A Casino Christmas Adventure.... and... A Little Disappointment....

Hello Dhaaarlings...

Yesterday... The Empress and I arose early and caught a train to the big smoke of Melbourne... to meet up with some friends for a Christmas luncheon...

The weather was delightful... and all the way down on the train the Empress kept saying to me how wonderful the Christmas Display in the foyer of the casino was... remembering having taken the grandchildren to see it several years back... So by the time we arrived we were both looking forward to seeing it...

And the water of Melbourne's famous Yarra River...
almost sparkled in the sunshine... it was a lovely balmy summers day...

We strolled along South Bank Promenade outside the Casino...
Enjoying the sights and sounds of the city... Even seeing a Helicopter land in the middle of the river (On the helipad)


And I did say that the water almost sparkled...

Until one took a closer look!....


Inside the Foyer of the Casino one entered almost complete Darkness...

As our eyes adjusted to the dimness... I said to the Empress... "Well... for a place that takes so much money off people... you would think they could at least pay their lighting bill"... And as our eyes adjusted in the dark... there stood before us... a partially lit Christmas tree...  

They must have heard me... as suddenly.... The whole place lit up and came to almost life with a (rather sad) Mechanised Christmas entertainment for the masses.... or those hearty gamblers that remained and could see though their tears as they were now left too broke to enjoy a real Christmas...

An umbrella contraption in one corner opened to reveal... of all things...

 a 

Circus!

Really? At Christmastime????

With strange little dolls attempting to do some sort of acrobatic performance

And across in the other corner...

A Santa on a carousel surrounded by monkeys playing musical instruments???

It was all just a little too weird if you ask me... At one stage... some fairly daggy looking furred creatures which were meant to represent 

a "Barrel of Monkey's" but looked much more like misplaced sloth's hung down from the ceiling.... I couldn't even bare to take a photo Darlings....

The Sloth/monkey rags were enough to give any decent child Christmas nightmares... And for goodness sake... How many of the little darlings would know what a "Barrel of Monkey's" was these days anyway... even if it jumped up and smacked them on the head.... I'm sure that I heard one of them weeping into their smart phone to what I presume was the animal protection agency... 

"Yes ... come quickly.... They're putting all these cute little monkeys into a barrel.... Yes it's terrible... hurry... the lid is going on an they will all die if you don't come and save them "

And then this was the big finish....

Ta Ddaaa!!! 

The upside-down umbrella thingy... all hung with silver baubles  revolved around to display the static message... 

Merry Christmas!

As the foyer returned to its original state of gloom...

Suddenly the masses watching erupted into a loud round of cheering and clapping... I thought to my self.... Why are these fools clapping and cheering? Its a mechanical presentation... There are no performers... no one to receive the applause for this somewhat dubious presentation. The reset program will kick in in a minute and the cogs will start rolling again to repeat the whole awful extravaganza in a half hours time... Idiots!

"Come on Empress" I said... "After that display I think we could both do with a stiff drink!"... and to my surprise she agreed adding... "It would have been a lot better if they had been giving out complimentary hundred dollar notes"....

And with that we wandered off to find the nearest watering hole....

Which wasn't far given that it was a Casino that we were in after all....

We met up and had a lovely luncheon at the Chinese yum cha with our friends... The food was good as always....

Later we wandered back outside past the happily dancing mechanoids...  and into the bright sunshine to appreciate some real talent and art...

A sculptural piece on the promenade...

I don't know what it is meant to represent...

 And... I didn't even bother to find out who the artist was but...

but it caught my eye...

It was a welcome relief... and by far.... More impressive than an allegedly  

Christmas themed Hurdygurdy! 

Well... I think so anyway Darlings.....

A birthday in the bush....

Hello Dhaaarlings...

Princess and the Empress took a trip to the bush recently 

To wish a dear family friend a happy birthday...

The Empress made a special cake

for a Special Birthday...

It even lit up!

Our friend was so pleased that we got a tour of the garden to celebrate

Succulents abound as they are very hardy in the harsh summer conditions

As do Gum Trees...

One of which was covered in masses of lovely pale pink blooms

 This year they even managed to grow and harvest some Pumpkins

And Rainbow Chard/ Silverbeet...

It is such a contrast after years of ravaging drought

We came home with bags of Quinces and Grapefruit the size of baseballs!

So I'm off to find some recipes Dhaaarlings and to fire up the preserving pan...

Gawd.... I Just love a good Grevillia....

And this Dhaarlings would have to be my absolute favourite...

of the over 360 types of "Grevillea"

Grevillea "Peaches and Cream"

I just adore the pale lemon and apricot blooms.

The form is of a more medium size and it responds well to a light pruning

The grevillea's are a wonderful addition to a garden... not only for the visual delight that they bring but also in their innate ability to attract bird life for both shelter and as a food source during the flowering season...

The range in flower colour shape and size is quite astonishing..

Check out the following feast for your tired old eyes dhaaarlings...

In recent years they have become popular as topiarised standards...

And some low growing ground cover types are great for that difficult spot!



A multitude of growth shapes and forms interesting foliage shapes and colours  and a range of flower colours to delight even the laziest of gardeners!

They are quite good as a cut flower too...

There you have it... my adoration for Grevillea's...

Gathering Nuts in .... April?

Hello Dhaaarlings...

{Photo Via Princess 2011}

There I was... giggling among the bushes Dhaarlings...

 Hunting down "Gumnut Babies"...

on my recent Adventure to the  Royal Botanical Gardens

{Photo Via Princess 2011}

Gumnut Babies are so called due to the flowers and in particular the juvenile nuts (Gum Nuts) produced by our flowering Eucalyptus trees.

Gumnuts were the inspiration for the creation of characters from a well known and popular children's book... Namely Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

{Photo Via Princess 2011}

So there I was again giggling and snapping away in the bush

Seriously hoping to meet some bush babies..

{Photo Via Princess 2011}

 when suddenly I was rudely confronted by this...

It literally gave me the willies...

I had stumbled across a real live Banksia Man...

 inspiration for the devilish "Banksia Men". Characters from one of Australia's best loved Children's Authors

"May Gibbs"

Who made their first appearance in this book...

The "Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie"

A favourite from my childhood...

Here's is a bit more about them....

"Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, the gumnut babies, are the protagonists of the story and are modelled on the appearance of young Eucalyptus (gum tree) nuts. The female gumnut babies, however, have their hair, hats and skirts modelled on Eucalyptus flowers.

May Gibbs based some of the characters and scenery on the plants found in the bushland of Bunbury, Western Australia, where she played as a child.^[1] The "big bad" Banksia Men are the villains of the story and are modelled on the appearance of aged Banksia "cones", with follicles for eyes and other facial features."

{Via}

In May's own words...

"We came to a grove of Banksia trees and sitting on almost every branch were these ugly little, wicked little men that I discovered and that's how the Banksia Men were thought of."

May Gibbs

{via Princess 2011}

Commoners refer to the flowers as "candlesticks"

Yet... "May"... depicted them as conniving horrible and hairy creatures like these...

Oh... Sorry... I meant like this...

Always plotting to do dastardly deeds and steal the cute little

Baby Gumnuts and

 other baby bushflowers

And here are some Banksia Cones in real life...

The seed pods will open following a bush fire, I think it has something to do with the effect of the smoke in stimulating the pod to crack open and release the seed... leaving the cone with bits that could be easily interpreted as eye sockets or mouths....

When on holiday with my cousins as kids we would find the dead cones at the beach and pretend that they were wicked Banksia men. Then we would play a game where we would madly run about chasing each other, cone held out in front of an outstretched arm.

The loser would be the first one to have a Banksia Cone stuck down the back of his bathers. Of  course I would always be one of the losers...

I discovered on my recent adventure that there are even several prostrate forms of Banksia...

which...

 I think are quite delightful despite their cultural history of inducing nightmares into the dreams of small children all over the country...

{Photo Via Princess 2011}

[Via]

It was a lovely Adventure....