Faber Vineyard in winter

These photos were taken last Sunday at Faber Vineyard were we had a great lunch plus wine testing/tasting afternoon.

Longing for rain

After a very wet July in Western Australia we had a very dry August, hardly a drop of rain has fallen in this winter month while it should have been pouring down... Although I love the sun and the fine weather I see nature around me longing for a drop of water.
These photos of my lemons were made in July.

Yellow Lupin

Another one of the wild flowers blooming at the moment, although... this is not a wild flower! The Yellow Lupin is developed in Germany 50 years ago and is cultivated quite widely in Eastern Europe for animal feed, both as seed and fodder. How it ended up in between the wild flowers in Australia, I haven't got a clue...

Pattersons Curse

Pattersons Curse was introduced in Australia by Jane Patterson who brought the seeds from Europe for her garden in the late 19th century and since has covered pasture lands as a weed all over Australia. It can kill horses but it makes fine honey...
They are blooming in the countryside of WA at the moment.

Almond blossom

The winery in Swan Valley were we had a great lunch today had a row of blossoming almond trees along the vineyard. The smell was wonderfull as were the delicate flowers. Apparantly they don't harvest any of them as the birds are eating all...

Zamia Trail

Bold Park with in the distance the Indian Ocean.

Shoalwater Bay

Sunday I went kayaking with the club at Shoalwater Bay in Rockingham, paddling around those tiny islands. This one is Bird Island, a weird kind of rocky structure hold together with heaps of birds on it. David was the only one with an underwater camera so he made the photos.

Firewheel tree

This Firewheel tree is close to Lake Claremont and has beautiful flowers shaped like chandeliers. It's not a big tree, maybe because it's a rain forest tree and native to north eastern Australia, but it has an abundance of flowers during summer. The flowers go through several stages were the spokes open up and carry a seed each.

Owl

Just came across this picture of the owl in our mulberry tree last summer. We found him there on one of the lower branches, staring at us with big cat eyes. He stayed all day probably saving his energy for the night to come. Unfortunately he didn't come back again.
It's a Boobook owl, these sometimes playful little Owls are also known as Mopoke, Morepork, Spotted Owl, and Marbled Owl according this website.

Beach

When the sun is shining for weeks now, while it's still winter in Perth, the beaches look very inviting.

Tiny

This photo is made in Purnululu National Park, more known as the Bungle Bungles, almost 2 years ago when we traveled through the Kimberley. In remote areas like this you realise how tiny a human being is...

Lichen

I've made this photos yesterday on my way back home from Dwellingup near the little lake. The patterns of these lichen are so beautiful, especially when you look closer. And I love this grey greenish color!

Dwellingup

Since this week I work a few days a week in Dwellingup, about 110km south of Perth. It's a nice area covered in trees and paddocks full with sheep and cattle. In the morning it's beautiful when the sun is rising and there is a mist hanging over the valleys. Especially this little lake has a lot of charm so I stopped this afternoon on my way back home to take some photos. In the mean time the sun was in the wrong spot but you can still see the beauty. Will try to stop for a photo in the morning next week.

Geralton Wax Bush

A waxy flower in all shades of pink blooming like mad at the moment.

Bees

There are heaps of bees in the early wild flowers, buzzing happily around in the colorfulness of these purple flowers.

Bark

Yesterday I was walking in Bold Park with a friend and made a few photos of the bark of trees in this huge park in Perth without looking up to the canape... which results in not knowing what kind of tree this bark is from. I tried to look it up but didn't succeed in finding it. The only thing I know is that I love the pattern of the bark on these trees!

Jarrah

This is the local hardwood from Western Australia and I work with it a lot. It's a warm deep dark reddish wood with nice grains.

Fungi

Fungi and mushrooms seem to grow rapidly, especially in the right moist conditions. This fungus, or is it a wild mushroom?, in Maryvale Downs have grown so fast that their shell cracked by doing so... like baking a cake... I've looked it up and these species look mostly like the Parasol or the Shaggy parasol.The shaggy parasol is an edible mushroom, but it's advised to eat them only cooked as they contain certain toxics which can upset the stomic when you eat them raw. But take care it does have a poisonous lookalike! Check if the meat bruises orange red if you cut it in half, than you have found the shaggy parasol, a superb mushroom with a delicious nutty-meaty flavor to cook with. If it turns greenish (green spores) than leave it alone!

Bungle Bungles spinifex grass

A very quick entry as I have to run to catch the train to university, but I wish I was here, up in the Kimberley

Cooky

This is Cooky, one of our cats, we have two, brother and sister, this is sis, she is pretty shy to other people but a really happy playful thing who favors to potter in the garden and having a nap in the sun unlike bro who far more serious and always on the lookout to protect his territory, our garden, and play with his mate, the tomcat from the neighbors.

Upside down

Blooming Coral Tree

The Coral Trees along Lake Claremont are blooming since a few weeks. The bright red flowers appear before the leaves at this tropical tree which gives stunning views of these beautiful flowers in bare branches against a deep blue sky.

Full lake

After lots of rain today was finally a nice sunny day, it was almost like spring. And some of the birds at Lake Claremont thought the same, they'd busied themselves by gathering nesting materials for the upcoming season. This lake is getting almost dry in summer and fills up in winter, and as we had the wettest July since ages the water levels were pretty high today!