I caught the dying sun setting yesterday evening at about 18h:30.
The shy and gangly visitor to my fruit table, the grey lourie, is now busy picking berries from the flowering cherry. I have noticed, at this time of the year, for a period of about eight weeks the fruit eaters which are so busy at the fruit table for the rest of the year leave the bananas, papaya and apple untouched. They prefer to feast on what Nature is providing on all the flowering trees and shrubs. And so it should be!
On Friday evening the lightening flashed spectacularly and the thunder rolled to usher in our first spring rains. Only about 10mm fell but it was enough to exclaim, to whomever you met, the next morning, "We had rain, did you?" On Saturday evening another electric storm led to good showers; last night, soaking rain brought down this Masked Weaver's nest. I shall keep it for Joelle when she visits in November. She is a budding zoologist/entomologist! Mr Masked Weaver builds nests in a frenzy of activity; the Missus pulls them apart with equal energy until she finds one to her liking.
The hadeda ibis is so frequent a visitor to my garden that the dogs just ignore these prehistoric looking birds. They have glossy grey feathers and I call them my 'peacocks'. The call of the hadeda flying to and from roosts is one of the most familar calls in Africa: ha-ha-ha-dah-dah! I love the shrill sound over the thatch roof in the early morning.
I grew up with the stirring story of Gladys Alyward, the little Cockney domestic servant, who went to China in the '30s as a missionary, without the blessing of the China Inland Mission and with just a few pence in her pocket. Her life of faith in God and great human courage is worth reading or re-reading: The small woman by Alan Burgess. See if you can find a copy! I was inspired by the tales of how she forced muleteers to sleep the night in the Inn of the Eight Happinesses (the Eight Beatitudes) so she could tell them Gospel stories, unbound the feet of little girls, faced a prison riot, the Japanese invasion and led 'her' children to safety. Gladys had to leave China during the Chinese Revolution and settled in Taiwan where she died in 1970.
The flower of the Plectranthus xerophilus is described as mauve in my lovely coffee table book, The Southern African Plectranthus and the art of turning shade to glade by Ernst van Jaarsveld. However, viewed in my garden, I think it appears blue. So here we are on a Blue Monday! It is a homegrown plant, one of a genus of 53 (so far...new discoveries are taking place, thanks to the endeavours of Ernst van Jaarsveld), indigeneous to South Africa. My beloved country has an amazing flora and fauna diversity. Excuse me for bragging, but the floral diversity is 23 000 species and its historic contirubtion to world ornamental horticulture is enormous. Did you know the pelargonium cultivars (geraniums) and the hardy little hen and chicken hail from here? Others are proteas, aloes, mesembrianthunums, clivias, gladioli, freesias, Barberton daisies (a kind of gebera) and arum lilies.
I finished this extra easy quilt top which is blue-ish and pink on Saturday. It is for Joelle who turns six pretty soon and it matches her bedroom decor. Now I must make another for Jaelene (aged 3). These two little girls are at the stage where gifts must be given in tandem and preferably equally pretty!I had a blast last week with Skywatch Friday and found so many new intriguing blogs in farflung corners of the globe. These bloggers are quite a different mix from you, my regular blogging girl-friends! Very international and some serious photographers. But great fun and I get to communicate in Afrikaans with skywatchers from Belgium and Holland!
Cloudless skies over the geometric shapes of the buildings of my alma mater and the university where I have been teaching for twenty-two years. The University of South Africa, fondly known as UNISA to hundreds of thousands of alumni, including Nelson Mandela.
The admin block at Unisa. Teaching is done through distance education (mainly print, but rapidly changing to hi-tech).
Pretoria lies in a mauve haze as the jakaranda trees flaunt their glorious blossoms in honour of Persephone. In the far distance are the stately sandstone Union Buildings, the seat of the administrative section of the government of South Africa.
The skyline of down town Pretoria where shoppers bustle under mauve pools of shade.
The view from the 10th floor of the Theo van Wjik Building at Unisa. 
Not true to his water-loving breed, Trist prefers to look on with just a hint of a tolerant smile.
After sky and sea, the colour blue spontaneously conjures up the robes of a Madonna in my mind's eye. Here are the exquisite blues of the Conestabile Madonna which is housed in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg/Leningrad. May the sight of mother and Holy Child bless your Blue Monday!
I took this photo of jakarandas against a cloudless sky from my backyard at 7h30 this morning. In Pretoria we are scanning the skies for a hopeful wisp of cloud, listening for the rumble of distant thunder and checking the activities of ants and other little creatures which may indicate the advent of the spring rains. Temperatures rose this week to 36 Celsius. Gusty, hot winds blew. We, living in the interior of the beloved country, South Africa, are so dependent on the summer rains. 
The ancient jakaranda in my garden is turning purple and the roses are blooming.
Carrie at Oak Rise cottage is a faraway friend. Her mom turned the grand age of 90 years very recently. This sweet pink rose is for your mom, Carrie. 
Poetikat, poet of note and the creator of great You-tube videos, mentioned to me that her mother loves white roses. My single iceberg standard is not doing well but I hope she will enjoy this creamy rose!
