MtLawleyShire’s Ravens from Matilda Bay

My last 2 visits to Matilda Bay have been graced with visits from the ravens.  Wonderful birds, clever, personable and their personalities are so visible in face and carriage.

I love taking portraits.

Here we have contemplative, quizzical and slightly surprised

 

The raucous:

 

Quizzical and beautiful:

 

and iconically disconcerting, even slightly creepy:

These, taken as this raven strutted along a stone wall, illustrate a sense of play – and possible threat:

slightly gangsterish: ‘you lookin’ at me?’

 

 

 

MtLawleyShire and Matilda Bay trees

Taken over 2 visits – one a cloudy day with soft, uncertain light – typical look for Autumn though the day itself was humid and warm and unpleasant.  And then there was today: bright and brassy and warm but not humid, the loveliest of Autumn weather (though we need rain).

That Autumn is here is written in the plane trees:

 

I love teh sculptural attitude of these:

Banks of Autumn:

and leaves:

Today – a couple of weeks later: delicate gold.  I am wondering what will remain next time I go!

And then there are the other trees:

on the cloudy day, everything was shrouded in that soft light:

 

even the mighty Moreton Bay fig was softened and others were enriched by a golden sort of light:

 

but today – no such uncertainty, everything written in bold lines of light and shadow:

 

this one – tall in trunk and branch:

 

I love this tree – it is massive & photos don’t do it justice:

 

and these:

 

I do love the trees of Matilda Bay.

Flowers around MtLawleyShire

Despite arthritis, artwork and so much socializing after my PhD results, I have been walking around and taking photos.  This post is filled with some of the flowers I’ve seen over just the last few days.

The wattle is out, golden and fluffy and beautiful:

 

And Autumn is making an appearance, mostly in the quality of the late afternoon light which touched on dwarf Bougainvillea, Lantana and the gold of not-quite sun flowers

 

 

The frangipani are still flowering:

 

 

and so are roses!

Reds:

 

What I call sunburst roses:

 

little pink-white ones:

 

Creamy white ones:

And sumptuous yellow ones:

 

a flower on a vine and light tangled in the spiny leaves of a spear of rosemary:

 

Camellia in a friend’s garden:

 

 

And native flowers – I don’t know what these are:

 

But these are Grevillea:

 

And these?  I think they are South American, but they are a stunning scarlet:

 

and – oh! This?  🙂  She’s the prettiest flower of all the gardens

I will be back soon with sunsets.

MtLawleyShire’s Kitchen Garden dragons

Kitchen Garden dragons – yes they are a thing, but first, the results of my PhD thesis are in and I got a first 🙂

No revisions, unqualified acceptance!!

Once admin is sorted, I will be a Doctor of Philosophy 😀

I am very happy.

And I have also been very busy drawing – unicorns:

‘Cloud’ – white pencil & chinograph on black card

& dragons – Kitchen Garden dragons to be precise:

The Memory Dragon with his plants – poppy, rosemary & rue (the herb of grace).

Coloured pencil on black paper

The Tranquility Dragon with his plants – st john’s wort, valerian (pink & white) and heartsease (pansies & violas).  Though he is not feeling too tranquil at the moment as there is a cat on his tail not letting him arise 🙂

Coloured pencil on black paper

The Rose Dragon – here with dog roses grown for their rosehips, along with their companion plants, geranium, marigold and mint.

Coloured pencil on black paper

And this panel, unfinished, with 4 kitchen garden dragons – lavender (along with nasturtiums), Borage, Chili and Basil (thai and sweet).  There are also pollinators – native australian bees and european honeybees, a caterpillar, ladybirds (on the chilli), cabbage moth and their destructive little caterpillars, and – strangely – a woodmouse.

Coloured pencil on black foamcore.

The flowers and plants in each are botanically correct and it’s a lot of work, but also very enjoyable.  Fattee Cattee doesn’t really enjoy me being so involved though and has managed to destroy one so I had to restart – and even on that one she inflicted (barely visible) damage.

So this is what I have been doing over the last few weeks.  I have been taking other photos, but more of those in posts to come, sunsets on teh beach, sculptures by the sea, flowers and the moon (though in Perth, the sky was clouded for the entire eclipse dammit).

So, see you soon 🙂