Lonesome George, hippeastums and a car ferry

Along with botanical art, I've plunged myself back into book research. This time it's Lonesome George, the 100-year-old Galapagos Island tortoise that was the last of his kind. It seems that I just needed something truly challenging and inspirational to get me writing again!

Over the past week we've bought 12 hippeastrum bulbs -- mostly via eBay. Unpacking these precious parcels – delivered by Australia Post – has given me a thrill of expectation. Each bulb contains a unique germ of life; a genetic blueprint that has the potential to create flowers of great beauty; living things that inspire feelings of intense pleasure and awe.

A long day trip to Melbourne and then Geelong, on Thursday, combined a medical appointment with a pleasant sharing of time with my brother and his wife, as well as my 94-year-old mother. On our return journey, the car ferry that crosses Port Phillip Bay between Queenscliff and Sorrento, enabled us to avoid driving (for a second time) through Melbourne -- in peak hour traffic.

It always gives me a thrill to go on an overseas boat trip. With blue skies and yachts at anchor on a  sparkling bay, it's easy to feel that all's right with the world -- even when it isn't.

PS
I couldn't resist including photos of Major: retrieving sticks, gazing into the sunset and playing with Doug and Del.