TOP MARKS

For some time Tony has been interested in photography but recently this interest has grown and, with the purchase of a new mirror-less camera and his participation in a photography course at a TAFE College, his photos are really going up a notch or two.

He has been experimenting with low light photography so his outings have been largely just on dusk.

Recently he drove down to Cleveland Point late in the afternoon to take some sunset photos.

When he arrived he found that he was not the only one with this idea !!

The resulting photos are lovely. 

You can see why the spot is so popular with photographers.

I really love the colours in this one

On another expedition he set off for Southbank in the heart of Brisbane

travelling into the city on our beloved CityCat ferry.

 Southbank Parkland occupies the former  site of World Expo 88 which was held in Brisbane in 1988.

It is a delightful area and greatly loved by the citizens of Brisbane who make great use of its cafes, picnic areas, free BBQs and playgrounds.

One of the major attractions is the free public "beach" - a huge free swimming area with a sandy bottom and beach 

Just the place to cool off on a hot Summer night.

Finally I'll finish with this photo taken just on nightfall while we were recently in Hervey Bay

He is showing considerable talent don't you think ?

Cheers.

SUNDAY DRIVE

The hot weather we have been having makes me just want to stay inside in the cool of the air-conditioning but today we decided to get out and take a drive ( in the cool air-conditioned car !!) to see the sunflowers.

They are growing in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane and about 2 hours later we came upon this field.

As you can see it is very dry and the poor flowers on the edge of the field were showing the lack of water.

You can see how withered the leaves are and the background is pure country Australia - grey-green and brown.

 However as you move further into the crop it gets better and soon there is a sea of happy yellow facing the sun.

 Such a pretty crop.

We were a little early as this was the only field properly in flower.

The rest will probably burst forth in the next two weeks.

On the way home we passed this pretty house in Gatton.

It is built in the typical Queensland style,

set high off the ground to guard against floods but mainly to catch any breezes that may be around.

Wide verandahs and a central hallway leading past a bedroom on each side at the front  to a "lounge" room (living room ) and dining room with kitchen and bathroom in the enclosed part of the back

 verandah.

A very practical design for our climate. You will find many of them in any Queensland country town.

You may remember I posted about "Old Queenslanders"   here  way back in 2010. 

It has been one of my most visited posts over the years.

We were home by 4:30 and it is finally cooler than the 32 degrees it has been all day so I'm off for a cool Aperol Spritz which is our drink of choice in the heat.

Cheers.

LANTANA

Do you remember this post where I wrote about the pesky plant Morning Glory ?

 

 

A pretty but invasive introduced plant here in Australia, but one I've seen in plant nurseries in England.

Well here's another one.

It's called Lantana and was introduced to Australia as an ornamental plant. It comes from  the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Central and South America.

 

Its first recording was in 1841  but it quickly escaped the colonial gardens and thrived under the favourable tropical, sub-tropical and temperate conditions of eastern Australia.



Pretty isn't it?
 The flowers are small and many, and it comes in several different colours.
It is flowering a lot at the moment in my area, an outer suburb with lots of open paddocks for horses and also plenty of areas of bush.

Lantana is one of Australia’s most debilitating invasive weeds.

It currently infests more than four million hectares of land across Australia, mainly in areas east of the Great Dividing Range in NSW and Queensland.

 

Lantana grows up to four metres high and often forms dense thickets.
Flesh of the plant produces a strong, aromatic odour when crushed.

 

In our family we call this BO ... Bush Odour

and it fills the air with its distinctive smell as you drive through heavily infested areas of Australian bush.
 

Lantana is a dry, scratchy, unattractive plant with square-shaped stems and short, curved and hooked prickles.

 

It is a very versatile plant preferring rich moist soils but able to survive prolonged dry periods.

It will tolerate poor soils and sand and will grow on stony hillsides as long as moisture is available.

 

In other words perfect for the east coast of Australia where it quickly invades areas that have been thinned or cleared for grazing and takes over preventing the growth of pasture grasses. 

 

 

But this is not its only bad feature.

 

All forms of lantana are toxic  to stock, and of all the colours the red-flowered forms are the most dangerous. Poisoning of stock due lantana can be quite substantial particularly in times of drought when there is little grass for the cattle to eat.

 

Horse owners always check their paddocks to keep them clear of lantana as death from lantana poisoning is slow and painful , usually occurring 1-4 weeks after the appearance of symptoms like constipation, frequent urination and jaundice.

 

Death is due mainly to liver insufficiency, kidney failure and, in some animals, myocardial damage and internal paralysis. 

( I've been doing some research !!! All I knew was that it was poisonous !)

Worse still this devil of a plant is very difficult to kill.
 Even bushfires don't kill it off
 and it regrows quickly from the base of the burnt off plant while the bush around it is slower to recover allowing it to get a bigger hold than ever.
  

There is a variety - low growing and spreading but not  invasive which is cultivated for people's gardens.




It has very pretty yellow or purple flowers which densely cover the plant giving a very pretty show



but you won't find it in the garden of anyone with any connection to farming the land !!

Cheers.
(all photos today from the Internet )

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/11/12/3631060.htm

SUMMER IN THE CITY

When the end of the week rolls around

and the weather is fine and the temperature balmy,

sometimes the need for an outing comes upon you.

So it happened on a recent Friday evening that we set out for an aimless wander along the river at Southbank in the city.



We were not the only ones feeling like an outing !!

Southbank was bright and sparkly with lots of people of all ages out enjoying the lovely evening.

The lovely bouganvillea walkway was ablaze with colour

 

By 7 o'clock darkness was falling as it does here in the sub-tropics....

very quickly !
.

Families and couples were enjoying picnic teas on the grass as the city began to sparkle across the river.



It was only a short time before it was completely dark

 

 so we caught the ferry across to the other side of the river for a bite of tea .

The paddle steamer restaurant was loading up for the dinner cruise.

Then it was off home again on the CityCat ferry.

We sat out the back and watched the city disappear

with the breeze adding to our enjoyment of another fantastic evening

in our lovely modern city.

Cheers  .....

 from Brisbane

 

RED

Spring has come and gone and we are now plunged into full Summer weather.

Luckily, as yet, we have not had much of the humidity that makes our Summers so hard to cope with.

The lack of any rain at all through August to November meant that our Spring was a pretty colourless affair with the almost complete absence of annual flowers in dry suburban gardens.

Thankfully we have our lovely tropical trees to add colour to our city.

The lovely purple Jacarandas have now a disappeared from the streets of Brisbane to be replaced with a blaze of vibrant red in the form of the Poinciana trees.



These large trees need a large garden to grow in

and are found in gardens and street plantings all over Brisbane especially in older suburbs where the trees can be very big. 

They have an umbrella shaped canopy providing beautiful shady areas in a large garden.

You may remember I wrote about them  here .

~ ~ ~ ~

Yesterday Tony came upon this cute fellow.



It's a mail box made out of old gas bottles !



People are clever aren't they?

Collecting the mail would be fun every day.
I'd never be able to resist having a chat with him as I checked his tummy for any post.

 

Bet the Postie likes him too !!

 

Cheers.