SUNNY

Our weather this Spring has been rather cool, gray, wet and miserable - courtesy of La Niña! Whenever we see a sunny spell we all rush out and enjoy the rare occurrence in some nearby park or nature reserve!

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

GROWING OLD

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

PIGFACE

Mesembryanthemum (meaning "midday flowering" in Greek) is a genus of flowering plants native to southern Africa. Fig marigold or Icicle plant is a name for any of several South African taxa of Mesembryanthemum which are cultivated as ornamental plants for their showy pink or white flowers. "Pebble plant" or "Ice plant" are other but rather ambiguous common names, usually referring to other Aizoaceae. 

The plant  is characterised by long-lasting flower heads. Flowers of Mesembryanthemum protect their gametes from night-time dews or frosts but open in sunlight. There is an obvious evolutionary advantage to doing this; where sun, dew, frost, wind or predators are likely to damage exposed reproductive organs, closing may be advantageous during times when flowers are unlikely to attract pollinators.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

WALKER FOUNTAIN

The Walker fountain was presented by Ron and Barbara Walker, Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Melbourne (1974-1975) to the people of Victoria, opened by the Hon. Lindsay Thompson, C.M.P.,M.P., Premier of Victoria on the 18.12.1981.

It is in the King's Domain in South Melbourne, at the corner of Linlithgow Ave and St Kilda Rd, diagonally opposite the National Gallery of Victoria. The fountain is part of the City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection and comprises 46 underwater lights and 144 individual streams of water.

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.

OPHELIA

"Ophelia" is Deborah Halpern’s sculpture inspired by Ophelia from Hamlet and is synonymous with Melbourne. So much so that in 1996 it was picked by Tourism Victoria as the official “face of Melbourne” and appeared all over marketing campaigns for several years. The colourful, Picasso-esque mosaic has been a favourite at Southbank since it was installed in the early ‘90s and, after a major restoration in 2012, was moved to a more prominent position just outside Southgate shopping centre’s riverside entrance.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme.

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

UNCERTAIN TIMES

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

LATE SPRING

At the Darebin Parklands in Alphington, where the wild mustard plants are all abloom in a blaze of sulphur yellow.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

ABOUT TO DIVE

The Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea) is a small duck. The male (shown here) has brown back, rich chestnut-coloured chest and sides with dark tail and white patch on the rear (the white patch is in front of the tail at the "water line" when it swims). The head is dark green. Females are brown with scalloped pattern. The bill is grey in both sexes. The female Chestnut Teal is very similar to the Grey Teal, but is darker.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

LUNAR ECLIPSE

Thousands turned to the sky to witness a lunar eclipse as a blood moon rose over Victoria last Tuesday night. Lunar eclipses occur when the sun, Earth and moon all line up, with Earth casting a shadow across the moon. A blood moon is so called from the red hue of the moon at totality, but the hue the moon appears would depend on local atmospheric conditions: If there’s enough pollution, volcanic dust or cloud cover, the moon can appear quite red. We were lucky enough not to have cloud cover and the moon appeared quite red! Australians will not get to see another lunar eclipse until 2025.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme