I love the lantern festival, and it is extra special being in Albert Park amongst the old trees. Tonight they'll have all the food stalls going, ready for a grazing dinner : )

They looked even better at night. Mr Leggs and I braved the rain.

Nice! Clever gardners, will it be filled with cheesy sauce already?

And a sunflower bee.

I have a busy bee in the garlic chives and curves of courgette

Making footprints in snow is fun!

My view from the ground

Simple pleasures : )

That's what it felt like when we got outside. Lots of small flakes falling fast and getting in everything.

The best way to go to kindy.

"下雪啦(xià xuě la)！It's snowing!"

Congratulations on the new year watery stuff : )

Top picture makes it look like you are inside a snow globe!

1 minute later, switch it to the landscape button, no flash, no floating snowflakes, but the snow settled. About 7am this morning.

Why on the spring thread?

1: We're already past 立春/Lì Chūn/the start of spring on the…

Here's a visibility mirror slightly worse for wear.

Nice one : )

I know it is still summer here on the spring thread, but here is a sign of Autumn to come…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrN0yHumUVk&feature=youtu.be

Very protective of their little chilli mate!

Look out, playing with selective colour, turning the world pretty weird…..

Pagan rituals! Most madness!

Wondrous growth, second one especially Mrs Leggs.

For growing courgettes and chlles.

Well, I’ve dabbled, and posted one or two less unsuccessful dabblings hereabouts, but considering the season that’s about the only thing flowering up this way right now.

And considering how incongruous a sight this photo is – passed it today, and it still trips me out…

Lilly bits

Bean there

...and besides, I couldn't leave this thread sitting on 666 responses, could I? That might've led to something devilish appearing.

Nora, vegetables don't get any better! And I love your tender vines.

This seems more Autumney, birch leaves and seeds on the back steps...

Beauties! You seem to have great light down there in your garden too ; )

Courgette love.

Soon we'll be overrun with these aliens!

I have dark potatoes, fresh out of the soil, had to be quite careful, they were hard to spot. Then after a wash, revealing their true colours. The boiling water for the small ones turns blue. They all come from a thing that was on a windowsill for months,…

Know that feeling!

Then a small blue thing on a larger green thing

and a looong spider on the stem of a garlic chive about to flower

Oh, brilliant shot! Skinks are very hard to capture without startling.
Beautifully camouflaged, too.

Clever! If I squint, then bring my head back and forward it becomes a gif.

The heavier the better, I would say, up to the level you are prepared to actually take places. I tend to only have I tripod with me if I really think I'll be needing it, for gaining a little bit of ad-hoc stability I…

Nice wee slice of life that.

You’ve seen me then? :-)

Nice one! :-)

As for tripods, heavy is good, clunky you will quickly adapt to. I find using a fixed point of view you refine the view, it gives you time to have a good hard look, not having to hold your breath as…

That sure is close, and pin-sharp too. Love the mantis...

It looks to me like a new hope for the future or something, nature and technology...

Wow; the harvest! I picked the year's first apple today: a Gravenstein just flushing red. Pretty good for the second day of the year.

A poke in the eye with colour

and it was time to pull my wonderful carrot collection

and I shook the plum tree...

Or as Mr Leggs suggested "Christmas left Santa and Rudolph somewhat deflated."

A young praying mantis played with me this afternoon

And some evil looking potato fruit I found

under the oaks on Mt Eden today – Mr Leggs pointed out that the tree tops were swarming with fantails.

Happy New Year!

A white hibiscus

and a co-operative spider

Love this one Jackson!! I'll need to make a cut out from it for the garden, my efforts at growing sunflowers this year have just been ruined by snails again.

Purple rain

Nice to see your distinctive flower shots back again!

Loverly.

Looking forward to it.

BTW, you know about our coastal thread, eh?

It's getting all arty, too. :-)

I'm sure that one's made of sugar!

Lovely gardenia

Christmas lillie

I thought that was it's umbilical cord.

More from the local chemist shop window display

Local Santa collapses after hearing about Father Carrot

I bring you Father Carrot, he will grant any Christmas wish apparently.

Let the toms get very dark before you eat them. Orangey red is not enough! They are sublime eaten warmed by the sun and on toast (Vogels or sourdough or Breadman pumpernickel) with salt or kelp (or marmite or salted brewer’s yeast flakes). I can't wait…

Rather dazzling there Jackson!

Here's a strange scene

And a fountain head.

Shot on the way to work.

And a pano of the patch this arvo

Beefsteak, I think... I have another plant Black Krim, those tomatoes should be menacing, no sign of them yet.

Menacing. What variety?

Trade you a fuzzy tomato

Thanks Sacha, using pure trickery supplied by the camera – the 'miniature' function which leaves just a narrow band in focus : )

gorgeous. what are you using to get such good depth of field?

Starring agapanthus

Beautiful and painterly.

Wonderful: definitely a large print.

Found that rhoadie at the bottom of our backyard: a dalzieling show in October every every year. Other times we hardly know it is there.

Agreed. It's a great one Jos.

Found a rhodie.
I used to be a lost roadie...
now I'm working on the
late bloomer theory!

A pea waka passing by

Found a rhodie.

Baby waxeyes in my tree

Already! Poor guy's got another 18 days of this to go....

Never thought about potato fruit before, but I guess, after flowers.....

A potato fruit

You are so right!

More pondy reflections – so different in spring.

I still has to wait 30 minutes at lunch time yesterday.

Seemed it could do with a Gothic b & w treatment.

and what is the advert saying? suitable for dinosaurs?

Determined to check out the pong, i returned today to the Wintergarden. The crowds were much thinner, the pong was stronger on Saturday, the flower has started it’s decline.

And while I’m at it, spring reflected in the duck pond.

Whattalottawondering, sounds like Hebe can answer some of that.

Went back twice yesterday, the queue was a double loop around the winter garden. By late evening they’d closed it off to any new queuers, trapping the existing queuers inside for us to watch…

Well done, you! Demanding babies, aren't they?

This one too. Cousins.

Might take quite some time.... : )

Got any more?
Could be a deck of cards in it!

Spring is – the return of the Cabbage White

One of those amusing little jokes of nature.
Those jokes comfrey with borage...

I surely do! One of those amusing little jokes of nature.

You know borage flowers taste like cucumber? Weird.

now we are heading to Suess territory!

..take a bough.
:- )

If carpen was a word, I'm sure Carpen tree must fit in there somehow

going bush...
So perhaps writely we might be in a wordwood:
His tree – ashes of…

Oooh, yes! It's really damn hard to beat the shade of mature trees! My favourite place to read, when it's warm enough.

Even if it’s as hot as summer

(heads for changing rooms)

Not meaning to be prickly, or anything.

and a feijoa flower

love somebodies garage Nora!