Sandwitches and firelilies

Today Thea arrived in a fabulously trendy beetle as she had lost her car somewhere in Pondoland when she got bitten by a spider. Well that's the part I heard.

We met Alice and Maddie and walked up towards Spitskop, stopping often to admire the view/check for lizards and baboons (depending on whether you were a human or a dog)

and photograph the flowers. These are Red Rock-heaths (Erica nevillei). According to the Red List of South African Plants the Red rock-heath is Rare as it is only found on rocky slopes on the Cape Peninsula and NOWHERE else in the whole wide world.

There had recently been a fire here (see below) and we were intrigued to see what was growing in the burned area.

This is Alice's photo of the Spitskop fire that happened in early January.

We saw one or two of these little Firelilies (Cyrtanthus ventricosus) coming out of the blackened earth, then, suddenly,

there were lots and lots, everywhere. Patches of bright pink in the black. Everyone was exclaiming and photographing.

Even Maddie was proud to find one.

Then we had tea and there was more exclaiming over the "sandwitches" - but I didn't see any witches, sand or otherwise. But we did have some delicious biscuits and a piece of dry sausage.

There was a good view over - and good smells (perhaps the elusive sandwitches?) wafting up from - the Cape Point Vineyards and beyond to the sea.

Spitskop tea shot - the Alph, me, Thea, Alice and Maddie. Laddie was hunting for sandwitches.

He thought he found one but it was a Mountain Pride butterfly come to pollinate the firelilies.

We then walked back and over the other side of Spitskop into Silvermine.  The Dwarf Agapanthus (Agapanthus Africana) that only grows quite high up in the winter rainfall Cape mountains was flowering, 

and we found a large spider standing on its head in some leucadendrons. But no sandwitches.

Lovely colours - Erica multumbellifera and Common Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale),  

and lots of orange Table Mountain Watsonias (Watsonia tabularis) and some pale yellow Tontelblaar (Hermas villosa) flowers.

It was quite cool all of a sudden as some mist crept in over the Constantiaberg mountain,

but I was still really really keen to get to the dam to cool my hot little black body off. Laddie is already there, and I am halfway there.

At the dog area of the dam Laddie tried to make friends with a large Lavatory Door with a fancy floating toy, but he just ignored poor little Lad.

But when we got home later, young Alonso Notten-Zipplies came to play which made Laddie very happy.

Harvey also came,

and the Lad was in Heaven. Needless to say, that night we were both very tired and we had lots of noisy dreams about sand- and water-witches and boisterous sausage dogs.