My town Friday Shoot Out - Metal

I wonder if anyone thought of M for Metal when they were doing last week's Friday Shoot-out? Didn't enter my mind, I must admit.

When I hear the word "metal" the first thing I think of is our metal road. My Aussie relatives sometimes look a bit puzzled when I refer to living on a metal road. Here, where we have such a high annual rainfall, if it weren't for the metal the councils spread over our roads, we would go nowhere whenever it rains. The metal compacts to give us a hard surface on the roads. It's a proper B to drive on just after the metal has been applied and its sitting loosely on the surface. It's not usual to find myself muttering "Oops, nearly got caught in the loose metal."

And I all too clearly remember number one son explaining how he came to wreck one of our cars - "I went a bit wide on the corner and got caught in the loose metal." Actually I think the senior daughter and younger son also uttered those very same words. Kids who learn to drive on metal drive nearly always come undone somewhere along the line but by the time they have learnt to control a car on a metal road, they are usually good drivers.

A pile of metal beside the road awaiting application

Our metal covered road as it twists and turns on its way to the farm


Road side adornments - there are three of these along the road today.
And none of them is the one I'm missing from my car!


Beside the road are the farmers' letter boxes, this being the standard model
(raise the red flag if you want the mail man to pick up a letter to be posted).

I had to resort to the dictionary for a definition of metal. Think I am safe in putting tin and steel into this category.

Modern steel cattle yards

As I drive around my local area I see the occasional old tin shed, some still in use,
others that have outlived their usefulness.
This one was full of hay for the stock.

And then there are the more frequent newer models -
(more serviceable but lacking the character, I think).

I cross the solid steel railway lines, once over a level crossing

and via an overbridge.

At the shopping centre steel is used for the bike racks


and for a place to sit a while


Take a couple of old metal chairs, pain them a pretty colour and you have a nice spot in the early morning sun.