Weekly Photo Challenge : Welcome to Now, and the last moments of 2015…

Welcome to “Now”, this moment in time.

But as I write it, as I think it, it has gone and the next now is here…

We are urged to live in the now. But how can I record it? How can I show you now?

Well I have thousands of “now moments” recorded on my computer’s hard drive. Photography is the medium of “now”. A moment in time captured forever, making it possible, even years from now, to recall those fleeting moments, bringing back memories.

Jack has caught me, in a very inelegant pose, as I take a photo of these pretty native flowers in the Mount Annan Botanic Gardens in Sydney.

What a vivid splash of colour this Scaevola aemula (Fairy Fan-flower or Common Fan-flower) makes. Behind it is the paper daisy, another Australian native, and one of my favourites.

Now looking at these photos brings back the detail of that day. Spending time with our son and his wife, wandering around enjoying a pleasant day spent together and sharing a meal at the gardens restaurant. All caught and recorded in the moment in time, however fleeting it may be.

As I write this it is the last day of 2015, 9-10pm, the night is still and warm and the chirping sound of cicadas fill the air, but in the distance I can, faintly, hear  the children’s display of fireworks being let off in one of the townships. The now moments are slipping by and soon (3 hours and 45 minutes at this precise moment, but of course it is getting less as I type) it will be the BIG moment when 2015 becomes 2016, and the crescendo of fireworks reverberates around the world.

Time to think of the year that has passed so quickly and the unknown of the year ahead.

Best wishes to all my blogging buddies it has been an absolute pleasure to be part of this world-wide community. Thank you for dropping by to my part of the world and especially thank you for leaving comments and sharing your life with me. I look forward to the coming year and all it holds for us.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge : Symbols of Australia

When you think of Australia what pops into your mind?

This land down under has unique flora and fauna and I think the kangaroo is one of the symbols that people associate with Australia.

Everyone who comes here thinks the Koala is so cute and cuddly.

They look so harmless, but beware they have very sharp claws.

Never smile at a crocodile, they can jump and also run, so keep well away from the water’s edge in the tropical parts of Australia…

The dingo looks like the family pet, but don’t be tempted to pat him, he has a nasty temper.

As for the Tasmanian Devil, he is devil in name and devil in nature.  Its oversize head houses sharp teeth and strong, muscular jaws that can deliver, pound for pound, one of the most powerful bites of any mammal.

The snake is another of the scary creatures that live in Australia. This one was living in a  tree in my back yard.

Python

There are also birds and maybe one of the most colourful is the lorikeet. They travel in large flocks and though they look beautiful they have a very loud screechy voice.

The kookaburra’s raucous laugh is, to me, the symbol and sound of Australia.

My Garden, My Muse : Weekly Photo Challenge

Brie Anne asks us this week

“So what’s your muse — what subject do you turn to frequently, more inspired each time?”

This is so easy for me to answer. I am surrounded by “my muse”. Every day I walk round the garden noticing the changes, marvelling at the beauty and colour, seeing flowers slowly fade and new ones take their place.

This morning I took my camera for a walk with me, as I often do, and these are just a few of the things I noticed.

This apricot poinsettia has been flowering for weeks and shows no signs of wilting.

The sun throws vibrant shadows of this crucifixion orchid on the new fence. Below it a new bud is opening to take the place of the slowly fading flower.

As the flowers come and go the foliage, in many shades and hues, fill the garden beds with colour the whole year.

The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies.

Gertrude Jekyll

 

These ants are only about 1 centimetre long and they were covering the flower buds on this jade plant. Do you see that other strange-looking spiky caterpillar? It is so small I only noticed it when I downloaded the photos.

Finally I went round the corner to say hello to our blue tongue lizard as he lay draped over the rock sunbathing.

He was almost camouflaged among the bromeliads and rocks.

The glory of gardening:

hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.

To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.

Alfred Austin

Weekly Photo Challenge : Vivid

In Coolangatta, a normally sedate, seaside suburb, on the border between Queensland and New South Wales, the streets were closed to traffic and today the town erupted into a mass celebration of colour, music and nostalgia from that great era of rock-n-roll, the 50’s and 60’s. Thousands of hot rods, custom cars and classic vehicles lined the stunning beachfront

“Cooly Rocks On” had hit town.

Thousands flocked in from all points of the compass. Accent’s from all around the world could be heard joining in the singing and the bouffant skirts showing layers of frilled lace petticoats twirled and flipped to the iconic music of Bill Haley and company. For a day I was transported back to a time when I was a teenager.

It was time to shake the creases out of the colourful retro clothes of the 50’s and parade around town. Remember those stockings  held up with a garter belt? No panty hose back then, they had a back seam that was notoriously hard to keep straight. I think this lady may have drawn her seam on… 

So much vivid colour and every where things to bring back memories. Remember the old style skates? I do…

Even a sighting of Elvis, the King…

 This year is the first time since 2009 that we have seen this rock-n-roll extravaganza. We have been on the road every year since then and especially during our winter we would leave town. It has become much bigger, more cars, more people, but still the same happy, colourful atmosphere. Click here to take a trip back in time to the previous “Cooly Rocks On” or as it was called back then “Winter Sun”

Weekly Photo Challenge : Motion of the Ocean…

Having recently spent 14 days on a cruise ship sailing across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand the motion of the ocean has become a constant steady heart beat to life on board.

I also live near one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia and I have many photos of the sea in all its moods. The motion of the waves as they swell and crash  is mesmerising. So I went back through my collection of images to share the turbulence of the ocean with you…

Weekly Photo Challenge : Orange

Sunflower

Kookaburra

More heliconia

Bird of paradise, Stelitzia reginae

Bungle Bungle, Kimberlies

Here’s Looking at Yer…

Lorikeets

Oranges

The sun slowly sinks toward the horizon

Orange, the colour of sunshine, the glow of the setting sun, the vibrant shades of flowers. In all its shades it is my favourite colour.

“Orange you glad it is photo time?” I sure am…

Black and White 5 Day Challenge :#2

I chose this photo today to convert to black and white as I thought it had a sort of old world feeling. The children, especially the little girl, are dressed in the fashion from an earlier age, and I wonder if that is a picnic basket or is mother collecting something.

I don’t usually think landscapes look better in monochrome, so I am putting in the original to see what you think.

I also cropped out the bushes on the right hand side to bring it more into line with the rule of thirds.

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Gwennie of “Gwennie’s Garden” has invited me to join in. I love to visit Gwennie, her blog is filled with gorgeous photos of flowers and succulents from her garden and interspersed with stories of her travels. Well worth a visit.

There are only two rules for this challenge:

1. On 5 consecutive days, create a post using either a past or recent photo in B&W.
2. Each day invite another blog friend to join in the fun.

Today I would like to nominate Jude of “Travel Words“ to join in. Of course this is only if you have the time and want to.

Jude has travelled extensively and she takes us with her on her journeys in both words and photos. Not only does she do that but she hosts a “Bench Series” challenge and has a second blog devoted to her passion in plants, “The earth laughs in flowers”

Weekly Photo Challenge : Rule of Thirds

 

This week Jen has challenged us to compose our subject off-center, obeying the Rule of Thirds.

The Rule of Thirds is a photography concept that puts the subject of the photograph off-center, which usually results in blank space in the rest of the image. If you focus closely on your subject and use a wide aperture, your photograph’s background will also be beautifully blurred in that blank space. The blurred area behind your focal point is referred to as bokeh.

So when it stopped raining I headed into the garden to experiment with the cameras settings. I think some worked, (some were a woeful failure, and I won’t show you those)..

Grevillea Ned Kelly

Anthurium

Water Lily

Desert Rose

Plumbago

Fungus

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Update on the storm.

Cyclone Marcia caused terrible devastation where she came to land as a category 5 cyclone.

 “The BOM said Marcia had weakened to a Category Two cyclone, with sustained winds of 110km/h (72mph) and gusts of up to 155km/h.

It was about 60km west of the town of Gladstone, Queensland and 65km north-northeast of Biloela, and moving south-southeast at 18 kmh but expected to weaken below cyclone strength by Saturday morning.” (For more information and photos go here to the BBC news report)

Hundreds of people in the central Queensland area are now homeless with their homes torn apart and large areas are without power. Thankfully there is no loss of life or major injuries. As it moved south it gradually lost power and by the time it reached Brisbane it was classed as a tropical low, lots of rain and some flooding, but the winds had dropped. It then veered out to sea away from our corner of Queensland. We had approx. 200mm of rain over 3 days, but no wind. As you can see in the flower photos they are flourishing in the rain.

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Weekly Photo Challenge : Express Yourself

Do I need to say more? One picture tells a thousand words.

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We challenge you to show us what “express yourself” means to you.

This is the challenge from WP this week.