Autumn in Canberra (the national capital of Australia) – A month of sunshine (La Nina ends). A walk in the park. It has been over 300 days since Canberra recorded a case of local transmission of the coronavirus.
Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, as blogging and my art work both give me a pain in the neck, I will let my photos do the talking this month.
We enjoy the sunshine after a wet, cool summer. I have been taking lots of photos of Fynnie because I want to do a mosaic portrait of him.
The days are short and the shadows are long so you have to move fast to get the shot.
The art project is a work in progress. I am crap at drawing so I use a grid to help me transfer my drawing to board. Mosaicing is painstaking and painful work, but It takes my mind off national politics and my vaccine nerves. It is nearly four weeks since I had my first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The sunsets have been glorious. I snapped this photo in the car on the way home from the park.

This is my response to The Changing Seasons – April 2021 photo challenge hosted by the lovely Su at Zimmerbitch.
My thoughts are with you all. Take care.
Kind Regards.
Tracy.
About the photos:
The photos of the orchid, swan, moon and red-browed finch were taken by my True Love, the remainder were taken by me.
Good work all round, Tracy, though commiserations on the neck pain. The little finch (?) on the barbed wire is a real treasure shot.
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Thank you, Tish. I try to walk off the pain but carrying my camera is starting to hurt too. We will get some cold weather soon and that will give my neck a break.
It is a red browned finch. They move so quickly it is hard to snap a nice photo but my TL has the knack.
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Your TL certainly does have a knack. You can tell it’s a split second caught against that still background. Wishing you some speedy neck relief.
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I’ll be interested to see how the mosaic works out. It’s so different an art form than my woodcarving.
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Somehow these mosaics do turn out, Lou. Eventually.
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Great photographs Tracy! Very evocative.
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Thanks, Sid.
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Is this the little swamp hen that was by himself a couple posts ago? Lovely photos all, Tracy.
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It is, Lois. I managed to get one photo in focus, thank goodness. It was so tiny and hared off to the reeds when a person walking a dog walked past, which why I was able to get a photo of it on its own.
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Lovely photos for the change Tracy 🙂 🙂
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Thank you, Brian. 😊
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Beautiful post, Tracy. The mosaic looks amazing.
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Thanks, Martha, but as this is not a traditional art blog, you know, aggghhh…. 🥴
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As much as I like all of the photos, the one of Fynnie is my favorite. He’s such a handsome fellow with his red hair.
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I am exceedingly remiss in posting photos of my boy dog, Liz. He gets told how handsome he is once every five minutes. He’s trouble though. 😄
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And then he flashes you those puppydog eyes and all is forgiven?
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Nope, he goes to his crate to rest. It is not punishment. He likes his crate so it is sanctuary for him and for me.
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I love your work – photos and mosaic and, of course, your blog!! 😀
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That makes me happy. I get so enthusiastic about what I see that it is nice to know that someone else shares that enthusiasm too. I’m sorry I haven’t been keeping up with your fabulous poems. I have to be careful I don’t wreck my neck from spending too much time on my phone or computer.
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Sorry to hear about your neck. And thank you for calling my poems fabulous. 🙂. I look forward to your next blog! 🙂
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Lovely set of photos Tracy, What a lovely laid back pose of Flynnie. That mosaic is coming along so well I’ll look forward to seeing one of your lovely little dog. I think we still have the tail end of La Nina here as the rain still, thank goodness, keeps coming.
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Thanks, Pauline. No rain here. Maybe this week. You need the rain as it is quite a bit hotter in your part of the country.
Fynnie will be hard to mosaic because he is a solid colour. That’s a job for next spring. Still I am feeling quite organised at the moment so that’s a change. Must be the weather.
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Yes we definitely need regular rain here, so this present lot is very welcome. I also feel more energized in the cooler weather. But also pleased it doesn’t get as coo; as you get it…
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You’ve definitely taken some lovely images in times which continue to be less than easy. I’m looking forward to seeing the completed mosaic.
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Thank you, Margaret. I’m not doing much photography at the moment given my other commitments. I hoping to get the octopus done before it gets too cold.
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Thank you for sharing the progress on your mosaic. I can imagine how your neck would suffer. I was thinking the photo of Fynnie is the seasonal opposite of Ophelia yesterday, soaking up the spring sunshine. I wonder if they would be friends? My favourite photo is the kangaroo in the grass. In my anthropomorphic way, it seems like a peaceful and pensive moment.
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I don’t know how Fynnie would go around other dogs. I tried to socialise him but he was/is too bolshie. He gets bolshie with me too over the couch and other things he considers his. This is perhaps why he doesn’t get a mention too often.
The kangaroos were happy grazing. They are very shy. The lads will be getting frisky soon so we have to give them a lot of space.
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A dog that knows his own mind! Ophelia was a lot like that as pup.
Mind where you go Tracy, don’t want to get in the way of love!
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I’m careful when I see them but they are well camouflaged.
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When we hike, we make lots of noise so we don’t surprise a bear. Is it like that with kangaroos?
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The kangaroos normally hop away when they see you coming. It is normally fine if you keep your distance.
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Hope the pain will go away soon.
This is such a beautiful series. You are making a progress of your mosaic, wonderful!
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Thank you, Amy. Yes, it is good to finally start tiling.
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Lovely images, Tracy. (and good luck with your vaccine – hope there are no after-effects).
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Thanks, Vicki. I think the vaccine is having no further side effects but it is hard to know given the other aches and pains.
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I love your photos, as always. Hope you feel better soon, xo
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Thank you, Lani. The pain is an occupational hazard. It is raining now so I will have a break.
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Oh how I love the light in Autumn and your images have captured the beauty of it just spectacularly. I hope you have a May filled with beauty.
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Thank you Natalie. I’m looking forward to May. There’s always something to treasure.
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I am so sorry to hear that you live with pain – and that it does affect your ability to do the things you love. Any chance it will improve with medication or time?
I used to love to mosaic – but I discovered that the dust from the tiles sets my allergies off. So, I enjoy it vicariously through you.
One more dose of vaccine to go? Hope it all goes smoothly. I hear you though, about other aches & pains. After my 1st dose, I was mostly ok (apart from a sore arm). But a week later, I felt flu-ish aches etc etc … but couldn’t figure out whether is was delayed vaccine-reactions. It’s just what it is.
Wishing you a good week ahead, pain-free hopefully.
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Thank you, Ju-Lyn. I think the pain is linked to posture and repetitive strain. I probably need better core strength.
I hope you are feeling better now after the vaccination. I’m going well now. I won’t have my second shot until the end of June.
All the best, Ju-Lyn. I hope you have a good week.
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That would be Loving Husband’s belief – that we could all do with better core strength. I know I should work more on it as well, but core exercises aren’t the most interesting.
Good week ahead Tracy!
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I have visited this post before, in a bit of hurry. That mosaic is looking like a fantastic project.
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Thanks, Mick. The mosaic is the second piece in my climate change protest art series. It is a tribute to the people of Mallacoota.
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