REMEMBER ME?

Quite understandable if I’d slipped from your memories.

I usually take a break over the Christmas period.Not a sabbatical, in the strict sense, but I gave myself and others around me a rest. Well, you’ve had your break!

The thing is (and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this!) as the time slides by, the re-boot becomes harder. Or I just get lazier!

But, here I am  and, having actually turned the crank, I guess I should now be witty. Or pithy.Or wise. Maybe I’ll just bung up a few photos and see  where that takes me…

Beginning with the header… I found a folder of old scans on The Man’s computer, probably loaded there when mine was in for service. Among them was this rough sketch of a barn owl 

I think I may have snapped a photo of the owl, years ago (remember the days of 35mm film that came on rolls? Yeah, that long ago!) and decided to sketch it.

Some of the Facebook Folk recently nagged  each other to post images from nature. I thought it would be good camera practice and something I could manage while being on phone duty…

Can you guess? OK, some of you live in Arctic zones so you’ll, perhaps, be struggling.Baby bananas!

Cestrum nocturnum a night-blooming jasmine/jessamine. And it belongs in the same family as the spud. I have several planted along the back boundary, where the scent can waft in through bedroom windows. And, in my very early garden ventures, had one beside the entry steps.Oops! Had to rip that sucker out because the leaves stink. Deliciously sweet/spicy scent at night, but the leaves are foetid.  And, being a solanum, probably poisonous!

Aeschynanthus radicans  sometimes called “lipstick plant.” The stems can reach quite a length ( 1 m is common) so I have some difficulty finding places to hang the baskets. This one was hanging from a branch of the mango, but it picked a fight with some ferns and frangipani growing up. So I moved it to the bearers below the deck. Fine.Then it grew even longer and scraped the pebbles.So now it’s hanging beneath the pergola, but I think the wisteria and petrea’s combined take-over might be blocking too much light. Serious pruning needed. Hefty help needed! Apply in person.

Fed up yet? No? Lucky people – I have more!

 

A lovely crinoline stinkhorn! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus_indusiatus One of several smelly things we have.Sometimes in abundance! Though,personally, I think the piles of dog turds around the street are worse.

Lichens on a palm stem.

And a cutie to finish.Because I’m really quite nice. Sometimes.

How many bird nests have you seen with interior lighting? A pair of Sunbirds incorporated a string of fairy lights in their nest next door. And, yes, checks fledged from here.

 

Oh! I think the owl was one we had in rehab,so that would have been 20 or more years ago.

I’d like to say “normal service has resumed”…but that might be stretching it. I’ll try.