22 June 2009

A misty Father's Day walk

The Food Lady told a fib and said that Sue was coming with visitors who liked to sleep late so we were starting our walk later. But Sue had no intention of coming and it was our long-legged human brothers that turned up! It was Father's Day and this was a special surprise for the Alpha Male. And he was surprised - he thought the house was on fire and the boys had come to call him! We set off in thick mist, but it started clearing a little so at least we had a bit of a view.
Destination: the elephants eye cave. Tea in the cave. There were lots of other dogs with their fathers and families too. Great fun! I tried to go off with a really interesting black dog and her family but the Food Lady came after me and hauled me back. But luckily there was a good picnic tea with rusks, poppy-seed cake (from the Meadowridge Common Cake Sale), cheese and Carr's Table Water biscuits, chocolate, dates and naartjies. A rather fluffy looking Dougal negotiating a stream on the way home.

Lots of pure white Common Sugarbush Protea repens all along the road for the Food Lady to photograph. (Protea repens was grown at Kew in 1774 and flowered around 1780, the first protea ever to flower in cultivation away from the Cape. It was also the first protea to have been grown outside in gardens in Australia, New Zealand and California from about 1890. It was the National Flower of South Africa up to 1976 and has inspired songs such as "Suikerbos ek wil jou he", which was composed on Lion's Head near Cape Town.) As we drove home through the sugarbushes, the mist closed in...

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