What a perfect day!

A perfect start to a perfect day - the sacred ibis flock flew not 30 feet over my head as I stood outside on the deck at 7.30. As I watched them go over, I silently asked them not to poop on my head and they held it all in, thank goodness! A scattering of pink cloud was chased by the morning sun and a vast canopy of blue has been with us all day. Even the car guards at the local mall were excited by the weather!

A gentle shore break at the Kom brought some liveliness to an otherwise placid sea. We can still expect the worst of winter in August, but already the daisies are pushing up new leaves along the grassy verges and the dunes of the shoreline. My freesias are in bud and the bokbaai vygies have grown into sturdy seedlings in pots all over the garden. Before we have blinked, Spring will be bursting forth in massive displays of white petals, followed by yellow and then purple bringing up the rear.

The aloes are not yet past their best, with some species only flowering now, and the first of the clivias has brightened a dark corner of the garden. A sunbird chirped at the top of a branch today, nesting material in its tiny beak, and a cisticola was not far behind. High against the blue sky, a flock of 30 or so swallows swooped and dived, catching some early bugs. But a sure harbinger of spring was the southeaster, which spread a fine lace cap over the summit of Chapman's Peak, while the precipitous cliffs glowed in rusty shades as the sun sank gently into the sea, bringing this perfect day to a perfect end.