ACORN

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

ALFIE

Alfie the rabbit is the pet rabbit belonging to our neighbourhood pet shop. He lives in rather nice accommodation in the front shop window and welcomes customers as they come in. In the evenings and weekends he goes away and spends time at home and in the open.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

SOUTHBANK SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

NASTURTIUM

Tropaeolum majus (garden nasturtium, Indian cress or monks cress) is a flowering plant in the family Tropaeolaceae, originating in the Andes from Bolivia north to Colombia. The species has become naturalised in parts of the United States (California, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut). It is of cultivated, probably hybrid origin, with possible parent species including T. minus, T. moritzianum, T. peltophorum, and T. peregrinum. It is not closely related to the genus Nasturtium (which includes watercress).

This carmine nasturtium is a more unusual shade than the orange or yellow varieties and it is a striking addition to any garden. I also find the developing seedheads as photogenic as the flowers!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

COVID EXERCISE

Perfect for maintaining appropriate social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic...

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

ROYAL EXHIBITION BUILDING

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district. It was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880–81 and later hosted (in the Western annex) the opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901.

Throughout the 20th century smaller sections and wings of the building were subject to demolition and fire; however, the main building, known as the Great Hall, survived. It received restoration throughout the 1990s and in 2004 became the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, being one of the last remaining major 19th-century exhibition buildings in the world. It is the world's most complete surviving site from the International Exhibition movement 1851–1914.

It sits adjacent to the Melbourne Museum and is the largest item in Museum Victoria's collection. Today, the building hosts various exhibitions and other events and is closely tied with events at the Melbourne Museum. This view is taken from a window high up the St Vincent's Hospital.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

NUMBERS

Walking around the neighbourhood, one sees a lot of interesting things. The profusion of different styles, colours and arrangements of various numbers intrigued me and I started taking photos. What better way to display them than a mosaic?

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

GLASS

A blown glass paperweight at 3:25 p.m. just when the sun peeked through the clouds for a few seconds!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

FISHING SPIDER

Dolomedes is a genus of large spiders of the family Pisauridae. They are also known as fishing spiders, raft spiders, dock spiders or wharf spiders. Almost all Dolomedes species are semiaquatic, with the exception of the tree-dwelling D. albineus of the Southeastern United States. Many species have a striking pale stripe down each side of the body.

They hunt by waiting at the edge of a pool or stream, then when they detect the ripples from prey, they run across the surface to subdue it using their foremost legs, which are tipped with small claws; like other spiders they then inject venom with their hollow jaws to kill and digest the prey. They mainly eat insects, but some larger species are able to catch small fish. They can also climb beneath the water, when they become encased in a silvery film of air.

"Dolomedes" is derived from the Greek word "dolomedes" which means wily, deceitful. There are over a hundred species of Dolomedes throughout the world; examples include Dolomedes aquaticus, a forest-stream species of New Zealand, the raft spider (D. fimbriatus), which lives in bogs in Europe, and the great raft spider (D. plantarius), which lives in fens, also in Europe. Many species are large, some with females up to 26 mm long with a leg span of 80 mm.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

RAINY

Melbourne has recorded its wettest start to a year on record. The 9 mm overnight rain and this morning takes the tally to 409 mm, more to this time in the year since such records started in 1924. A winter chill is gripping Victoria, with icy winds sweeping the state. Blizzard conditions are expected in the state’s Alpine region, bringing up to 50cm of snow by the weekend.

Thee temperature managed to climb up to 13˚C today, but with the icy winds prevailing most of the day, it felt more like 7˚C. Tomorrow, we are expecting a maximum of 12˚C, with more rain and wind. Perfect lockdown weather!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.