OUTBACK AUSTRALIA

The Australian bush, or 'Outback', has an iconic status in Australian culture and features strongly in any debate about national identity, especially as expressed in Australian literature, painting, popular music, films and foods. The bush was something that was uniquely Australian and very different to the European landscapes familiar to many new immigrants. The bush was revered as a source of national ideals by the likes of Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. Romanticising the bush in this way was a big step forward for Australians in steps taken towards self-identity. The legacy is a folklore rich in the spirit of the bush.

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.

SUMMER GARDEN

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

ORANGE SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Our Beautiful World meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

FRIDAY GREENS #108 - THE LAST POST

This meme used to be active every Friday. The theme was "Friday Greens" and some people posted images, art, and photos where the predominant colour was GREEN!

GREEN is the colour between blue and yellow in the spectrum; coloured like grass or emeralds. I certainly enjoyed my "green" photos and appreciated the stalwart few who posted these last few weeks. Thank you for posting on...

It is now the time to close this meme down as there is not enough interest in it amongst the photographic blogosphere to maintain a meaningful presence.

FRIDAY GREENS, EXIT LEFT...

WINGPOD PURSLANE

Portulaca umbraticola (Wingpod Purslane) in the family Portulacaceae is an annual or short-lived perennial, up to 25 cm tall, often incorrectly sold under the name of Portulaca oleracea, the common purslane, often growing as a weed. This latter uncultivated species is the hybrid parent to many ornamental purslanes sold at garden centres.

The leaves of Wingpod Purslane are small, succulent, green and linear to spatulate in shape. The stems are fleshy, hairless, often reddish in colour, and prostrate, ascending, or erect. The flowers are small, up to 1.5 cm across and yellow or yellow tipped with red or copper, magenta, crimson, white or pied as seen on the hybrid below.

Portulaca plants are native to the arid areas of Central and South America and tolerate many kinds of soil but prefer sandy, well-drained soil and love the full sunlight. These plants are excellent for high heat and drought tolerance, and will seed and spread themselves very well. Some control methods may be needed to keep portulaca plants from becoming invasive to areas where they are not wanted. These wonderful plants do spread easily and very well.

Portulaca species such as Purslane require no attention at all when growing and flowering; however you should remove them from the garden before Portulaca have chance to set seed as they may take over the garden. You do not need to water often for proper Portulaca care. The cylindrical foliage of the Portulaca plants retains moisture very well, thus, regular watering is not needed. When they are watered, just a light watering will do, as their root zone is very shallow.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

THE NEIGHBOUR'S CAT

The Neighbour’s Cat

The neighbour’s cat
Stopped for a chat:
“How doo dee dat,
I’d tip my hat,”
He said – “if I wore one…”

The neighbour’s cat
Can be a brat:
Chewing the mat,
Meowing like scat,
Making all the birds run.

The neighbour’s cat
Begged for a pat:
Purred as he sat
Full knowing that
All’s done in good fun!

The neighbour’s cat
Chased a big rat,
Swiped at a bat,
Ate a fat sprat,
And slept in the sun…

This post is part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking, explaining the city's Germanic name. In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 638,670 inhabitants in 2006, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (aire urbaine) (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France.

Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine.

Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Great Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is fused into the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture.

I am stretching the resolution of these images by enhancing them and removing noise, as they were taken in 1999 with one of the first digital cameras I owned.

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.

SILHOUETTE PORTRAIT

This post is part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

FRIDAY GREENS #107 - iGREEN

Welcome to this meme active every Friday. The theme is "Friday Greens" and you can post images, art, photos where the predominant colour is GREEN!

GREEN is the colour between blue and yellow in the spectrum; coloured like grass or emeralds.

An electronic circuit board through a kaleidoscope!

If you take part in this meme:
*Please link back to this page from your blog, with the Friday Greens logo or link text;
*In the spirit of community, please visit other participants to see their photos and leave a comment;
*Leave a comment here in the comments box, which I appreciate very much!

JACARANDA

Jacaranda mimosifolia is a sub-tropical tree native to South America that has been widely planted elsewhere because of its beautiful and long-lasting blue flowers. It is also known as Jacaranda, Blue Jacaranda, Black Poui, or as the fern tree. Older sources give it the systematic name Jacaranda acutifolia, but it is nowadays more usually classified as Jacaranda mimosifolia. In scientific usage, the name "Jacaranda" refers to the genus Jacaranda, which has many other members, but in horticultural and everyday usage, it nearly always means the Blue Jacaranda.

The tree grows to a height of 5 to 15 meters. Its bark is thin and grey-brown in colour, smooth when the tree is young though it eventually becomes finely scaly. The twigs are slender and slightly zigzag; they are a light reddish-brown in colour. The flowers are up to 5 cm long, and are grouped in 30 cm panicles. They appear in spring and early summer, and last for up to two months. They are followed by woody seed pods, about 5 cm in diameter, which contain numerous flat, winged seeds. The Blue Jacaranda is cultivated even in areas where it rarely blooms, for the sake of its large compound leaves. These are up to 45 cm long and bi-pinnately compound, with leaflets little more than 1 cm long.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

BROWN BEAR IN BERN

The Brown Bear of Bern

There was a brown bear in Bern
Who suffered a queasy old turn;
He reeled and he railed,
He whimpered, he wailed:
All cured by a glass of sauterne.

                     ***
A brown bear of Bern named Verne
For beer and sausage did yearn;
But money was scarce,
And fate was adverse,
He busked, in order his feed to earn.

                     ***
The good old brown bear of Bern
Was never upset, nor was stern;
He laughed and he sang,
No sturm and no drang,
And never, oh never taciturn!

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

TOWER OF LONDON

The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite.

The castle was used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site.

Today the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, it is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site.

This post is part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

SKY VIEW

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.

FRIDAY GREENS #106 - IN THE CITY

Welcome to this meme active every Friday. The theme is "Friday Greens" and you can post images, art, photos where the predominant colour is GREEN!

GREEN is the colour between blue and yellow in the spectrum; coloured like grass or emeralds.

In the heart of the City in Melbourne, some wonderful touches of verdant green to relieve the eye amongst all the concrete and asphalt.

If you take part in this meme:
*Please link back to this page from your blog, with the Friday Greens logo or link text;
*In the spirit of community, please visit other participants to see their photos and leave a comment;
*Leave a comment here in the comments box, which I appreciate very much!

MAGNOLIA

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol. Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers are theorised to have evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough.

Fossilised specimens of M. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date to 95 million years ago. Another aspect of Magnolia considered to represent an ancestral state is that the flower bud is enclosed in a bract rather than in sepals; the perianth parts are undifferentiated and called tepals rather than distinct sepals and petals. Magnolia shares the tepal characteristic with several other flowering plants near the base of the flowering plant lineage such as Amborella and Nymphaea (as well as with many more recently derived plants such as Lilium).

The natural range of Magnolia species is a disjunct distribution, with a main centre in east and southeast Asia and a secondary centre in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies, and some species in South America.

Magnolia virginiana, is most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay (also laurel magnolia, swampbay, swamp magnolia, whitebay, or beaver tree) and shown here. It was the first magnolia to be scientifically described under modern rules of botanical nomenclature, and is the type species of the genus Magnolia.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. According to the 2011 census, on 9 August 2011 Adelaide had a population of 1.23 million. The demonym "Adelaidean" is used in reference to the city and its residents. Adelaide is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges which surround the city. Adelaide stretches 20 km from the coast to the foothills, and 90 km from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south.

Named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort to King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for a freely settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens in the area originally inhabited by the Kaurna people. Light's design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parkland. Early Adelaide was shaped by religious freedom and a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties, which led to the moniker "City of Churches".

As South Australia's seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the cultural boulevard of North Terrace, King William Street and in various districts of the metropolitan area. Today, Adelaide is noted for its many festivals and sporting events, its food, wine and culture, its long beachfronts, and its large defence and manufacturing sectors. It ranks highly in terms of liveability, being listed in the Top 10 of The Economist's World's Most Liveable Cities index in 2010, 2011 and 2012. It has also been ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia in 2011, 2012 and again in 2013.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

PERTH TWILIGHT

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia, with an estimated population of 1.74 million living in the Perth metropolitan area. The metropolitan area is located in the South West Division of Western Australia, between the Indian Ocean and a low coastal escarpment known as the Darling Range.

The central business district and suburbs of Perth are situated on the banks of the Swan River. Shortly after the establishment of the port settlement of Fremantle, Perth was founded on 12 June 1829 by Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the Swan River Colony. As the business and administration centre for the resource-rich state, Perth has grown consistently.

Perth became known worldwide as the “City of Light” when city residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead while orbiting the earth on Friendship 7 in 1962. The city repeated the act as Glenn passed overhead on the Space Shuttle in 1998. Perth is tied for eighth place in The Economist’s 2011 list of the world's most livable cities.

Perth’s residents have traditionally enjoyed the highest standard of living of any of Australia’s big cities. Until recently, the reason for this has been that, for most occupations, wages were only a little less than could be found in cities such as Sydney and Melbourne while house prices in Perth were considerably lower than the other cities.

This post is part of the BlueMonday2 meme,
and also 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.

KITTY KAT

A cat I snapped in the yard of one of the neighbourhood houses.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme.

CROW SILHOUETTE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

FRIDAY GREENS #105 - ALOES

Welcome to this meme active every Friday. The theme is "Friday Greens" and you can post images, art, photos where the predominant colour is GREEN!

GREEN is the colour between blue and yellow in the spectrum; coloured like grass or emeralds.

There are more than 325 species of aloes with about 60 different species known in cultivation in Australia. They vary in height from 60cm to 18m. Many aloes flower in winter, most will grow almost anywhere and all require very little maintenance. Despite these advantages aloes are rarely seen in modern Australian gardens.

Aloes grow naturally in arid and semi-arid areas, and are well-suited to dry climate gardens in Australia. They will tolerate low fertile soils and will survive infrequent watering, as well as salt air and extremely cold temperatures. Aloes will grow in semi-shaded areas, but prefer a position in full sun. Aloes are relatively tough plants requiring little maintenance. They can also be used to good effect in areas where nothing else will grow, such as an exposed dry hillside.

Young plants need to be protected from severe frost. Aloes will bloom every year and do not die back after flowering. One of the best known of the aloes is Aloe vera, which is used medicinally and cosmetically. The sap from this plant is useful for skin treatments, particularly for burns, and is available in many cosmetics, shampoos and ointments.

If you take part in this meme:
*Please link back to this page from your blog, with the Friday Greens logo or link text;
*In the spirit of community, please visit other participants to see their photos and leave a comment;
*Leave a comment here in the comments box, which I appreciate very much!

CLEOME 'CLIO MAGENTA'

Cleome is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae. Previously, it had been placed in the family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae genera to be more closely related to the Brassicaceae than the Capparaceae.

Cleome x hybrida 'Clio Magenta' or "Spider Flower" is a great plant to add to any floral environment. Its high versatility makes it a wise choice to be used as a border crop or ground coverage. Create beautiful potted combinations and garden landscapes, or use it as the first layer of a border with a shorter plant in front.

Cleome 'Clio Magenta' has a spread of 30-60 cm and has an optimal height of one metre. This sun loving annual has rich thornless foliage and colourful, highly scented flowers. Its habit is very upright, containing divided, palmate leaves. The airy flowers are produced at the ends of hairy stalks in loose, globular, un-branched groups. Each flower has long stamens, giving it the "spider-like" appearance. This plant's unique ability to thrive in full sun, complement many other plants and flowers, or simply stand-alone make it a great choice for the garden.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

HATSHEPSUT'S TEMPLE, EGYPT

The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the Djeser-Djeseru ("Holy of Holies"), is located beneath the cliffs at Deir el Bahari on the west bank of the Nile near the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. The mortuary temple is dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra and is located next to the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II, which served both as an inspiration, and later, a quarry.

It is considered one of the "incomparable monuments of ancient Egypt." Hatshepsut's chancellor, royal architect, and possible lover Senemut oversaw construction and most likely designed the temple. Senemut who was Hatshepsut's chancellor, royal architect, and possible lover oversaw construction and most likely designed the temple.

Hatshepsut’s temple is considered the closest Egypt came to Classical architecture. Representative of New Kingdom funerary architecture, it both aggrandises the pharaoh and includes sanctuaries to honour the gods relevant to her afterlife. This marks a turning point in the architecture of Ancient Egypt, which forsook the megalithic geometry of the Old Kingdom for a temple which allowed for active worship, requiring the presence of participants to create the majesty. The linear axiality of Hatshepsut’s temple is mirrored in the later New Kingdom temples.

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.

AGAPANTHUS

The Christmas/New Year holiday period in Melbourne is the time where the Agapanthus is in bloom. It is widely planted, not only ing gardens and parks, but also on roadside reserves and road safety islands throughout the suburbs. When it blooms it is a sure sign of the Summer season.

This post is part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.