Nature Notes and SkyWatch ~ Moon Magic

Hot, steaming summer night, sleep, that elusive rogue has fled.
I toss and turn, defeated I follow reluctantly into the moonlight
drenching the liquid air with gold.

The night so still, watched over by enchantress moon holds
promise yet of mystery and wonder. Gentle rustling in the bushes,
a possum intent on feasting on my rosebuds.

I listen rapt, waiting for I know not what when in the park a
solitary note, yet unmistakable, breaks forth.
It holds me rooted to the spot, not breathing lest it hide away its
fellows ... when there it is again, now stronger as with cadence sweet
she breaks into her lilting warble - a Nightingale as I live and
breathe!

Perhaps my guardian angel sent me out to hear this wonder of the
night. The world asleep and only i priviledged to hear once more
what I had given up as lost forever. My hungry soul laps up each
as it rises and falls. No sleep for me this night, the unexpected joy
is far too great.

Nightingales are imported birds known to exist in Melbourne, some

500 miles away across dry and burningly hot country. In South

Australia, the driest State in the driest Continent, they have been

unknown until this night unless it was a phantom singing solely for

my delectation.

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To you all my dear Bloggy friends I wish a wonderfully healthy and

successful New Year! See you next year!

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With thanks to Michelle of Rambling Woods for Nature Notes,

and our wonderful SkyWatch Team.

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Both memes can be accessed by clicking on the relevant Logo.

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MY WORLD and Watery Wednesday

Ah, those that go down to the sea....

witness the might of the Southern Ocean carving up the
rocky shore like butter with a hot knife. Channels and coves
and massive dark caverns crafted by deceptively smooth
crystal clear water.


















The smaller channel has gouged out a massive cave deep
in the land mass as it grinds the colourful sandstone back
into sand.

















All pictures are worth enlarging, but particularly this one to
appreciate the wondrous mix of colours.

















Invitingly transparent and deceptively calm until a great wave
rolled in ... decidedly not a place to take a dip!


















Looking back at the black hole in the coastal shelf with the Prof,
for scale. Sorry about the quality of the photos, they were taken
with a tiny camera, all I was able to carry before my last heart op.

The cave was a very useful place, providing safe and sheltered
habitation for a large colony of swallows. These and many more
wonders we experienced on the coast of the Eyre Peninsular south
of Streaky Bay in South Australia.

To see much more water and experience other views of the world.

click on either/or/and the appropriate logos on your right.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and many more delightful

adventures in Blogland!

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ A Traditinal Christmas

I hope you my bloggy friends had just as wonderful
a Christmas as we did.

The house on the mountain was polished and dressed
up within an ounce of its life.
























The musicians having a last practice while the tree was being
trimmed.

The Prof and our son's youngest thoroughly enjoying themselves.

















Hilarity at table with musical bon bons. Everyone had a numbered
whistle of the eight notes of the scale, one conducted from a
provided score, pointing at whoever needed to blow. The tempo
at times was uncertain but at least the tunes were recognizable
as we all worked up an appetite for the feast.

















Thereafter, as the Christmas bell rang, a pilgrimage to the
music room and the candle lit tree. We even had some sparklers
on it, when I was little we called them wonder candles.



















Then came the presents and youngest g-daughter was thrilled
with her very own viola and played on it straight away. During
the year she had been learning on a hired instrument.

On Christmas day it was back to the farm and another, even
bigger tree and more peresents, another feast, and
























to top it all off, another work of art fron our daughter's
youngerst, A perfect cherry flan! Just delicious.

















To see more flowers, click on the logo.

Thank you to the busy bees who organize this great meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Lilies and Roses

To all of you who visit here, may the peace of
Christmas last throughout the coming New Year!
May love be your guide along the way
and happiness be there to stay.

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Our Christmas in in summer when lilies bring us cheer.

Red Asiatic Lilium above, Novenber lily below.

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The Madonna Lilies, always prolific at this time of year.

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And lastly, a birthday bouquet for my dear Prof. from another

year when there was a profusion of flowers in the garden to

choose from, although the lilieas were badly wind damaged

they were important for the fusion of scents.

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A click on the Logo will take you to a wealth of other flowers.

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A big thank you to Luiz Santilli Jr. and the flower team for their

selfless coordination of this delightful meme.

SkyWatch ~ Simple Summer Skies

The clouds roll up even in the summer time, the grasses have
dried off to just my favourite shade of Naples Yellow.

Dark clouds, light clouds, and a big patch of blue.

The lone tree supported by one of our patches of forest peeping

over the crest of the hill. A patch of bracken still shows green

dividing the dry paddock... ah, the joys of summertime...

Now click on the logo to see more skies, but please leave a

comment before you go.

Thanks to the industrious SkyWatch team we can all share

the beauty of our skies. Enjoy!

MY WORLD ~ St.Mary's Church

Driving through the Latrobe Valley in Victoria we stopped for
a respite and went into the cool peace of this church. My goodness,
were we ever surprised!


















Every inch of the interior, and it is a very big church, was covered
in frescos and gilding. The artist was no Michaelangelo but the effort
he had put in was enormous and the effect cohesive and awe inspiring.

















We were deeply touched by the story below, I hope you can
take the time to read it. All photos enlarge by clicking on them.

It is well worth reading, especially at this time of year. It tells
of hardhip and kindness shaking hands and leaving this momentous
legacy for, at that time, a quite small community. A real act of faith.
























The ceiling was totally covered in putti, angels and radiating
gilding gleaming like so many midday suns.

















The walls depicted the life of Christ and the Saints.


















I don't think that in this materialistic world a work like this is
likely to be repeated. Such selfless labour, for so little material
reward yet with a wealth of fellowship and kindnes that speaks
volumes and makes it an enduring treasure, is astonishing.

















Click on the Logo to see other parts of this world.

To the team of hosts for MY WORLD a big thank you for keeping this
meme running so smoothly .

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Memories of Spring

Some memories of last Spring at our house on the mountain.




















Narcissus above, and Snowflakes, Leucojum vernum below.

















Late Winter blooming Viburnum burkwodii, with a lovely scent.

To visit many more flowers, click on the Logo.

Thanks to Luis Santilli Jr. and his faithful team, we can all

enjoy and join in this feast of flowers meme.

The Anniversary

No, no, not us. We've been going for 51 years and still counting.
















Jointly the path of life they tread
she looks aside, he looks ahead
their glances skirt the plants along the way
she humms a little tune
her mind conveniently blank
he walks behind
not thinking by the hour
whither their way goes,
neither one or other knows.

Talking is cheap they say,
so, easily they throw the chance away...

The path ahead comes to a fork
will they turn left or right
together silently to walk
or seek a little spark to catch
and find themselves some other match?

SkyWatch ~ A Gentle Sunrise

Softly growing light gently paints the morning sky,

softening the colours further as the sun rises.

Meanwhile in the west, the moon only thinks of her nice warm

bed beyond the horizin.

Click the Logo to fly to other skies.

Thanks to all the tireless hosts who make this meme possible.

Nature Notes ~ The Goslings are Growing

Our newly arrived goslings a monthe ago. Aren't they cute?
























We got them a bit biger so they could hold their own againt the
competition in the fowlyard.

A month later and they are growing winglets and bristling
with pin featers.

There still is some baby fluff, but most of the feathers have

come through at least a little, and although they still have their

baby voices, they seldom allow themselves to be bossed about.

Do click on the Logo and visit other participants and their

observations of change in the natural world.

Thanks to Michelle of Rambling Woods we can all join in with

this informative meme.

MY WORLD ~ Possum Hunting and Knitting

The Christmas Season is upon us, in honour of which my
beautiful granddaughter plucked the stars from heaven to
create this splendid Advent wreath which gives us all great joy.

















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Apart from catching possums which came down the chimney
like Santa into our house on the mountain and needed to be
evicted on a couple of occasions, my time has been taken up by
speed knitting a queen sized blanket.

Here it is being tried on for size on our bed.

















My No.1 granddaughter has been wishing for one for some time
and since she has just attained her honours degree in mathematics
with first class honours, it was fitting that I finally sit down no
matter how hard it was on my hands, and knit her one from
the lovely lustre wool off our own Leicester sheep. The wool was
commercially spun and hand dyed by her mother and knitted by
her grandmother. If that does not keep her warm as toast, I don't
know what will.















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Finally finished! Now maybe I will find some time to visit
some of my bloggy friends again, at least when my hands
recover enough to write comments as well.






















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At last I feel that I have achieved something this week.
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By clicking on the Logo you can sail around the whole world.
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With thanks to Klaus and the MY WORLD team for creating
and hosting this lovely meme.

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Christmas Cactus

Second Advent Sunday and my Christmas Cactus has
already been flowering for two weeks!

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It certainly brightens up the shadehouse

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with a wonderful burst of colour.

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This one candle was for the first Advent Sunday, today there

were two... my wonderful granddaughter baked us the cake.

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Enjoy the peace of this quiet time of contemplation and build

up to the main event.

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All photos enlarge with a single click.

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To see many more flowers, click on the Logo.

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Thanks to the TODAY'S FLOWERS team for hosting this lovely meme.

Nature Notes ~ The Never Ending Story? Possums again...

Those of you who have followed the possum saga (just scroll
down a couple of posts and you will see) may remember that
as soon as we were back on the farm and it got dark, the alarm
people would ring to inform us that there was yet another
burgler in the dining room. It was becoming quite a ritual, so,
back we went next day to rectify the situation.

All photos enlarge so that you can see the cute and cuddly (looking)
creature.

After a prolonged search in dark places, we ran this little fellow to
earth behind the sofa.

This time, apart from having thrown books about everywhere,

all the ornaments were off the window sill, he'd peed on the books

and pooped on the french polish of book cases and the rest of the

furniture. Although the dining table will never be the same again,

I was happy to see that he had eaten the bunch of tiny rosebuds

I had in a vase on it. There were stalks strewn across the

embroidered cloth but all the flowers and leaves were all eaten up.

Hmm, the water had soaked the french polish ...whoops...

Here is yours truly holding up the prize exhibit. It was only a poor

baby so I was glad he had found a feed and something to drink.

I apologise for maligning the previous possum by my reference to

'he', it was obviously a mama possum, more power to you little

possum!

Here is the little one hightailing it past the sage to freedom.

It is a wonder I got this shot since he was going faster than a

flying bullet!

Here is a handful of possum fur that came away when I was

catching the first one. Shock also makes for tender wool in
sheep as well as obviously possums. I suspect it to be an

escape mechanism to give them a head start in running away

while the big bad wolf is left spitting a mouthful of fleece.

The fur is incredibly fine and soft, almost like angora and

historically was used for making felt hats.

I do hope you enjoyed my latest adventure.

Thanks to Michelle of Rambling Woods we have this infornative

meme about nature. Click on the Logo to see more.

SkyWatch ~ The Wonders of one Sunset

The sun thinking about setting still shines brightly.
All photos like being enlarged.

As it sets, the scene changes dramatically, darkness grows

overhead while wonderful colours develop below.

Gold touches the ground as the sun sinks lower.

Even the black clouds are getting some colour back.

With the sun now gone, the afterglow fades the glory into
some gentle restful tones, a twilight zone between the rigours

of the day and the dark restful night.

Click on the Logo to fly to other skies.

Thanks to Klaus and the SkyWatch team, we can all join in

with this great fun meme.