The winter face of Marie’s “Iceberg” in January.
In recent comments there, Webb wondered how I felt at seeing the pictures of that terrace today and remembering my time there… and it’s probably high time I told readers !
In case some of you don’t know, I am not an Australian. And most certainly not a tropical native! I was born in a town named for a much older, English town and wonderfully planted by settlers with clear memories of “home.”
So my earliest Spring memories mesh very well with the images Marie is currently posting.
And as I walked around my borrowed city (and I walked miles, every day!) my gardener’s eye took in the winter framework and pictured “my” streets clad in pink Spring froth, edged in jewel-bright borders, gathering her lacy skirts for that sudden dash into summer, tumbling over the calendar’s pages, often driven by a rough storm and leaving us to pine for Spring’s fancy…
Back in the almost-seasonless tropics, I sift such sights and memories, replaying them in my mind. A bit like those old eight-tracks!
My walk yesterday took me along a new to me path…a friend and I parked the car and walked along the riverside pathway. No spring blossom here, but many of the local “wattles” (Acacia sp.) are in bud; I shall go back in a few days to check how close they are to opening. Of course, I’ll be able to tell that from the road by their perfume!
I collected a few Macaranga leaves which had some interesting bug-holes. The idea was to run a few prints from them, but they wilted very quickly in the heat (at least mid-twenties, Celsius) and despite my soaking them and wrapping them in damp paper…well, see for yourself…
Some of the smaller leaves were too brittle and simply crumpled under even gentle pressure. Note to self: next time take damp paper in plastic bag.
Some bright flowers to close with. Tropical Autumn, not Northern Spring. You should go to Brooklyn for that!
Moreidlethoughts Weblog 
The differences between Cambridge NZ and Mackay are vast, not the least being the seasonal changes. Even here down south in NSW (but not too far south) our seasonal changes are not all that noticeable. But I do love seeing the wattle appearing and soon it will be all along our country roads. Our deciduous trees will soon go brown instead of orange and will drop thousands of leaves on my garden but as long as there’s golden wattle around I can cope with the browness.
LikeLike
Vast is one way to put it! And your wattle will be, no doubt, the Cootamundra? Well, others, too, but that’s the star in your neck o’ the woods. Too hot up here, but we’ll have A. podlyriifolia next month and along the river are many “commons.” (A. longifolia, I think.)
LikeLike
….but further south again here at the creek we have ‘real’ autumn colour starting in our deciduous trees….. and wattle blossoms are many months away (august is traditionally the time of wattles – and black wattle the most abundant indigenous species)
LikeLike
The Black Wattle is common throughout, with several”specifics” and more confusing local names than I can keep up with! Last time I was down your way (Eden) it was April so I can picture you.
LikeLike
Why, you’re The Compleat Antipodean!
I don’t suppose rubbing those leaves with glycerine would help?
(The tattoo comment I made the other day before you closed the correspondence – and quite rightly – was in reference to the copyright issues and royalties due to both the original artist and the tattoo artist if once in a weak moment you’d had e.g. Frith’s ‘Derby Day’ tattooed on your back and could not thereafter wear strapless dresses for fear of lawyers’ injunctions and possible litigation for unauthorised display of a copyright work.
But it doesn’t seem to have been a problem for you.)
LikeLike
Oh! *That” tattoo. Actually, I did once have a temporary tat of a rose when I went to a party as Anna Magnagni. Bit of a laugh, really, as I’m a blonde and look nothing like her!
And the glycerine trick? Close, but no cigar…I used to add glycerine to the vase water of things like beech leaves, to prolong them (florists probably still do), but just brushing it over the surface doesn’t quite do the trick. It’s very good for photo shoots, mind.
One more thing…my ashes are going “home” to Cambridge. Definitely NOT to my alma mater. Or bed!
Now other readers will probably flood your place to see why! 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for stopping by the other day. I really have wondered about your visit – not knowing that you were not a total neophyte. I seriously wished that Mitchell and I could do part of Marie’s cat-sitting. he spent a lot of time in NYC as a young man and doesn’t want to do the tourist thing, so I thought a few weeks as quasi-residents would be fun and a great chance for me to get to know the city. Am glad to know that you walked about and made friends and became part of the city. And, apparently you did well by Don Escorbo – we’ve heard no complaints!
LikeLike
Hi, Webb. What a shame we could not have organised a day together. NY is a very walkable city.Just as well, cos the traffic is a migraine-on-wheels! But I’d love to see it in Fall. 🙂
LikeLike
I have a large Murraya tree flowering in my front garden at the moment. It seems to blossom on a whim. Does it grow in your part of Oz Dinah?
LikeLike
Oh, yes! I have several here(adventitious seedlings from a biggish one) and they do best after rain. Gorgeous, aren’t they?
LikeLike
Oops! That’s me,above, in my cat persona. 😉
LikeLike
And here I was thinking that Geiger was starting to read your blog…
“Even gentle pressure”–would that be as much as a small homemade flower press-type thing? Or perhaps the heat is just too overwhelming? I use little pieces of particle board (masonite–I don’t know if you call it the same) with blotter paper and clamps when I’ve been eyeing the neighbors’ bushes. But it’s a lot cooler here. And not always practical when having an impromptu walk around. Or I’m just muttering hot air… mostly I wanted to say hi. Nice to see you here again.
LikeLike
The leaves were just too wilted by the time I got home. And no, I didn’t use a press, just a baren.
My “flower press” is usually a sandwich of papers with a stack of heavy books on top.:-)
LikeLike
That bug-eaten leaf looks almost like the Swiss-leaf plant 🙂
The flower that amused me the most in Oz is the bird of paradise. It’s…so…what’s the word? Pugnacious?
LikeLike
Pugnacious! Jolly good term for it when it gets a bit thuggish in the garden!
LikeLike
Here I am in beautiful England the garden capital of the world… and I can barely grow a marigold. It’s so sad.
I’m glad you liked our little movie on my cat blog. I still laugh whenever I watch it.
LikeLike
That movie was hilarious! I’m glad you went with Cavaliers, not Corgis! 😉
And if you really want to grow flowers I’m sure a local nursery could help.
LikeLike