When you think of a bridge, do you think of imposing structures, crossing mighty rivers, carrying people, cars and truck or perhaps a train. Look closely and see the bridge.
The bolt head
Number 6
Tag: rust
This was June
It has taken me ages to sort through the photos that I took in June. Luckily I took out the photos of birds that I encountered and put them in this blog. I was surprised at some of the subjects that I managed to capture as it is Winter here which is normally a bit dry but we have had a rather wet Autumn. I am wondering where to start as I have quite a number of photos so maybe I will get going with some of the old bits and pieces I came across in June. The photos are at my place unless otherwise stated.
When I visited a neighbour, I had to stop and photograph the old farm stuff they have near their front gate. I think this is a horse drawn stick rake.
The old cart has seen better days. My Grandfather was a Wheel Wright and I reckon he would love to have a go at restoring this cart.
As you know, I love rust, the colours and the shapes that make the metal into an art work.
The chains and hook are a wonderful knot of rust.
This old pulley is hanging on the besties verandah. It may have been part of the old dairy that used to be on her place years ago.
I love the tiny water drops in the spiders webs from the misty rain.
The rain has put water drops on the flowers in pots on her verandah.
The Zygote Cactus water drops seem to be able to defy gravity
Even the spiders web caught a water drop or two.
The spiders web in the Red Ironbark had a golden glow. The Red Ironbarks are majestic trees on my place.
The rain drops on the spiders web in the grass looked like jewels.
Moss and lichen are other favourites of mine to photograph. A lovely green on the Bloodwood tree.
The wonderful coloured red sap from the Red Ironbark oozes from fissures in the bark.
The Tuckeroos are in flower and the trees are full of these tiny flowers.
The trees were abuzz with the sounds of bees and insects.
I am not sure if this is a bee or a wasp.
The bees certainly have to scrunch to get to the pollen and nectar.
I didn’t notice the red eye on this insect until I down loaded the photos.
The Blue-banded Bees were still hanging around the Pentas. I love their blue bums.
They hardly sit still and this bee looks like he hasn’t any wings.
Down on the forest floor, I was trying to get the right angle for a photo of the fungi when along came this fellow. I love the colours of the fungi. The reds are very striking to see. just little red dots on the ground.
I found this bunch of fungi during a Landcare visit to a site in Tucabia emerging from the mulch.
In the rainforest on my besties place I always come across fungi growing on the fallen trees. This is the first time I have seen this wood fungi which went the length of the log. Amazing colour isn’t it?
This wood fungi was on the end of a log nearby. Such a contrast in colour from the fungi above.
I found this little Stink Horn Fungus walking down the driveway at her place. I think I was stalking the Brush Turkey trying to get a photo of him on the mound he built.
Isn’t the yellow of this fungi just lovely? And it even curled its edge to show me its frill.
The Gold Top mushrooms are everywhere at the moment on my place.
I love looking under the fungi to see the frills which have a fascinating shape and texture.
Growing on a log in the forest, the mix of moss with its seed pods and the fungi looked like a tiny elfin garden.
The Bromiliads in my besties garden are flowering but mine haven’t as yet. The mix of colours on this flower is just right.
The Matchstick Bromiliad flower is different.
This is me being a bit artistic with the hanging Hibiscus flower.
I can’t remember what this vine flower is called but it certainly caught my eye in my besties garden. I love the curly tendril as well.
Looking deep inside the flower, it almost looks like it is exploding outwards.
The Banksia flower in the afternoon sun.
My neighbour has a wheelbarrow full of these Pancake cactus. They are becoming one of my favourite cacti.
When I was watering some pot plants on the front verandah, out popped the little Broad-palmed Frog.
Isn’t it one of the cutest frogs you have ever seen?
At the Landcare walk at Tucabia you know I couldn’t resist chasing a butterfly. The Large Grass Yellow was feeding on a Farmers Friend or Cobblers Peg plant.
The Orange Palm Dart butterfly just happened to sit on a leaf while I was stalking a bird in my besties garden. What wonderful colours
The Orange Palm Dart was very co-operative in getting its photo taken.
In Winter, you have to be careful when you go to the wood pile. You never know who is getting the warmth of the afternoon sun. Luckily I saw this small Red-bellied Black Snake
Well the sun is setting so I better get off and do stuff. Hope you enjoyed the things I found in June.
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Thursdays Special: S-Curve
Oh bugger!!! I went 5kms to a neighbours place this afternoon and thought, oh good Paulas photo challenge of curves. That’s that’s right curves not S-Curves. Well I got quite engrossed in some of the plants in the garden and the old wagon (which will come in handy for later photo challenges) that I have a few photos from the afternoon for this challenge that I am going to use anyway (sorry Paula)
lets start with a sort of S:Curve. The wagon hook – almost an S
The chains on the wagon – C’mon…use your imagination…see the S
The wagon wheel with a tantalising rust and the lovely old wood with a bit of yellow fungus (he says trying to distract the viewer from the S:Curve topic)
Look! Isn’t the wagon wheel fabulous the way the wood and metal Curve in unison and the old wooden spokes are drawn into the central hub where the fungus becomes a lovely orange/red and the steel band fixes the wheel to the axle.
Aren’t the curves on the cactus wonderful. Their spectacular colours that just blend and enhance their curves.
At the end of the day, after a cup of tea and biscuit, on the drive home, the sunset was a superb yellow colour don’t you think (again distracting the viewer) as the sun set over the curves of the distant hillside.
I hope you enjoyed the day of (S)-Curves as much as I have showing my my curvy day 😀
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This was my March
March was a month of contrasts, a couple of hot days followed by a bit of rain and then Cyclone Debbie came along. I was fortunate not to be in the path of Debbie but on the edge of the system. I missed the strong winds and abundant rainfall. I still managed to have 476mls of rain for March. This rainfall ended the long dry period over Summer when usually the rains come. The total rainfall for March exceeded the total rainfall for the 6 months prior.
The few dry day did allow for some wandering about and finding some interesting stuff. The weather also bought out a good variety of fungi which have their own blog.
So onward to the stuff of March.
Isn’t this little boat the cutest?
The flood waters made the creeks run and the creek at Emerald Beach broke through the sand and flowed to the sea. The strong tannin coloured water gave the rocks an interesting hue.
Rust. As you know I love rust, the colours and textures rust gives to metal.
More rust on the fence around the riverbank park in Grafton.
In Lismore, wandering the back lanes I came across this furnace door that is still in operation at the rear of a cafe.
One of the treasures of Lismore is the street art in the back lanes. The recent flooding of Lismore didn’t damage most of the art works although some may need a bit of a clean and touch up. The following selection is from just one lane way.
The art on the door is perhaps a portend.
The fish managed to swim out the flood waters I am told.
I love this ghostly face.
How clever.
The butterflies in the rainforest.
Speaking of butterflies, I just love photographing butterflies. Of course many a while is spent chasing them around trying to get THAT capture. The Common Yellow butterfly seemed to enjoy time on the ground.
The Small Green-banded Blue butterfly kept trying to hide from me.
I haven’t had such a variety of flies at my place or perhaps I haven’t really taken a close look at them. The yellow face and bottle green body look great.
The green eyes are striking. The long proboscis also lets this fly give you a very sharp sting.
This beautiful Huntsman spider lived in my house for around two months. She has now gone outside I think as I haven’t seen her for a couple of days. Her leg span from front to back or side to side is 16cm. Her body length is 5cm. How big is your hand?
The Fire-wheel trees are flowering.
I have a number of Golden Lycras that my aged neighbour loved. He gave me lots of corms and this year they flowered the best ever. They gave me lovely memories of him. The view from the top.
They looked so lovely in the morning sun.
This Hibiscus was in my parents place and the cutting has lived on at my place filled with abundant flowers this Autumn.
The miniature Hibiscus adds small red spots in the garden
One of the original Hibiscus. This one is in my besties garden. Such a delicate flower. The petals almost look transparent.
Another tiny native flower that I have found around my property. The flower is about 12mm across so imagine the size of the insect that was getting some nectar or pollen.
The Bromiliads had a good flowering this March. They gathered enough water that’s for sure.
I hadn’t seen white Crocus before. Stunning flowers aren’t they?
I have loved the colours of Coleus since I first saw them in my grandfathers garden.
The rain has revived the Lichen.
Wandering around the garden looking for snacks, the Bar-shouldered Dove and Emerald Dove shared the space.
A little Jacky Winter enjoying the morning sun.
The Brown Pigeon sat in the Poinsettia striking a lovely pose.
Not the best angle for a Blue-faced Honeyeater though.
The little Forest Kingfisher sat in the tree looking about then suddenly plunged to the ground. When he resumed his perch, he did the bash bash on the branch to tenderise his snack. It looks like he managed to find a frog in the garden.
The Forest Kingfisher has beautiful colours don’t you think?
Thanks for taking the time to have a look at my March.
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Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge March 19, 2017
Some more photos from the vault for Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge
The Peg in the garden
A stack of wine bottles in a restaurant
I have a liking for rust photos. The tangled chain has so many colours and textures.
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As I wander about
It’s been ages since I have had time to get things sorted, to take time for things and actually sit down to set out to write a bit. I have been taking photos of all manner of stuff – as you will see. It is difficult to have a clear pathway of thoughts, to put ideas down and try to make sense so that you can follow where I have been and what I have seen. Many a time I just take off to see what I can discover and see something that I find interesting, colourful or part of our world that some people would just walk by everyday and not think of the beauty. Perhaps I look at the world in a different way, to imagine in my head what I see, grab my camera and let the lens take me where I think it should go. Enough of a jumble of thoughts – as The Beatles sang
“Thoughts meander like a restless wind
Inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe”
So lets go across the universe or through a small part of my world. Starting at the beginning. Early one misty morning, some rogue cattle were walking along the road when we was taking a walk.
Further down the road, the spiders webs were all through patches of grass. Small cup shaped webs dotted the side of the road in their hundreds.
As it is still rather cool here I am still out in the bush every couple of weeks to cut some firewood. One morning I noticed the White-winged Choughs doing their daily march along the clearing with their incessent chatter as they kicked over sticks and rocks looking for their breakfast. They had an almost straight line as they marched up the hill.
Sometimes you can look up and see a Spangled Drongo fly past the moon, even in the late afternoon.
I though the Bellwood Cormorant Hotel was rather fab but the double decker Osprey nest near Chinderah has a far better vantage point.
While we were having lunch in the Tweed Heads industrial/shopping complex, we watched as a bird swooped across the car park, grab what we think was a lizard and go back to the roof top and eat away. After I took the photo (OK I took heaps of photos), I discovered it was an Australian or Nankeen Kestral. What a pretty bird don’t you think?
Speaking of pretty, the Emerald Doves are out and about in numbers at the moment. This bird was not all that content having me stalk it to try and get a good photo.
It stuck its bum in the air as if to say “Go on….take a photo of my best side!!!”
This little bird was sitting in the tree singing its little lungs out.
Having a cuppa on the verandah one morning, one of the local King Parrots decided to pop over and see if we had any snacks.
The Bar-shouldered Dove didn’t seem to mind the Brush Turkeys leaf raking exercise. The turkey was flicking leaves so high into the air! The turkey’s litter mound is about 5 meters away from where it was methodically raking leaves.
One morning I found a Rainbow Lorikeet sitting on the ladder in the old swimming pool looking rather grumpy.
OK….now this is where things take a different direction for a while. One day we decided to walk across the Clarence River on the walkway under the Grafton Bridge. The structure has been graffitied over the years and the layers of paint with a bit of rust made lovely colours and patterns.
I like the rust colours.
This green almost looked like moss.
One of the hundred of thousand rivets holding te bridge together. Small but significent.
The walkway along the bridge also had two tunnels at either end which have always been “decorated”. Sometimes some of the graffiti has to be added to doesn’t it?
Othertimes the message is what everyone needs to hear.
One of my favourite cafes in Grafton is the Tilted Teaspoon. Skye has a wonderful sense of decoration with ever changing bits and pieces gleaned from Op-Shops and garage sales.
The water below the bridge has shapes that change as the water ripples from passing water craft. This one is rather spooky.
Speaking of spooky, what is the blue flash that appeared in my besties loungeroom?
I love the “eye lashes” on the bullet hole in the road sign.
Enough of the different stuff and back to colour and nature. The red flower of the eucalypt just seems to burst in a riot of colour.
One of the first flowers that I started to photograph many years ago were the Azalias of the next door neighbours. They had so many varieties that cascaded over the front suburban fence. The colours were superb. My besties Azalias have been a wonderful splash of colour around her garden. The deep pink flowers are lovely. One of the surprises when taking photos is the unexpected bits that are in and around the flowers.
This flower was hidden inside the same bush as the pink one above.
The red Azalias are such a stand out in the garden.
The Irises are dotted through the garden not being showy but adding a bit to the shape and form in the garden. It also is the home for a small spider.
The lillies come in a range of colours. I love these ones.
The yellow Day Lilies bring that end of the spectrum to the garden as they stand tall in the sunshine.
The undersides are just as impressive.
The Nastursiums are just starting to appear. I love their colours and shapes as the sit low in the garden trailing over rocks, logs and borders.
The Pentas are wonderful as so many little flowers gather together in a ball of colour.
These flowers like to look at what is going on at ground level. The little bells cluster together.
This is such a tight ball of very small flowers that have such a lovely scent as you brush past.
The orchids are out now as well. Again, this flower is so small as it spikes out from the plant with it’s almost see through petals.
Walking about, it is always good to look up. The shapes colours and forms of the Foam Bark leaves are great.
A good discovery walk wouldn’t be complete without a fungi find. I have never seen a pink fungi before, have you?
The fire has been lit, giving its colours that always surprise.
Or the swirling shapes where you can see so many different things. What can you see?
Looking deep inside the fire.
The Moon was smiling that night. A glowing grin in the sky.
Well it’s time to sweep and tidy up before I get going. See you next time OK
“Limitless undying love
Which shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe”
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Discoveries in June and July
I have been doing my usual wandering about, looking for things that are interesting, stunning or just plain great to photograph. This is what I have found over the past two months which have made a quick stroll or a drive into a lot of stop and look.
The early morning fog sitting in the Clarence Valley looked quite amazing as I came over the hill on the way to town.
Some of the morning skies had so much colour
The Pelicans were paddling on the Clarence River looking for their breakfast. Everyone knows that Pelicans are great fishers and know exactly where the fish are.
The Little Corellas played on the light towers, swinging on the wires and generally creating havoc.
There were many storm clouds around but I haven’t had much rain at my place in the past few months and the Summer storms just didn’t appear this season. These were looming while I was travelling around the Richmond Valley.
The next few photos are stuff I found in Lismore. I will have to go back and see if I can get the shot I saw in my mind with this spiral stair case.
I love puddles
I also love rust – the textures and colours rust brings to metal.
This is what it’s like looking down the barrel of a gun.
The footpath also got my attention. The moss is such a striking green.
The early Winter flowers were appearing in the gardens around Lismore. A splash of white caught my attention. I have no idea what it is though.
One tree had ants massing all over as they were preparing to launch the winged ones.
But the tree looked nonplussed.
On the way back to my besties, we stopped at the outdoor cathedral in Bexhill. The Grevillea flowers (I think) were almost over but still looked amazing.
The flowers at her place were also blooming. I was hoping to get a bee or two but they were too fast.
The birds that are there are nothing like the birds at my place, although there are a couple that I find at mine as well as at hers. The cheekiest is the White-browed Scrub Wren who likes to hang around the back door.
“Is anyone home!!”
“I know you’re in there!!”
The Catbirds were around in the afternoon making their weird sounds.
I also came across this butterfly. Its colours made for a great camouflage until I came blundering along.
I guess the sun is setting so drop by soon and let me know if you enjoyed my some of my Discoveries in June and July.
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Rust
One of the things I like to photograph is rust…..sometimes it can be the whole object or just a piece. If you look hard enough you can find rust everywhere….it’s just what you see really isn’t it?
This was on an old wooden rail bridge helping to hold the structure together.
A window guard on 18th Century house in Barcelona
Or, like this, the chain on my girls old swing.
The old truck has been part of my street since the first day I went exploring. It has been dragged from place to place and now resides at the front of an old area that used to be a tip. I don’t think the brake pedal works any more.
Some of the old works that goods and materials were used to load the ships earlier last century at Evans Head.
I liked the contrast of the rocks on the headland and the steel post that was part of the whaling station in South Australia.
Or it could be the subtle patina on a small statue that gives a bit more to an artwork.
Rusty corrugated iron is found all over the country so it would be remiss not to have a quaint old shed wouldn’t it?
