Tag: kookaburra
The Misty Mountains
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
~~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit.
The mist is below the mountain actually, but what a glorious sight it is! I’ve been looking forward to daylight savings so I could rise an hour earlier, which at 5:30am – in real “Earth” time, even though the clock says it’s 6:30 – is right on sunrise. It’s a magical time of day, when the valley has an atmosphere of belonging to another world at the break of day.
I haven’t heard of any dungeons in the valley or the mountain ranges, but I’m sure many “caverns old” could be discovered there.
If only the kookaburras could talk, they could tell the tales of caverns they have discovered in the valley.
Looking east towards the coast as the sun was rising, I could see the clouds catching glimmers of sunlight – more magic!
There are no dragons from Middle Earth guarding this “pale enchanted gold” at the end of the day, just the sparkling lights in the sleepy town below. 🙂
Another day of visitors
Regular readers of my blog will be familiar with my lovely kookaburra visitors, but today, this particular kookaburra was joined by a very unlikely companion – a Currawong. It could be my imagination (although I don’t think it is) but the kookaburra does not look very impressed to be sharing its breakfast table. And the currawong, usually very shy birds who wait in the background to clean up any tiny droppings of food after the other birds have left, looks very – let me think – Entitled? Dominant? Demanding?
There’s nothing unusual about my next photo. Brontë always uses Forrest as a cushion when they spend time lying around outside.
I spent a while out in the garden this morning, working on an area that needs a fair amount of attention. I need husband’s help with this particular garden though. My son-in-law used wooden sleepers to build the garden edges about ten years ago, and now the wood is starting to rot and needs replacing. There’s a low retaining wall that needs replacing as well, so we are working on getting the job done before summer.
Around midday, my first “people” visitors arrived – my daughter, and baby Eli. I got a few adorable little smiles from six-week-old Eli today, and my goodness he is growing fast! His little neck is so strong and he moves his head around this way and that, seeming to want to take in everything around him.
Just before my daughter headed home, my eldest son arrived. His wife is away in Sydney for a few days, so Ben visited for dinner. I think I’m appreciating my visitors more than ever before, now the Covid restrictions are easing.
And once again, a very enjoyable day ended with a beautifully tinted sky. 🙂
Mist in the valley and birds in the palms
This morning I awoke to find the valley floor had disappeared beneath a beautiful layer of misty-ocean. This alternate view looked spectacular and even more so now the weather is warming. I know our misty valley mornings are limited this year.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun shone across the mountain, revealing nooks and crannies which could be seen from afar.
The greenery in my garden stood stark against the blueness of the sky and whiteness of the mist, like two different worlds melded into one.
Way across the other side of the valley, the only evidence of the sugar cane mill was the steam escaping from the mill chimney.
A few birds dropped by to admire the misty ocean too. This little guy in the palm tree is an adult honeyeater. Juvenile honeyeaters have yellow around their eyes which progressively turns bright blue by the time they are around eighteen-months old.
Just as the honeyeater flitted away, a kookaburra landed in the same place on the palm. Both rummaged around inside the cup-base of a partly fallen palm leaf, so I suspect they found water from our recent rain caught inside the leaf.
Shortly after the sun had burned away the mist, I looked out just in time to see two female figbirds munching on juicy red berries on a different palm tree. I couldn’t go too close to take the photo because figbirds are pretty shy little birds.
When I took a break from my assignment writing at around midday, I took a walk in my front garden, taking photos of new flowers as I walked around. When I downloaded the photos I was pretty surprised to find I’d taken over one-hundred photos! Hopefully I will have finished my assignment by late tomorrow, so I’ll choose my favourites from today and add them tomorrow.
My garden is looking really lovely just now. I need to finish my assignment so I can spend the weekend out doors! 🙂
Listening to Nature
The sun made a brief return today. If I hadn’t dashed outside to take a photo at just the right moment I would have missed capturing Mount Warning today. Before nightfall it was engulfed by a misty, cloudy mass of white.
I have spent another day working on assignments, so with my mind taken over by academic writing and genre analysis, I thought today I would share someone else’s words. I read this on Facebook this morning –
“Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water.
Lay your bed where the cat sleeps. Eat the fruit that has been touched by a worm.
Boldly pick the mushroom on which the insects sit. Plant the tree where the mole digs. Build your house where the snake coils to warm itself.
Dig your fountain where the birds hide from heat.
Go to sleep and wake up at the same time with the birds – you will reap all of the days golden grains.
Eat more green – you will have strong legs and a resistant heart, like the beings of the forest.
Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in water.
Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear.
Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace.
Nature is talking to you, are you listening?” ~~ Angus Williams
I don’t think I would be inclined to share my house with a snake, but I like the concept of Williams’s words. Engage closely with nature – follow its lead – live a quiet life to find peace. ❤
In My World 