Chain saw massacre.

I spent two days in my ‘home town’ last week, partly to sort out some stuff with my house (always ‘stuff’ when you live far away from your property), and partly to spend some time with my friends as I miss them terribly. I don’t see them very often anymore since it’s a two hour drive to get there, and we don’t even talk on the phone that often anymore, as everybody has very busy lives.

On my way, on one of the roads close to Hartbeespoort, I had a huge shock. At first, my mind couldn’t take in what my eyes were seeing, but I stopped, turned around and took some photos, so I could share them with you.

At a bend in the road, there used to be a whole forest of blue gum trees – huge, old trees. And now, there are none. No trees. No wait, there are a few left, but looking at the carnage, the few standing will soon also fall victim to some chain saw swinging crazy person.

I know that they are not indigenous to South Africa. I know that they are being rooted out because they suck up a huge amount of water, water that other, local plants could rather use. But they’ve been there for ages. Long before all of us. So I’m upset that someone could make the decision to chop them off. Cut them down.Destroy the forest.

Slain trees.

Huge tree trunks

The radius of this next tree stump is at least 2m!!!

A fallen giant.

Still standing…for now.

Am I stupid to be upset? They are seen as ‘unwanted aliens’, after all!

On a more positive note. I came back home on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday morning my SO and myself went to the farm to see that the cattle has water. This is what we found:

YES, another brand new baby girl!!!!!!

Sweetie pie having a drink!!!!

On that positive, happy note, until we chat again, be blessed!!!

Sticks and stones.

Some of you know that I’m not a huge fan of black & white photographs.

However… I’ve been inspired by some of my friends here in blogland (like Leanne and Mr Bunnychow), to try something different. I’ve been waiting for a photograph that is stunning, different and that has the ‘wow’ factor, but for that I might wait for a very long time!

So, I decided to use two of the more abstract B & W’s that I’ve taken over the last two weeks, and get an idea of what you guys think of it. I still have to get a feeling for it, so if you don’t, that’s fine with me!

I was closing a gate on the farm last week, when I noticed some gravel lying there. It was left over after they put in new fence posts, and I thought – why not give this a try…

Stones.

This next one was just a random idea that I tried, since I always felt that B&W works better with abstract pictures.

Sticks.

I’ve taken a lot of other , more ‘normal’ pictures as well, but to me they look extremely ordinary and boring, so I’ll have to decide if I’m going to share them with you.

But in the meantime, it’s weekend, so here’s wishing you all a wonderful weekend!!!

Heavenly Detail

Today I don’t feel much like talking, so my blog is going to be mainly photographs.

In 2008 my youngest son and I went to the UAE to visit a very dear friend of mine. On the day we arrived she took us to see the new mosque that was being built in Abu Dhabi and it made a huge impression on me. The amount of intricate detail that was visible everywhere you turned your head, blew my mind.

Some people might say it is overdone, and it probably is, but imagine the craftsmanship that went into all of this. The man hours, the pride in the finished product. I’ll let the details speak for themselves.

Pillared Walkway

Detail on pillar

Dome Detail

Ceiling in ladies' hall.

The men's area of worship.

Carpet Detail

Outer hall - workmen still busy working on the detail.

Flower detail

And finally, a picture of the mosque from the outside. You can see that it wasn’t finished yet when we were there, but it certainly was impressive. I only chose a few of the pictures, since I’ve taken enough to get you to the point of boredom. That is why I’m going to say goodbye now, and wish you a wonderful relaxing weekend.

The mosque