As red roses are the order of the weekend, I thought to send you a profusion of red and white blooms from our front garden - our way of saying to each of our guests: you've been special!

I must admit that this picture was taken in October - a little ahead of Valentine 2009. Mark has struggled to grow geraniums in this position - south-facing and surrounded by paving - but this year HE GOT IT RIGHT. A friend who lived in Europe for some time commented that these were the first he had seen in SA like the ones that are so freely grown in Europe. At the moment they are a shadow of their October glory, but we like to brag anyway! Our Hippeastrums (Amaryllis) grow larger and more impressive each year - we've counted 120 flowers at one time. Just glorious.

From our perch on Muckleneuk Hill overlooking a green and clean Pretoria (Tshwane) we send you greetings! May 2009 bring much to look forward to. And we hope we meet again.