A MtLawleyShire Sunset

I am still really busy – study is really piling up as the completion date looms, and work, of course.  But this?  This is a MtLawleyShire sunset – in a month where it has been raining almost non-stop, there have been few sunsets.  Mostly just grey skies. So I had to share.

This afternoon (25 Sept), I saw the clouds had lifted and there were actually rays of light:

 

would it be worthwhile, I wondered, walking down the street?  The rays shooting out from behind the cloud were wonderful.

 

then, as I watched – was that actually the sun?

It was!  Slipping down from behind the cloud.  Yes, there was cloud in front,because there was no light, just this amazing sight:

 

and there it was – full and round and yet, not blinding:

 

It descended so swiftly (& I was interrupted by one of my feline friends, though it was too dull to photograph her, but when I looked back, it was descending towards the horizon and the next band of heavy cloud:

 

I love the clouds above and around as well:

 

Last glimpse:

Then it was all glow – shooting up and painting the clouds:

 

and it faded so quickly:

 

Leaving barely more than a memory against the coming night:

MtLawleyShire’s Hyde Park flowers

These were taken last week – this week’s weather was not conducive and due to work and university commitments (presentation) I didn’t have tome to explore further.  Tomorrow won’t be much better – storms and winds and rain!

So, here they are – some wild flowers, & other delights, like ducklings and the Hyde Park Swan family 🙂

Before I got to Hyde Park, I passed the flame trees – these are the last of the flame tree flowers.  I will miss them so much, unless where I end up has flame trees.  I hope so.

It’s so long since I’ve been to Hyde Park, and Spring is touching it, though the trees aren’t out.  Some of the flowers are though:

gorgeously delicate & brilliantly coloured – the 2nd is commonly known as the ‘bacon-and-egg’ flower

 

I love the pink and gold of this variety of bottlebrush

 

I don’t know what this one is, but I love its geometry & colour, its singularity.

 

And the blue of these!  There weren’t heaps of them open, but when in swathes, they are amazing:

 

Now – these are flowers of a different sort: the Hyde Park Swan family sunning themselves on the grass

 

 

Cygnets preening:

 

cheeky willy wagtail & a swamp hen

 

 

an ibis amongst the foliage:

a rare native parrot (there were a pair of them) in a plane tree:

& a small family of ducks (I hope they are wary of the swamp hen)

 

the ducklings are so cute:

 

then it was time to go to Beaufort Street to meet my brother (over from England) for coffee, but on the way: wildflowers growing on the street verge

 

 

a lemon Grevillea:

 

a lily in a garden of shadows:

 

I just love these:

 

Onto Beaufort Street: these bathtubs are a wonderful addition to the streetscape – 2 planted with flowers

& one, outside a cafe, with herbs

In the evening, I caught sunset glow:

Then evening with Venus and the moon:

 

Finally, after coffee with the brother, walking home in the dark – an experiment that worked: rose with flash:

I hope you have enjoyed this brief taste of Spring and as I write, the rain is roaring and pouring down, over-spilling from the gutters and flooding the courtyard.

No photos tomorrow.

 

Tuesday evening flowers on MtLawleyShire

I know – it is almost a month since I have posted anything.  I have been working very hard which leaves time for photos & not for posting.

I will catch up with all your posts soon – but please have patience with me.  And forgive me.

So, a few flowers from this evening’s wanderings (birds in another post).

There is almost no blossom left now, all the trees are sprouting green leaves and the ground is bare of fallen petals.  But I found this one.

 

Flame tree flowers can be counted on two hands… this is a new style I am trialling: playing with contrasts.  It works quite well in some cases.  With cloudy skies, but not with blue skies.  It will be a winter/spring thing, I think.

Pretty flowers – I love that pink.  The white are on a shrub and are perfumed.

 

 

Pretty yellow growing outside someone’s fence:

 

 

A huge azalea bush:

A lily in an abandoned garden:

 

 

All the bushes are sprouting and budding, but there aren’t many roses around yet, but I found a few:

   

Scarlet Grevillea

Gorgeous pink native blossom:

And these – I love these.  I know people have told me what they are but I never remember!

Lit by sunset light when the sun broke through the lowering clouds for a few moments:

 

& here she is, the prettiest, fluffiest flower of all seasons (even though she was just wanting her dinnah)  It’s another example of this new style I am playing with.

 

I hope you enjoyed this wee post.  I will try to post more, but I entering the hardest stage of the PhD and tonight am preparing for a collegium tomorrow night at my university.  No stress!!  AAARGH!