Garden gluttons

Although butterflies are very beautiful, there is no doubt that their offspring are an absolute curse - particularly the little  black and grey hairy caterpillars currently munching their way through my flowerbeds. Over the last week or so, the parrot plant has gone from being a magnificent sprawling mass just bursting into  a mass display of flowers to a few bare straggling twigs as these little monsters eat 24 hours a day. My mother had a similar plant and it was consumed in its entirety, never to be seen again.

 Imagine my dismay when I went outside this afternoon to water my pride and joy, the calendulas, which were only yesterday a mass display of broad green leaves and joyful yellow and orange flowers, completely hiding the wall behind them. Only a few stokkies remain and the ground underneath is littered with caterpillar droppings. They are recycling this plant within hours.

Unfortunately there seems to be no solution, as I am totally opposed to poisons, and flicking them off with my finger and stamping on them is making no inroads into their numbers.

Perhaps I should just buy silk flowers and place them strategically in the shrubbery.

A small break from the computer

There's been little inspiration for writing lately, with the state of the world leaving me speechless (it's best) and work keeping me indoors for much of the time, but today I took the kids (hardly) for our favourite meal - sushi at Willoughby's at the V&A Waterfront. It was such a pleasure to be there - it was busy but not frantic, mainly tourists already - and there was an air of calm and conviviality. A little beneficial retail therapy (Nespresso and a mouse for the laptop!) and we reluctantly headed back to the south Peninsula where things have been somewhat riotous of late.

As always, the view of Table Mountain was spectacular, and a gentle drape of white tablecloth was cascading down the face, although Van Hunks was puffing away fiercely at the top of Devil's Peak! (Google it.) The photo was taken from a moving car on freeway - I was a passenger, but you never know - and I am always amazed at the quality of photos we can take on a tiny cellphone whille hurtling along at speed. Most of my scenery is taken through a car window and you didn't know that, did you?

Caught in the action.

Never underestimate your power to provide a positive outcome by expecting it. I went to three places yesterday, one in Claremont and two in Cape Town, and found parking right outside the door! Lucky, because it was a real scorcher yesterday - an unseasonal 34 degrees and much higher in the sun. This summer may be much hotter than we are used to - last year we recorded 42 degrees one day, unheard of in Cape Town. It was for this reason that I bought my little car - it had airconditioning and I've not had a car with that for many years. Not since the BMtroubleyou finally gave up the ghost. The only slight problem is that it has little more than a lawnmower engine capacity and is not much use when going uphill or taking evading action in a situation involving taxis. But it is very small and can get through tiny gaps and fit into the most inconvenient parking places!
There was one little 'adventure' yesterday. When I left town, I decided to go out via Strand Street and the main railway station. As bad luck would have it, the traffic light outside the entrance was red and the sound of many voices raised in song came wafting out of the station building. It was only then that I noticed that the forecourt and pavements were parked full of police vans and that policemen were everywhere. The light turned green, I was two cars away and ready to pull out of there as fast as my little car would accelerate but no, the policemen stood in front of us to allow the chanting mob to toyi-toyi out of the station and across the road. It was a sight to behold - probably about 2000 young people closely packed, being assisted to go on their way by the police simply to get it over with. They were all smiling and cheerful, as though going out on a picnic, but these situations can change in a split second, so I have to admit to being less than excited to be there. However, it was an interesting experience that passed without incident and the authorities were there to help, not hinder.
But next time it will be the highway or no way!

Under a full moon

The end of a beautiful warm day in Kommetjie was spent on a bench down at the bay in front of my house, watching the golden sunlight glowing through the cresting waves, their tips flung back in a mane of spray by the offshore wind. A little egret in elegant breeding plumage stood on a rock, peering into the shallows in search of supper, while behind him the clamouring terns settled into their rocky roost.

 

 A chance conversation revealed that a pair of Cape cobras were seen romantically entwined on the rocks at the beginning of the path and that one later flared its hood at a passerby, so please be aware of their presence, particularly as it appears to be their breeding area. Please also do not attempt to harm them and keep dogs on a leash as they are required to be. We don't want a recurrence of last year's killing of a snake in the same area.
On the way home, it was a real treat to watch the full moon rising over the tree tops as the sun set behind me.

Ancient grooves

A highlight of last year's trip to Namaqualand with Mom and Dad was a visit to the site of glacial striations near Niewoudtville. I have long been interested in rocks and general geology and have been a collector of odd and interesting stones since childhood. I am also fascinated by fossils and long to go on a guided tour of the Karoo with an expert in this field. In particular, I like to see for myself the actual rocks and formations described in books, as they are quite difficult to imagine, and so the short walk into the veld held great expectations.
The scraped rock was level with the ground - hence its discovery! Imagine the excitement of seeing this unusual formation and finding that you are looking at ancient history of the earth, 300 million years ago! And then you stand on the place where the glacier actually met the rock! (Sorry about all the exclamations!)

Imagine how much more there is to discover on those vast plains of the Karoo, perhaps just below the surface? This is some of the oldest land on earth, with the Barberton area further north being the first oceanic crust to pop out, we are told, eventually becoming the earth's first continent.
There is so much out there to explore, discover and marvel at!

The long way round

Had an exhausting day yesterday. Nothing achieved, but a lot of travelling. I hate to admit that as I get older, long-distance driving makes me tired, as there is nothing I enjoy more than a road trip (I lie of course, there are plenty of things I enjoy more, but you know what I mean!). Due to unrest and a blockaded road nearby, we have had to take a massive detour just to travel 4km - an extra 25km (50km if you come back home again). An inconvenience which does nothing for good neighbourliness or the improvement of our soul journey but nonetheless good training for a better self.
The only good thing about the detour is that it takes us over Red Hill, which is one of the most scenic and beautiful drives on the Peninsula, although over the last few years the potential for traffic disruption has mushroomed with an informal settlement totally inappropriate to the area. However, panoramic views across the Table Mountain chain and over False Bay, with the picturesque naval harbour of Simon's Town at your feet takes the edge off the extra time needed to get anywhere.
The purpose of the drive was to fetch a friend's huge 4x4 (embarrassingly large for someone who normally drives a half a loaf of bread) in Hout Bay and bring it home until he gets back to Cape Town. This entailed another beautiful scenic drive around Chapman's Peak, a delicious fish lunch at Fish on the Rocks, and then a slow, painfully slow, drive back along the same route, behind sightseeing tourists travelling so slowly I could barely get out of 2nd gear. Definitely no chance to test out the capabilities of the behemoth's very adequate engine!
The passengers in the taxi in front of me apparently had different ideas on what interested them, as the lady stared out of the window at the view, but the man had his head bent - either looking at his phone or one too many wines at lunch - and missed it completely. There seems to be a new trend in driving at 50km/h or less along the narrow roads around the Peninsula where just one car can hold up 20 others and cause overheating of the brain, not to mention the engine. The word 'roadhogs' springs to mind, and it is no wonder that road rage is so prevalent here. The roads cannot cope with the volume nor the incompetence.
After a three hour drive and over 100 km to get to and from a place I can see across the bay from my balcony, a nap was in order!

Poetry in motion

What an amazing sight! My flock of sacred ibis that wing their way overhead twice a day - sometimes hugging the mountain contours, sometimes the coastline and often low over the house so that I can hear the swishing of their wings - are gathering above me for the flight to roost in Hout Bay. They are high up, wheeling in two untidy knots, apparently undecided as to whether to fly in unison or as two separate flocks. They circle almost aimlessly,as if no bird wants to make the decision to be the tip of the V and carve a flight path through the air, making it easier for the following flock to take advantage of the slipstream.
The sun is low enough to shine on the underside of their white wings, tinging them a warm golden colour and making them stand out clearly against the pale blue sky. They soar and wheel as the wind carries them further into the distance, still undecided and now definitely two separate flocks of 20 to 30 birds.
And suddenly! Something clicks into gear and the leading bird in each flock turns its substantial beak towards Hout Bay, and every bird slips effortlessly and perfectly into a following V as if a choreographed corps de ballet. Such elegance. Poetry in motion.