A VERY SPECIAL OCCASION

Phew! We've just returned from Sydney where we spent a week to celebrate the marriage of our son Brett to his lovely partner, Sarah.

(The view from our apartment of Hyde Park)

The wedding took place in the courtyard of the Mint, the oldest building in Sydney.

It was a lovely occasion with the weather being very kind - not too hot or cold, morning showers clearing so that the outdoor ceremony could take place as planned in the late afternoon.

The bride looked absolutely stunning.

So did the groom !

With both of them around 6 foot they made a very handsome couple don't you think ?

Mum and Dad made the trip down from Hervey Bay with my brother and his partner making the trip possible for them.

It was a lovely, happy family occasion.

The celebrations continued the next morning with a lovely ( guilty) brunch in the Sydney Botanic Gardens. 

Yum !!!

Back home now and back to the diet !

Cheers.

ON A MISSION - PART TWO

My mission today was to collect some Jacaranda seeds to send to my blogging pal Tom in Angola.

A few weeks ago I sent him some Ponciana seeds and blogged about it here.

 

Jacarandas produce lots of seeds but I had forgotten that the seeds were so high in the tree !

 

I had also forgotten that when they are ready the seed pods burst open and the seeds float away on the breeze !

 

Everywhere I looked the pods were open and the seeds were gone !!

High up in the tree I could spy a few green pods which hadn't opened yet but they would be very difficult to get at.

 

Like this one .

 



 

 so I began to search the ground under the trees for seed pods to take home.

 

 

It was obvious that the seeds were long gone from these ones.

The pods spring open with quite a lot of force and the seeds are expelled.

 

 

You can see the centre rib where they are attached.

 

These seed pods are tough - brittle and hard. I had to use a knife to prise them open - and I looked through all the ones I had brought home, ever hopeful that there would be some seeds still clinging inside..

 

 

I found a couple still attached to the pod.



See the little thin membrane attached to them?

It acts as a wing so that they fly away on the breeze.

 



 

Two seeds of questionable quality.

 

There were now three pods left but I was very hopeful as two were only just cracked open and one was completely closed.

 

 

One was empty but the next one had plenty of seeds inside

The last one took quite a bit to get it open as it was completely sealed up tight.

 

I cut away the edge then inserted a knife to prise it open a bit

 

Finally the pod snapped open and there they were !

 

Lots of them! Looking healthy too !

 



I've planted a couple to test them out.

The rest have been placed in a card addressed to Tom's brother in Germany who will, I hope, send them on to Tom in his next parcel.

It will be great to see these trees enhancing the resort that Tom is working hard to build.

Let's hope they like the climate.

 

Update 

 

Below are some photos I took today of the Ponciana seedling I planted a month ago.

 

 

 There are five of them.

Anyone want a Ponciana tree???