DESKTOP 1646 - DUCKPOND

Duckpond in the Darebin Parklands.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1645 - LIÈGE

Liège (Walloon: Lidje; Dutch: Luik, German: Lüttich), is a major Walloon city and municipality and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse River, in the east of Belgium, not far from borders with the Netherlands (Maastricht is about 33 km to the north) and with Germany (Aachen is about 53 km north-east).

At Liège the Meuse river meets the river Ourthe. The city is part of the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia. It still is the principal economic and cultural centre of the region. The Liège municipality (i.e. the city proper) includes the former communes of Angleur, Bressoux, Chênée, Glain, Grivegnée, Jupille-sur-Meuse, Rocourt, and Wandre.

In November 2012, Liège had 198,280 inhabitants. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,879 km2 and had a total population of 749,110 on 1 January 2008. This includes a total of 52 municipalities, among others, Herstal and Seraing. Liège ranks as the third most populous urban area in Belgium, after Brussels and Antwerp, and the fourth municipality after Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1644 - COASTERS

An amazing variety of coasters for sale at the South Melbourne Market.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

DESKTOP 1643 - ON THE GROUND

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme, 
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 1642 - MOORHEN REFLECTION

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

DESKTOP 1641 - SILVER SUN 2

Foggy morning causing the sun to shine silver...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

DESKTOP 1640 - DAHLIAS

Dahlia is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico. A member of the Asteraceae family. There are 42 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. Flower forms are variable, with one head per stem; these can be as small as 5 cm diameter or up to 30 cm ("dinner plate"). This great variety results from dahlias being octaploids—that is, they have eight sets of homologous chromosomes, whereas most plants have only two. In addition, dahlias also contain many transposons—genetic pieces that move from place to place upon an allele—which contributes to their manifesting such great diversity.

The stems are leafy, ranging in height from as low as 30 cm to more than 1.8–2.4 m. The majority of species do not produce scented flowers or cultivars. Like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly coloured, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue.The dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico in 1963. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, but this use largely died out after the Spanish Conquest. Attempts to introduce the tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

DESKTOP 1639 - CAR

The Holden FB is a car that was produced by Holden in Australia from 1960 to 1961. Introduced on 14 January 1960, the FB series replaced the Holden FC range. The FB range consisted of four-door sedans in two trim levels, five-door station wagons in two trim levels, a two-door coupe utility and a two-door panel van. The Holden Business Sedan, which had been marketed as part of the FC range, was not carried over to the FB series.

The FB was promoted as being longer, lower, more spacious and more powerful than the FC model although in reality it was only slightly so on each count. Overall length was 5.5 inches (140 mm) greater whilst the wheelbase remained the same. The engine remained the same at 3" the last model to have this bore, engine capacity remained at 132 cubic inches and the compression ratio was raised. However the resulting extra 4 brake horsepower (3.0 kW) of power did not compensate for the extra weight of the FB and performance was thus inferior to that of its predecessor.

Changes were also made to the brakes, front coil springs, air cleaner and clutch. Obvious styling differences were the lower bonnet, finned rear mudguards with new taillights (on the sedans and wagons only) and a wrap-around windscreen. Seating was improved as was the instrument panel. Notably, the FB was the first Holden model to also be produced in left-hand drive form, these vehicles being destined for export markets.

All FB models were powered by a 132 cubic inches (2,160 cc) inline six-cylinder engine, the last to have the 3" bore size, producing 75 brake horsepower (56 kW). After a production run of 147,747 vehicles,[1] the FB was replaced by the Holden EK series in May 1961. This well-maintained Holden FB Special Sedan was parked in our neighbourhood and I just had to take its photo!

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1638 - AORAKI

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, near the town of Twizel. Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, and Aoraki/Mount Cook Village lie within the park. The area was gazetted as a national park in October 1953 and consists of reserves that were established as early as 1887 to protect the area's significant vegetation and landscape.

 

Even though most of the park is alpine terrain, it is easily accessible. The only road access into Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is via State Highway 80, which starts near Twizel, at 65 kilometres distance the closest town to the park, and leads directly to Mount Cook Village, where the road ends. The village is situated within the park, however, it consists only of a hotel and motels, as well as housing and amenities for the staff of the hotel and motels and other support personnel.

 

The park stretches for about 60 kilometres along the southwest-northeast direction of the Southern Alps, covering 722 km2 on the southeastern side of the main spine of the Alps. The valleys of the Tasman, Hooker, and Godley glaciers are the only entrances into this alpine territory that lie below 1,000 m. Glaciers cover 40% of the park area, notably the Tasman Glacier in the Tasman Valley east of Aoraki / Mount Cook. Eight of the twelve largest glaciers in New Zealand lie within Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, all of which terminate at proglacial lakes formed in recent decades due to a sustained period of shrinking.

More than 400 species of plants make up the vegetation in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, which include more than 100 introduced plant species such as the colourful Russell lupin, the wild cherry and wilding pines. The native vegetation continues to be under threat by introduced plant species ranging from non-native trees through to lupins, broom and non-native grasses. These are mostly contained in the valley floors of the Tasman and Hooker Valley, since they are the most accessible parts of the park.

There are about 35 to 40 species of birds in the park and include the kea, the only alpine parrot, and the well-camouflaged pipit. The tiny rock wren/pïwauwau, a threatened species, is the only permanent resident high on the mountains. The park is home to many invertebrates, including large dragonflies, crickets, grasshoppers, 223 recorded moth species and 7 native butterflies. A black alpine wētā, also known as the Mount Cook flea is found above the snowline. The jewelled gecko lives in the park but is rarely seen. Introduced red deer, chamois and Himalayan tahr can be hunted.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1637 - ROOM WITH 3 VIEWS

The views are of Mordialloc, an outer seaside suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The creek on the two outer windows empties out into Port Phillip Bay (centre).

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

DESKTOP 1636 - SILVER SUN

Foggy morning with the sun struggling to shine through the layers of cloud, managing to show through finally as a silver disk...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 1635 - LONELY

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,

and also part of the I'd Rather Be Birdin' meme.

DESKTOP 1634 - SUNRISE

Sunrise on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

DESKTOP 1633 - CORAL TREE

Erythrina crista-galli is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, most notably in California (in the United States). It is known by several common names within South America: Ceibo, seíbo (Spanish), corticeira (Portuguese) and the more ambiguous bucaré, to name a few. In English it is often known as the Cockspur Coral Tree. 

The ceibo is the national tree of Argentina, and its flower the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay. This species characteristically grows wild in gallery forest ecosystems along watercourses, as well as in swamps and wetlands. In urban settings, it is often planted in parks for its bright red flowers. The flowers are rich in nectar and are visited by insects, which usually have to crawl underneath the carina and thus pollinate the flowers. The tree's fruit is a legume, a dry pod a few centimetres in length derived from a single carpel and contains about 8-10 chestnut-brown bean-shaped seeds.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1632 - BLUE

Blue is my favourite colour, and the shade of blue shown on this painted wall and vent is a dark, though bright shade. Blue is the colour of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolise piety and sincerity. You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids, vodka), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water).

As opposed to emotionally warm colours like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products. Blue is a masculine colour; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred colour for corporate America.

Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because blue suppresses appetite. When used together with warm colours like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs; for example, blue-yellow-red is a perfect colour scheme for a superhero. Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness. Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1631 - SANTORINI, GREECE

White Beach Santorini is the cove right next to the Red Beach, on the southern side of the island. It is very similar to the Red Beach, with black pebbles on the shore, but the surrounding cliffs are white. This beach is accessible by boat or on foot from the Red Beach. It is less popular than the neighbouring cove and therefore more quiet. It doesn't have facilities, except for some umbrellas and sunbeds along the coast, although the surrounding rocks provide some shade and sheltered places to sit in.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1630 - OLD TILES

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

DESKTOP 1629 - HERON SILHOUETTE

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 1628 - DUCK REFLECTIONS

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the I'd Rather Be Birdin' meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

DESKTOP 1627 - SUNSET

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

DESKTOP 1625 - SUNFLOWER

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1624 - ANTS!

ant | ant |noun
A small insect typically having a sting and living in a complex social colony with one or more breeding queens. It is wingless except for fertile adults, which form large mating swarms, and is proverbial for its industriousness.Family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera: several subfamilies.

have ants in one's pants
informal: be fidgety or restless: What's the matter with you, always fidgeting—you got ants in your pants?
the ant's pants
Australian informal: An outstandingly good person or thing: We had a great party that night thinking we were the ant's pants. 

Old English ǣmete of West Germanic origin; related to German Ameise. Compare with emmet.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1624 - MACAU, CHINA

Macau (Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China), is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River estuary in East Asia. Macau is bordered by the city of Zhuhai in Mainland China to the north and the Pearl River Delta to the east and south. Hong Kong lies about 64 kilometres to its east across the Delta. With a population of 650,900 living in an area of 30.5 km2, it is the most densely populated region in the world.

A former Portuguese colony, it was returned to Chinese sovereignty on 20 December 1999. Macau was administered by the Portuguese Empire and its inheritor states from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it constituted the last remaining European colony in Asia. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s. In 1557, Macau was leased to Portugal from Ming China as a trading port. The Portuguese Empire administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, when Macau became a colony through a mutual agreement between the two countries. Sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau and Macau Basic Law stipulate that Macau operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer.

Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China is responsible for military defense and foreign affairs while Macau maintains its own legal system, public security force, monetary system, customs policy and immigration policy. Macau participates in international organizations and events that do not require members to possess national sovereignty.

Macau is a resort city in Southern China, known for its casinos and luxury hotels. Its gaming revenue has been the world's largest since 2006, with the economy heavily dependent on gaming and tourism. According to The World Factbook, Macau has the fourth highest life expectancy in the world. Moreover, it has a very high Human Development Index, ranking 18th in the world as of 2014. Macau is among the world's richest regions and its GDP per capita by purchasing power parity was higher than that of any country in the world, according to the World Bank.

It is widely known as the pre-eminent gambling (or gaming) capital of the world, greatly dwarfing other gambling centres/cities (2016 Gross Gaming Revenue, for Las Vegas was $11.1 billion, while for Macau was $28 billion).

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1623 - BERRIES

As Summer progresses, the fruit ripens...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

DESKTOP 1622 - IN REFLECTION

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 1621 - IN FLIGHT

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the I'd Rather Be Birdin' meme,
and also part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 1620 - FOREST GREEN

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme,
and also part of the Weekend Green meme.

DESKTOP 1619 - BLUE GERANIUMS

Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' was the first of the brilliant blue geraniums to catch gardeners' eyes. The Royal Horticultural Society gave it the Award of Garden Merit (AGM). The blue of its flowers is hard to photograph and is always more startling when you actually see the plant. The flower stalks can grow quite tall and will droop under the weight of the blossoms. Most gardeners don't bother to stake them, since it is still an attractive plant, even with its floppy habit.

The flowers should be cut back after the first bloom, to get sporadic repeat blooms. Often the whole plant can begin to look scraggly and a good shearing is needed to totally rejuvenate it. 'Johnson's Blue' geranium is drought tolerant. It blooms best in full sun, but appreciates some afternoon shade in hot, dry areas. It's very disease resistant and a magnet for bees and butterflies.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 1618 - ZANTEDESCHIA

Zantedeschia is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The name of the genus was given as a tribute to Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773–1846) by the German botanist Kurt Sprengel (1766–1833).

Common names include arum lily for Z. aethiopica, calla, and calla lily for Z. elliottiana and Z. rehmannii although it is neither a true lily (Liliaceae), nor Arum or Calla (related genera in Araceae). It is also often erroneously spelled as "cala lily". It has often been used in many paintings, and is visible in many of Diego Rivera's works of art (see The Flower Vendor, amongst others).

The Zantedeschias are rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plants growing to 1-2.5 m tall with leaves 15–45 cm long. The inflorescence is a showy white, yellow or pink spathe shaped like a funnel with a yellow, central, finger-like spadix. Zantedeschia species are poisonous due to the presence of calcium oxalate. All parts of the plant are toxic, and produce irritation and swelling of the mouth and throat, acute vomiting and diarrhoea. However, in some countries the leaves are sometimes cooked and eaten after suitable preparation.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1617 - MT OLYMPUS, GREECE

Mount Olympus (Greek: Όλυμπος [ˈolimbos] or [ˈolibos]; also transliterated as Olympos, and on Greek maps, Oros Olympos) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, between the regional units of Pieria and Larissa, about 80 km southwest from Thessaloniki. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks, deep gorges, and exceptional biodiversity.

The highest peak, Mytikas, meaning "big nose", rises to 2,917 metres. It is one of the highest peaks in Europe in terms of topographic prominence. Olympus was notable in Greek mythology as the home of the Greek gods, on the Mytikas peak. Mount Olympus is also noted for its very rich flora, with several unique species. It has been a National Park, the first in Greece, since 1938. It is also a World's Biosphere Reserve.

Every year, thousands of people visit Olympus to admire its fauna and flora, tour its slopes, and reach its peaks. Organised mountain refuges and various mountaineering and climbing routes are available to visitors who want to explore the mountain. The usual starting point is the town of Litochoro, on the eastern foothills of the mountain, 100 km from Thessaloniki, where, in the beginning of every summer, the Olympus Marathon terminates.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 1616 - IN SUMMER

This post is part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.