TODAY'S FLOWERS & I Heart Macro A Touch of Last Spring

Hooray!! We have been blessed with 6" of rain over two days,

more than we got in winter in one event!

My heart sings and the garden got it just in the nick of time to

revive the trees and shrubs that were giving up and had lost most 

of their leaves.

Now, with hope in my heart, I look back at some wonders in my

garden last spring and forward to those to come next spring.

masses of tulips with primulas and wallflowers at back

clumps of crazy fringed tulips

looking like carnivorous plants

masses of bright nasturtiums

and just because I can and because my camera shared my bed that 

night, an early morning shot at waking, yep, a real pillow shot,

luckily the kangaroo was OUTside my garden fence.

Hope you all have a great day wherever you are!

linking with

TODAY'S FLOWERS

and

I Heart Macro

OUR WORLD - Friends at Home

Just a few critters I have floating around my place. These fellows

have felt free to destroy miles and miles of fencing, in consequence,

the sheep can wander down the road at will. Even this near

to blind sheep who almost blundered into me and had to be

alerted by her lamb to my presence.

How Sparky got out I have no idea but he was doing a great job

mowing the last of the green grass in the yard

until he noticed me and decided to stop for a chat.

The Moon Hill paddock is the only one with even kangaroo

proof fences, so this beautiful lady can safely mind a number

of youngsters.

Looks like the Magpie is looking after these four frisky

little ones.

I hope all of you are having a great beginning of the week, now

come on over to Our World and get your post up!

MY WORLD ~ 46 The Golden Glow of Spring

Our landscape on the farm has totally changed yet
again. Other springs have seen our paddocks in a blue
haze of Salvation Jane, Echium plantagenium, see
my header for a flash back.
This year the Leprechauns have been busily strewing
gold pieces across the paddocks at randon. The whole
countryside, as the sun came out this morning, had
turned to a shimmering carpet of gold.



Only once in the last 50 years have I seen a
phenomenon to match this splendour.



The visual effect is stunning when the sun comes
out and all the flowers open.



Unfortunately for the country, this is not lush pasturage
but Cape Weed imported by some well meaning person
from South Africa. It suppresses our native grasses and
sown pasture by quickly outgrowing, overhadowing and
depriving all else of light.
It is also an indicator of depleted soil quality which is
not at all remarkable after 6 years of drought.



The golden glow in the distance is our neighbour's
paddock with our land that is visibly green dotted
by our few remaining sheep.



The neighbour's dam with a little water in it and
gold on our paddock in the foreground too.

Bachi with her week old calf enjoying a feed in the
sunshine

while at the side of the forest a wary kangaroo with

large Joey in her pouch regards me with a baleful

and suspicious eye,

while down by the silver poplars in their new finery,

the Unicorn spreads peace over all.

There are more wonders in the world than anyone

has ever seen, so click on the Logo and visit some.

To Klaus and the MY WORLD Team I extend my
thanks for letting us see the little wonders in each
other's backyards.

MY WORLD ~ 24 The Way Home

Please enlarge at least a few, especially this one.



A rare sighting in the wild, a Platypus going home
after breakfast. I only got one shot at him with my
hand held 300mm lens with very dull light. A Platypus
has a duck bill, webbed feet, a Beaver tail and is a
monotreme raising its young in a burrow in the riverbank
and feeding on the floor of the river.

These photos are shot at the campground in more affordable
accomodation at Carnarvon gorge than our first night.
Unfortunately we could not stay longer, but will go
back again someday to explore further. Carnarvon Nat.
Pk. is located in Central Queensland and well worth
spending lots of time in.



An Apostle bird, again at dawn with insufficient light.
It glories in this apellation since they are usually seen
in groups of twelve.



A young Painted Kangaroo, so different from those
on our farm in South Australia.



A last look back at the Carnarvon Gorge Park.

Our largest raptor, the Wedgetail Eagle with road

kill. Sorry, I only got one shot at it.

Progressing south, some Grevillea eye candy

and two Butterflies doing what Butterflies do. Note

the male is so much smaller than the female.This

was at Hebel, a tiny town in the middle of nowhere

with a cafe serving delicious home made cake.

The pretty female with red spots on her tail.

Dawn in St.George with a profusion of Dusky

Woodswallows waiting for the sun to rise.

St.George was one of our three staging posts

between the gorge and home. The return trip to

Yeppoon topped 5,000km!

The first rays of the sun saw this young Galah

training for the Olympic pole vault.

We bought two steaks in St.George which we

consumed in the cabin below and kicked ourselves

all the way home for not getting a dozen of them

since they were the best we had ever eaten.

For our last night, we lashed out again and stayed

in the luxury of a waterfront cabin at Gol Gol with

autumn colour and a view across the Murray river.

I am not sure if I will have internet access next week

as we are off on our travels to enjoy this year's autumn

colours in the high country of Victoria and to celebrate

our 51st. wedding anniversary.

To see what others are doing on our planet, click on Logo.

To Klaus and the MY WORLD team, hats off guys for hosting

this wonderful meme.

MY WORLD ~ 23 Carnarvon Gorge

Most photos may be enlarged, I hope you do.



After driving a few hundred kilometers out of
Yeppoon, see previous MY WORLD post, we started
out on the last 21km of rough gravel road to the gorge.
After a few km, there was a slight hitch...did I mention
the gravel was rough?.., while the Prof attended to a
few minor adjustments, I, being helpful, photographed
the scenery.




A view to the mountains that contain the 16,000ha
gorge area which is part of the much larger Nat.Pk.



We treated ourselves to a comfortable night in a
de luxe safari tent wit Q-sized bed and bathroom.
We felt the extravagance was warranted since we
had just passed our 50th wedding anniversary.
Early next morning we were greeted by this kangaroo
and her many friends as, armed with a large water
bottle and two apples, we headed on a daywalk
exploring up the gorge.



These are the largest Cycads we have encountered
anywhere. They must be hundreds of years old to
have attained this size.
Cycads are in a class of their own, being neither fern
not palm.



The seeds are a beautiful bright red and the whole
seed head looks much like a pineapple.

There had recently been raging floods down the river
and the track had only just reopened after major

repairs to the many crossings and destroyed rock

scaling aids 20' above the normal river height.

Because of the extra water, the Acacias were in bloom

also this pretty blue Solanum

The Heron took advantage of one of the stepping stone
crossings to look for his lunch

while pretty pink grasses swayed on the riverbank.
We hiked over eight crossings at roughly 1km
spacings which exhausted my energy, so Hobbit
fashion, I dabbled my hot feet in the water while
the Prof went on to the Moss Gardens.

There are many points of interest to hike to if you

are young and/or fit..unfortunately I am neither.

We saw a number of hopeful Herons of different

colourings on our return journey

I hardly think these fingerlings were what they

were hoping for.

This little Hibiscus like flower eased my tired spirits
as I looked up to the possibilities of scaling the cliffs

further up the gorge.

The next night we froze in a canvas cabin
without amenities, in the camp groud, but

somehow it was more pleasant to be among
other nature lovers rather than purely luxury
seekers.

If you are still interested, tune in to the next exciting
episode, without shredded tyres, next week.

For more glimpses into other places click on the Logo
at right and travel the world from your armchair.

My thanks to Klaus and the MY WORLD team for
keeping us on our toes and blogging.

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.