I like that flapjack succulents are easy to grow from cuttings, their sculptural appearance and their colours which intensifies in direct sunlight.
Photography
Red and green must be seen
My great local is Morton Park;
For walking Stan and birds to hark
Smell the Oleander tree,
Flowers, palms and shrubs to see,
Tall gums, gingers, lilies too;
Sunshine, clouds and skies of blue.
Space for picnics and to play,
Shortcut home or sit and stay.
The shades of red and green
Can’t be missed, must be seen!
Coleus colour
My interest in growing plants was sparked in primary school, each winter we would plant bulbs, secrete them away in a dark place and wait in excited anticipation until the pointed, shiny green shoots began to appear through the black soil. This form of gardening is perfect for my personality as there is a concept, an expected result, a limited amount of follow up and the product is a thing of beauty.
I recall winning a book prize for growing a coleus as an assignment in one of the infant classes. The credit should have gone to my mother who tirelessly watered, turned and measured the growth of that plant.
In adulthood my fascination with plants remains, I took a cutting from a roadside plant about three years ago to produce this particular coleus. A ruthless pruning each year produces a colourful show. The small lime tree doesn’t seem to mind sharing a pot.
The coleus’ colour varies according to the light, from vibrant pink and red to purple and blue.
Miniature rose
If a rose arose from prose
T’would be poetry I suppose
Bud to bloom of words it grows
‘Tis escape from a world of woes
(C) Robert Jones All Rights Reserved
Plea for advice
Helter-skelter bark o’er limbs entwined
Twisting up, around and down to ground.
Memories of life and death enshrined
In branches, trunk, roots; barely a sound.
Majestic earthbound spirit of tree
Do me the honour, share thy stories.
I make this humble request of thee,
Let me now learn from past glories.
Hold me in thy rugged embrace here
To share wisdom and be enlightened.
Can we commune on life, death and fear,
Nature’s cycles and of peace strengthened?
Of man’s selfishness now and of old;
Magic talismans of power sought;
In keeping Earth’s balance be told,
The twists and turns of battles fought?
In struggles between darkness and light
Is there a part for me in this plight?
How can I help to make it alright?
What’s required to ensure future bright?
(c) Robert Jones 2014 All Rights Reserved
Rainbow thinking
Having had my camera since October 2012, I am still learning how to use it. I have to confess to only opening the instruction manual one year after receiving it for my birthday.
This is the latest picture of the refracted light on the bathroom tiles.
Related posts:
Refracted light
Rainbow spiral
Jewel Bugs
When I first spotted these lustrous beetles going about there business on a tree trunk I thought they might be Christmas beetles. A bit of google research revealed their true identity.
According to the Queensland Museum website they are commonly known as jewel bugs. This particular species is the Hibiscus Harlequin Bug (tectocoris diophthalmus).
Females lay clusters of eggs around twigs and guard them until they hatch. The nymphs are often a different colour to the adults. The Hibiscus Harlequin Bug is found in coastal dunes, rainforest, open forest and gardens in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea and some Pacific islands.
Length about 15 mm. The body is rounded and convex. Its colour varies, from pale orange to heavily patterned with metallic green, blue and red.
Overcoming gravity
I have spent the last three weeks enjoying catching up with friends and family, chilling on the deck, walking Stan and bobbing around in the pool. What a shock I had this morning when I enthusiastically suggested going to the gym. The gravitational pull of the earth seems to have increased ten-fold.
I was exhausted after five minutes, persisting with my cardio workout on the cross trainer for another twenty was doubly challenging when consciously staying in the moment. This is definitely a time to let your mind wander and unconsciously let the minutes fly by.
I was thrilled yesterday to be able to capture this image of a lorikeet in a nearby bottlebrush tree, they deal with gravity with dignity and grace, I have a lot to learn
Cool shadow
When the Sun starts its journey from directly overhead towards its setting in the west it is a challenge to find shade walking from Circular Quay to Bennelong Point, Sydney, NSW, Australia. The light was so bright on this day that I hadn’t realised that I’d chopped the front of the Carnival Spirit cruise ship off until I got home. Even so I achieved my objective of capturing the cool water bound shadow of the ship.
The appearance of the jet boat in the photograph is a pleasant accident.
NYE Sydney Harbour 2013
As the years sail by the New Year’s Eve celebrations and more importantly the fireworks over Sydney Harbour evolve, adapt and change. We have been fortunate to experience the show from a yacht in the Harbour in 1998 and from the roof of the old casino on one of the Welsh Bay wharves in 1999. Since then we have seen them up close next to the Opera House and in the distance from apartments in Kings Cross.
Over the last few years we have opted for an inner west dinner followed by viewing from about 5km away, a deliberate choice to avoid the crowds. We usually record the televised coverage of the event to watch on New Year’s Day.
This year we popped over to the Opera House after lunch on Monday 30 December. The pictures capture a glimpse of the pre-Eve excitement and some of the crowd control measures being used.
The fireworks shows have increased from two to three this year, the following information is from the official website City of Sydney information
9 pm Family Fireworks Display
10:30 pm Telstra Design-A-Firework Show
12 Midnight Fireworks Display
Happy New Year!
