Thanks to Adventures and Musings of a Hedgewitch I now know the name of the fantastic flowering trees that bring colour to our home suburb. What coincidences that the inspiration for Peace at Home is the shadow of a Crepe Myrtle tree in Winter and that I read about them for first time in Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches based in New Orleans!
The intensity of the sunshine in the pictures gives you a hint of the difference in temperature we experience in Sydney in June compared to January.
Our rights need to earn,
But no bra to burn!
What’s liberating,
Without berating?
Just one public kiss,
A moment of bliss.
Walking hand in hand
Throughout the land,
Swimming in the nude,
It’s natural not lewd.
Equal’s just too much;
Politics and such.
Viva le revolution
The gay marriage solution!
(c) Robert Jones 2014, All Rights Reserved
Quite soon after moving to Sydney a friend gave us a dracaena, it is hardy, easy to grow and prune. The large black plastic pot it came in also had begonias and this succulent. It sends out runners with long fleshy, serrated, elliptic shaped leaves and tall spikes with delicate looking pink bell shaped flowers.
It’s too early for Stan.
“Up too late, let me
rest while I can,
Too bright for sleep
And noisy by half.
My games will keep
Not time for a bath!”
Imagine 30+oC temperatures at dusk, the faint clatter of people, furniture and table wear, a distant scooter; warming up for a Summer’s evening.
One of my pictures from our trip to the Med in 2012. The following quote from Athens Greece Guide, Erechtheum, The Erechtheum of Acropolis, 3rd paragraph, explains what you’re looking at:
The Erechtheum is known mainly through its porch, its columns instead of pillars had six girls (korai) known as the Caryatids (named after the city of Karya in the Peloponnese), but it is not known exactly who they represent. One of the six Caryatids was brought in 1811 by Lord Elgin to Britain (now in the British Museum), the remaining five were replaced by replicas to prevent further damage from the smog (the originals are in the Acropolis Museum).
http://www.athensguide.org/erechtheion-karyatides.html viewed on 22 January 2014.
I like that flapjack succulents are easy to grow from cuttings, their sculptural appearance and their colours which intensifies in direct sunlight.
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!
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.
Celebrate good times, come on! It is Tuesday, two Malibu Martinis, I’m in a warm and fuzzy memory loop. On this day 16 years ago the temperature at Birmingham International Airport was a chilly 6oC. We had spent the previous week getting our apartment ready to be rented out fully furnished and hosting a family day and a kitchen clearing party. Friends and family rummaged through our drawers and cupboards sadly filling carrier bags. We were greeted in departures by our close friends and too many tears.
KLM had a special offer on its business class flights, we had 96kg of checked in luggage plus double the 18kg hand luggage allowance. As we were moving to the other side of the world we took full advantage of the deal – camera bags, handbags, umbrellas, coats, briefcases, boxes of chocolates and yes, hats with corks; 12 pieces of cabin baggage each.
The expression on the face of the of the check-in staff was priceless, as you can imagine they did not know anything about the the offer so promptly took a copy of the KLM notification we had received. It was a challenge to relinquish our trolley before clearing passport control, thankfully the lounge had plenty of storage.
The other passengers did not have much carry on baggage and the cabin crew saw the funny side of our gargantuan predicament, they assisted us onboard, up the stairs and stowed our personal belongings. On this flight we were travelling light, the furniture, pictures and objet d’arts had left the UK two weeks earlier with Pickfords.
Cheers chink, clink here’s to 30oC in Singapore.
theINFP 