It's that thistle again

And it's only just occurred to me how appropriate it is for a Scottish run blip.

This is the same thistle (that I am allowing to grow unchecked in my garden, as it's so pretty) as here, a few days ago.

Bigger Scottish floral emblem

When I wandered down to the shed today, I noticed it was blooming.

Also had another reptile encounter, down by the shed. Not so benign as yesterdays's tiny skink though -more like a big brown snake. I haven't seen it stretched out, so I don't know how big it actually is. My conclusion is that it definitely lives there (on 'snake hill', under the big gum tree). I have seen it three times now recently, in the same spot, curled up in the grass. It moves further into the grass very quickly when it sees me. I had my camera, but my immediate reaction is to step away from it, rather than to lift the camera to my eye and lose sight of it! The Eastern Brown Snake is supposedly the second most venomous snake in the world. Nice to know I have one living about 20 metres from my house... I don't have anything against snakes, but my children over the years have got a bit sick of me saying "be careful of snakes, keep out of the long grass etc etc".