FRIDAY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - LOOK UP/LOOK DOWN

I'm finally able to join in & link up with Kate of I live, I love, I craft, I am me for the photo hunt this week.  Sorry I've been AWOL  & explanation will follow at the end of this post.

INVERLOCH.

An afternoon out, way back in 2016 and while walking along the beach I happened to look down. 

Jellyfish

Octopus

Turtle

I think some children must have been having some fun.  Definitely better than I could do.

Still walking along and saw one of these & yes I've shown them before..............

BUT.....................lay down on your back underneath and what do you see when you look up-------

SALTBURN.

Again these were taken in 2016, but a long way from home.

Looking up from the footpath & watching the tram starting to descend.

Travelling to the top and looking down from where we'd come.  A most enjoyable experience.

ARTHUR'S SEAT.

Back on home soil once more and a day out on the Mornington Peninsular in May 2018.

Looking up at the cable cars hanging precariously off their steel cable.  

Looking up to see a Wedgetail Eagle soaring overhead on the thermals.  I absolutely adore birds of prey.

And looking down, a plaque about Matthew Flinders who along with George Bass circumnavigated Australia in a small boat.

Aha, fungi, so it must have been Autumn.

That's my lot for today, cobbled together very quickly, although I'm sure I could have found plenty more.

Now for the explanation.................We've had a month of malfunctions here in the Smith household, one of them being me losing the plot somewhat.  

Remember I needed a new iron & the one I've bought just doesn't like playing with a quilter, so will probably be replaced with another Tefal when they come in.  Next, just after I posted the last February Photo Hunt, my PC gave up on us and to top it all off, my breadmaker shredded it''s belt while I was making some more blueberry jam.  To be truthful it was all too much for me after the year everyone has experienced (not just me), and along with my back playing up again, I wondered whether it was worthwhile sorting out the computer & keeping up with my blog.

Good news is that it was only the monitor that needed replacing, so here I am once more & will endeavour to stay focused on being grateful that we are both OK & able to enjoy life a little at the moment without being in full lockdown.  Hopefully, motivation will return & I'll get things done.

Thanks for reading, if you've got this far, take care all & stay safe.

Hugs Susan.

NOVEMBER PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT 2020.

 I'M LATE.

Linking with Kate from I live, I love, I craft, I am me to participate in the Hunt.

Our words for this month had me perplexed, so it was off to my archives as we just seemed to busy for me to get out and about for photos, so here goes.

1.  HOUSEPLANTS.

Coleus, "en masse" in the glasshouses at Temple Newsam in Leeds, West Yorkshire.  My Mum used to grow a few in pots for the house when we were little.  I still  think they come in the most amazing variety of colours,  I should get a few to grow here.😊

2.  HARBOUR.

VICTOR HARBOUR.

This is a photo I took whilst on holiday some years back in South Australia, showing the horse drawn trams, which are very much a tourist attraction in this lovely town south of Adelaide.   Riding up top was very exhilarating.  Yes I've used the name of a place instead of showing an actual harbour.

3.  WINDOW.

I had so many images flashing around in my head for this one, then off we went last week looking for a small window for shed extension (we didn't find one), but remembered this photo I took at the nursery in 4 Elms in Kent, UK a few years ago & said how much I'd love these in my SHE SHED if I ever had one.  Aren't they the most beautiful shape.  And no, I won't be getting a she shed.

4.  SKIES.

Taken last week & I just thought the cloud formations were fascinating, so at least one recent snap.

5.  RINGS.

I did have something else in mind for this, but it hasn't eventuated, so on with the thinking cap & during a conversation with friends regarding the Olympic Games which were cancelled this year, I thought, oh I've a photo that might fit.  These are the Olympic Rings erected at Lake Wendourie  in commemoration  of the rowing events which took place at this location in 1956 & which my Dad was part of the team who sent messages all round the world of placings.

6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

On a day out last month, we took a back road from Thorpedale to Rosedale  and espied paddocks with canola fields (or rape for my UK friends) in the background to our left and to the right grazing sheep & ploughed fields awaiting a new crop.  

OK, that's my lot for this month & although I'm disappointed with my selection & not having my heart in it because of so much world turmoil, I'll pull myself together & try to be more pro-active with blogging & blogreading in the months to come.  Today is frightfully windy & with rain as well, very different to Friday which was 33deg, so it won't be an outside day, but we'll certainly be "doing".

Will link this & later on catch up on all the other hunters.

Please take care all, stay safe & huggles from down under.

Susan.

JUNE PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT - 2020

That time again!

Linking with  the lovely Kate at I live, I love, I craft, I am me, to find photos to go with her list of words provided each month.  I am ever so grateful to her for keeping us blogging & focused on the beauty around us, even in these difficult times.  THANK YOU...😊😊😊

1.  MY GARDEN.

OK, this is my old garden at No.4 which was looking very pretty one Spring.  Ours at the moment is quite bare, so popped into the archives.
2.  FLOWERS.

I picked this bunch from the garden yesterday.  My first hellebore flowers & snowflakes, along with ti-tree & diosma.  I find that diosma, although not a pleasant smell, seems to be in flower nearly all year.  And where did I place these.

                                                       On the chest in my sewing room.
3.  INSECTS.

Witchetty grubs

DH found these two lurking in the wood he'd been chopping for our fire & called me out to rescue them.  I picked them up & put them in the garden amongst some leaves.  I took the info* below from the web & they had named a few of the moths, so I was surprised to see that one of them was the Emporer Gum moth, which I'd taken a photo of at one of our Car Club outings & shown on the blog last year.
*The witchetty grub (also spelled witchety grub or witjuti grub[1]) is a term used in Australia for the large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths

Emporer Gum Moth.

4.  SUNRISE/SUNSET.

                              A photo taken back in 2017 from our driveway & not edited at all.  It was                                                                                               amazing.
5.  SOMETHING WILD.

Butcherbird on the left, Rosellas bottom right & King Parrot top right.

Last weekend whilst sweeping the verandah, I could hear my Butcherbird's call & looked up to see him sitting in the leafless tree behind the shed, along with to my amazement, 3 Eastern Rosellas & a King Parrot.  Flew inside to grab the camera, put on my big lens, hoping they'd still be there & voila, a photo.  Please click to see it full size.  I didn't dare go any closer as they'd have flown off.
6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

A nursery at 4 Elms in Kent, UK.

I just loved this nursery with both plants & old ephemera plus a cafe.  I could see so much of this being used in a gorgeous garden.  Wasn't sure what to put for my own choice this time & kept tossing thoughts around, then thinking about gardens & what I'd like to do in one with odd bits & pieces.  Not going to happen any time soon, as we  may be in lockdown again soon with a spike in cases happening again. 😣

OK, my lot for this month & hopefully July will bring a slow down in this virus & we can slowly find a new normal, but of course never the same as we've known most of our lives.

Take care, stay safe all & huggles from down under.

Susan.

MAY PHOTO SCAVENER HUNT - 2020

Joining in once again with Kate from I live, I love, I craft, I am me, for the scavenger word hunt.
Wow, did I find this one difficult and not because of the words, but more than likely these unreal times we are experiencing.  I had high hopes for the words to start with & it just fizzled, so have had to go to the archives yesterday & scout around.  Hope it doesn't disappoint.
1.  TRIANGLE.

I think I've shown this before, but it looks triangular shaped to me.  We see many of these teepee type structures on the beach at Inverloch, I guess made by visitors, from the flotsam that gets washed down from the river & the scrub that lines the shore.  This beach has been getting badly eroded over many years & the native plants are succumbing to the battering. 

2.  CIRCLE.

Thinking about this one, I'd just heard something about the cancellation of the Olympics, which got me thinking about rings & circles and I remembered this photo I took at Lake Wendourie in Ballarat a few years ago.  My Dad spent a few weeks here in 1956 for the games, relaying messages across the world from the rowing venue on the lake.  He was a telegraphist & I was all of 7 years old & so excited when he came home to hear all about it.
 
3.  SPLAT.

I had to scan this one from an album.  When we belonged to the Morris Minor Touring Club, we had many adventures across much of this wide brown land.  We had been travelling along the Sturt Highway between Mildura & Euston & went into a service station & realised we had a bad case of BUG SPLAT.  So much you could barely read the number plate.  This photo was taken in the late 90s.

4.  SQUARE.

Lovely mosaic squares on the wall in the park at Thornton-le-Dale in North Yorkshire, which I posted about earlier this year from our holiday in 2019.

5.  STAR.

Notice the the star in the background of this bit of paving at York Gate Garden, in Adel, a suburb of Leeds.  I took this photo in 2016 & if you click on it, there is also some writing around the edge as well as the shamrock compass in the centre.  DH did point out that I could have used this for circle too.

6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

Using my older small camera the other day, I found a few odd photos lurking on it & thought I'd use this one for my own choice, as I really could not think.....
This is a beautiful stained glass window on Flinders Street Station in Melbourne with the old clocks denoting times when trains are leaving for the different lines fanning out over the suburban rail network.
Well, that is my lot for this month & although tougher than usual, I'm pleased I've done it.
Maybe things will get easier, though I know life will never be the same as before.  I suppose life is more about what lies ahead of us & the past is a bank of memories & at least I've got photos to go with those memories.
I'll be looking in on the other hunters later.
Have a great weekend, take care, stay safe and huggles from down under.
Susan.

FEBRUARY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT 2019.

Sorry everyone, but I published this last Friday by accident and have had trouble with getting  it to post as I scheduled, so hopefully this will work.  We've been having i'net maintenance "AGAIN" & I've been so, so, so hot today & very lethargic.  It was 40.8deg this arvo & the weekend isn't going to be much better.
Anyway, let's see if this appears.

Here we are again linking up with Kate over at I live, I love, I craft for the monthly hunt.

I have found this one extremely difficult & the words may be limited.  My mood over the last few months hasn't always been up to scratch with little brother's health woes, DH & his cold, missing family so much these days, no close friends near where we live & some who have difficult times ahead.  The weather lately hasn't played ball either, with some weird extremes & not much gardening happening, which I do miss.  The walking has also been on the wayward side.  Must start remedying some of this soon.  I sometimes wonder why I blog, but the friends I've made out there in blogland, are so very supportive, so I thank you all for taking time to read what I ramble on about.
Here goes......................

1.  SOUND/HEARING.

This is the Panopticon known as The Singing Ringing Tree outside Burnley in Lancashire and it certainly sounds amazing on a windy day.  Photo taken in 2016.

2.  SMELL/SCENT.

The jasmine in full flower on our pergola up at No. 4, our old house.  The perfume of this climber is sometime overpowering, but very beautiful.

3.  FEEL/TOUCH.

Now to tell the truth, I don't know what this actually is.  When we go walking along some of the beaches in the South Gippsland area, they are washed up on the sand at low tide.  I very carefully picked one up last time & took this photo.  They basically look & feel like warm, firm jelly.  Not sure whether they are a living creature or whatever?  I didn't hurt it I hope & placed it back again, very carefully.

4.  TASTE.

Home grown TASTES best.  Although my garden has been quite neglected this year, a photo from 2 years ago, will fit the brief.

5.  SEE/SIGHT.

To me, this is a wonderful "SIGHT".  Ribblehead Viaduct, which is just so Yorkshire, a place I dearly miss, although I'm a born & bred Aussie.

6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

A bowl of colourful hellebore flowers, taken a few years ago at Post Office Farm Nursery, where they specialise in these plants.  There has been a lot of "Hellebore" talk amongst my UK blogpals lately & I just couldn't help myself.
OK.  That's my lot for this month.  Do hope you enjoy & thanks Kate for making me really think this month & hope I've come up trumps.
Take care all & huggles,
Susan.

CONTRASTS!

Just a short post to fill in some gaps, that I've been wayward on over the last year.  It is nearly 12 months ago that we visited family in UK & although we had the best time, I didn't have reliable internet access, so posts were few & far between.
We belong to the National Trust of Australia, and are able to use our membership cards in the UK too, so this is a day out in Northumberland and one here in Melbourne.

CRAGSIDE.
A beautiful, very large home with a wonderful history.  The day we visited was extremely busy, due to 2 other NT properties being closed for the filming of Transformers 6 (I think).  We explored the house, but not the garden as it was closed for some work, but we did wander down to the first privately owned hydro-electric power plant.

The back of the house from the path down the hillside as we walked from a far-off car park.

The most amazing sculpted chimney breast.

Oh no!  Yes, it is an old patchwork quilt on the bed.

A beautiful old wheel that is part of the hydro-electric plant.

I've not got many good photos from this day out, due to it being very overcast and also the amount of people around.

PORTABLE IRON HOUSES IN MELBOURNE.

Hubby and I spent a lovely day out a few months back visiting these houses, which are in stark contrast to the above.

Front of one house.

A second house at the rear, which has been moved from another location and has an audio/visual set up to explain  the story of these homes.

One of the rooms which has not been touched in a "long while".

Attic bedroom, which is accessed by the steepest stairway I've ever been up.  You have to come down backwards.  Notice that the bed has a "patchwork quilt".  Seems to be a theme there!

One of the downstairs rooms that has some restoration work done, shows how the packing cases, these homes were shipped in,  were then used for the internal walls. 

 I'm not a mine of information about either of these properties, but I'm sure that you can see them both on line.

Whilst we were in Northumberland, we decided to visit Soutar Lighthouse, another NT property & the receptionist at the motel suggested we also go to St. Margarets Lighthouse, which we would find interesting.
OK, off we set and this is what we saw.

Ummm!!  Where is it?

 Well, we parked the car and looked around the complex, which I loved.  The lightkeepers cottage was well kept and we shared the experience with a small party of schoolchildren.

And what, not again, but I just can't help myself when it comes to quilts on beds.
Another old one & hexagons too. 

Here it is just appearing out of the mist.

On to St. Margaret's Lighthouse later in the day.

Here it is!!!!

The fog had again rolled in, making our lighthouses journey a bit of a disappointment, but we still had a fun day out.  There is actually a causeway out to this one, but the tide was in and it had just started to sprinkle as well, so we headed for home.

Hope you've enjoyed some late postings of days out in both UK & Oz.  I know that I'd like to occasionally catch up on our trip from last year, but next week is both Scavenger Hunt on 28th & Finishing Stitches on 31st.  We also are  a tad on the busy side next week, with a Car Club coffee/cake run & committee meeting on Wednesday and then on Thursday, I'm off to the Quilt and Craft Show in Melbourne, and have a physio appointment on Friday.  Over the weekend we might even  visit a NT property that isn't open very often.  Como House are having an Open Weekend, so will try and take advantage of that.

I've waffled on enough and hope everyone has a good week ahead.
Take care.
Susan.