Wildwood Dreaming ~ Nature Notes

This post is for Ces, my little sister-friend who
inspires me to experience once again the child-like
pleasure of seeing the world a new every day as
though it had just been created for my delectation.



The wild wood is my refuge
there I can dream of spring...

the poplars waking early
telling tales in silky voices on the wind



wild quinces bank along the creek, pale green
their blushing buds displaying



while the humble plum, industrious as ever,
is weighted down with half ripe fruit.



Dogroses on the eastern side are tardy in their flowering
while in the west their sisters smile in foolsome bloom.



The hawthorns have tight button-buds,
just one, a little bolder,
has opened up her sleepy eyes
to greet the warmth of longer days.



Dragonflies or damselflies, whatever they may be,
hover over water

thick with frogspawn as a morning frost
with promises of concerts yet to come.

The watchful unicorn , her pride by day concealing,
yet holds the golden key to all our silent dreaming.

Thank you Ces for the love and friendship you so

generously share and the immense inspiration that you are.

Watery Wednesday ~ 19 and Nature Notes The Dams are Alive...

With the good late spring rains we have been having
this year our dams are alive with the sound of music,
the concert of frogs from all sides, the dam in the park
and the wild wood in particular and the garden and
paddocks all around us, has been almost deafening...
especially at night.



These are just a few pictures of the dam in the wild wood.
Apart from dragonflies and a pair of waterfowl, the shallows
everyshere were covered in frogspawn.



From the voices alone there were for or five species
we heard calling,



The spawn was laid in sheets and trails and mounds,
do click on the photos to see the details. The one below
has little black dots of tadpole embryos.



A view of part of the dam as I walked around it.

It is always a joy to walk on the land and discover once

more the small pleasures it offers and a delight to see it

come to life again after such a long drought.

Click the Logo and enjoy more life giving water.

Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy we can all jon in to this fun meme.

Thanks to Michell at Rambling Woods see the weekly changes in our world.

MY WORLD ~ 19 North of the Warrumbungles

At the northern side of the Warrumbungles lies

Coonabarabran, the Astronomy capital of Australia.

Not only are these mountains famous for their clear

skies, but also for their wealth of 250+ million year

old fossil finds. Here are but two examples of leaves

with beautifully preserved colours.

Onward for long, long stretches of just long long

stretches, when we came upon Chinaman's Pond

covered in the most beautiful water lilies in white

and masses of pink. We had two more stays in New

South Wales,usually abour 4-500km apart.
NSW is a large state, Queensland is very much

larger and entailed another sleep.

One of the points of interest in massive stretches of
nothing scenic in particular, or I was perhaps too

tired to be observant, we spied these two massive

Baobabs or bottle trees. Their pregnant bellies hold

water and many an old bushy wandering on foot in
this vast landscape was saved by gouging into this

handy water source.

Near a coffee break on the edge of a small town

was a little creek with enough water to cool my feet

in and attract this lovely dragonfly.

Happily we had by now crossed into Queensland

where Bouganvileas flourished in the warm climate

Next week, if you bear with me, we finally

reach the coast with again totally different

landscapes on the way.

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To see what the rest of the world is up to,

click on the Logo at right.

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To Klaus and the MY WORLD/SKYWATCH

team my thanks as ever for this marvelllous meme.