Skywatch Friday :

It's freezing today but we do have blue sky and sunshine ... but lots of wind .. which makes it colder ! In Gauteng, it's winter so we expect to be cold ... this is a cold front that is sweeping up from the Cape ... brrrr ...

.. we do get days like this too ... grey and cloudy ... and cold of course, and on this day a week or so ago .. the sun peeped through for just a moment highlighting this copper coloured tree in the distance ... I happened to be standing at my kitchen window and grabbed the camera before the sunlight faded and turned the 'copper-coloured-tree' into just an ordinary tree ..

For even more spectacular skies around the world visit Skywatch

Weekly Winners :

The weekend started with a grey, heavy mist on Friday morning, most unusual for our area ...


.. and then everything turned pink on Saturday ...



.. when Erin came to stay with us for the weekend ... (she just LOVES pink !)



... she was absolutely delighted when I took out two of Elaine's Barbies ...

.. perfectly posed for the photo shoot ...

.. "Barbie ... you WILL fit into the Barbie car ..."

... "B A A A R R B I E E E S" !!!

... " he he he " !!! Happy girl !!!

Then Erin got hold of my camera and started snapping away .... that's hubby and I !!

For more Weekly Winners go to Lotus' blog

Skywatch Friday :

Not at all spectacular but this is what our garden is looking like right now - 7.00 am (Friday)...


... very very unusual for this area, this part of Johannesburg, to be shrouded in thick mist ...


.. put's a kind-of romantic feel to the garden that I see every single day !!!!

Photo below is taken from the dining room window toward the back garden (for those who have seen my garden photos before - look at the height of the hydrangeas - closest to camera on right .. they are mid-window height!) They never cease to amaze me .. how they grow out of their very old gnarled base into specimens of grandeur! :)


For spectacular skies around the world visit Skywatch

Skywatch Friday :

Following on Jenty's blog yesterday about the possibility of the Cape Town City Ballet Company closing down due to lack of funds (absolutely tragic) and their drive to raise the necessary funding ... I remembered I had taken a photo of the beautiful and graceful ballerina catching the sunlight on a grey, cloudy day in London last year when we were on holiday ... she stands, on point, on top of the dome of the Victoria Palace Theatre ...

... and then I thought I would show you what our sky looked like this morning at 6.20 am ... a crisp Autumn morning on the Highveld in South Africa ...

... all photos taken from my back courtyard ... there is a dove - sitting on the edge of the roof ..

.. and then looking to the East ... there is a dot above the grey puff near the centre of photo ... the dot is a plane ... but it's difficult to see (very faint .. it was a small plane!!) I didn't take the photo for the plane - I took for the sky !!!

For more spectacular skies around the world go to Skywatch

Feeling a little jaded ...

.. hubby and I are taking a few days break to the Cape :)

This week's photos ...

Hi ...

... nothing nicer than starting off the week with a glass ... or two ... of ice cold bubbly ...

.. to celebrate Elaine's new car ...

Fresh eggs in an old ... very old ... really really old bowl ... it belonged to my Granny .. passed down to my Mum ... now I have it !!! I have inherited odd stuff .. a few family heirlooms here and there .... but mainly odd stuff like this !!!!

... and no .. says this Ibis ... the eggs are not mine !!! ....

... definitely NOT !!!!

Chuff ..... chufff .... chufffffff ...

.... wheeeeeee ....

... chuffer ... chufffer ... chufffff .....

... whooowhooooo ... a tunnel ahead ...

... boys and their toys ...... strewn everywhere ... this is a normal afternoon in my house !

"Wat you doin' .. Bwaderly ...?"

... sticking stickers on the train ... and the tunnel ..

... and on all the eyes !!!!

A glass of wine? ... I think we need it after all that ....

.. mm .. mmmm ... this is/was a good one!!! I had forgotten I had it in my basket of wines .. well, one of the baskets of wines .... discovered it right at the bottom, covered in dust ... we really need a proper wine rack, I think !!!

Avondale Bio-Logic and Organic Wines in Paarl, Western Cape ... I only picked it up off the shelf (obviously a long time ago!) because of the name .. as children, we used to live in a suburb called Avondale, Salisbury (now Harare) and my younger brother and I went to Avondale School .... way back when !!! All that was in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and has absolutely nothing to do with Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa !!!!

Hubby and I are flying off to the Cape tomorrow (which happens to be my birthday!) for a few days !!! ... 'bye for now

30 years ago ....

... hubby and I bought a quarter acre plot in a suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa ...

... where foundations were marked out for our new house ... (that's hubby - young and slender!)

House built .. we moved in on 1st February, 1980 ...

.... and set to work laying the foundations of our garden ....

.... the ground was ploughed .. and lawn runners were planted ....

We worked, every weekend in the garden, with the help of a once-a-week gardener .... digging flower beds ....

... and planting shrubs ...

... lots of fertilizing, weeding, watering and praying for rain to get the lawn to grow so that Jeanette and Carl had a garden to play in ....

Trees and shrubs began to flourish .... those are my very first roses in the foreground (below)... and in the middle of this patch of lawn I planted a Kapok tree which grew large, and which got struck by lightening eventually and had to be removed to make way for the double garage in 2005 ...

Garden starts taking shape ....

... the single garage was eventually converted into a bedroom for Carl when Elaine was born, and now is the study/playroom for grandchildren/sewing room ...

Here 'she' is ... our new home ... 30 years ago !!!

Additions have been made to the house ... and garden ... I, personnally, me, myself .. have planted every single tree, shrub, plant and seedling ....

Weekly Winners : 17 - 23 Jan

Focus on a flower ..... in particular ... a rose

'Garden and Home' rose

... unfolding ...

... until it opened fully ...

... with a new bud close-by ... repeating nature's wonder ...

Another of nature's wonders ..... grey rain clouds hanging overhead for days and days now ...

... and heavy rain showers everyday ....

... and beads of raindrops on window panes ...

Now .. what would a Weekly Winners be without a littlie or two ... just one today ...

... with his mommy in typical pose !!!

"Mommy ... maammy ... maaammmeeeee ..."!

A little blurred ... no .. a lot blurred but just thought I'd share !!!!

For more Weekly Winners visit Lotus' blog