TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Christmas Cactus

Second Advent Sunday and my Christmas Cactus has
already been flowering for two weeks!

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It certainly brightens up the shadehouse

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with a wonderful burst of colour.

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This one candle was for the first Advent Sunday, today there

were two... my wonderful granddaughter baked us the cake.

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Enjoy the peace of this quiet time of contemplation and build

up to the main event.

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All photos enlarge with a single click.

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To see many more flowers, click on the Logo.

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Thanks to the TODAY'S FLOWERS team for hosting this lovely meme.

Nature Notes ~ The Never Ending Story? Possums again...

Those of you who have followed the possum saga (just scroll
down a couple of posts and you will see) may remember that
as soon as we were back on the farm and it got dark, the alarm
people would ring to inform us that there was yet another
burgler in the dining room. It was becoming quite a ritual, so,
back we went next day to rectify the situation.

All photos enlarge so that you can see the cute and cuddly (looking)
creature.

After a prolonged search in dark places, we ran this little fellow to
earth behind the sofa.

This time, apart from having thrown books about everywhere,

all the ornaments were off the window sill, he'd peed on the books

and pooped on the french polish of book cases and the rest of the

furniture. Although the dining table will never be the same again,

I was happy to see that he had eaten the bunch of tiny rosebuds

I had in a vase on it. There were stalks strewn across the

embroidered cloth but all the flowers and leaves were all eaten up.

Hmm, the water had soaked the french polish ...whoops...

Here is yours truly holding up the prize exhibit. It was only a poor

baby so I was glad he had found a feed and something to drink.

I apologise for maligning the previous possum by my reference to

'he', it was obviously a mama possum, more power to you little

possum!

Here is the little one hightailing it past the sage to freedom.

It is a wonder I got this shot since he was going faster than a

flying bullet!

Here is a handful of possum fur that came away when I was

catching the first one. Shock also makes for tender wool in
sheep as well as obviously possums. I suspect it to be an

escape mechanism to give them a head start in running away

while the big bad wolf is left spitting a mouthful of fleece.

The fur is incredibly fine and soft, almost like angora and

historically was used for making felt hats.

I do hope you enjoyed my latest adventure.

Thanks to Michelle of Rambling Woods we have this infornative

meme about nature. Click on the Logo to see more.

SkyWatch ~ The Wonders of one Sunset

The sun thinking about setting still shines brightly.
All photos like being enlarged.

As it sets, the scene changes dramatically, darkness grows

overhead while wonderful colours develop below.

Gold touches the ground as the sun sinks lower.

Even the black clouds are getting some colour back.

With the sun now gone, the afterglow fades the glory into
some gentle restful tones, a twilight zone between the rigours

of the day and the dark restful night.

Click on the Logo to fly to other skies.

Thanks to Klaus and the SkyWatch team, we can all join in

with this great fun meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Me and my Shadow

A simple Geranium casting its soul on the pavement.

Click on the Logo to visit a world of flowers.

A big thank you to Luiz Santilli Jr. for dreaming up this beautiful

meme, and to his great helpers for keeping it going.

Super Sleuth's Sordid Saga Sequel

Surprising events in the mansion on the mount unfold ...
too many clues spoil the broth, although yours truly
suspected a third nigger in the wood pile ( pardon the
political incorrectness), both of us being exhausted from
the last few days of slash and burn policy before it turns
to total fire bans, we braved the hour's drive home in the
storm.

Last night, another call from the alarm people, dining room
again! So, back we go this morning for an exhaustive search
of the fugitive. All possible dark places were investigated to
no avail ... not until it started raining dictionaries from the
high shelf above the doorway did I hit pay dirt.




















The poor little mite was hiding behind the books and I had
to act quickly before he brought down the whole set of the
hundred year old Chamber's Encyclopaedia.

The Prof obligingly fetched a tall ladder, we have 12'6"
ceilings and possums love heights. I managed to lift him out
of his hidingplace but he also managed to latch onto my arm.

Nothing major, but I did let him go, and go he did ...
jumped down like lightning, across the room and squeezed
himself into the inch and a half space between a bookcase and
the wall. Luckily part of his tail was visible and so, grabbing
the tiger firmly by the tail ( now wearing rigger's gloves which
the Prof had forced upon me), I hung on for dear life while he
pulled the fully laden bookcase a little from the wall.

Voila! Quasimodo (not the most flattering photo of yours truly
ever seen) holding the catch of the day!


























Possums have prehensile tails, so it was a safe and secure
way to hold him.
Here is a close up of his beautiful feet, just like ours, with
four fingers and a thumb.

This was the fourth possum episode we have sustained, the
first time we did not find it tor two weeks until I finally located
the emaciated little thing in the bottom of the grandfather clock!



















All photos can be enlarged.

Storm, Mystery, Mayhem and ... Murder

It was stormy on the mountain ....

we unlocked the door, went in to turn off the alarm ......

the dining room was unrecognizable, the floor strewn with

the rose petals of the bowl of potpourri, the board blocking the

fireplace on the Persian carpet, soot everywhere .... and

two charred bodies in the fireplace!

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Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Morse, Inspector

Barnaby and Frost arrayed themselves behind me to solve this

mystery. I could have used Inspector Rex as well ...

I started rubbing the little grey cells together, discarding all

unnecessary information a la methode Holmes, put my nose to

the ground and my fingertips together.

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The small sitting room opens from one of the three doors of the

diningroom. Near the open doorway, a number of antique books

had fallen from the high shelf over the doorway scattering across

the floor.

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While the Prof toiled at restoring order, your trusty correspondent

deducted .... two dead possums in the fireplace, one brushtail, one

ringtail. The alarm people had rung us the day before that the alarm

in the dining room had gone off. We had been there less than 24

hours previously.

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So, what had occurred?

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Regarde mes amis! Only one sulution applies ... an act of God.

You do not believe me? But it is quite obvious. Lightning strikes the

chimney, the two possums are blocking the flue in an angle thereof,

the force of the lightningbolt propells the possums into the fireplace

and chars them and blasts out the board covering the fireplace. The

blast shakes the the wall so the books fall down.

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The mystery is solved, the storm prevails, the rain comes

sheeting down.

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SkyWatch ~ Clouds in a Sky of Blue

This week I photographed enough skies for three posts.

I loved the stairway to heaven and the fluffy clouds next to
the solid sheet across the sky. I also delighted in the way it
all grew over a space of a few minutes.

At the end, the sky was quite different again.

enjoy the skies of the world by clicking on the Logo.

Thanks to the SkyWatch Team our eyes have been opened to

so much beauty in the sky.