The Western Australian Christmas Tree...

The Western Australian Christmas tree, Nuytsia floribunda is a unique tree famous for it's beautiful orangey yellow blooms. 

It's native only to Southwest Australia, and holds cultural significance to the Noongar people who regard it as sacred. 

The Noongar people refer to the tree as Moodjar and consider it a spirit tree.

Each flower symbolising the spirit of a deceased person. 

Picking the flowers is forbidden.

I visited this tree when the flowers were budding and then returned this week when the buds had opened.

The flowers open in large clusters which can be as long as a meter in length.

 The flowers are absolutely beautiful and look striking again a clear blue sky.

Because this tree flowers around the festive season, it's commonly referred to as Christmas tree.

 

Another Native Themed...

Another native themed  festive street decoration in Kalamunda made quite the impression.

Again, I would imagine it's really wonderful when lit up at night...

 

Over The Years...

Over the years the festive decorations in the community have become somewhat sparse, actually to be honest it really is not the same having Christmas without snowy wintery weather. 

And, although there is an effort made for festive decorations, they always seem out of place. 

Even trying to get decent photographs of the kangaroo festive decorations was somewhat of a challenge due to the unique light here in Western Australia.

I expect that at night though they would look rather beautiful...

 

A Sculpture...

A sculpture I stopped to photograph in Bayswater as I was driving through the suburb. It's disappointing that there's never any description plaques on most of the sculptures I come across in the community. It would be nice to know what artist created this unusual piece...

 

Visiting Grandpup Banjo...

Visiting grandpup Banjo yesterday means that I have to have a fresh egg for him as a special treat so I can actually get in the door. Banjo gets really excited when he sees a carton of chicken lollies.

(And yes, the egg shells are blue, from my araucanas chickens.)

Banjo doesn't like eating the shell, but will lick up every little morsel from the grass. Fresh eggs are good for dogs in moderation, and my kitty kids get an egg treat occasionally too.

I also gave Banjo a Christmas bandana for him to wear over the next couple of days. I must say he looked extremely handsome with his bandana on...

 

The Grass Bar...

The grass bar is not as regular as it used to be, seeing the ducks, rabbits and chickens have eaten most of my grass! So I have to nurture a couple of spots so the kitty kids can have a treat.

Miss Bear and Charlie really love a mug full of fresh succulent grass to nibble on and waste no time in eating it while it's fresh...

 

The Recently Added...

The recently added gaura plants in the garden have the most delicate blooms. I actually saw a garden a few weeks ago that had a well established one, I took a photo and promptly headed to the nursery to find out what the plant was. 

I bought three, one white and two with the pink hues. The flowers actually remind me of butterflies, especially from a distance. I then discovered that another name for the plant is butterfly bush...