ROSE

"A rose is a rose is a rose." - Gertrude Stein

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MY SUNDAY BEST MEME #167 - PASTORAL

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:

1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;

2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;

3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;

4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity!

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately!

The theme is of your own choosing, so post on any subject you desire.

Around the outer suburbs of Melbourne, there are still some tracts of farmland, orchards, market gardens and scenes of pastoral beauty as seen here near Kangaroo Ground. Kangaroo Ground is a town in Victoria, Australia, 26 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the Shire of Nillumbik. At the 2011 Census, Kangaroo Ground had a population of 1,015.

If you're locked up in a city somewhere and cannot go out to visit a place like that, look at the view above for a little pick-me-up!

Last week, Lydia in Sydney had some lovely photos of birds she could hear from her house now that the city is much quieter due to the COVID restrictions. I loved the photo below. Please visit her blog for more great shots.

MELBOURNE MUSEUM

Melbourne Museum is adjacent to the Royal Exhibition Building. It was designed by Denton Corker Marshall Architects and finished construction in 2001. It was commissioned by the Victorian Government Office of Major Projects on behalf of Museums Victoria. The museum is a rich response to Melbourne’s urban condition, and provides a place for education, history, culture and society to engage with each other in a contemporary setting. It is now an important part of Melbourne’s soft infrastructure.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

BOTTLEBRUSH

Callistemon is a genus of 34 species of shrubs in the family Myrtaceae, all of which are endemic to Australia. Callistemon species are commonly referred to as bottlebrushes because of their cylindrical, brush like flowers resembling a traditional brush used to clean the interior of bottles. They are found in the more temperate regions of Australia, mostly along the east coast and south-west, and typically favour moist conditions so when planted in gardens thrive on regular watering. However, at least some of the species are drought-resistant. There are varieties with white, yellow, pink or red flowers.

Bottlebrushes are often planted on nature strips along Melbourne streets and are also a favourite garden tree. Around Christmas and all through the summer the showy flowers make quite a spectacular display and provide nectar for insects and native birds. This variety illustrated is Callistemon 'Wildfire' - a rounded shrub to 2m high by 2m wide with slightly pendulous branches. It has showy red clusters of brushy flowers.

This is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MY SUNDAY BEST MEME #166 - WEB

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:

1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;

2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;

3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;

4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity!

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately!

The theme is of your own choosing, so post on any subject you desire.

Last week, Taken for Granted in the USA posted this beautiful photo. Please visit his blog for more great photos.

ORANGE SUNRISE

It is Orthodox Good Friday today. Happy Easter to all who celebrate it at this time.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

FIRETHORN

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme.

MY SUNDAY BEST MEME #165 - GREAT OUTDOORS

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:

1) Create your image and post it up on your blog; 

2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;

3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;

4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity!

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately!

The theme is of your own choosing, so post on any subject you desire.

Cradle Mountain is a mountain in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Tasmania. The mountain is situated in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park. At 1,545 metres above sea level, it is the fifth-highest mountain in Tasmania, and is one of the principal tourist sites in the state.Cradle Mountain is composed of dolerite columns, similar to many of the other mountains in the area.

Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park contains many walking trails, and is where hikes along the well-known Overland Track usually begin. Major features are Cradle Mountain and Barn Bluff in the northern end, Mount Pelion East, Mount Pelion West, Mount Oakleigh and Mount Ossa in the middle and Lake St Clair in the southern end of the park. The park is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

This post is part of the Photo Sunday meme.

Last week, Lydia in Sydney posted some photos of her "stay at home - be safe" experiences. A photo of a quote written in chalk on the pavement looked perfect to me. Please visit her blog for more great photos.

SUNRISE

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

PROTEA

A bouquet of Protea neriifolia x susannae "Pink Ice" for today. Protea neriifolia is part of an ancient plant family, the Proteaceae, which had already divided into two subfamilies before the break-up of the Gondwanaland continent about 140 million years ago. Both the Proteoideae and the Grevilleoideae occur mainly in the southern hemisphere. This is the hardiest of all proteas, and well suited to low maintenance, low water use gardens. These spectacular blooms are useful in floral arrangements, fresh or dried.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

JERSEY

Jersey (officially the Bailiwick of Jersey), is a Crown dependency of the United Kingdom, ruled by the Crown in right of Jersey, off the coast of Normandy, France. Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy, whose dukes went on to become kings of England from 1066. After Normandy was lost by the kings of England in the 13th century, and the ducal title surrendered to France, Jersey and the other Channel Islands remained attached to the English crown. Jersey is a self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems, and the power of self-determination.

The Lieutenant Governor on the island is the personal representative of the Queen. British cultural influence on the island can also be seen with the main language being English, British pound currency, driving on the left, BBC and ITV regions, school curriculum following that of England, and the popularity of British sports, including football, cricket and rugby. The bailiwick consists of the island of Jersey, along with surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks collectively named Les Dirouilles, Les Écréhous, Les Minquiers, Les Pierres de Lecq, and other reefs. The island of Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

MY SUNDAY BEST MEME #164 - MICROCOSM

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:

1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;

2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;

3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;

4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity!

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately!

The theme is of your own choosing, so post on any subject you desire.

Last week, my favourite photo was in Lydia's post, showing photos of the Oodi Central Library in Helsinki. Please visit her blog for more wonderful images.

SKYSCAPE

Evening falls and one's mind turns to meditative thoughts...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DAHLIA

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native mainly in Mexico, but also Central America, and Colombia. A member of the Asteraceae (=Compositae), dicotyledonous plants, related species include the sunflower, daisy, chrysanthemum and zinnia. There are at least 36 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants.

Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 5.1 cm diameter or up to 30 cm ("dinner plate"). This great variety results from dahlias being octoploids (that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes), whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons (genetic pieces that move from place to place upon an allele), which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.

The stems are leafy, ranging in height from as low as 30 cm to more than 1.8–2.4 m. The majority of species do not produce scented flowers or cultivars. Like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly coloured, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue. The dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, but this use largely died out after the Spanish Conquest. Attempts to introduce the tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CALENDULA

...Because we all need cheering up!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme.