DESKTOP 2068 - MAGPIE ON ROCKS

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

DESKTOP 2067 - ANT

On its way to work...

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

DESKTOP 2066 - SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

DESKTOP 2065 - COUROUPITA

Couroupita guianensis, known by several common names, including cannonball tree, is a deciduous tree in the family Lecythidaceae, which also contains the Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa). It is native to the rainforests of Central and South America. The tree grows up to 35 metres in height. The clustered leaves vary in length, generally from 8 to 31 cm, but reaching up to 57 cm.

The fragrant flowers are borne in large bunches up to 80 meters long. Some trees flower profusely, until the entire trunk is buried in flowers. One tree can bear 1000 flowers per day. They are strongly scented, especially at night, and in the early morning. They are large, up to 6 cm wide, and often brightly coloured, the six petals in shades of pink and red near the bases and yellowish toward the tips. There is a ring of stamens at the centre, and an arrangement to stamens that have been modified into a hood.

The large fruit, which is woody and very spherical, measuring up to 25 cm wide, gives the species the common name “cannonball tree”. A smaller fruit contains perhaps 65 seeds, while a large one can have 550. One tree can bear 150 fruits. The fruit takes up to a year to mature in most areas, sometimes as long as 18 months.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2064 - LOVE'S LOCKS

We’ve all seen bridges around the world bedecked in shiny (or not so shiny) locks with engraved initials or messages to lovers, best friends or family. This is from the Yarra River Footbridge in Melbourne, which links the City with Southbank.

Yet whilst love lock bridges look picturesque and romantic, they’re not as good an idea as they seem. One of the most famous love lock bridges, the Pont des Arts in Paris, took a stand against the thousands of padlocks along the bridge back in 2015 by removing every single one and any that came after. Why? Because the massive number of locks on the bridge is actually dangerous. Adding all those metal locks to a bridge that was built to hold and carry a certain weight creates structural damage and even the risk of the bridge collapsing into the river.

Hundreds of kilos of locks added every month may cause damage to the bridge railing or even parts of the bridge to collapse. Send flowers instead.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2063 - SANTA BARBARA, USA

Santa Barbara (Spanish for ‘Saint Barbara’) is the county seat of Santa Barbara County in the U.S. state of California. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara’s climate is often described as Mediterranean, and the city has been promoted as the ‘American Riviera’.

Mission Santa Barbara, also known as Santa Barbara Mission, is a Spanish mission founded by the Franciscan order near present-day Santa Barbara, California. It was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén on December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara, as the tenth mission for the religious conversion of the indigenous local Chumash-Barbareño tribe of Native American people. The mission is the namesake of the city of Santa Barbara as well as of Santa Barbara County.

The Mission grounds occupy a rise between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains, and were consecrated by Father Fermín Lasuén, who had taken over the presidency of the California mission chain upon the death of Father Presidente Junípero Serra. Mission Santa Barbara is the only mission to remain under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since its founding, and today is a parish church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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 2062 - AUTUMN

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.

DESKTOP 2061 - BAKLAVA

Baklava is a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the Levant, the Caucasus, Balkans, Maghreb, and of Central and West Asia. In Greece it is traditionally cut into lozenge-shaped pieces as seen below.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

DESKTOP 2060 - BEE

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

DESKTOP 2059 - SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

DESKTOP 2058 - JAPANESE ANEMONE

Anemone hupehensis, Anemone hupehensis var. japonica, and Anemone × hybrida (commonly known as the Chinese anemone or Japanese anemone, thimbleweed, or windflower) are species of flowering herbaceous perennials in the Ranunculaceae family.

A. hupehensis is native to central China, though it has been naturalised in Japan for hundreds of years. The species was first named and described in Flora Japonica (1784), by Carl Thunberg. Thunberg had collected dried specimens while working as a doctor for the Dutch East Indies Company. In 1844, Robert Fortune brought the plant to England from China, where he found it often planted about graves.
 

Height is 1–1.5 m and the leaves have three leaflets. Flowers are 40–60 mm across, with 5-6 (or up to 20 in double forms) sculpted pink or white petals and prominent yellow stamens, blooming from midsummer to autumn. These plants thrive best in shady areas and under protection of larger plants. They are especially sensitive to drought or overwatering. They can be invasive or weedy in some areas, throwing out suckers from the fibrous rootstock, to rapidly colonise an area. Once established they can be extremely difficult to eradicate. On the other hand, they can take some time to become established.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2057 - KIEFFER LIME

You might know the Kieffer Lime Tree as the Thai Lime, Makrut, Mauritian papeda, or Kaffir. Whatever you call it, you'll love its tapestry of textures: Thorny stems and trunk, shiny dark leaves, and bright green fruits with bumpy skins. These limes will grow indoors year-round, bursting with a uniquely tangy taste that makes them a favourite in Asian cuisine from India to Thailand. Their zest adds a splash of fresh flavour to soups, curries, and stews, and their fragrant peels are great for drinks. The limes' crisp scent even inspires some people to use them when cleaning.

These dwarf citrus trees are scientifically known as Citrus hystrix in the family Rutaceae, and they thrive in bright sunlight, next to large windows or outdoors during the hot summer months. They enjoy humidity or room temperature conditions. The Kieffer Lime Tree's refreshing aroma, unusual beauty, and trim size (it only grows about 1.5 m tall) make it an excellent indoor plant. Zones 9-10.

Here are some recipes using this flavoursome citrus fruit!

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 2056 - HANOI, VIETNAM

Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam. It was eclipsed by Huế during the Nguyen dynasty as the capital of Vietnam, but Hanoi served as the capital of French Indochina from 1902 to 1954. From 1954 to 1976, it was the capital of North Vietnam. The city is located on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi is located at 1,760 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. October 2010 officially marked 1000 years since the establishment of the city.

The Huc Bridge on Sword Lake ("Hồ Hoàn Kiếm"), one of the major scenic spots in Hanoi, serving as a focal point for its public life. The Huc Bridge (meaning Morning Sunlight Bridge) leads to Jade Island on which the Ngoc Son Temple (Jade Mountain Temple) stands. The temple was erected in the 18th century. It honours the 13-century military leader Tran Hung Dao who distinguished himself in the fight against the Yuan Dynasty, Van Xuong, a scholar, and Nguyen Van Sieu, a Confucian master and famous writer in charge of repairs made to the temple in 1864.

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.

DESKTOP 2055 - JAPAN

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 2054 - GREAT-GREAT-GRAND CANYON

Some seriously old rock formations in this natural wonder of nature! Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

DESLTOP 2053 - PIED CURRAWONG

The pied currawong (Strepera graculina) is a medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian magpie of the family Artamidae. Six subspecies are recognised.

It is a robust crowlike bird averaging around 48 cm in length, black or sooty grey-black in plumage with white undertail and wing patches, yellow irises, and a heavy bill. The male and female are similar in appearance. Known for its melodious calls, the species' name currawong is believed to be of indigenous origin. Within its range, the pied currawong is generally sedentary, although populations at higher altitudes relocate to lower areas during the cooler months. It is omnivorous, with a diet that includes a wide variety of berries and seeds, invertebrates, bird eggs and juvenile birds.

It is a predator which has adapted well to urbanisation and can be found in parks and gardens as well as rural woodland. The habitat includes all kinds of forested areas, although mature forests are preferred for breeding. Roosting, nesting and the bulk of foraging take place in trees, in contrast with the ground-foraging behaviour of its relative, the Australian magpie. Here it is seen in suburban Melbourne, in the Darebin Parklands in Fairfield.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,

and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

DESKTOP 2052 - SUNSHADOW

A very strange day today with lots happening as usual, but as it happens one always makes time for some "quiet serenity" during which one re-charges the batteries.

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

DESKTOP 2051 - GERMANDER SPEEDWELL

Veronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species. Taxonomy for this genus is currently being reanalysed, with the genus Hebe and the related Australasian genera Derwentia, Detzneria, Chionohebe, Heliohebe, Leonohebe and Parahebe included by many botanists. Common names include speedwell, bird's eye, and gypsyweed.

The species are herbaceous annuals or perennials, and also shrubs or small trees if Hebe is included. Most of the species are from the temperate Northern Hemisphere, though with some species from the Southern Hemisphere. Veronica chamaedrys (Germander Speedwell, Bird's-eye Speedwell - shown below) is a species of Veronica, native to Europe and northern Asia. It is found on other continents as an introduced species.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant with hairy stems and leaves. It can grow to 25 cm tall, but is normally about 12 cm tall. The flowers are blue, with a four-lobed corolla. The form of the leaves are similar to white deadnettle. The 2 to 4 mm wide blossoms of this plant wilt very quickly upon picking, which has given it the ironic name "Männertreu", or "men's faithfulness" in German.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2050 - JASMINE

Jasminum, commonly known as jasmines, is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World. Jasmines are widely cultivated for the characteristic fragrance of their flowers. This is one of the five species of jasmine we have growing in our garden.

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 2049 - PAESTUM, ITALY

Paestum was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, which are in a very good state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads.The site is open to the public, and there is a modern national museum within it, which also contains the finds from the associated Greek site of Foce del Sele.

After its foundation by Greek colonists under the name of Poseidonia (Ancient Greek: Ποσειδωνία) it was eventually conquered by the local Lucanians and later the Romans. The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name.As Pesto or Paestum, the town became a bishopric (now only titular), but it was abandoned in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed and largely forgotten until the eighteenth century. 

Much the most celebrated features of the site today are the three large temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a very pronounced entasis (widening as they go down), and very wide capitals resembling upturned mushrooms. Above the columns, only the second Temple of Hera retains most of its entablature, the other two having only the architrave in place. These were dedicated to Hera, Athena, and Poseidon (Juno, Minerva, and Neptune to the Romans), although previously they often have been identified otherwise, for example, as a basilica and a temple of Ceres (Greek Demeter), after eighteenth-century arguments.

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 2048 - POND LIFE

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 2047 - SPEAR THISTLE

Cirsium vulgare (spear thistle) is a species of the genus Cirsium, in the family Asteraceae, native throughout most of Europe (north to 66°N, locally 68°N), Western Asia (east to the Yenisei Valley), and northwestern Africa (Atlas Mountains). It is also naturalised in North America, Africa, and Australia and is as an invasive weed in some areas. It is the national flower of Scotland.

It is a tall biennial or short-lived monocarpic thistle, forming a rosette of leaves and a taproot up to 70 cm long in the first year, and a flowering stem 1–1.5 m tall in the second (rarely third or fourth) year. The stem is winged, with numerous longitudinal spine-tipped wings along its full length. The leaves are stoutly spined, grey-green, deeply lobed; the basal leaves up to 15–25 cm long, with smaller leaves on the upper part of the flower stem; the leaf lobes are spear-shaped (from which the English name derives).

The inflorescence is 2.5–5 cm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The seeds are 5 mm long, with a downy pappus, which assists in wind dispersal. As in other species of Cirsium (but unlike species in the related genus Carduus), the pappus hairs are feathery with fine side hairs.

Spear thistle is often a ruderal species, colonising bare disturbed ground, but also persists well on heavily grazed land as it is unpalatable to most grazing animals. Nitrogen-rich soils help increase its proliferation. The flowers are a rich nectar source used by numerous pollinating insects, including honey bees, wool-carder bees, and many butterflies.

The seeds are eaten by goldfinches, linnets and greenfinches. The seeds are dispersed by wind, mud, water, and possibly also by ants; they do not show significant long-term dormancy, most germinating soon after dispersal and only a few lasting up to four years in the soil seed bank. Seed is also often spread by human activity such as hay bales.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

DESKTOP 2046 - COOT

Coots are small water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus Fulica, the name being the Latin for "coot".[1] Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water. They are close relatives of the moorhen.

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

DESKTOP 2045 - POND REFLECTIONS

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

DESKTOP 2044 - TULIPS

The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of diversity is in the Pamir, Hindu Kush, and Tien Shan mountains.

A number of species and many hybrid cultivars are grown in gardens, as potted plants, or to display as fresh-cut flowers. Most cultivars of tulip are derived from Tulipa gesneriana. Tulip mania or tulipomania (Dutch names include: tulpenmanie, tulpomanie, tulpenwoede, tulpengekte and bollengekte) was a period in the Dutch Golden Age during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed.

At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. It is generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble (or economic bubble). The term "tulip mania" is now often used metaphorically to refer to any large economic bubble (when asset prices deviate from intrinsic values).

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP #2043 - INDIAN INK

An illustration of an Indian in Indian ink by Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri.

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

DESKTOP #2042 - ASWAN, EGYPT

Aswan, formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dams on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city has expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the island of Elephantine.

Aswan is the ancient city of Swenett, which in antiquity was the frontier town of Ancient Egypt facing the south. Swenett is supposed to have derived its name from an Egyptian goddess with the same name. This goddess later was identified as Eileithyia by the Greeks and Lucina by the Romans during their occupation of Ancient Egypt because of the similar association of their goddesses with childbirth, and of which the import is "the opener". The ancient name of the city also is said to be derived from the Egyptian symbol for trade, or market.

Because the Ancient Egyptians oriented toward the origin of the life-giving waters of the Nile in the south, Swenett was the first town in the country, and Egypt always was conceived to "open" or begin at Swenett. The city stood upon a peninsula on the right (east) bank of the Nile, immediately below (and north of) the first cataract of the flowing waters, which extend to it from Philae. Navigation to the delta was possible from this location without encountering a barrier.

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.

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

DESKTOP 2041 - ANTECEDENT

Four bushfires in Victoria’s east have joined into a raging blaze, putting lives and homes at risk as winds fuel the out-of-control fire. The fires merged at Bunyip state park near Tonimbuk, about 65km east of Melbourne, causing a blaze of about 3,400 hectares in size, last Saturday. An emergency warning was issued, with residents told it was too late to leave.

Tonimbuk, which borders Bunyip State Park, was in the direct path of a massive fire that swept through over the weekend. A map of the area from the Country Fire Authority shows a large section of black over the township, which is believed to have been all destroyed. At the last census, Tonimbuk was home to 208 people. Winemaker Andrew Clarke is among them. As bushfires ripped through the region, he could do nothing but stare at a screen in horror and disbelief at what he was watching on live TV: His winery and vineyard exploding in flames...

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 2040 - WALK THE DOG

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

DESKTOP 2039 - DOG

A nervous looking dog in the "wilds" of the Parklands. Most pets would have a hard time surviving in the wild...

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

DESKTOP 2038 - SUNDOG

A sundog or mock sun, formally called a parhelion (plural parhelia) in meteorology, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sundogs often flank the Sun within a 22° halo. The sundog is a member of the family of halos, caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Sundogs typically appear as a pair of subtly colored patches of light, around 22° to the left and right of the Sun, and at the same altitude above the horizon as the Sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and most conspicuous when the Sun is near the horizon.

The sundog below is approximately in the centre of the photo below, to the left of the setting sun.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.