DESKTOP 1656 - SKY IN WATER

At the Darebin Parklands in the Melbourne suburbs.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the Weekend Green meme.

DESKTOP 1655 - SKY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme,

and also part of the Weekend Green meme.

DESKTOP 1654 - CATHARANTHUS

Catharanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. Like genus Vinca, they are known commonly as periwinkles. There are eight known species. Seven are endemic to Madagascar, though one, C. roseus, is widely naturalised around the world. The eighth species, C. pusillus, is native to India and Sri Lanka. The name Catharanthus comes from the Greek for "pure flower".

These are perennial herbs with oppositely or almost oppositely arranged leaves. Flowers are usually solitary in the leaf axils. Each has a calyx with five long, narrow lobes and a corolla with a tubular throat and five lobes.

Catharanthus roseus, known formerly as Vinca rosea, is a main source of vinca alkaloids, now sometimes called catharanthus alkaloids. The plant produces about 130 of these compounds, including vinblastine and vincristine, two drugs used to treat cancer.

Catharanthus roseus is also cultivated as an ornamental plant in gardens. Several cultivars have been bred to produce flowers in many shades of pink, red, lilac, and white, or in light shades with dark throats.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1653 - ELECTRICITY

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

DESKTOP 1652 - ROYAL EXHIBITION BLDG, MELBOURNE

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 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.

DESKTOP 1651 - ROUGH

The rough texture of the surface of three different glazed clay flower pots.

This post is part of the Mosaic 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.

DESKTOP 1650 - TARMAC

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 1649 - GREEN

A perfect Summer morning with the sun filtering through the fresh new green leaves of the gum trees.

This post is part of the Weekend Green meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Best meme.

DESKTOP 1648 - ECLIPSE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

DESKTOP 1647 - ROSE SEASON

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,

and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.