Summer (is almost here) – Colours and Gems

Summer in Melbourne, when it finally comes on the 1st December, usually means blue skies, native flowers, gardenias, lavenders, stone fruits, flies, and hot, dry days. We have had a rainy and fairly cold spring. Many places in south eastern Australia have been flooded for weeks and more flooding is expected to occur over the next few weeks. Some hot dry days would be very welcome so there is a bit of desperation in our voices when we talk constantly about summer.

So, let’s dream about summer and the colours associated with it. The little antique gold and turquoise bird above makes me think about blue skies and that lovely shimmer of the full sun beating down on a beach.

Then there are the flies, of course. There are always lots of flies in summer in Australia but we are used to that. You would think them to be nondescript little brown things but brown as a colour can have a lot of variety. In a usual summer, the heat dries out lawns and paddocks so that there can be browns of different shades everywhere where the grass has died. The antique rock crystal brooch below with reverse intaglios depicts two flies, one with gold wings and one with translucent brown wings.

Australian native bushes flower prolifically in summer. Most of mine are grevilleas with flowers of various red shades. I have a new one this year called Peaches and Cream with lovely flowers of pinky coral and light cream. As you can see from the photo at the top of the post, it is a perfect foil for the lovely antique gold and coral brooch.

I have a couple of gardenia bushes and picked the first flower on the weekend. I love the smell of gardenias but also love the way the bud opens and the petals unfurl. It reminds me a bit of roses so I have matched up my light cream gardenia with a golden cream antique ivory rose pendant.

And finally, I think about the sight and the scent of lavender bushes as you brush past the light purple flowers. This vintage amethyst pendant has the same lilac/light purple colour of those bushes.

I can’t wait for summer.