MY WORLD ~ An Extraordinary Occurrence

Yesterday I saw the first Fantail of the season. I always look

forward to them with their fanned out flirty tails. It was right

outside the window and, as I carefully headed out the door, it

came to the door as though expecting me.

Hoping to get a shot at it on the vegetation on the pergola some 4'

away, I started to raise my camera, when, to my surprise and utter

delight I had two tiny birds, like supersonic butterflies, darting to

within a few inches of my face and chest, cirling me and playing

chasey. I stood as though bewitched, the camera unraised. They

were much too close to get a shot at and with such fast and furious

flying, there was no hope anyway.

I stood entranced and enjoyed the performance until they moved to

the lytch gate a little further away.

Getting into action, I did my level best even with the uncertain light

but only managed these two uncertain shots of an unidentifiable

Blue Wren. We have a number of Superb Blue Fairy-Wrens here, but

this particular one matches nothing in my extensive birdbooks.

Obviously it was a territorial altercation which the wren won, yet left me

disappointedly empty handed of my first Fantail photo.

Thanks to the MY WORLD Team I too can let you see the wonders

in my vicinity.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Autumn Roses Plus

After a little rain, the last remaining flowers look so fresh.
'Bewitched' doing what she does best.



















The soft and gentle 'Souvenir de la Marmaison'.

and one of the last Nereenes.

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All photos enlarge.

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Thanks to Luiz Santilli Jr. and his Flwer Team for giving us the

opportunity to share our flowers.

SkyWatch ~ Purple Sunset

The sky's unusual colour caught my attention, a seemingly
random mix of blue and red . . .

















a flash of bright light on the horizon,

fading as the clouds darken to purple and seem to sink towards

the earth,

leaving just a trace of light in the purple sea of clouds.

The effect enhances with enlarging ....

Thanks to the SkyWatch Team for the opportunity of enjoying

each other's skies.

MY WORLD ~ Nirvana

Nirvana . . . we all aspire to it but few reach it in this lifetime.

A little help with transcendental meditation . . .

















reaching for heaven's portal . . . and . . .

sheer and utter BLISS . . .

Mind the ways of the cat, much may be learned from them.
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All photos grow when clicked.

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See the wonders of the world by clicking the Logo.

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Thanks to the MY WORLD Team , we learn so much about our world.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ After the Rain

A pansy survivor (3 years in a pot) smiling after a soakig.




















A look into the gentlle heart of one of my favourite old world
roses 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', The Empress Josephine's
renowned rose garden.

With a littlle imagination, you too can breathe in her magical

perfume.

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Click on the photos for a bigger picture.

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The Logo on the right will open a world of flowers.

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Thanks to our wonderful Flower Team, we can share and enjoy this marvellous meme.

SkyWatch ~ Just Clouds Across the Paddock

One day this week we had an inch and a half of rain,

this was the view as the clouds said good bye.

In the news they told us it was the single most significant

rain event in the last three years. I do hope we get some more soon!

Much better when enlarged.

Hats off to the SkyWatch Team for hosting this great meme.

Watery Wednesday & Nature Notes ~ Miracles Still Happen!

Although it is autumn, our summer rain, three months late,
has finally come! My cup runneth over and so does the 500
gallon water tank in my shadehouse.






















Nature rejoices as a lovesick cicada serenading loudly in the
hope of yet attracting a mate so late in the season, drags me
out of slumber at three o'clock in the morning. Did you know
that they need rain for their chambers to really resonate?

A sodden bee struggles among the wet pollen ....


















'Heritage' delighting in the warm summer rain so unusual
this late in the season..

Nature's jewels lighting up the garden. We had one and a half

inches of rain in less than 24 hours, more rain than we have had

in the last six months in total.

'Just Joey' dripping with pleasure. The pleasure the plants and

the very earth feel at this wonder from heaven is palpable.

All of Nature rejoices!

Apologies for the quality of the first shot, it was raining cats, dogs,

and small elephants and I was more worried about my camera

than a perfect picture.

All photos enlarge as always.

With thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting Watery Wednesday and

Michelle of Rambling woods for Nature Notes.

A click on the relevant Logo at right will find both sites.

MY WORLS ~ Selective Vision

Milkmaids thriving in a long forgotten garden where long ago
a homestead stood.





















The sad remains of my erstwhile pride and joy, my spring and
summer flwer beds.

Drought can be devastating, it took two thirds of my garden,

trees, shrubs and all my perennials.

The large expanse of cut, dry grass in front of the few remaining

espaliered fruit trees, once was my thriving berry patch. Raspberries,

strwberries, blueberries and currant bushed, the joy of marauding

grandchildren. Now there is nothing there, even the cherry trees died.

From fifty years of collecting oldfashioned plants, striking

cuttings from old gardens before the bulldozers moved in,

nothing remains. Even the succulents are in a sorry state.

Now, I am too frail to replant and create a new paradise around

us and yet you may wonder that I post roses galore, floweing

bulb and a few other hardy survivors.

The simple explanation is selective vision. The Prof sees wrecker's

yards and landscapes bristling with power lines, while I am

enchanted by a lone magnolia peeping over a fence or a single

sunflower in the rank grass near a block of flats. The choice is ours,

we see the beauty or the beast and so I choose to show you whatever

little joy has unfurled its petals for my delectation and always have

something, no matter how small, for my camera to capture.

Even weeds can be beautiful, let alone my remaining

roses in full flight!

All photos enlarge for a bigger picture.

Thank you dear MY WORLD Team for still hosting this meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Easter Surprise

Happy Easter everyone!

As you know it has been dry here for a long time now yet
everyone hopes for the Easter Bunny's bounty.

Better than chocolate eggs or bunnies, I had this wonderful
present of Colchicums or autumn crocus smiling at me from
a dry unweeded flower bed.

Certainly not as many or as tall as in good years but nevertheless

a wonder of creation, lending a touch of colour to the surrounding

dry grass.

For an even brighter surprise, a glorious flower on my struggling

elephant's tongue.

So many blessings!

Thanks to the TODAY'S FLOWER Team for the opportunity

to share our flowers.

Trouble in Paradise

Dear friends, thank you for your support and good wishes, you have all been a great help through these past two years which healthwise have been quite a struggle.

I do not know why I have had my footsteps dogged by the surgeon's knife for all of my adult life, but so it has been. Fate seems capricious and at the moment is sending dark clouds upon the horizon yet again.

As a teenager I contracted rheumatic fever, undiagnosed at the time and certainly untreated.

By the age of thirty the damage to the heart had become apparent with the thickening of the mitral valve as well as, to a milder degree, the aortic valve. My first heart operation to stretch the mitral valve, came sixteen years later and was no great success. The following year, just as I had recovered, all we had achieved in a quarter of a century of marriage went up in flames in a major bushfire.

Five years later I was again under the knife and had the mitral valve replaced by something that made me sound like the crocodile in Peter Pan after he swallowed the alarm clock. My olive complexion and zest for life engendered disbelief in the degree of physical disability besetting me. The doctors all said " but you look so well!" In consequence, all my heart operations were performed at the last possible moment, when the heart was already failing. My last heart op. to replace the aortic valve was 4 years ago when I was literally knocking on heavens door after all the other organs were already out on strike. At a time when it was more fitting to plan a funeral than anything else, two cardiologists already having given up on me, a physician came along and like a guardian angel organised a six hour emergency operation. Two months later, just in time for Christmas, I was home again. Slowly I built up my muscle strength and was able to tend my much loved garden again and travel by car.

The intense heat waves of this past summer, rapidly following each other, played havoc with my water retention yet again. The web of tissues in my lower legs was broken down and in combination with the over strained veins, built up water to an alarming extent, venting their anger in open wounds and stabbing pain.

The situation is tolerable but no fun, with support stockings and my feet elevated to head height. Although I love my bed, 6-8 hrs a day is plenty, 24 is decidedly too much!

So there you have it, just one sorry saga of my surgical adventures. Just to top it all off, because all the ops were done too late, i.e. when the heart had already sustained more damage than necessary, the tricuspid valve is now also damaged and apparently no surgeon will touch that one. Ah happy days.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy life, jut not the bouts of intense pain.

SkyWatch ~ Sunset Fizzle

As the sun was sinking towards the west, it lit up these blankets
of cirro-nimbus clouds that had been a teasing presence all day.

















Looking straight up, it was like looking down on a melting lake
of blue water and a breaking up ice shet.

The sunset colours never eventuated, they seemed too shy

to show thenselves

but at least the afterglow lit up my special hill.

Dear friends, forgive me for not visiting as much as I would like.

I seem to have hit a snag with my struggling heart and the

side effects are causing quite debilitateing pain.

At this time I specially treasure all your comments ... thank you all.

Photos enlarge as always.

Thank you Skywatch team for co-ordinating this great mem.