Venus and Mercury

Planets grouping in the evening Western sky- Thick clouds rolling in fast as seen from my kitchen window. I quickly set up the coolpix 995, centre on Venus - zoomed in and found the dimmer Mercury. I managed to get Venus and the dimmer Mercury framed by a big 'gap' in the cloud. Saturn was not seen in these two frames... Perhaps tomorrow evening...

Pink Mempat

I walked past the few 'pink' mempat ( Cratoxylum formosum) trees .. then something struck me... hey! I saw branches with dark brown upward pointing capsules. I have been waiting for months ever since they shedded all leaves, replaced with red young leaves and pinkish tiny clusters of flowers in April. I reached out and brought home the capsules. I reread " A guide to the Wayside Trees " - Yes, the descriptions of the seed pods and the tiny wing seed matches.... OK - this is pink mempat - confirmed. .... Took a few close up foto for documentation purposes. ( The image is taken on Nov 26 2005 morning )