Quote for the day ....

“The longer you wait for something, the more you'll appreciate it when you get it. Anything worth having, is worth waiting for.”

#PSTweetOfTheDay @PigSpotter on Twitter

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Why is it that the toilet roll is always empty when I go to the bathroom.
2. How on earth did he manage to sleep through the racket that's what I want to know!
3. Hold on it will be holidays soon.
4. Come back soon.
5. Do you think I am stupid.
6. To live, is to laugh, and to love.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet evening at home, tomorrow my plans include going to one of my husband's work year end functions and Sunday, I want to attend the Carols by Candlelight service at church!

365 Day Photo Project 47/365

Love

Quote for the day ....

“He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help.”

Abraham Lincoln      

365 Day Photo Project 46/365

Lonely duckling

Quote for the day ....

“Having the strength to overcome your weakness is what makes you stronger.”

#PSTweetOfTheDay @PigSpotter on Twitter

365 Day Photo Project 45/365

Hydrangea

I just loved these bright pink Hydrangeas in Andre's garden. There are blue/purple and white Hydrangeas as well. I have heard many stories as to why the flowers are different colours and decided to consult the trusted Mr Google. This is what the Wikipedia has to say on the subject:

"In most species the flowers are white, but in some species (notably H. macrophylla), can be blue, red, pink, light purple, or dark purple. In these species the color is affected by the pH of the soil; acidic which can be taken up into hyperaccumulating plants.^[2][3] For H. macrophylla and H. serrata cultivars, the flower color can be determined by the relative acidity of the soil: an acidic soil (pH below 6) will usually produce flower color closer to blue, whereas an alkaline soil (pH above 6) will produce flowers more pink."

Quote for the day ....

“Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be. Each of us has the power to give life meaning, to make our time and our bodies and our words into instruments of love and hope.”

- Tom Head

365 Day Photo Project 44/365

 Hope

“When the world says, ‘Give up’,
Hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’"

-Anonymous         

Quote for the day ....

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

Dr. Seuss          

365 Day Photo Project 43/365

Tyrannosaurus
Yesterday Reuben was playing outside with his dinosaurs. I just took a couple of random shots and loved how realistic these dinosaurs looked.

Quote for the day ....

 "People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth."

Thich Nhat Hanh    

365 Day Photo Project 42/365

Tired little performer ...

Last night we went to friends for a braai. Alan and Kaarlah's son, Matthew is the same age as Reuben and the two had great fun playing together. By the end of the evening they were both exhausted, having stayed up way past their bed time. Reuben looked so cute in this hat but no amount of coaxing could convince him to smile.  

Quote for the day ....

"If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing."

Marc Chagall         

365 Day Photo Project 41/365

Jump!

Yesterday Reuben was running and jumping outside. Probably in an attempt to get rid of all his built up energy after he nicked half a bottle of Jungle Vite kiddies vitamins, managed to open the childproof cap all by himself and devoured the whole lot! In answer to my question how did he get it open, he calmly replied: "Give it here, Mommy I'll teach you how it works." The manufacturers of childproof caps will clearly have to up their game if they want to stay ahead of the future generation!

 

He insisted on me sitting outside to watch his antics and I ended up playing with the settings on my camera. This shot was taken with my camera set to the "Outdoor sports" mode. It is the first time I managed to get an action shot that didn't blurr. Unfortunately the photo quality seems to deteriorate at the same time. I turned to my trusted friend, Mr Google and found this very educational article about my camera. I clearly still have a lot to learn!

Quote for the day ....

"Your vison will become clear only when you look into your heart ...
Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."

Carl Jung            

365 Day Photo Project 40/365

Yellow Arum Lily



Mysterious mushroom ....

Tuesday morning early my neighbour, Andre called me to photograph this mysterious pale pink mushroom. I had never seen anything like it before so, being as curious as I am, I spent quite a bit of time googling mushroom images with no luck whatsoever. Needless to say I was VERY frustrated. In my wanderings on the world wide web I stumbled upon an amazing website about mushrooms and fungi, called "First Nature". Then I hit the jackpot: the website actually has a facility where you can e-mail photos of mushrooms you are unable to identify and they will try and assist. I was very sceptical at first but nonetheless sent my photographs off into cyberspace. Not really expecting a reaction I nearly fainted when I got the following reply from Pat O'Reilly in Wales of all places!   

What a superb find! I am confident that your beautiful (but probably smelly) fungus belongs to the genus Clathrus - it's a kind of 'stinkhorn', therefore. We have a similar species here in the UK - Clathrus ruber - see our page at: http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/clathrus-ruber.php

There is a new Clathrus species, recently discovered in South Africa and named Clathrus transvaalensis, which I understand is very pale rather than bright red, but I have never seen one and can find little information about it. If I could show one of your pictures on our Clathrus ruber page there is always a chance that someone might be able to tell us more about it and confirm an identification. Please let me know if you would like me to do this (with an acknowledgement of you as the photographer, of course).

 

I immediately jumped at the opportunity and agreed. Pat very graciously updated their web page in no time and I am now waiting with bated breath for some response to the call for help in identifying this pink mystery. Here is Pat's e-mail. Go check out the pink mystery's orange cousin - scary!!

 

I have now updated our Clathrus ruber page - http://www.first-nature.com/fungi/clathrus-ruber.php - with your picture of the pale specimen plus a call for information. We get about 3/4 million site visits per year, so let's hope that someone can tell us a little more about the cage fungi that occur in South Africa...

 

Quote for the day ....

 

" It's perfectly ok to take risks occasionally. Or else one day you will wake up and realise that you should have tried."

#PSTweetOfTheDay @PigSpotter on Twitter

365 Photo Project 39/365

Arum Lily leaf after the rain

Yesterday after a light rain shower I popped across the road in search of a photograph for the day. I was amazed by this water drop captured on a Arum Lily leaf. 

Tokoloshe ....

 

 

 

  

 

 

Slip and slide in the spray on a sweltering Sunday afternoon ....

Quote for the day ....

" Don’t let your victories go to your head, or your failures go to your heart."

#PSTweetOfTheDay @PigSpotter on Twitter

365 Day Photo Project 38/365

Freshly washed lemon

Yesterday morning my neighbour, Andre called me early again with a photo opportunity. He had found the most unusual mushrooms in his garden. He was busy watering the garden so I couldn't resist taking a couple (okay quite a number) more shots. I was convinced that the rare pink mushroom would win the photo of the day title, but when looking at the photos I had taken this one won hands down!

Quote for the day ....

"Every moment you get is a gift. Spend it on things that matter and make you happy and whole."

#PSTweetOfTheDay @PigSpotter on Twitter

365 Day Photo Project 37/365

Tokoloshe

One of my student's mother is looking after this little four week old monkey, whose mother was killed, until he can go to a a reserve later this week. Jos and Reuben loved holding him and playing with Tokoloshe.

(Tokoloshe is an indigenous South-African word more frequently used by black people referring to a malevolent mythical manlike animal of short stature.)

Quote for the day ....

"Don't seek happiness. Decide to live with passion and purpose and happiness will find you."

@paulsteinbrueck on Twitter

365 Day Photo Project 36/365

Slip and Slide ...

Yesterday it was so hot that Reuben insisted that his Dad put up his Slip and Slide. He is still too scared to slide down on his tummy but enjoyed playing in the spray on the side of the Slip and Slide.

Quote for the day ....

"When you celebrate the good in any setback and move forward from there, the experience you create may be better than any you planned!"

Dr Mollie Marti            

365 Day Photo Project 35/365

Yellow succulent flower

When looking at the other succulent flowers yesterday, Reuben actually noticed that another of the succulents was flowering. (If you could call it that.) No idea where I am going to find out what this one is called.

"Steppin into Rhyme" - Head and shoulders knees and toes

Head and shoulders knees and toes
Knees and toes
Head and shoulders knees and toes
Knees and toes
Ad eyes and ears
And mouth and nose
Head and shoulders knees and toes
Knees and toes