Well, the beautiful day of sunshine and blue skies on Saturday was short-lived. Yesterday we had rain, and the mountain went into hiding behind mist and clouds for the day. Today the weather wasn’t much better – grey and more grey. When I took the photo of the mountain at least I captured the image of a bird flying by, but the day was so dull I didn’t have enough bright light to even identify the bird.

So that was the view of the mountain today. No colour. No pizzazz. Nothing. But luckily I have a couple of plants blooming that I haven’t added photos of here recently.

I have had a tiny potted succulent sitting on the table on my back patio for a few years now, and last year it burst into flower for the first time. The flowers lasted for quite a few weeks and looked just lovely. Now they are flowering again. I have no idea what the name of the plant is, but the flowers definitely add interest to the plant, and colour to the garden on a grey day.

These pretty purple flowers belong to another pot plant and since buying the plant in January this year it hasn’t stopped flowering. The flowers did wane slightly during winter, but during the last couple of weeks it has had a new lease on life. This is a Scaevola “Seaside” – I know the name because I wrote it in a gardening journal which is a very handy thing to have. Being a drought-tolerant ground cover, I’m thinking I should buy some more Scaevolas to plant in my front garden.

My last spot of colour is a climbing Allamanda. I must have had this plant for well over ten years now and it always seems to be in flower. It really flourishes during the warmer weather though.

Yesterday was Father’s Day in Australia and as it turned out, with no visible mountain to take a photo of I was able to devote Silent Sunday to my dear old Dad. He’s been gone now for twenty-two years but I can still close my eyes and conjure an image of him in my minds eye as clear as if he were still here with me today. Knowing him as I do/did, I know how he would have enjoyed the internet, and would have loved browsing through my ever-expanding book collection. He would have enjoyed all of the babies – his great-grandchildren – being born into my family now, and he would have got such a kick out of me working on my degree. Oh the things I have read and learned about that I would have loved to have discussed with him! Missing him still hurts at times, especially on days when I know he would have spent the day with me, such as Father’s Day. There’s an old saying though, it’s better to have loved and lost … I’m sure you know the rest. ❤