~ SkyWatch *11 Sunrise

This morning we had some clouds for a change,
at present, noon, it is 30C with a dessicating,
searingly hot northerly blowing. Great weather
for firestorms as the grass is already dry.

These sunrise photos are straight from the camera
and in sequence, a few minutes apart, from the
paddock just up hill from our house.



as the sun slipped in and out behind clouds, the
whole colour of the sky changed



the gold grew, and then faded to blue again



until it burst forth ito a whole sea of gold



For the full effect, please click to enlarge.


My thanks to the great SkyWatch team for
mentoring this site. To see what the skies aroud
the world are like, click on the logo to the right.

I've Been Tagged !

I've been tagged by Willow for something called
"The Fourth of the Fourth" . This is how it works:
go to your fourth photo file, select the fourth photo
and post it on your blog and select four other
bloggers to pass it on to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Alas poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio. . .

Forget it, women's lib is here, now it's : you
introverted idiot Hamlet, now I have to find
some other prince...



Portrayed in this charmingly gruesome photo
is one of my granddaughters in her self-made
Galadriel garb holding an Orc head they had made
with papier mache to be gruesomely re-slaughtered
by young and old alike whilst dangling from a branch
in the wild wood. The task to be accomplished
blindfolded by whacking it with a stout stick.
The combination of a solid crust and many misses
led to inordinate merriment. Once you made contact,
the stick was passed on. Most of us were doubled
up at my sister's valiant attempts with a broken
umbrella much like Hagrid's wand. My sister was the
senior family member present, and a minister of
religion, but game as a pebble.
We take our fun where we find it and are adept at
combining Shakespeare and Lord of the Rings with
Harry Potter or anyone else we care to enlist.

This was the nearest I came up with , with a
bit of poetic licence, skipping a few of my first
soft focus efforts with a tiny digital camera.

I'm supposed to pick four bloggers to tag,
so here goes, Amanda, Gemma, Michelle and
Ruth. Over to you girls and good luck!

MY WORLD ~ 2 Why I live where I live

In 1983 in a massive bushfire, we lost our historic
house and 3 acre garden on the ridge of Mt. Lofty
overlooking Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.
Nine years later, after having partly rebuilt our house
we finally received some compensation for our losses.
The steam for rebuilding, which to a great extent we
had done ourselves, had been knocked out of us, and
we never again wanted to see another workman, who
damaged what the last set had just finished.
At this point my husband who was overstretched at his
work gave in to my urging to aquire some rural land to
replace our lovely 60 acres on the Murray river which
we sold to National Parks to finance some of the rebuilding.
We bought our first piece, ninety one or thereabouts acres,
I loved the thereabouts!, a freestanding almost tree bare
block with bore, windmill and small shed, bordered by four
roads.
Thus started our Odyssey. Other people were carving up
land into ever smaller parcels, we were the nutters putting
a farm back together, planting thousands of trees along road
verges and in paddocks for wild life corridors.
We bought the block across the road, our Moon Hill paddock
which our cows love since the bore water is rich in minerals.
We had by this time a flock of sheep needing shearing and the
larger property with a farmhouse of the 1850's, shearing, hay
and implement sheds abutting Moon Hill was for sale. With the
sale of our daughter's house in the near by township, and my
mother-in-law's help, we managed to buy it. Our daughter and
three grandchildren moved to the farmhouse and were happy.
With time the block at the end of our dirt road we also acquired.
All four blocks are congruent and total 200 hectares or almost
500 acres, which for local conditions is a small subsistance farm.
When my mother-in-law could no longer manage, she moved in
with our daughter into purpose built additions to the old house.
We were four generations happily enjoying hard work and
togetherness. My husband and I inhabit the "hovel", a 70's
grey brick barracks of a place meant for 3 single jockeys.



A frosty morning with crab apple blossom Malus
floribunda, in the garden I carved out of a rocky
paddock



the pine roots at the garden end of the house were
invading my garden 50m away and sucking out
the last drop of moisture, so they had to go.



Part of the spring garden beds which repaced them.



The front yard with stables and sheds and grass for
the grandchildren to play on.



Isabella and her lamb, one of our rare breed English
Leicester flock.



A view across our paddock yesterday to the tree
lined back road and our back block beyond.



Happy cows on a lush spring paddock.

My thanks to the My World team for the great
work they do on all our behalf.

The Logo on the right will lead you to many more
interesting isights.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 3

I have tried to capture this White-faced
Heron Ardea novaehollandiae for months
and had almost given up on getting lucky
the more rapidly the water in the pond
evaporated. Whenever we coincided there
he always spotted me first and took off.
I got lucky at noon one day this week, and
although he sensed someone coming, he only
flew across the pond



When he heard the click of my camera, he took
off. Sorry about the quality of this, I'm not too
good at tracking yet



but did get in this graceful stealth bomber
taking to the skies. The darker flight feathers
and white face proclaimed his identity.



For many more professional bird photos
click the Logo on the right.

TODAYS FLOWERS ~ 3

This is what is blooming in my garden to-day in yellow,

with a little purple for contrast.

Pansies, though a little nibbled at, have such friendly faces

a fly basks on the Iris, a bee would have been nicer

the Powlonia, a fast growing tree, is just

starting to bloom

'Sutter's Gold' a Rose well worth having both
for scent and garden display

Climbing 'Gold Bunny' on the fence, blooms
continuously from early spring until pruning time

a little contrast in colour, a happy couple of Pansies

lastly, a scented Broom with a glimpse of morning

mist towards the Wild Wood

My thanks to Luiz and Denise for hosting this site
and giving the wider blogging community a wealth
of flowers. To see many, many more, click on the
Logo to the right.

SkyWatch *10

This week I am posting a few different skies all
Photographed from different parts of our farm.
Some Cumulo-Nimbus looking North over
Windy Hill Paddock, the first part of our farm.



Over the fence of my garden, looking over Fern
Hill towards the western skyline



View South down to 'Hintertiersee', a paddock
named for the place in Austria we spent a glorious
alpine summer.



Looking East with the autumn leaves on the
elms of the Wild Wood.



Just to fit in for a moment with the Northern
Hemisphere some late afternoon sky behind
my grapevines on the pergola.



My thanks to the SkyWatch team for all their work
in streamlining this operation for some 400 people
around the world snapping at the sky like rabid dogs
and posting some breathtaking images you too can
share by clicking on the Logo to the right.

MY WORLD Tuesday ~ 1

My thanks to Tom, Sandy, Imac, Klaus, Ivar,
Wren and Fishing Guy for not only dreaming
up this site, but also implementing it for all our
enjoyment.

For some time I have been wanting to post on
why I live, where I live and this gives me the
perfect opportunity.

We live in our own little paradise, with the full moon
rising over the road less travelled, these old Eucalyptus
trees form the gateway to our farm on both sides.



Ours is a tranquil valley with no one looking over
our shoulder, and people coming here for any
reason find it hard to leave because it feels so
peaceful here.

As you can see, when we BBQ we don't skimp
on the meat.



Every dog can enjoy her day rounding up sheep
or coming for a ramble through the wild wood



a gentle place where children can live their
fantasies and dreams



with nostalgia for lost homelands in the Northern
Hemisphere evident in the division of the park my
husband planted 15 years ago and has coseted into
existance in this harsh climate. Half is planted to
native Australian, and the other half to vegetation
north of the snow line towards the top of the globe.

A view through the autumnal birches towards
the barn and farm house



The pond in the park in a good year, now a distant
memory, when the the grandchildren could take
flying leaps from the little jetty on the other side



My favourite view, from our garden down to the
main farmhouse where our daughter and three
of our grandchildren live. Love wears rose
coloured glasses.



Wait for the next exiting episode next week
God willing.

For other exciting stories or perfect places
click on the MY WORLD logo to the right.

Bird Photography Weekly ~ 2

I believe this little bird to be a Yellow-tailed
Thornbill, Acanthiza chrysorrhoa. Size: less
than 10cm. I am happy to be contradicted.



Eastern Striated Pardalote, Pardalotus ornatus
in the native vegetation side of our park.



New Holland Honeyeater, Phylidonyris
novahollandiae in our park



and singing it's heart out on the west coast of the
Eyre Peninsula at Coffin Bay



For something a little bigger, a pair of Wood Duck,
Chenonetta jubata near the pond in the park.



My thanks to the Birdfreak Team for hosting
this world wide exchange of birds near us.

To see many beautiful birds, click on Logo
on the right.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ 2

Although it is supposedly Spring, it feels like
Summer. Our garden is dry, we have NO water
and yet, the roses give me presents every day

Climbing 'Black Boy' or to be politically correct,
'ethnically challenged individual' on pergola.



Fading Spring, one of the last Ranunculae



First bud on a hardy, bullet proof Rose:
'Bewitched', a bundle of perfumed, long
stemmed delight with long vase life.



Half open



and in full bloom,

and the first of my poppies, Papaver somnifera

Next week, God willing, it may be mostly yellow.

My thanks to Luiz Santilli Jr. and Denise B. Castro

for organizing this opportunity to show our flowers.

To visit superb flowers, click on the Logo at right.

Southern Ocean ~ SkyWatch *9

The Younghusband Peninsula, a narrow strip
of land about 90 miles long, embraces behind
it's dunes the Coorong, a tidal lagoon fed by the
Murray-Darling rivers. This is Australia's most
important river system, unfortunately due to
the sale of water rights not only for traditional
farming pursuits, but also multi-national
corporations to grow export commodities such as rice,
cotton, wine-grapes, hay and oil crops in arid, almost
desert lands, its flow has been drastically reduced.
Water from the Murray river is also pumped to
South Australia's capital Adelaide as well as
distributed around the state by pipelines up to at
least 250 miles away. In consequence, the major
lakes near the Murray's mouth, Alexandrina and
Albert, are now but mud puddles, the associated
wetlands dry, and the Murray has nothing left to
feed the Coorong nor the strength to reach the sea.



Seeking solace for the soul by the sea, the roar
of the Southern Ocean looking towards Antarctica
and waiting for the sun to set.



A treacherous beach not recommended for
swimming but great to cool your toes.
Looking east at high tide.



The sinking sun casts shadows on the sea



and memories of dawn towards the east



then nestles in it's feather bed of foam with
one more glow upon the sand.


To enjoy the skies around the world, klick on
SkyWatch Logo on the right.