Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Nature Notes ~ The Halcyon Days of Summer

Our terrible heat waves seem to be abating, nights are a
delight of cool breezes wafting twixt open door and window
lulling us into peaceful and refreshing sleep.

Even this water lily I have managed to coax into its first
flowering after 3 years of suspended animation in a bucket
of water in the shade house to at least keep it alive
through the tail end of our massive drought.



Days full of blue skies and friendly temperatures to be enjoyed
while they last and my slowly dribbling hose keeping my rose
garden a joy to behold and a delight for the senses.

On a more sobering note, the Willy-Wagtails bred sparingly this
season. Our normal contingent of owls was conspicuous by its
absence. Early in summer one Mopoke called, decided this was
not a good place to be, and left. Surprisingly, with the dry seasons
we have had, there have been no plagues of field mice or indeed
any evidence of them. Hardly a wonder that the owls moved to
greener pastures.



In 'normal' seasons, when the Naked Ladies, Amarillis Belladonna,
grace us by their presence, the first autumn rain follows in two
weeks. No such luck this year though.... it is just uniformly dry.



To see how others are faring, click on the Logo.

Thanks to Michelle at Ramblibg Woods, we can enjoy seasonal variations
from all around the world.

19 comments:

  1. These exquisite photographs remind me of the delicious days I have to look forward to. Spring is coming!

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  2. The Water Lily is gorgeous.I so hope that the rains will come soon.
    Blessings,Ruth

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  3. Beautiful flowers and photos! I hope your drought is over soon.

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  4. Beautiful water lily Arija. I really like that color.
    We have had a strange winter up here. None of the usual migrating birds have stopped here this time.
    Thank goodness for some cool breezes, and I hope an end to the drought soon.
    B.

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  5. We're getting several more inches of snow tonight. I can't tell you how nice it is to see your lovely photos, so full of life. I am sorry you're having a drought - wish I could send some of our precipitation your way.

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  6. You are such a lyrical writer Arija. Lovely.. just lovely... I know you suffered with the heat as do I, so I am sure that cooler temperatures are welcome. I am so happy to be able to share in your beautiful flowers as I know how precious they are to you. I wanted to let you know that I went to your blogger friend's (Renee) blog and I think I read the past 2 years now. I am so moved by it and this wonderful warrior...It needs to be a book....Michelle

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  7. I also forgot to add..the first photo was of a tail dragging. The ducks came looking for corn and landed on the icy pond and went into skids ....It was very amusing to watch. I am putting cracked corn out under my pine tree and they grab some before roosting at night...Michelle

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  8. Nice that it's cooling down, now for a little rain. The flowers look to be doing quite well. Especially your special save the water lily.

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  9. I'm glad the weather's cooling, Arija. I pray for rain for you all. Well done on saving that exquisite water lily.

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  10. The water lily look too good to be true -almost as though it were fashioned out of wax.

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  11. It's a lovely water lily and I'm impressed that you've kept it going so long in a bucket.

    So the drought oies on and on? What a pity!

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  12. Way to go Arija,... that is a beautiful water lily. I know I'd never have been as successful keeping it alive.

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  13. great pictures and commentary, too :) I love your lily! glad it bloomed for you! so pretty! hope you get some rain soon!

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  14. Beautiful, serene photos. Glad the heat wave is calming down, and breezes are coming through.

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  15. I completely enjoyed this beautiful post: that lovely blue sky, a gorgeous water lily and those beautiful pink flowers made my day.

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  16. Beautiful flowers! I can't wait until we have some. We call Naked Ladies, Surprise Lilies. I keep planning to move mine when I can see the greenery and know where they are, but I always forget.

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  17. Certainly a beautiful water lily...I am impresssed you kept it going for so long...our country so small is now half in flood and the other half (Eastern Cape, Garden Route towards Cape Town) is in drought...!!!Hope you get some weather relief soon...

    LG

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  18. Beautiful detail of the white belly of the bird against the pale bark... lovely imagery. Thankyou for sharing the coming of spring :)

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  19. The flower is gorgeous. I'm sorry it's so dry though. I hope you get rain soon.

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