The pureness of light

My gypsy feet were getting restless and wanted to go exploring, after all it is now 4 months since my last trip. So yesterday it was time for a day’s outing into the country side. Discovering a new and delightful place for lunch. (more on this in another post) On to Murwillumbah art gallery to be immersed in art. Then sit on the deck of the gallery café with a cup of coffee as the sun went down. 

It is dusk and, thinking the sunset was finished, it is time to head home along the highway. The sugar cane fields on one side and the Tweed River on the other. Suddenly the sun illuminates the sky with a final burst of  iridescent red, it is breathtaking and I had to stop and try to capture this pure moment of nature’s glory. I am oblivious of the vehicles rushing by, people encased in their metallic shells. Are they even aware of the beauty around them. The place is a perfect spot for photographs as the cirrus clouds reflect in a pool of blood in the river.

Ten minutes and the show is over…

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For this week’s challenge, share a photo of something pure — it can be a person, an object, or a moment.

 

The sky on fire…

Today was a perfect day for gardening and I happily lost all track of time as I pottered and planted and mulched and watered. Then as the day came to a close look what I was rewarded with. I just had to share this with you.

I hope all my blogging friends have had a good day and you have an interesting weekend planned.

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To see beauty like this in nature makes me want to just sit and breathe and absorb it fully in the short time it presents these gorgeous colours for our enjoyment. So I am linking this to Ailsa’s theme of the week “breathe”

Autumn Sunset…

Autumn has arrived, the temperatures have dropped to the mid 20’s. Yesterday it was a drizzly day, the sun hiding behind grey, wispy clouds. Light showers came and went. A day to be inside feeling slightly sorry for myself after a dentist visit. But time spent visiting my lovely WP community lifted my spirits.

Then the sky slowly cleared and I sat out on the back deck to watch this gentle sunset.

The night cools to a comfortable 18c degrees. Good sleeping temperature.

As a gardener I welcome any rain in autumn as “traditionally” (what is that these days?) autumn is the dry season.

This morning the sun is peeping through those wispy clouds. Time to take a walk around the garden and say good morning to my plant community.

Then I will take a cyber trip around the world to visit my interesting blogging buddies. 

Evening Glory…

This is the small courtyard at the front of the house where Mitch has his evening dinner. It is a private, tropical looking space and I like to sit on a bench and watch the evening settle in as Mitch chews on his bones.

Most of this week it has been showery, overcast days, with the sun just making intermittent appearances. The rain has created a lush, green environment and today the sun came back out.

Looking over the back fence I noticed the setting sun creating a misty, aerial perspective. I had to rush in and grab the camera.

It caught The tips of the azalea on the corner of the neighbour’s garden.

And turned the bottle brush into tiny torches.

The grand, old tree across the road slowly sinks into the shadows.

This will be an apartment dwelling to thousands of insects and other creatures and I picture them all settling down for the night, or maybe just waking up to spend the night foraging.

We have been here 2 weeks now and only another 3 days before we go back home. How quickly the time has passed.

Sunset

Come and join me on the beach as the sun sets tonight in a blaze of glory.

Time to take the dog for a walk and see if the fish are biting.

This young osprey keeps an eye on what is happening

The sun slowly sinks toward the horizon

Almost gone

The final glorious moment as the reflected glow from below the horizon turns the world blood-red.

At sunset/ Nature is painting for us… day after day… pictures of infinite beauty. 

John Ruskiin

 

Gardening in the Round.

I have mentioned that I love gardening and one of the pleasures I get from house sitting is to see and learn from other peoples gardens. Every one is different, every one is a joy to look after.

Now this garden is probably one of the most challenging. Being so close to the ocean the soil is pure sand. I’ve mentioned the strong winds (see my previous post here about the leaning trees) Great for wind surfers and sky divers, but plants hate the strong, sand ladened winds. To top it off it is a very dry climate. I don’t know when they last had a decent rain here, but of the 3 large rain water storage tanks only one has a small amount of water left in it.

Naomi also loves gardening, she likes to grow her own organic vegetables and being a very resourceful person she has installed old corrugated water tanks and created raised beds.

, Come for a look round

Gardening in the round

This summer has been exceptionally hot and dry and at the moment not many veggies have survived, with the exception of chilli bushes, lots of them, lemon grass and a few other herbs. Before Naomi left she scattered seeds around. The weather should be getting cooler and normally some rain arrives during the winter months. But so far it has just been clear blue skies, sun and relentless wind. I water the raised garden beds each evening and amazingly seeds are popping up every where. At this point I can’t identify them so treat them all with loving care.

Can you see the beans? look carefully and you will see the Indian Ocean…

A couple of the beds are still empty so on Sunday at the markets when we came across a delightful bloke called “Freddie Fresh” who specialises in seedlings of all sorts we bought some lettuce, basil and 2 tomato plants. That evening, when the heat had gone out of the day we carefully planted them. First digging a large hole, incorporating compost and soaking the area before tenderly bedding them in.

Mescalin and cos lettuce with an existing plant of eggplant. A very healthy dragon fruit is climbing the trellis

Have you ever tried Dragon fruit? They are delicious and this plant is laden with them. I hope they ripen soon.

More lettuce and basil, with the tomato planted against the back pole

They are all going to need more help if they are to survive the 30c+ temperature of the sun. These beds are in the full sun. So to give them a helping hand until they have settled in we searched around and found some shade cloth that Jack put up.

Happy in the shade

Just a temporary measure till the temperatures cool down.

 

Maybe doesn’t look very attractive, but it should do the job

Follow me around the side of the house.

The side garden. Can you see the Huge spider web? Lets take a closer look…

 As I said before this house is built on sand and the back of the garden is a large sand-hill. Naomi has come up with a clever solution. Using old tractor tyres that she has sourced from a tyre firm in town, collecting them in a trailer, pulled by Troopy, then, one by one, rolling them into place. (Go here to read about Naomi’s hard labour in creating this monument.)

This is finally taking shape, “the great wall of Drummond’s”

First roll the tyres into place

Rendering comes next

Still a lot more to do. The hole in the sand is going to be a pond with a waterfall cascading into it.

I feel tired just thinking about all the work.

So let’s go back up to the deck to watch the sun set.

The garden shows a collection of Naomi’s interests.

Looking out to the west the setting sun lights the deck in a golden glow

Have a glass of wine and watch the sun set

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The inspiration for this post has come from Sue of “A word in your ear” this week her challenge has been the word “ROUND” that has popped up from her dictionary.

I hope you have enjoyed this walk with me around the garden.

Travel Theme : Illuminated

A difficult theme for me this week as I don’t take many night photos, but one memorable illuminated moment was during our stay in Sydney, just before Christmas, I watched the magnificent Sydney Town Hall illuminated with magical lasers and computerized images and I took a short video of it.

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Then I remembered all those magical moments around camp fires, cooking over the coals in the camp oven. Watching the sunset illuminating the sky in a rich red glow. Enjoying a glass of wine as the casserole simmered. The fire light flickers and illuminates a small circle while the rest of the surrounding bush disappears into dark shadows.

Preparing the chicken casserole

The sun sets in a ball of fire

Enjoying a glass of wine while dinner cooks

Damper cooked in the camp oven is ready to eat

Jack waits patiently for dinner

Another camp site sharing a meal with new friends

Beautiful memories of time spent exploring and camping in the Australian bush. I hope you have enjoyed your short stay around some of our camp fires.

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Thank you Ailsa for this weeks theme. It has brought back all those memories. Go over to “Where’s my backpack” to see the many lights on Ailsa’s post.

 

A Word a Week Photo Challenge : Clouds

Sunset reflecting in the waves on the West Coast

This sunset will forever be in my memory as, for me, the most spectacular sunset ever.

We travelled for a year around Australia in 2010. Mostly the skies were a pristine cobalt blue with not a cloud in site. That is till we rounded the corner after going up the East coast, across the outback and headed down the West Coast.

WA, as the locals refer to it, is spectacular in every way. The distances, the wild flowers, the soaring mountain ranges, the national parks, the mining boom funding and fuelling our economy, the enormous road trains, the wild ocean, the wide fish and crocodile filled rivers, the emptiness, the spinifex grass clustered in clumps like small animals and over and above it all the vast expanse of the sky.

I met Mic and Wendy in 2005 and I WWOOFed (willing workers on organic farms) on their seahorse sanctuary in the idyllic township of Kalbarri, in the heart of the National Park and the centre of the fabulous wild flower display (another story for another post…) We visited again in 2010 and this was our last day with them. We took nibbles and wine to the beach, which was just across the road from their place, and watched this sunset.

Kalbari sunset

Thank you Sue for your “word a week challenge” of clouds as it reminded me of that time on our travels around Australia, and gave me the opportunity to share this with you.

Sunset on the Burdekin River

Sunset on the Burdekin River

 

Sunset on the Burdekin River

What a great way to end the day with a stroll down to the river to watch the sunset.

Goodnight…