Friday 27 February 2015

Old fences

One day last week when I was coming home from town I came up behind a milk tanker heading in the same direction.  Tanker drivers are not usually known for slow driving but this one was simply crawling along kicking up clouds of dust.  There are no opportunities to overtake a truck and trailer on our road so I pulled over, reached for my camera and looked around for a subject.  What better than a roadside fence?



Love old fences.




I'll be away for a few days so have scheduled this post but won't be able to visit other Good Fences participants until Monday. 

If any of Theresa's participants is passing by, could you link my post for me, please.  Cheers.

Wednesday 25 February 2015

Changing weather

To make a comparison I suppose I should stand in the same place.  At least my two photos are of the same place, ones just a bit closer than the other.  Both photos are taken late afternoon, the first just after it had stopped raining and the clouds were still lifting from the mountain.  

In the other, after a hot, sunny day, the last of the sun is just catching the tops of the poplars. 

 

At the moment I prefer the rainy day shot.  We need more rain.

Friday 20 February 2015

Fences in fog

My fence photos this week were taken on the foggy morning we had earlier in the week.

This one didn't turn out as I expected but I like it anyway.


The rest are just farm scenes within about 50 metres of my home.


 I'm linking to Good Fences.

Thursday 19 February 2015

Athletics

There were gazebos set up at each event but the students still had to stand in the sun waiting their turn to compete and while doing their thing.  Heather and I were in the shade wherever possible or under an unbrella and, bless her heart, Heather had brought along a chair for me.  I had applied sunscreen, too and still I came home a little sunkissed.

Georgia must be exhausted this evening.  She won three of her four races and came second in the other.  She never stops trying and doing her best.  And that competitive streak is a mile wide.  With her skinny arms you wouldn't expect her to excel in throwing events but she came away with two firsts and two seconds in field events, too.   



Krystal isn't blessed with the same natural ability so I'm all admiration when she applies herself and does well, too.   To be honest, a little of her energy goes into ensuring she looks good while she's at it.  


I'm hopeless at action shots and get so caught up in the action that I forget to take photos anyway.  Prefer to look around me at the breaks and lunch time.  



My only half decent action shot is of this little girl, Mia who really captivated me.  She's knee high to a grasshopper, by far the shortest girl in her class, a really tiny little thing.  What she lacks in size she makes up for in spirit.  She did well in all the events and blew me away in the high jump, jumping nearly her own height.  And you should see her smile, it's nearly as big as she is!

Wednesday 18 February 2015

Missed all the fun!

There is a petulant child in me that is stamping her foot, scowling and muttering, "Why do I miss out on all the fun."

It's not like I'm hardly ever home. I'm here the great majority of the time.  But the very day I go to town and have quite a few tasks to achieve, meaning I'm away for more than a few hours, that's the day the cops raid and demolish the illegal crops in the area.  Nothing much happens around here usually and a police exercise is the equivalent of high excitement.  It's fast approaching crop harvest time for marijuana so I guess they couldn't wait for a day that suited me better.  

They hit a few more crops than those I suspected I knew about.  But it could be the one guy who planted them all.  I sure hope there aren't any more that they didn't find.  Not if they belonged to the one guy anyway. I hope the infrared detection from helicopters is as efficient as they say it is.  

I could be tempted into going off on a little rant but, as they say, discretion is the better part of valour.  After all, I have neighbours.

Tuesday 17 February 2015

Peace

Peace has been restored.  I no longer jump to attention and run out of the house, reaching for a stick to brandish, threatening violence to whichever cat has the chooks sqwarking like crazed banshees.  The chooks now cluck quietly and contentedly.  It appears all feral cats have been dispatched. 

The birds, also, are more relaxed.  The plovers used to send out the first warning that a feline was lurking.  One sqwark from them and the sparrows would take off.    They, too, are now quiet.  And the sparrows?  

This morning, after the fog cleared, something caught my eye in the paddock just on the other side of the fence.  Something was out of place.  Maybe it had just moved and that's what grabbed my attention.  Don't know but I was interested enough to use the zoom on the camera to see what it was.

I thought it was dead and immediately thought the worst - there's still a cat around!  I went over to have a better look.  To see if there had been a struggle, if it had been attacked.  I swear I'm lucky to have survived the fright I got when it did a half somersault and flew off.  I suspect it got quite a scare, too.  Sparrows don't often do half somersaults.


When I let the chooks out of the coop this morning the fog was quite heavy and had fooled them into thinking it was still bedtime and they were all snoozing on their perches.  I thought their body clocks would work better than that.

I like foggy mornings now that I don't have to drive to work in them.  By the time I took this shot I would have already been at work.  I used to guess how thick the fog was by whether I could see the bridge at the bottom of the hill, just down from my driveway.  Not too bad by the time I was out and about but wouldn't have been good earlier on. 


First sign of the coming of the end of summer?

Friday 13 February 2015

Privacy fencing

High fencing to give privacy to those who live beside this much used access walkway.  Certainly not designed for eye appeal. 


I'm linking to Good Fences.

Tuesday 10 February 2015

He's gone!

It's been a lovely week, entertaining, relaxed and fun.  Any week with lots of cuddles from my littlest man is bound to be good.  

Trouble is the good times come to an end.  Sooner or later he has to leave.  The house is quiet. Tidy.  Empty. 

I hope he made some nice memories of time on the farm.  

Fun with the big cousins:


 

And a little bit of waiting, too.  Waiting for Uncle Danny to come and take him for a ride.
 

Saturday 7 February 2015

Riding and baking


Busy kids are happy kids.  That's what I believe anyway and the grandkids have certainly been busy today.  Although not all activities ended well.  

They set out with great enthusiasm for a bike ride. 



 The return home was somewhat lacking in dignity.


Afternoon saw a much quieter activity requiring more concentration than energy.

And a much happier outcome.

Friday 6 February 2015

Locked fence

I spotted a couple of fences at the beach last week that I found interesting.

It was mid morning and there was so much glare that I couldn't really see my subject through the viewfinder.  Literally point and shoot.  I'll use that for the excuse for getting the power pole front and centre of the shot.


To stop vehicles accessing the grassed area between the houses and the beach there was a locked chain fence.  I thought I was focused on the locks but obviously not.  I'd love to hear the story behind the two locks when one would have done the job. 


Away from the beach, along the main road through town, these neighbouring  fences caught my eye.  Two interpretations of a solid fence.


I'm linking to Good Fences.  I really enjoy looking at the other contributions each week.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Reminders

Today I have beautiful flowers around the house to remind me of my recent birthday and a delightful lunch shared with family and dear friends.  I thank my daughter-in-law and son for organising it for me.  


I don't really need the reminders that I'm older.  My bones are telling me today.  Here's a tip for other seniors who belong to a gym - don't let a 20 year old who thinks you are wonderful for your age re-write your exercise programme.  It's damn near killing me and I'm too pig headed to tell her.  

I much prefer my Monday Tai Chi class.  That's a much more civilised way to exercise and, having exerted ourselves, we all then have lunch together at this place with the windows wide open to catch any breeze.


I need a nap.