Tree frog

I came home late and in the pitch dark heard a noise on the stairs. What a fright!! I dashed inside to get my camera and a light and saw this cute tree frog there. He probably got a bigger fright than I did. LOL!!

Common Rose Aphid

Rose Aphids (macrosiphon rosae) can be found on the roses in early spring but a spray of soapy liquid will control them instead of pesticides.
Their natural enemies are ladybirds, hoverflies and some small birds.

They are easily identified by their knees, antennae and very long horns on abdomen being black. In this photograph you can see ladybird larva too.

They range from pale pink to reddish brown in color and are found in winged form.

Orchids 2

In South Africa, we do not have snow, mistletoe or any of the traditional things associated with Christmas, so I decided to post some of my favorite flowers to share with everyone

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

May the day be filled with love, sharing and wonderful things.

Thank you for all your friendliness and support since I started blogging. It is greatly appreciated.

Even weeds can be beautiful - Part 1

Weeds, in various stages of their cycle, can be beautiful too if only we took the time to notice.

Kori Bustard

Today I going to surprise everyone by posting a bird!! LOL!!

This is a Kori Bustard and is slightly bigger than a turkey. It eats a wide variety of animals and plant products, often eating hard materials, such as stones, pieces of bones and even bullet shells and broken glass! The male does a courtship display to multiple females, after which it mates with some of them.
The 1-2 chicks are able to fly when they are 3-4 months old, but they remain dependent on their mother until the following breeding season, when they are 12-18 months old.

Egg-laying season is from July-April, peaking from October-February. The eggs, which are incubated by the female only for 23-25 days, is defended from any lurking predators by chasing them with its head pointing downward.

Lions - Part 2

I have given a lot of interesting facts about lions before so I am not going to include them here. If you are interested and missed it you can go to this blog:

http://saphotographs.blogspot.com/2010/01/lions.html

There are more if you do a search on "lions".

Kangaroo Paw

A few months ago someone in Australia was telling me about this interesting looking plant which I had never seen before. She posted some pictures so I could see what they looked like. Then a few weeks ago, I walked into a local nursery, and there they were selling these plants. Imagine her surprise when I posted the pictures for her. She tells me that some of these colors she has never seen, so I am not sure where our nursery got them from. The flowers are quite small, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length.

Wild Pear Tree

The Wild Pear (dombey rotundifolia) like your Dogwood, is one of the first trees to bloom at the beginning of spring and the hillsides are covered in them.
It is also called the Rain Tree as Leafhoppers/Froghoppers love this tree and if you stand under it, you are soon wet from the moisture spat out by the Hoppers.
Bows and implement handles are made from the wood.

An infusion of the bark or wood is used to treat intestinal ulcers.
The Shangaan women drink a decoction of the bark to hasten the onset of labour.

It is one of the elephants favorite trees.
If you get stuck without a toothbrush, this is a handy tree to have around as the leaves are covered with very fine hairs and clean teeth beautifully.

Egg-eater Snake

This friendly little fellow belongs to a friend of mine who collects strange pets.

Hartebeesport Dam - Part 2

Going past the dam and over the wall, this lovely sight caught my eye. We have had a lot of rain this past season and they have opened the sluice gates which slip over these lovely falls.
A little way down the road, there is a craft stall at the side of the road where our local people make things to sell. These mats are woven out of grass which they collect at the end of every summer. It is made from what we call “elephant grass” which grows about 6 feet high.
These bowls are very hardy and are woven out of grass as well or sometimes rushes which are gathered by the rivers.
Soap stone is the most popular medium for carving statues and this is which the light colored animals here are made of. The dark ones at the back are mad from wood.

I liked this wooden one. It is about 6 inches in height.
These giraffe are also soap stone.
Bowl always attract my attention. Everything you have seen here is handmade as these people are quite talented.
I like wooden things like these small dishes…..