Sunday Flower walk and a fire!

Hello all, It would have been hot but for a fresh easterly breeze. But first, from the garden here, Ornithogalum thyrsoides (chincherinchee): Alstroemeria, or Peruvian Lily: No, that's not a mint flower! St Joseph Lilies: On the way to the hills, Prickly pear, in the garden of the old railway foreman's house, in bud: And full bloom! This looked like yet another daisy from a distance, but the flowers are almost look pea-like, perhaps an Aspalathus callosa: The plant was growing out through another: There are still impressive daisies around! The Wachenforfias are really finished now and the seed pods are turning orange: Where we remember last year being just one of these Therianthus bracteolatus, there seem to be three now! We've been watching this plant all year! The twist in the flower stem isn't so noticeable now, but the flowers are in a left hand helix. As usual, the Lobelias are all over! I don't think they ever stop adding the veld a bit of blue! 'Our' Leucospermum oleifolium: Up at the very top we caught the whiff of smoke. The Easterly was coming straight from the Club, but there was no smoke down there so we back-tracked. Yes, a cooking fire, left to smoulder in the vegetation-rich sand and a kitchen knife and old tea-bag lying around. The more we tried to stamp it out, the more it smouldered, spreading outwards, and ever closer to where the wind would fan it. We tried phoning various people, but Pippa caught sight of a Working on Fire team so she stayed there with the dogs while I ran down to them, only to find their bakkie standing on a jack! By luck a big yellow fire truck rumbled up. I jumped in and directed them back.   They took it seriously and gave the area around the fire a thorough dousing: On the way back, these colourful tufts are changing colour: We were pleased to see the first bud on this Agapanthus walshii: We've been watching for movement, the domesticated Aggies are in flower now. :-) Andy