TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ The Rose Gate

I have posted photos of this gate before but from inside the

garden. This time I am showing it to you from the paddock.

Since there were no cows there, the roses bloomed in great

profusion. They have stretched themselves a long way along

the fence.

The black hole is all that is left of the gate and archway. Now

I have to almost go on all fours to exit the garden that way.

Looks like I will have to mount a serious attack with the

pruning shears next autumn.

Moving in a little closer, does anyone volunteer to count the

number of blooms on the whole rose?

Moving closer still, one little bract of blooms is a whole bouquet.

Enlarged they give you a better idea of what they look like and

the last picture will let you see the roses in almost actual size.

Click on the Logo to join the meme or just to enjoy the flowers.

My thanks to Luiz Santilly Jr. who hosts this meme as well as his helpers

in its smooth running.

And thank you Luiz for having me as guest friend.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ Outback

What we call the Outback in Australia, far away in the hot inland

in the North Flinders Ranges, a place I dearly love, shadows frame

the shearer's quarters at Wirrealpa Station,

lend mystery to a rockface

and magnify the wrought iron struts of an extinct camel saddle.

My photos like to be enlarged.

Pop over to HEY HARRIET and join, just click on the Logo.

SkyWatch ~ . . . But a Moment in Time

Summer skies, shot within seconds of each other in less than

a minute, with no adjustments whatever.

Quite a lot happening all in the blinking of an eye . . .

This one was taken looking straight up to see the clouds darting

in all directions.

They all enlarge for closer inspection.

With many thanks to the Skywatch team for keeping this great meme afloat.

World Bird Wednesday & Nature Notes - White-Plumed Honeyeater

Nothing spectacular today, just a White-Plumed Honeyeater,

Lichenostomus penicillatus, that spends its summers on our

farm darting around at high speed.

photographed in our wild wood across the creek with shadows

everywhere.

For a better view it can be enlarged.

Thanks to World Birds Wednesday for providing this venue to show our birds,

and to Rambling Woods for Nature notes. Both can be accesses by clicking on

the respective Logos.

MY WORLD ~ A Walk in the Woods

We went seeking our favourite walk in the Pinus radiata

plantation only to find the whole forest razed to the ground

and an uninspiring hill of stumps left. Somewhat daunted

we drove to our mushrooming spot only to find KEEP OUT

signs and Falling Tree warnings. There was heavy machinery

resting among the rows. Thank goodness it was the first day

of the year and even the loggers had a holiday.

Braving the prohibition signs and warnings that we were being

watched, we entered this sunlit cathedral of trees and breathed

in its warm fragrance feeling bereft that within a week or two

this too would be lost to us. There was birdsong all around us

but the trees stood silently fearful.

A mob of kangaroos spied in the distance as well as all the

birds would lose their homes. An ecosystem built up over

40 years would be no more.

With our unusually late spring rains, a crop of mushrooms

had surfaced and dried in the scorching sumer sun.

I found a comfortable seat on this stump that had brought forth

families of witchetty grubs, to sit and contemplate and try to

catch at least one of the multitude of butterflies in my sights.

It seems I took a little too long over it

but did catch one of those elusive critters after all.

So onward into the unknown, where will we find such places to

walk in so close to home?

As always, all photos enlarge.

A Happy New Year to all our Hosts at MY WORLD!

Click on the Logo to join in or just take a peek.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Grevillea robusta

Grevillea robusta, the largest of our Grevilleas, matures to

a 35m tree. Used for honey production and beloved of honey

eating birds such as Honeyeaters, Lorekeets and Rosellas.

It is blooming in my garden as I write.

Happy New Year to all you flower lovers, keep smelling the roses!

Click on the Logo to join TODAY'S FLOWERS or just enjoy them.

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ This and That

The fence and I . . .

What shadows lurk to hide the bold

or trees on water tanks enfold?

To any and all who have as yet not heard me wish you a

Happy New Year, I do so now: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This is one day of the week when we shoot at shadows, so,

shoot away and join HEY HARRIET by clicking on the logo.