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We spotted this rhino when we had an early start in Kruger. We were on our way to meet up with Piet (www.flickr.com/photos/oom_piet/). Of course it was on the wrong side of the road and the light was in the wrong spot, but I am so excited to see one up so close.
Another of the beautiful water birds that we saw at the Bentley Waterfowl and Car Museum in East Sussex.
On our way home from Hervey Bay, we called in to see two of our friends who live on property - we had a farm stay which was nice. This is one of the working dogs on our friend's farm.
I have been sitting here going through my photos from our three month holiday in 2011 and I came across this beautiful owl that we saw at the markets in Ludlow. It was also there when we visited in 2009, so I would say that the lady who runs the stall owns the owl.
A lot of people have mentioned the thorn trees in Africa. The thorns are very hard and very sharp and can cause a lot of damage, but they don't seem to bother the animals. I have even seen giraffes eating them. I do know that they hurt from personal experience. During our trip in 2005, we were on the back of a truck which was being driven through the undergrowth. Peter was standing in front of me and he brushed aside a thorn bush as we passed, but forgot to tell me to duck. It hit me in the face and drew blood, but didn't cause as much damage as it could have, thank goodness. We brought a couple of these thorns home on our last trip and they measure between 8 and 9 cms and are very hard and sharp. We had a lot of trouble just breaking them off the tree. I have added two other photos in the first comment box.
We spent the whole day in Kruger today,arriving at 7 a.m. and leaving at almost 6 p.m. We drove to Satara Camp and saw lots of animals on the way including a huge herd of buffalo walking down the road and around the car and a few elephants. One of the juveniles started harassing a car in the opposite direction, but it was just exerting it's authority, so didn't cause any damage. We did hear though that an elephant tipped over a car at Sable Dam which is a bit further on to where we were.
I don't think my cameras like South Africa - last trip my 50D died and now it seems like my 7D isn;t working. Thank goodness I brought two cameras with me.
This is a cute little Skipper butterfly that I spotted in my neighbour's garden the other day. It was a lovely sunny day and there were lots of insects flying around (including the Teddy Bear bee that I posted a couple of days ago).
This is my photos for the 52 in 2014 group - #43 Game. My grandson playing a game of ball with his dog.
These are some of my Cosmos flowers that I grew from seeds that my friend Louise (aussiegal) sent to me last year. I have three plants that have come up and each flower is different.
Another of my latest creations. I had a request from my granddaughter for a pink poodle. The same granddaughter that asked me to bring her back a pink poodle from Paris on our last trip - I found a lovely one at the airport in Paris.
This is one from my archives. My neighbour has them growing in her garden at times and they always make a wonderful display.
We spotted this pelican inside a shop on our last visit to Forster. I think the owner had just stepped out for a moment and the pelican was soon rescued. I love the look on it's face as though it is saying - don't leave me.
This is my entry for the 52 weeks of photos project - week 29 - alone.
When we stayed with Judy and Mervyn in South Kyme (www.flickr.com/photos/judy4652/) they took us into Lincoln. We had a look around Lincoln Cathedral and then went across to wander around the castle. We had a lovely day out as as we normally avoid the bigger cities, it was wonderful to be shown around by "the locals".
The Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site is England's first natural World Heritage Site - it is known as The Jurassic Coast. It covers 95 miles of truly stunning coastline from East Devon to Dorset, with rocks recording 185 million years of the Earth's history.
We ar now in Castlerock, Northern Ireland visiting our good friends, Amanda and Shane. Catch up with you all later.
I was nominated by Angela to do the B&W challenge for 5 days - this is #4.
Jet is the new little Whippet that has joined Shiloh as part of my daughter's family.
Happy New Year!!!!! Well the fireworks are over for another year. I always think that they go for too long and after a while there is so much smoke that it is difficult to see the effects of the fireworks properly. They should shorten the time, (it was over 10 minutes this year), or do the Harbour Bridge first so we could see the spectacular effects before it is clouded by smoke. I could only watch on TV tonight, but this is a collage from photos that I took on New Year's Eve 2011/2012.
This is my photo for the 52 in 2014 group - #26 Sunflare. I took this photo after some rain and when I was in Photoshop to resize, I hit auto contrast and it changed the colour. I then added an action to warm it up.
When we were staying with our good friends Peter and Sally (www.flickr.com/photos/77215799@N00/), we went to see a local show. It was wonderful to wander around and see all the special items on display.
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to take a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
As I was taking photos of the Marigold this afternoon this little insect crawled out - I think it may be a ladybird larvae. Not sure what it has in it's feelers (maybe an egg sac).
Last night I played around with the textures in PicMonkey which is a free photo editing programme. It does a lot of the things that Picnik used to do - well worth a look.
I am usually very organised and although I have finished my shopping, Christmas has really snuck up on me this year and I am feeling a little stressed. Time to start wrapping presents LOL.
I went to another specialist (an associate of my surgeon) today for a second opinion and to get the results of another MRI. He could see that there were a few problems which would be causing pain, but couldn't understand what is causing the problem as the original operation is still looking good. He wants me to wear a splint again for three months and then go back to see him - what a pain, literally LOL.
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to take a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
I am running behind with my comments today - it is getting late, so I will catch you all tomorrow.
We stayed for 10 nights in Marloth Park which butts onto Kruger National Park during our African trip. Marloth Park is a wildlife sanctuary and holiday town. It boasts four of the “Big Five” with the exception of elephant. Buffalo, rhino and lion are confined to Marloth's game reserve "Lionspruit"; the rest of the game such as kudu, zebra, giraffe, blue wildebeest, nyala, impala, warthog, ostrich and others aren't restricted by fences and roam freely between the units that are built on 3000 ha.
On the southern boundary of the Kruger National Park, Crocodile Bridge gate is 14km and Malelane gate 35km from Marloth Park.
We were driving out of the park one day when this giraffe came bounding out of the bushes on one side of the road and ran across the road in front of our car and into the bushes on the other side.
There is a funny story about possibly this giraffe. We were driving along one of the streets one day and out of the corner of my eye I spotted what I thought was a large wooden carving near a mailbox. I said to Peter that it was very lifelike and when we reversed to have a better look - it moved LOL.
7 weeks today we will be on our way to South Africa. I can't wait to see the animals in the wild again. This photo was taken during our trip back in 2012 - zebra are my favourite African animals.
This is my entry for the 52 in 2015 Challenge. Peter's Dad turned 96 yesterday and I am sure he has seen many historical changes in almost a century.
This sighting was a first for us in all our trips to South Africa. It is a Tsessebe, seen in Pilanesberg Game Park.
This is a close up of my Hydrangea. It begins as cream with a hint of blue and then turns blue. As it fades, the cream begins to appear again.
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to add a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
The sun came out today so I went for a wander around the neighbourhood with my camera. Not many flowers around now but still a few bees.
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to add a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
This Bird of Paradise is growing in my garden. This is the first time that I have ever seen new flower growing from the centre of another flower. The photo above was taken yesterday and the one in the comment box today.
We have had some torrential rain since coming to Murwillumbah and yesterday the road into the hospital was blocked in the morning. The had one lane partially open yesterday and this afternoon there was still so much water laying on the road. It is strange being back in the hospital where I was born in many years ago.
We had a lovely sunny day today, but there is a definite chill in the air now that we are in to Winter. This is a bee from a couple of weeks back - I haven't seen any for a while now. They must have gone on holidays for the Winter.
Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard VC (21 December 1847 – 1 November 1897) was a British Army officer who received the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British armed forces. He earned the decoration for his role in the defence of Rorke's Drift in January 1879 where he commanded a small British garrison of 139 soldiers that successfully repulsed an assault by some 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The battle was recreated in the film Zulu in which Chard was portrayed by Stanley Baker.
Born near Plymouth, Chard attended the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in July 1868. He was involved with the construction of naval fortifications in Bermuda and Malta before he was deployed to southern Africa at the start of the Anglo-Zulu War. At the end of the war he returned to a hero's welcome in England and was invited to an audience with Queen Victoria. After a series of overseas postings he took up his final position in Perth, Scotland. He retired from the army as a colonel in 1897 after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at his brother's home in Somerset later that year.
Peter has a great interest in history, especially the Zulu wars. We have been to Islandlwana where another battle took place earlier in the day where there were no survivors and also to Rorke's Drift. During our recent trip to the UK Peter searched out a few memorials of this type.
We are staying the night in Llangollen, Wales and this afternoon we went on a horsedrawn narrowboat ride along the canal for 45 minutes - a lovely, relaxing experience.
One week today, we will fly out of the UK for Hong Kong where we are staying for 3 nights and then we fly home. I can't believe how fast the 10.5 weeks has flown.
It has been my daughter's dream since she was little to own a beautiful Arabian horse one day. Two years ago she achieved her dream, but due to financial constraints, she had to sell him. It broke her heart, but she knew it was the best thing for her and for him too. I had this beautiful statue commissioned and it came just before Christmas. It is a work of art by Mindy Berg of Spruce Mountain Studio.
www.facebook.com/sprucemtnstudioLLC/
It looks exactly like Dubai and it is something my daughter will have to remember him by and treasure.
I have decided to join Nina on her challenge to add a flower photo a day for 365 days.
www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/
I took this photo yesterday in my neighbour's garden and when I was in Photoshop, I hit auto tone and this is what happened. The second photo is the original sooc. As blue and yellow are my favourite colours, I really like the first photo.
This is my photo for the group 52 in 2014 - #13 Cold. It has been rather cold here in Sydney the last few days. A bit of a shock after our lovely weather while we were in Hervey Bay. This is my favourite coffee cup which is made by Royal Doulton. It is fine bone china, but a good size for a decent cup of coffee (which I am having at the moment).
When we were in Paris our tour bus took us on a late afternoon tour of the city. Whilst I have seen the Eiffel Tower lit up, I have never been close enough for photos. This was taken hand held and whilst I am not usually good with low light photos, I am pleased at how this turned out.
This is the flower that the Bumble Bee (my last upload) was buzzing around. It is such a pretty colour and I would love to have it in my garden (the flower and the Bumble Bee LOL).
This is one of the horses that tow the horse drawn canal boat at Llangollen. He is a beautiful horse.
Another beautiful flower that I spotted during our trip. I have finally uploaded my photos to the computer and trying to get them in some sort of order.
This is my photo for the group 52 in 2014 - #8 A smile. My granddaughter is full of life and shows it, don't you think LOL.
My MRI went fine yesterday and I will see the specialist on Monday for the results. I normally have a sneaky peek, but this practice emails the results, so I have been foiled in my attempt.
I was always excited to see the animals walk across the road in front of the car. This was taken in Kruger National Park.
We are back home and Peter almost kissed the ground when we arrived. The trip home was much worse than the trip up to see my brother. We were stuck in traffic after leaving Ocean Shores for 1.5 hours before we managed to take a road to Lismore (a much longer way home). Our GPS took us through a windy one lane road, but it brought us out near Ballina and the road was clear with no traffic in sight for miles. We heard as we were driving along that there was a 60 metre long truck carrying a 170 tonne boiler, which was 7.5m wide and it held up traffic for over two hours with the cars stretching back 14 klms. They were trying to find a spot for it to pull over to let the traffic clear, but due to roadworks, there wasn't any room.
That aside, my brother is doing okay. He said that his leg is not healing as quick as expected and until he can put weight on it and walk, he will not be able to go down to rehab. They are going to do another x-ray in a week or two. He is becoming frustrated as he has been in hospital for 10 weeks already with no idea how much longer he will be in. That on top of the 8 weeks he was in a few weeks earlier when he broke his leg the first time, he must be feeling that he will never be out of hospital.
This is my entry for the 52 in 2014 - something beginning with "P". I was taking down my Christmas tree today and saw this little Hallmark pram decoration that I bought in 2007 for my granddaughter's 1st Christmas. I have bought a Hallmark decoration for each of my grandchildren's 1st Christmas.
For each of my grandchildren, I have bought a special Hallmark ornament for Baby's 1st Christmas of the year that they were born. When we found out that my eldest daughter's second baby was to be a girl, I bought this little giraffe ornament as soon as I saw it. Sadly, Tarnia was born still on the 25th September, 2001 at 39 weeks, but the little ornament still hangs on the tree along with little angel ornaments that I buy each year. It is my way of including her in our family celebrations of Christmas.
Only 3 more sleeps