A BOOK
I’m back sooner than expected. I just finished listening to a book I mentioned previously by David Sedaris. As funny as he is he also brings up a lot of very serious topics and issues within his family. At the end of the book there is a one hour interview by Paul Thompson a writer from Seattle, Washington. When David was asked about how he and his family feel about him writing such personal stories (his mother’s alcoholism, his sister’s suicide) he states he does feel maybe he shouldn’t have said as much as he did in hindsight but then follows up by stating he knows there are many people “out there” who have dealt with those issues and it is a part of life for many people.
When asked about living in a Democratic bubble in New York City what did he think about the Trump election. He stated that when he went to the family beach house in North Carolina and saw Trump signs everywhere and people wearing all the t-shirts and hats he also thought that if he needed help, many of these people would help him. They just vote differently. He focuses on the kindness of people and not how they vote. One can only do so much when it comes to selecting a political person. Interesting.
Now I will move on to Creation Lake and see how I go with this new book to me.
SOME PHOTOS
I have no idea what these plants are called. But I like them.
A friend and I went to the Royal Tasmania Botanical gardens one day last week to work on our tripods with macro photography. It was a beautiful day and there were flowers everywhere. We spent a very pleasant morning looking at unusual flowers, baby ducks everywhere and tourists admiring the orchids in the orchid house. We finished up before the day became very hot as we had quite a heatwave across Australia last week.
Here are some of the photos.
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GARDEN FLOWERS
I was reading the Tasmania Sunday paper and saw this phot and article about this gorgeous plant. It says it is very good at attracting insects and some birds. So I went on a quest. Garden store number one didn’t have them. They used to but not now. Garden store number two which is a big native garden had all kinds of varieties. So I bought two small plants and will put them in the front yard along a fence border. They are supposed to grow to 1.5 – 2 metres in height. The flowers can be different colours. I think one of mine will be yellow blossoms, the other white. We shall see.
NAME: Ozothamnus plant or commonly known as Rice flowers.
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This week is looking to be much quieter as having to deal with a diabetic cat who drinks masses of water, has to sleep in a separate room, be tested daily until we know he’s stablised on his medicine is changing my schedule a bit. He is also highly incontinent so a load of wash must happen and a floor mop daily. I don’t know what the future will be like living with this but it is our responsibility to care for him and we will certainly do that.
So until next time, a smelly goodbye. (Just kidding- the cleaning agents seem to be working).
QUESTION
Do you have a favourite flower or plant?
Travellin' Penguin 
Favourite plant/flower? So many, but right now I love seeing all the hydrangeas in bloom (they are mostly blue-ish in the Blue Mountains).
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David Sedaris is wonderful when he is funny, but I do also appreciate his more thoughtful moments. Interesting on the kindness of the individual who can’t or won’t be kind to wider groups of people.
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I agree re the kindness statement. Sedaris is definitely an interesting writer. From very serious to extremely funny. I have seen him twice when he visited Hibart and he had the audience eating out of his hand. I don’t know where he gets the energy as he will do 90 appearances in a year.
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If I can only have one favourite, I shall go for Grevilleas, which look wonderful and are so popular with the birds because they flower for so much of the year.
Lovely macro shots TP.
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That us a great choice. We have grevilleas and the wattle birds love them.
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Interesting to read that vehement Trump supporters have heart which is a contradiction as their leader and policies don’t. I like the way he wrote that they just vote differently, and separating that from the person is laudable. Perhaps they like the hysteria whipped up – which sadly, reminds me of the delusions in Nazi Germany.
But on nicer thoughts, plants, I do love the botanic gardens in Tassie, I remember the Autumnal colours specifically in Launceston. If I had to pick a favourite plant it would be one of the conifer family. Evergreen and remind me of the Northern hemisphere, but any flowering plants, even some weeds are delightful.
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I agree. I like colour so I am always attracted to bright flowers.
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Such gorgeous photos, Pam, thank you for sharing them. I love all flowers really, wild or cultivated, but carnations have always been a favourite.
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Carnations are lovely and so long lasting.
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Do I have a favourite flower or plant? Well, I do love gum trees! I love Australian flowers/plants so I find it hard to choose, but I love banksias and grevilleas, and I love ti-trees.
As for Sedaris, and his thought re Trump supporters, that “he also thought that if he needed help, many of these people would help him. They just vote differently. He focuses on the kindness of people and not how they vote”. I do think this is right to a large degree. I have met many conservative Americans in my time of living there, and they have nearly always been kind, friendly, generous people. This might be arrogant but it seems to me that many of them – and this is probably true here too – don’t really think through what they believe and what it really means.
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I love the Tassie Botanical Gardens. We visited a lot of Botanic Gardens when The Spouse was working on the proposal to have our Melbourne Botanic Gardens run by an independent board, and they were filming Peter Cundall doing a segment for Gardening Australia!
I hope all is going well with Grizzy… it’s exhausting looking after a sick pet but hopefully the medication will settle things soon.
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