I just love summer- I much prefer it to the chill of winter. I really feel the cold, and I need to wear so many layers in winter to just keep warm. And if I’m wearing 5 or more layers, you know it’s friggin’ freezing!

So now you might understand why I enjoy the signs of spring so much! Like the hundred (literally) orange clivia’s that are blossoming in my mom’s garden right now, with the few pink and white cherry blossoms overhanging them. And the sweet smell of jasmine that tickles your nose as you walk past a patch hanging over a wall. And the bright almost illuminous green buds of leaves that are appearing on the trees that have had bare branches all winter. And the black collared barbets who are nesting in tree trunks. And the lucky bean trees with their mass of scarlet flowers.

Have you seen them around? The lucky bean trees? Or otherwise know as the common coral? Or Papilionaceae Erythrina lysistemon? I had to google for that name. And did you know that this tree is a common site in Africa at this time of year? And is also called the Cry Baby Tree? Why I cannot find out. So if you know, please leave us a comment about how it got the name "Cry Baby Tree"! Thanks!

Anyway, we have a little one in our garden, and every now and again I see a coral tree as I’m zooting around town in my Ford. And just the other day Gary and I saw a superb example of one in the middle of the Rivonia shopping district, which Gary managed to catch on my camera as we drove past, and here it is: