Gregson Park has a wonderful patch of colour and the insects are abuzz including indispensable bees, thankfully.  Newcastle City council is the maestro.
The sunny but extra windy weather has been hard on the poppies which are precious enough as it is because everywhere, in contrast, rugged and green have become the plants of choice (and less work).
  House paint is in two forms  - white and grey, alone.  Every house conforms in the new estates, sensible, orderly, sophisticated or is it dull? 
Antirrhinum, an old fashioned flower, is difficult to spell and my attempts were way off the mark and failed to come up with a lead so snapdragon was tried instead which found mobiles and processors - everything has changed -  but revealed snapdragon plant on the end of a list.

Interfloral contestant in the junior interstate comp at Melbourne Flower show.  Not only that, this is Jessie Smith of Warners Bay (Newcastle neighbour) taking part representing NSW..  Bridal bouquets have undergone change.
 Outside, the park had a range of exhibits, art, food and fun spaces.  Good weather was a bonus.

 Today, posting from near the Goulburn River in Shepparton, free of flooding.  The after effects of a cyclone are not likely to reach here in fact the land seems dry and ungreen. 
Irrigated orchards and water channels are in the surrounds and lakes have been formed.
 Here is the home of SPC  (Shepparton Packing company) canned fruits and vegies,including IXL and other brands in a very extensive sweet smelling factory with international sales, Campbells Soup factory was spied AND the one and only Furphys Engineering Works ('good better best' ) and that is dinky di.  

Totems, Worimi art work, Throsby Creek, Carrington, Newcastle.
Our country's good standard of living, in the main, means we are very fortunate. Thankful. Indulged.
As well as nationalism, the concept of a global community is very appealing.
Australia Day 2017

Road Trip

Morning light on bushland........neural networks...parallel  processing....

Garside garden Newcastle.

Subantarctic Plant House (Botanical).  Ready for the chilly roaring forties?  Simple uneventful visit to subantarctic Macquarie Island  and the cry of marine life on the edge of the wild southern ocean - without leaving the botanical gardens, Hobart on the isle of Tasmania.

Trees

After a flight over this exotic landscape with ancient landforms the destination in Sydney included a cafe under ....a FIG tree!
Some like to live dangerously and this was a favourite haunt of mums and babies during a walk in the park.
What does a rusted-on labor voter who is a chauvinist do in the forthcoming election?
How is it that a University department, with a 99.5% enrolment of women, has about 1.75 academic staff who are women?

Garside Gardens in King Edward Park are colourful and the design copies the logo of the City Council and celebrates 150 years of Local Government (in floral script). Logo: Great place, Great lifestyle, Great Future.

Below, Happy Buccaneer and 48 hours later, on Tuesday afternoon, the unloading operation looks to be in a similar position as it was yesterday.
Second photo shows a loader already in operation and is the type of thing being extricated and unloaded.

You may be able to see a baseball game in the photo. There is at least one baseball centre in Newcastle in Mayfield West.
As the crow flies, it is not far from the Wetlands.

Laman Street, Newcastle, is lined with large Morton Bay Fig Trees along this portion with the Art Gallery and other heritage. Several of the trees were removed because they were unsafe and eventually all of them will need replacing with other species.

Civic Park is on the left on a lower level and the festival, the Cultural Stomp, was in progress Saturday.

Monday is the Queen's Birthday holiday, one of two or three long weekend holidays each year including Australia Day, two days at Christmas, one at New Year, four days at Easter, and Anzac Day are the holidays enjoyed by many of us; increasingly those in retail and entertainment (and other jobs) often miss out.

Near The Junction shopping centre today were seen colourful seemingly heat-resistant blooms.
Some photo! Another masterpiece!
Masterpeace? Is masterpeace Police Constable? Is their any subhirsute udderance?