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Seeing Spots

I’ve lost my photography and blogging mojo, ladies and gentlemen. This is unfortunate because I do enjoy participating in the Lens-Artists weekly photo challenges. This week’s theme is Spots and Dots. I thought if I could just manage two photos – one I took yesterday and one from the archives – then I could ease myself back into it. Also, I swapped my computer mouse over to my other hand to see if that might bring some relief from the recurring muscle pain. That’s another story but it hurts to do computer stuff. Other stuff too. Ah, the joys of getting old and creaky.

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A Small Detail

I need help, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to visit my mother in central Queensland (Australia) but between her and me is a plague of rampaging mice. It is my worst nightmare, or at least one of my worst nightmares. Who can blame me with reports of a farmer recently catching a rodent-borne disease and people being bitten by mice in their hospital beds? So, I need info. If I drive the inland route from Canberra to central Queensland, will I be confronted by a moving carpet of mice that will squelch under my tyres or will the wave of mice part in front of me as I drive at high speed through the chewed pastures, not even stopping for coffee or a bite? Also, forget sleep. Otherwise, biting. Let me know.

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The Changing Seasons – April 2021

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.

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The Changing Seasons – March 2021

Canberra (national capital of Australia) – March in satire. The empathy, or something, flows.

[This post contains material of a satirical nature. International readers should feel free to concentrate on the photos and disregard the sub-text.]

Spat in our eye then unleashed tears they learnt to cry in empathy training.

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The Changing Seasons – February 2021

Summer ends in the national capital, Canberra (Australia) – Clean air, clean water, good nutrition, shelter and safety; the essentials of life in the national capital, the rest of Australia and globally. I do think about these issues quite a lot. February was no exception.

It has been a grey, often wet and windy end to summer in the national capital. The sun has shone too but it hasn’t really had any bite to it like it has in recent years. Thank goodness, I say. Who needs that howling inferno we had last year. However, we know the clement weather is temporary so we enjoy it while we can.

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The Changing Seasons – January 2021

Mid-summer, Canberra (Australia) – Incidents and grass aplenty, as well as much catatonic lounging.

I suppose if you want a quiet life you wouldn’t have pets, children or partners. You certainly wouldn’t have Covid and all the stress and interruption to life that involves. Thankfully there has been an absence of Covid in Canberra over January, otherwise how would we have dealt with all the medical appointments and emergencies. Carefully, I guess.

I don’t suppose my True Love (TL) and I would have gotten out of bed before noon during January if it weren’t for the week of doggy diarrhoea from the red dogs, followed by days of hospital visits to take our other dog (Makea) from the emergency vet (for nighttime care) to our regular vet (for daytime care) and back again, then repeat. Meanwhile, the vegetable garden continued to need tending despite the veggies refusal to grow. Rainy, grey days put a dampener on the veggie patch. Our pumpkin vines have not produced a single pumpkin and many tomatoes have split as a result of the last downpour. The most delicious looking tomatoes have been consumed by hungry rodents. However, the grass is green and nearby dams are full so that is something. As the month ends, all is well.

January was all about small pleasures and golden waves, and making photos when the sun finally shone.

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Up Close And Personal

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – It’s A Small World and Ragtag Daily Prompt – Assignment.

Guest host of this week’s Lens-Artists challenge, Anne Sandler, has invited photographers to focus on the small things and she has provided a number of useful tips for macro/micro and close-up photography. Thanks, Anne. Unfortunately, I got carried away and so I might not have stuck strictly to the brief, preferring once more to go with arty-farty rather than teeny weeny. Thankfully my True Love had something up his … oh, never mind!

I have redeemed myself though with some wee poetry – haiku, of course – and some vulgar photography humour. My friend has asked me to keep writing and who am I to refuse?

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The Changing Seasons – December 2020

December in Canberra (Australia) – So many babies; so much grass; a lot of cutting, over-committed and Christmas.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am so very tired this month. I bet you know the feeling. It has been a long year and December has been super busy. Apart from the usual mundane activities, furniture shopping and mosaic production, I did get out a couple of times into my local area for relaxation. I was surprised by how many babies I saw. Tis the season I guess. Let’s look at some.

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My Best Birds

Hi there, I’ve been inspired by Brian from Bushboy’s World to participate in the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge hosted by Lisa from Eyes Wide Open. The topic of this week’s challenge is birds with a “B” in the title of their name. However, before I launch into it, I would just like to make a speech on wildlife photos.

First I would like to say that the wildlife photographers I’ve interacted with online have been unstinting in their kindness and helpfulness with suggestions for taking good wildlife photos. I’m incredibly appreciative of that, even if from time to time I feel a little intimidated because my gear is not the latest and greatest; I can’t (refuse?) to get up at daybreak to take advantage of the lovely soft morning light; I don’t plan; my backgrounds are often messy, etc. I guess one might describe me as a happy snapper who likes “nature” and who just goes with the flow. I’m a total opportunist, and sometimes I get lucky (well, maybe it isn’t all luck these days).

It is not that I don’t want to improve. I do, but that’s not my mission. Anyway, I want to encourage you whether or not you have a super-duper camera, whether or not your wildlife photos are entirely in focus or not, whether or not your subject is hidden by a busy background, etc, firstly, because it is fun, and secondly, one day you might take a shot of something that is interesting to you and that something interesting might be rare, endangered or even thought to be extinct and without your photo, we would never know. Never hope. No, I haven’t taken a photo of something thought to be extinct, but it could happen, if I’m in the right place at the right time.

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