Tracking a king protea over the summer months proved to be a ‘blooming’ experience. From tightly coiled bud to a magnificent showpiece took nine weeks. The bush had a total of six buds, but only one made it through the process. The last shot shows some of the intricate inner structure, and it’s attractive larder of pollen.
The post is another sequence in response to the WPC: Threes.
I intended sending this bouquet at the start of the year as a thank you to all my followers, for their interest in my blog; for all the likes and the insightful comments. Time slips away so quickly, but ever since the Annual Reports and the “crunchy” numbers released at year end from the WordPress team i’ve wanted to pay tribute. It quite blows me away to have had 16,000 site hits! Isn’t this blogosphere a surprising place?! I started out as the ‘reluctant’ blogger and now i’m quite the addict. It’s quite extraordinary really to have such ‘worldwide’ connections and wonderful to ‘meet’ bloggers and photographers and I thank you one and all. My wish would be to slip through the ether to present the flowers personally, but here now is the wizardry of the virtual world to send wishes at a push of a button.
I’d also like to make mention of my top ‘regulars’, and list them below – those who frequently pop in with encouraging comments and who keep the conversation going, I really appreciate that. You may already be familiar with their work, but if not you may like to visit their sites :-
Gilly at http://lucidgypsy.wordpress.com hails from SW England, with an eye for the eclectic, she has a way with words, and her Haiku’s and River of Stones are inspiring reads.
Uday at http://udaynarayanan.com is a portrait photographer, capturing street photography in India with a visual and textural richness. He draws in the viewer and captures a quest to look deeper.
Dina at http://toffeefee.wordpress.com encapsulates the magic of the North – Norway, Norfolk and the Arctic, with exquiste photography and also with a view on art and literature, guided by two intriguing muses in the guise of Bookfairies, Siri and Selma and the Master, Klausbernd with his literary talents.
Elena at http://elenacaravela.wordpress.com is a visual artist who beguiles with her artwork; find the nuances of a working artist in her pictures, from visual delight to foreboding shadowy shapes.
Daisy at http://dsaquarelles.wordpress.com is another artist whose passion is water colours, her work captures landscapes and her subjects are full of delicate transparency and light.
Tina at https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com makes me green with envy with her travel destinations! Her photography inspires as does her informative text. For me her documenting of remote indigenous people really stands out, and the ability to convey a sense of place.
Bente at http://bentehaarstad.wordpress.com hails from mid-Norway and blogs on a variety of subjects, but most interesting are her posts on reindeer and the culture of the Sami people.
Sid at http://sdunnebacke.wordpress.com put the Fenner Nature Center on the map for me, i enjoy the virtual walks and the nature he presents. He’s also a Dad grappling with day to day events and the thrust of the stress and the ups and downs of daily life.
The de Wets Family at http://dewetswild.com/ blog about the wild places in South Africa – their blog is a great resource to anyone wanting to know about game park, or wilderness areas. I admire the passion and committment they show for South Africa’s wildlife heritage.
Thank you too to those i haven’t included above, all the comments add a validity to a voice out there in this enticing world of the Blogosphere.
The Cape Floral Kingdom has a fabulous array of plant species (some 8000 and more). Many of the protea family start flowering in autumn, through winter and into spring. Winter is traditionally the rainy season, but it’s also a wonderful time to walk on the mountains. Once the rains have cleared, clear champagne air sweeps in bringing a crisp headiness to being outdoors. Of the 360 species of protea, it is the King Protea (middle and left) which has the most spectacular form.
