The sensations of Summer

W&N watercolour on Aqua 300gsm
The beach at Zinkwazi, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Zinkwazi – home of the Fish Eagle – is a small village of unspoilt sub-tropical beauty. It is 85kms north of Durban, 6 hours from Gauteng and 45 minutes from Durban International. A 7km lagoon is situated among the lush sub-tropical vegetation of the Zinkwazi conservancy. It is reported to have 180 species of birds and is an excellent stepping stone to the Zululand birding route. There are endless unspoilt beaches both north and south and a safe protected beach in front of the lagoon. I just love sitting in the shade of the beach vegetation, listening to the call of the Fish Eagle and watching the waves, which are quite wild on this stretch of coast.

Sprinkle, squish between my toes,
The smell of ocean to my nose.
I can feel each grain of sand,
It falls from air into my hand.
The shells I find along the shore,
Picked up by birds that fly and soar.
They sparkle like the ocean’s waves,
And carry sand from all the lakes.
I walk along the tip of the sea,
That’s where my feet leave prints to be.
I walk all the way to the end of the land,
The land that holds this beautiful sand.
- Morgan Swain

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A new beginning

W&N watercolour on Aqua 300gsm watercolour paper

Summer peeking through on our smallholding...

Every spring, a new beginning…

I open a door
Stepping boldly thru
I have no idea
Where it leads
All I desire
Is a new beginning
But then …
Every day
Is a new beginning
If you let it be!
- Unknown

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Delicious Autumn

W&N watercolour on DalerRowney 300gsm – Autumn in South Africa

George Eliot said, Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns! How I agree! Delicious mild days when there is no hurry,
 no thing to be done
 and no event that is 
out of order, when Nature seems to pause between summer heat and winter ice, weaving this world 
like needle and thread, 
every action
 a divine rhythm.

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Barren and bare

W&N watercolour in hand-crafted sketchbook with linen satin-finish paper

Here in South Africa most of the landscape is still barren and bare after winter's onslaught, but Spring is making a concerted effort to show herself - her reign is normally short-lived, quickly being ousted by Summer's determination to make the most of the months ahead until Autumn has her turn again.

*The garden like a lady fair was cut

That lay as if she slumbered in delight,

And to the open skies her eyes did shut;

The azure fields of heaven were 'sembled right

In a large round set with flow'rs of light:

The flowers de luce and the round sparks of dew

That hung upon their azure leaves, did show

Like twinkling stars that sparkle in the ev'ning blue.*

~ Giles Fletcher

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Listen to the Guinea Fowl

Be grateful for nature. Pay the thunder no mind – listen to the Guinea fowl. And don’t hate anybody. 

W&N watercolour on DalerRowney 220gsm heavy-duty sketching paper. 

The Helmeted Guinea Fowl is an African family of insect and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds resembling partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage. They are the ultimate low-cost, chemical-free pest control and if your garden is already established and can withstand the scratching, you’ll have a healthy and pest-free garden. 

And be rewarded with some wonderful antics from these lovely birds. It is interesting to note that they are monogamous, mating for life. The hens have a habit of hiding their nests, and sharing it with other hens until large numbers of eggs have accumulated. Females lay 25-30 tough-skinned, smallish, creamy eggs in a deep, tapering nest and undergo an incubation period of 26-28 days. The chicks are called “keets” and are highly susceptible to damp. In fact, they can die from following the mother through dewy grass. 

After their first two to six weeks of growth, they can be some of the hardiest domestic land fowl.

They are highly social birds, and hate to be alone. When you see a lone guinea fowl, it usually means trouble, like that the family has been scattered by a predator. Guineas spend most of their days foraging. They work as a team, marching chest to chest and devouring anything they startle as they move through the grass. 

When they discover a special treat — a rodent, for example, or a small snake — they close ranks, circle their prey, and move in for the feast. All the while, they keep up a steady stream of whistles, chirps, and clicks, a sort of running commentary on the day’s hunt. 

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