RED BUDDHA

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

PEACOCK

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

ST AUGUSTINE'S, MELBOURNE

St Augustine's Roman Catholic Church is a relatively small one, built around 1869-1870 and is one of only two catholic churches in Melbourne's Central Business District (St Patrick's Cathedral is outside the CBD in East Melbourne). It is built of Malmsbury bluestone (Malmsbury is 100 kilometres north of Melbourne on the Bendigo rail line).

Its design is more ornate than the more centrally located St Francis, this being Georgian. Historically, this church has enjoyed a strong connection with seafarers. The gardens are pleasant but the church is somewhat overshadowed by nearby developments.The church is only 100 metres from the Southern Cross Railway Station.

The church may not be a popular tourist spot, but it is cosy and beautiful enough to visit at any convenient time if you are staying at the central business district. It is usually open during business hours and of course during the mass times. It is always a wonderful spot to enter, enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, think and pray.

This post is part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme,
and also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme.

CAMOUFLAGE CAT

This post is part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

TO THE MOON IN A BALLOON

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

FRENCH LAVENDER

Lavandula (common name lavender) is a genus of 39 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found from Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, southern Europe across to northern and eastern Africa, the Mediterranean, southwest Asia to southeast India. Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for garden and landscape use, for use as culinary herbs, and also commercially for the extraction of essential oils. The most widely cultivated species, Lavandula angustifolia, is often referred to as lavender, and there is a colour named for the shade of the flowers of this species.

With its lovely scent, great looks and many uses, French Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is one of the best lavenders to grow in the more humid regions of eastern Australia. It is ideal for garden beds and pots and can flower year round. Once established it is also very drought tolerant. French Lavender needs a sunny position. When grown in too much shade it will stretch towards the light. A well drained neutral to slightly alkaline soil or potting mix is best.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

KAYSERSBERG, FRANCE

Kaysersberg is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called Kaysersbergeois. The name means "Emperor's Mountain" in German. The high fortress that dominates the city serves as a reminder of both its strategic importance and its warlike past. Kaysersberg was the birthplace of Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician.

Together with the rest of Alsace-Lorraine, Kaysersberg was part of Germany during the period between the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. Kaysersberg is one of the finest wine growing areas in Alsace. The first vines were brought here in the 16th century from Hungary, and wine production is still an important aspect of the town’s economy today. Wine produced from the Pinot gris variety is a local specialty.

We visited Kaysersberg in 1999 during an extended holiday in the Alsace-Lorraine region and we enjoyed the trip immensely. The photographs are original digital ones, but they have been taken with an early model Olympus digital camera so excuse the poorer quality. They are a wonderful reminder of our holiday there.

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

GREAT HALL, NGV

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites. The main gallery, known as NGV International, is located on St Kilda Road, in the heart of the Melbourne Arts Precinct of Southbank, with a branch gallery at Federation Square.

The Great Hall, created by Leonard French between 1963-1967 is a magnificent space, often used for performances, concerts and all sorts of other functions. The ceiling is high (13.72 metres), vast (60.9 x 15.24 metres) and so heavy with glass and steel that its downward projecting triangles need to be held up by a series of slim steel columns.
Looking up, one becomes aware of the wonder of one of the largest glass ceilings in the world. The kaleidoscopic tent of light suspended high above the NGV International's Great Hall is part of the building's fabric and an iconic part of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Leonard William French OBE (born 8 October 1928) is an Australian artist, known principally for major stained glass works. French was born in Brunswick, Victoria. His stained glass creations include a series of panels in the cafe and foyer of the National Library of Australia in Canberra, and this stained glass ceiling for the great hall at the National Gallery of Victoria.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CORN IS IN SEASON

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme.

TENNIS ANYONE?

This post is part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

OLD BENTLEY

Bentley Motors Limited is a British luxury automaker, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the German company Volkswagen AG. Its principal activity is the design, engineering, manufacture, and distribution of luxury automobiles sold under the Bentley marque. Based in Crewe, England, Bentley Motors Limited was founded by W. O. Bentley on 18 January 1919 in Cricklewood near London and was acquired by Rolls-Royce in 1931.

Bentley Motors Limited is the direct successor of Rolls-Royce Motors, which Volkswagen AG purchased in 1998. The purchase included the vehicle designs, model nameplates, production and administrative facilities, the Spirit of Ecstasy and Rolls-Royce grille shape trademarks, but not the rights to the use of the Rolls-Royce name or logo, which are owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings plc and were later licensed to BMW AG. Bentley vehicles are sold via franchised dealers worldwide, and as of November 2012, China was the largest individual market for Bentley automobiles.

Most Bentley cars are assembled at the company's plant in Crewe, with a small number of Continental Flying Spurs assembled at the Transparent Factory in Dresden, Germany. Automobile bodies for the Continental model line are produced in Zwickau, Germany. Bentley cars are largely hand-built. Bentley cars won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 2003. The current Bentley production models are the Continental Flying Spur, Continental GT and Mulsanne. Notable former Bentley production models include the Bentley 4½ Litre, Bentley Speed Six, Bentley R Type Continental, Bentley Turbo R and Bentley Arnage.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the I Heart Macros meme.

SALAD BAR

Eating a healthful lunch in Ivanhoe, a suburb of Melbourne. A local greengrocer has set up a salad bar where may go and self-serve a selection of salad ingredients in a convenient take-away tub. Simple, convenient and great for one's health!

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme.

PRAIRIE ROSES - EUSTOMA

Eustoma, a genus of three species in the family Gentianaceae, grows natively in warm regions of the Southern United States, Mexico, Caribbean and northern South America. Examples grow mostly in grassland and in areas of disturbed ground. These flowers are commonly known as Lisianthus flowers. They are herbaceous annuals, growing to 15 – 60 cm tall, with bluish green, slightly succulent leaves and large funnel-shaped flowers growing on long straight stems: Sometimes erect single stems, other times growing on branching stems that can rise to one metre tall.

The flowers can grow up to 5 cm across and can be found in a variety of colours. They have been found in all shades of pink, purple, white, and blue. In addition, some are bicoloured and some are occasionally found in yellow or carmine-red. Lisianthus flowers are either single-flowered or double-flowered, the latter often called "prairie roses". Both types of flowers can be found in all ranges of the possible colours listed above. Lisianthus flowers are tricky to grow and require some maintenance.

They have tiny seeds that must be sown on the surface, not buried, and they must be planted in rich, well-drained soil and exposed to full sun. They must be kept moist but not overwatered. Overwatering may result in the growth and development of fungal diseases. Lisianthus flowers will begin to bloom in early summer and some will continue to bloom throughout the later months of the summer.

When cut, Lisianthus flowers can last anywhere from two to three weeks in a vase. Eustoma russellianum is particularly popular and has a number of cultivars that are grown for the cut-flower market. The cultivated flower is also often known as Lisianthus, Texas Bluebell, Prairie Gentian,Tulip Gentian, or just Gentian, although the last name can cause confusion with the related Gentian plant genus. Eustoma is named after the Greek words eu, which means beautiful, and stoma, which means mouth. Lisianthus on the other hand comes from the Greek words lissos, meaning smooth, and anthos, which means flower.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

JAIPUR, INDIA

Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan in Northern India. It was founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, after whom the city is named. The city today has a population of 3.1 million. Jaipur is known as the Pink City of India. The city is unusual among pre-modern Indian cities in the regularity of its streets, and the division of the city into six sectors by broad streets 34 m wide. The urban quarters are further divided by networks of gridded streets. Five quarters wrap around the east, south, and west sides of a central palace quarter, with a sixth quarter immediately to the east.

The Palace quarter encloses the Hawa Mahal palace complex, formal gardens, and a small lake. Nahargarh Fort, which was the residence of the King Sawai Jai Singh II, crowns the hill in the northwest corner of the old city. The observatory, Jantar Mantar, is one of the World Heritage Sites. Included on the Golden Triangle tourist circuit, along with Delhi and Agra, Jaipur is an extremely popular tourist destination in Rajasthan and India.

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