Sunday, July 7, 2013

POPPIES


Who loves poppies?
Well, I do for one..


Nobody grows them around here; I don't think the climate is right.
I was so happy to find this bunch on sale for $5 ..

I love their colours: delicious combinations of orange, pink, and yellow, blended like silk in those crinkly petals


Bought this painting years ago, to enjoy the idea of these happy flowers, 
even if I rarely see the real thing.



Yesterday we took my Dad to a Cafe/Art Gallery


I think he enjoyed the sculpture gardens


Choose your nude: long and slender?


or rather more robust?


Dad enjoys his coffee with a decadent dessert:


I don't think this is on the menu at his Retirement Home




Dad is 92, and grew up in the Australian bush ..


We took him for a drive on a rough bush track..



A last look back to the plateau, where we had been in the Cafe.

Note: UFO? smoke signals?
  er, no, somebody didn't notice a mark on her camera lens...

Wishing you a great week, hot or cold, wherever you are!

XXXXX


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22 comments:

  1. BerylJuly 8, 2013 at 12:27 AM

    I grew up with Poppies - they are California's state flower. Looks like you had a nice day with your dad. What does it mean to grow up in the bush? Is that an expression like our "grew up in the sticks", meaning the middle of nowhere?
    And I much prefer the robust!

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    1. PatriciaJuly 8, 2013 at 2:43 AM

      Thank you Beryl, I never knew that about California's state flower, although I had some idea that oranges were an emblem. Yes, grow up in the bush means very much the same as 'in the sticks' - we use that phrase too. His family had a small farm in Central Queensland.
      I think I prefer the robust too - the thin lady looked like she would break very easily!

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  2. RosemaryJuly 8, 2013 at 12:38 AM

    Dear Patricia - your poppies are very pretty - love poppies too and have lots in the garden at the moment - some I have planted others have just turned up. My favourite, which I cannot grow, is the brilliant blue one - meconopsis.
    Do you have an "apple" computer? if so, it is possible to remove marks from your pictures on iPhotos.

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    1. PatriciaJuly 8, 2013 at 2:45 AM

      Dear Rosemary, the idea of having poppies just turn up in the garden sounds quite heavenly to me! We do get a lot of unexpected plants, none of which are at all desirable. I have never seen the brilliant blue poppy, but as I like blue flowers I'm sure I'd love it.
      Don't have an Apple, but now you have given me the hint, I'll investigate other means of spot removal; info-tec son might have an idea for me.

      Delete
  3. PatriciaJuly 8, 2013 at 2:41 AM

    Red poppies are good too! Glad I'm not the only one with UFO's, a little bug would have made some surprising pictures - I'd better watch out for one of them next.

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  4. valerietilsten59.blogspot.comJuly 8, 2013 at 6:25 AM

    Hello Patricia.
    I have never seen poppies in a vase. I only know poppies growing wild in the fields.
    So there must be a variety that one can grow.!!
    Yours look lovely.
    I love your painting.
    Grandad must have enjoyed his drive about in the bush.
    I bet he can tell you lots of stories.
    Happy Monday ..val xx

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    1. PatriciaJuly 8, 2013 at 6:59 PM

      Poppies wild in the fields sounds beautiful, just like a Monet painting.
      Grandad lives for his Sunday drives in the country - he has 6 children and we take turns to visit him. When we arrive his first request is to 'go for a drive'! And yes, he has a lot of stories about life as a young man. His short-term memory is very bad, but he is good about the old days in the 1920s and 1930s. Sometimes I am not sure if he makes things up!
      Happy days xx

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  5. metteJuly 8, 2013 at 8:15 AM

    I think that it is great that you & your hb spend time with your father, on a nearly regular basis. He has raised you well.
    Oh, the landscape looks so very different from our´s - in the winter - ; ).
    No poppies grow wild over here, I seldom see them even at the florist´s.
    But then you must know by now, that I don´t " see, recognize " flowers well at all.

    P.S. The blogging world must be on vacation, as there is very little activity on the blog sites, have you noticed ?

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    1. PatriciaJuly 8, 2013 at 7:01 PM

      Thank you Mette - my parents took me to visit my grandparents very regularly, so I think I have been raised with the idea that this is what you do!
      Our winter landscape is very much Australian; I have not seen anything similar overseas, but then I have not been everywhere. The grass is brown now because of winter frost, but there is never snow, just icy cold mornings.
      PS yes, I have thought the same - are they on vacation, or have they lost interest in blogging?

      Delete
  6. PatriciaJuly 8, 2013 at 10:58 PM

    Yes I love poppies too and think they are gorgeous in the wild. Red are my favourites. Your dad's dessert looks very yummy and glad you all enjoyed your day.
    Patricia x

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    1. PatriciaJuly 9, 2013 at 12:56 AM

      Trying to imagine poppies growing wild, especially red! I guess it would not work in the Australian landscape..unfortunately. Dad is so funny, such a sweet tooth :)
      PS How is University going?

      Delete
  7. DarlaJuly 9, 2013 at 4:43 AM

    Poppies are delightful aren't they? We have wild ones (California) and a few cultivated poppies in the garden. They are one of my favorite flowers to try to paint.

    Darla

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    1. PatriciaJuly 10, 2013 at 2:46 AM

      They do make a wonderful painting, Darla - I would love to see your poppy paintings. So California also has them wild - it seems they are wild everywhere but here!

      Delete
  8. KathyJuly 9, 2013 at 5:32 AM

    I love those poppies, Patricia - such marvellously colourful and frilly flowers. :-) I imagine the drive took your Dad back to his youth as you bumped over the ruts. What with that and the cafe with that delicious dessert, he had an good day out.

    PS I too prefer the robust figure. The thin one gives me an inferiority complex!

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    1. PatriciaJuly 10, 2013 at 2:47 AM

      Yes, frilly is the word Perpetua. Poppies remind me of beautiful raw silk, lightly crushed and gathered.
      Love how the robust nude manages to balance on one shoulder - so agile!!

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  9. ShellJuly 11, 2013 at 3:25 PM

    Hi Patricia you poppies are just gorgeous and a lovely way to brighten a winters day . Good for your Dad enjoying his dessert at 92 !!!!!

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    1. PatriciaJuly 12, 2013 at 1:57 AM

      Hi Shell, pretty poppies lasted a week, which is good in Brisbane. Hope to find more this weekend! Dad always was a Dessert Star!

      Delete
  10. sandaJuly 12, 2013 at 7:23 AM

    I dearly love poppies, crave to grow the red ones, but alas, I have had no luck. A perfect flower garden would be blue Bachelor's Buttons and single Red Poppies. I've succeeded with BBs, but still trying for poppies. Why is it that the things we want so much to grow seem to elude us? Try to hard? Maybe!
    A nice day with your Dad I'm sure and his dessert looks scrumptious!

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    1. PatriciaJuly 12, 2013 at 7:51 PM

      Ah another red poppy fancier - I really have to investigate the possibilities of a red poppy!
      So true re the things we want to grow - I dream of fabulous roses, but achieve so very little :)
      If Dad understood the world of Blogs (which is beyond his comprehension now) he would love that he gets featured from time to time!

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  11. PatriciaJuly 13, 2013 at 7:47 PM

    Thanks Val for this info. I think the lens is OK with the latest photos but I'll look closely and if there are still marks it will be off to Camera House asap. Photo editing software sounds like a good idea for me!
    PS Love that coat you made and show on your Blog :)

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  12. Debra TurnerJuly 15, 2013 at 4:02 PM

    I sound like a broken record, but I'll say it again. These are beautiful pictures, Patricia. I love stopping by your blog to see them!

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  13. PatriciaJuly 15, 2013 at 9:13 PM

    Glad you like stopping by, Debra, and I would be lost without my trusty camera. Have you seen any red cardinals lately? We went to Canada and never saw a single one :(

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