Silvermine crags

This cool and dewy morning, we met up with Paul and Pauline, as well as Sue and Sophie from France. Obviously that bath paid off! It was nice to have someone French with us as my name is French - after Coco Chanel of the little black number. We walked up a path that said "Silvermine Crags" and immediately I was a bit apprehensive as "crag" has a rather menacing ring to it, and a few cyclists passing looked as if they had been wrestling with a rottweiler!
But all we saw were pretty flowers, like this Erica - possibly Erica corifolia,
and some dainty restio heads. (The Food Lady hasn't quite begun to identify restios yet.)
We came to this ridge, and looked down on Cape Town. Maybe the Silvermine Crags are somewhere down there? Me looking for crags.
Dougal, as usual, was looking completely the wrong way - hoping the dog argument noises in the distance were coming our way. Me skittering and scottying over the rocks on the ridge, with Paul.
Dougal and Pauline. Sophie's red jersey in the distance. We stopped for tea on the bench overlooking Hout Bay and I immediately set about trying to find some crags - although all I could smell was dassies and that made me so excited that the Food Lady started yelling about Blackburn Ravine and sheer cliffs and the Alpha clapped on my lead. Such spoil sports. Here is the Food Lady's shadow, the Alph, me, Sophie from France, Paul, Sue and Pauline. Dougal was hunting mice in the undergrowth somewhere. A weird flower called a Phylica dioica - a collection of little flowers in one flowerhead, all belonging to the Blinkblaar family. The Food Lady and Alph were getting a bit worried about getting to the church on time for Margie and Tim's wedding, so they scooted ahead. Pretty soon, me still being dragged on the lead, we came up onto another ridge and looked over the other side to Noordhoek and Fish Hoek - indeed all the way to Cape Point,
all the while being watched by this craggy monster.
Time for a quick drink in a pool. I am still on the lead in case I sneak back to Sue and Sophie as I was not happy to leave them behind especially as Sue hasn't been well.
Still time for a few quick snaps of the camera - a glowing Cluster Disa (Disa ferruginea) trying to look like a Red Reedpipe in order to attract the attention of a Mountain Pride butterfly,
and the real thing - a nectar-filled Red Reedpipe (Tritoniopsis triticea).
Autumn Pipes (Gladiolus brevifolius).
On the way down to the dam we came across another Scottie and some other dogs. Always great fun.
A quick dip in the cool water of the dam for us before we were home and dry again.
Here are Margie and Tim on their Big Day,
and the Alph walking through the choir of angels. Congratulations to BimBim and Squidge on the occasion of their humans' wedding!