DESKTOP 1917 - QUARTZ

Quartz is a mineral composed of silicon and oxygen atoms in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, behind feldspar.

Quartz crystals are chiral, and exist in two forms, the normal α-quartz and the high-temperature β-quartz. The transformation from α-quartz to β-quartz takes place abruptly at 573 °C (846 K). Since the transformation is accompanied by a significant change in volume, it can easily induce fracturing of ceramics or rocks passing through this temperature limit. 

There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewellery and hardstone carvings, especially in Eurasia.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1916 - WARRNAMBOOL, AUSTRALIA

Warrnambool is a regional city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia in the City of Warrnambool Local Government Area. The city has a population of 33,922. It is situated on the Princes Highway and is near the western end of the Great Ocean Road.

The town was surveyed in 1846 and established soon after, the Post Office opening on 1 January 1849. Warrnambool attracts approximately 715,000 visitors per year, and is a comprehensive regional service centre. The town's tourism benefits from the views from the Great Ocean Road, and its nearby beaches, some of which are used for surfing.

In the winter months, Southern Right Whales can be seen in the waters near the city at the Logan's Beach nursery, and boats make whale-watching tours. Visitor levels are usually higher during the winter school holidays due to Australia's Biggest Children's Festival, the Fun4Kids Festival.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1915 - WOOD

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 1914 - CITY SUNRISE

Early morning chill in the air doesn't deter the early birds (including photographer) from going out and taking it all in by the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne.

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 1913 - RAINY

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

DESKTOP 1912 - MORNING

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

DESKTOP 1911 - PELARGONIUM

Pelargoniums are in their most glorious prime now in Melbourne and it's a bumper year for them also.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1910 - PEPPER TREE

Peruvian pepper (Schinus molle, also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, Californian pepper tree, pirul and Peruvian mastic) is an evergreen tree that grows to 15 meters. It is native to the Peruvian Andes. The bright pink fruits of Schinus molle are often sold as "pink peppercorns" although S. molle is unrelated to true pepper (Piper nigrum).

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme. 

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 1909 - SYDNEY

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of Sydney, New South Wales, and Australia. The bridge is nicknamed "The Coathanger" because of its arch-based design. 

 

Under the directions of Dr J.J.C. Bradfield of the NSW Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd of Middlesbrough and opened in 1932. The bridge's design was influenced by the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. It is also the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m from top to water level. It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver.

 

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1908 - SYMMETRY

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,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

DESKTOP 1907 - BUSHFIRE

Bushfire in Victoria in 2009. The flames of a wild fire such as this always strike terror in the hearts of all those people nearby. Such fires can have devastating effects with great losses of property, livestock, forests, wildlife and of course human lives... However, the Australian landscape and climate has adapted to and depends on bushfires to regenerate. See here.

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 1906 - RAVENS

Enjoying the Spring weather high on the treetops...

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

DESKTOP 1905 - SPRING VIEW

A view across the Yarra River towards Princes Bridge in Melbourne.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

DESKTOP 1904 - ROSE

It's rose time in Melbourne, and the weather has been good, with many of our rose bushes beginning to bloom beautifully...

Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1903 - OUTBACK

The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia; the term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush". Owing to the low and erratic rainfall over most of the outback, combined with soils which are usually not very fertile, inland Australia is relatively sparsely settled. It is here, however, that nature is at its most spectacular!

More than 90 percent of Australians live in urban areas on the coast. However the outback and the history of its exploration and settlement provides Australians with a culturally valued backdrop, and stories of swagmen, squatters, and bushrangers are central to the national ethos. The song "Waltzing Matilda", which is about a swagman and squatters, is probably Australia's best internationally known and most well-loved song. 

boriginal communities in outback regions have not been displaced as they have been in areas of intensive agriculture and large cities, in coastal areas. For this reason a significant proportion of Australia's indigenous population lives in the Outback, in areas such as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in northern South Australia. The total population of Outback Australia declined from 700,000 in 1996 to 690,000 in 2006.

This is a view of Mount Conner in Central Australia, well and truly in the Outback!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 1902 - YARRA VALLEY

The Yarra Valley is the name given to the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately 90 kilometres east of the City of Melbourne and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay. The name Yarra Valley is usually used in reference to the upper regions surrounding the Yarra River and generally does not encompass the lower regions including the city and suburban areas, where the topography flattens out, or the upper reaches which are in inaccessible bushland.

Included in the Yarra Valley is the sub-region of Upper Yarra (or the Upper Yarra Valley) which encompasses the towns of the former Shire of Upper Yarra in the catchment area upstream of and including Woori Yallock. The Yarra Valley a popular day-trip and tourist area, featuring a range of natural features and agricultural produce, as well as the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail.

The Yarra Valley is host to a thriving wine growing industry. The area's relatively cool climate makes it particularly suited to the production of high-quality chardonnay, pinot noir and sparkling wine. Vine-grazing is a popular activity for Melburnians and there is a large selection of excellent vineyards making world-class wines in the Yarra Valley.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1901 - TRIPTYCH

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 1900 - CANDLES

“Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” - Chinese proverb

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 1899 - NO DIVING

"Oh, go on, be a devil!"

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

DESKTOP 1898 - YARRA SUNRISE

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 1897 - DAISIES

Arctotheca calendula is a plant that originates from the Cape Province in South Africa. It is listed as a noxious weed. The plant is a squat perennial or annual which grows in rosettes and sends out stolons and can spread across the ground quickly. The leaves are covered with white woolly hairs, especially on their undersides. The leaves are lobed or deeply toothed. Hairy stems bear daisy-like flowers with small yellow petals that sometimes have a green or purple tint surrounded by white or yellow ray petals extending further out from the flower centres. It is cultivated as an attractive ornamental groundcover but has invasive potential when introduced to a new area. The plant can reproduce vegetatively or via seed. Seed-bearing plants are most likely to become weedy, taking hold most easily in bare or sparsely vegetated soil or disturbed areas. It is poisonous to cattle.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1896 - NUTS

Nuts are an important source of nutrients for both humans and wildlife. Because nuts generally have a high oil content, they are a highly prized food and energy source. A large number of seeds are edible by humans and used in cooking, eaten raw, sprouted, or roasted as a snack food, or pressed for oil that is used in cookery and cosmetics.

Nuts (or seeds generally) are also a significant source of nutrition for wildlife. This is particularly true in temperate climates where animals such as jays and squirrels store acorns and other nuts during the autumn to keep from starving during the late autumn, all of winter, and early spring. It should be noted that nuts used for food, whether true nut or not, are among the most common food allergens.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 1895 - BRISBANE

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of approximately 2.3 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3 million. The Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, approximately 23 km from its mouth at Moreton Bay.

 

The metropolitan area extends in all directions along the floodplain of the Brisbane River valley between the bay and the Great Dividing Range. While the metropolitan area is governed by several municipalities, a large portion of central Brisbane is governed by the Brisbane City Council, which is by far Australia's largest Local Government Area by population.

 

Brisbane is named after the river on which it sits, which, in turn, was named after Scotsman Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825. The first European settlement in Queensland was a penal colony at Redcliffe, 28 kilometres north of the Brisbane central business district, in 1824. That settlement was soon abandoned and moved to North Quay in 1825. Free settlers were permitted from 1842. Brisbane was chosen as the capital when Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1859.

 

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1894 - TRIPTYCH

This is a composite image from three different photos each taken from the same spot, but each two months apart. Each photo comprises a vertical third of the image.

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

DESKTOP 1893 - AUTUMN

While it's Spring here in Australia, in the Northern Hemisphere it's Autumn. Here's an archive photo of mine for all you northerners up there...

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also 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 1892 - DOG

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

DESKTOP 1891 - SPRING

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

DESKTOP 1890 - CREEKSIDE

The three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrum) is an invasive weed in the Amaryllidaceae family, which is native to the Mediterranean and which can carpet large areas very quickly because of its rapidly germinating seeds that quickly form a dense clump of leaves and flowers. Both the English name and the specific epithet triquetrum refer to the three-cornered shape of the flower stalks. In New Zealand this plant is known as "onion weed".

Pretty though this three-cornered leek may be, don't be tempted to pick it as a cut flower because it does reek strongly of an oniony smell! However, you can pick it for eating, as all parts of the plant are edible. The leaves and flowers can be added to salads, and the bulbs can be substituted for garlic. The taste can be described as subtly flavoured like a leek or a spring onion. It may be consumed raw or cooked.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1889 - MUSIC 1

Music notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols.

Types and methods of notation have varied between cultures and throughout history, and much information about ancient music notation is fragmentary. Even in the same time period, such as in the 2010s, different styles of music and different cultures use different music notation methods; for example, for professional classical music performers, sheet music using staves and noteheads is the most common way of notating music, but for professional country music session musicians, the Nashville Number System is the main method.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1888 - THE COATHANGER

The Sydney Harbour Bridge (affectionately known as 'the coathanger' by locals) is one of Sydney's icons. It is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore.

Under the directions of Queenslander Dr J.J.C. Bradfield of the NSW Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd of Middlesbrough and opened in 1932. The bridge's design was influenced by the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. It is also the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m from top to water level. It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver.

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 1887 - INDUSTRIAL

Some interesting textures and shapes while walking through a light industrial area of our neighbourhood.

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.