PAINTED SKY

The sky has always been a source of inspiration for artists and here is one of my paintings inspired by a sunset in the City. You can find more of my paintings in my Instagram account: @jammysevenk

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SUNSET SILHOUETTES

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

WINTER SUNSHINE

A lovely sunny, warm day in Melbourne today, a presage of coming Spring. Many people took to the parks, outdoor locales and open-air venues to make the most of the sunshine.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

WAITING 2

The bare plane tree branches are touched by the setting sun. A reminder that Spring is not too far away,

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

LONE DUCK

Sunrise on a wintry Melbourne morning at the Darebin Parklands. Even the duck thought the water was too cold for swimming in!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

SUN-SHADE

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

AUTUMN

Autumn arriving, waiting for the Equinox on the 20th of March!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme

BUSHFIRE SKY

It is bushfire season in Southeastern Australia and yesterday, Thursday 22nd of February, the temperature maximum in Melbourne approached 40˚C. In the Northwest of the state, the temperatures were higher. In Beaufort, a small town near Ballarat, a bushfire started and in a day had burnt 5000 hectares (50 km2) of bushland, with homes and farms destroyed. Today, 10,000 hectares had been burnt and the fire is still burning.

The sky in Melbourne yesterday afternoon was brownish red with a red sun on account of the smoke high in the atmosphere. Fortunately a cool change came through with some rain and things went back to normal in the City. However, while it lasted, the unearthly, apocalyptic light and the red sun was quite frightening. Our climate is changing, our deforestation progresses at an alarming rate and such horrific and catastrophic events are now becoming more and more common and severe.

About 1000 firefighters and dozens of aircraft are still battling (Friday night) an uncontrolled bushfire burning around the Pyrenees Ranges in regional Victoria to Ballarat’s west. The towns of Elmhurst and Amphitheatre on the Pyrenees Highway remain under threat as winds continue to push the fire north-east. It is heart-breaking that farming communities have to evacuate farms and properties, leaving their livestock behind, with no guarantee they will have a home and property to come back to. Even sadder that some of these small farmers have no insurance...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

FLYING

An extremely fortuitous shot that came about as I was capturing a passing plane close to the sun with my iPhone. By chance a bird was flying by there at the same time!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

YARRA SUNRISE

Sunrise on the River Yarra in the City. Rowing on the river is the thing to do for College and University students associated with the old school Rowing Clubs on the crack of dawn.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SUNSET VIEW

OK, you found the plane, a bit harder to find the bird, but what about Superman?

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

POND

The large pond at the Darebin Parklands on a wintry morning.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

RAINY SUNRISE

We've had a lot of rain over the last two days with cold, short, grey days. This morning the sun peeked through the clouds as it rose, with rain falling till the sun was hidden by clouds again.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

EQUINOX SUN

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

SUMMERY

As we approach the end of Summer, it's time to hurry and make the most of the remaining days under the sun.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

SUNSET PALMS

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

NEW DAY

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

WOOD

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

SUMMER

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme

CONTRAIL

Contrails are clouds formed when water vapour condenses and freezes around small particles (aerosols) that exist in aircraft exhaust. Some of that water vapour comes from the air around the plane; and, some is added by the exhaust of the aircraft. The exhaust of an aircraft contains both gas (vapour) and solid particles. Both of these are important in the formation of contrails. Some elements of the exhaust gasses are not involved in contrail formation but do constitute air pollution. Emissions include carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons such as methane, sulphates (SOx), and soot and metal particles.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme