Halfpom

Festive spirit....

In a bid to get into the festive spirit, I accepted an invitation to join some old friends at the Carols by Candlelight at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. I'd never been before but clearly many of the 5000 odd people attending had.....and so will I next year!!

 
 What a gorgeous setting & we couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening....everyone brings a picnic, their kids & blankets to spend an evening singing good old fashioned carols. The gates open at five o'clock and the crowd was entertained by an all girl classical band featuring electric instruments...name to follow when I've found out who they are..

 
When darkness falls the candles are lit creating a magical atmosphere.....

  
Remember - Once in Royal David's City, Away in a Manger, We Three Kings of Orient Are, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing & finally Silent Night.....if this doesn't get you in the mood for Christmas then nothing will...  

 
A very good night was had by all - finishing with a rousing rendition of Silent Night...

a fresh start...

Apologies that I've been offline for so long....well I'm in South Africa again & just finding my feet. Among old haunts revisited yesterday were Starke Ayres garden centre  where I bought some lettuce seedlings. It tastes so much better if you've grown it yourself... I stole some flower bed space and here they are all neatly planted..

A nice selection of cut & come again leaves that will hopefully provide us with salad for many weeks to come. The blue petals on the ground are the remains of the gorgeous jacaranda flowers which are in full bloom at the moment - everything is a carpet of blue..

I was ably assisted in my gardening endeavours by my new best friend...the aptly named Buddy...who came to us via DARG, an animal rescue centre in Hout Bay. He's very cute - part papillon & part corgi (the corgi part is our guess based purely on his body shape)..and a lovely personality.

His favourite activities (after gardening) include chasing sticks & squirrels (v exciting) and going for a ....W....A....L...K. (shhhh...can't say the W word to loudly).

 Just to put him into context & give you an idea of how big he is (ie not very)..

Something else that catches your eye in the garden athis time of year are the alstromerias (inca lilies)- which grow like weeds & are a great source of cut flowers for the house..