Well, if you’ve visited our facebook page in the last month, you might have noticed that we’re quite excited about an installation we’re working on for Bank City in the Johannesburg CBD. It’s to celebrate FNB’s spring festival, and James and Anton are busily preparing for spring, as you can see from all the photos. In fact, you will note that there are no other posts by these normally prolific posters, so busy are they.  I complained to James about this lack of other things to write about, and he undertook to post some interesting stuff, but – nothing. So maybe this will be a short newsletter. But this spring promises to be more exciting in the Joburg CBD, with a couple of other events planned for the end of this month and in September. These are the Joburg City Festival and the Arts Alive festival – joint the countdown on the Arts Alive’s facebook page.

I posted something about a set of plantable stamps issued to celebrate 50 years of Singapore’s green movement. I’ve seen business cards that can be made to sprout before (a landscape architect’s, of course), but I liked the fact that you could send these and if your letter wasn’t delivered, at least it would might grow along the Braamfontein Spruit. Of course, in Singapore, it would be delivered, in the same way as all the amazing green infrastructure in the last 50 years. Like the Gardens by the Bay.

I also posted a link to an article about a brick system that allows niches for house sparrows to nest in walls. Isn’t that great? At last, built acknowledgement that we share the planet with other animal species! I was more aware of birds’ nests because a week ago I got around to putting up a nesting log that had been knocking around my house for years, and a Crested Barbet has already started modifying it, hopefully with a view to moving in. I just hope it doesn’t drill through the bottom, as they are wont to. And Anton has been chastizing the Masked Weaver trying to nest over our deck here at the office about the mess he is making.

’til next time.

Leonotis at Freedom Park