TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ 7 ~ The Rose Gate

My garden is drooping and dieing
from lack of water. I dared not go out
to see the devastation, yet as we came
back from our usual evening walk to the
park and once around the fast disappearing
pond, I saw a mass of pink and lo, the back
gate was bathed in a glory of colour!



From the paddock the fence was awash with them.
It looked like the barrier of Sleeping Beauty's castle.



The mass of blooms was prodigious



I wanted to embrace them all



and but for the equally prodigious thorns,
would have done so.



For wond'rous blooms around the world, click
on the logo on the right.

My thanks to the brilliant organizers of this meme.

SkyWatch *14 Drive by Shooting!

We have just returned rom a trip to the Victorian
highlands. The air was so clear I could not resist
shooting the following trio from the car at 100kmh.
We were in a hurry so could not afford to stop.



The country is just starting to rise towards the
mountains.



...and yes, there was a front welling up.



Click on any photo to enlarge.

To visit skies many and varied, click on the logo
on the right.

Thank you dear SkyWath team for mentoring this
informative and great fun meme.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 6 Adelaide Rosella

Please scroll down for MY WORLD, Sunday's
Flowers and other posts.

Adelaide Rosella, Platycercus adelaidae



In mating plumage



The bright red is for the mating season, at other
times there is more yellow than red.

For many more beautiful birds, click on the logo

MY WORLD ~ 5 Our House on the Mountain

This is our personal Phoenix, rebuilt with the
original walls from 1850 or so, after the extensive
bushfire of 1983, which devoured 76 homes including
ours. Not much survived in the historic garden as well.

The house itself stands on the ridge of Mt.Lofty at an
elevation of 650m, overlooking Gulf St.Vincent and
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia on the western
side, and on the other, the eastern foothills and on a clear
day Lake Alexandrina at the mouth of the Murray River
some 100km as the crow flies, to the east.



As you come into the yard from the driveway,
the first thing that strikes your eyes is this
magnificent Camellia tree. Three of these were
planted in front of the original house probably
in the early 1850's. They have withstood the
force of two major bushfires and managed to
regrow again. This one has recovered much
better than it's siblings which were closer to the
front porch and much more severely burnt.



Close up of the Camellia whose name has been lost
in the depths of time.



The shadow on the gravel is from a Beech my
husband planted, The flowering crab apple is
Malus floriunda.



On the right a massive Snowball bush, another
survivor, burnt to the ground and regrown.



Looking up to the back of the house over
terraces of lilacs, Syringa vulgaris, in lilac
purple and white.



View from one of the dining room
windows towards the west.



My precious white Rhododendron, before the fire
the size of the Crabapple above, has taken 25 years
to regrow to this. Again, the name has disappeared
into the mists of history.



Looking up fron the eastern terraces in spring



'Papa Meilland' and 'Mr.Lincoln' on our bedroom wall



Taken through my car window heading down the drive,
a kangaroo grazing in the orchard with a backdrop of
Camellias, Rhododendrons and bare Oak tree.

This is just a fleeting impression of the three acre
garden that surrounds the new old house.

Thank you SkyWatch/My World team for making
this venue a delight to us all.
To visit amazingly beautiful and interesting places,
click on the logo on the right.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Flowers on my Table

Please scroll down for Brenda's Photochallenge,
Thankful Friday, Skywatch etc.

'Cecile Brunner' strongly scented tiny
rosebuds gracing a cloth embroidered
four generations ago, around 1850.



White Madonna Lily and pink Orientals.



A wealth of roses bunched up together



Tree Paeonia, backed by Rhododendron and lilac



A mixed bunch, just this and that...

My heart felt appreciation to Luiz Santilli Jr.,

Denise B. Castro and Laerte Pupo for hosting this delightful site.

To see what is flowering elsewhere, click on the Logo.

Brenda's Photo Challenge ~ Water

Please scroll down for SkyWatch, Hopeful Friday
Birds, My World and Today's Flowers.

All photos can be enlarged.



Water gleaming, water streaming

water burbling sets you dreaming

water gushing,water rushing

hurrying along it's way

slower growing, ever flowing

onward shifting, spirits lifting
slowly drifting homeward bound.

Thank you Maria for hosting our water posting.

SkyWatch *13 Diurnal Delights

Click on any photo to enlarge for best effect.

Gently the dawn awakens sleeping world



with unimagined splendour bursting forth



with gentle tones in noon day's heat



to hide it's light behind some other hill



till once more moonlit earth is still

To visit other skies click on the Logo at right.

My thanks to our marvellous SkyWatch team
for organizing this fellowship of sky watchers.

Counting my Blessings

Scroll down for Weekly Birds, My World,
Today's Flowers and SkyWatch.

Tonight I feel a little down
so just to lessen my gathering frown
I started thinking of things I treasure
that bring me hope and joy and pleasure.

I do like bacon

and I do like eggs
I like great horses
with four stout legs

Sun on a pond
and stars in the sky
a flock of parrots
passing by

A little daisy
in the grass
and shadows
in a looking glass

Tiny tots twittering
as they play
and teenagers
frittering time away

An old man
sitting on a bench
tar newly laid
the steam and the stench

The tide roaring in
with foaming fetlocks
a streamlet gurgling
over gleaming wet rocks

Cows chewing cud
in paddocks of green
and drifting sand
where no footstep has been

Glorious sunsets
and grey winter morns
shooting stars
and bright crisp dawns.



Thre is a lot more where that came from, if any
one is interested, I may post more.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 5 Parrots

Please scroll down for MY WORLD,
TODAY'S FLOWERS & SkyWatch.

GALAHS, Eolophus roseicapillus,
at sunrise



Galahs are very pretty birds, over the last
16 years, fron just a small handfull of birds on
our farm,they have multiplied to a flock of more
than200. When roosting in trees, they can strip
them of leaves, even large 100 year old
eucalypts, in a few days. Being seed eaters , they
multiply like rabbits where there are fields of grain
and stock water available. Before farming their
numbers were limited in dryland areas by the
lack of availability of water.

SULPHUR-CRESTED COCKATOO,
Cacatua galerita, in my garden.



Sulphur-crested cockatood have leonine strength in
their beaks. They can crack through finger bones as
easily as they tear apart pinecones to get at the seeds.

For more beautiful birds, click on Logo on the right.

MY WORLD ~ 4 Eyre Peninsula Coast, South Australia

Please scroll down for TODAY'S FLOWERS.

Most photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Just something a little different this time.
Sometimes I get a great longing for the sea and my
husband indulges me by driving for two days to take
me to a rugged enough coast for my liking. Sometimes,
he hires a small plane, this Piper Arrow for instance
and flies me there instead.
We flew to Streaky Bay, on the west coast of the
Eyre Peninsula, situated on the Great Australian
Bight open to the Southern Ocean.

Here we are at Streaky Bay International Airport,
please note the splendid arrivals hall, restaurants,
shopping mall and other splendid facilities. The
air-conditioning is perfect and guaranteed to function
all year round.



The beaches, although extensive, and this was
but one of many, are a little crowded. After all,
there were four of us there.



A gentle, protected bay with crystal clear water
ideal for observing marine creatures or just
splashing about in.



On one side of the jetty in Streaky Bay is this
Shark exclosure to create a safe water playground
for the townspeople and visitors.

One evening when all other stalwarts had given up
fishing, I was alone there just enjoying the sea and
being, when one by one a pod of dolphins materialised
in the growing darkness. Kneeling at the edge of the
jetty I whistled some Mozart and they responded by
frolicking arond me until it became too dark to see.
That for me was awe inspiring.



Some 20 miles down the coast near a rocky shore
some large seals were lolling about. Two bulls
thought about creating a disturbance, but thought
better of it and amicably settled down to rest.



Where the coast is open to the Ocean, which is one
of the more turbulent waters in the word and only
recommended for those with cast iron stomachs, I
find greatest joy.



The sough of th sea gathering it's forces,



to rush once more upon the land. With flying
manes the white sea horses charge



to dash themselves upon the rocky shore.
It is inadvisable to stand too close.

My thanks to the SkyWatch / My World team for
their stirling efforts on our behalf.

To see the hopes and dreams of others around the
world, please click on the Logo on the right.

TODAYS FLOWERS ~ 5

The flowers to-day come from our garden on the
ridge of Mt.Lofty at an elevation of 675m. Exposed
to all the winds that blow, they are chosen for scent,
beauty and hardiness. Photographed yesterday
for your delectation.



A rose of yester-year whose scent delights me
but whose name escaped the confines of my mind



Philadelphus, a drift of perfumed white 15' high



No, this is not a rose but a hawthorn:
Crataegus laevigata 'Punicea Flore Plena'



Another old climber with a totally different scent

This is one of my treasures, grown from a sucker
of one of our roses from our Melbourne days more
than 40 years ago. It was used as a root stock about
a hundred years ago and no rosarian has as yet been

able to identify it. It has large terminal bracts of tiny

white flowers exuding a tantaling scent and hardly

any thorns.

'Anna Pavlova' named for the Russian ballerina,
the fowers are rather rare, as was the dancer,
but are on long single stems with perfect pointed
buds as were her toes. The scent is to die for!

This plant glories in the common name of
'Kiss-me-quick!' How could one not give it
space in the garden?

To visit flowers galore, click on the logo at right.

My thanks to Luiz and Denise for hosting this

magical flower show.