flowers and fairy tales

Part of the purpose of the Pic of the Week is for me to take some me-time time out every week with my camera, since work and admin and favours and just the basics of daily living seem to always take precedence over the me-time that I've come to realise is more essential to all of us than most of us realise! But as you've probably noticed there's been a lot of shots from my archives lately - what with one thing and another (I won't bore you with the details) I haven't really been in the mood to go hunting with my Brikon and mostly been leaving it at home. But the mood really grabbed me yesterday arvi as I was walking into Kirstenbosch for the Mango Groove concert, first in the forest and then in gardens. Actually, it was a good thing I didn't have my Brikon with me as I don't think I would have made it to the concert at all! The light was just supurb, and the flowers were so tempting, so I dallied long enough to get a few semi-decent shots...

 The watsonias were prolific on the slopes of the irrigation dam...

 These pincusions... damn, I've forgotten the name of them! Anyway, they reminded me of sea urchins! So bright and vari-coloured...

And this hacked pine in the plantation reminded me of a fairy tale castle...