Watery Wednesday ~ 7 New South Wales Coast

Sunrise at "Currawong", northern Sydney....
much better enlarged.

Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy we can bathe to our heart's
content so click on the Logo and pick your pool.

MY WORLD ~ 32 A Year of Blogging

Click to enlarge, they all like showing off!



To all the bloggers who come to call, I give you Roses!




Mr. and Mrs. Superb Blue Wren in my garden.

One year and 204 posts ago today my daughter pushed
me into the deep end of blogland. I coughed and spluttered
until I found my feet. Somehow my kite startd flying high
after I grasped the basics of enjoying my computer.

I am grateful for all the encouragement I have received
from my fellow bloggers, but more than that, for your
growing friendship during my learning curve.



Paddle Steamer on the Murray River at Mannum SA

Your expressions of sympathy and kind and caring thoughts
have helped me bear my recent loss. To all of you who cared,
a big, big hug and thank you.



Our cattle survived the drought although the calves
were tiny.

Blogging made me want to learn the basics on the computer.
Before, I only used it as a tool to do our rather complex
farm tax on, now I am enjoying it.

Blogging has given my photography extra purpose as I
photograph for particular memes, and learn to adjust light
and the shortcomings of my telephoto lens.



I have barely had time to scratch myself this year, so I
engaged Kip my Border Collie grand-dog to do it for me.

Blogging has re-awakened my writing from its hundred
year sleep, and even got me painting again.



An old Gumtree on the farm that I love very much.

Above all, I have met all you wonderful people I now call
friends, and am privilged to be invited to your homes for
an on-line cup of tea, a glass of wine or even a gala ball.



Sunrise on the farm in South Australia.

Through this means of communication the world has
shrunk and engendered much better communication
between individuals at least.
We are all born, live, love, work and die, no matter
what nation or belief system we prefer to belong to.

So let us love each other and the world we live in and
thus make it a bettter place for those who come after us.



The wonderful blue of Forget-me-nots.

To Klaus and the MY WORLD/SkyWatch team a big
thank you for all the help I have had from you this year.

Now click on the Logo and visit the rest of the world.

SkyWatch ~ 39 Birds of a Feather....

We're on the way, to-morrow is the funeral but
today was full of wonders.



My camera is my lap dog so I was able to capture
three shots before these parrots had shot over our head.
The combined speed of us at 110kph, the birds something
similar in our direction, they were gone before I saw them!



The skies were superb, I shot off at lest 30 cloud shots in
one afternoon. I'll share some more another day.



Sorry about the fuzziness, shot almost straight up through
the windshield. From the silhouette alone it is difficult to
identify the parrots, it is easier to say which they are not.

I will not be able to see your posts or comment until we get
home next week.

Check out the rest of the world's skies by clicking on the Logo.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who manage this meme
for the rest of us sky addicts.

Watery Wednesday 6 Eyre Peninsula Coast

Please enlarge to see the waves around the rock.



I love the open Ocean with smashing swirling waves.

Click on the Logo to surf the world's waterways.

MY WORLD ~ 31 In the Wild Wood

The fog having settled in my brain, my feet led to the
Wild Wood, the children's secret world where goblins
roam and faeries frolic in the dell. Where the owl hoots
at mid-night and the blackbird calls at dawn, where
diamonds sparkle in the grass and Unicorns are known
to pass and children are both safe and free to roam and
wander as they will.



Just go down hill and leave gates as found till you
come to the creek with trees all around. The willowy
breeze is different there, the leaf litter thick and dank,
you feel there is magic in the very air with wing beats



around you everywhere. The old tree clothed in green
moss where he lies where others more recently lay down
by his side. A carpet of shamrocks covers the ground and
stealthy rustlings follow you around.



Look up and gold still bedecks the trees with blue
peeping through to gladden the eyes.



A giant of the forest lies across the creek, a highway
to the little folk whose dwellings lie the bank beneath.



King's ransom gold hangs on the trees to dry
as children through the ages pass near by

A witche's house? a castle? a tidy up of sorts of drought

dead trees that block the way but not a thing that is the

wood's is ever taken out ... wood gently turning back to earth

to bring forth more of its own kind.

The Wood is left to nature's way to do with as she wills,

wild quinces line the creek bed, a clump of age old pears,

surviving many fires, still dressed in snowy white in spring
vies with the row of hawthorns to the bees' unending joy.

The tangled wood tells tales of old....

The creek here widens with some stepping stones

glinting silver in the sun's warm light. Frogs hide in the

watercress and turtles wander here and there, small barefoot

children squat beside the pool, watch water bugs and lambs
who come to drink, make nests of plaited grass or when the
the creek is dry, build cantering horses in the creek's soft bed

of sand.

Their happiness still sings within this quiet place.

The magic steals along the bank, turns silver poplars

into precious gold

to float in pools of blue...

with faery diamonds sparkling in the grass as to the
molten silver pool I pass.

The laughter of the children follows me uplifting spirits
so once more I see.

To explore the world, click on the Logo at right.

To Klaus and The Team, thank you for clearing my

head with this meme.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 15 Red-Rumped Parrot

The Red-Rumped Parrot, Psephotus haematonotus,
fast flying and very skittish, is very hard to photograph.



Fledgling on the left, mature bird on the right.



Note begging pose of fledgeling on the left.



Rather far away, but the red rump is plainly showing.



The yellow belly is quite distinctive and when you see
them dart past as a flock the main impression is of
quite a starltlingly irridescent blue-green, the colour
of their head and wings.

TODAY'S FLOWERS 21 Mid-Winter Flowers

It is mid-winter here and to have anything flowering
in the garden is a gift from heaven.



A self-seeded Primula in a hanging basket.



My burgundy leaved Geranium flowers all year round.



A clump of the earliest of Jonquills in the overflow dithch
of the dam, planted abour 13 years ago. Please enlarge.

Forgive me for not visiting this week, see post below, I
will do my best on our return.

Thank you Luiz my friend and all helpers for this meme.

Walking into the Light

The Pathway of Light



Dear friends, last night quite suddenly my last
remaining brother walked into the light.

Since I cannot fly, the drive to his funeral will be long
and weary and I will be away for a little more than
two weeks. Internet possibilities will at best be intermittent,
so my normal posting and visiting will be on hold.

He has gone somewhere over the rainbow to be with his
parents and brother and sister......may blessed peace envelop
them all now.

Though we pass from the present, our love remains behind.

SkyWatch ~ 38 I've Looked at Clouds from Both Sides Now...

The clouds came up
in a great big band



they filled the sky
and swamped the land



and as the rain began to fall
we saw the sweetest sight of all!



They are worth enlarging...

Thanks to Klaus and the Sky Watch Team we're still
enjoying this terrific meme.

WATERY WEDNESDAY ~ 5 From China with Love

Please enlarge to see detail.

In keeping with my post below, another shot of Shanghai

in miniature for the Dowager Empress's delectation at the

Summer Palace, Beijing.

For more water than you can drink, click on the Logo.

MY WORLD ~ 30 From Our Trip to China

THE SUMMER PALACE in BEIJING

All photos enlarge with a single click, do enjoy them.



This palace was built by the Emperor for his mother.
It took 15 years to complete and was started in 1750.
No wonder it took so long, the lake was dug out and
heaped up to form the Longevity Hill topped by a temple.
He wanted his mother to have the best of everything so ,
Beijing being on a plain, he gave her a lake and a mountain.



Being a potter, I was intrigued by the vast numbers of
glazed green and yellow tiles and figurines used in the
construction.
The summer Palace is ranked among the most noted
classical gardens of the world, 726 acres of splendour
including within it the garden of Harmony, a truly
wonderfully peaceful place.



Just one of the colourful yet subdued courtyards.



The buildings feature a great deal of marble, in carved
balustrades, steps and courtyard flooring. Without
tourists it has an intrigueing atmosphere of both
splendour and peaceful wellbeing. Everywhere covered
walkways shield you from the elements. Before air-pollution
it must have been a delight of splendid reflections in the lake.



Looking down from a little way up the hill, the marble ship
is always in the right place for a perfect composition, being
built upon the bottom of the lake.

Please excuse the quality of the photos, they were taken with
a little pre-historic digital camera which was all I could carry
before my aortic valve replacement.



This magical place, and please do enlarge it, is a scaled
down version of Shanghai. The Empress having heard of
the beauty of it, wished to see it. Shanghai was too far
away for her to travel there so the Emperor had it brought
to her. A bit like Mohammed and the mountain.

For other wonders of the world, click on the Logo.

To Klaus and his diligent Team who contend so well with
Mr.Linky's tantrums, my sincere appreciation for hanging in there!

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 14 Rainbow Lorikeet, Wet and Dry

Please enlarge.

Flowers and SkyWatch are lower down.

Raibbow Lorikeet, Trichoglossus haematodus,
rainsoaked at dawn in Sydney N.S.W.



Rainbow Lorikeet photographed in Queensland. Their
habitat is extensive, halfway around the Australian coast.

Check on other birds by clicking on the Logo.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ 20 Pretty Pink Plus

Enlarge and count the bees...



Hakea laurina, the pincushion hakea in our park.



Amaryllis belladonna, sometimes called Naked Ladies,
flower in the autumn before their leaves appear. These
are in our mountain garden.



Fresh from the farm garden on a summer's day of an
other year. To enjoy the Sweet Peas, click to enlarge.

The world is full of beautiful flowers, click on the Logo to see more.

Thank you Luiz Santilli Jr. and your Team for all the work you do
for this beautiful meme.

SkyWatch ~ 37 The Moon and I

Just click on the photo and blast right into heaven!

The sunset was brilliant and I thought that was that



but the the moon rose full, and beautiful
with still a hint of colour left in the sky



near by, a last farewell from the sun as she pulled
up the covers and said day was done



I could not sleep and crept outside into the cold
winter night to be met by this delightful sight



the full moon deep in the Werstern sky,
lighting the clouds as he passed by
and I with joy and awe in my heart
sought my warm bed my sleep to re-start.

If you enlarge the last photo you will see the stars as well.

To see moon and sun and clouds elsewhere, just
click the Logo and you are there.

To the whole SkyWatch Team, so many of us truly
love this meme.

WATERY WEDNESDAY ~ 4 Mangroves

Feel free to enlarge for full effect.



Baby Mangroves are just like little single trees

When they grow a little older it is like a swamp that

is easy to get lost in but hard to get anywhere or out of,

with roots and branches growing in all directions and

disorientation setting in quite repidly.

These are in the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia,

luckily we have no salt water crocodiles here.

Mangroves mainly grow in estuaries and provide a

great breeding ground for smal crustacians and bi-valves.

Just click on the Logo and you will be in water up to your necks.

MY WORLD ~ 29 The Twelve Apostles

To see the bigger picture, just click on it!



When travelling between Adelaide and Melbourne
there are two main alternatives. You can either go
some 700km by the direct route along the Duke's
and Western highways or take the much longer and
slower but more scenic route along the coast. This, even
when pushing along, takes three full days and if you
wish to explore a little more, a good week.

These photos were taken near Port Campbell in
Victoria along The Great Ocean Road, in an area famous for
its sandstone coast sculpted by the sea into freestanding
columns, bridges, caves, blowholes and grottos.
In one bay stand the Twelve Apostles.



We unfortunately had a rather dreary, overcast day
that was not ideal for photography. Even so, the
scenery was quite impressive.



The wear and tear on the coastline in the last twenty
years has been so dramatic that some of the landmarks
were quite confusing...are these part of the Apostles or not?



Even London bridge, which was a large arch across the
gap, has gone leaving but a remnant like the famed
bridge at Avignon.
The story goes that, although there were warning signs
that the bridge was unsafe to walk upon, some bright spark
landed a helicopter on its most vulnerable part and oops...
that was the end of the bridge. If the story is true, I hope
he had not switched off the engine yet!



The whole coast is littered with shipwrecks, blowholes
erupting quite startlingly out of the depths far enough
from the sea so you can't see it, as well as many caves
and this delightful grotto with a view.
Someday I hope we will find the time to go back again
with my present camera and a lot more time.

For now, leave me a sign of life and click on the Logo
to see a great deal more of the world.

To Klaus and the team, hats off for providing this meme.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 13 Birds in my Garden

A cute little fence sitter, Red-Capped Robin hen,
Petroica goodenovii.



Easier to get on a fence than flitting in thick scrub,
Superb Blue Wren hen, Malurus melanotus.



Finally got a clear shot in a tree, Yellow-Tailed
Thornbill, Acanthiza chrysorrhoa.

Click on the Logo to see many birds around the world.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ 29 Some Autumn Flowers

All photos enlarge, just click on the photo and enjoy!



The lilybowl stands on a pine stump that is the reason
for all the golden mushrooms that thrive on rotting
wood, perfect colour to set off the last Petunias.



CYMBIDIUM 'Golden Mile' brightening the shade house



a golden BANKSIA, flowering in the bush in NSW



and a late, perfect 'Charles Austin' Rose in the garden.
All these are historical photos from two years ago
before the worst of the drought.

To enjoy many more flowers, click on the Logo.

Thanks to Luiz Santilli Jr. and his diligent team, we
can all join in with this wonderful meme.

SkyWatch ~ 36 The Weatherwatch Tree

Walk out of our carport and look towards the SW, on
the hillside stands a lone tree often featured in my sky
shots, behind it a line of trees of our small forest.
The tree appears small, yet is a mighty 200+ year old
River Redgum, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, having
weathered everything from drenching rains to droughts.
I hope it will stand proud for at least 200 years more.



A little weather rising from the south west



at first gently embracing the old tree, but, as it gathers
strength



its clouds almost obliterate the scene, swallowing
forest, hillside and tree to wrap it all in a wooly blanket.

If my skies are too cloudy, click on the Logo to see many others.

Thanks to Klaus and the ever diligent Skywatch team, we
can all enjoy this wonderful meme.

Watery Wednesday ~ 3 & Bird Photography Weekly 13

I don't like doing one for two's but this time there is
no help for it, the garden calls, the weeds are fast
approaching my knees, need to top up my bulb pots,
plant Pansies for the winter and a replacement for
one of my Roses before it rains...



Wetlands at Yeppoon, Queensland, Australia



Ibis and various Egrets abound



Now, with the Ibis, I fly into the garden!

MY WORLD ~ 28 The Great Autumn Leaf Hunt 4

This is the last exciting episode of The Great Autumn
Leaf Hunt, enter at own risk to an exposure of a
spectrum of primary and secondary colours.
Please enlarge at least some for the full force of colour.



This is the Bright to Harrietville road, an introduction to
the Autumn Festival in Bright, Victoria.




A Sugar Maple, Acer sacharum in full glory. Near this little
township they have nurseries specialising in trees for
autumn colour



Riverside park at Porepunka with a great path leading
towards the hills in the distance.



Morning frost and rising mist across the road from the
Alpine Park Riverside Cottages where we were staying



the gleaming river reflecting golden willow trees



a little bird that kept me company in the underbrush

the brilliant red of Fraxinus raywoodii, the Claret Ash



a juvenile King Parrot photographed through the fly

screen of our bedroom window

Reflections in the lily pond with the 'piece de resistance',

the Impressionist painting below by courtesy of the inflow

ripples of the pond.

I have hundreds more pictures like these but am
restraining myselt lest I bore you witless.

Now go visit the rest of the world by clicking on the Logo

My thanks as always to Klaus and the Team for

generating this most enjoyable meme.