POINSETTIA

The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a commercially important plant species of the diverse spurge family. The species is indigenous to Mexico. It is particularly well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays. It derives its common English name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant to the US in 1825.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footstep Creative Playroom Meme.

SEAGULL

A seagull resting on the banks of the Yarra River in central Melbourne.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
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and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footstep Digital Art Meme.

ETERNITY

The word "Eternity" was a graffito tag recorded over an approximate 35-year period from 1932 to 1967, written numerous times in chalk in the streets of Sydney, Australia. The word had been written by Arthur Stace, an illiterate former soldier, petty criminal and alcoholic who became a devout Christian in the late 1940s.

For years after his conversion up until his death in the 1960s, Stace walked the streets of Sydney at night writing the single word "Eternity" on walls and footpaths in his unmistakable copperplate handwriting. Stace's identity remained unknown until it was finally revealed in a newspaper article in 1956. It is estimated Stace wrote the word over half a million times.

After Stace's death, the Eternity signature lived on. Australian contemporary artist, illustrator and filmmaker Martin Sharp noticed it and celebrated Stace's one-man campaign in many of his works. More recently, some Australian Christian groups, including those at universities, have run evangelistic campaigns whose promotion involved chalking "Eternity", after Stace's fashion, on footpaths.

As part of the fireworks on Sydney Harbour to mark New Year's Day of the year 2000, the graffito "Eternity" was illuminated on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This moment was symbolically recreated later that year as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony, beamed to billions of television viewers worldwide. In 2001 the Council of the City of Sydney was granted a trademark (817532) on the script in order to protect it from indiscriminate commercial use.

The newspaper "Eternity" was named after the tag. Founded in 2009, it has a broad circulation amongst Christian groups in Australia. One of the works by English street artist Banksy during his October 2013 "residency" in New York City depicts a worker washing away the Eternity tag (see below).

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
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Sydney Harbour Bridge

Arthur Stace at work

Arthur Stace

Banksy's graffito

Eternity

BY THE LAKE

In Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,
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SUMMER DREAMS

Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region. Manly was named by Captain Arthur Phillip for the indigenous people living there, "...their confidence and manly behaviour made me give the name of Manly Cove to this place". These men were of the Kay-ye-my clan (of the Guringai people).

Manly is most notable for its sandy beaches right on the Pacific Ocean, which are popular tourist destinations. Manly features a long stretch of sand on the ocean side, that runs from Queenscliff Beach to North Steyne Beach and Manly Beach. This is followed by rock pools and sandy beaches called Fairy Bower and Shelly Beach. There are also a number of beaches on the harbour side of the peninsula. Norfolk Island pine trees are also symbolic of Manly and are a prominent feature of both the ocean and harbour beaches.

Transport services to Manly include a Ferry service from Manly Wharf, and bus services to the city and other suburbs. The Manly Ferry journey takes 30 minutes and allows for scenic views of Sydney Harbour, surrounding national parks and Sydney icons including the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. The ferry service once advertised Manly as: "Seven miles from Sydney, and a thousand miles from care".

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RED LEAVES

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
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MORNINGTON

Mornington is a sea side town on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, located 57 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. It is in the Local Government Area of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula. Mornington is known for its "village" atmosphere and its beautiful beaches. Mornington is a popular tourist destination with Melburnians who often make day trips to visit the area's bay beaches and wineries.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters,
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SYDNEY CHINESE GARDEN

The Chinese Garden in Darling Harbour, Sydney, has undergone some changes with the help of Pixelmator (a Photoshop alternative program).

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DUCK

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NOCTURNAL NOTIONS

This is the Yarra River reflecting the lights of the City of Melbourne. I have edited the first photo using the programs Photoshop, Pixelmator and Affinity Photo.

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FACTORY CHANGES

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CORN IS IN SEASON

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and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
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GERBERAS LIQUIDISED

I am testing out a new free image processing program for Macintosh called "Affinity". This is an alternative to the highly popular Photoshop. I must say that I am impressed! Of course after having used Photoshop for so long, becoming familiar with a new image processing interface will take some time, but I am willing to try as I do not wish to pay a monthly subscription to keep using Photoshop. Having just switched computers, I found to my horror that I could not use my (legal and licensed) copy of Photoshop on my new computer... So here's to Affinity!

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
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DAHLIA CHANGES

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.

BRUNIA VARIATIONS

Brunia albiflora is a tall, slender, single-stemmed but well-branched shrub, reaching 2-3 m in height. The long, slender branches are densely leafy, with beautiful dark green foliage that resembles a pine tree, but is much softer. The leaves are 10-14 mm long and narrow (0.7 mm diameter), narrowly lanceolate to linear, black-tipped and covered with delicate hairs.

The flowers are tiny, and are crowded into tight spherical knob-like inflorescences (± 15 mm wide) that are clustered into flat, rounded heads. The knobby inflorescences are covered by scale-like leaves, and before the white flowers break through, they are green touched with black and silver and are also very decorative. Each tiny flower is about 7 mm long, white with yellow stamens sticking out, giving the inflorescence a yellowish tinge. Old flowers age to cream.

After flowering and fertilisation, the flowers turn brown and drop off. The knobby infructescence turns green, ageing to brown in time (seen in its natural colour in the first photo) and it stays on the bush for up to six years, so the remains of the previous year's flowerhead can be seen lower down on the stem. Flowering time is late summer to autumn.
I've digitally processed the remaining four photos through a lengthy and superimposed bunch of filters and colour effects.

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.