SkyWatch Friday - The heavens helped me celebrate

Last week around this time it was my birthday,

as the cricket score would say 78 not out.

Contrary to doctors' expectations,

I have outlived their predictions 

by eleven years and counting . . .

even the heavens seemed to celebrate 

a late  afternoon rainbow

spanning the farmyard

what better birthday present is there?

Actually there was, DD* took me for a picnic morning tea

at Jenkins Scrub where the wild orchids were in bloom

and while we wandered there

suddenly, our of the bushes came my son and his 

elder daughter who had flown over from Sydney

to surprise me.

I felt I was the luckiest of mortals to have 

so many dear ones around me.

Linking with

SkyWatch Friday

* DD = darling daughter

TODAY'S FLOWERS - Farm Flowers

The weather has been hot and in the heat the agapanthus

come into their own.

These are flowering at our gate

and these along the driveway

and on the road near the gate a young Eucalyptus ficifolia

is opening it's first blooms after ten years of growth.

Many more flowers are tucked in behind the Logo on my side bar.

OUR WORLD - Friends at Home

Just a few critters I have floating around my place. These fellows

have felt free to destroy miles and miles of fencing, in consequence,

the sheep can wander down the road at will. Even this near

to blind sheep who almost blundered into me and had to be

alerted by her lamb to my presence.

How Sparky got out I have no idea but he was doing a great job

mowing the last of the green grass in the yard

until he noticed me and decided to stop for a chat.

The Moon Hill paddock is the only one with even kangaroo

proof fences, so this beautiful lady can safely mind a number

of youngsters.

Looks like the Magpie is looking after these four frisky

little ones.

I hope all of you are having a great beginning of the week, now

come on over to Our World and get your post up!

TODAY'S FLOWERS ~ Pink Surprises

Ah, what it is to have two large gardens and not be able to keep
them up anymore . . . and yet, and yet, they keep rewarding me.
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Above, a treasure from our garden on the mountain and below,

a present on the farm. Almost at the end of our first month of

winter and still they flower....

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The Logo opens the door to flowers all over the world. Click to

join or just enjoy.

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Thanks to Luiz Santilli Jr. for instigating this beautiful meme and

his great team who keep it running so smoothly.

SkyWatch ~ 41 Beloved Skies of Home

Winter clouds across our valley. Home is where
the heart is and ours is firmly set in the little
homestead behind the big old Redgum.



Do click on them for greater clarity and enjoyment.



Looking in the other direction across our access road.



Turning back and looking up hill to one of my favourite
bare winter trees covered in golden lichen.



A paddock we are planting to mainly Oak trees.

Up our road towards the ruin of Cair Paravel by the

Lombardy Poplars.

The part of the road none of us really like taking,

leading away from home .... the two large trees are

our natural gateway.

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For other skies and other seasons, click on the Logo.

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Thank you Klaus and the SkyWatch Team for hundreds

of skies we can see in this meme.

Nature Notes ~ 1 Start of Autumn on the Farm

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As far as the eye can see, the paddocks are bare

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All this is part of our farm, the tussocks of grass

to be seen here, the sheep turn up their noses at

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The skies show promise but keep disappointing

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Here though is a promising sign of the changing

seasons, the tiny Blue Wrens are back. This little

hen bird I heard fluting outside and rushed for

my camera. The rosebush is dead, but the bird

is wonderfully alive

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The ducks have grown since last I posted them
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and Rex has tripled in size and is skinny as a

rake although he eats 2 pounds of meat plus bones

a day, and is starting to show signs of intelligence.

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Thanks to Michelle of Rambling Woods, we have this

new and fun meme.

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Click on the Logo at right to see more!

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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.

A Sad Day

Recently we lost one of our two farm dogs to age and infirmity.
Selkie was a humble and loving creature, perhaps not the cleverest
with sheep on a paddock, but excellent in the sheepyards. Rescued from
bondage in a bleak backyard, she was eternally grateful for the freedom
of farm life and companionship of children and animals. She had a trick
of plucking sparrows in flight from the air totally unharmed only to be licked
to death for sheer love of them. She is sorely missel by all whom she loved and who love her.