GUMNUTS

Playing with Photoshop filters. Original photo of the gumnuts is the first, followed by several orange transformations!

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

BLACK SUNFLOWER

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

POND REFLECTIONS

Our back garden pond provided opportunity for doing some reflection...

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,

and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

SUNNY SKIES

The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambour, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America, and found from eastern Canada and Maine west to North Dakota, and south to northern Florida and Texas. It is also cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.

The flowers are daisy-like and are produced  in capitate flowerheads, which are 5–10 cm in diameter, with 10–20 ray florets. As the stems are up to 2.5 m tall, they look quite spectacular against the sky. These are growing in our garden presently and we are looking forward to the tuber crop!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

PUMPKIN IN FLOWER

Cucurbita pepo is a cultivated plant of the genus Cucurbita. It yields varieties of winter squash and pumpkin, but the most widespread varieties belong to Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo, called summer squash.

It has been domesticated in the New World for thousands of years. The Zuni people have several uses for this plant. Some authors maintain that Cucurbita pepo is derived from Cucurbita texana, while others suggest that C. texana is merely feral C. pepo. They have a wide variety of uses, especially as a food source and for medical conditions.

Due to their varied genetic background, members of C. pepo vary widely in appearance, primarily in regards to their fruits. The plants are typically 30-75 cm high, 70-100 cm wide, and have yellow flowers. Within C. pepo, the pumpkins, scallops, and possibly crooknecks are ancient and were domesticated separately. The domesticated species have larger fruits and larger yet fewer seeds.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

JALOPY

jalopy |dʒəˈlɒpi| noun (pl.jalopies) informal

An old car in a dilapidated condition. His father got worried about him driving that old jalopy—it wasn't safe.

ORIGIN 1920s (originally US): of unknown origin.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

SCARBOROUGH LILY

The Scarborough Lily (Cyrtanthus elatus; many previous synonyms including Vallota speciosa) is a bulbous flowering plant which originates from the Cape Province of South Africa. Other common names are Fire Lily or George Lily.

Cultivated varieties of the Scarborough Lily have flowers which may be bright red, orange, yellow, or occasionally pink or white. The stems can grow to a height of up to 2 feet. They are relatively easy to grow, and can be grown in pots. They require either full sun or slight shade. They flower in late Summer or early Autumn. These are now in bloom in Melbourne.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

AUTUMNAL NANDINA

Nandina domestica commonly known as nandina, heavenly bamboo or sacred bamboo, is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas to Japan. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Nandina. The young leaves in spring are brightly coloured pink to red before turning green; old leaves turn orange-red or purple again before falling. The flowers are white, borne in early summer in conical clusters held well above the foliage. The fruit is a bright red berry 5–10 mm diameter, ripening in late autumn and often persisting through the winter.

This post is part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.

FIVE WAYS CAFÉ, OLINDA

This post is part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

ST DEMETRIUS CHURCH, THESSALONIKI, GREECE

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios (Greek: Άγιος Δημήτριος), is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki (in Central Macedonia, Greece), dating from a time when it was the second largest city of the Byzantine Empire. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634 AD. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. A Ciborium, a small shrine inside the church, contains the remnants of St. Demetrius. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artefacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church's crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

As the level of the ground gradually rose over the centuries, this area of the Saint's martyrdom acquired the form of a crypt. According both to tradition and to archaeological findings, it was an old bathhouse, in which Demetrios was imprisoned and eventually martyred in ad 303. In the 5th century, when the first Church of St Demetrios was built, the site of his martyrdom was incorporated into the church and the fountain was converted into a source of holy water. In the years that followed, the fountain acquired basins, from which the faithful could collect myron, the sweet-smelling oil produced by the saint’s relics. The crypt filled up with earth during the period of Ottoman rule and was not rediscovered until after the fire of 1917. It has been restored by the Archaeological Service and was converted into an exhibition space in 1988.

This post is part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.