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Monday

What's In A Name?




 Measure
as another star
falls gently from a heaven
lost to night
and fires
a timid sea
with
just a trace
of madness
echoing as light


Another measure
and the truth
lies...
thus obscuring seeds
of wonder and a deeper way
with maritime obscenity
and portraits of another time


Wait
upon a whim
a fading central core
of wonder
wrung with tender pity
and an element of shame

Rain
or tears from eyes
that seem to cry....

~Penelope~




Sunday

A Rainy Afternoon


It was a morning of dark skies and rumbling thunder in the far distance and I expected a storm to roll in across the Bay.  A cup or two of tea later, the sky became quiet, so I left the computer on and wandered about the garden.  The earth and its subjects were ready for a deep drink, and, just after lunch, the skies opened and magic rain began to fall upon the thirsty plants.  I love rainy days, their sights and smells....you can almost hear the parched little floral throats absorbing the essential liquid gold.

 I had thought to watch the video of "Mamma Mia", which comes highly recommended, to fill a quiet Sunday afternoon, but the raindrops plinking on the ferns and flowers made me think how lucky I am to have such pretty things in my yard.  Such as the sweet blue plumbago, always highly underrated as it is commonplace.


This semi climber, above, has the loveliest of perfumes...

...And the luscious bougainvillea which relies on its coloured bracts for splendour, has none, but is beloved by bees for the tiny white centres that make the true flower.

This one is the buds of the strawberry allamander, which I love to see in bloom.  From tightly wound cocoons emerges the pretty flowers that will ramble along a fence with ease and independence.

This majestic, large hibiscus is actually from my Sid's garden, but always intrigues me with its bluster and show, standing over lesser plants with the disdain of the tall and a love of the limelight  :)

Last, but far from least, is the yellow rose who's name just escapes me, that I planted in memory of a dear cyber friend , Anne from Ontario, who passed away about five years ago now, but whom I still hold dear and remember with affection each time her special flower blooms.  The rain is still softly dancing amongst its dear flowers and I am content within my soul and may yet watch Meryl Streep and the handsome Colin Firth weave some cinema magic on a rainy Sunday afternoon.



Monday

Cambooya


The final part of our day out was having lunch at a lovely old country pub called The Bull & Barley Inn.  It was built in 1902 and is in pretty much original condition.  We had a lovely meal, complete with dessert, which I could hardly get through, so generous were the helpings  :)  The staff were terrific, and although they were very busy, they made us all feel welcome in their homey old Inn.  Sid said it was the best meal he'd had in ages, so who am I to dispute him?  LOL  After our super-sized meal, we all had to walk it off, so strolled around this tiny town about half an hour out of Toowoomba, just off the main  highway to Warwick.  On the way, we met some lovely ponies which were very friendly and waiting in a yard next to the pub for their riders to return.  They even whickered when we walked away, so glad of our company were they!



All in all a brilliant day was had by all, and we snoozed on the bus on the two-plus hour drive home  :)  You can check the Inn's website here

Ju Raku En Japanese Gardens

Further along on  our trip to the Darling Downs, we went to these lovely gardens who'se name roughly translated means "to enjoy peace and longevity in a public place".  Ju Raku En was only just beginning to awake from its winter slumber, so we saw many things in bud or just beginning to flower. As yet  it's still quite a young garden, maintained by the University of Southern Queensland, where it lays on part of their Campus.  You can find more about it here .
I loved the peace and quiet there, even though there were a lot of visitors strolling about.  Tranquillity pervades the gardens and it's all quite serene.
 I would love to return one day, deeper into Spring, when the wisteria and all the cherry blossoms are in bloom and the banks of irises are in full flower...
I have always had a softness for Oriental themes, and loved the streams and waterfalls created in miniature here.
 We took quite a few photographs overall and thoroughly enjoyed the stillness, broken only by the ducks and ibis that frequent the lake and streams; it felt as though one could sit for hours and look out over the water, absorbing as if by osmosis, the gentle but  precisely manicured areas of camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, cypresses, rolling lawns and budding fruit trees.

I hope you enjoy our pictorial reminiscence of this gem tucked away on part of Australia's Great Dividing Ranges...we came home tired and happy from a great day out, having seen new things and new places  :)
This signpost stands just inside the entrance to the Gardens and I feel it's a lovely note to end on... a symbol of two cultures united by one botanical voice.


Saturday

Spring Bluff Historical Railway Station & Gardens




 

On 29th August this year, Sid and I went on an excursion with our local seniors' group to some parts of the mountains in the Great Dividing Range, which, incidently, runs most of the length of Australia's eastern coast   We had a lovely day out, the first place we visited being Spring Bluff, near Murphy's Creek, on the way to Toowoomba, at a lower part of the Ranges.  It was a beautiful morning and we had set off early in our touring bus and arrived at the Bluff in time for morning tea.  Needless to say, I took a lot of pictures, as the gardens there are just so pretty and blooming with annuals and cherry blossoms, amongst other things.  I hope you enjoy the pictorial journey with me  :)  Here is how it used to look in the early days of construction...

As you will see, it has changed and developed a great deal.  You can check out its history here.  I loved all the flowers as you will observe and they were just coming into their first Spring flush of blooming...
Primulas, petunias, statice and pansies were just a few on offer, plus begonias and cherry blossoms just beginning to bud...






Looking happy beside a blooming embankment, were Sid and I....morning tea was being prepeared as we prowled with the camera!


A view of the Cafe
Another view of the Cafe and Station






I hope you enjoyed sharing part of our morning on the Darling Downs...there will be another post soon of the Japanese Gardens in Toowoomba as soon as I finish editing the photos  :)


Thursday

Found It!


The flower I posted the other day is definitely a hippeastrum...I found it on Google  :)  It's a type called "Papillon"; I thought you may like to see some others in different colourways...they are all so regal and lovely.

"Papillon"
"Pink To Red"
"Blenheim Pink"

"Sunarise"
"Spotted Witch"
  I also found a pic of me taken a few years ago, in a bed of these at gardens where my partner used to live  :)  I just know I'd seen them before somewhere!  LOL


I hope you enjoy looking at these stunning flowers...my one regret is that I don't have them growing.  They are out now as Spring  is here in Oz.  Lovely!  If anything, it's perfume overload in my small garden at present.