TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ 28 Some of my Orchids

Some Orchids that grace my shadehouse



the Zygopetalum has a lovely perfume



Cymbidiums are easy to grow and last a long time



Pleione formosiana does not last long, but is so
delicate that it is a joy anyway.

Click on the Logo to visit many more flowers.

Thanks to Luiz Santilly Jr. and our Flower Team we
can all share our flowers in this wonderful meme.

SkyWatch ~ 35 Seasons Come, Seasons Go

Our dam in the park in a reasonably good year



not quite full but still fun for the g-children to dive
and swim in



for the last two years of our persistent drought, this is
what we have had to contend with. All our 5 dams were
reduced to cracked earth and the rest of the farm, gardens
and orchard suffered severely because of it, as this was their,
as well as the animals' water supply.



At last we have had enough rain to green up the paddocks
and make the weeds grow faster in the garden than I can
possibly pull them up, but there is a tiny puddle in at least
the dam in the park. When full, it covers the rung on the
diving platform.



Ever the optimist, I look to the skies and hope for more.

As indeed I hope that Mr.Linky is up and running!

To Klaus and the SkyWatch team, good luck with running

this, to now, so enjoyable meme.

Watery Wednesday ~ 2 Aspects of the Ovens River

Please scroll down for MY WORLD and BIRDS WEEKLY



Evening mists gather in the Ovens Valley Gorge



'never smile at a crocodile' for me, the eyes have it!



Sunrise on a frosty autumn morning with Wood Ducks



The witching hour of sunset with gins and tonic by
the lazy river....

To splash in other water, click on the Logo at right.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 12 Masked Lapwing

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Pre-dawn shot of Masked Lapwing, Vanellus miles,
you can just see the spur on his wing on the furthest
forward point of his wing.



in slightly better light. I like the way they call in
flight giving you time to look up.

MY WORLD ~ 27 The Great Autumn Leaf Hunt 3

All pictures enlarge with a simple click.



The Tupelo tree, Nyssa sylvatica, a tree producing
the brightest autumn foliage enhanced by its shiny leaves.



The colours changing from green, to yellow and orange
into a really deep red amazing to behold when rain soaked.



We drove up the valley to get some Chestnuts, Walnuts
and Hazelnuts and were stopped in our tracks by this
impressionistic group of trees. Like something out of
faiyland it really was just a fleeting impression and one
click before the light had returned it to its normal state.



Just different light on the same scene along the old
railway easement turned into a walking and cycling
track



can you imagine jogging along here without a camera?
To me that would be criminal, yet a number of people
were long-distance cycling with their heads hidden under
helmets engrossed in conversation as though they had no
eyes in their heads!



All this splendour of Liquidambar trees passed them by,
what a waste of nature's wonderful display!



A little education:- in times gone by this valley was planted
to Hops, and Poplars for splitting into matches. Here are
some of the old corrugated iron oasts for drying Hops.



In front of the old farmhouse stood this wonderful
Rhus chinensis, in Noth America commonly called Sumac,
dressed in its finery



while across the road was one lonely field of Hops. Now
along the Ovens valley there are mainly nut plantations.



One more look at the path that runs for many miles
between a number of country towns. With easy gradients,
since it was cut to accommodate the railroad, which some
bright spark of a beaurocrat had dismantled and sold for
scrap when passenger numbers dropped off. All that effort
of building the railroad by hand and the sweat of many brows,
utterly wasted.

If you think the colours cannot get brighter than this,
come back next week and be surprised!

The magic doors to the world open by clicking on the Logo.

Once again, thanks to Klaus and the MY WORLD team
we display our world in this great meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ 27 Memories of Spring

Please enlarge for greater enjoyment.



Two white Cyclamen whispering secrets.....



A head of my great purple Lilac, Syrings vulgaris
exuding scent under our bedroom window...



My favourite old world Rhododendron whose name
is lost in th mists of time giving me joy immeasurable...



And the delicate Rose 'Cecile Brunner', its tiny
flowerheads beguiling the senses, covering the arched
side gate into Fern Hill paddock where lambs frolick,
birds sing and the sun sets over the ridge.

Many more flowers hidden in the Logo on the right.

Thanks to Luiz Santilli Jr. and the flower team for
letting us all show off a little.

SkyWatch ~ 34 Just One More Day

Please enlarge them to get the full force of the effect.



Defeating the night, the sun writes a victory sign in the sky



clouds building castles in the sky with rising thunderheads



slowly slipping into sleep, she still displays her glory



to make way for the rising moon and friendly twinkling star.

The star is visible when enlarged.

To visit other skies, click on the Logo at right.

Thanks to Klaus and the Skywatch team we can all join the fun.

Watery Wednesday ~ 1 Smooth Sailing

I photograph water so often, its time I joinesd in...

please maximise for a small surprise



Duck on the Murray river South Australia.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 11

One of the birds of our region, the Regent Parrot,
Polytelis anthopeplus, a bird on the endangered list.



A bird of localised river region territory where a
great deal ot its natural habitat has been detroyed
for agriculture and towns.

This one is a male, but does not fit the book descriptin

precisely as his tail is a strong blue rather than the

suggested black.

MY WORLD ~ 26 The Great Autumn Leaf Hunt 2

Feel free to enlarge..the effect is quite different.

The Platypus pool at dawn, is there one on the left?



I creep with the light up the riverbank, hoping for what?
A platypus, awakening birds or just the thrill of a child
adventuring alone in the woods near precious water...



In the still dark woods, a little brook joins the river
at the platypus poole edged with autumn leaves and
solitude.



Dawn light mirrored in the flow as though from
Monet's brush



and as the sun climbs up with blare of trumpets
colour magically appears



flocks of tiny birds grazing the willow fronds all a
twitter as they flit about



some 300 photographs later I head back to breakfast
mmm porridge, I feel like mama bear!

Ah, there's the cabin with a glimpse of our chariot in front,

hope Goldilock didn't get there first to wake my sleeping

prince or steal my porridge

just had to snap these maple leaves on my way,

and now an apology, the colour extravaganza only

comes next week...I took so many pics I could not

bear to pass all these by, this was but the first morning

before breakfast and we were there for four days in

which there were more than 1,000 clicks!

This is a foretaste of what is yet to come...

To visit the world as it unfols, click on the Logo.

I salute Klaus and the My World team for their

unremitting care of this wonderful meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ 26 Drought Survivors

Pleasr click the photos to enlarge...



Nerines by the Wool Room fence, being dormant in
summer and loving heat, performed like troopers!



Below, Podranea ricasoliana vine in our My Lofty
garden is a bomb proof survivor and, although parts
of it died back, still flowered.



Some unkillable Pampas Grass in the dell by a
disused saline well on the farm. You can burn it, you
can poison it, you can deprive it of water or hack it with
an axe but whatever you do, it comes out a winner!



For magnificent flowers around the world, click on
the Logo on the right.

Thanks to Luiz Santilli Jr. and his team, we have this
wnderful meme where we can enjoy so many flowers.

Not so Plain Plane

All photos enlarge, just click on them.



I had to go to the village to see my super human
doctor, we are so priviledged to have not only a
Hospital, but also a Medical Clinic next door.
Nothing serious, just one of my regular check ups.
Being there anyway I popped down to the main street
to fish some money fron the bank and came out to see
this wonder right above my car.



Camera being welded to hand as always, it was a snap!



The blue sky, the autumn leaves and bobbles of seed,
Did we really have to drive over 2,000 miles and more
to see more wonders than these?
Hang on to your hats, come back for My World on Tuesday
for the spectacular!



Me, I smiled all the way home after feasting my eyes
on this Plane tree in the street.