Five little fishies

swimming in a pond, 

actually a large old zinc bath tucked away in a leafy corner of the garden.

Caterpillars abseil towards them, dragonflies hover above, but their most favourite visitor is the art teacher- a very generous feeder.

See them wag their little fins in excitement, jostling for space in front of him.

He waits patiently for the slow one, always swimming excitedly in the wrong direction,

spreads the food evenly, so the greedy one can't eat it all.

What a happy little world to sit and observe.

Scent of an elephant ear

 

Of all the scented plants perfuming our little entrance- 

and there are many clustered around such a little entrance- chinese jasmine trailing  the window bars, lilac climbing rose beneath,  plump bushes of yesterday, today and tomorrow, not forgetting a young star jasmine, an eager magnolia flush with flowers and on the far side a frangipani beginning to flower.............

nothing smells quite as heavenly as the only plants we didn't place for fragrance- the elephant ears.

Our huge elephant ears have each made 2 or 3 flowers in quick succession. 

In the rush of my busy season, carrying full platters from the house to the car and empty ones from the car to the house in an seemingly never ending cycle,

 the spot where the scent hits me causes me to linger, inhale deeply and escape for just a moment of heady intoxication that leaves my lips with a smile.

Constantia Nek hike

Once again our middle princess shook us from our holiday lethargy-  it was time for our year end 'big hike'  - the previous year our torture of choice was skeleton gorge.... the beauty and the jelly legs, all still vivid in my memory.

Constantia Nek dam hike-  moderate to easy said the blogs, gentle contour paths with the bonus of three spectacular dams at the top....

and steps, lots and lots of steps....an age old dilemma- to the right is the winding contour path, gently steep, very winding, longer. Directly in front, the shorter version- cut the corners, take the steps, straight up.

I know- what's wrong with me?

Thankfully, the sweeping views quickly distracted us, with many stops to breath  admire our valley.

A note-. realising our folly, we abandoned the steps for the winding Jeep track and eventually our reward was in sight.

I believe there could possibly have been a ' no swimming' sign somewhere, but who walks for 1 1/2 hours in the hot sun to the top of a mountain and doesn't want a quick dip with the frogs.

I could happily have stayed there wallowing with the tadpoles, absorbing that energizing stillness.

Light headed from the altitude, we chose the steps for our return trip, but I suspect the contour jeep track would have been quicker

 As a service to once yearly 4 hour hikers, the code on regular hikers blogs deciphers like this-

Easy- not

Moderate- difficult

Difficult- don't 

 

Now that I've got that off my chest, I can tell you it was well worth it.

Christmas rituals

It starts with the tree, the art teacher would tell our small children- ' Now remember-  not too big, just a small little tree because we live in a small little house' - serious nodding and agreement all around as I drove them to choose it.

The delight and anticipation on their little faces, as we came home dragging the biggest tree possible-  his feigned horror at the size of tree..' well, we'll just have to cut a hole in the ceiling' - giggles and squeals of delight.

Xmas tree decorating night- carols are played, 'cocktails' drunk. Decorations remembered and reminisced, a collection of 23 years, some made by little hands, others bought, a few given- all treasured. 

The tree no longer hangs bottom heavy,  the kids now reach taller than me- dad places the fairy on the top, and we exclaim - 'It's our best tree yet'....as we do every year!

Xmas eve dinner, turkey, ham, lamb and tongue- too much? Never! 

A full table, at first fumbling little hands to help me lay it, name cards to decorate- now, near adult and expert at the job, advice is given- 'too much mom- less is more' as they take charge.

Thankfully, we still have a little xmas angel at the table to find the lucky money in the pudding-  again?!

 and when we hear Santa's sleigh bells approaching, followed by a thud on the roof  - it's now expertly executed by my kids for the delight of younger- actually ........for the delight of everyone.

Walking the vineyards

Finally, we can slow down and enjoy long evening walks in the vineyards again.

We saw the tender young vine shoots emerge from hard gnarly old stumps, the air was still cold then and no sign of spring yet.

When next we looked, the vineyards were vivid with fresh green and the promise of summer- now grapes hang in tight bouncy little bunches.

The labourers started their summer gardens, neat patches outside their cottages, onions sourced from Grabouw, mielies, beans, pumpkins, all watered every evening.

Watching their vegetables grow is just a little humiliating for the average gardener - we're still proudly nursing our tiny spinach and tomato plants, whilst their patches grow effortlessly with wild abandon.......it must be the soil?

Michaelis graduate show 2012

Michaelis prize winner Miranda Moss's mesmerizing installations from "Ephemerology'- experiments capturing ephemeral phenomena, like this clever whirlpool in a bottle.

 Trevor Potter's ' Animal Testing', two steampunk- like sculptures blew me away.

 Leigh Bassingthwaighte's Vantage Point -engaging, voyeuristic photographs looking into apartment windows, unfortunately no pictures to show you, as the photographs were displayed down the dark back staircase of Hiddingh Hall.

Some highlights below, including Emma Dee Padoa and Elinor Auerbach's work.

If  you missed opening night - and you really shouldn't- the exhibition is definitely worth viewing, open until 19th Dec 11 am - 4 pm.

drive by - drive home

Flamingovlei wedding

Vows were whispered and taken by the wind, 

a fly-by of flamingos hovered above,

the pig ate the confetti, the rooster impressed and the cat stood sentry.

A feast was laid, candles lit, fires warmed,

The sun set in a glory of colour, Table mountain a silent witness.

A wedding was celebrated, on the edge of the water, in a little nursery on  Flamingovlei