This morning there were two yellow-billed ducks on our swimming pool, but they took flight the minute our ridgeback came bounding out to greet them. Many years ago I opened the bedroom curtains to find an eagle sitting on our birdbath, and a couple of months back a juvenile goshawk had lunch on our front lawn. I’ve had a hornbill snatch a wasps’ nest off the porch and a monkey steal fruit off the bird table. All these happenings are memorable because they were exceptional.  I have friends whose motto is “Flambé is life itself”. Their exciting desserts add sparkle to my life. (Try spelling “stressed” backwards.) Today I’m using their Namaqualand photos to spice up my post.

Some people have a knack of taking whatever life flings at them and turning it into something extraordinary. Leliefontein, like its signpost, has had some battering, but still comes out smiling. Most people only go there to see the flowers, yet there’s probably heroism round every corner. I doubt that Solomon in all his glory had what it takes to survive among the lilies of the field.

Nieuwoudtville has a bulb nursery that is run as a community project. Sanna Basson described preparing the soil in the chilly predawn. When moles are a problem, she shoves plastic pipes into the ground, making the tunnels too airy for these furry visitors.  This posy contains watsonias, ixias, lachenalias, babianas and sparaxis.

The last picture was taken on Glenlyon Farm (now Hantam botanical reserve), originally owned by Neil McGregor who died recently. Various flowers, a beetle and even a butterfly are named after him. You can hike around this reserve for hours and only discover a fraction of its treasures.

Darren Brown maintains that luck is an attitude to life. I prefer to call it the butterfly effect. This morning I started writing this post, then my flambé friends rang to invite us out to lunch. There’s a lot to be said for hope, or expectation, as dogs portray it. I mean, if today two ducks chose our garden out of all suburbia, who knows what fresh delights tomorrow may bring.