No, I shant use that tedious, overworked four-lettered “b” word. You all know what I mean.

Actually, I had a some help this morning – having allowed the dishes to pile up (rinsed and very neatly stacked!), I poured another cup of coffee an opened yesterday’s paper…when The Man said: “I’ll do the dishes.”

AND HE DID. ALL OF THEM! Anyone care to throw me some money for further research into telepathy…?

But please don’t think I sat on my tuffet with a newspaper all morning. Oh, no! I’ve pruned more branches from the footpath, hauled same to the tip, mowed the street strip, searched unsuccessfully for my Robert Frost (I’ll have to Google the bit I need) and given some thought to dinner.

Ylang-ylang Canangra odorata above the front steps

And while I was waiting for something else to load, I whizzed over to Wiki to see what it had to say about the Ylang-ylang seeds. What it has to say is that just about all the frugivorous pigeons eat these seeds:

Its fruit are an important food item for birds, such as the Collared Imperial-pigeon,Purple-tailed Imperial-pigeon, Zoe’s Imperial-pigeon, Superb Fruit-dove, Pink-spotted Fruit-dove, Coroneted Fruit-dove, Orange-bellied Fruit-dove, andWompoo Fruit-dove (Frith et al.1976).

And what I have to say is that so does everything else that can reach them! I’ve seen a medley of fig birds, and various honey eaters up there during the day and at night I hear bats and possums swishing and stomping and rattling seeds and twigs. It’s like having Xavier Cugat on the roof!

I suppose I should organise some lunch before I pick up my lino blades…I’ve fished out an old sketch of Jamaican Jimmy and , if I do him justice, I’ll post the result.

Hmm… a couple of cats seem to think it’s lunchtime, too!

Contrib: Rusty

Dinah tells us about these many ginger cats she sees at the place where she swims. So we tell her to make contact and bring us proof, not that we think she is making free with the truth, but people do not always have the same perception as we cats; indeed, people are given to exaggerations on many occasions, such as the stories they tell about sporting victories and the reasons for not returning from the Emporium with what we consider to be sufficient supplies of Crunchies and Jellimeat.

It seems there are, indeed, “many” ginger cats.

Breakfast (Just waiting in case she leaves any…)

A discarded plastic fork provided kitten fun.

A good wash after breakfast is important and if you can find a sunny spot, all the better.

…all the better for snoozing, too!

This is as close as you’re getting, Two Legs Person!

Dinah says she has counted 7 ginger cats and I say this is a Ginger Fellowship and the Lady  Boss says there more than 7 and she says it is a Conspiracy! She also says that she would like to catch these Fellows (Ginger Order) and take them to the Person-Whose-Name-We-Do-Not-Speak, thus ensuring that the Fellowship will be limited to present members.

Rusty.

GGGGGGGGGG

And at this point, I reclaim my blog…

It’s been a run of break-downs and blow-ups and various failures Chez Dinahmow…the microwave (marvellously handy place to hide food from Feline Thieves as they can’t open the door!) ping-ed and arc-ed so I’m guessing its magnetron is kaput. My sewing machine went pffft! and belched smoke yesterday in what could be a blown motor or, more likely, since it’s engineered by Swiss genius, burnt circuit board and the bonnet hinges on the Mustang need replacing.

I felt I could use a little cheeriness…and look what was on my doorstep when I came home from the pool……a parcel of sketchbooks! The exchange we began a year ago. This is my book, all finished except for the cover.

My opening page

…and the facing page.

My book then travelled to Melanie in The Bronxwho added this embroidered piece, picking up my black and red colours and swirls and sent it on to…

Katie Jane, in Cincinatti, who does lovely stained glass work and has made this page a look-alike.

From Kate  it went international again to Ellen in Mission, B.C.  Knowing my fondness for corvids…

…Ellen has added this!

From Canada, the book came back to Australia…

…and  Brigitte, again picking up my swirly lines, gave me this and sent the book to Alison…

…who added this linoprint, plus…

an embossed version of the same plate.(difficult to see here)

Alison passed the book to Heather…

…for her collaged linoprint.

From Heather to Frankie…

…the first half of Frankie’s spread…

…and the second half…

What a lovely collection of friends and memories! I am so glad we did this and I hope everyone else has had the same frisson whenever the postman knocked.

Sure, some of us feel our artwork  leaves much to be desired, but the whole point of starting this exchange was for fun. I’ve had fun and perhaps, just maybe, my sketching is improving.

Thankyou to all of you who added your colourful, whimsical pages to a book I’ll treasure.

I’ll post pictures of the covers once they are added.

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What else is happening in my world? Printmaking. Of course. I am, once again, up to my ears in ink. (see what I mean about the human tendancy to exaggerate? – Rusty.)

Perhaps the cat is right. Perhaps the ink is not quite that deep. But I do have a lot on my plate(s) so the blog may be neglected for a while…

But I’ll be paying a few cyber visits. Oh, thankyou so much for asking! Yes, I’d love a coffee. Straight-up, no sugar. A glass of wine? Don’t mind if I do. Shiraz would be fine, thankyou.

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And now, for your delectation, a test of your cognitive abilities. Keep in mind (as I try to now that the birthday cake is going into candle-overload!) that the brain will last longer and wear better with constatnt use and stimulation. So, Auntie Ethel, turn off that stupid  TV show and give your neurons reason to fire. Synap out of it, as a friend of mine says!

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? 

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll down.

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2 How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator? 

Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. 

All the animals attend …. Except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just put him in there.? This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and 

You do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer:? You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the 
Professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals have the brains of a four-year-old.

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Well, I didn’t think I’d manage to do sky sketches for Vivien’s challenge this week, but – ta-daaa! This, people, is why you should NOT waste money on cheapies. These water soluble pencils were $2 at the Dollar $aver $tore. You get what you pay for.  

Looking a bit washed-out here. Basically, just blue sky.  

 

 

A very quick quickie – I was driving and had to stop for road works so did a fast pencil study and washed it later with a damp brush.Ed: oops! this is the water colour version. I scanned the pencil one, but it looked weird.

 

This is the sort of sky that makes you glad you closed the screen door. Or wish you had!

 

And another while stopped in traffic. Sometimes, I see several vapour trails, criss-crossing. On clear days, they’ll streak the sky for several minutes. But when it’s windy they are frayed within seconds.Then gone.

And here endeth my sky contribution.

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If you’ve been following or participating in the travelling sketchbooks, you’ll be aware of my warning not to include organic materials in books coming back to Australia. 

The other day, I caught up with some blogs I haven’t read for a while and this was reinforced when I read Jan’s story. Because the link is not coming up (why?) scroll back to May 8, 2009.

I can see the point and I’m all for keeping nasties out of the country, but I would like them to be more consistent with inspections. They never look at shoes and only random arrivals are asked to empty their pockets. I suppose that would cost more money! 

I am currently fiddling about with a book which, if I finish it, will have bits of leather, wood and grass in its construction. It will be staying here. And by “here” I suppose that will have to be “Queensland” as southern states usually have an embargo on inter-state organic material. Yes, really! That’s why we park  before crossing the border and scoff all the fruit we have

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I had a lovely “arty day out” with a Alison the other day. We began our day with a 2kms swim. Very arty! Then drove south to look at the Sarina exhibition where we both have work on show. No gold medals for us, but it was great to see more prints in this year’s show and to see the high standard of some work in this genre. 

We took the “scenic route” back to Town….

…and spent some time drooling over the current Artspace exhibition of northern artists’ work, mainly in prints.

Here’s a review from a gallery further north when the touring exhibition was there:

http://www.artsnexus.com.au/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=348&sid=2e859255890ca9d0dcb30a4ad4348294

And here’s a link for Denis Nona, one of my favourites, who is featured.http://www.aboriginalartprints.com.au/ab_dennisnona.cfm

And a link to our local gallery:http://www.artspacemackay.com.au/whats_on/news/on_the_edge_visions_of_a_tropical_coastline

We came away fired with enthusiasm and ideas for our own work. And isn’t that what it’s really all about?

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Who likes quinces? I do. But they are a tad pricey here. So I restrained myself and bought only one. I shall paint it, then stew it, then savour it. Likewise, the pomegranate. Might even blog it!

Let’s imagine we live on some far-flung planet which “has no weather. ” Too far for its parent star’s light to reach it. Absolutely no day/night demarcation. Nothing. Just…well, nothing.

Bit like here, really! 

Oh, alright! Maybe I have exaggerated a little. Just a little. All the same, meeting Vivien’s challenge has not been easy!

Those brief moments we did have blue sky…I was nowhere near a window. And now it’s raining. Again.                                                                                                                                                           And the scanner clearly does not think we have dull, grey skies! If the rain lets up tomorrow I’ll use the camera…

And now it’s yesterday’s tomorrow…Still grey, blustery and rainy. But often, those grey skies are more changeable than the bland days of blue. You know why, don’t you? These clouds, being at lower levels, are torn apart, blown around visibly by the winds. Usually, when we see “clear blue skies” there are no clouds to give us an idea of scale. But it’s windy up there. Just ask an eagle!

Anyway…here are a few camera snaps of some very quick sky sketches. Mr. Fujica has a better eye than Mr. Canon.

May 7, midday, looking north.

And the same view about 15 minutes later!When the rain started I rushed first to close windows, then grabbed the nearest paper – copy paper so of course it’s all cockled! (I think it is an almost-blank page that came with my Bank statement. Pretty accurate, actually!)  

                                                                                                                                              May 7, around 5.30pm.                                                                                                                        

 Driving home;by the time we’d gone 500m beyond this streak of colour, the sun had gone . The tropics, remember?                                                                                                                                                                                                              May 9, early afternoon (before 2 0′clock, as I went out then!)

May 12, 4pm  

   …and 30 minutes later- another shower coming across.                                                                                                                                         

The evening one was a colour pencil “quickie” in the car, washed with a damp brush later; the others are water colours with a brush and, apart from the bank paper, all on off-cuts of Fabriano printing paper and all through my living room window. 

Gee! It’s a long time since I did little studies like this. I should probably do it more often. Thanks, Vivien!

 

There’s been some pretty wild and wacky weather across the Tasman. A terrific hail storm dumped a thick blanket of the icy stuff on the beach town of Papamoa. Then, for good measure, followed that with snow! Not a big deal in areas famous for skiing, but Papamoa? This is bikini country Surfboards and sharks. I can remember wearing thick woolly sweaters in winter when I lived there, but snow? Never! (And if that link is no longer current I daresay googling for hail in Papamoa will get you there.)

 

I’ve been sifting through some old photos   from our raptor rehab. days. Why? Well, looking for birds to depict in lino. I’ve already pulled one print of a Ninox owl* and I’m trying to get a workable sketch of a barn owl. I love them all, but think the “barnies” may be top of my list. 

These guys were hand-reared (by an experienced handler so there was no danger of imprinting)  after a spring storm felled many nest trees. I think three were released and two became part of a breeding programme at a sacntuary.   And now I’m trying to draw one of them!

But first – lunch!

* That print’s been submitted for possible selection in a show. I forgot to take a decent photo before I sent it off so, if it doesn’t make the cut, I’ll post it when it comes back!     

I was catching up on some blog reading while waiting for an email and I read Cat’s entertaining story .

Now, being rather fond of frogs myself and having bawled my eyes out when a rainstorm washed oily water into my collection 0f 52 baby frogs, I certainly understood her brother’s passion.

In fact, I thought it topped my “mantis madness.” But Cat wants to hear about that, so…

Regular readers know I have “a thing” for wildlife. Saturday night rave-ups? Not so much… But creepy, crawly, slithery things, oh yes!

I think my mother was reasonably tolerant of my “collections” that littered the porch table, her sewing machine cabinet, various bookcases  and sometimes the shoe closet. I always had some critter that I was studying.

I also think that she was ignorant of the facts on mantis reproduction.            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praying_mantis        

Come to that, so was Little Miss Nine Year Old! I had collected 54 egg sacs (they looked like miniature zippers!) and kept them on a tray in my bedroom which, during some renovations I shared with my brother, then a few months old. He held nowhere   near the same fascination for me.

Every lunchtime, I’d race in from school and check the eggs. I desparately wanted to see them hatch and I used up a lot of fairy wishes that “this will be The Day. ” And every lunchtime, there would be 54 eggs, still zipped tight. Disappointment!

Until…one day. The tray with its load of precious little zippers was gone!

“Maaaarm! Where are my praying mantises?” And my less-than-pleased mother pointed through the window to the tray, upside down and halfway across the lawn. Turned out the eggs had all hatched while my brother was having his morning nap and when Mother checked on him, he was covered in wriggling, green, cannibalistic insects. 

I still think it was unfair of her to “remove” them like that…

<><><><><><><><>

 

Well, that email I was waiting for means that I have to head in to town. On a Saturday. Urghh! Just hope the Saab Team is not on the highway!

http://www.bill.co.nz/fun/so_you_think_you_can_drive.wmv

 

 

Scrambling around in the back garden the other day I was struck by the lacy shadows and patterns on some old, thin-with-age leaves.

Losing their colour as they near the end of their season, some leaves take on a skeletal quality. Like these…

Dioscorea  The green, heart-shaped leaves in the background are, two days later, already losing their brilliance and will probably make it to the compost bin by Sunday.

And, as old life ebbs, new life begins…

A mangrove seedling securing its place as dry, withered leaves float past.

Being in the tropics, we don’t have  sharply defined seasons. As I have mentioned. Once or twice

Years ago, friends in Connecticut had a huge old elm in their yard and it dropped its not inconsiderable load of leaves in one night. The kids would be detailed to ” rake up those leaves before someone slips over!” They grizzled every year about this onerous, to them, task. I wonder how they’d like to have to pick up palm trash EVERY DAY?

Looking up, through the terminalia and foxtail palms. Just two of the reasons I don’t have a vegetable garden! Although…the terminalia seeds are supposed to be edible. Anyone out there know how to prepare them? In parts of Africa the tree is called “false almond” and the nuts are eaten, but none of my books has reliable information on the cooking aspects.

 

This picture was taken in March, well before the retreat of chorophyll’s army… 

If you’re interested, in this mis-matched planting are Casuarina, Thevetia, Viburnum, Ardissia, Mutabilis and Dioscorea. Oh, yes – somewhere behind these is my tamarind, tall, straight and lanky. 

And the banner? Mainly mutabilis.  Bauhinia.

Now, I’m off to do brilliantly artistic things with sharp implements…

Someone ought to update this blog! You can’t just pretend to be busy all the time. sigh…I suppose it’ll have to be me…

I am  like my father. Big and strong. I stomp, stomp, stomp up the hallway. I kill shoes. I strop my claws on the sofa. I am defiant. This morning, at 4 o’clock, I jumped on their bed and demanded breakfast. She said it was too early and shoo-ed me out and shut the door. HAH! They thought they were safe because it’s a knob, not a latch sort of handle. But I ran all the way up the hall and hurled myself up at the knob…then I jumped on the bed and purred, basso profundo, in Her ear. Door knob? Piece of cake!

Honestly! These bipeds need such a lot of help, don’t they? The Man needed us to help do something he called bleeding the brakes. I t was not difficult. 

And, of course, Sporran and I have to help when She goes across the road to feed the Dog. We make sure there are no mouses or beetles or geckos.And we let the Dog know what we will do to him if he comes too close.                                         

Yesterday, a Spangled Drongo bird was here all morning. I didn’t take much notice, but Sporran climbed  a tree to have a closer look. And Dinah got that damn’ camera again. Don’t know why she bothers really. As soon as she creeps in, close and sneaky, the bird flies higher. And she has to do fiddly things with the knobby bit on the camera. Then the bird flies higher…Quite amusing, really. Apparently, Drongos are very good mimics.  We are looking forward to hearing the Drongo repeat some of the words Dinah says. 

 

I think it’s time I repossessed my blog. Sod off  Thankyou, Geiger. Why don’t you go downstairs and play motor mechanic?

 

Back to that Drongo…he is listed, officially, by the Latin monica of Dicrurus bracteata which might seem a bit of a mouthful, but surely is better than being a drongo! In this country, to be called a drongo (or a silly galah) is an insult to one’s intelligence.  

 

 At this time of year the Drongos seem more active, although they are around most of the time. Their chief call is quite a harsh chyat-chyat-chyat sound. But then, just to surprise and delight us (well, me at least!), they’ll toss in a few completely different notes and, as if pleased with that sound, will warble up and down their “new” scale, making adjustments, adding new chords. I wish I could write music. 

 

No luck with the camera, I resorted to the pen. The rich, velvety black  mantle  and the shot silk spangles always make me  think of an evening gown.

 

 A miserable effort, but here it is. The scanner has picked up far too much of that green-blue; it’s really more slate-y. Oh, yes! For something more accurate, I’ve given you a link.

 www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=20

 

And I stumbled across a most interesting link for printmakers. A tad late to be a part of International Printmakers Day this year, but 2010 is earmarked!

 http://printeresting.org/2009/04/13/print-

holiday/#comment-953

 

 

Two prints have been submitted to our local gallery and now I wait to hear whether I’ve made the cut. Or not.

 

That zebra has undergone some fetlock ” surgery” and will be traced-off when the shops re-open and I can get some carbon paper. I struggled so much to draw this one I’m not going to risk a direct freehand onto a plate. Do I look like a drongo!

 

Have I been griping about the heat lately? Probably! Well, griping is done til next summer. On Friday, almost at the throw of a switch, the wind swung from sou-easter to southerly and I don’t think it’s much exaggeration to suggest that it didn’t stop anywhere on its way up from the Ross Ice Shelf! I don’t mind. Or at least, I wont mind once I’ve dug out the woollies! Swimming is going to be, shall we say…interesting for the next few months!

 

I think a cooked lunch is called for today. Squally showers add to the chill and the appetite is for something with a little heat. Roasted vegetables, on filo, topped with feta and pine nuts, I think. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not everyone’s definition of “busy” will be the same. And when I tell you what has occupied a fairly large slice of my time, there will proably be more than a few scoffing, derisive splutters.

I’ve been drawing zebras.

Now, this may seem a no-brainer to those of you who have polo ponies in the back field. But for someone whose most recent acquaintance with a nag was 2 years ago, zebras present something of a challenge. Add to that the fact that the only real zebra I’ve ever seen was behind bars, poor thing. 

So I had to resort to paging through some old magazines and books for pictures of a “horse in striped pyjamas.” I learned a few things about zebras. I already knew that getting too close to a wild one, however cute or funny it might look, is asking for trouble. But I didn’t know until recently that the wildlife migrations in southern Africa can’t start til the zebras do! Why? It seems Ol’ Stripey’s gut has evolved to digest the tough old grasses which inhibit the new growth which comes when the rains begin. So…once the zebra herds have chewed down the stalky stuff, the next wave of grazers can move in. 

Something else I learned – zebras can “read” the individual stripes of their fellows. I had assumed (ignorant white woman, me) that they recognised each other by scent. Nope! They also use the black/white pattern differences in sorting out who’s who. Like fingerprints, the white* stripes are unique to each zebra. 

But the toughest lesson was that I still can’t draw a horse!My coffee table has better legs!

*Yes, the animals’ skin is black with white stripes. 

Time to take Hoover for a walk…

From what I hear, newspaper readers fall squarely into two camps when it comes to the tabloid press: the fors and the againsts.

On the for side is the argument that tabloids are easier to fold for reading on public transport. The purists on the other side of the fence (mostly) don’t ride public transport so they pooh-pooh that idea. They also, somewhat sniffily, say that people who buy tabloids can’t read anyway and only look at the nubile nymphettes and the sports pages.

My own view? Well, for me, the big boys win, hands-down, every time.You see, those scrappy little chip-wrappers just aren’t big enough when I need to cover my dining table!

Laying out some ink for a morning’s printing…

I now have a routine, after some initial messing about: first, I clear all the accumulated “stuff” from the table. Sometimes, I find things I’d thought lost! Mostly, I find things that should have been dumped!

Then I tape several sheets of newspaper over the table. My inking slab is a glass shelf from an old refrigerator. It’s also solid enough to take the (minimal) pressure required for monoprints.

I have a bucket under the table for the dirty wipes and I’ve learned to keep a rag soaked in baby oil on a glazed tile. In case my fingers get a bit inky.

I also learned (the hard way!) that it’s a good idea to decant my linseed oil into a plastic squeezy thing. I use one of those bottles that you mix hair dyes in; it has a nice, controllable nozzle so no more big splats of oil gushing out of big bottles!

Not very hi-tech, but hey! it works for me!

(Sorry – no prints to show you as I’m still working on them. )

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Back to last week’s day at Botanic Gardens…

Water hyacinth(Eichornia crassipes) covering much of the surface of the lagoon. I suppose the Council will drag the weed eventually. It’s less a problem on a pond than in streams, but it’s such a rampant spreader it can (and does!) get out of control in some places. Raked off and dried, it’s a wonderful addition to the compost bin. Oh yes…ponies whiched were housed in a field by a river used to graze on the stuff. Probably little nutrient in it, but it did no harm to the horses.

And it’s so pretty!

I walked to the far end of the boardwalk (which is in desperate need of clearing, fellas!) and managed to pick some for sketching. The yellow is something whose proper name escapes me, but I’ve heard it referred to as a false marigold, also wild mallow and water buttercup. It comes closer to a mallow in flower, though not leaf, so if anyone has a positive ID, please leave a comment.Update 12/9/09 It seems this is a water buttercup, Ranunculus lingua grandiflora.

One more pretty picture? Yes? Oh, alright…Kites, hanging at the Lgoons Gallery.

These come from Indonesia; toy shops and some of those high-end design stores sell them in flat packs. You slot the light-weight canes into the designated points, attach strings and hang them. 

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And now…I have work to do…

Remember this ? Part of a sculpture wall, made from old farm implements and rusty old nuts and bolts, by ??? No one seemed to know, which I thought decidedly odd. I posted this almost a couple of years ago and said then that when I found out who made it I’d let you know. Yesterday, I was back at the Botanic Gardens and this time I saw a plaque identifying the artist as Christopher Trotter. You can’t rush some things, can you! He is featured on various sites and has a website  If the link doesn’t work, try www.trotter.com.au. Google seems to be working independantly!

  But…what was I doing at the Gardens? Nine of us, printmakers all, had gone there to celebrate a birthday and do some sketching. And it just happened that 2 other local artists were launching their combined show of paintings and sculptures. Photography, always tricky down there, was nigh impossible with people wandering in and out of shot, but here is a partial of one of the birds in the series. Made on an armature of twigs, bark, twine (and goodness knows what else!), with some real feathersThe artist is Lyn Kane.

I did stay and sketch for a while, but baled out as the sun was doing a pretty good job of grilling me. 

 

Morinda citrifolia

Cultivated throughout SE Asia and the Pacific islands for its medicinal properties and marketed as “Noni Juice” locally, this tree belongs to the coffee family. And botanists will notice it shares a name with mulberry and even non-botanists can’t fail to spot the citrus reference. So you’d be forgiven if you thought it would have the lemony scent of one of those. Ooh! Youd be so o o disappointed. If I tell you it has also been called “stinky cheese” and “vomit tree”  would you be likely to rush out and buy some Noni Juice? No? Didn’t think so!  It is one of the most foul-smelling, slimy things I’ve ever encountered. Almost up there with Durians. Almost.  In the lower left corner, just below that tiny white flower, you can see a pale, warty-looking lump. That’s  a ripe fruit. After making the mistake of trying to pick up a fallen one, prudence and olfactory sensitivity got the better of me! Wikipedia has more information. And while I’m on the subject of malodorous vegetation…for the past few days I’ve smelt Stinkhorns nearby. I scratched about in the mulch by the back fence, but couldn’t find the culprits, so I’m guessing the fungi are in a neighbour’s mulch. Yes, go on, Google Stinkhorn fungus and see what I mean! Okay, okay, I realise this has probably sent some of you off to get Auntie’s smelling salts so I’ll leave you with something more pleasant…       

One of two wedding venues at the Gardens.

I hope the wind didn’t shift during the ceremony as that Morinda is just across the lawn!

 

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Can anyone tell me why the gremlins have decided to call that top picture “Christopher VINE sculpture” ? Stupid gremlins!