Just a quickie today as we are all very busy this week…….but I thought these photos of seagulls were quite fun.

I took them on my iPhone, without any filters, edits or photoshopping of any kind.

Can you work out how?

It’s a slightly tenuous link to garden design, but the cafe where I took the photos does have wonderful feature planting.

It is the cafe over the Hawkesbury River at Church Point, about 45 minutes north of Sydney.  Last summer they had an amazing, large display of potted hydrangeas; this year they have an eclectic mix of pots and plants, this time of much more drought tolerant varieties – lavenders and euphorbias and figs.  I can imagine those hydrangeas were not the easiest.

I love the happy atmosphere the plants create – every table has at least one pot, as well as the hanging baskets and free standing planters.  It gives a really homely feel, and I quite like the fact that the mismatching makes it look all a bit amateur.  So much nicer that the owners have gone to the nursery and bought a whole selection of plants, which they then lovingly care for, rather than paying a company to bring in identical pots which have little character.  It is a real joy to eat here.

This last photo provides the answer as to how I got those seagull photos.  Look up, if you’re still puzzled!  If I wasn’t already distracted by the plants, the boats and the water, the seagull entertainment was excellent too!

Whether it is summer or winter where you are, I would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and to thank you so much for following my blog this year.  I look forward to sharing more gardens with you after the break.  Enjoy!