RED CHARD

Chard or silverbeet (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla), is a leafy green vegetable often used in Mediterranean cooking. While the leaves are always green, chard stalks vary in colour. Chard has been bred to have highly nutritious leaves at the expense of the root (which is not as nutritious as the leaves). Chard is in fact considered to be one of the healthiest vegetables available and a valuable addition to a healthy diet (not unlike other green leafy vegetables). Chard has been around for centuries, but because of its similarity to beets is difficult to determine the exact evolution of the different varieties of chard.

This post is part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

NAB HQ DOCKLANDS, MELBOURNE

National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation. It operates across 10 countries serving 8.3 million consumer and business banking customers and over 2.3 million wealth management customers.

The NAB Headquarters was designed by James Grose of Bligh Voller Nield Architects and opened in 2004. Located on the prestigious Victoria Harbour Precinct at Melbourne Docklands, this project is the commercial headquarters for the National Australia Bank and Global Wealth Management. The development consists of four separate but similar seven storey buildings over a common podium and car parking levels. Various elevated connecting links are provided between the buildings for circulation.

People either love or hate this building and I must say that I would rather have had something less like a Rubik's Cube sitting on that very prominent location. I just hope that the building has a highly functional office environment inside. Nevertheless it does give opportunity for some nice shots.

This post is part of the Mellow Yellow Monday meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme.

TASMANIAN COUNTRYSIDE

Tasmania is a place of wild beauty and Australia's smallest state. The island presents enormous variety within a compact space. It is about the size of the Republic of Ireland, or that of Hokkaido in Japan, or twice the size of Switzerland. In this small area one finds |landscapes which change from green rainforested valleys, peaks and highland lakes to long glistening beaches, towering sea cliffs and cities that are not yet overwhelming. Often these contrasts are all within a 90-minute drive. It has a climate which is maritime and mild.

This post is part of the Scenic Sunday meme,
and also part of the Psalm Sunday meme.

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river...

FITZROY REFLECTED

A walk along a Fitzroy street and several reflections and reflections of reflections in a shop window and a displayed shiny lamp housing.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

SPRING SKIES

Evening in Flinders St in Melbourne, 6:10 p.m. Just managed to miss my train by snapping this photo, but it was worth it.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

ROSARIO ROSE

Renown's "Rosario" rose was introduced in 1999 and is a robust climbing rose with lovely pink blooms in large, showy clusters.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

BLUFF, STH ISLAND NZ

Bluff is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southern-most town in New Zealand (excluding Oban) and, despite Slope Point being further to the south, is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country (particularly in the phrase "from Cape Reinga to The Bluff"). According to the 2006 census, the usually resident population was 1,850, a decrease of 85 since 2001.

The Bluff area, while itself not settled by Māori, was one of the earliest areas of New Zealand where a European presence became established. The first ship known to have entered the harbour was the Perseverance in 1813, in search of flax trading possibilities, with the first European settlers arriving in 1823/1824. This is the foundation for the claim that this makes Bluff the oldest permanent European settlement in the country. However the missionary settlement at Kerikeri was both earlier and larger and the town is now larger than that of Bluff. The town was officially called Campbelltown in 1856, became a borough in 1878, and was renamed Bluff in 1917.

This post is part of the Water World Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Waters meme

GRANDE AMORE ROSE

While visiting the Victorian State Rose Garden, I took some photos of some brilliantly red roses, perhaps none so intense as this variety, "Grande Amore". It was bred by Tim Hermann Kordes (Germany, 1995) and introduced in Germany by W. Kordes' Söhne (Retail) in 2004. Introduced in United States by Wayside Gardens in 2008 as 'Grande Amore'.

This post is part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

ORANGIFIED HIPPEASTRUM

A hippeastrum has just bloomed in our garden.

This post is part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Mellow Yellow Monday meme.

AS DAY BEGINS TO END

Shadows

As day begins to end, so do the shadows lengthen.
As our years advance, so does our experience grow.
As the sun grows dimmer so does the light diminish.
As we grow older so do our experiences become lesser.
As the evening falls, the memory of the day persists.
As our life is more confined so does our experience sustain the fires of memory and our wisdom grows...

This post is part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme,
and also part of the Scenic Sunday meme.