Australia Day ~ In the land of sunshine (and sometimes rain!)

January 26, 2013 Joanne8 Comments

Saturday, 26th January, 2013 ~ Australia Day.

I had some fabulous ideas of the photos I would take to show you all our beautiful sunshine, the beaches, and the way so many Australians in my beachside area celebrate the anniversary of the first day of English settlement in our land of sunshine. You would see photos of families enjoying bar-be-ques at the overcrowded beaches and the Australian flag flying proudly against the brilliant blue sky, fluttering in the breeze. Can you just image it?

So what happened today? It rained, all day, so I had to resort to Plan B and you will all have to be content with imagining the blue sky!

But that’s okay, we Australians are used to making the most out of a less than perfect situation. You’ve all heard the stories about the days when the first fleet of eleven ships arrived in Sydney Cove, on the 26th of January, 1788, headed by Captain Arthur Phillip, haven’t you? The one thousand, five hundred and thirty people who arrived on those ships, seven hundred and thirty six of whom were convicts, had to make the most of the inhospitable conditions they were faced with upon their arrival.

I wasn't the only person out taking photos today. Another blogger perhaps? — I wasn’t the only person out taking photos today. Another blogger perhaps?

“Farewell to old England forever,
Farewell to my old pals as well,
Farewell to the well known Old Bailey,
Where I used for to cut such a swell.” ~ Lyrics, Botany Bay.

All I needed to work around today was a bit of rain. Well, it was quite a bit of rain actually, so I took my planned photos between the showers. And it was nothing compared to the less than ideal conditions the first fleet had to deal with!

Roads and car parking areas, usually with cars queuing up for miles whilst waiting for a parking spot, were almost empty in comparrison to previous summer’s days.

I did spot a couple of interesting sights, besides the very keen surfers, who were prepared to brave the rain (they get wet swimming anyway!) despite the weather. This little pup seemed to enjoy taking a bike ride with its owner….

And I also saw a man, wearing a fluorescent shirt, unicycling along the beach side path at Kirra Point.

On a bycycle built for...one? — On a bicycle built for…one?

Our “Australian of the Year” was announced today and this year it is Australian media icon, Ita Buttrose.

Ita became one of the most recognised faces on Australian television during the 1970’s and 80’s when she began filming advertisements for the magazine which she was then the editor of, the Australian Women’s Weekly. Ita was awarded the title of Australian of the Year 2013 for “her media career as well as her commitment to not-for-profit organisations, including president of Alzheimers Australia.”

In 1980, Australian rock and roll band Cold Chisel recorded their hit song “Ita”, written about Ita Buttrose. In honour of our newly named Australian of the Year, my Aussie song for today is “Ita” by Jimmy Barnes and Cold Chisel.

Happy Australia Day! 🙂

“Every week, in every home
She got wholesome news for the family
I believe, I believe, in what she says
Yes I do
I believe, I believe, at the end of the day
Her magazine’ll get me through…”

Australia · music · photography · summer

Sounds of Australia

January 22, 2013January 27, 2013 Joanne8 Comments

“Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over cane fields
Laugh and think that this is Australia.” ~ Sounds of Then (This is Australia) ~ Gangajang.

This coming Saturday, the 26th of January, is Australia Day and to commemorate the day I thought it might be different to add a series of posts with photos that are typically Australian. Perhaps native to Australia. Or maybe those things that when a person from overseas sees them, they may smile and say “I recognise that, it’s Australian”.

It will be interesting to see how many icons I can come up with. I haven’t planned this idea out to any great degree at all! I will simply take each day as it comes, leading up to Australia Day, in typical Aussie fashion.

“She’ll be right mate!” No, I do not speak in that way myself, but again, it is typically Australian, typifying the laid-back Australia style of taking each day as it comes, which is just what I will do.

First in my series of the typically Australian is the Australian Magpie, or Cracticus tibicen. My particular magpie friend is a black backed magpie and the one who patiently posed today for a photo shoot is a male. His wife didn’t visit with him today, (she must have been cleaning the nest, or some other such magpie activity) so he dined alone on his fresh mince.

The brown wooden table beyond the magpie is usually regarded as the feeding table as it is really fit to be thrown away, so I have kept it for the birds to use. They seem to enjoy jumping around the table and chairs and I’m not in the least bit concerned that they will dirty it at all. But, the kookaburras really want the feeding table to be exclusively for their use at the beginning and end of the day, when they are around, so I let magpie eat from another newer table occasionally.

Also typically Australian in some of these photos, if you look carefully in the background, is the weeds that have popped up between the pavers of the patio over the last couple of weeks. Throughout the year we fight a constant battle against the weeds and when the heat of summer arrives, we don’t stand a chance of getting rid of them.

Ah well, this is Australia….

I wonder if you have ever heard the song of a magpie? It is a beautiful chortling sound, one which I am often woken by in the morning, when my magpie visitors are asking for their breakfast.

Click on this link I have found on YouTube and you will hear the song of a magpie…..

“Along the road the magpies walk
with hands in pockets, left and right.
They tilt their heads, and stroll and talk.
In their well-fitted black and white.

They look like certain gentlemen
who seem most nonchalant and wise
until their meal is served — and then
what clashing beaks, what greedy eyes!

But not one man that I have heard
throws back his head in such a song
of grace and praise — no man nor bird.
Their greed is brief; their joy is long.
For each is born with such a throat
as thanks his God with every note.” ~ Magpies, Judith Wright.

They are such tame birds, once they become used to being fed by you they sometimes even come up to the door to meet you. I’ve heard that some magpies have become so tame that they will walk into a house! That hasn’t happened to me, so far they have preferred to dine alfresco, and I do hope that they don’t ever decided to come indoors as my cats may not take too kindly to sharing their home with a magpie!

Talking about Australian icons would not be complete without some Australian music. Whilst many may have heard the old classics, like “Tie Me Kangaroo Down” and “A Pub With No Beer”, there are so many other songs that scream “Australia” to me. These are the songs that if I were to ever find myself in a far off land and hear these songs, I would long for home.

One such song is “Sounds of Then” by Gangajang.

Australia · friends · gardening · Mount Warning · summer · Tweed Valley

Excuse Me…..Can We Come in Please?

February 25, 2012 Joanne4 Comments

No Mount Warning today — Where Mount Warning should be.

The magpies visit my garden regularly and we have become rather friendly over the last year. This summer, the mummy and daddy magpie have brought their three babies to visit, no doubt teaching them where The Home To Come To When You Are Hungry is, as I always drop everything I’m doing when they arrive and rush outside with soggy bread for them all, which they seem to enjoy enormously.

They have me very well trained!

Just the other day, as I walked outside with hands full of garbage to go the garbage bin, one of the babies, no doubt expecting a treat, swooped down out of the trees and landed right in front of me. I had to explain, of course, that I hadn’t brought any bread with me, only the garbage, but would be back in a jiffy.

Understanding every word I said, he waited, of course.

We’ve had a run of rainy days for the last three days, today being the fourth day of sog and mist. The plants in the garden are growing profusely, as are the weeds. Mount Warning has vanished out of sight.

And our magpie babies are not impressed!

Two of the babies came to my bedroom door yesterday, which leads out onto the back veranda, looking straight at me, longingly, with their cute beady eyes. I could well imagine them asking, “Excuse me, but it’s awfully wet out here. Can we please come inside for a while?”

Still raining — Yep. It's still raining.

Not satisfied with sitting on a post a whole six feet away from the door, the more adventurous of the siblings came even closer to the door, sitting on the back of an outdoor chair and peering longingly at me.

I took his photo through the window, hence the blurriness you see in the photo, and then carefully and gently tied to open the door, so as not to startle him, hoping to take a photo without the window impeding the way.

Can We Come in Please? — Can we come in please?

The baby magpies made the sudden, joint decision that they had had enough close human contact for the day and in a flurry of feathers, off they flew.

They were back again this morning for breakfast though. 🙂

ducks · freedom · friends · summer

An Early Morning Visitor….Come back later, around midday, okay?

February 19, 2012 Joanne11 Comments

My camera shy visitor — My camera-shy visitor

Over the past few months we’ve had a regular visitor to our back garden, or to be more precise, to our swimming pool.

A duck must have mistaken our pool for a nice relaxing pond, in which to float around and casually pass the time of day. Obviously the chlorine and salt added to the pool has not had any adverse effect to his health as he has returned, again and again, even occasionally bringing his lady friend along with him!

In the eighteen years that we have had the pool this is the first duck that has taken a liking to it, which has left me wondering….why? Is this the first duck to ever notice, over the past eighteen years, that the pool is there? Or, have the others been put off by the smell of salt and chlorine?

Perhaps our visitor is simply an eccentric duck!

Look this way... — I'm up here, Mr Duck. Look this way!

I’ve tried to get a photo of this cute little guy for ages, but every time the camera has reached my face, he flies away!

This morning, however, at 7am, armed with both camera and determination, I actually photographed him! They are not the best photos of all time, that’s a certainty, but at least they are proof that I’m not hallucinating!

I’ve noticed that all the photos I take in the early morning and also later in the afternoon have a fuzzy look to them, so just to satisfy myself that the light of the day can make a huge difference to the quality of a photo, I took another photo of the same place, same zoom, but at 1pm this afternoon.

Bring Mrs Duck with you next time. Midday would suit me just fine!

The result? Much clearer, and far more vivid in colour.

Now, if the duck will just make a visit around midday, my camera will be waiting. Hey, I’ll even invite his lady friend! 🙂

Australia · gardening · summer · Tweed Valley

It’s Red-Hot in the Garden Today!

February 6, 2012 Joanne4 Comments

Mother Nature has been extremely kind to my garden this summer.

By February, the red chilies, in their red container, are usually withered and dried out by the extreme heat, but not this year. Milder temperatures have kept them looking good enough to eat (almost!)

As I wandered mindlessly around the garden today (my favourite way to wander!) with camera in hand, red foliage jumped out at me from everywhere. I hadn’t realised before just how many red plants I have.

Red strawberries — Red Strawberry Flowers

I even found a tiny red strawberry flower, hiding in among the foliage.

Our recent deluge of rain has been a blessing to the plants, bringing out flowers by the dozens. It has been worth being almost flood-bound for two weeks, just to see the beauty the rain has helped to create.

With the humidity at only sixty-six percent today (according to Google Weather) the heat of the thirty-degree temperature of the day wasn’t too bad at all. I don’t mind hot days, minus the humidity.

Dianthus are an incredibly easy plant to grow. Even during times of neglect and extreme heat, they stay strong and constantly reward me with beautiful little flowers for most of the year.

Today I ventured right down the back of our property, almost as far as the back fence, looking out for Eastern Brown Snakes, which are one of the deadliest snakes in the world, and yes, we have had them in our yard! I even walked close to the old shed, as the colour red yet again caught my eye…well, this old ride-on mower used to be red. Now though, it’s seen better days.

Even the red container holding the mower fuel jumped out at me today. As I general rule, I don’t even notice it in the shed!

Inside the pool area we have a row of hibiscus, each plant with a different coloured flower. Last year, I was rather later than I should have been with pruning the hibiscus, although Mother Nature has also been late with providing summer heat. I really don’t think the hibiscus have been too perturbed by mine and Mother Nature’s bad timing. They are now out in flower and this beauty has two different shades of red at her centre.

Beads of sweat ran down the centre of my back during my mindless-garden-wander, but I enjoyed my time outside, in the heat of the middle of the day. What is the saying?…“Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun”. Well, my background is English!

And my wise and perfectly sane dog stayed indoors. 🙂

Footnote, added 10.10 pm ~ The “red-heat” of the day was even more intense than I had realised. The temperature today reached thirty-seven degrees celsius (or 98.6 degrees fahrenheit). And it’s still hot, hot, hot!

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