Yellow , orange and red marigolds, an abundance of spent blossoms dropping seed. Green foliage and bright basil leaves hanging from the top of the frame.

A round concrete planter with many small green coriander sprouts. A red marigold, lettuce leaves in a concrete planter to the right.

A flowering lavrnder bush agaijst a vibracrete wall. Lavender blue, green and mossy grey.

Spent. Monday

#smallbeauty at sunset.

A slow smoke, coffee, the call of the athaan on the wind in the trees.

A single blue blossom and a single blue bud in a deep green rosemary bush.

Blue note for autumn garden

#capetown #jazz #bloomsky #smallbeauty

Bright green geranium leaves, a droopy cluster of lilac wild garlic blossoms, spent orange marigolds and a little basil plant doing it's best. Golden late afternoon sun and the rich red brown of rooibos mulch after watering.

Hydration

Rooibos mulch in the late afternoon sun, watering the garden of #smallbeauty. Smells like hope. #Gardening

I said, "I had mother who could pray
I had mother who could pray"
If I die and my soul be lost
Nobody's fault but mine
- Nina Simone version

Garden green and flowering purple basil, white blossoms of flowering coriander and chilli plants growing in a round concrete container.

Lilac flower clusters of wild garlic with a background of a concrete wall, a rusty wire trellis with climbing granadilla leaves.

A white blossom on the orange jasmine plant, a little lilac cluster of oregano flowers and orange and red marigolds. Lots of green plant growtg against a vibracrete wall.

#smallbeauty bouquet

The hour before sunset. Colour, aromatherapy, jazz and a cold drink.
Summer in #Capetown.
#BloomSky #jazz #solitude

Time after time, when I'm feelin' low
Something inside of me, lets me know
It's alright, love's on my side
- Rod Temperton

a close up of a dozen plus snowdrops with raindrops, some still closed others open

A February #smallbeauty lili-wen-fach ~ Eiryls ~ snowdrop. They are such a joy...
raindrops on snowdrops and whiskers on otters...there were some wild geese flying at dusk, but no moon on their wings...
#smallbeautieshour #BecauseOfClem #ThreadOfGold

looking at the small plant Stellaria media with a tiny starry white flower

Stellaria media a tiny, starry #smallbeauty
#smallbeautieshour #BecauseOfClem #ThreadOfGold

A black baby gecko making its way over the end of a folded pine clotheshorse. Velvet black, bleached pine and a little eye shining like an onyx gemstone.

Friday friends. Baby gecko before sunset.

#smallbeauty

Closer look…
#Photography #FloralPhotography #Orchid #Closeup #Bloom #SmallBeauty

Clusters of delicate, tiny pink-lilac flowers and the green foliage of an oregano carpet in the garden.

Flowering oregano. A two season wait for this fairy. Worth it.

Radio and Earl Grey in the garden. A sultry Sunday, cool clouds incoming.
#smallbeauty
#bloomsky
#capetown

And now I know
The aftermath of all the angels
I don't know my future after this weekend
And I don't want to
- Björk & Hooper

Red, orange and yellow marigolds in a garden patch with basil and strawberry leaves peeping in.

Colour therapy. Blooming delightful surprise
#smallbeauty
#flowers

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
- John Lennon

Five birds in the topmost twigs of a tree, blue sky, green-grey-brown mountain

Two yellow birds in the topmost twigs of a tree, blue sky, green-grey-brown mountain.

A sparrow on a branch, back tp camera, head in profile to the left. More naked branches to the left, a very tall tree to the right. All against a blue sky.

Quintet, duet, solo.
The 7am coffee with true blue birdsong and sprinklers.
#capetown
#mountains
#summerlife
#smallbeauty

A bee on a ranceme of lilac blossoms of a Coleus venteri plant. Bright green foliage mingled with green plectranthus leaves.

The bee in the first pic hovering to the right of the flowers.

Another pic of the bee on a ranceme of lilac blossoms of a Coleus venteri plant. The stripes are clearer. Bright green foliage mingled with green plectranthus leaves.

The bee hovering to the left of the blossoms, zoom in to see the little proboscis!

The Bee has come. Indigenous blossoms rock on.

#pollinators
#iflowers
#naturemagic
#smallbeauty

The grey of a concrete cinderblock wall and and the vibracrete wall, topped by razorwire, behind it, made alive by the green of granadilla plants growing wild on a trellis fixed in place by a wooden plank. The top of the cinderblock wall is planted with flowering lavender, thyme, rosemary and geranium. Granadilla tendrils cling to two of the plants, feeling their way beyond the trellis. A red mug of coffee amongst the top of the wall plants.

Coffee and jazz in the garden.

#sunday
#smallbeauty
#jazz

Heyy, what have I got?
Why am I alive, anyway?
Yeah, what have I got
Nobody can take away?

- Nina Simone

A few fresh blossoms on the orange jasmine, in a blue glazed ceramic planter. Oregano and a bronzed leaf in the blurred background.

Two tender lavender buds emerging from a green bush. A vibracrete wall in the background.

Self-seeded yellow marigolds up against a concrete gutter. Bronzed leaves mulch the soil.

Baby spinach and lettuce seedlings coming aling nicely in two round xincrete planters set amongst a small marigold plant, basil and a self-seeded tomato plant in the garden patch. Colours are bright green, light grey and the red-brown of mulched soil. Dappled sunlight.

Tea and jazz in the garden. Jazz24 playing some nurturing, inspirational music.
Tender buds grow.

#garden
#smallbeauty
#jazz
#solitude

The very thought of you makes my heart sing
Like an April breeze on the wings of spring
And you appear in all your splendor
My one and only love
- Robert Mellin

A blue mug of cofffee on a concrete block stepping stone, surrounded by oregano, geranium, flowering celery, African wormwood and a vibracrete wall.

Close-up of celery gone to seed, small white blossoms. Fallen bromze leaves and dark soil, all in dappled sunlight.

Small, self-seeded marigold flowers of orange, crimson and yellow with bright green foliage in afternoon sun.

The first two flowers on purple basil left to blossom for the pollinators. Deep pink-purple flowers with almost white edges against green-black leaves. Bronzed fallen leaves and dark soil in the background.

#smallbeauty coffee and jazz scents on a sultry Sunday

My story is much too sad to be told
But practically everything leaves me totally cold
The only exception I know is the case
When I'm out on a quiet spree
Fighting vainly the old ennui
And I suddenly turn and see
Your fabulous face
- Cole Porter

Extreme close-up of the white blossoms on a green basil plant gone to seed. A unflowering lavender bush behind. Food for the pollinators.

Away with the fairies #smallbeauty

That I would be good even if I lost sanity
That I would be good
Whether with or without you

- Morissette/Ballard

A single lavender bud with its leaves starting to show lavender petals. It juts out over some lemon balm leaves and a bronzed tree leaf now mulching tbe soil.

One tender bud to appease my amateur garden ego.
It is high summer in #Capetown and all the lavender bushes are blooming crazy. Except mine. The garden of shadows and half-light. Still, #smallbeauty.

The purple flowers of wild garlic and white blossoms show against green foliage and the creeping granadilla leaves on a rusted wire trellis and a concrete cinderblock wall. Lots of sunlight and wind, few leaf shadows.

Close-up of a closed green granadilla flower bud and leaves against the rusty wire trellis and concrete cinderblock wall.

Close-up of a very blurred pollinator on the white blossoms of a thyme plant. The green herb is growing in an open top of a brick in the cinderblock wall. The green herb leaves make a rich patterned contrast to the flat grey slats of the vibracrete wall behind.

A green coriander plant hangs low over the warm caramel ground cover of fallen leaves A crop of green coriander seeds ripen in the sun and basil leaves peek up from the bottom of the picture.

#smallbeauty with one blurry bug. 🌱🪻🐜

Five singing birds on the high, dried out branched of the avocado tree. The birds have mossy, yellow-green feathers and there are hints of green from the leaves below and the mountain range in the distance. Grey clouds travel over mountain and sky, with patches of blue sky breaking through.

Friday morning quintet sings in the sun veiled by cloud.
#smallbeauty

A big white cat with dark brown and ginger markings over the head and back. It is posed half sitting, half standing, on a lawn in dappled sunlight. It's light green eyes are fixed on the photographer in an irritated, knowing Look.

In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
-Terry Pratchett

Down in the garden. Branches are swaying, birds are chirping, butterflies are flitting. There is a cat about.
#gardentales
#smallbeauty

One of two wild garlic plants which have already bloomed in spring and which I was afraid of having abused with my lack of gardening knowledge to the point where they would bloom no more. There is an abundance of green foliage with a sngle purple bud emerging.

The second wild garlic plant, also with green foliage and one purple bud. It is half in shade and the earth is black, damp after a watering.

I go down to the garden every day. Each day, despite daily experience, I am afraid to hope for something new, something beautiful.
The wild garlic has sprouted fresh buds overnight. And I laugh silently at the inevitable fear. To say that word sacred, without being an utter fool. #smallbeauty #hope

A fishbowl vase filled with empty incense stick boxes on a table ans a blurred doorway in the background. The boxes are coloured in rich brown-red, gold and pink and have Indian artwork on them. They smell of sandalwood.

Empty boxes.

Himself has announced that we are both losing our marbles with age.

I concede. #smallbeauty

A bird, which sounds like a Cape white-eye but looks like a Cape bulbul, perched on the dry branches in an avocado tree. A few green leaves in the foreground, a mountain and grey clouds that blanket the blue spring sky beyond.

Sweet birdsong before the evening rain. #smallbeauty

A pale mint butterfly with chocolate markings on a purple sage flower. A pink sage flower has endured the harsh winds and is emerging. Some green sage foliage, a vibracrete wall and razorwire. A sliver of bright blue sky.

A tiny purple-pink Princess Lavender blossom on a huge lavender bush which was over-pruned and is now budding the smallest lavender buds, yet to come into their own.

#smallbeauty from an ill-conceived, sun-starved, pest-pestered, amateur garden in the wind.

...turn, turn turn.
- Peter Seeger

The famous silver Swan automaton in a glass case at the Bowes Museum is surrounded by many worksop art on the walls and seating in anticipation of its daily performance.

Being at the Bowes Museum meant seeing the magnificent Silver Swan......the ultimate #SmallBeauty and a pretty good #RubbishBirdPics field trip (which didn't involve any real birds)! #SmallBeautiesHour #BecauseofClem #ThreadofGold

Granadilla leaves with fronds growing up a wire trellis against a concrete cinderblock wall.

The length of the garden at the top of a concrete cinderblock wall built up against a vibracrete wall topped with razorwire. Flowering sage, lavender, thyme, rosemary and a wax plant are growing. The the soft rays of the setting sun beam from behind a tree at the far end nd the sky is powder blue.

Sunset. Concrete. Green living things.
Just vibing.
#smallbeauty

I’ve been indoors a lot this week - quite rainy. So I am beginning to tackle decluttering. It is daunting. I need to be the words on this rock (seen outside in 2020). Each thing I recycle/donate IS a #smallbeauty

#smallbeautieshour

Flowering basil cuttings propogated in a glass bottle of water on a windowsill.. The water has a mossy green tinge. Some white porcelain owls for company. Trees, white walls, and a field beyond the window.

Bouquet of basil flowers.
Nurturing life in wilted shop-bought greens fated for the compost bin. These will be planted in a clay pot, then bedded in the garden when they are strong enough.
So much pretty for so little. #heavenscent #smallbeauty

The first sage bloom, purple and hints of red, near the top of a vibracrete wall. Above, barbed wire, electric fencing, thick cotton cloud and the blue morning sky.

Sage rising #smallbeauty

A tiny yellow and black winged ollinator visits the white flowers of an overgrown coriander bush. Wild garlic foliage and a concrete wall in the background.

Winged creature in Fairyland* #smallbeauty

*also a musical stage play by David Kramer and Taliep Petersen