Landcare, photography, music, poetry (of sorts), cooking, our environment, life on the land and making a difference where I can. MotoGP is my "boy" fix.
For this photo in my series of Re-living the past was taken of the old truck that has been parked in the street ever since I first bought the property. When one of the nieghbours bought their place, they didn’t like the truck in front so it was dragged to another property across the road where an old tip was situated. When the person who bought that block, they moved it to the other block they owned in the street which I never knew happened otherwise I would have complained saying its the streets truck and belongs to no one. It should be back as a bit of street art I think.
This was first posted December 2012 using the tag old
How wonderful to have forty-two people show us their last photos for June and ninety-seven likes!!!!. I do feel honoured that this photo challenge is still growing. Thank you to everyone who have supported me with their good and not so good photos. Like a lot of people I forget and am surprised at what was the last photo on the three devices I use to take photos.
So let’s see what you have for July 2021
The rules are simple: 1. Post the last photo on your SD card or last photo on your phone for the 31st July. 2. No editing – who cares if it is out of focus, not framed as you would like or the subject matter didn’t cooperate. 3. You don’t have to have any explanations, just the photo will do 4. Create a Pingback to this post or link in the comments 5. Tag “The Last Photo”
Last month was the first post from Ju-Lyn at Touring My Backyard for The Changing Seasons. Ju-Lyn and I will be taking turns at hosting The Changing Seasons that Su from Zimmerbitch hosted with great results. We hope you will enjoy, as you have done in the past, and keep posting your Changing Seasons with us. Just add your link in the comments or pingback to this post for your Changing Seasons.
I have had an action packed July with my camera being able to get around the local area despite the Covid restrictions that the state of NSW is currently under. There has been a couple of “incidents” on the North Coast from people coming from Sydney Covid positive. A lot of businesses are starting to not allow customers from Sydney into their premises.
Enough of the doom and gloom, something I am not used to posting on my blog. Let’s start with an Aussie song you all should know to get you through the photos.
I thought we should start a bit bright and cheerful with some flowers.
My Bromiliads flowered with such unusual flowers
My besties Gymea Lily sent up a spear. It’s about three metres tall.
The flower is yet to open and as I haven’t been there for almost two weeks, I hope it waits until I can get there to show you the flower.
A while ago I was talking about my poor sad Peach Tree. It seems to enjoy July don’t you think?
The flowers have a lovely deep pink colour. I know a couple of people will love this colour.
The bees love the flowers too.
Just beside the Peach is a Nectarine Tree and the Stingless Native Bees are loving the blossoms of light pink petals with a rosy centre.
There has been a few Black Jezebel Butterflies in the garden too.
It’s not just the insects who love the flowers. The Brown Honeyeater enjoys snacking on Lions Tails flowers.
The Rainbow Lorikeets flock to the Honey Gem Grevillea in the morning.
Lewins Honeyeaters like to pick the centre from the Ornamental Ginger flowers
Can you count the number of King Parrots in the red Bottlebrush? I have lot of King Parrots in the garden.
This female King Parrot was watching me as I was walking in the garden.
There is always someone peeking through the window to see if I am home.
or peeking over the gutter
Or sitting in the tree where this Pied Currawong was outside of my office door.
One wonderful thing is that a Chatter (yes that’s the name for a group of Choughs) of White-winged Choughs have increased in number and often cackle away while picking their way through the garden.
Driving home a few days ago I heard the sounds of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos flying overhead. I saw them start to land so jumped out of the car camera in hand. Of course they decided to fly off to a distant tree. There were a lot of Cockatoos in the flock. This is just a few as others had landed in other trees further away.
Getting out to the beach was good way to spend the day even though it was very windy.
I think that there is a system of ownership of this rock. The Crested Terns were sitting there as I walked past.
On the way back, the Cormorant had taken over
Pied Oystercatchers were combing the beach for morsels in the sand.
The Sooty Oystercatcher decided the rocks was the best place to find a snack.
A Pelican was taking a stroll along the sand.
and another Pelican enjoyed a cruise on the Clarence River
Overhead it was rather busy. A Brahminy Kite scanned the beach intent on stealing whatever the Gulls had found.
A White-bellied Sea Eagle was hovering and circling in the wind right near us looking among the rock pools where the Sooty Oystercatcher was as well.
The brown on the outer side of it’s wings is lovely
At full stretch doing a turn in the wind ready to circle back and scan once more
We were also lucky enough to see the Humpback Whales on their northerly migration even though they were not very close to the shore.
It was an amazing sight to see hundreds of Ibis heading west to the wetlands where they will spend the rest of Winter and in Spring, raise their hatchlings.
One afternoon in the grey afternoon sky, a pair of Ibis were heading to roost.
Speaking of roosting. Down at the beach there is a colony of Red-Headed Flying Foxes who were squabbling over the best places and getting ready to fly off for their nightly foraging.
While in the trees, for Becky’s July Square Trees photo challenge, I posted the avenue of Fig Trees but from one end, I commented to Becky that I should have taken a photo in the middle. Yesterday in the late afternoon I did just that – and it’s even square.
Sitting in the garden the sun reflected off something that caught my eye. It was a rather ragged spiders web which had the most amazing colours.
Only a little bit of rain for July but thee is always the opportunity for a water drop photo.
One thing I like to photograph is rusty things. The steel and the rivets plus their shadow on the Grafton Bridge.
While looking on the other side, the setting looked rather idyllic
I love clouds and these in horizontal layers with varying colours one afternoon looked wonderful.
OK folks it time for sunset and to reach the end of my July and Changing Seasons.
I hope you enjoyed a scroll though my July and enjoyed the sunset as much as the cows do.
Did you have a favourite photo? See you next month for This is August 2021 and Ju-Lyn will be hosting The Changing Seasons
Becky’s Square Photo Challenge July: Square Tree
I had these ready to go but other photos seem to take over. I have a certain fascination for boxes especially wooden boxes. Yes this is another thing I try to keep under control but some times….well you know how it is. They mostly have a purpose.
There were a lot of tree songs that didn’t make the cut either
Here is a small sample of the boxes from big to small, some toys and a few of my other “addiction” – Elephants, these are some made from wood.
These wooden suitcases hold my photos I try to sell and other items when I go to the markets. I am looking for a leather handle for the one on the left.
I use this recycled box I bought as a display stand. The wooden stool on the right, my grandfather made.
An old looking reproduction box
Just one of the elephants
Three small boxes. One quite old and I like the other two with inlays. The bottom one is maybe from India like the Indian Elephants on the left. There are three that fir inside each other
Some wooden toys I have found at the markets most likely some Grandpa’s shed projects.
This photo is an after thought, also not square (sorry Becky). A wonderful pull along toy on a chair me Grandfather also made.
I like this one. It is Bamboo with a felt lining. Maybe at one time held coasters, now holds match boxes near the fireplace.
This is one of the large boxes. It is filled with photo frames I have bought and they get used every now and then. It was a tool box and has a few compartments.
It has been used in the past to hold the Christmas presents with the Christmas bears and others standing guard
One of my favourite big boxes. It has a green flock lining. The hard to read engraving on the outside show the box was used by The Crown Cork Company from Southall Middlesex England but I cannot find a date
Of course there are quite a number more but that’s enough I reckon. Thanks for hanging around with me and my square trees and a bit of music. Some of the songs I haven’t heard before so it was good to enjoy some new music with you. I wonder what October Squares will bring us?
Becky’s Square Photo Challenge July: Square Tree
A while ago I wrote a blog about the Bloodwood trees on my place. So to continue on, here is a bit about the Tallowwood Tree, one of my favourite trees.
A song to help you get through a rather long post
The Tallowwood, Eucalyptusmicrocorys, can grow to around 60 metres in height. The bark is a reddish-brown colour and orange underneath. The bark is flaky and quite soft. The timber of the Tallowwood has many uses and is a very durable timber. It was a favourite in the past as a flooring timber. The heartwood ranges in colour from pale to dark yellow-brown. The sapwood is a whitish colour. The texture of the timber is moderately coarse, generally with interlocked grain, giving it’s durability. A characteristic is the almost greasy feel of the wood hence the name.
“Historically, Tallowwood has been used for bearings, mallet heads, mauls, wheel spokes, and tool handles. Current engineering applications include wharf and bridge construction (as sawn and round timber), railway sleepers, cross-arms, poles, piles and mining timbers. Construction uses range from unseasoned framing to dressed timber cladding, internal and external flooring, linings and joinery. Tallowwood is also used in fencing, landscaping and the construction of retaining walls. Decorative uses include outdoor furniture, turnery and joinery. Other applications include boat building, the construction of coaches, carriages and agricultural machinery, and structural plywood.” – https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/wood-species/tallowwood
This photo (not square) conveys how tall they are a bit more than the above photo
The tangle of branches
The fire on my place burnt some trees more than others. The Tallowwood bark being flaky is susceptible to fire running up the bark and into the crown. This tree only had the lower portion burnt.
Close up of the burnt bark showing the flaky outer burnt but the under bark intact
What the bark normally looks like showing the different colours
This is a wound on the tree – right hand side – where the bark has grown over the scar
Like the Bloodwood, Tallowwoods also exude a bit of sap from an opening where insects or possums have dug under the bark
The flowers are a soft fluffy white
and are quite prolific this year. So many flower and the buds showing there is more to come.
The Tallowwood is a great source of food. There have been so many different types of insects collecting pollen and nectar. Can you see the insects flying about? So many small black dots
Birds also use Tallowwoods for food. This is a White-throated Honeyeater probably after an insect.
Grey-crowned Babblers tearing at the bark to find some insects to eat.
I hope you have enjoyed a bit about the Tallowwood Trees on my place. The big Tree I wanted to photograph was too hard to get to from all the fallen timber after the fire. It is the Grandfather Tallowwood and is probably has a six metre girth. Three people holding hands around the tree would most likely be able to. The other one which is at the end of a track and on the edge of a clearing which was one of my favourite sights when in the bush didn’t survive being burnt, It looked OK after the fire but slowly died. I didn’t have the heart to include a photo.
