I had just turned the ceiling fan on and walked away, when there was a really loud 'bang!'.  My husband thought the fan had exploded.  I immediately knew what it was:  a bird had flown into the window, full pelt!  I knew it would be below the window, panting, stunned, & it was:

It was a rainbow lorikeet, aren't they beautiful?  It landed on the dog's bed, so at least that was a soft landing, better than the concrete.  Within a few minutes it suddenly flew to the nearby garden & hung upside down from a plant for a short while, probably because it was scared of our proximity, but still dazed.  My husband turned it up the right way, & it suddenly flew off & up into a tall tree.

A closeup of some of its beautiful feather colours:

Just about a week ago all I saw were a couple of little heads on long thin necks sticking out of a small nest, just above the roof in our outdoor entertainment area.  I'm amazed that they have grown so fast:

That's rather squeezy, isn't it?!  They look almost fully grown, so I expect soon they'll be learning to fly - & the first I'll know about it will be an empty nest.

Here they are, from another angle:

Somehow I came across In Cinq today:

Check out the self portraits - & descriptive words - maybe you'll see mine there?!

Add yours, too!

But first:  my son has a talent for finding birds who are in need of help, on our lawn, whether they be baby birds learning to fly, or in this case a bird which was presumably attacked by another:

I thought at first its neck was broken, because of the position it was in, & maybe it was, poor little thing.  It had blood on its side, & I think perhaps one wing & two legs were broken.  It was last Sunday, & I didn't think it would last for long.  I was surprised to find it still alive Monday morning, & it struggled so hard for life, flapping its one good wing so many times.

 I rang (telephoned) the local vet & took the bird in, but one of the vets took one look at it & decided upon euthanasia.  I was a bit teary, but knew there was no way it could take in sustenance.

The opening night of our local arts festival is next Monday, & entries were due in today.  My daughter & I were planning to finish our last two paintings yesterday afternoon, but alas!  We had a ferocious storm & a power cut!  Our electricity was only restored at 9:55 this morning!  I placed the last brushstroke at 11am!

These are my two entries, below.  The first is an updated photograph, taken in natural light, of "A Twilight Flight of Fancy" which you may recognise from a previous blog post:

This one is a self portrait:

They only flower once a year, and the flowers only last a few days, but aren't they beautiful?

I already had red hippeastrums in my garden.  These stripey hippeastrums were a gift from my mother, who has a 'green thumb'.