Full Moon over Noordhoek Beach

While we are used to a beautiful Full Moon over Noordhoek Beach – I was amazed at the ‘super moon’ photos posted officially on BBC and elsewhere on 6 and 7 May 2012 … pictures that seemed incredulous and left me wondering. I did take some photos as well and thought the moon was definitely more brilliant than usual… but nothing like I had expected, at least not on our side of the… globe and mountain.

Full Moon over Noordhoek Beach

Well, meanwhile I know most if not all of those pictures were illusions… and that we can all achieve with some good original photo material and a little bit of Photoshop! Ha!

What you see here is definitely the full moon I photographed in that night – around 11: 45 pm – and it stood like that in the pitchblack sky. No halo, no softness – like cut out.

And this was Noordhoek Beach in the very early morning where the full moon was hardly visible – now it is!I mean it was !

The fact is, I photographed the ‘real thing’ on 24 July 2010 and wrote about it HERE. And there was no manipulation involved whatsoever – it was huge, red and definitely super and extraordinary in many ways!

Fine Homes Websites

For owners of real estate the wish may arise at some stage to document their precious property – either for their own pleasure or if they plan to sell in the future. While the Internet abounds with Fine Homes websites, there are really different ways of presenting one’s most treasured private space.

Look at an example of a truly outstanding architectural masterpiece nestled in the beautiful surroundings of Cape Town, South Africa, which I included in my brand-new Web Design Showcase.

Fine Homes Websites

Besides giving a truthful image of what really exists and makes the charme of the property – be it big or small – , the real art in developing Fine Homes Websites is to feel into the inner space of the building or house and express it within its natural setting, thus creating an atmosphere of the whole. I adore those masters of architectural photography who go beyond horizontals and verticals and find ways of reflecting the soul – be it in colours or black and white. What an inspiration and source for learning…

As such, captivating images in form of digital photography are the essence of all web design for real estate and property.

Semiomantics Evolution 2012

However, if it comes to sales, visibility on Google Top 10 is what counts… and as my new Showcase is designed on the brand-new WP based Semiomantics Evolution 2012 – I do the daily test of how my posts actually perform on search engines.

Again, I am amazed to see my brief post popping up as Number 11 of 38,500 000 search returns on Google! WOW… not yet on page 1… but if you consider the competition on “Fine Homes” and the fact that this is my very first little post on a new website – it’s truly astonishing and perfectly convincing- yes?

If you wish to document or present your home online, and you like my style HERE, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

We stand for “Web Design with Passion”!

Gorgeous Gardens Website

Gorgeous Gardens is an important category on my new SHOWCASE under development featuring some of my web design, media design and digital photography over the past year. If you have a nursery, run a flower shop, grow plants or you just love gardening as much as I do and wish to share your passion, art and photography with the world, then consider working with me on your own, fully personalized and optimized Gorgeous Gardens Website. It won’t cost you an arm and a leg – but the joy and satisfaction it will bring you and anyone visiting your beautiful website is simply priceless!

Gorgeous Gardens Website

Creating a Gorgeous Gardens Website is about beauty – meaning captivating photography and why not drawings, sketches, paintings – art in brief. It strongly appeals to our fantasy and our senses – especially the visual sense… and if we all know how intense and exhilarating the fragrances can be!

Imagine a field of lavender buzzing with bees… a wild star jasmine snaking up its way in an old tree… not to mention a rose…!

Picking a wild berry and eating it straight from the twig while hearing the wind rustling through leaves, the cheerful songs of birds and the graceful sound of chimes projects us into a fairy world where we can release and let go… feel One with all that is and refuel on energy.

Gorgeous Gardens on Google

Sorry for pulling you out of the picture for a moment here – but as we are talking websites and web design: the fact is that what we see is only one part of the story.

The important tuning happens behind the scenes with the right script – I use WP based Semiomantics Scripts only – plus the right way of editing and publishing. It’s a Science by itself, but essential to reach top rankings on search engines.

Here is a screenshot of my first little post on that brand-new website yesterday and look how it performed on Google! “Gorgeous Gardens” on Google Top 10! Ahead of 16,6 million search entries!!!

Nursery or Flower Shop Owner?

What does this mean to you as a Nursery or Flower Shop owner?

It means that your website would be visible where you want it to be seen by your visitors, readers and potential customers. At the end of the day you are running a business and your online investment into a pulling website should serve its purpose: bringing you customers that enable you to continue living your passion while giving them the best service!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me anytime and let me assist you in expressing yourself in an attractive and efficient way online.

You will simply love it…

Little Monster in my Garden

One of the many wondrous ‘side effects’ when living a life close to Nature and focused on a Green Environment is that one observes also the little things… and here I was totally blown away by this little monster in my garden: a baby blue lizard … in more scientific terms an “Agama hispida”, i.e.  a member of the Agamidae family, also called “Koggelmander” in South Africa.

I had come across a beautiful male a few years ago… and never saw it again. And now this tiny and extremely fast and wizzy creature with finely designed hands and toes, as long as my small finger! Just too beautiful!

So there has to be a female around as well! As they are less colorful than the males, they are more difficult to spot. Being oviparous, they lay 7-10 eggs… and hopefully some of this lot survived! Being very freedom-loving it’s very special to have them around.

Little Monster in my Garden

It was quite hectic to capture this little monster in my garden; I guess only its own curiosity made it sit for some instants to watch me – before it would zoom-fly-jump-squirrel away at lightning speed and suddenly pop up at a totally different spot – or disappear.

South Africa is home to over 200 lizard species, making it the richest and most spectacular area for lizard diversity in continental Africa. There are 8 different families, of which the Agamids are one – quite closely related to the chameleons… of which we used to have some very tame ones – coming down the trees onto our hands – until they suddenly disappeared.

Hopefully we see more of these little monsters popping up here…

Proteas South Africa

Autumn in Noordhoek, South Africa, is that time of the year where the long-awaited rains bring relief to Nature and our gardens… and the first heavy storms rip off branches and leaves and let more sunlight fall onto the plants and groundcover underneath shrubs and trees.

It’s when lots of work has to be done to prepare for winter… and as the soil is moist and soft and the time just feels right… it’s ideal to get in the bulbs, sow seeds and buy some of those magnificent plants grown directly in Kirstenbosch Gardens, one of the world’s top Botanical Gardens offering a spectacular mirror especially for the vast range of proteas of South Africa. The Cape region is in fact called “The richest Floral Kingdom of the World”.

Proteas South Africa

The species “Proteas” was named after the Greek God Proteus, who – just like proteas come in a vast variety of different shapes and forms – could change his appearance and assume many different shapes to surprise his entourage! It seems the Western Cape region and Greece have lots in common – not only the mild Mediterranean climate!

What a joy to discover another flower of the magnificent Protea “Pink Ice” in the morning sunshine – see my digital photo above!

This “protea susannae” is a hybrid growing so well in full sun and the acid soil on our mountain slope here. Besides needing some pruning after flowering, they are pretty strong and self-sufficient. I only add some bonemeal when I plant and a little old horse manure; our indigenous plants get no fertilizer!

Although proteas in South Africa are exported on a large scale as they are so good as cut flowers, I love to see these dignified flowers explode in natural surroundings dancing with the fairies; I have a hard time cutting them… and rarely do. I rather go out to admire them wherever they choose to thrive.

Of course, proteas – some called sugar bushes – are awlays a center of attraction for birds and bees who have a feast in pink paradise!

Wedding Packages

Following a wonderful success of my last website creation featuring a Wedding Website with lots of media in form of wedding photography, wedding slideshows and wedding videos, I am in the process of putting together a range of Wedding Packages.

Wedding Packages

What those Wedding Packages will differentiate in the first place is whether I work with my own pictures and videos (if desired) or whether I get the photos delivered by the couples’ photographer of choice.

A significant cost factor can be whether the photos are being used as they come from the camera or whether some delicate ‘face jobs’ are needed as this can be very time intensive. However, who doesn’t want to look great for posterity on such an important day? It makes a huge difference… but this kind of manual extra work costs – so it will be one of those choices to be made.

So, I’m currently working on all of this and come out with the Wedding Packages soon – I’ve been asked for it and at Web Design with Passion we thoroughly enjoy being part of and energizing days of union, happiness and celebration!

Attractive Semiomantics EVO 2012

My article on the new and highly attractive Semiomantics EVO 2012 yesterday was written on “image” format, meaning it displayed the image larger than normal. This had a for me unexpected effect on the Blog page that normally shows only thumbnails and excerpts. This post is a test to see whether an article – back to normal settings – triggers the same or a different result, given the fact that we had a smart hack yesterday night at 9:11 pm.

Attractive Semiomantics EVO 2012

The attractive Semiomantics EVO 2012 theme is ideal for photographers and media designers – or anyone wanting to display visuals in a captivating and generous way.

On the screenshot above you see the 3-column image gallery on a rotating background. Clicking on any image in the gallery will have that particular image open in an elegant 1:1 slider overlay.

Good Morning from Noordhoek

You may recognize my images from the series of photographs taken daily – every single day – over a one month’s period and prepared as a joyful daily greeting to special friends and family with the title “Good Morning from Noordhoek”. While this looked simple and was in general very much appreciated and even collected (!) as a loving gesture to brighten one’s day, there was quite some work that went into firstly finding the daily shot – come rain or high water – then choose the picture that really reflected that morning, and then prepare it in Photoshop before sending it out and posting it on my website.

Here’s an example of “Good Morning from Noordhoek“.

The above gallery offers me the possibility to feature all 30 or 31 Noordhoek Greetings… which I will do – time-permitting!

Video Dimensions

Once again, video dimensions and aspect ratios are becoming an issue for me in the editing process on Adobe Premiere Pro… and I am searching for solutions.

Here’s an original image in 1600 x 900 px (16:9) – in fact, for the first time I am not working in frame aspect ratio 3 : 4 but 16 : 9 ! Therefor, all images of the movie have been edited in that aspect ratio (original size attached) to prepare for optimal HD format – at least so I thought:

Video Dimensions

I set the video dimensions to 720p (aspect 1280 x 720 = 16 x 9) – but this is the ‘excerpt’ I get (measured dimension 1298 x 730) – yet significantly cut-off on all sides:

In some pictures – like close-ups – I have no problems…

In others like this one with a carefully designed logo – it really matters. And besides… it’s something I need to understand and know … even without being a numbers’ person.

But it gets even better… I copied/pasted the whole movie (pictures and music) to a new sequence after changing the settings to 1080 (instead of 720… )… and ticking that Default issue in General Settings as was suggested in a forum and related to in yesterday’s post. Perhaps, now I have to untick it again… but one really starts stopping to tick with all these ratios and dimensions none of which giving the desired results. Of course, knowing would help – so perhaps someone out there ‘knows’?

First, however, I noticed that I lost all transitions and video effects within the copy/paste process (… not cool at all!…yet eventually solved by switching between the sequences from the timeline and nowhere else) … and then: while I now see the entire image, it has a rather large black frame (within the set frame) which I find is totally unnecessary IF my thought in terms of the chosen video dimension is correct. Which may well not be the case…but which one is?

As so much work is involved and I already assume that I would have to redo all video effects and transitions, I will ahve to find the answers before continuing. How to do it the right way from the start, and with slides and images in 1600 x 900.

This SHOULD be possible – or?

Pixel Aspect Ratio

Studying the pixel aspect ratio HERE does help, yet as you will see… these are different dimensions again: “Footage has a 1440 x 1080 or 960 x 720 frame size, and the desired result is a 16:9 frame aspect ratio.”

When reducing my original image to 1440, I get  811 height (instead of 900) – which may be part of the error… but WHY? And HOW?

Duuuuhhh…

Time to get some air in the garden… this is getting a bit mucho… but the good news is: sooner or later, it will be resolved!

Portraits of Africa 2012 on Google

Time again to monitor and check the performance of our new WP based Semiomantics XO 2012 Script on search engines.

Here’s a screenshot of yesterday’s post “Portraits of Africa 2012″ on Google – have a look! Positions 1, 2, 3 and 6 ahead of 10,800,000 search returns – YEBO GOGO!

Portraits of Africa 2012 on Google

When looking up “Portraits of Africa 2012″ on Google, I also checked how the images in my article were ranked – here’s the detail of the screenshot showing the Image of a “Young African Girl” on position one, followed by the Image of a “Young African Boy” on position 4… and a small ad I created ages ago peeking at us on position 2. All of them ahead of our South African presidents… just too funny! The young generation is on the move!

Portrait of Africa Images

It becomes even more intrigueing when we look up “Portrait of Africa Images” on Google and find these young faces of Africa featuring amongst some really classy photography! And again… the random positioning is just too weird… for those who read this and understand what I mean! Welcome to the future :)

Fact is, that with the increasing importance of images and media on the Internet – and with this for our website development – … and people preferring to look at something for quick grasping of the contents rather than reading long time-consuming – and even worse: thought-provoking -  texts… that the correct tagging and classification of photos and images becomes more important. Here as with any post what counts is to be found on Google – Google Top 10 that is. Noone else looks further…

Congratulations to our young friends who’ve made it to the top ranks and find themselves in interesting and attractive company! There will be more….

Portraits of Africa

Young African Girl from my series “Portraits of Africa 2012″.

Portraits of Africa 2012

Portraits of Africa 2012 – untouched… straight from my simple NIKON Coolpix P90 … just the magic of a Young African Girl.

Although the black & white version adds a specific note, I preferred to show the soft gold tones of the skin.

Portraits of Africa

Within my photo series “Portraits of Africa” here is the image of a young African boy.

Portraits of Africa

I just love Black & White Photography and how it adds depth to a picture, especially portraits and expressive faces.

“Portraits of Africa” are shot on a simple NIKON Coolpix P90 with a minimum of post-editing, ideally nothing at all.

Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011

Exciting and brand-new in the larger Cape Town area – namely the South Peninsular – is the Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011 that awaits visitors at Monkey Valley Beach Nature Resort – just 30 km out of the Mother City on the slopes of Chapman’s Peak. Just follow the signs to Noordhoek Beach… you can also check it under MAP on the menu on the new WEBSITE that I am handing over on Monday – that is tomorrow – as the Website Development has been completed!

Christmas Fair 2011 Photos

These are a few Christmas Fair 2011 Photos of day two (Saturday) … a glorious day… very well organized and with many smiling people. Especially children had a ball in the vast playgrounds while their parents enjoyed the beautifully presented shopping items or a drink on the deck at Thorfynn’s Restaurant with LIVE Music and the most stunning golden sunset.

CLICK HERE or on the Christmas Gift Fair 2011 Photo above to see a few impressions.

Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011

The Noordhoek Christmas Gift Fair 2011 in Monkey Valley Resort invites you and your family and friends to visit us on Sunday (last day).

Everybody are doing their best to provide you with a beautiful shopping experience in the true spirit of Christmas… be it directly under the old milkwood forest… in the ravine which is Cape Town’s secret tip as a Wedding Venue… in our famous Conferencing Center “TreeTops” or the “Lapa” area – both inside and outside… you will just love it!

Enjoy a relaxed and joyful day in our romantic venue under old milkwood trees with a private access to Noordhoek Beach… everything is being cared for to make YOU feel good in true Christmas Spirit!

Donovan Copley Photo

I love Black & White Portrait Photography and especially this photo I captured of Donovan Copley at the Book Launch of “Brave Green Kids” at the “Crowned Eagle” of Monkey Valley Resort, Noordhoek, South Africa. Click on it to see a larger version.

Donovan Copley Photo

Here’s another Photo of Donovan Copley and Leon Visser in black & white at the same occasion. I published the colour picture shortly after the book launch to let some time pass and see this in a different light… and shadow.

Singer-songwriter, guitarrist and multi-instrumentalist Donovan Copley leads HOT WATER, a young and energetic South African band with a distinctive African sound – check it out and attend one of their concerts! Being there and experiencing the Energy makes all the difference!

Experimenting with Photoshop Filters

While there’s nothing better than a good picture or photo to start out with, we should regularly be experimenting with Photoshop Filters and Tools to know what they do and to see the effects we can achieve. It’s just like playing the piano every day… so here’s my original lavender and acacia photo with just a little reflecting frame added as I like to do :)

Experimenting with Photoshop Filters

When experimenting with Photoshop Filters and observing sometimes astonishing results, we do this for the following objectives:

1. To understand what these filters can do.

2. To know which effects can be achieved how, meaning to learn Experimenting with Photoshop Filters.

3. To be able to apply the desired effects if and when we need them.

4. To possibly find a style we like and build our visual reputation and recognition value on.

We can either change a picture very clearly and openly into something different, abstract and possibly more interesting than what we started off with – or we apply a certain effect in a very reduced and subtle way to enhance our photo, giving it a touch that just makes it different and stand out from the rest.

A number of these effects remind me of some big Masters in Art History… it’s sometimes what they built their whole oeuvre on: a specific effect. What was unique and hard labour at the time, can now be achieved with our brilliant tools in Photoshop and/or other programs, some of them developed for imitating certain masters, think of Pissaro with all those little ‘dots’ or Andy Warhol – to name a more modern one.

Lavender and Acacia Photo

For today’s exercise, I selected a lavender and acacia photo I shot a few weeks ago when both were in full flower in my garden in Noordhoek, South Africa. As I was born in Namibia, I love acacias… and I love to combine them with palms, which always reminds me of ‘home’. The fragrance of lavender and acacia combined is incredible… no wonder all the bees of the area hang out in my garden and have a feast!

And here a very reduced and delicate one… one of my favorites…

About the Social Community

When looking at the amount of Social Networks sprouting everywhere – Empire Avenue, Facebook, Twitter to start with – it all seems to be about the Social Community and its interaction, so-called ‘conversation’ and communication. We are talking strictly online here.

The question is: how social is a ‘Like’, how social is a ‘blurb’…. how social is all this on the surface forced and in most cases minimal and totally superficial exchange for some virtual benefit in one way or another really?

And then we have to ask ourselves what we actually understand by ‘social’? Sure, we all seem to know what it means, but what’s the definition?

About the Social Community

Before going into the more scientific approach, I found a quote by Rudolf Steiner that encompasses within just one sentence what I think says it all – and I am monitoring in my own activities on especially Empire Avenue whether or not we actually – virtually speaking – live it… whether it’s at all possible… :

“A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living.”

The photo of a flamingo looking at his own reflection in the water I shot a few months back in Hout Bay, South Africa illustrates the thought and leaves room for meditation. Imagine the whole flamingo community around… which it was, just not captured on this photo, but on many others. He was part of it, totally… sort of floating on their distinctive ‘blabla’ while certainly more interested in anything eatable he could grab in the muddy waters under his stamping feet…

Social Meaning

So now let’s look into the social meaning via Wikipedia – I quote their definition:

“The term Social refers to a characteristic of living organisms (humans in particular, though biologists also apply the term to populations of other animals). It always refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary.”
What I find interesting is the statement: “… irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary”.

I continue:

“In the absence of agreement about its meaning, the term ‘social’ is used in many different senses and regarded as a fuzzy concept, referring among other things to:

Attitudes, orientations, or behaviors which take the interests, intentions, or needs of other people into account (in contrast to anti-social behaviour) has played some role in defining the idea or the principle. For instance terms like social realism, social justice, social constructivism, social psychology and social capital imply that there is some social process involved or considered, a process that is not there in regular, “non-social” realism, justice, constructivism, psychology, or capital.

The adjective ‘social’ is also used often in political discourse, although its meaning in a context depends heavily on who is using it. In left-wing circles it is often used to imply a positive characteristic, while in right-wing circles it is generally used to imply a negative characteristic. It should also be noted that, overall, this adjective is used much more often by those on the political left than by those on the political right. For these reasons, those seeking to avoid association with the left-right political debates often seek to label their work with phrases that do not include the word ‘social’. An example is quasi-empiricism in mathematics which is sometimes labelled social constructivism by those who see it as an unwarranted intrusion of social considerations in mathematical practice.

In contemporary society, ‘social’ often refers to the redistributive policies of the government which aim to apply resources in the public interest, for example, social security. Policy concerns then include the problems of social exclusion and social cohesion. Here, ‘social’ contrasts with ‘private’ and to the distinction between the public and the private (or privatised) spheres, where ownership relations define access to resources and attention. [...]”

We often take expressions and terms for granted without questioning them or going into more depth; I think here’s lots of room for thought as concerns ‘Social Networks’ on the Internet… the online soclial community so to speak… and its influence on Social Network Publishing.

Your thoughts are welcome…

Noordhoek Sunset Photo

In general, people like nice photos and – from what I see on Social Networks – they like good quotes. It may be thoughts they agree to and that they can easily endorse – LIKE -, something funny or witty that might make them laugh, something uplifting for the soul … ergo: something that appeals and they just want to share it with their friends.

To ‘share’ in the virtual world means to “Like” – and as “likes” bring advantages in one way or another, especially on Facebook – it’s all about collecting “likes”. So I hope you like my Noordhoek Sunset Photo with an unknown quote I came across this morning and that I personally like as I believe it’s something we should live by.

Noordhoek Sunset Photo

In today’s fast moving digital media world, people don’t like to read as they are already swamped with information from all sides – it’s simply impossible. Mass triumphs over quality… and often simply squashes it! How can we find what’s original and precious amongst the many heaps of re-tweets, re-publishes, re-I-dunno-what and all of this… re-gurgitated stuff?

Most definitely we have to learn to reduce and compress what we wish to express into something that’s easily understood, has the key elements and the message and most importantly: it’s absorbed in a snap!

Like a simple element – like my Noordhoek Sunset Photo -  with a thought added to it. It’s simple, human and it may just resonnate more with those who look at it – creating a reaction, a like, so-called conversation.
But that’s just a first step within the process of understanding basic human behavior in the digital era.

Time for Infographics

It’s time for Infographics.

While it’s really not new and we used to call it ‘illustrations’ … and I’m sure that’s what they are still called in the traditional advertising and publishing environment (you will book an illustrator for a job… as simple as that) – what’s new however, is the quality we can produce today on the Internet in terms of digital media design!

It’s smashing!

Amazing too as to how fast this is being accomplished by those with the knowledge and the skill… and with comparatively simple means.

This was impossible a few years ago and it is indeed wildly exciting in terms of future developments we can expect… and the oeuvre produced by some of the major illustrators out there…

Basically, it’s about a picture that’s meant to tell a 1000 stories. It is in most cases composed of an array of pictures, stats, graphs, text, headlines, images both simple and/or complex – all this arranged on a minimum of space to bring a message over fast and furiously.

First of all and most importantly however : it all starts with an idea we want to express… followed by the creative process of converting the abstract into something visual and making it understandable in a reduced and often – but not always – simplified way – always in excellent quality – that catches our attention in a snap!

When I see this work I just can’t help thinking: “WOO! Quality does count… again!” – only talking of the Internet now of course. And this I really … LIKE!

An interesting topic for the future that will definitely have an effect on Social Network Publishing – I will be back with more…

Brave Green Kids Book Launch

Parenting today… and how to bring up children to face the challenges of a rapidly changing world – this is the topic of  “Brave Green Kids”, the first book written by Judy Sole and presented at yesterday’s Book Launch at the “Crowned Eagle” of Monkey Valley Resort. A golden sunset marked the event and the leader of the Green Party of South Africa asked for moments of silence to mentally embrace the world with one’s wish for peace and compassion while the sun dipped into the Atlantic Ocean and… disappeared.

Brave Green Kids Book Launch

While the “Brave Green Kids” Book Launch was directed at environmentally conscious people and especially parents… the only kid around was the young girl you see on my photo here.

She sat all by herself looking at the distant horizon, her gaze swimming above the adult buzz around her. The pure and yet knowing expression on her face that I have seen in so many children today, and her sweet smile when our eyes briefly met, seemed to represent each child today that’s facing an undefined future. And yet – besides this being the challenge of the young generation… couldn’t it just be the promise as well…? A future to which only the younger generations hold the key – and this with the help of the Universe?

Time to trust that any change can happen if we are ready to embrace it.

Website Development

The website development for Monkey Valley Resort is constantly advancing. I added a category “Photos” where we can add photos following specific events, where guests and visitors can see what’s up at Monkey Valley Resort; I invite you to go there and have a look at some photo impressions I took at the event yesterday. Unfortunately there was almost no light during the talk itself, so no ways to capture it with my digital camera.

I designed all photos to fit into a 800×600 px format, but have a little coding problem to solve – therefore the pictures are currently visible in a smaller size (6o%). Yet – here they are, straight after the event and inviting you to visit Monkey Valley Resort. By the way: kids are most welcome and you can watch over them while they have ample room to play, swim and run!

Visit Thorfynn’s Restaurant

Why not visit Thorfynn’s Restaurant for a delicious Sunday roast with Life music?

Good  Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa.

Good  Morning from Noordhoek

It’s amazing to see one’s life evolving within a bigger context – when documented in a simple way as my “Good Morning from Noordhoek” greeting that I created for you over the past month, day after day… sometimes reaching into the evenings when the days were too wet, too gloomy or I just couldn’t get off the hook to do a photo!

On 9th October 2011, we saw the birth of a little sunbird baby on the right side of our terrace, in the huge strelitzia nicolai leaning against my studio wall, sheltered from the winter storms. It was so well hidden that it wasn’t easy to follow developments up in the air! This changed once the little one was out and I followed its first wobbly and wondrous round outside in the big wide world… and its first ‘own’ nibblings while still demanding food from his poor parents like there was no tomorrow! Surely a male :) Meanwhile, he has grown into a beautiful emerald sunbird that greets me every day the moment I open the Studio door!

Now it’s already warmer and another couple of emerald sunbirds have chosen the other side – the sunny side of the terrace… with a view of Chapman’s Peak and the Atlantic Ocean… However, the entrance of the nest facing our atrium so we can basically watch the secret life of birds as they can watch ours, and of course, I have a much better view for the camera.

Again, I am documenting as much as time allows – but the greatest is to enjoy the presence and the trust of these beautiful ethereal beings… they even fly right into my studio at times, sit on the Bali banana trees, look at me with their bright inquisitive pinpoint eyes and a hearty chirp – and out they are again!

May today’s greeting bring you happy moments like this!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek started with heavy rain showers… and I had to go out for most of the day. While being in the area, I noticed the most incredible cloud formations above Chapman’s Peak and Silvermine Nature Reserve as well as above the Atlantic Ocean… I stopped many times to do some quick shots… it was absolutely astonishing! While I missed a beautiful rainbow as I was told, the sun came out in a blast and everything was shining like in a new light.

King Protea Photo

That’s when I took the above photo of a stunning King Protea right here along the path up to my home on the mountain… with bees and beetles having a late breakfast and a warm bath in the  sun.

End of Mayan Calendar

Here’s wishing you a blessed Friday – just the right swing to start into the weekend!

I’m sure there will be a stunning sunset today – which is a special day as it marks the end of the Mayan Calendar and the beginning of the era of Co-Creation and Unity. I hope that’s why we’ve come here in the first place…

Good Morning from Noordhoek

Good Morning from Noordhoek is an inspiring greeting showing Life in a Day, each day, in Noordhoek, South Africa!

Good Morning from Noordhoek

My “Good Morning from Noordhoek” greeting to you features one of the new plants – a variegated Sunset Safari (leucadendron family) – that I just planted in my garden… a new hybrid form, but just splendid! What fire! The “Safari Sunset” family really sets the bushveld on fire in the evenings, when the red tops seem to be burning – just to beautiful! Fingers crossed this baby grows nicely… it will sure be nurtured well!

Wishing you all a splendid day – nurturing and being nurtured.