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SIGNAGE ON TRUCKS

Instead of being irked by traffic build-up along the roads we travel, if I am a passenger I look out for signage on some of the vehicles – most often trucks – that we meet along the journey. Here are a few:

Apart from the safety signs on the left-hand side warning us not to light matches, smoke or even to use cell phones in the vicinity of the truck carrying flammable gas, is the interesting This vehicle is not allowed to stop. Please follow me to the nearest police station. This provides a degree of protection for the driver should someone try to stop the truck for nefarious purposes. It happens.

Time is Money – a clever play on the brand Time-Link Cargo, which provides a not too subtle suggestion that they will deliver your cargo as quickly as possible.

This ruck carries a similar warning as the one in the first picture, but I was attracted by the logo and the words Always Ahead – another way of telling potential customers how efficient this company is. The yellow triangle on a blue background is a requirement for vehicles crossing the border and towing a trailer.

It was rather amusing to find this Toilet Hire trailer stopped in a suburban street with the driver’s door open … did he need to go somewhere in a hurry?

This truck is included to give you an idea of some of the elaborate heraldry employed by our local municipalities.

Speaking of heraldry, there is no mistaking this vehicle for anything but one involved in the wildlife tourist industry!

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APRIL 2024 GARDEN BIRDS

Where did April go? This is clearly not a year for prompt action – even though I am very punctual by nature. My monthly bird lists are developing a nasty habit of slipping into the following month! Of course I missed a week by visiting the Western Cape and since then have battled with a damaged knee … neither are good excuses. An enormous problem has come in the form of three neighbouring cats that really made themselves at home in our garden during our absence. They have definitely scared off the smaller ground feeding birds, which are taking an age to come back. This is certainly the case with the Olive Thrushes that had become quite tame and would peck at food quite close to where I sit. Now they make fleeting visits to the feeder, grab food and eat it higher up in the branches.

Nonetheless, apart from the usual suspects, we have enjoyed five new visitors this month. One is the annual return of a Sombre Bulbul – at least it has made its presence known vocally – and is fun to see. Green Woodhoopoes have cackled their way through the garden several times, so quickly that I imagine them giving the old trees in the whole neighbourhood a run through to find grubs and other tasty things to eat. Another is a female Brown-hooded Kingfisher which seems to enjoy our back garden especially.

Enormous flocks of Redwinged Starlings have descended on the garden to feast on the fruit of the Natal fig – hundreds of them at a time. Cape Crows have been making interesting aerial manoeuvres from time to time. I happened to be looking out of my study window when I spotted this Cardinal Woodpecker land on a branch of our neighbour’s Erythrina caffra. It appears to have something long and thin in its beak.

Even though the African Green Pigeons usually hide within the leaves of the fig tree, they occasionally sun themselves in the Erythrina caffra too.

Here is a Laughing Dove sunning itself in a sandy spot of the garden.

There are far fewer Speckled Pigeons around since we closed the holes in the eaves around our house, so it is good to see one visiting the bird bath.

My bird list for this month:

African Green Pigeon
African Hoopoe
Amethyst Sunbird
Barthroated Apalis
Black-collared Barbet
Black-eyed (Dark-capped) Bulbul
Black-headed Oriole
Brownhooded Kingfisher
Bronze Manikin
Cape Crow
Cape Robin-Chat
Cape Turtle Dove
Cape Weaver
Cape White-eye
Cardinal Woodpecker
Cattle Egret
Fork-tailed Drongo
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Green Woodhoopoe
Grey-headed Sparrow
Hadeda Ibis
Laughing Dove
Olive Thrush
Paradise Flycatcher
Pied Crow
Red-eyed Dove
Red-necked Spurfowl
Redwinged Starling
Sacred Ibis
Sombre Bulbul (Greenbul)
Southern Masked Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Pigeon
Village Weaver

PS: Post delayed even further by my laptop going on the blink.

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INDIGENOUS AUTUMN GARDEN FLOWERS

Autumn is a beautiful time of the year here: clear blue sky, sunny days, crisp air and the blooming of some interesting indigenous flowers in my garden.

The White Paintbrush Lilies are coming into bloom and will look their best in a few days time. Soon after they will probably be covered by ants seeking their nectar. This plant arrived unannounced in a shady part of my garden many years ago and is gradually multiplying.

One of the more attractive, I think, species of Bulbine. The plain yellow ones are common around here so I treasure this one.

I planted a Forest Pink Hibiscus from seed decades ago and am still surprised by their delicate pink flowers that brighten the forested section of our garden every year.

When I planted a slip of Scarlet Pelargonium, I had no idea it was going to grow to be so tall and spread as quickly as it has. It is seldom without flowers that brighten this corner of the garden.

This Osteospermum has battled its way through several drought years and, after early autumn rain, is looking particularly bushy and beautiful at the moment.

Lastly, a flower one cannot ignore at the moment is canary creeper. I have featured it before as it is so prominent – draped over bushes and climbing up trees. Once it has flowered, I shall have quite a task cutting it back.

 

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CAPE DUTCH ARCHITECTURE

Several readers commented on the striking appearance of the Cape Dutch architecture when I showed a picture of the historic Geelbek restaurant in the West Coast National Park:

The Cape Dutch architecture developed in South Africa, drawing on the Dutch architectural fashion at the time of ornate gables and high roofs. The thick white washed walls and small-paned sliding sash windows were designed to keep out the summer heat. The cooling effect was also enhanced in some cases with the addition of wooden shutters.

This architectural style evolved over a period of time from the 17th century through to the early 19th century. Here is a long view of the Manor House at Vergelegen:

As there was plenty of space on country farms, these Cape Dutch homes could spread out to include layouts forming a T and H or even a U. Probably the most iconic feature of this style is the central gable, which varies in design from a simple stepped gable to those which are embellished with scrolls. This rather simple gable has been incorporated in a home in the Eastern Cape:

Most homes are lime-washed in white, although some, like the Manor House at the Vergelegen Farm, have been painted cream. Doors, shutters and window frames are generally a dark green.

These homes have a central front door with a fanlight window above and is flanked by windows. Note that the windows immediately flanking the door are half the width of the other windows.Some of these doors are in the form of a stable door which can open in two halves – the advantage of this design is to that the upper portion can be kept open during the hot weather. Thatched roofs are well adapted to the sunny climate for it helps to keep the interior of the building cool. Cape thatching reed (Thamnochortus insignis) which is endemic to the Western Cape is used in a thick layer with a steep slope to ensure that rain water will run off with minimal penetration. Typically, an outside staircase led to the storeroom under the roof.

The early farm houses were single-storey, usually with three rooms. They tended to be rectangular in shape, with a wooden frame, wattle and clay walls, and shuttered windows symmetrically placed either side of the central front door. Floors were made of mud or dung inset with peach pits and polished to a shine. This is a typical early Cape Dutch style fisherman’s cottage in Arniston: