Winter Blooms and a Birthday
I caught the nasty cold that's been going around and spent Monday in bed. Slept most of the morning and took the local medicine ("Codral"). Have been about 85% the rest of the week. Feeling better but still coughing up stuff. I'll spare you the details.
With the illness, and the First Communions beginning this week (we have three main First Communion Masses and three parish Masses for the spill over of the 220 children enrolled!), I haven't been able to get out. I did borrow Fr. Gabriel's very nice Canon camera (with multiple lenses) and took some lovely photos of the flowers in bloom. (Remember that we're still in the middle of our winter until 1st September!) (Actually the 21st or 22nd of September, though here Aussies consider the 1st of September to be the "offical" start of winter; not sure about why.) We did have a heat wave today with temperatures reaching 81 degrees! Tomorrow we return to highs in the lower 60's. Still, not bad for winter!
These first three are or purple (1-2) and white (3) tulip trees that grace the front of the church. In our back yard, our orange tree (4) is ready for picking along with some lemon trees. I don't know what these are called, but they line the entrance to our property. The shrubs are covered in tiny, yelow pom-poms (5). Check out the bee, photo bombing the shot (6-7)! I won't pretend to know any names here but they were all in bloom (8-13). Photo 9 is the top of a stalk that shot out of a succulent. The huge cone of flowers is a bit bigger than my hand! I think photo 10 is a "kalanchoe." Succulents grow well here as we have little rain and very dry, sandy soil.
These bushes are all festooned in pinkish white flowers (14-18). They remind me of cherry blossoms, but they are on straight branches that grow like a bush. I was trying to capture the rainbow lorikeets that love to suck up their nectar but they flew away. This last one is a nice little statue of St. Anthony (18).
Photo 20 is growing outside the friary windows! If you plant poinsettias near the house, the cold doesn't kill them and they thrive. I guess they bloom wild in winter here, too!
These tiny little blooms cover large bushes that grow along our fence (21-22). Here's a beautiful day lily (23) that reminds me of an iris. And then I shot this couple (24-25) just outside my window with my little sure-shot. They are the same species of parrot, but look how varigated are their feathers! (Maybe they're not the same species! Yet they hang out together all the time! They are extremely camera shy and fly at the first hint of someone noticing them!—Yes, I'm a stalking paparazzi!)
Finally, my dog, Joey, turned ten on 27 of July. What a sweetie! Here is a selfie when I visited him on vacation in the States (26). And here is a photo of the dog on the actual day, sent by Fr. Michael who watches over him now.
I can't believe all that has happened! Ten years ago, when we (Fr. Michael and myself) got him at 6 weeks old, he was a gift purchased at the first La Dolce Vita Dinner Auction from our dear parishioners in Peoria. We were living in an old nun's convent, lent to us by the diocese, as our friary had burnt down and we were still in the midst planning our bnew friary. I remember walking puppy Joey around the downtown (as that is where the convent was located). In the last couple of blocks, I'd say, "Ready, Joey? Shall we run?" and then we would sprint as fast as we could home. (Not sure he'd like to do that now!) He moved with us to the new house and had to learn how to get up and down stairs! Then he moved with us to Milwaukee. To this day he doesn't like boxes or seeing suitcases. Poor thing!
He's now 10 and showing his age a bit. Still, he remembers me. He is still sweet and gentle, though his bark will make your hair stand up straight! I pray that God continues to bless him with health and happiness. Happy Birthday my dear old chum…and many, many more!