First Flowers this Spring HD Wallpaper

Tiny Pink Roses Bloomed in Spring, 2011 free download wallpapers
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Beautiful Pink Flowers HD Wallpaper

Pink Flowers Blooming in Spring, 2011 free download wallpapers
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Spring Trees Bloom HD Wallpaper

Awesome Tree Bloom - Spring Awakening , 2011 free download wallpapers
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Beautiful Violet Flowers in Spring HD Wallpaper

Spring's Arrival - Violet Wild Flowers, 2011 free download wallpapers
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The Sprout Fund Spring Biodiversity Program

The Sprout Fund Spring Program is a funding stream to support local biodiversity initiatives in 2011. Supported by The Pittsburgh Foundation, this new program will catalyze community-based projects in Allegheny County, Westmoreland County, and the surrounding communities of Southwestern Pennsylvania with small grants of up to $20,000.

Biodiversity, or the variety of life on Earth, is essential to sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital resources our lives depend on. The loss of biodiversity, due in part to human activity, has greatly accelerated. These irreversible losses impoverish us all and damage the life support systems we rely on every day.

By supporting two classes of projects, $5,000 awards and $20,000 awards, Spring will catalyze the execution of 20 community‐based projects that creatively address the challenges we face and inspire a greater stewardship of our region’s natural resources. The following examples are good benchmarks for the anticipated size and scope of Spring Awards:

Applications are due by 5pm on Friday September 24, 2010.

more info here.
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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20, 2007.pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh art advocate rick byerly, www.RickByerly.com.

Beauty and the Quirky - a wander around Kalk Bay

Little fishing boats bobbing in Kalk Bay harbour

At the risk of causing you all to fall off your chairs in shock – yes, yes, it’s true, another blog post! The second in one week. Gasp! I know, it may yet snow at the equator! Stranger things have indeed happened.

It was a public holiday on Thursday and D decided to take Friday off as well – as did most of South Africa. Bah! sucks! humbug! to productivity, right? Given that it was a lovely day yesterday, though rain was threatened, we decided to wander down to Kalk Bay.

Harbour Lights - do you know your port from your starboard?

Fishing boats

The railway line runs from the city, through the suburbs and all the way down the coast

I suppose you might call it a village, but for us it’s just another suburb of Cape Town – quite far south and a bit out of the way, but a quirky little seaside place. The name means Lime Bay in English, though it’s never been called that - the name having been given to it by the early Dutch settlers. (Kalk means lime – and no, not limes as in citrus fruit, but as in the stuff you quarry.) The history of the place is quite interesting, it was variously a mini port for the Dutch East India Company and later became a small whaling station and then became home to a growing population of Filipinos. You can read more about the history and take a “tour” on the official Kalk Bay website.

The view from the harbour wall, looking across to Simonstown in the far distance

Mucking around in boats

For the past few years, it’s been quite a trendy, quirky spot, with lots of generally overpriced (yes, we know how to mug tourists in more ways than one) junk/bric-a-brac and antique shops and several decent restaurants. It’s very touristy in summer, and getting there and back in the high season can be a real nightmare. The narrow main road gets clogged with traffic moving at pace which would make a snail proud. I noticed though, as we wandered around yesterday, that a lot of the shops have closed down and new whacky boutiques have opened – sign of the times, or recession, who knows.

The "branding" at Quagga Trading

Kalk Bay Trading Post - all the junk you never knew you needed

Of course you always wanted a broken gumball machine. Of course you did!

And an old garden chair

And horns and horseshoes. Oh go on, admit it, you can't resist such a purchase!

I shouldn’t comment on the food, given I’ve nothing polite to say about it. Suffice it to say we opted for fish and chips down at the harbour – and have both been struck by very unhappy guts. There you go, another bad review for me to write (I’ve been making a habit of it of late…).

Filleting fish, fresh off the boats

Still, before the bug struck it was lovely wandering around in the mild spring sunshine, camera in hand, snapping the beauty and the quirky.

The wall of sweets at the general dealer/postal service/bait shop

The general dealer's sign, all things to all men - and women.

The local nursery, oozing colour

And because I just know you love to go "oooh" and "aw", some local residents...

Cape Fur Seals, only too happy to pose, in the hope you might throw them a fish!

Bees in the pink

I thought we'd stick with the spring theme, even though after one day of Sister Spring being bright and gay, Old Man Winter fought back with a vengeance. Once more it's piddling with rain - and today's supposed to be National BBQ Day - or, as we call it here, "braai" (pronounced as in "spry"). It's chilly, the garden is sodden and there are an assortment of very damp critters pootling about the lawn. Yuck. Enough already. I need sunshine!

Still, that said, I took advantage of the sun on Monday and had a fine time snapping the wee beasties below.

Rainbow wings

Head down

Busy Bee

Flower Feasting

I do love bees, I think there's something quite magical about them. And bee-rescuing is a popular past-time in our house. They inevitably end up in the swimming pool, so it's out with the honey, lots of warm breath on very frail bee bodies (sort of mouth to mouth resuscitation...) and a bit of sunshine - and then it's such a joy when they revive and fly away.

The Massed Pink of the Indian Hawthorne

What I love about the mass flowering shrubs of spring is how they attract bees. If you stand next to them in the morning you have the pleasure of hearing the bees singing. Sigh, so good for the soul, that.

Bee in pink

Yep, much better focusing on nature than the nuttiness of markets, politics and similar such shenanigans. At least nature is real, whereas the rest strikes me as being an awful lot of hot air and all smoke and mirrors.

Spring has sprung, but chaos abounds

The brightness of an orange gazania

Although the mountains around the city still have their layer of snowy icing covering their peaks, today the sky is clear and cloudless, a pristine blue. The sun is shining and the first coucal of the season has been warbling since dawn. The robin is sounding particularly chirpy this morning and even the boubou has been issuing a chirrupy mating call. The guinea fowl are at it all over the garden, much chasing which lasts until he finally catches her, hops on and it's all over in a second. Seems hardly worth all the running, doesn't it!

Guineas at the pond

All around there is the sense of things waking and stretching into life. The trees are already sporting new lime green leaves and the rock rose has suddenly burst into a profusion of pink flowers.

Thank goodness, it's been a long, cold and wet winter with an uncharacteristic amount of snow.

Sunlight on Hibiscus

Meanwhile the rest of the world seems to be falling into disarray. I read that the UK might now be expecting a depression rather than a recession. The US seems to be in a state of both financial and political turbulence. Here, government appears to be falling apart. Thabo Mbeki has been asked to resign following on "political conspiracy" in attempting to bring Jacob Zuma to trial on corruption charges. Although widely reported that said charges have been dropped, they haven't, but the process used against him was declared unlawful - the allegations of corruption stil stand. Meanwhile, it seems we're about to find ourselves leaderless while major divides within in the ANC (long overdue, frankly) are really shaking things up.

Sitting here with plans to move the UK early next year, we're suddenly wondering what to do. Face economic turmoil there, or stay and deal with political and economic turmoil here (not to mention the incessant crime and violence and affirmative action). Ho hum, eh?

Yes, well perhaps it is just best to focus on spring afterall.

West Coast daisies

Spring Fever

A petal unfurls
Stem arches towards the sun
Spring rises again.

Sky lightens early
Songlines rise from the dreamtime
Plum bursts into bloom

Spring has come

She stirs, half dreaming

not quite awake

A tremor ripples through the earth

Consciousness rises in gossamer waves

touches her peach blossom cheek

Air sighs - it’s a gentle breath

Eyes flicker open – heaven’s blue

And sunshine drips upon her brow

She yawns, stretches, reaching up

Within the roots sap rises

Lifts herself from her bed

The lands emerges to embrace her

Hands through hair

Leaves unfold

Smiles, stepping forth

Flowers spring in her wake.

She is woken from her slumber now

Risen from the dreamtime

Spring has come again.

(Image... courtesy of a Google image search, regrettably, I have no plum tree in my garden...)

Mother's Nature's Colourful Dresses

This week it's mostly going to be a visual feast...

Every year in spring time the west coast of South Africa bursts into bloom with a riot of colours unimaginable. It doesn't take much to realise spring has arrived. And anyone who ever said you couldn't wear pink with yellow or purple with orange should take a peek into Mother's Nature's wardrobe...

Click to enlarge images