WINTER NIGHT

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 BRUNETTI'S

In Lygon St, Carlton's Little Italy, it's almost a sin not to go and have a coffee and cake or lunch at Brunetti's Classico. I remember this small unassuming Italian Café from my student years at the Univeristy of Melbourne around the corner, but it is now bigger, better and more amazing, with the quality of the coffee and food even better.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

OLD DOG...

A sweet little old dog with a wonderful temperament in one of the shops we recently visited.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

CALENDULA BOUQUET

Calendulas are easy to grow, prolific and cheerful flowers that seem to flower all year round. In addition they are useful cut flowers and they last quite long in a vase, brightening up a room during the Winter months.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

STILL WINTER

We may have seen a bit of sun and the almond trees may have bloomed, but it is still Winter...

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.

PORT MELBOURNE BEACH

Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 5 km south-west from Melbourne's Central Business District with the beach stretching along the top eastern end of Port Phillip bay. The beach is close to the CBD district and has excellent public transport access. Dotted with palm trees and wide open sandy beaches, this area is a favourite place for families to spend time.

South Melbourne and Port Melbourne Life Saving Clubs patrol the beach between the Kerferd Road and Lagoon piers. At both clubs you will find toilets, dressing rooms and kiosks. Port Melbourne Beach is one of the closest patrolled beaches to Melbourne city with the Beach Lifesaving Club situated on the foreshore along Beaconsfield Parade. Along this stretch of foreshore there is a low seawall and promenade. When waves are low the beach is quite safe to swim at, however it is advisable to stay on the sand bar and in the patrolled area in front of each club.

You can also surf when the southerly winds are high enough. At the end of each of the Kerferd Road and Lagoon piers you can fish as the waters are quite deep. To the east of Lagoon Pier the beach is quite narrow since the vegetated dunes occupy a large area and are fenced off. All along this area the sand dunes are being re-vegetated with native plants and it is appreciated that you walk on the designated tracks so as not to disturb the plantings.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

WINTER FLOWERS

We are fortunate in Melbourne as our Winter is quite mild. Hence, many flowers are still blooming in our gardens and in the fields in July, our midwinter month.

The mosaic below shows some common flowers that are blossoming right now. Beginning in the upper left and progressing clockwise: Nemesia; Bacopa; Oxalis; Blue Hibiscus; Japonica; Jonquils; Lobelia. In the background you can see some Winter marigolds.

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

COME IN...

Victorian Mansion in Port Melbourne. This beauty is 131 years old!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

SUNNY

Enjoying the Winter sun!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNSET SILHOUETTES

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

ALMOND BLOSSOM

The almond (Prunus dulcis, syn. Prunus amygdalus) is a species of tree native to the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and North Africa, classified in the Rosaceae family. The almond is a deciduous tree, growing 4–10 m in height, with a trunk of up to 30 cm in diameter. The young twigs are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then grey in their second year.

The leaves are 7-12 cm long, with a serrated margin and a 2.5 cm petiole. The flowers are white to pale pink, 3–5 cm diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs and appearing before the leaves in early spring. Almond grows best in Mediterranean climates with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters.

The optimal temperature for their growth is between 15 and 30 °C and the tree buds have a chilling requirement of 300 to 600 hours below 7.2 °C to break dormancy. Almonds begin bearing an economic crop in the third year after planting. Trees reach full bearing five to six years after planting. The fruit matures in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

TWILIGHT

Werribee River in Melbourne's West, at twilight in Winter.

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.

MELBOURNE BY NIGHT

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

WINTER MOSAIC

It was 3˚C when I went out this morning, and while this may not seem too cold for those of you that live in more extreme climatic zones, it was cold enough for us here in Melbourne, where we are used to more equable temperatures even in Winter. So, this mosaic is wintry, today, seeing we are still in Winter, Downunder.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme

and also part of the Seasons meme.

AT THE LOCAL PARK

Sunday at the local park, where junior football is being played in the oval.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

FRENCHY

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

RED SKY IN THE MORNING...

...SAILOR'S WARNING!

And it was certainly true as the wind was blowing all day, the temperature dropped and the rain came!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MALING RD FLOWERS

Maling Rd is a beautiful old-fashioned shopping street in Canterbury, an established suburb to the east of the CBD. It contains over fifty Edwardian-style shops in a pseudo-village setting. Its location was chosen due to its proximity to Canterbury railway station.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

MOSSY ROCKS

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

At the Darebin Parklands in Alphington an inner suburb.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

CALENDS OF WINTER

Calendula is from the Latin term "calendae", - calends, meaning the 'first day of the month'. This is because it was observed that the flower could be seen in flower on all months of the year. This image is a digital mosaic of several photos, assembled as a digital collage in Photoshop.

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

GUM TREES

Eucalyptus is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including Corymbia, they are commonly known as eucalypts or "gum trees". Plants in the genus Eucalyptus have bark that is either smooth, fibrous, hard or stringy, leaves with oil glands, and sepals and petals that are fused to form a "cap" or operculum over the stamens. The fruit is a woody capsule commonly referred to as a "gumnut".

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

CATTLE IN GIPPSLAND

Black Angus cattle originated in Scotland in the Aberdeenshire area. The breed remains very successful in both Scotland and Ireland, but is now established in many countries around the world, including Australia and USA.

Most Black Angus cattle are medium to large, naturally polled with large muscle content. Average body weight for bulls is about 1,870 pounds, while cows weigh in at 1,200. Known for their heartiness, the Angus was bred to survive harsh Scottish winters with lots of snow. Overall the breed is known for a relatively easy temperament and fast growth. The darker hide pigmentation protects the breed against cancer eye and sun- and snow-burned udders, and the breed is known for easy calving.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

CROW

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

LUCULIA

Luculia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described by Robert Sweet in 1826 and is currently found from the Himalayas to southern China.

The species are shrubs or small trees, generally found on upland scrub and woodland or forest margins. They have large leaves from 20 to 35 cm with prominent veins carried in opposite pairs.

The inflorescence is a terminal umbel or corymb of tubular/open ended white, pink or creamy flowers with 5 spreading petals. It may be from 10 to 20 cm, depending on the species. Luculia gratissima is shown here.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

APPLES

New season's apples are tasting wonderful at the present time in Melbourne. We are lucky to have a choice supply of fresh fruit and vegetables here.

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.

MOONRISE IN MELBOURNE

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

Remember you can see more of my artwork on my Instagram account: @jammysevenk

FLAGSTONE

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

RAINY SOUTHBANK

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

MAGPIE-LARK

The magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca), also known as wee magpie, peewee, peewit, mudlark or Murray magpie, is a passerine bird native to Australia, Timor and southern New Guinea.

The male and female both have black and white plumage, though with different patterns (a male bird is shown below). John Latham described the species in 1801.

Long thought to be a member of the mudnest builder family Corcoracidae, it has been reclassified in the family Monarchidae (the monarch flycatchers). Two subspecies are recognised.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme