Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day April 2013

As we enter into mid-Autumn here in Brisbane this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, there is not a great variety of blooms in the garden, but there is still plenty of colour. We are once again very much 'in the pink', courtesy of a new dahlia and those fabulous troopers, the cosmos.

Dahlia 'Araluen Katrina'

Love the pink of the cosmos with the slightly blue-toned foliage of aloe and Yucca 'Purple Royale'

Here is a better shot of the Yucca 'Purple Royale' (back right) with Tradescantia pallida or Purple Heart in the front.

I can't believe I still have a daylily blooming.

Daylily 'Passion for Life'

Here's the slightly chewed cosmos with variegated alstomeria and white ixora

Coleus, salvia 'Heatwave Sizzle ' and variegated alstomeria

One of the bromeliads on the driveway is out.

This little dahlia was bought last year as one in a punnet of seedlings.

Finally, one of the orchids is in bloom. This is an Oncidium.

There will be lots more to see over at May Dreams Gardens where Carol hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on the 15th of each month.

Easter Sunday Driving

Just a brief post today as the Easter break draws rapidly to a close here in Brisbane, and it's back to work for the salary slaves tomorrow. It has been a nice quiet Easter at home this year. The roads tend to be too crazy to head further afield, and it seems to me that, sadly for all the enthusiastic Easter campers, Easter is invariably wet.

Yesterday for change of scenery I headed out with a friend on a country drive to see some of the pretty towns in the Scenic Rim region to the south-west of Brisbane.

We called in at some of my favourite spots, the Art and Soul gallery at Boonah, which I have posted about previously - you can visit if you click here - the Kooroomba Winery and lavender farm at Mount Alford for morning tea, back to Boonah for lunch, followed by a drive though the mountains at Cunninghams Gap with a short stop at pretty Aratula on the way home.

Cattle at Mount Alford

This guy didn't seem to know what to make of me.

Kooroomba Winery and lavender Farm

Kangaroo on the move at the edge of the lavender.

This pristine farm house was part of a nearby winery.

Country church on the road from Mount Alford back to Boonah with flowering Cape Chestnut on the left.

Cape Chestnut

A great find this visit was Suzy Buhle's gorgeous gallery at Aratula.

Suzy with a work in progress

Loved these rustic birdhouses at the local antique store.

Finally,  a couple of the little churches in Aratula with their mountain backdrop

It seems an appropriate way to round up our Easter Sunday drive.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

On the road to ... Ubud

A few posts back I mentioned that my plans to post my favourite photos from 2012 had gone awry. The reason for this was that when I started to review my photos, I realised there were quite a few I still hadn't posted.

One of the images that was foremost in my mind was this Balinese lady picking flowers (marigold and gomphrena). I don't know that they are the greatest of photos, but the subject and the colour palette appealed to me. I think if Monet had ever visited Bali, he would have loved it too.

I spotted the flower gatherer while I was hurtling at breakneck speed between the main tourist drag in Bali and my favourite place, Ubud, up in the hills.  On my two short visits last year, I was based near the beach (Kuta for a work conference, then Sanur for a long weekend), but, on both occasions, my friends and I hired a driver for a day trip and left it in their hands as to what points of interest we stopped at along the way.

When one of the drivers suggested a waterfall,  the one we visited exceeded my expectations. Just lovely!

Many of the villages along the way specialise in a particular craft, and one of the most spectacular is the stone carving. The sculptures are exquisite and made me plot mad schemes involving shipping containers that I didn't go ahead with, but what a fabulous feature any of these would be in the garden.

We called in at a village temple.

This lovely lady was making temple offerings, and I couldn't resist the photo opportunity.

Further along there were shops selling beautiful kites. I'll definitely investigate how these fold up on my next visit. I love the butterfly one!

We saw demonstrations of how batik and ikat fabric is made. The building below is a jeweller/silversmith's shop. The decoration on the building featured ceramic plates.

Another favourite stop was this artists' compound with beautiful orchids in bloom throughout. I didn't actually buy a painting there on the day, but I have bought one nearby each visit and just love them.

A few mad hours of shopping in Ubud, followed by lunch, and the return drive.



A beautifully decorated shrine in the restaurant.



Another tiny shrine with marigolds adorning the deity and a tiny water feature.

Koi at the restaurant 'The Three Monkeys'

A flawless waterlily spotted on our walk.

If you are interested, you can see more of Ubud and the surrounding area by clicking here and a number of other posts (check the labels under 'Bali').