Quotography - Sunset

I was absolutely amazed to be chosen in the top 3 of last weeks Quotography Challenge.
Good luck to this weeks entrants. I am looking forward to viewing all your posts... I can imagine it will be tough choosing my favourite!!

Why not join in the fun and click the button below:

Straight Out Of The Camera Sunday

I couldn't resist photographing this beautiful sky.

Sharing with SOOC Sunday

Weekend Flowers: Hibiscus Beauty

This week I stopped by Brisbane's City Botanic Gardens. I hadn't been there for a number of years and decided now that Spring is well and truly underway, I would see what treasures I could find.

I found a circular garden with a multitude of different coloured Hibiscus. They always make great specimens for macro shots because of their prominent pistil and stamen structure.

Here are just some of the shots I captured:

I love this yellow one - simple colours but so textured

I love the variety of colours in this one - from the petals, to the pistil & stamen structure

Instead of growing sideways, as the usually do, this one was facing upwards.

Which also made it very easy to capture this view

Even the buds are beautiful with their crepe paper-like petals

This flower was only partially opened but still beautiful with it's colour variation in the petals

This orange one was just so gorgeous with it's extra ruffled petals!

Hibiscus flowers are so beautiful! I hope you enjoy these as much as I did capturing them. :)

Also sharing at:

A Walk in the Parklands

After my usual Thursday afternoon appointment, which involves Prolotherapy (glucose injections deep into the muscle) & Neural Prolotherapy (glucose injections into the nerves), the aim is to stimulate muscle repair and nerve regeneration - damage as a result of a car accident I had in November 2009. This weeks total was 80-90 injections!!

I was feeling a little sorry for myself, and when I noticed an empty meter parking space as I drove through the City, I decided to pull over and pay the $10 for a 3 hour time slot and explore Roma Street Parklands in Brisbane City. I hadn't been there for a number of years and last time I had 30+high school students in tow - not so easy to appreciate the scenery amongst the noise and activity.

I crossed the road and entered the Parklands - I was surrounded by so much greenery and colour. It was beautiful!! I spent the next few hours exploring and marvelling at God's creation and attempting to capture it with my humble little Canon Digital IXUS 950 IS.
Here are a few of my images:

To quote Shug in Steven Speilberg's The Color Purple: "I think it p****s God off when you walk by the colour purple in a field and don't notice it." 
And in that vain, here are some more:

I am allergic to bees, so taking this one (my hand only 5cm away from it) was rather risky!

I really love this photo with its contrast of colours.

Grevillea.. One of my favourite Australian natives

Then I came across a garden of amazing colour... so beautiful!!

On my way back to the car, I decided to check out the 'The Old Windmill'. I have driven past the windmill many times over the last 20 years and do so every Thursday afternoon.
Dating back to 1828, the windmill is the oldest surviving structure in Queensland, Australia and was situated at the Moreton Bay penal settlement, up the hill from the Brisbane River. In 1842 when the penal settlement closed, it was converted into an Observatory and Signal station. Through the late 1880's and into the twentieth century, the fire brigade used it at night as a fire observation tower. It has also been used as a tower for radio and television research, as well as the first experimental television broadcast in Queensland in 1934... quite a history.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day exploring new & forgotten places in the beautiful city of Brisbane which I have often taken for granted.

Hopefully the 3 hours in the sunlight has assisted in boosting my severe Vitamin D deficiency. :)