Annie's Blog

Here I am (well, neither if those two are me, sorry) at the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens ..last weekend (before a trip up the range to the grandchildren and two dust storms), where there were several displays on to view. Of course one can't help but notice the homage to the father of theoretical cosmonautics, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)..a very interesting man, according to the many articles on him I found on google. He was largely self taught, having been rendered deaf at aged 9 by a childhood illness. He grew up in a log house in Kaluga, 200km south west of Moscow, the son of a Polish deportee to Siberia. past a lovely paperbark... one of the Melalueca family.... and off to the art display first... where for some reason I was actually allowed to take photos this time (last time I wasn't)...I hope that means I am actually allowed to put the photos on my blog...! it was a little warm back there last weekend before the weird cool change that brought two horrific windy d...

A couple of flowers from the native plant exhibition last weekend. I am disappointed in my photos..not many and pretty poor quality. Must have been because there were quite a few people there! and of course a couple of flowers from the sepia tinted lane, during dust storms of the last week and one from the day after! A couple of photos from Toowoomba where they have a wonderful Carnival of Flowers every year...and a garden competition. It has been a rough few years with the drought, but poeple have managed to put on quite a show...with water restrictions and all! the above are preteas... and some from Brisbane...orchids above oleanders, such a pretty flower! another orchid , I think, above... another grevillea above. A wonderful bauhinia tree on the way home from church today And the jacarandas have started to flower also!

Thank you to so many for caring about us in the dust storm, and asking has it settled yet. Yes, it did settle. Then another one arrived last night just on dusk! It was supposed to be not as bad as the first, and perhaps it wasn't, but it sure looked eerie out the window in the dark, under the streetlights, and I could smell the dust, and the high winds make me very nervous. However it has mostly gone this morning, hooray! Although there is still a dust haze in the distance and the winds are still with us!

We had a wonderful sunset here one night... but then the sky turned orange and the sun turned blue... Well, some of you may have heard about the HUGE dust storm we had in the eastern States here in Australia. Apparently it originated down south in South Australia and picked up all the dirt from the inland and deposited it all on the Eastern States...along with HUGE gusty winds...it is now on its way out to sea and to New Zealand...I am sure they will be pleased to see it! Yes, Irene...I was out in it with my camera....off to swimming with the 4 grand children on holidays...these photos taken on the way there and home...that is all the "outside" we did yesterday! It was a complicated matter of logisitics to get photos from my laptop/camera to my son's computer where I can access the inetrnet...so I waited till I got home...(just now)... Thought you might enjoy this combination....late My World and early Skywatch entry to see more entries in either one, please click on the...

Currently in the middle of a large dust storm... I quote from Reuters on the web..."Dust storms in Australia, the world's driest inhabited continent with a vast desert-like outback interior, are not uncommon. Central and eastern Australia is a major global source of atmospheric dust, say weather experts. But dust storms are usually restricted to the inland of Australia. Occasionally, during widespread drought they can affect coastal areas. Australia is battling one of its worst droughts and weather officials say an El Nino is slowly developing in the Pacific which will mean drier conditions for Australia's eastern states". photos available on the news websites...

an hibiscus flower in the front yard... one of the orchids...see more below... a strangely exotic flower on a tree at the Botanic Gardens and a display of native plants at the Botanic Gardens... I think the above are some sort of eucalyptus flowers... a delicate melaleuca an native orchid above from Stradbroke Island and irises at the gardens... a tropical palm at church today.... another sort of orchid above... purple bougainvillea..... my calistemon.... the jacarandas....are starting to bloom... and a petria in bloom.... a pretty bauhinia I noticed the other day.... poinsettia above... more calistemons.... and the orchids again... I hope you have enjoyed the flowers from this week in tropical South East Queensland.... If you would like to see more flowers from around the world...then please click on the Today's Flowers icon in the sidebar over there...