Dew IV

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

An Estate Garden

a gorgeous late autumn sky over northern Johannesburg

Scenes from an amazing Urban Garden in the outskirts of Johannesburg

Landscaped and designed  by my friend Donovan of Nature and Beyond.

It's a blend of garden and wild grasses and predominanatly inidigenous - which

is the way to go in terms of water requirements and

the wonderful array of birds of the area.

Click here to view previous post of this garden

View more Sky images here and here
and more Scenic here
and Shadow shot images here

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

An Eco Estate

reflection on a man made lake

these images were captured during a visit to a local residential estate,

where the aim is to maintain an eco friendly environment.  They have

used indigenous trees and grasses - the objective being to invite the

local birds, insects, frogs and whatever else, to inhabit the space(s).

a collage of some of the scenery on the estate - the round "building" is used

by estate management- not sure for what purpose, but I love the shape

and the great architectural detailing - including the shadows ...

a wider view of the lake

one of the windows and the great shadows around it ...

a dead tree, left in place to add character

View more Weekend Reflections here

more Scenic Sunday here

and more Shadow shots here

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

In honour of a great pilgrimage

A couple of weekends ago I was out in Pretoria (capital city of South Africa) and
noticed the Voortrekker monument up on the hill ....  I had not been there since
high school, which if truth be told, was a very, very long time ago .....

Camera in hand, off I went.

I spent a great afternoon there in the tranquil nature reserve type gardens
enjoying the scenery and the fascinating history and architechure.

This first image (above) is taken inside the actual monument (see image below) where

the late afternoon sun was shining through the latticed glass panels

in a vibrant golden hue, creating both reflections and shadows

onto the marbled floor.

a view of the Monument on the hill (quite literally)

This monumnet commemorates the pioneers who travelled from the

coastal areas inlands between 1835 and 1855 -

this trip was called "The Great Trek". 

During this time approximately 15,000 pioneers moved inlands to establish the

provinces of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, effectively the start of

 South Africa as it was to become.

an outside shot of the stone/ brick work, bathed in afternoon sunshine,

creating soft shadows ....

an afternoon  garden view - the monument is surrounded

by a round wall mimicking a circle of oxwagons,

 which in fact are carved onto the wall ....

the real thing ... an old oxwagon ...

a gorgeous strelitzia growing the well kept gardens

view more Weekend Reflections here

more Scenic Sunday here

and more Shadow shot here

Click to view more Mosaic Monday posts

Click to view more My World Tuesday posts

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

Trout Dam, Machadodorp

the trout dam at Milly's in Machadodorp (Mpumalanga Province), South Africa

This was taken whilst we were on route to Nelspruit over December (see Thursday

 and Friday's posts below for more pictures of the area).   Due to time of day and the

 haziness (and timing I guess!?) it was difficult to capture decent pictures.

Nevertheless this area is sooo scenic, that it was worth getting something ....

view more Weekend Reflections here

and more Scenic Sunday here

I also thought it was worthy of Shadow Shot due to the shadow created

across the landscape by the clouds obscuring the sun.

see more Shadow Shots here

and of course, it's worthy of sharing for My World Tuesday

clkick here for more

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

A Scenic Garden

 scenes from another open garden ...

this is a very large and very different garden - with many areas and rooms - and

it certainly was adelight to visit.   evidently this is part of the formal garden.  

My monochrome image from yesterday is a stone pyramid which is in the

natural - grassland garden.  

I hope you bring you more on this one over the coming weeks.

view more Weekend Reflections here

more Scenic Sunday posts here

 and more shadow shots here

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

Reflections on a weekend past ...

image taken at one of the open gardens in Johannesburg recently. 

this is a very large property with a wonderful garden including a small lake

(of which this is part). 

the lighting on that day was VERY bright and I hung around as long as I could to

capture the detail - ideally I should have waited longer, but as the garden

 was closing,  I had to capture what I could. 

view more weekend reflections here

 view more scenic sunday here

and more shadow shots here 

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

Concert in the Gardens

a view of the Lake at the Durban Botanical Gardens

with picnickers up the one embankment enjoying a music concert

on a sunday afternoon

see more reflections here

more shadow shots here

and more Scenic Sunday here

and more Watery Wednesday posts here

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

Blue Shutters

gorgeous blue shutters enhancing a combination of reflections and shadows

see more Weekend Reflections here

and more Shadow shots here

Image(s) All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud