Today and yesterday in collage

I had to go over to Yankalilla yesterday to collect a necklace I had bought at a gallery and I took Max with me in the car, he sits in the back seat but tended to whine a lot on the way and was desperate to get out, I need to teach him a few manners when it comes to that.
I took the dirt road through the end of the valley and took the photo of the sign into Back Valley, also a shot of the road as it wound down to the valley floor and on a higher ridge this huge and lovely Banksia, it is a tree not a bush. Please click twice to enlarge these photos.
I am going out with Max at about 8 am at the moment so I can see where to put my feet and not fall over!
We walk approximately the same way every morning but this morning I headed across to the end of our swamp which abuts our neighbours. The reeds are growing tall and looking magnificent. I know the thistle is a weed but it was looking lovely and I may use this for more drawings in my sketchbook.
Their piece of swamp is largely untouched so I took a photo of it with reeds and ferns and in the back ground our very brown and crisp looking paddocks.
It is amazing how quickly every thing starts to look so brown and dry, well not amazing really as we have had very little rain for the last few months and probably dont expect much this month, or March unless a cyclone of the WA coast decides to head down our way.
We are off to Adelaide this afternoon, and then back to McLaren Vale for a 100 year celebration of D'Arenberg winery to night, I hope my fine clothes still fit and I can find some shoes to wear!