My Beautiful Sunday

Some walnuts and a tiny speck of cheese ground down for the fiscal flycatchers and robins outside the back door each morning, a delight, I have had the flycatchers eating, just once, out of my hand, so beautiful…but this morning they are joined by a little striped mouse.

Driving around the mountain, we came upon this awesomely beautiful utterly spectacular spider web waterfall, then….a barn owl greeted us at the cottage, very relaxed, and two steenbuck at the side of the road.

As it warmed our wild bees came out and there was a hummmm in the air, on wild flowers, grass seeds, blossoms, native plants, the perfect example of wild pollinators on healthy wild plants, and a secretary bird came striding past us looking for breakfast.

Then on to the south cold side of the mountain, this is where wild rosemary grows, in disturbed soil. What an awesome plant, Eriocephalus Africanus has traditionally been used as a medicine for many ailments like colds, flatulence and as a diaphoretic. Rosemary may improve memory, relieve muscle pain and stimulate the nervous system. It is used for digestive problems, circulatory problems, pain, neuralgia, spasms, wounds, eczema, rheumatism and depression. It has been very helpful in treating headaches, migraines caused by stress, depression, nervous exhaustion and apathy. A tea is brewed from the leaves of this plant that is said to relieve chest congestion and coughs. This wonderful plant needs to be harvested very selectively, it’s a slow grower with deep roots.

Out around the dam some beautiful duiker grazing, then they take off in their typical low slung leaps and bounds around the mountain. Scrambling around some racks, and there, cuddled up with her youngster is a rock agama, whilst out in the sun is the stunning male rock agama with his beautiful blue head lifted to the sun.

A check to see how mowing, cutting and gardening for the past week had progressed. We have been working hard on expanding our knowledge and learning more and more about our wild heritage, wild flowers, native plants, and are sharing this with our gardeners. And it is showing, awesome to see where the gardeners having been mowing and cutting that great care is taken to not damage the wild plants and shrubs, and even small little wild plants are left to grow freely. The Sutherlandia Fructescens is in flower, that blood red colour to let us know that this is one of the most medicinal and wonderful healers in South Africa, and can heal all manner of ills, including those of the blood.

A climb up Josephs Steps, drums in hand, a clear crisp view, and some drumming to clear the mind, a bit of a climb around to one of the special sites, and then down and home….to a glass of cold white wine, beer, maybe a gin and tonic, and a braai on the veranda.

Sundays are SPECIAL, take that extra day to your weekend and come and have A Beautiful Sunday at A Beautiful Place…. Amohela ho Spitskop.