Flowers & excitement in – & for – MtLawleyShire

Friday was sunny but very windy, not much of a chance for photos but I got some flowers:

2 shades of pink on a pink bottlebrush:

 

blossom in the shadows:

fragrant jasmine in the lee of a wall:

 

daisies sheltered by being low on the ground:

and the little daisy feral from South Africa that so many Australian children (me included) remember for daisy chains:

the Walcott Street/Beaufort Street intersection with some art deco architecture on one side, and the view towards the city:

 

& the building of the clouds:

Saturday the clouds divulged all their promise: it was all house cleaning while it rained & stormed outside.

Sunday?

Sunday I went to the city.  These two photos are outside the Perth Convention centre: sunlight coming through leaves and the convention centre itself.

  

inside the convention centre – this happened: I was awarded my doctorate

We went to a conference in England together and graduated together – magic 🙂

me with a new little friend as a mark of teh occasion from friends who came with me:

& some shots of the city as we drove home to sandwiches and champagne:

 

  

I am slowly returning to earth.  Sandwiches & champagne were wonderful with friends & supporters of my long PhD journey.  Those years also gav  e me photography and painting.

Now to apply it 😀

Rain in MtLawleyShire

In complete contrast with yesterday’s summery temperatures, today was wind and rain and cold!

But rain – in the garden is my delight, as it leaves gems on hanging tendrils and fronds:

 

on tiny flowers and leaves:

 

hidden behind leaves they gleam and dripping from leaves:

 

clinging to woody jasmine stems:

 

gleaming in budding leaf clusters:

 

in the shadows:

and on small groups of freesias refusing to bend beneath the rainfall

MtLawleyShire’s Hyde Park

Walking through the park on a warm sunny day, even if windy, is a lovely experience.  And although Spring, the plane trees are barely coming into leaf so you can still see the grace of their essential selves:

 

I wanted to see if the Hyde Park swan family had cygnets yet, but there was only this one.  By himself.  Where is his mate?  On the nest? With very young cygnets perhaps?  🙂  I do like the way he comes out of shadow, in these photos:

 

Sunlight falling on bright new leaves on the eastern island:

highlighting the way in through the cloud blossom tree forest:

 

I love this old tree:

and the mighty Moreton Bay figs dappled in sunlight:

 

and views of the park with the wonderful trees backlight by bright green leaves on native trees:

 

 

 

finally, at home – this pyrocumulus (cloud born of smoke and heat of bushfire) in the southeast – hopefully not a portent of the coming summer

Flowers and bees in MtLawleyShire

Yesterday, it reached 32 degrees.  Spring had truly sprung.  It was the earliest date for such a high temperature.  the sun was bright, but sadly, it was also incredibly windy which meant it was not ideal for taking photos of flowers.  But I got a few – & some with bees 🙂

Small Grevillea with a busy little bee:

 

 

and this is a hoverfly, resting on rather than hovering above, a bright yellow daisy:

 

More Grevillea – the everyday ones, orange ones, the magical pale ones and the rare ones:

 

 

 

 

 

the brilliance of blue leschenaultia on roadsides and in Hyde Park:

 

Geraldton wax, marigold and a rose unblurred by wind:

 

Hibiscus and a lovely fluffy looking flower:

 

blossom on a tree in the park

wildflowers:

 

and I just love these tiny, flamboyant bottlebrush 🙂

A little walk in MtLawleyShire’s urban Spring

A short walk down to Beaufort Street (& no tripping over pavement today, thank you!), and sun everywhere, spilling down on car windscreens and bouncing the light around.  and on flowers too:

roadside weeds and ferals – this is the tiny flower, onion flower, that, since childhood, I have recognised as the portent of Spring:

buttercups (don’t know if they really are, I’ve just always called them that):

 

dandelion heads: constellations against the darkness of distant foliage:

 

my favourite feral – freesia:

A daisy in the wind and a golden hibiscus (with bonus ladybird on the lowest petal):

 

Sage flowers in sunlight & shadow:

& these: Grazia?  I can never remember and people have told me sooooo many times!  Never mind, they are lovely in their infinite variety:

 

 

the centre of one of them:

blossom form a mini orchard behind a tall, dark, wooden fence:

 

not many roses as most are either recently pruned or recovering with new shoots, but there were these two:

 

Grevillea are certainly amongst my favourites of the native flowers, and seem to be around most of the year.  Some, however, do come out in Spring, such as the little white ball of beauty pictured here:

 

& this – a flower from a succulent and the wonderfully pollen-full complexity of its centre:

 

There will probably be another post with more flowers within a few days.  Spring is good for that 🙂

 

A (slightly eventful) walk in MtLawleyShire

I went a-walking to the post-office in the bright warm, early spring sun.  And came across a pink bottlebrush – so soft-looking, more so than the regular scarlet variety:

and in a  daze of looking-around-ness, I failed to see where my feet were and went down, BAM! – on hands and knees, watching in horror as my camera struck the pavement.

OUCH!

I sat, rubbing my knees, looking at my poor camera.  Oh – a chip in the glass!  Noooooo!  Phew.  The filter.  I checked.  All worked, but oh my knees were stinging.  At least I hadn’t ripped my jeans.  My hands were a bit ripped up.  Well, nothing else to do but get up and continue walking and be grateful no-one had seen me.

But I was wrong – I hand been seen:

What was I doing down there, they seemed to be saying (though a friend said no way – they are too stupid.  I’m not so sure).

Relieved my camera was working, I continued walking, defiantly not limping.  Camellia and Grevillea flowers I managed to capture despite the wind that had sprung up:

 

Outside the post office, a wonderful sheoak, in flower, tossing in the wind:

Sculpture on Walcott and the flats it is attached to, shadow bringing out the graffiti inexpertly hidden by layers of new paint:

 

On Beaufort Street, signs of Spring despite the heavy traffic: flowers on grass plants and pretty little blossoms on young street trees:

on the walk home, late afternoon sun through the leaves of a hibiscus:

A cape lilac yet to send forth new shoots, and a raven in the branches, causing the local honey eaters much angst.

 

a plane tree on Vincent in the late afternoon sun, pale and wintered still:

the flower of a vegetable plant and a tiny, early rose in the shadows of a garden:

 

the sun is gone: clouds and storm.  later in the evening, it pelted down!

This morning was sunny and the bees were out in the lavender:

 

tiny jasmine sprinkled through the foliage of other trees:

 

and the prettiest flower of all, up on the pergola roof:

my aches and pains have subsided and I didn’t rip my jeans but skinned my knee like any 12 year old in the playground.  When will I learn 😀

Wildflowers in MtLawleyShire

The wilderness of some verge gardens is simply wonderful.  Some have planted wildflowers and as Spring comes, they bloom.  These flowers are mostly from a young garden, nothing is very big, but everything is flowering.  In a couple of years, it will be a glorious little wilderness, planned with paths and a little pool which will be delightful for bids and bees visiting to sip the nectar:

And all of these are from that one verge garden – Kangaroo paw:

 

golden flowers:

 

blue leschenaultia:

 

bacaon-and-egg flowers:

 

Geraldton wax and something unknown (to me):

 

& these delightful wee Grevillea:

 

Elsewhere along the streets and in people’s gardens, flowers are bursting out.

Bottlebrush:

 

& more on the way:

a different type of bottlebrush glowing in the late sun:

 

Finally – more Grevillea from some of my favourite bushes:

 

and these – gold with the late sun:

 

 

Spring in MtLawleyShire

It was a very Spring-like day today.  Rain tomorrow and early next week, then Spring will hit with temperatures moving to the high twenties.  Today, though, was pretty and pleasant, warm and quiet and filled with colour.  No hint of the terrible summer to come.

And a touch of magic: a fairy door found close to where I live, at the base of a Moreton Bay fig tree shading a street corner.

the area was filled with bird song and the magic of colour:

jonquils and pelargoniums:

 

tiny daisies and the pink variety of buttercup:

 

the lupins have bloomed all over the empty block:

 

not sure what this is with its perfume filling the area, but here are buds and flowers both:

 

flowers of a broad bladed grass plant:

 

an ornamental freesia and an early rose:

 

poppies:

 

the rich hues of an exotic hibiscus squeezing out through a fence:

grass heads catching the last of the light:

 

     

and a cat caught in almost sunset, watching me:

 

A MtLawleyShire resident: Charlie and the flowers

In my neighbourhood live many cats, and many I have becomes friends with.  the most special of these is Charlie who lives with his mum in the very spot I love taking autumn, winter & early Spring sunset photos from.

He is a cheeky boy, is young Charlie.  He is a year older than my Fattee Cattee (which make shim about 8) and has his mum wrapped around his little claw.

This evening, he was in a very playful mood.  He often is, but I haven’t ever seen him like this before.  I think he originally saw something in the clump of everlastings – maybe a skink or a gecko.  Whatever it was, it escaped and Charlie continued playing with the flowers.  Some of the photos are blurred because they are ‘action shots’ and he is being a fast, furious kitty 😀

 

What’s in there?

there’s something in there – I heard it!

come out! come out!

I’ll pretend not to be looking…

Ha!  I’ve got…

I was sure it was in there

I 

Has to be in there

I’ll get you…

What?  What are you looking at….

there is something in here.  There is.  There is!

lovely flowers, pretty flowers….la la la…

No – he caught not a thing, but the flowers were somewhat depleted so he leapt away, quite pleased with himself.  Him mum laughed and observed she might have to do something about them tomorrow as they were looking rather worse for wear!

A Feast of Flowers in MtLawleyShire

It’s the first day of Spring – as far as the calendar goes, at least.  And the last few days have been too cold and cloudy if not outright rainy for flowers in other people’s gardens.  There are no roses as they are all only putting forth their first shoots, but there have been flowers, and if I was not so thick and weary with ‘flu, I would be out hunting more.

Here is a selection of flowers from the last two weeks, and as it’s officially Spring, I’ll start with blossom – almond blossom, complete with a singing honeyeater.  This tree is always the first to burst into blossom around here:

 

 

 

Native blossoms from around the area:

 

 

 

Geraldton wax & native wisteria:

 

Beautiful iris:

 

camellia and lemon flower:

 

Daisies:

 

poppy & ranunculus:

 

Jonquil & dandelion seed head:

freesias and snowdrops:

 

Dietes and something purple 🙂 :

 

and weeds – lupins and others:

 

lily:

 

and a variety of hibiscus:

 

 

I hope you enjoyed all the colour 🙂