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Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge #5

Welcome to Week 5 of my Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge.  Corvids are birds belonging to the Corvidae family, encompassing ravens, crows, magpies, jays and nutcrackers.  So check out your corvid photo, poetry, music and story archives and join the challenge.

Over 170,000 people have died from Covid-19 since December 2019, and yet, I can still enjoy this little corvid challenge.  There’s something about minutely concentrating on one thing and just one thing that helps me keep my sanity.  It is a triumph of bravado over pessimism.  So are you ready?  Let’s go corvid-hunting. Read more

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Waiting Or Anticipating?

A black hat perspective.  Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

After a buoyant few days, I’ve stopped to think.  It is necessary, albeit depressing, but it helps me get things weirdly acceptable in my head.  I still haven’t heard anything definitive about how much of the new corona virus, Australia, is prepared to live with.   Some apparently.  However, no-one in authority is yet prepared to be upfront about the costs of this suppression strategy.  It is one thing to be reassured that there will be a (net?) benefit, but without being specific about what is being traded off — who and what is to be sacrificed — how can the community have ownership of any virus-related actions and outcomes? Read more

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Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge #4

Welcome to Week 4 of my Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge.  Corvids are birds belonging to the Corvidae family, encompassing ravens, crows, magpies, jays and nutcrackers.  So check out your corvid photo, poetry, music and story archives and join the challenge.

Corvid-spotting is as good a game as any at the moment.  I’m not one for house cleaning or Netflix watching during this Covid-19 killing time.  Corvid-spotting is tricky because the raven is the only corvid in my village and it has been proving rather elusive.  I confess that sometimes when I am feeling rather down, I’ve been inclined to abandon this challenge, but I know you are all counting on it (like not) so I have to keep trying.  Trying to keep living, trying to keep my spirits up, etc, etc, is the story of my life at the moment; just keep going until I can’t go on anymore.  Maybe that’s your story too? Read more

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Bird Friend

My arm was twisted last year (not very hard) to make a mosaic for a blogger friend.  My friend’s property was burnt in Australia’s huge summer bush fires.  Fortunately, his house survived.  Some of my readers may know Brian from Bushboys World.  One of Brian’s favourite little birds is the Eastern Yellow Robin.  So that was the first mosaic that I made for him.  I’ve also made a second one of a Red-Browed Finch.  I had to make two mosaics otherwise the first one would be lonely.  Unfortunately I attacked the second with a sharp knife today because I didn’t like the shape of its head.  Not that anyone would have noticed the problem because it is not as though people will be looking at it close-up once its hung.  I would have known though, so it met its fate.  I’ll need to fix it, then I can share it with you.  Stand by for that one. Read more

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Don’t Look Back

Welcome to my regular Friday song/tune day, ladies and gentlemen, where I pick a piece of music that reflects my mood or the times, to share with you.

pink moon

Like Orpheus, would you look back?

Now for the music.

Gluck-Sgambati: Melodie

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

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Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge #3

Welcome to Week 3 of my Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge.  Corvids are birds belonging to the Corvidae family, encompassing ravens, crows, magpies, jays and nutcrackers.  So check out your corvid photo, poetry, music and story archives and join the challenge.

My son, the naturalist, tells me there are two types of corvids in Canberra, Australia —   the Australian Raven and the Little Raven.  He also tells me they are about the same size and he can’t tell them apart.  I don’t know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but I find that a tad confounding. Read more

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A Simple Rose

A simple poem to commemorate a beautiful rose and a month of contrasts.

A Simple Rose

in fading light
gossamer petals delight
ethereal bloom

gone on the morrow
fate and folklore entwined

rose

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

Lens-Artists Weekly Challenge — Simplicity
Sunshine’s Macro Monday #36

 

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The Changing Seasons – March 2020

March — Australia creeps toward lockdown.  The weather is good but.
Warning:  this story contains many bird and nature photos.

It seems an age ago that the smoke of bushfires polluted my lungs and we hunkered down for the summer in our small abode.  Then the drought broke and the new corona virus reached our shores, causing chaos and disruption, and threatening to kill a generation.  I confess that my summer experience made me hyper-vigilant for danger. Like the virus, my preparations and anxieties gathered momentum as March marched in.  Read more

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Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge #2

It may come as no surprise to you, ladies and gentlemen, that I am not as clever as I think I am.  Now I am in a bit of a pickle corvid-wise.  You see, I have a lot of currawong photos that I hoped to share with you for the Corvid-2020 Weekly Challenge, but eek, I’ve discovered after starting this challenge that currawongs are not actually corvids (of the family Corvidae).  In fact, the only corvids in Australia are the crows and ravens.  Unfortunately, I have limited raven photos.  Do you think that the powers-that-be will consider, in these dark Covid-19 times, the scouring of the city for ravens to be an essential activity?   I guess we shall find out.   I fear I might have to resort to some very bad poetry for this challenge. Read more

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Land Of Milk And Honey

It seems an age ago that the aphids were attacking my newly sprouted garlic chives.  Now as autumn makes its long anticipated appearance in the temperate areas of Australia, the black aphids are back.  This time they are attacking a beautiful succulent that my friend gave me last year.  The ants are milking the aphids for honeydew.  It is a good system. Read more