I’m a big fan of road trips. There is always something new and interesting to see on the journey. Being stuck in slow moving traffic is no hassle, but instead a photo opportunity (provided one is not doing the driving). Here is a photo I took a few years ago. It is perfect for Frank’s Tuesday Photo Challenge — Round. The silo on the truck goes round and round. Read more
The return to cooler nights and mornings heralds the turn of season. Autumn is upon us. The little birds, silver-eyes, are enjoying the cool mornings and evenings as they zip through the garden. Some even stop off for a bite to eat. Hey, little bird, that’s my fig! Read more
I would like to thank Margaret for the Ragtag Daily Prompt today. Her prompt is iridescence. She posted a lovely photo of a beetle that looked very like the golden stag beetle. So I thought I would join in with a couple of iridescent beetle photos of my own, as well as a bird photo for good measure. Read more
Here is my response to the Ragtag Daily Prompt — Diametric.
One of the things I really love about the Ragtag Daily Prompt is the contributions from all our participants. One of my favourite contributors (I have many) is Lois from On Pets and Prisoners. She always comes up with just the right quirky photo to illustrate the prompt. Today, I feel the need to respond in kind. So here is my fun photo too. Read more
My February Changing Seasons post will be divided into two parts. Part 1 contains the serious environmental message. Part 2 is more lighthearted.
This post contains images that may distress some viewers. Read more
My February Changing Seasons post will be divided into two parts. Part 1 covers the serious stuff. Part 2 will be more lighthearted.
February – in the dying days of summer, danger lurks.
The shrill wind blew of the calamity to come.
But no one was listening.
Did you know that the UN declared 2010 to 2020 the Decade for Deserts and has called for urgent action to fight against desertification? The main reasons are land-clearing for agriculture, over-grazing and other land uses (eg. mining), unsustainable land management practices and climate change. In a vicious cycle, degraded lands hold less carbon and less surface moisture. It is estimated that it takes 1000 years to generate 3 cm of topsoil and if the current rate of soil degradation continues, all the world’s topsoil could be gone within 60 years. No topsoil. No life. Read more
I remember vividly that freezing cold day in 1991 when I went to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. It was more than the cold that sent shivers down my spine. There was no-one else there. Just us. We were so small next to that massive geological formation. I thought I would never see anything like it again, especially not in my own country.
Smaller in scale, but just as awe-inpiring. In Gamilaroi Country. Read more
This post contains images that may offend my mum some readers. Sometimes, ladies and gentlemen, it is difficult to distinguish between reality and fakery, especially in the online world. How many of us can say, hand on heart, that we are completely honest about our online persona? I present myself as an environmentally conscious person, nature lover, mother and artist. My blog is called Reflections of an Untidy Mind, but some of my devoted readers, have been kind enough to comment that my mind does not appear as untidy as I make out. Maybe I’m just using the old reverse psychology trick to make myself look good? (That’s a rhetorical question, folks.) Read more
Once upon a time, yellow box and red gum grassy woodlands stretched from Toowoomba to Victoria (Australia), providing a continuous wildlife corridor 100-150 kilometres in width and 1,500 km in length. Since colonisation, vast swathes of grassy woodland have been cleared for agriculture. Now there may be as little as 1-5 percent remaining. most of which has been modified in some way by grazing. Many birds and animals have become trapped in isolated communities, reducing valuable genetic diversity and leaving them vulnerable to threats of local habitat loss. It is not surprising then, that yellow box and red gum grassy woodlands have been declared a critically endangered ecological community. Read more
In 2003, bush-fires ravaged the old Nil Desperandum homestead. After the fires, the historic rammed-earth cottage was re-built to the original 1896 design. Nil Desperandum forms part of the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve (near Canberra). Amidst the devastation wrought by the fires, a part of a commercial camellia plantation somehow managed to survive. Surrounded by dense bush on all sides, it truly is a miracle garden. Read more
Reflections of An Untidy Mind 