View from down under

Made a visit to friends last night. The full moon looked wonderful, especially when it appeared through the winding, gnarly branches of a huge eucalypt tree.
A possum kept making a racket in the trees next to the house. It might have been disturbed by a carpet snake that has moved in in the ceiling structure. The snake apparently comes out late at night and feeds itself with cat food. It is not only the possum that is going nuts but also the cat has started to express disturbing behaviours by waking up the master of the house and pleading him to chase the snake away from the balcony. Once he has done that, he said, he of course goes back to bed, but then the possum, who has decided to sleep on top of their bedroom, starts making alarmed noises on the roof. Nobody is happy.
This picture is, again, of a hibiscus that grows on my front yard.

Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2012

Inkling

There was lots of bird chatter this morning, which always makes me feel good. Somehow the light looked brighter than usual when it hit the leaves of the rose apple tree. Maybe there is something new going on...
Here is a picture that is full of promise...

Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2012

Deeper

The sun is shining again this morning. Yesterday afternoon, half an hour before the scheduled walk with a friend, the sky went darkblue dark and then it rained. Fortunately no storm. Unfortunately no walk.
The Night-flowering cereus is just a memory now. It bloomed for only one night. The scent, that somehow made me later imagine that Imelda Marcos could have been wearing perfume like that, was gone the next day. My son said the following morning that the flower smelled like potatos. And it did indeed. How strange that the plant can produce such a strong, seductive scent for a few hours at night and the next day it smells like potatoes. Why does it do that? I do not think anything happens by accident in nature.
Here is 'an insight' to a yellow bell-flower that I photographed a few days ago.

Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2012

Gorgeous

I have not taken the short bush walk close to my house since July. Now that my heel finally allows me to make short walks I went to for it yesterday with a friend. I was puffing like a blow fish! The bush looked pretty good, it has got its vigour back after the rains. For so many years it was just so brittle and empty looking, all the undercover plants were gone then. Now the ferns and other lush looking plants are back. My friend said that she had been asked by rangers the other day if she had seen an injured koala next to the rock steps. She had not. Somebody had called the rangers and they had been on the look out to save it. Koala sightings are starting to be rare now. Ten years ago you could see them every now and then but today - rarely. It is sad.
Here is a picture of a flower that looks really sweet and romantic.

Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2012

A knight in a red armour

I went for a walk yesterday. I photographed, again, the flowers of a particular tree that is standing on a deserted stretch of a creek close to my house. I do not know the name of the tree. The flowers are quite amazing, majestic, looking. They grow in heavy bunches hanging down like grapes in a vine. This is a close up of the flowers.

There were two children in school uniforms running around the creek bed. I could not see them clearly but the other stopped when he saw me, started waving frantically and yelled, "We are exploring!" I waved back and yelled back that I was exploring too.

Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2012

Day 8 - In the darkness of the night

I went to the backyard at midnight to check the cactus. And it was blooming! For heavens sake, it was so beautiful and the scent was absolutely something out of this world: very heavy, heady, luxurious and somehow waxy. I found out its name: Night-bloomining cereus. It has bloomed a couple of times before in the past ten years, but this time I have a chance to follow its blooming process from the very start. Amazing thing is that when I looked at the bud and later the flower it seemed to be slightly shaking. Maybe it really was growing in front of my eyes.

Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2012

Day 7 - Scary

It is amazing how much bugs there are in my garden when I take a closer look. Worms eating leaves, spiders hunting, ants everywhere. And when I put my camera on their face, they stop, they turn their heads to me and their eyes gleam suspiciously. I took some interesting shots today of plants that are not in their peak; the dying and the ones that have met their faith by predators. But the one photo I feel I have to publish today is the cactus flower that I am eagerly waiting to bloom. It seems to grow a couple of centimeters every night. This is how it looked today. Be aware!

Copyright Kirsi Reinikka 2012