Wednesday, December 29, 2010

SkyWatch ~ Equinox Sunrise - Moonset


The full moon flees from a purple sky and dashes over the
hill top chased by the red glow of the rising sun.


The sun meanwhile bursts on the scene shooting a victory sign
high into the the retreating darkness


and shows her glory in a blaze of gold


setting the sky alight with a roaring fire.



With this God given glory, I wish each and everyone of you a

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HAPPY NEW YEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

May whatever God you believe in smile upon you and keep you
in good health, give you someone to love and of all things enough!

Click on the Logo to share a wealth of skies which we all can post
by courtesy of our SkyWatch Team hosts.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

World Bird Wednesday - Rainbow Bee-eaters


I hope you all enjoyed a joyous Christmas, as did I.

One of the wonders of this past year was a sighting of the
colourful Rainbow Bee-eater, Merops ornatus, in the North
Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Apparently you can tell
the date by their arrival.



A stickler for punctuality, it arrives on the same day year after
year. A bird of iridescent plumage with two pencil-line feathers
curled at the tip sticking out from the middle of its tail.

Worth enlarging for a better view.

The Bee-eater hovers like a Hummingbird and is one of the rare
Australian birds to do so.

Stay well and healthy throughout the coming year and apart from
happiness, I wish you all a host of birds to watch!

Click the Logo to join this fluttery meme or just see what it offers
and please leave comments as we all appreciate them very much.

Monday, December 20, 2010

MY WORLD ~ Moving Towards Christmas


Christmas is definitely on the horizon when our little township
puts on its street party early in December. There usually is a
street parade with a fire engine and decorated everything from
the ambulance down to littleies with tinsel on their tricycles.


There are food and drink stalls for charities and everyone
has a bit of fun. This deliciously dressed up young lady chose
to pose for me. Don't you just love the smile for the camera?


Today we had occasion to go into the metropolis for a few
necessities, right over to the other slightly seedier part of town.

I must say we had a whale of a time!


One of the major breweries always puts on quite a Christmas
fairyland display on the riverbank below the brewing works.
I hope you noticed the whale actually spouting water.


Dorothy and her companions are there as well as Humpty-Dumpty
precariously perched on his wall.


A mill with a rotating water-wheel, magic mushrooms and
fairies and Vulcans forge smoking at intervals.


Many other things as well as Father Christmas in his sleigh with
all the reindeer pulling as hard as they can and getting nowhere.

I had seen this all before in its dormant state so I was glad we
stopped and enjoyed all the workings for a little while.



To all of you out there flapping your wings in cyber space,

A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Stay well, stay happy, stay safe if you are travelling and above
all, LOVE EACH OTHER!

A big thank you to the MY WORLD Team for steering us safely
through another year of sharing what is dear to our hearts.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Christmas Colour


To all of you out there in blogland, a

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

may you all stay safe this holiday season!


Red geraniums in the sunlight this morning in my garden.



With the light shining through them there is even a Christmas
star shining through.

Thank you Luiz for steering us along a flower strewn path for
another year. It has been a very pleasant journey.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ Shadowshapes


Shyly she hides her face in shadow her beauty concealing,


While peonies bask in their glory and double their treasure.



They enlarge of course, just click.

Whip over to HEY HARRIET and join in the shadowy fun, a click
on the Logo lets you join in or just have a sticky beak.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

SkyWatch ~ Last Light Rainbow


The sun peeped out from under the westering clouds and
through the tears of heaven painted wonders in the east.


The colours bloomed and smiled, them quickly faded


as the sun slipped back behind her sheltering clouds in the
west.



Click to enlarge or spread your fingers if you are an apple fan.

Many skies full of wonders to be found behind the tiny SkyWatch
Logo at right, click and enjoy, or even better, join in with the fun.

A big thank you to our SkyWatch hosts for letting us share the beauty of our skies.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Watery & World Bird Wednesday - Egrets and Pelicans


"Gone fishin' . . ." Egret and, are they Herons or juvenile Egrets?
Can some knowledgeable person please enlighten me???


The fishing was good so when they had had enough, they flew into
the Norfolk Island Pine to roost. It was still afternoon, maybe
just for an afternoon nap.


The fishing was so good that there were no squabbles between
species. Here the Pelican, Pelicanus conspicillatus, has no
problem in sharing his space with two Australasian Darters,
Anhinga novaehollandiae.


I just threw in this baby Pelican because it was so cute with
its mouth full. Note the change of water colour with an 180
degree directional change in photographing.



To see more of either meme or to join in, click on the relevant Logo.

Monday, December 13, 2010

MY WORLD ~ Nunkarrie Cherry Farm


This afternoon my camera and I went to Nunkarrie Cherry Farm
outside of Mt.Pleasant South Australia. Normally at this time of
the year business is booming. This year we have had huge rains
just as the first cherries were ready to pick. Cherries are two weeks
late this year due to unseasonably low temperatures throughout
our spring as well as heavy rains. So much for global warming.


Some of the cherries almost ready for picking. Sam, the best
farmer I know and not just for cherries, has the whole orchard
netted and grows exhibition standard, perfumed roses by the
hundred in the netted eves of the orchard.


Normally these cherries would be ripe for the Christmas market.
People expect cherries for Christmas and sales thereafter tend
to drop off. The loss this year will be doubled with a reduced crop
and no market when it finally is ripe.


In a normal year I have seen the trees with props under the
branches to hold the weight with all the branches ringed with
fruit and hardly a leaf showing.


Ever the indomitable, smiling Sam, doing the work of six men
and making a go of whatever he does. You may remember my
trip to the Flinders Ranges where Sam and Janet flew up to
Hawker with their three dogs to make up beds for the four of
us as well as cooking us dinner.


Cherry preserves and other produce set out like a feast with
the wafting scent of roses pervading all.


Janet the gentle, holding the fort in the cherry shed, painter
and friend extrordinaire, carries everything off with a smile.


Even outside the cherry orchard there are roses as there are
in many parts of the farm.



I hope you can hear me munching cherries as I type he, he. he . . .

All photos enlarge by clicking on them as usual.

To see the rest of the world, just click on the Logo, thanks to
the MY WORLD Team, we can all interact through this meme.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ White Rhododendron


A white rhododendron blooms in my wilderness that once was
my perfect Mt.Lofty garden. Though it looks small, this old old
rhododendron is a survivor of a number of bushfires that have
burned it to the ground since it first took root here in the 1850's.


The last fire that tried to murder it was in 1983, it took three
years for it to show new signs of life.


No one knows its name, it has been lost for a long time. I
started asking old nursery men forty years ago but no one
new of its heritage. I have many modern, large flowered
rhododendrons in my garden yet this one is still my favourite.



All photos enlarge if you wish.

The wonderful world of flowers is open to all, just click on the Logo
and join in with Luiz Santilli Jr. and the TODAY'S FLOWER Team

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Shadow Shot Sunday ~ Shadows of the Mind




Shadows of the mind
of loves lost and left behind
cling in dark moments
to disturb our sleep
and keep
the memories alive.

When it lies trampled
and the crows have picked the bone
some glimmer of the truth still clings
and shines.



To join the Sunday Shadow fun, hot to HEY HARRIET by clicking
on the logo and hiding where the shadows fall.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

SkyWatch ~ A Desert Sunrise


A sad dawning, our last morning at Wirrealpa Station in the
North Flinders Ranges in South Australia and the first real
sunrise we had seen due to unseasonal rain events. Still some
clouds about as dawn broke and the first light grew.


The first glimmer of the sun as she peeps above the horizon.


She flexes her muscles and grows in strength admiring herself
in the mirror of the puddle on the drive-way I showed in
another post some time ago.


Shyly she blushes at the beauty she sees


and, encouraged by her own reflection, smiles upon the world.



We, having partaken of this spectacle, settle to the task of
packing having our last delicious breakfast, cleaning up and
saying our goodbyes whilst wishing all the time that we could
stay another week, a month, a lifetime . . .

If you like burning your eyeballs out, be adventurous, click to enlarge.

Thanks to our hosts at SkyWatch we can enjoy each other's skies.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Nature Notes ~ Upside Down Seasons


Weather-wise the seasons are standing on their head. Although
we are in our second week of summer, there still are spring
blossoms on the orange trees.


Here it is either feast or famine, after sustaining eight years
of drought, we now have floods. Luckily our houses are not
in the valley so at least inside we are dry but the rain has been
pelting down (see previous post) and cutting channels at all
overflows from tanks and deep grooves in our driveways.

The one good thing about all this rain is that we will have
enough water stored for a couple of years at least. Old
established trees are at last getting a good drink and the water
table has also been somewhat replenished.


The smaller creatures are confused and think it is autumn.
The spiders are busily web-making and last night I was
entertained by the dance of the rats in the ceiling. They
seemed to think that the winter rains had come and it was
time to move house. Thinks . . . another job to do . . . put
Ratsak behind the ceiling vents . . .

The rose garden is denuded of blooms, all petals stripped of
by the massive downpour. At least the unseasonably plentiful
supply of water and nitrogen from the thunderstorms will make
them bloom better than ever.



Go join the interesting reports at Rambling Woods, just click
on the Nature Notes Logo and you will magically be there!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Watery & World Bird Wednesday - Wet


Today it rained, well actually it came down cats and dogs and
small elephants, in buckets and tub fulls, overflowing the gutters
along their entire length.


The front path was flooded,


along the back of the house it was awash.


It was so thick you could hardly pick out landmarks.


Water is always a blessing here and a tropical storm crossing
the entire continent for our benefit is a rare event.

This was the single greatest daily rainfall event since 1936!

The pelicans were definitely smiling, this one photographed
in Goolwa last week.



All photos enlarge for better viewing.

To see lots of water, click on the Watery Wednesday Logo.
To view World Birds click on the appropriate logo and enjoy.

Monday, December 6, 2010

MY WORLD ~ A Little Adventure


Last week we had a 26 hour holiday. We drove down to Goolwa
on the coast where the Murray river flows into the sea.

The sign said the beach was open to drive to the mouth, so of
course we took the opportunity.

It is fun driving along the beach, watching the birds foraging
on the retreating tide.


The dunes on one side and the ocean on the other, no other cars,
we were in our element enjoying the day . . .


when the sand below our wheels got a bit soft and I noticed
that the tide had turned . . . oops


yep, we got securely bogged even before we turned back!
Now what do you do when you have made no provision for
driving on sand? You use emergency measures . . . working
against the incoming tide we took the mats out of our newly
cleaned car and used them under the wheels to get a grip.
Two rotations of mats under wheels, digging them out and
repeating the process, and we were heading back along the
beach holding to the allowed speed limit of 40km all the way
as the sea came tumbling in and the strip of beach narrowed
and got wetter.


The waves were starting to lap at the tyre tracks as we finally
made it back to the safety of the car park.
So much for trusting signs!


After all the excitement, we had deserved the best fish and
chips on the planet which we indulged ourselves with on the
riverbank with the golden glow from the setting sun.



All photos enlarge with a click.

To join in or view others, click on the Logo.