RAINY NIGHT

It's been a cold and rainy couple of days in Melbourne and as the night comes early with the days ever-shortening, the best place to be is at home as early as one can!

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
|and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

WINTER IS HERE

We've had a very wintry day today, with cold, wet weather suddenly stopping the fine golden Autumn days that we had enjoyed until now. We need the rain, so roll on Winter!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

RAIN

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

QUOKKA

The quokka (Setonix brachyurus), the only member of the genus Setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.

Quokkas can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, in particular on Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany. A small mainland colony exists in the protected area of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, where they co-exist with the critically endangered Gilbert's potoroo.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNRISE SILHOUETTES

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

ROSE BOUQUET

The last Autumn roses picked from our garden, as the blooming season well and truly ends. No more roses till next Spring!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

COLD SUNRISE

Autumn is leaving us and Winter is ready to hop in. It's cold in the morning!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

AT SOUTHBANK

We are beginning to see a return to normality in Melbourne, with traffic and crowds coming back to almost pre-COVID levels. I also heard/saw quite a few overseas visitors in the city the other day... And then we heard about Monkeypox!

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

AUTUMN GARDEN

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

CROSSING

Everyone is in a hurry, It's getting a bit nippy outside these days...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

And also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

BUTTERFLY

The small white cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is also known as the small cabbage white and in New Zealand, simply as white butterfly. The names "cabbage butterfly" and "cabbage white" can also refer to the large white.

The butterfly can be distinguished by the white colour with small black dots on its wings. It is distinguished from the large white, by its smaller size and lack of the black band at the tip of their forewings. It is widespread and populations are found across Europe, North Africa, Asia, and Great Britain. It has also been accidentally introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand.

The caterpillar of this species is seen as a pest for commercial agriculture. Often referred to as the "imported cabbageworm" they are a serious pest to cabbage and other mustard family crops.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

PLUMBAGO

Plumbago is a genus of 10–20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus Ceratostigma).

The species include herbaceous plants and shrubs growing to 0.5–2 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, entire, 0.5–12 cm  long, with a tapered base and often with a hairy margin. The flowers are white, blue, purple, red, or pink, with a tubular corolla with five petal-like lobes; they are produced in racemes.

The flower calyx has glandular trichomes (hairs), which secrete a sticky mucilage that is capable of trapping and killing insects; it is unclear what the purpose of these trichomes is; protection from pollination by way of "crawlers" (ants and other insects that typically do not transfer pollen between individual plants), or possible protocarnivory.

Mature plumbago leaves often have a whitish residue on their undersides, a feature that can confuse gardeners. While this white material resembles a powdery mildew disease or a chemical spray deposit, it is actually a natural exudate from "chalk" glands that are found on the Plumbago species.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

RAINY

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

VICTORIAN MANSION

The discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 led to the Victorian gold rush, and Melbourne grew rapidly. By 1865, Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city. This economic boom peaked during the 1880's and Melbourne had become the richest city in the world.

The city entered the "Marvellous Melbourne" boom period, transforming into one of the most important cities in the British Empire and one of the largest and wealthiest in the world. English architects flocked to Melbourne, looking for an opportunity to show their skills (and make their fortune).

The late 1800s saw the introduction of several grand English-inspired mansions, particularly in East Melbourne, Fitzroy, St Kilda, Kew, Hawthorn and Albert Park. Many of these mansions have survived in Melbourne, and some have become museums, others have been acquired and restored for special purposes, while many are still private residences. Heritage overlays protect these buildings and ensure they are preserved for the future.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

BLUE WORLD

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

MY PLANET

View from my window through a small crystal ball. Note the photo is rotated 180˚ as the image through the glass is normally seen upside down.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

BUGS

Agonoscelis rutila (horehound bug), is a stink bug which sucks the sap of the horehound plant, causing wilting of new shoots. They have five nymphal stages in their development. Although they usually attack horehound, they may also swarm on a variety of other trees and shrubs.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

RAINBOW

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow." - Gilbert K. Chesterton

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

ARISARUM

Arisarum vulgare, common name Cobra Plant, Friar's Cowl or Larus, is a herbaceous, perennial, with an underground rhizome plant in the genus Arisarum belonging to the family Araceae. Arisarum vulgare reaches an average height of 10–30 cm.

The leaves of this geophyte plant are basal only, wide, ovate to arrow-shaped, with a petiole 12–15 cm long. The stems are erect and unbranched, usually mottled and grow directly from the underground rhizome. A single leaflike bract (spathe) forms a purplish-brown or olive green striped tube about 15 cm long, with an open upper part helmet or hood-shaped curved forward. It encloses a fleshy greenish club-like spike (spadix) bent forward, protruding from the tube and bearing at the bottom minute purple violet flowers. The 20 male flowers are located above the four to six female, with sterile flowers completely missing.

The flowering period extends from Autumn to Spring. The sexes are united in the same individual plant. Pollination is granted by insects (entomophily). The fruits are greenish berries of about 1 centimetre long. This plant native to Mediterranean region of southern Europe and northern Africa, east to the Caucasus, and west to the Canary Islands, the Azores and Madeira.

Arisarum vulgare prefers grassy fields and rocky scrubland, forests and wasteland, mainly in shady and cool places and in moist soils, at an altitude of 0–800 metres above sea level. Grow this cautiously in the garden as it can become quite invasive.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

AUTUMN LEAVES

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

GIPPSLAND PASTORAL

Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of 41,556 km2 located further east of the Shire of Cardinia (Melbourne's outermost southeastern suburbs) between Dandenong Ranges and Mornington Peninsula, and is bounded to the north by the mountain ranges and plateaus/highlands of the High Country (which separate it from Hume region in Victoria's northeast), to the southwest by the Western Port Bay, to the south and east by the Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea, and to the east and northeast by the Black-Allan Line (the easternmost section of the Victoria/New South Wales state border).

The Gippsland region is generally divided by the Strzelecki Ranges and tributaries of the Gippsland Lakes into five statistical sub-regions — namely the West Gippsland, South Gippsland, Latrobe Valley, Central Gippsland and East Gippsland. As at the 2016 Australian census, Gippsland had a population of 271,266, with the principal population centres of the region, in descending order of population, Traralgon, Warragul, Drouin, Bairnsdale, Moe, Sale, Morwell, Wonthaggi, Leongatha, and Phillip Island. Gippsland is best known for its primary production such as mining, power generation and farming as well as its tourist destinations — Phillip Island, Wilsons Promontory, the Gippsland Lakes, Walhalla, the Baw Baw Plateau, and the Strzelecki Ranges.

It is a convenient region close to Melbourne for a day-trip, but not only. There are many attractive spots to see and many wonderful small towns to see and spots of  historical interest to visit.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

SEASONAL

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, grandmothers, foster mothers, mothers-in-law, stepmothers and mothers-to-be! A painting I completed today. For more of my artwork, visit: https://www.instagram.com/jammysevenk/

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

WATER DRAGON

Male Eastern Water Dragon, (Intellagama lesueurii). Australian water dragons have long powerful limbs and claws for climbing, a long muscular laterally-compressed tail for swimming, and prominent nuchal and vertebral crests (a nuchal crest is a central row of spikes at the base of the head). These spikes continue down the spine, getting smaller as they reach the base of the tail.

Including their tails, which comprise about two-thirds of their total length, adult females grow to about 60 cm long, and adult males can grow slightly longer than one metre and weigh about 1 kg. Males show bolder colouration and have larger heads than females. Colour is less distinct in juveniles.

Australian water dragons are extremely shy in the wild, but readily adapt to continual human presence in suburban parks and gardens. They are fast runners and strong climbers. When faced with a potential predator, they seek cover in thick vegetation, or drop from an overhanging branch into water. They are able to swim totally submerged, and rest on the bottom of shallow creeks or lakes for up to 90 minutes, to avoid detection.

Both males and females display typical agamid behaviour such as basking, arm-waving and head-bobbing. Fast arm-waving signals dominance, while slow arm-waving signals submission. Males are territorial, and in areas of higher population density, males exhibit displays of aggression toward other males including posturing, chasing and fighting.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

CRESCENT MOON

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SCABIOUS

Scabiosa is a genus in the teasel Family Dipsacaceae of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious; however some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as Knautia and Succisa; at least some of these were formerly placed in Scabiosa. Another common name for members of this genus is pincushion flowers. 

Members of this genus are native to Europe and Asia. Some species of Scabiosa, notably small scabious (S. columbaria) and Mediterranean sweet scabious (S. atropurpurea) have been developed into cultivars for gardeners. Illustrated here is the Scabiosa columbaria cultivar 'Pink Mist'.

Scabiosa plants have many small flowers of soft lavender blue, lilac or creamy white colour borne in a single head on a tall stalk. Scabious flowers are nectar rich and attract a variety of insects including moths and butterflies such as the Six-spot Burnet. Scabiosa species are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Grey Pug.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

AUTUMNAL

It was definitely autumnal today in Melbourne: Cold, wet and gray!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

IN THE CITY

Melbourne's plane trees are in their autumnal garb. The weather prediction for tomorrow is for cool weather and rain, with even some hail and snow on higher ground. Nevertheless, we are beginning to see some international travellers visiting our city once again...

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

AUTUMN TETRAPTYCH

Digital collage of photos, artwork and moods of Autumn.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

AT ST VINCENT'S HOSPITAL

Utilitarian architecture at its best (worst?). One of the alleys in St Vincent's Hospital, which is certainly one of the best hospitals in Melbourne. On the strength of that we forgive the architecture...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme