Canberra, Australia – Last days of winter. Mostly cold and wet. Still no Covid in town.

There have been no new cases of Covid-19 in Canberra for 51 days. Too good to be true or too good to last? As for the weather, it was mostly cold, wet and miserable with the occasional sunny day. It was a 3Cs month for me – cleaning, creativity and cranky. As usual, I took a lot of photos.

To date, I haven’t really shown any photos of Canberra’s tourism landmarks because that is not my scene. However, as I did go into the city on one rainy day, I took a couple of photos to share with you. I had this crazy idea that I wanted to photograph Australia’s Parliament House in the pouring rain, but of course by the time I got there the rain had stopped temporarily. Here are some tourism hotspots in what Canberrans call the “Parliamentary Triangle”. They cluster near the shores of the city’s main (man-made) lake, Lake Burley Griffin.

  • Old and new Parliament House
  • High Court of Australia
  • National Library of Australia (roof being repaired)
  • National Carillon

The Lake Burley Griffin circuit is popular with the canines even on freezing cold days.

I am trying a new blogging technique – sprinkling my blog post with random flower photos. Think of it as a meditative moment. The wattle is out and it is beautiful.

It rained rather a lot over the last month and our creeks and rivers were overflowing, and not just with water. There seems to be mountains of plastic around at the moment.

My True Love has torn a ligament. So he can’t walk. He can’t photograph. The sometimes inane work of government continues, which he does from home. He is stuck at home. I am not stuck at home. It is tense times, ladies and gentlemen. Tense times.

What would be my month without a few bird photos? It is hard to choose between many favourites so I’ll stick with the water theme for the time being.

  • Pardalotes excavating a nest in riverbank.
  • Dusky moorhen
  • The darter before it darts.
  • Cranky magpie lark.

Random prunis photo to get over that cranky magpie lark. Clearly, I am not the only one a bit tetchy.

For some, life is too short. For others, it – like this post – is too long. But it is never dull. Not for a moment. Life is never black or white either (gosh, is that too political these days?). Nevertheless, I’m finishing with two of my favourite black and white models, Nurse Fluffy and a warbling magpie. Who could ask for more?

  • “Fluffy, eyes forward! We’ve had the conversation about Orpheus and Eurydice.”

This is my response to The Changing Seasons – August 2020 photo challenge hosted by the lovely Su at Zimmerbitch.  Why not check it out and join in?

I know it is not easy for those of us with a tendency to be cranky, but if you can, stay safe, sane and kind. We’ll practise together.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Information on the photos:
The photos of the female scarlet robin (?) and the pardalote couple nest building in the riverbank were taken by my True Love before he did his foot in. The other photos were taken by me.

63 thoughts on “The Changing Seasons – August 2020”

  1. Pingback: The Changing Seasons, August 2020 | Zimmerbitch

  2. I’m so sorry to hear about your TL’s foot. Hope it heals quickly.

    Cranky, I totally understand. Maybe I should try random flower photos too … oh wait, I do that.

    As always I enjoy your photos, but even more your honest and entertaining writing. Hope September is a better month for you.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks, Su. He’s on the mend. Probably a while yet before he can go out in the field though. I offered to hire crutches or a mobility scooter but he didn’t seem to keen on that idea. 🙂
      I’m looking forward to September, Su. Thanks for getting me out of creative slump.

      Liked by 2 people

  3. I love your writings and love your photos – and those from your TL as well, Tracy. Maybe I should try sprinkling flowers too…but on the other hand I always have too many of them on my blog. Or maybe they cannot be too many. Hope the foot is mending quickly!
    Beautiful pardalotes and Fluffy looking for Eurydice. I’d love to go with Su too, but I am stuck in the everyday musts…and a lost energy. We have no cases of covid in our little corner of the world. I guess it will come sooner or later before this is over. Stay creative!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Ann-Christine. I’m not a dedicated flower photographer. I find the composition really difficult but every now and then I like to slip one or two in to show what is blooming in my part of the world. You are definitely a flower sprinkler, Ann-Christine. 🙂
      I don’t know how you keep up with all your photo/blog commitments! I’m so glad that you have time to drop by here.

      Like

      1. Oh I know…it is really too much, and I am neglecting people everywhere. And feeling low does not help. I try to stay afloat – lovely help from the dogs and bloggers like you! We all try our best, don’t we. ♥

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I had to click on those spotted birds – thank god you label them – pardalotes! So beautiful. I think I’m a wannabe birder. At this point I want to visit Australia and NZ for the wildlife. 😛

    Sorry about your TL, god, that’s got to be tough. Does he ring a little bell when he wants something?

    Wonderful photos, as usual, Tracy!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Lani. Learning about birds is a fun preoccupation, Lani, and with all the online info available, it makes the hobby more accessible to everyone. I love how we can learn from each other too. The wildlife is great. The food is quite good too. 🙂
      It might say something about my powers of observation, or where my head is, that I didn’t notice that my TL had a foot injury for about four days. He is normally sitting down at his desk working by the time I greet the day.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. I’m doing cranky quite a lot too Tracy. But you are emerging from winter as we descend into our First Covid Winter, so I’ll look to you for good cheer in the form of flowers and birds. Chin up, eh?

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Good one Tracy. I loved the tourist area of Canberra when we were there so good to see some photos of it. Of course I loved your random flower shots too and all your birds. Hope your TL recovers soon a torn ligament. How did he do that? Fingers crossed ACT stays clear of the virus. We are holding our breath that it stays away from the GC after a breakout in Brisbane. Stay creative and safe my friend

    Like

    2. Hi Pauline, I’m having problems with the computer. Thanks for the lovely comment. Glad you liked the Canberra sights photos. Not the best of weather for them, but I enjoyed the change of scenery.
      My TL was walking up a hill. Just unlucky I guess.
      Take care of you too. Schoolies, even a modified form, might make things interesting for you for a while.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m having problems with my latest Post. Trying to work through it with the “happiness engineers”. They admit it is a strange problem. Comments from a year ago have appeared on my latest “ changing seasons” post, grrrrr… so far not fixed.

        No schoolies happening this year because of covid. But I’m guessing some will still sneak in.

        Oh dear those hills can be dangerous ☹️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️take it easy and stay safe

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I’m sorry to hear about your True Love’s torn ligament. I hope he’s soon on the mend. I know what you mean about feeling cranky. With the presidential campaign heating up here in the US (and it is very, very ugly), I’m pretty much going through the day trying to hold back the scream in the back of my throat. So, I particuarly appreciate your bird photos and that glorious, in-your-face explosion of pink. Take good care, Tracy.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Liz. I really feel for you. It does beg the question what is the difference between freedom and fascism?
      The flowers and the birds are not something I take for granted anymore. I guess none of us can. I wish you all the best for the coming difficult months.

      Like

  10. Congratulations to the Canberrans for beating the virus into submission! Now they should tackle their plastic waste with the same vigour before the beauty of their city and its inhabitants become impossible to share in wonderful photos like yours, Tracy. Best wishes to your husband as well for a speedy recovery!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Dries. On my walk I encountered one of the locals carrying boxes of garbage out. I wish I could have done the same but I had a long walk ahead of me at the time. Always there are good people making an effort. Our government had flagged banning single use plastic this year, but that ban was put on hold when the pandemic hit. Hopefully it will be back on the agenda again after our October election.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. I so enjoy your posts, Tracy. Never too long! Oh, the cranky magpie and the beautifully fluffy Fluffy. What is the deal with all the plastic?! So aggravating. Oh, wait–that’s what the cranky magpie just said. 😀 I hope your TL’s TL (torn ligament! 😉 ) heals quickly. Not sure which is worse–the pain or the inconvenience of it all.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You crack me up, Lois. 🙂 🙂
      I’ve been consuming more plastic too as a result of changed purchasing habits over the last few months. Since we’ve got no cases here at the moment, we are starting to wean ourselves off it again, taking our own containers to buy takeaway, etc. But there is mountains of the stuff as people buy takeaway rather than dining in. Our local government was in the process of banning single use plastic but that was put on hold when covid struck.
      I was rather startled by vociferousness of that little magpie lark. I had to laugh at it.

      Like

  12. This was a great post. Not too long. My best wishes to your TL. No, for you and Amy I offer some therapy: try to find a place where you are alone because if people see in here you’re doing this they’re going to think you were crazy and actually what you were trying to do is get uncrazy. My wife and I have a favorite place for doing this activity in the country on the side of a ridge looking across a valley to a hill about 1 km away. Here’s what you do: focus on some distant object or area and yell holler and scream at it at the top of your lungs. Give it what for. The louder the better. Works best when it’s absolutely as loud as you possibly can. Unload all of your complaints, gripes, resentment of injustice, and whatever else. It is literally catharsis. Keep doing it until have unloaded everything you have to say and you feel better. Ideally, keep doing it until you cannot wipe the silly grin off of your face. I will say however that it’s a good idea to bring along a couple of throat lozenges.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lol, I’m surprised you haven’t been committed yet, Michael. However, if it is good enough for little birds to give me a good telling off, it is good enough for me. 🙂
      Also, do you think that white bouncy dog is a labradoodle? It was hilarious. Very excited to be out and about.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Suzanne. I think I’m just over it and feeling a little claustrophobic. Plus, have you ever tried keeping a house tidy when you’ve got three double-coated dogs? The hair never stops coming and the sticks and mud that are being diverted inside at the moment are quite a cleaning challenge. 🙂 I’m hoping we keep virus-free too. My fingers are crossed for NZ as well. Auckland is relatively close to you, isn’t it?

      Like

  14. Lovely bird shots, especially the Pardalotes. Such a pretty bird which I’ve not seen before, but I assume we have them in Melbourne.
    So good to hear it’s been 51 days with no cases.
    I’d like to think we’d get to that stage here in Melbourne, but I guess when people resume travel and shops reopen we’ll end up with another outbreak. I guess the thing to do is learn to live with it and keep numbers low.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hello Vicki, thanks for stopping by. Pardalotes are very sweet. They nest in tunnels in embankments so keep an eye out for little birds flitting down on a river bank. I loved your recent water bird post btw. My internet kept cutting out so I didn’t leave a comment.
      Hopefully Melbourne and Vic will go for eliminating community spread. You all deserve that after all the hard work you’ve put in. I guess masks will be a way of life for the time being. We have been exceedingly lucky here. Forthcoming school hols will challenge that luck though. Take care.

      Like

  17. I extend sympathy to your true love. I tore my Achilles tendon — well, side effect of an antibiotic — and it was very painful and very slow to heal. Bear is sorry to hear that spring is coming to you but is grateful that it has snowed in our mountains. I keep telling her not everyone feels like she does about winter, but she really can’t understand that…

    Be cranky until you’re not any more. That’s my (easy to follow gratuitous advice).

    Like

  18. First of all, I hope your area stays covid free! But I’m sorry to hear about your true love’s injury, and I can imagine that doesn’t lower the cranky factor one bit. Hang on, warmer days are coming, and better days too!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Thank you for the tour of Canberra – that was fun. But my favorites are always of the birds, especially magpies as we don’t have them in the US. Those pardalotes are lovely – have never seen these birds though they resemble finches. Hoping that your True Love is well on the mend. As for your cold weather – I’d love to trade with you. It was 106 degrees in our city, an unusually high temperature. I’ve been begging for snow – we never get snow here in Southern California except in the mountains where we don’t live. Heat is making me cranky as well.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hello again, Sharon.
      We’ve just clicked over to spring here. The first days have been quite warm so I hope we are not up for another excruciatingly hot summer like we had last year. I can understand why you are over your summer. Anything in the 40s c (your 106 degrees) is far too hot.
      I’ve taken no photos this month. I started my mosaic today so I will probably concentrate on that. How are you going with your painting?
      Our birds are quite entertaining now. Spring is a good time for shenanigans.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Painting and writing on hold – home repair crucial as we have to upgrade our electrical system from dangerous aluminum wiring to safe copper. Can’t put this off till Covid crisis passes so I’m anxious about workmen being in my house. But I’m still walking every morning and evening and that’s really good for my body.
        Looking forward to seeing your new mosaic. Have fun creating.

        Liked by 2 people

  20. Sending healing wishes to your TL!
    Beautiful photos, as always. Love your idea of sprinkling flower photos in your posts. 😀 And thanks for the sightseeing tour through Canberra, I really appreciate it since they’re all new to me!😀
    Take care, stay safe!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. I have had my share of Foot Ills this year so I completely emphathise with TL. And putting myself in my Loving Husband’s shoes (?), I sympathise with you as I must have been quite a handful & cranky to boot (Too soon?). Sending positive thoughts & energy for a speedy recovery so he can head outdoors again!

    Thank you for sharing a slice of Canberra – what strikes me is the huge expanse of space, surrounded by so much nature, even in the business district.

    Hope your September is going better as the weather warms up and brings in new sights & sounds!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Ju-Lyn. I knew you would understand. I took my Love out for a shuffle yesterday around our Botanic Gardens. He was a little hesitant, but it went as well as could be expected. Plus we both had a lovely time.

      You would love it at the gardens, Ju-Lyn. Despite my reservations about land development intruding into our natural spaces, Canberra is still blessed with some lovely natural spaces. The was/is a rule that the hills were not to be built on, but I think that rule is being interpreted liberally now.

      September has been lovely so far. I hope your September has been good too.

      Like

Comments are now closed.