Sunset Sky Flames

I stepped outside for just a moment the other evening, not expecting to see a colorful sky since it was so cloudy. However when I got out in the yard and looked to the west the sky just above the horizon was on fire! The clouds just above the trees had this amazing pink glow from the setting sun. It sure was a nice surprise!

Small things matter

The correct spelling is indeed 'Canon Court'.
One week later:

I'm leaving the irate citizens of Edinburgh behind for a few days, along with internet access.

Faraway

I have not disappeared from the face of the earth, but entries could be sporadic until January! A combo of being down under , jet lag and less consistent intent than usual. Bear with, bear with . . .we have seen the pesky ibis, the cat bird and the honey-eater. The duck billed platypus swims at Yungaburra.

Harry's blog of our trip

Harry's blog

And mine :

http://auntiekath.blogspot.co.uk

A short walk in Mossman Gorge, Qld.

We took the bus from the visitor centre and walked along the marked circuit through the rainforest.

The visitor centre car park was very full

From a break in the trees you can see the mountain

a swimming hole in the Mossman river

Excited

I just found out via email that the start of my 600k ride has been moved. It had been set down for Willowvale, a suburb of Ipswich, to which public transport would have been easy. It's now been moved to Atkinson Dam, in the middle of nowhere, to which public transport is non-existent.
Logistically it presents a challenge -- a train from the Gold Coast to Ipswich on Friday night, and a ride of some interminable distance to Atkinson Dam, finding somewhere to eat dinner, and trying to get to bed early enough to get a decent amount of sleep prior to the 600. In a strange way, I'm finding the logistics of the whole exercise to be quite exciting. I've just got through spending a chunk of time on multimap.com planning a route, and the chance to explore some different roads in the dead of the night is really something to look forward to. Bring it on!

The pictures in this post are from a dawn ride to Little Nerang Dam yesterday morning. It was raining lightly on the way out, but the air had a certain crispness to it after the rain stopped. Photography is often difficult at this level of light, but a dam wall makes a great tripod.

Around the Breakfast Table

One of the highlights of visiting my parents is the country breakfast Mama always cooks; sawmill gravy and biscuits, bacon, sausage, milk, and homemade jams and jellies.
This is us gathered around the table. I had my camera on a tripod with a four second timer. I had to push the button and run sit down before the shutter clicked. Mama leaned back too far, so I didn't get much of her.
We're heading up there tomorrow for one more weekend of rafting. All Darcie's schoolbooks are ordered, so I'm taking a long weekend to relax before school starts. I'll work on scheduling as we drive up. I've also got an Anita Shreve book to finish. I use the five hour trip to read, plan, and sleep.
So, until next week...have a good weekend.

Tiny treasures

Virginia pennywort, Obolaria virginica

A plant that's very easy to overlook in the leaf litter. It would be nice in rock gardens, I think. Some of them get a bit larger than this, but not by much.^*
Do you see any violets?

I took this picture with the camera pointed at my feet.^** There are almost a dozen clumps of Viola walteri in the frame. (A.k.a. Prostrate blue violet or Walter's violet.)
Here's a closer look, with my foot for scale:^***

They're very petite.
Most of them are purple, but there are a few white ones:

Every flower in a clump is the same color.

They have a medium-length hook or spur behind the flower. At our place they grow in dry limestone areas. (For the longest time, I just assumed they were regular violets that were stunted because of poor soil conditions!)
Common but still enchanting:

Bluets! This is one of the first wildflowers that I learned the name of. It's also how I learned that many birdwatchers are also very knowledgeable about plants: when the birds aren't showing themselves, you can always look around on the ground. ("Hey, what do you call this little purple flower, anyway?")
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^*My glove size is small, so this really is a tiny plant.
^**I'm 5'4", which is exactly average for American women by the way, not short, and I'm not standing on a rock or anything.
^***My feet are sort of small too, size 6.
(Yes, since I've gained weight I like pointing out the things about me that are still small!)
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In researching the Walter's violet I came across a nice Alabama wildflower web page, Alabamaplants.com. Here is a link to that site's excellent photos of Viola walteri.
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A sad update:
While preparing to email Dan Tenaglia about his excellent site mentioned above, I learned that he passed away in an accident just last month.

Pride comes before...

We maybe don't do friendlies, but we don't do wins either. Saturday's score: Wales 3, Scotland 0.