Pretty Little Snaps in Italy - Part 2

The Tuscan countryside really is as gorgeous as it looks in movies - just rolling hills of vineyards, olive trees and farmland.

These tenacious little flowers were popping up atop the wall of a medieval fort.

We had a wonderful afternoon sampling wine, olive oil, truffle oil (not really my thing that), and balsamic vinegar that was aged twelve and twenty years - amazingly soft on the palate.

On the only full day we had in Venice, she showed us her stormy side - this whopper blew up around nine in the morning and it pelted down practically non-stop until midnight!

Within minutes of seeing the bank of grey clouds on the horizon, the tempest was upon us.

Oleander flowers seem to be extremely popular in Italy - we saw them in every city - their fragile beauty belying their poisonous nature :)

Pretty Little Snaps in Italy - Part 1

This seagull was hanging out at Castle Sant' Angelo and he wasn't moving for anything. Another photographer had a camera lens about six inches from his beak and he didn't bat an eyelid.

These little purple flowers/weeds caught my eye in the park.

There was but one pigeon in sight as I tossed my panini crust - within five seconds we were inundated!

This little sparrow wanted a piece of the action/crust.

Moving on, this pair were in a park in Florence. I said to Graeme, "Those birds are me and you!" as she was lovingly pecking her mate all over his head and he wasn't particularly impressed.

Atop a great hill, in the area of Piazza Michaelangelo which overlooks the whole city of Florence, is the prettiest little garden.

I think these are some kind of hibiscus but the blooms are the size of a human face!

Bugging Around

My gosh - I need a fancier camera to capture something as energetic as a bumble bee. He was so cranky about having his photo taken that he chased me all around the yard!

I spy with my little eye ... a tiny, stripey golden fly.

Note to self - rename photos when the Spider Club of SA IDs them. I cannot recall at all the name of this pretty lady but I especially think the little "alien face" viewed from below is too cute.

More Garden Flora

I'm always amazed at seedlings that bravely sprout upon existing trees, sending their tiny roots searching for nutrients amidst the chips of bark.

No less astonishing are these sporangiophores of a sort that flourished on the tangerine trees during rainy season.

Cheerful michaelmas daisies will happily take over the entire garden if you let them - their root systems propagate prolifically.

This incredibly invasive vine has the most beautiful seed pods - you could make sailing boats for ladybirds and ants with the three portions of each pod. Inside each section is one perfectly round, hard, black seed.

Ahh morning glory - maybe a bit of a pest but worth it for a sunlit moment of blooming perfection.

Our frangipani tree grows so tall the only way I can get to the flowers is to wait for them to fall to the ground. They smell heavenly!

Perpetually flowering jatropha trees eventually grow to just the right size to have a shady little picnic below.

The delicate, pretty, soft lilac flowers of a humble garlic chive.

I get so excited to see these flowers - in a few weeks I know I will be opening those charming sweet-wrappers of nature to enjoy the tart-sweet gooseberries within. :)

The Kitties

Recently we made a new addition to the family - a litter of four kittens were looking for homes, and we chose the cutest one of course.

Little Madison is a ball of non-stop energy, except for when she rolls over into a dead-to-the-world twenty minute power catnap.

Here she is starting to get cheeky with Dingo, now that she's safe from being stampeded, on the kitten-friendly climbing steps my crafty hubby attached to two of the trees in our garden.

Almost two years ago Maverick and Mia were a much more photogenic...

...camera-loving pair of posers.

They had, and still have, many good times on those nifty tree stairs.

Spot the cat - you can take the cat out of the wild but we can't get the wild out of Mia.

Do people think you're mad cat people because you have bean bags especially made for your cats? Well, I guess we are ;)

Nocturnal Flowers

After nearly two years of simply being leafy and green, this plant in the patio garden suddenly sprouted heaps of unattractive flowers or so I thought. On closer inspection they turned out to be buds but it seemed they wouldn't flower.

Then they revealed themselves to be delicate little nocturnal beauties, opening around sunset and closing again before nine o'clock in the morning.

Simply ages after planting loofah seeds and watching this small straggly vine grow slowly but surely up the wall and entangle itself with the existing creepers, it has finally flowered! 

Another cool moth hanging out at the bar.

I was quite sad to find this butterfly deceased on the driveway, especially since it's the first I've seen of this kind. :( 

Weekend Visit to Nsobe Game Park

This little bug is as tiny as an ant, but so brilliantly coloured you can't miss it.

A middle-aged moth, worn down from partying hard.

Interesting web but no spider.

These pukhu make me think of Bambi - so cute!

A tree wearing another tree.

These waterbuck were at the base of the koppie where our suite was.

Beautiful sunrise.

I want these flowers in my garden!

And these butterflies!

Wow, this butterfly is so well camouflaged I had to look twice whilst taking its photo.

A fierce soldier ant guarding his smaller working buddies.

Another butterfly/moth that is new to me.

Strange orange berries - maybe some kind of fairy food. :)