Inspirational Greens

It's been unseasonably cool in my part of the world. Usually December is hot and the air conditioner is already blowing a cool breeze indoors by 8am. But this year the cool spell has lasted longer than I can remember. I had the heating (!!) on over the weekend and there's been rain too. It feels like a European spring to me which is not helpful -I'm somehow always seasonally confused. I'm hardwired to 'experience' December as a winter event and always get taken by surprise when true summer shows up, no matter how long I live in a hot, dry climate. However, despite all that, today's inspiration is characteristically Australian. Look at these glorious birds!

They're called Rainbow Lorikeets, although I wrongly called them Rosellas for years until someone corrected me. The Rosella is also very brightly coloured native bird but they have different markings. They're here everyday. I've been unable to photograph them until now because of the strong glare in the mornings which have made all my pics so far look like this one below. There's probably a lens or camera setting to deal with this kind of thing, but I'm too lazy to find out what it is.  

Luckily for me, it's been so gloomy and overcast in the mornings this past week that the pics suddenly started looking worthwhile again and I snapped these. Boy, can they chirp! They're a noisy bunch. There's a whole flock of them that fly overhead at around 7am, but only 2 of them come down together into my backyard. I think the rest must try their luck in different gardens, so I wonder why this couple keep trying out mine. They hate this tree! They always nibble at the fruit and then spit it out and stomp around a bit in disgust! The next day, they try again. I'm wondering when they're going to give up..

Nature is a huge inspiration for me. I can sit and just observe a plant or animal for hours, enjoying every little detail. These birds are a riot of colour. I am constantly re-amazed by how vivid they appear in real life. And it still marvels me that something so natural is so brightly coloured. 

 I have no idea what this fruit is, it's completely inedible. It has no taste whatsoever - neither bitter or sweet, which is odd as I did think it was some kind of ornamental tree but wasn't able to narrow it down. I keep it around for the bird play and leaves, the texture on these leaves is stunning.

I'm actually thinking of creating an 'orange room' in my garden from heirloom flowering plants that bloom in everything from pale apricot hues to vivid red orange shades. Looking at these pics, I think it's about time I got that sorted. I feel like it's time to create a whole new inspiration cycle in the garden.