Vroom!

Going up zee hill...

And going down zee hill...

On the bus. (As you do).

No Warning

The sky turned yellow and that was it. Thunder, lightning, hail.

View from the back (me racing out of the kitchen)

Detail of the line cloud and the glorious Van Gogh yellow

Have we forgotten?

War Memorial, Brisbane City

Today is ANZAC Day. A day supposed to be shared in memoriam for all fallen soldiers.
Unfortunately, a lot of people miss the point. 8,000 people turned up to the Dawn Service.
As I stood attempting to listen to the prayers, people behind me constantly chatting, mobile phones were going off (at 4am!) and I was seriously tempted to thump the person next to me noisily munching away on a packet of chips.

The Rez (City Living)

The Residences
Adelaide Street, City

Street view
(the entrance to the Residences is where the person in the photo is situated)

All yours, Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka yai yah....

Buckinghamia celsissima - Ivory Curl Tree

Before you cry out, hey! that's a grevillea! and I admit, it's a very close call, take a closer look at the leaves and stamen. The seed pods will be brown, capsular and papery too. Closely related alright but this rainforest tree is a regular site all around Brisbane and a fine accompaniment to the Bottlebrush I would think.

Domestic Goddess

I was making coffee when I spied her from the corner of my eye. She sits above a drying box in the kitchen next to the spice rack and the candle is lit whenever it comes to mind "usually when I am cooking chevat" my friend says.

goddess in context
Bracken Ridge
(suburb of Brisbane)

Big Hit

One of many reasons why I carry my camera on me at all times. This anvil emerged like a leviathan from beneath the sea with a speed that took my breath away.

Newmarket Road, Newmarket

An evening on the green.

I'm not sure where the last few weeks have gone - 1st April feels like yesterday. Literally. In the spirit of tardiness, I offer more than one picture for today's posting.



As I roved out this evening down along the bank.

A creek - part of the northside green belt Stafford

Under a sky cut from blue banded agate.

I set forth and observed the traffic.

Northside green belt bike and run path
Stafford into Alderley

Found beautiful flowers that others might think weeds.

Clover
northside green belt, Stafford

And an ambush waiting to happen.

Orb Spider waiting in a peri-peri tree
(beneath this web she dangles a leaf in the hope of attracting quarry)
northside green belt, Enoggera

While the quarry looked on.

Fly considers dangling leaf
northside green belt, Enoggera

Before I turned to gaze at more wonderous weeds,

even magic ones..

It's actually a toadstool, folks ;)

and took the short way home.

Treacherous rocks
northside green belt

Waiting for my ship to come in...

Quayside at midnight
South Bank, Brisbane
(the CBD is on the other side of the river)

So Treasury

Many moons ago, when Brisbane was first established, the occupying British forces built a big castle dedicated to storing all their money. Occupying a block, it's an impressive, ornate old girl with a rumoured tunnel underneath that links to the Town Hall the next street over.

Hmmm...that'd be right, ferrying extra pennies to Council. Just goes to show that some things don't change.

Nowadays, the old Treasury building is the Conrad Treasury Casino with five star hotel rooms going for a very reasonable AUD$300 a night.

The Old Treasury Building
(now Treasury Casino)
George Street, Brisbane

By the light of the silvery cityscape..

On the water by night, enjoying the colours.

Driving in Brisbane

On the way out of the city.

Plum Blossom

And a smile from the garden.

Good morning!

Common Gecko on a cassava leaf

Rain has fallen. The residents are up and about early.

Estuarine Life

My day off is over and I head into port.

Brisbane River

Special Mention: Flood

The State of Queensland has now been declared a natural disaster zone with over two thirds of the State now under water. Rain is predicted for the south east which is where Brisbane sits. (And yet the pundits refuse to acknowledge the drought has broken!) I just may have to start one of these!

Ark built by Dutchman Johan Huibers
Schagen, Holland
photo Daily Mail UK

More from the garden

I don't mind spiders. This one, a garden orb, sits straddled between two ropes that make the clothesline and makes more than her keep in fly catches. You can see her chewing on her latest, one fresh in the fridge and the pantry to the left.

Garden Orb

And there's this tiny little man, half the size of our smallest coin, flying around on his web thread. He is really quite the character. This was taken at distance because the eyes on this little guy are amazing - they're a veritable scanner and he can see me, in size and colour so every time I approached he would jump away. I am delighted to have identified him, the shape of his thorax and crown markings making him very distinctive.

Jumping Spider - Stilicid (Opisthoncus Mordax)

He's watching me.

Loving nature and respecting its presence in your life has its challenges. Everyone has their 'thing' and for me it's wasps. These guys have settled near the orb and are very good at keeping the fly population down. They only build colonies of about 15 and, left alone, they keep to themselves. Provoked, they will attack and bear a nasty sting.

Paper Wasps

Their stringlike home is called a "pagoda" and is constructed from their saliva. When every core of my being cries out "get rid of them!" I resist. For they have their place too.

Meet our Martha

This is Martha, formerly Arthur until her sex was determined.
Resident python, she feeds on chook eggs and her yearly offspring are protected from those eager to steal them for their own gain.

Yes, unfortunately, pythons fetch a lucrative price both here and overseas.

In a pensive mood

She's like my year 4 teacher. Looks fierce and bites when you annoy her but underneath that scaly exterior (which she is shedding in this photo) lies a soft heart.

Checking out the camera

View on Edward from on high

Looking out.

Edward Street, City

Looking at. (Top level corner window).

Queen Street Plaza
which is stupid really as the building sits on the corner of Edward and Adelaide Streets, City

Summer is....

Taking off your work clothes and going for a late evening swim.

Man made beach, Southbank, Brisbane City

Clearing your head on the ferry, watching the bats and swallows dip and listening to the currawong call to each other.

Rivercat en route to St Lucia, a suburb of Brisbane

The rampant growth of the blackberry bush, berries ripe for the magpie men feeding their young.

blackberry bush, my back yard

Long grass.

I haven't mowed in a while.

Mr Pentagon coming into the kitchen for a drink. Yes, he dips his head into the sink, lingers then leaves.

Male Huntsman spider, kitchen sink Brisbane
(known in other countries as the Housekeeping Spider)

Skies to get lost under.

8pm

Street theology

Brisbane residents communicating via construction sites.

On Scaffolding- Fortitude Valley