catch with their wings open.

Kapok Tree (Ceiba pentandra)

Kapok Tree  - local name: Knob Thorn (Ceiba pentandra) family Bombacaceae

We have a few species here called the knob thorn but this one is popular in gardens.
They get these huge beautiful flowers on them in the begining of spring before they get leaves.
In winter, they have big seedpods on them which loose their cover when the weather turns warmer. The pods are about 6-7 inches in length.Inside each pod is hundreds of black seeds surrounded by this white, furry hairs and is easily blown about in the August winds. This is just the time the birds are starting to build their nest for summer and it is highly prized by them to line the nests.

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously separated in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety C. pentandra var. guineensis) to tropical west Africa. The word is also used for the fibre obtained from its seed pods. The tree is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, or ceiba. It is a sacred symbol in Maya mythology.
The tree grows to 60-70 m (200-230 ft) tall and has a very substantial trunk up to 3 m (10 ft) in diameter with buttresses. The trunk and many of the larger branches are densely crowded with very large, robust simple thorns. The leaves are compound of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to 20 cm (8 in) and palm like. Adult trees produce several hundred 15 cm (6 in) seed pods. The pods contain seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fiber that is a mix of lignin and cellulose.


Uses


The fibre is light, very buoyant, resilient, highly flammable and resistant to water. The process of harvesting and separating the fibre is labour-intensive and manual. It cannot be spun but is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, teddy bears, zafus and for insulation. It was previously much used in life jackets and similar devices. The fibre has been largely replaced by man-made materials. The seeds produce an oil used locally in soap and that can be used as fertilizer.
In Southeast Asian countries kapok has larger seed pods and the fibre which is highly flammable is used as a fuel in fire pistons.


Ceiba pentandra bark decoction has been used as a diuretic, aphrodisiac, and to treat headache, as well as type II diabetes.

Frogs - Isn't he a cutie? Guttural Toad (Amietophrynus gutturalis) Bufonidae

Amphibians are the most primitive class of land-living vertebrates being the first vertebrate animals to inhabit the land. Nevertheless, despite adopting a life on land, amphibians remain dependant on moist or aquatic habitats, particularly for breeding. They are also the only vertebrates which go through metamorphosis, with their gill-breathing and mostly aquatic young developing into adults with lungs, thus enabling them to survive out of water. The class Amphibia, which comprises more than 4700 species, is represented in South Africa by the order Anura, a group of tailless amphibians commonly referred to as frogs. One of the interesting characteristics of frogs is their call. Each species has its own distinctive mating call which the males use to attract females to breeding sites, and as frogs are generally more often heard than seen, this is a useful means of identifying species.
Owing to the semi-aquatic life-cycle of most species, and their semi-permeable skins, amphibians are especially vulnerable to pollutants and other environmental stresses. Consequently they can be regarded as useful environmental bio-monitors, and may serve as an early-warning alarm system indicating changes in the environment and potential threats to other organisms, including Homo sapiens. Frogs form the prey of various birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and even other frogs, and contribute to the control of insect pests and other invertebrates which they consume in large numbers.

I wonder if you kiss him if he turns into a prince? LOL!!

Butterfly rescue - Garden Acraea (Acraea horta) Nymphalidae

Why does it seems as if I am always rescuing things.I found this beautiful little butterfly drowning in the pool and fished him out. You can see his wet wing still sticking to my finger.
I put him on the lawn to dry out and soon the sun had warmed his wings enough for him to lift them up but he was exhausted and lay there for a long time.
Soon he was stirring around and I picked him up and put him on the branch of a tree, he sat there for a while, then flew off.
The end third of their wings are transparent.

Another spectacular sunset

Due west of us lies the desert and at this time of year, there is a lot of dust in the air. Because of this, our sunsets are even more spectacular than our sunrises and there is usually this huge ball of fire in the sky just before it sets.