Wednesday 21 October 2015

A Wonderful Week

 
Ink pen on sketch paper
 
 
 Ellenbrook, an old pioneer homestead near Margaret River/Yallingup.
 
 
What a thoroughly fabulous time I had last week! The sketch above was done while I was holidaying in the South West for a couple of days with a friend.
 
But the day before embarking on our trip to Yallingup, this same friend and I drove to our friend Sally's property near the town of Gingin. Sally is an expert when it comes to our native flora, both in knowledge and the ability to propagate from cuttings and seed (no mean feat let me tell you!). I have yet to point to a flower that she doesn't know the name of in Latin. We were gobsmacked at the extent and variety of wildflowers that she has growing in the beautiful gardens she has created from bare sand and gravel. She also grows them to sell and specialises in Verticordias, so if anyone is interested in knowing more details, please send me an email.
 
 
Sally in her garden.
We are still in the prime of our spring wildflower season  - as you can see!
 







We had such a nice morning with Sally!
 
A couple of days later near Yallingup, my friend and I were walking a very small section of the 135km Cape to Cape Track. Our little snippet of the track was a six kilometre round trip along the cliff tops on a very sandy and, at times, rocky path.
We had two close encounters with snakes, one a large dugite (My friend saw it first and I just saw the tail as it slithered into the bush) and the other a baby "something" (I was the only one that saw this one and I'm not very good at identifying snakes, because, thankfully, I rarely see them!).
 
The photos below don't do justice to the colours of the wildflowers growing in the coastal vegetation - lots of pimelia, scaevola and smatterings of hibbertia - or to the depth and perspective of the ocean scenes. We had the most perfect weather for it - a tad chilly so we didn't overheat from all the walking in the crisp sunshine.
 






 
 


 
 The ocean in the photo above is actually a long way down. unfortunately my camera didn't seem to capture any depth in the landscape. It probably would if I actually learnt how to use it and didn't just rely on the auto option!
 
Oh yes, my book had accompanied us on the trip and it looked rather fetching I thought with the ocean as a back-drop!
 
 
And now back to Perth - from today, Dymocks in Karrinyup have stocks of my book! Yay!
 
 
And to my own garden. I took this photo today of my violas - they continue to flower prolifically. I have never had such a prolific and extended flowering period with these favourites. It's been months of solid flowering. 
 

 
Below is my beloved purple melaleuca also flowering prolifically. The pompom flowers remind me of my childhood growing up in the bush. We didn't have that exact variety but something very similar. 


 
I hope you are all having a great week!
 

27 comments:

  1. Beautiful wild flowers. You have a very clever friend knowing all about wildflowers! Yallingup is a beautiful spot, one of my WA favourites!

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    1. Yes, Sally is amazingly knowledgeable, and yes Yallingup is sooo pretty.
      Love your Monday murals!

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  2. What a wonderful blog post! I enjoyed every word, photo, and, of course, your beautiful sketch. I think I need to pick up your new book...

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    1. Thanks very much Chris, I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the post.
      I really love the batik work you are doing!

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  3. Bonjour chère amie,

    Je suis époustouflée par la magnificence de vos photos... Un véritable voyage vivifiant. Des couleurs superbes.
    Des fleurs fascinantes de par leurs formes, les nuances...
    Merci pour cet excellent billet.

    Gros bisous ❀

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    1. Thanks so much Martine - you are very kind! We are very lucky with the wide variety of flowers we have here.
      I so love the cat in your latest beautiful painting!

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  4. Beautiful photos!!! I love the ones of the seashore especially.

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    1. Thanks so much Joan. I've been very impressed with your Inktober output!

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  5. Wendy...your sketch is lovely.
    Flowers and sea..how pretty. Can see how steep it is to the sea.. Stayed in Gin Gin years ago.

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    1. Thanks Margaret! I have really enjoyed your recent posts of the Northern Territory - especially of Uluru!

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  6. I have never seen the W.A. wildflowers Wendy, but they look fantastic. In fact, I would love to see the Margaret river area, which all looks beautiful. What a pretty sketch you did, too. Your violas are doing so well - mine are all dying off in the heat!

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    1. Thanks Patricia! I have thoroughly enjoyed your recent posts - you have a very good eye for interesting and beautiful subject matter.

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  7. very nice photos :) the water looks gorgeous!

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    1. Thanks Jennifer! Love your ink work!

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    2. Thanks so much Jennifer! I've enjoyed discovering your lovely illustrations!

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  8. Great sketch, Wendy! Beautiful photos! I enjoy seeing your friends garden. I love it when people have such great capabilities with growing beautiful things in awful soil. The violas are so pretty! Hugs to you!!

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    1. Thanks Celia, yes, I am in awe of what Sally has done as it takes a lot of skill and know-how to propagate Australian native plants and have them thriving in such a way. Congratulations for getting your lovely designs with Vida!

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  9. What a lovely and happy post, the photos of the sea view are stunning, looks like quite a rough sea ! Snakes ? Glad you didn't see too much of them , never a good encounter ! Your sketch is perfection, so pretty. xx

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    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed the post Jane! Yes, there were wonderfully wild and huge waves that day - certainly not suitable for swimming!
      I love your latest portrait - "Blinding Light"

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  10. Hello Wendy, thank you for stopping by my blog. Your photos of the coastal walk are stunning and the wildflowers beautiful. We are so fortunate to have such stunning flora and fauna.

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    1. Hi Sandra, thanks so much for visiting! Yes, we are very lucky indeed! I love how you have captured our gum leaves so perfectly!

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  11. Dear Wendy - your trip with your friend looked wonderful. Such gorgeous flowers. What a wonderful variety too. Your violas are fabulous. Just love those sweet faces. Glad you didn't have too many snake encounters - of course one is too many for me. That ocean looks so beautifully blue - had to smile about it being the backdrop for your book. Thank you so much for sharing. It is always wonderful to visit your part of the world. Hugs

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    1. Dear Debbie, believe me, one encounter with a snake is usually enough for me too! Luckily the second one was just a baby wriggling across the path at a safe distance ahead of us. It was actually quite cute at that size.
      I've been enjoying your autumn vicariously through your stunning pictures of your russet landscape. We don't have anything like that over here!

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  12. A beautiful post Wendy, sounds like it was a wonderful time, how lucky to have access to paint so many types of wild flowers

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    1. Thanks Lorraine! It was lovely to get a quick break away from the suburbs! Love you teddy bears!

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  13. Beautiful pictures & I enjoyed the post. Love your sketch too. Thanks for sharing. :)

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    1. Thanks so much for visiting! I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

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