WINTER WALK

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WINTER WOOLIES

It was 0˚C this morning and everyone rugged up for their outing...

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FLYING HOME

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VIOLETS

You know that Winter is almost over when violets begin to bloom in the garden!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

IVY BERRIES

Hedera helix (common ivy, English ivy, European ivy, or just ivy) is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, native to most of Europe and western Asia. A rampant, clinging evergreen vine, it is a familiar sight in gardens, waste spaces, on house walls, tree trunks and in wild areas across its native habitat. It is labelled as an invasive species in a number of areas where it has been introduced.

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.

CITY

 At the crossroads of Elizabeth and Collins Sts in the City.

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

POWERFUL

Germinating seeds and growing plants exert tremendous forces on inanimate objects around them that confine them. Plants can break concrete, crush stone and split hardwood. More can be read about this process and its mechanism here.

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

FENNEL SEED

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FLYING FOX

This is an Australian Grey Headed Flying Fox (bat), which is  currently classified as a threatened species in Australia. Flying foxes are an example of the dire effects of altering our natural environment. Due to enormous rates of deforestation in Queensland and a greater food supply in south eastern Australia, Grey Headed Flying Foxes migrated down south and found a new habitat in Melbourne's Royal Botanical Gardens. Due to the public demand their removal from the Botanical Gardens, the State government coordinated a mass habitat relocation of the bats using sonar to direct them to possible habitats. The bats decided to choose Yarra Bend Park, where they now live happily!

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MOON AND GUM TREE

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TURNERA

Turnera subulata is a species of flowering plant in the Passifloraceae family known by the common names white buttercup, sulphur alder, politician's flower, dark-eyed turnera, and white alder. Despite its names, it is not related to the buttercups or the alders. It is native to Central and South America, from Panama south to Brazil. It is well known in many other places as an introduced species, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, several other Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, and Florida in the United States. It is commonly cultivated as a garden flower.

This plant is a perennial herb growing from a thick taproot and woody stem base. It reaches a maximum height around 80 cm. The leaves are roughly oval in shape with toothed edges. The undersides are glandular and coated in white hairs. The upper surfaces may be somewhat hairy, as well. The leaves are up to 9 cm long. Flowers occur in the leaf axils, borne in calyces of hairy, glandular sepals. The petals are rounded to oval, the longest exceeding 3 cm. They are white or yellowish with darker bases. The dark patches at the bases are nectar guides. The centre of the flower is rough, said to feel like a cat's tongue. The fruit is a hairy capsule containing seeds with white arils. The seeds are dispersed by ants, who are likely attracted to their high lipid content.

This plant has uses in traditional medicine. It is used for skin, gastrointestinal, and respiratory ailments. In Brazil, the plant is made into cough syrup, and the roots are said to be good for dysmenorrhea. Laboratory tests showed it has some inhibitory activity against various fungi, such as Candida glabrata, Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, A. fumigatus, Penicillium chrysogenum, and Candida albicans.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

JACK FROST VISITS

We've been having very cold mornings and Jack Frost has left his calling card...

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 THE PARKLANDS

Winter sunshine and cold weather doesn't stop intrepid walkers from enjoying the views at the Darebin Parklands, in Alphington, inner suburban Melbourne.

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

MIDWINTER

We are experiencing a cold July as Winter is upon us Downunder. The Northeast coast of Australia has had record rainfall with serious flooding, while in Victoria the temperature has dipped to freezing, or well below, with bumper snowfall in the mountains. In Melbourne we are experiencing an Antarctic blast of cold weather and now is the time to enjoy the pleasures of Winter. Our Wattles and Wintersweet flowers have bloomed and if we venture out, we enjoy the rain and cold, or inside, the cheering fire and hot cuppas!

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

and also part of the Seasons meme.

HANGING ON

An Autumn leaf managing to hang on in there, right in the middle of our midwinter!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

SPOTTED DOVE

The spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. The species has been introduced to many parts of the world and feral populations have become established.

This species was formerly included in the genus Streptopelia with other turtle-doves, but studies suggest that they differ from typical members of that genus. This dove is long tailed buff brown with a white-spotted black collar patch on the back and sides of the neck. The tail tips are white and the wing coverts have light buff spots. There are considerable plumage variations across populations within its wide range.

The species is found in light forests and gardens as well as in urban areas. They fly from the ground with an explosive flutter and will sometimes glide down to a perch. It is also called the mountain dove, pearl-necked dove, lace-necked dove, and spotted turtle-dove.

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AT NIGHT

Princes Bridge in the City, illuminated in lurid green! The sodium street lamps and city lights make the cloud-covered sky a dark rusty red.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

JAPONICA

Chaenomeles japonica is a species of Japanese Quince in the Rosaceae family. It is a thorny deciduous shrub that is commonly cultivated. It is shorter than another commonly cultivated species C. speciosa, growing to only about 1 m in height. The fruit is called Kusa-boke (草木瓜) in Japanese.

Chaenomeles japonica is also popularly grown in bonsai. It is best known for its colourful spring flowers of red, white or pink. It produces apple-shaped fruit that are a golden-yellow colour containing red-brown seeds. The fruit is edible, but hard and astringent-tasting, unless bletted. The fruit is occasionally used in jelly and pie making as an inferior substitute for its cousin, the true quince, Cydonia oblonga.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CALLERY PEARS

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and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

IN THE COUNTRY

Countryside near Melbourne.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme.

MY ART

Another mosaic of pieces of my art in mixed media. You can see more of my work on Instagram: @jammysevenk

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

COOTS IN THE RAIN

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PUP

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DUSK

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HIATUS

HIBERNATION

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

BACH IN CHURCH

The Scots' Church, a Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia, was the first Presbyterian Church to be built in the Port Phillip District (now the state of Victoria). It is located in Collins Street and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia. It has been described as "an icon for well over a hundred years." The foundation stone of the first purpose built church building was laid on 22 January 1841 and it was opened on 3 October 1841.

It was designed to seat 500 and the contract sum was £2,485 without plastering, gallery, vestry or fittings. The building was opened with temporary seating. Plastering was carried out the following year, proper pews, gallery and vestry were added in 1849 and a spire some years later. The first church building was demolished partly because of concerns that the tower and spire would collapse after it developed huge cracks and became crooked. During the ministry of Rev Peter Menzies (1868–74) the building was too small for the congregation but in any case a building more suited to the site and the social position of the congregation was considered appropriate.

Construction of the current building took place between 1871 and 1874, during the ministry of Rev Irving Hetherington and his colleague Rev Peter Menzies, and was opened on 29 November 1874 with fixed seating for about 900. It was designed by Joseph Reed of the firm Reed and Barnes, and built by David Mitchell, the father of Dame Nellie Melba. Reed and Barnes also designed the Melbourne Town Hall, the State Library of Victoria, Trades Hall, the Royal Exhibition Building, the Wesley Church in Lonsdale Street, the original Presbyterian Ladies' College in East Melbourne, and Collins Street Independent Church, now St. Michael’s Uniting Church, on the opposite corner of Russell Street.

Scots' Church is in the Neo-Gothic style and built of Barrabool freestone, with dressings in Kakanui stone from New Zealand. During the last decades of the nineteenth century the spire of Scots' Church was the tallest structure in Melbourne at about 210 feet from the ground. The interior features the large stained glass window depicting the Last Supper, basalt aisle columns, timber beamed roof and an elevated floor for a good view of the pulpit.

Listening to Bach being played on the organ of this church is a breathtaking experience! Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March [O.S. 21 March] 1685 – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Art of Fugue, the BrandenburgConcertos, and the Goldberg Variations, and for vocal music such as the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach Revival he has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Western musical canon. Here you can listen to some organ music by Bach.

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BADGE HUNTSMAN SPIDER

Neosparassus diana (L. Koch, 1875), the Badge Huntsman spider is widespread across all of Australia in woodland and dry to moist eucalypt forest, less common in the tropical north and the arid areas. It is a large spider, active at night, hunting for prey on treetrunks or on foliage. It has a daytime retreat, sometimes made from leaves woven together, occasionaly under bark.

The female is fawn to orange to pinkish brown. There is a distinctive black shield with two white spots on the underside of abdomen, usually with an orange stripe further towards the rear, this orange sometimes bordered by a black line. The body is flattened, the first two pairs of legs distinctly longer than the others. The female's roundish egg sac is flattenened where attached, about 6mm high and 12mm wide. It feeds on a wide variety of arthropods, including spiders. ♀ 20mm ♂ 16mm 

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SUNSET

A wintry sunset.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme