PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA

Pretoria (Xhosa: E-Pitoli) is a city in the northern part of Gauteng province in South Africa. It straddles the Apies River and has spread eastwards into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the administrative branch of government (Cape Town is the legislative capital and Bloemfontein the judicial capital), and of foreign embassies to South Africa.

Pretoria has a reputation for being an academic city with three universities and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) located in its eastern suburbs. The city also hosts the South African Bureau of Standards making the city a hub for research. Pretoria is the central part of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion and Soshanguve.

There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane, and the proposed name change has caused some public controversy. Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius, and within South Africa sometimes called the "Jacaranda City" due to the thousands of jacaranda trees planted in its streets, parks and gardens. Being an invasive species, jacaranda trees are no longer allowed to be planted in Pretoria.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

CLOTHES MAKETH THE MAN

And the woman!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme.

MY SUNDAY BEST MEME #94 - SUNRISE

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!

Sunrise on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia.

This post is part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

NESTING BRONZEWING

The common bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera) is a species of medium-sized, heavily built pigeon. Native to Australia and one of the country's most common pigeons, the common bronzewing is able to live in almost any habitat, with the possible exception of very barren areas and dense rainforests.

Common bronzewings construct a rough nest of twigs and sticks, which is placed low down in a tree or bush. The eggs hatch after a period of roughly 14 to 16 days, after being incubated by both the male and the female. Both parents share the responsibility of caring for the young. In common with other pigeons, common bronzewings release a milky substance from their crop to feed their young.

This nest was photographed in the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,

and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

CLOUDS

At the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

BLUE GERANIUM

Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' was the first of the brilliant blue geraniums to catch gardeners' eyes. The Royal Horticultural Society gave it the Award of Garden Merit (AGM). The blue of its flowers is hard to photograph and is always more startling when you actually see the plant. The flower stalks can grow quite tall and will droop under the weight of the blossoms. Most gardeners don't bother to stake them, since it is still an attractive plant, even with its floppy habit.

The flowers should be cut back after the first bloom, to get sporadic repeat blooms. Often the whole plant can begin to look scraggly and a good shearing is needed to totally rejuvenate it. 'Johnson's Blue' geranium is drought tolerant. It blooms best in full sun, but appreciates some afternoon shade in hot, dry areas. It's very disease resistant and a magnet for bees and butterflies.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

T-SQUARE

T-square noun

A T-shaped instrument for drawing or testing right angles.

Etymology:  Its name comes from its resemblance to the letter T.

When I was in High School, we had a few art lessons in "technical drawing" where we learnt how to use various drawing instruments, such as T-squares, set squares, protractors, compasses, etc, in order to construct precise drawings of various objects. These drawings could then be used as a guide for constructing these objects in wood, metal or plastic.

It is rare to find such instruments nowadays as technical drawings can be done quite easily by the use of various drawing programs on a computer...

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS

Leiden is a city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 122,565, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with its suburbs Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten and Zoeterwoude with around 190,000 inhabitants. Leiden is located on the Old Rhine, at a distance of some 20 kilometres from The Hague to its south and some 40 km from Amsterdam to its north. The recreational area of the Kaag Lakes (Kagerplassen) lies just to the northeast of Leiden.

A university city since 1575, Leiden houses Leiden University, the oldest university of the Netherlands, and Leiden University Medical Centre. It is twinned with Oxford, the location of the United Kingdom's oldest university. Over 1994/95 I spent several months in the Netherlands engaged in various academic/research activities. I lived in Leiden for five weeks, which was a wonderful time for me. I spent a great deal of my spare time cycling around the city and environs visiting the grand old buildings, notable museums, beauty spots and historical sites.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

LATE SPRING GARDEN

Our garden is abloom this time of the year and it is a pleasure to spend time in it on days like today when the sun is shining and the temperature is warm. The colours and the perfumes, the song of birds, the buzz of bees, the trickling of the water in the fountain, and the sound of music playing softly in the background while we sip on a cool drink is a vision of Paradise...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Macro Monday meme,

and also part of the Through my Lens meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

MY SUNDAY BEST MEME #93 - RAIN

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!

Rain, rain, go away.
Come again another day.
Baby wants to play.
Rain, rain, go away...

This post is part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.