WhaleTale News
Dear Friends, it has become clear that our days of running around in beautiful Hermanus like Woollies free-range chickens is over! It’s been one year and seven months since our arrival in our new home town, and we are hatching new ideas, opportunities and shooting roots, not horses.
My well-equipped Pilates Boutique studio in Vermont is now fully operational, and I love my one-on-one teaching space. The studio is drenched with early morning winter sunlight, and beautiful mountain and sea views surround us. I also started two group classes per week in a small hall in Sandbaai. The joy of teaching bright-eyed ladies and gents, some experiencing the Pilates methods for the first time, is satisfying. I never realised how much I missed teaching Pilates until I started teaching again. As I always say, for the ladies it is the ‘Chanel No 5’ and for the men the ‘Rolls Royce’ of all exercise regimes.
Taking a hike in the Cape mountains is always a magical experience. In the shady kloofs amidst crystal clear streams and waterfalls, you will come across one of the most famous Cape plants, the red Disa (Disa uniflora Bergius). A South African species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It is also known as the flower of the gods and they come into bloom during the late summer months.
The red Disa was first associated with Table Mountain, where they are found on the upper slopes. They favour the moist ‘table cloth’ conditions of the mountain. One can say they are Table Mountain’s centrepiece flower arrangement! Next to the king protea (Protea cynoroides), the Disa is probably the most recognised fynbos flower.
The Disa is indigenous to the Western Cape. With its ‘diva iconic’ status, it is found in protected areas from Hermanus to Cape Town and north into the Cederberg. Locally the Klein River Mountains, in the view from my Pilates studio, and Kogelberg are favourite Disa sightings.
But there is another twist to our diva Disa flower. She allied with the ’Table Mountain Beauty butterfly’ (Aeropetes tulbaghia). A proudly South African resident, the largest and most beautiful of the brown Southern African butterflies. This particular butterfly only sees and responds to red, pink and orange flowers. It is so specialised that it pollinates mainly red flowers that bloom in early summer. The striking red Disa reserves her sweet nectar for her African Pride butterfly, as it is also known, and their partnership is still blooming.
As I’m writing this Whale tale, it’s coming down in buckets. The beautiful noise of rain splashing down on a tin roof is like a rock n roll band jamming throughout the house. I love it. Our wet windy winter weather season has arrived, it’s time to turn on the slow cooker for our first winter “waterblommetjie bredie.” Bon appetit!
For those like Debbie and others who in the meantime also relocated to a new place, hang in there my friends for things will get better. As long as you reserve a room in your heart for your loved ones left behind, you and they will be fine.
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