Giant Honey Flower

This shrub shot up from seeds dropped by birds or in the compost used on Rosemary bush (visible to the left of the Melianthus major)

The above shrub is known as Melianthus major (Giant Honey Flower or Touch-me-not). Three years ago, I planted one plant and have since had many young shrubs shooting up all over the garden. One reason for this is that the birds love this plant and obviously distribute the seeds.

The other reason is that after the winter months have taken their toll on this shrub, I normally cut it right back. The cuttings then go on the compost heap which is subsequently spread on the garden again! Melianthus major is a fast-growing vigorous, invasive plant which may become a nuisance if not controlled. However, according to my Creative Gardening with Indigenous Plants, (Pitta Joffe), it should by rights not actually grow in my area at all. It is primarily a coastal plant. Therefore I consider myself singularly blessed to have this flambouyant shrub growing so profusely in my garden. I have given many young shrubs away and planted many out in different parts of my garden.

In mid-July I noticed that the one shrub just beyond my patio out back, had beautiful flowers on it. I also noticed that this plant was being visited by Orange River White-Eye, Red-Eyed Bulbuls, Red-faced mousebirds and Malachite- and White Bellied Sunbirds. I was thrilled to identify to latter bird at this time. It only visited my garden for a total of eight days and all that time it spent drinking the nectar from the Melianthus flower. This is the southern-most region for the White Bellied Sunbird to be, hence the excitement at having it in my garden.

The first Melianthus major planted alongside my large pond three years ago

Little Hikers

Above is Brandwag (Sentinel) a huge mountain which stands guard over the park. The children climbed this mountain from the other side (see post below)

Our young grandchildren on the first half of the hike up to the Brandwag

Last weekend John and Debbie took the family to the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. You can read here about one of the many trips my husband and I have done into this park.

A short but steep hike in the park, is from the campsite to the top of Brandwag, (Sentinel) a huge monolith of a rock which stands senitinel over the park.

Above the young intrepid hikers, haul themselves the last steep 20 metres up to the summit

This hike is reasonable easy although the last twenty metres to the top is a steep gradient which many people need to use the wire to pull themselves up.

Made it! The children on the top of Brandwag

No problem to John: he took our two grandchildren (6 1/2 and 3 years) on this hike on Saturday. Above, the two intrepid little hikers, scale the top of the Brandwag.

The night we brought them home to the children, our grandson slept with his hiking boots on!

Seeing these photos on the laptop a few days later, my husband decided to bless both children with hiking boots. We set off for the city last week to shop for them. This is easier said than done. There aren't actually hiking boots available in children sizes. While browsing in Woolworths, we came across the next best thing: sturdy trainers. And viola! There was one pair in grandson's size and one in granddaughter's size. On the way home my husband said that he knows that our grandson would be so thrilled with his new footwear, that he'd wear them to bed. I chuckled, thinking this unlikely.

Imagine my surprise, and my husband's "I-told-you-so" expression the next morning when our granddaughter came into the kitchen where we were enjoying a morning cuppa, and said: "Gran, Boetie (Afrikaans/colloquial for "little brother") slept in his hiking boots last night"!

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A Higher Standard, A Richer Grace

Matthew 5:1-10 is the well-known Sermon on the Mount. What Jesus taught the crowds that day while seated on the hillside, is also known as the Beatitudes. However, when I read a little further along in this chapter, I see in Matthew 5:48 that Jesus tells me I have to be perfect. (Huh?) Is this possible? Absolutely. With complete modesty and humility I need to strive to be like Jesus. He is perfect and while I will never attain that complete perfection, I still need to aim for it every day.

Our spiritual lives are energized as we remind ourselves of the two facets of faith in Christ: a higher standard for our behaviour and a richer mercy [grace] for our failures. Neglecting either can lead to spiritual weakness and discouragement. We can become careless through forgetting the higher standard. We can become oppressed by our failures, losing sight of God's forgiveness through Christ.

As a believer, I have to ask myself this question: which facet of faith am I most comfortable with? What do I need to learn from the other. Cultivating a balanced view of both aspects will prepare my heart for further spiritual growth.

Clarice goes to Hospital

Great excitement when we brought Clarice back from the hospital. The dogs, especially wanted to know all about her stay...

Last week I noticed that one of our cats, Clarice didn't get up for breakfast. When I walked in with the bowls of food, she merely lifted her head from the stool where she was lying, looked at me without interest, and placed her head on her paws again.

I let her be, thinking she may have eaten too many birds or mice (she is the family hunter!) But that evening when I served her favourite cookies, she still remained on her chair without moving.

I spoke to my husband about this, and he suggested I phone the vet to see it we could get an appointment. Dr Anne (our family vet for the cats) told me to bring Clarice in as soon as we could. We did and even though the vet examined Clarice thoroughly, she couldn't find anything wrong with her. She said that Clarice was quite dehydrated and asked if we could leave her there in the hospital for the weekend. (which is what we did)

When I phoned on Sunday morning, Sonja the vet's assistant told me that Clarice was on a drip, and quite comfortable but still not eating anything. This continued until Monday when Dr Anne phoned and told me that she had sent blood samples away but nothing untoward has been found.

On Tuesday we collected Clarice and brought her home. She is on a course of antibiotics, vitamins and tonic but we are still none the wiser as to what the problem was. She seems to be bouncing back to being her old self although she has not been far afield in the garden yet. She is still lying near the back door in the sun for most of the day.

I pray that whatever her malady was, it is over now.

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Pastoral Scene

Travelling back from the city at the beginning of the week, I snapped this scene from the car.

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