Cecilia Waterfall in the mist

We stared at the Food Lady until it was time to go for our walk to the Cecilia Waterfall with Honey and Sue this beautifully cool and misty morning.

We saw a Red Disa (Disa uniflora) in the river below the waterfall. 

Tea at the waterfall with Sue and the Alph - and Honey in a hole under the fallen tree -  

looking all cosy and comfy.

I played Lady of the Rushie River,

while the Lad did some rodent hunting.

And the Food Lady photographed an Altyd Vygie (Erepsia anceps) - one of the few vygies that stay open in wet weather.

Time to get going again.

This is a strange dodder-like plant called Devil's Tresses (Cassytha ciliolata) which is a member of the Lauraceae family and therefore related to Stinkwood trees!

A Blister Bush (Notobubon galbanum) looming out of the mist. Luckily they need direct sunlight to induce blistering and there was none today.  

Up and down we went ...

and along a gravelly road

past Thea's great gumtree,

down into the forest again - festooned with twirly creepers like this Christmas bauble creeper (Asparagus scandens),

and back to the cars in the company of several other friendly dogs.

Our human brother is at home, back from South Korea for a holiday, so we had to hurry home to him.

Happy Father's Day

It was Father's Day last Sunday and Phil and Kerryn stood the Alph to a happy father's day breakfast at a cooool coffee shop in Cape Town.

On the way home they went to see the Snowy Egret - an American bird that somehow got blown off its normal course and landed up in the Black River opposite the Observatory - much to the excitement of the birding community.

At first all they saw was a group of flamingos sunning themselves in front of some golfers,

and a Common Moorhen poking around in the litter. Then a pair of psychedelic yellow and black legs emerged - and a snowy white bird popped out from behind the reeds.

The Food Lady deployed her new camera's long lens and managed to snap it - definitely the Snowy Egret.

The Alph was not all that impressed. "Is that it?"

He said the reason it was there was that it saw the Snowflake factory and thought is was a good spot to spend a few days.

That afternoon we went for a walk in Cecilia Forest with Paul - all the way to the waterfall. Here is Paul taking some flowing shots.

The trees above the waterfall were looking crowdy and glowering. So we didn't linger, and sped on with Harvey in the lead - and the Food Lady in hot pursuit of him.

She still found time to do some photography - a soggy Restio quadratus with its square stems,

and a beautiful Green Protea (Protea coronata).

Afternoon tea at the look out point. Except it wasn't tea but Castle lager. Thanks Paul - the Food Lady really enjoyed it especially after sprinting up the hill after Harvey. 

And talking of Harvey, where is he?

"I think he is down there somewhere."

On the way down again we saw some Waboom flowers (Protea nitida),

and some extremely fragrant Box Phylica flowers (Phylica buxifolia). Then it was a downhill run after that mountain goat of a Boston terrorist.

There he is, gazing up into the gums hoping to see some squirrels.

I, on the other hand, like to take my time.

Back at the car we looked up to where we had just walked and saw that the mist was rolling in.

 Just in time to return to supper and a snooze in front of the fire. Its a dog's life! 

Sundowners in Cecilia

Last Sunday we opted for an evening walk due to the Scottie Walk taking place that morning. Two walks a day! Was it my birthday? We met Paul and Pauline at Cecilia carpark and headed up to the waterfall. (Just thinking that the poo-throwers at UCT should demand that Cecilia Park changes its name as it too commemorates that stinky arch-colonialist.)

There are few flowers around and it is very dry, but these pretty Cape Rushes (Juncus capensis) were flowering away in one of the streams.

The light was very pretty with the sun setting over Table Bay

and a cool mist creeping over the mountain behind us.

With the sun well over the yard arm, we stopped for sundowners: the perfect g and t,

some eau-de-Kaap for me 'n the Lad,

and some fabulous red that Paul poured out of his camera lens. What a joke!

While they admired the setting sun, I checked for Sambar deer and baboons, and the Lad just looked his normal puzzled self.

Muizenberg with a cloudy tablecloth.

It started getting late and gloamy, so we packed up and set off down the path - you can see that the Kirstenbosch Dam is almost completely empty.

It got darker and darker,

and by the time we got down, the only way the Food Lday could see me was to camera trap me.

City lights

and a shake, rattle and roll from the not-so-difficult-to-see-in-the-dark Lad. It was such an enjoyable walk that we have decided to do an evening walk more often.