I always thought that "spit" in a bush was the eggs of some sort of insect... maybe a praying mantis or something similar?
Romy5152 said
06:22 AM Sep 3, 2011
Hey, I was only joking when I said it was spit - that's just what it looked like. Yes, I agree, an insect or frog or something has put it there. It's a very unusual pic.
Andrea, I like any purply/blue flowers, but I absolutely love the gorgeous frostiness of the petals of your purple/blue flower! Would you have any idea what it's called? I love lillies, especially the big red and white striped Hippeastrums, but I would love to have one like yours in my garden - if it's not a wildflower.
Andrea said
07:43 PM Sep 3, 2011
Romy5152 wrote:
Andrea, I like any purply/blue flowers, but I absolutely love the gorgeous frostiness of the petals of your purple/blue flower! Would you have any idea what it's called? I love lillies, especially the big red and white striped Hippeastrums, but I would love to have one like yours in my garden - if it's not a wildflower.
Romy, that flower goes by the rather unimpressive name of 'Narrow-leafed squill' -- Chamaescilla spiralis. And yes, it is a Western Australian wildflower, growing in the damp sand of woodland and heath, from Coorow & Mundaring down to Augusta, Albany and Esperance. I don't know whether you'd get any seed to grow it, although some WA wildflowers are available through nurseries.
You'd probably like this one, too -- a Blue tinsel lily, Calectasia grandiflora, from the same area. ;)
Yes, I certainly do, Andrea - the Blue Tinsel lily is just gorgeous! I must try and source a WA wildflower seed catalogue. I might get lucky! You know, when we decided to take our camper trailer around the Territory and WA in 2005, the Territory had a special place in my heart for as long as I could remember, and was the place I was most looking forward to seeing. It was just fabulous too, but by the time we had been to Kunnanurra and the Ord, crossed the Gibb River Road (after seeing many gorges along there), headed back down the coast again and along the Tanami Road, I had definitely fallen in love with WA. There'd been rain about a month ahead of us all the way, and the wildflowers were just starting to bloom! It was magnificant! I didn't have my DSLR camera then, but I do hope to get back to WA in the not too distant future and will take it then. Work committments prevent it at the moment, but retirement is just around the corner. Bring it on!
blaze said
09:53 AM Sep 4, 2011
I call this tortured face, I have the photo save in a rotated clockwisepostion but when upload it always reverts to this
-- Edited by blaze on Sunday 4th of September 2011 09:55:35 AM
Romy5152 said
10:41 AM Sep 4, 2011
That's amazing, blaze, and it really does look like a face! I love the colour and textures of bark, and this bark looks like a very old tree. I took a pic of a knobble on a tree at one of our local watering holes (no, not the pub) and it looks like the face of a St Bernard dog. Will post it here too.
Romy5152 said
10:53 AM Sep 4, 2011
Here 'tis! What do you think? (The roses are mine at home.)
I didn't have my DSLR camera then, but I do hope to get back to WA in the not too distant future and will take it then. Work committments prevent it at the moment, but retirement is just around the corner. Bring it on!
I can vouch for the pleasure of retirement, Romy. We opted to run away completely -- albeit very slowly! -- and are really enjoying life on the road. It's even better since we started property-sitting: we get free accommodation, power, water, etc., often free eggs and maybe vegetables, we get to play with the pets, and then (like grandchildren!) hand them back when we leave . It means we have a little extra cash then to stay in a usually-out-of-the-way caravan park while exploring another area.
Life is good!
Andrea said
12:05 PM Sep 4, 2011
Blaze, that's a great photo of the tree 'face'. The old tingle trees have some extraordinarily beautiful and interesting features.
And I love your St Bernard too, Romy, as well as your flowers. John also has a passion for photographing trees with interesting colours and textures in their bark -- I'll have a look for some later.
-- Edited by Andrea on Sunday 4th of September 2011 12:09:21 PM
Boroma577 said
04:09 PM Sep 4, 2011
I have managed to dig out a few more. These will be more to your liking Romy.
Here 'tis! What do you think? (The roses are mine at home.)
Romy, I think it looks more like a hairy nose wombat.....LOL
Romy5152 said
10:54 PM Sep 4, 2011
Would love to see some more photos, Andrea. Don't forget! I love the bark of gums - especially scribbly gums - so many different patterns.
Hey Pricey - if you've gone all out and bought a DSLR, maybe you can save up and buy a macro lens for it. They are the bee's knees for close ups! Mine wasn't too expensive - the lowest f/stop it has is 2.8 which does me for the macro photos I take. If I could afford a better one though . . . I can dream! lol Now that you say a bear, I can see it too, but my first reaction was the dog. I'd just taken a photo of my friend's grandkids, and I'd stepped back to move on, when I noticed the face in the tree bark.
Boroma, I love, love, love your grevillea and bee photos! They are such delicate, beautiful flowers. And yes, that's the kinda close up I like. A wombat hey? Isn't it funny how we each see something different in the same photo. I have to tell you, your little point and shoot camera does an excellent job of taking photos - they are so nice and sharp, and you can still get up pretty close to things. I bought a new pocket camera to take overseas with me next year (my first time overseas!). I wanted something small enough to fit into my shoulder bag, but with a big enough zoom to get up close to things as well. I would LOVE to take my big DSLR and different lens, but after a lot of thought I decided it's not worth the risk or the bulk. I ended up buying a little Canon Ixus with large megapixels and zoom, and video capabilities as well.
Lovely! I love flowers and bees, but that campfire pic brought back some cherished memories of camping in the Kimberley with our camper trailer! Oooooh, I wanna go back!
Would love to see some more photos, Andrea. Don't forget! I love the bark of gums - especially scribbly gums - so many different patterns.
The first of these is a bit like Blaze's 'tortured face' tree; like hers, it's another red tingle tree from the south-west of WA, and the next is one 'foot' of the Giant tingle tree. The third, with its three-dimensional bark is, I think, a marri tree.
Tomorrow I look through John's photos - he often photographs the patterns of bark on different trees.
Jingoes Jules - for a minute there I thought your second photo was a human bone! One end of it looks like part of where the bone joins to another! With the rock photo, sometimes if you get down closer to it and only include a focused section of it in the photo, you can see more, but I do like the variety of your photos. I think I tend to be a bit monotous with my macro flower shots (my favourite things to take photos of), but it keeps me happy!
I like your 3rd photo best Andrea - what amazing bark - like leaves in an upright, opened book! Very nice! Good hunting, John!
Shep, what a gorgeous colour your flower is! Is it a type of cactus? I'm trying to figure out if that long grey bit is part of the flower, or a very large caterpillar!
jules47 said
07:56 AM Sep 6, 2011
Romy - just took the pic of the rock because it looked interesting - haven't done any "macro" stuff - might start getting into it I think!
Romy5152 said
07:56 AM Sep 6, 2011
Momentarily off topic, can anyone please tell me where and how to get the emoticons list to come down for postings? I love these little things because they convey feelings really well, so I like to use them. At the moment, I get the smiley face by typing a colon, a dash and the left facing bracket.
Romy5152 said
08:02 AM Sep 6, 2011
You'll end up a convert, Jules! I love macro photography because you see so much more in your subject. But there is a big difference to simply being up close and macro. Macro lets you see things greatly magnified and see things you might normally miss, and that's the difference. I would love to see any of your macro photos!
jules47 said
08:35 AM Sep 6, 2011
Romy - in quick reply - type your message - then at the bottom hit the "Advanced Editor" button - screen willchange - your message will most likely be at the top of your screen - scroll up - emoticons are there on the side of your post - use what you want - and then submit post - good luck
If you use the "reply" button on the screen post from someone - the emoticons come up with the posting area -
ps - "submit post" is at the bottom, you may have to scroll down to it
-- Edited by jules47 on Tuesday 6th of September 2011 08:37:37 AM
Boroma577 said
01:06 PM Sep 6, 2011
Romy5152 wrote:
Shep, what a gorgeous colour your flower is! Is it a type of cactus? I'm trying to figure out if that long grey bit is part of the flower, or a very large caterpillar!
I think you will find it is a Scotch Thistle Romy and yes it looks like a grub/caterpillar of some sort on the flower.
Looks like it is a sideways view of the flower too, needs rotation I think.
There is also another little bug to the side of the blossom as well, on the left if you rotate the pic to the right.
-- Edited by Boroma577 on Tuesday 6th of September 2011 01:09:55 PM
Boroma577 said
01:12 PM Sep 6, 2011
I have to say.....what a diverse lot we are.....some excellent photo subjects here.
Andrea, I like any purply/blue flowers, but I absolutely love the gorgeous frostiness of the petals of your purple/blue flower! Would you have any idea what it's called? I love lillies, especially the big red and white striped Hippeastrums, but I would love to have one like yours in my garden - if it's not a wildflower.
Romy, that flower goes by the rather unimpressive name of 'Narrow-leafed squill' -- Chamaescilla spiralis. And yes, it is a Western Australian wildflower, growing in the damp sand of woodland and heath, from Coorow & Mundaring down to Augusta, Albany and Esperance. I don't know whether you'd get any seed to grow it, although some WA wildflowers are available through nurseries.
You'd probably like this one, too -- a Blue tinsel lily, Calectasia grandiflora, from the same area. ;)
I call this tortured face, I have the photo save in a rotated clockwisepostion but when upload it always reverts to this
-- Edited by blaze on Sunday 4th of September 2011 09:55:35 AM
Here 'tis! What do you think? (The roses are mine at home.)
I can vouch for the pleasure of retirement, Romy. We opted to run away completely -- albeit very slowly! -- and are really enjoying life on the road. It's even better since we started property-sitting: we get free accommodation, power, water, etc., often free eggs and maybe vegetables, we get to play with the pets, and then (like grandchildren!) hand them back when we leave
. It means we have a little extra cash then to stay in a usually-out-of-the-way caravan park while exploring another area.
Life is good!
Blaze, that's a great photo of the tree 'face'. The old tingle trees have some extraordinarily beautiful and interesting features.
And I love your St Bernard too, Romy, as well as your flowers. John also has a passion for photographing trees with interesting colours and textures in their bark -- I'll have a look for some later.
-- Edited by Andrea on Sunday 4th of September 2011 12:09:21 PM
I have managed to dig out a few more. These will be more to your liking Romy.
Love your St Bernard but my first reaction was of a bear or ' Winnie the Pooh'. Maybe it was the Hunny Tree. :)
I have just got a DSLR and am looking forward to our next trip out on the road to see what I can capture.
Some more of the pretty things.
And a couple more but with a different twist.
Romy, I think it looks more like a hairy nose wombat.....LOL
Hey Pricey - if you've gone all out and bought a DSLR, maybe you can save up and buy a macro lens for it. They are the bee's knees for close ups! Mine wasn't too expensive - the lowest f/stop it has is 2.8 which does me for the macro photos I take. If I could afford a better one though . . . I can dream! lol Now that you say a bear, I can see it too, but my first reaction was the dog. I'd just taken a photo of my friend's grandkids, and I'd stepped back to move on, when I noticed the face in the tree bark.
Boroma, I love, love, love your grevillea and bee photos! They are such delicate, beautiful flowers. And yes, that's the kinda close up I like.
WAIT....there's more.
Here is another one for you Romy
Hope these are ok - conglomerate rock - tree
The first of these is a bit like Blaze's 'tortured face' tree; like hers, it's another red tingle tree from the south-west of WA, and the next is one 'foot' of the Giant tingle tree. The third, with its three-dimensional bark is, I think, a marri tree.
Tomorrow I look through John's photos - he often photographs the patterns of bark on different trees.
and another one
I like your 3rd photo best Andrea - what amazing bark - like leaves in an upright, opened book! Very nice! Good hunting, John!
Shep, what a gorgeous colour your flower is! Is it a type of cactus? I'm trying to figure out if that long grey bit is part of the flower, or a very large caterpillar!
Romy - in quick reply - type your message - then at the bottom hit the "Advanced Editor" button - screen willchange - your message will most likely be at the top of your screen - scroll up - emoticons are there on the side of your post - use what you want - and then submit post - good luck
If you use the "reply" button on the screen post from someone - the emoticons come up with the posting area -
ps - "submit post" is at the bottom, you may have to scroll down to it
-- Edited by jules47 on Tuesday 6th of September 2011 08:37:37 AM
I think you will find it is a Scotch Thistle Romy and yes it looks like a grub/caterpillar of some sort on the flower.
Looks like it is a sideways view of the flower too, needs rotation I think.
There is also another little bug to the side of the blossom as well, on the left if you rotate the pic to the right.
-- Edited by Boroma577 on Tuesday 6th of September 2011 01:09:55 PM
I have to say.....what a diverse lot we are.....some excellent photo subjects here.
Everyone should take a bow, you deserve it.
Another pretty one
Thanks Jules!
I can do just about anything with a camera, but computers still get me sometimes! 
Thanks Boroma - even thistles have their day, and that one is lovely. Is the other pic a hibiscus? Nice shot!