Tag: morning mist

Australia · birds · butterflies · garden flowers · in my garden · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · photography · Tweed Valley · winter

Around the Garden

Joanne4 Comments

Just the tiniest, flimsiest wafts of mist danced around the valley this morning.

Before sunrise Mount Warning looked a tad grey, even the sky was grey. Then the sun peeked over the hill and lit up the morning sky.

What a difference a few minutes makes early in the morning!

I’m sure kookaburras enjoy the attention, because it seems that every time I venture outside with my camera lately, I find a little poser nearby. This little guy struck a pose on the top of my clothesline.

“Would you like a closeup of my profile? I think this is my best side …”

I can’t resist taking photos of the kookaburras I see perched on a tree down towards the valley. There were two on the branch this morning.

There are so many flowers blooming in my garden right now, even though we are in the middle of winter here in Australia.

The daisies look gorgeous right now, dancing in the sunshine.

There are only a few gazanias, but the yellow always looks so bright and summery, even in the depths of winter.

Did I say depths of winter? Our weather just now is probably similar to what some countries experience during summer! It’s a beautiful time of year.

My pink dianthus bloom nearly all year round.

When I saw this butterfly, which I believe is a male Common Eggfly, flitting around the daisies, I suspected it would fly away before I had a chance to get a decent shot – but it didn’t! I’m pretty excited to get my first decent photo of a butterfly in my garden. There’s another photo of him on yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday post too, with his wings open.

 

 

 

A Sense of Spirit · Australia · blessings · Mount Warning · Tweed Valley · winter

What a difference a day makes!

Joanne5 Comments

This morning at daybreak Mount Warning stood under cloud as far as the eye could see. It’s been a cold day today with no rain, however the cloud lingered for most of the day.

Yesterday morning at around the same time I took today’s photo – just after 6:30 am – the valley looked completely different.

This is yesterday –

The colours, the light on the mountain, the mist in the valley – if ever there was a contrasting photo of the same landmark, this is it.

I took several photos yesterday, all of which are self-explanatory.

I particularly like the next photo. The funnel of “mist” in the valley could be mistaken for a steam train driving along the valley floor. It is actually the steam emitted from the Condong Sugar Mill, where the harvested cane is taken for processing.

 

 

On days when there is a thick layer of mist in the valley, the atmosphere is different. I can’t explain it, but it feels “other-worldly”. It’s on days like these when I realise the power of Nature, and the significance of The Universe.

On the mornings when the mist rolls in and changes my world, I realise also how very small I am in the big scheme of things.

And I also realise how blessed I am. ❤

Australia · Mount Warning · native Australian birds · sugar cane · Tweed Valley

A Misty Morning … and a Sugar Cane Fire

Joanne5 Comments

The view to Mount Warning and across the Tweed Valley this morning looked incredible. A thick layer of mist had settled in the valley overnight, hiding from sight every object – both natural and constructed – that is usually visible on the valley floor. I took a series of misty morning photos which I will post here tomorrow.

Yesterday, my husband and I spent the day in our garden, right down the back of our yard among the fruit trees we planted several years ago. We’ve had a pretty hectic past eighteen months for one reason or another and have consequentially neglected our orchard area. And it shows. We have lost a couple of trees and have pruned back others harshly, hoping they will bounce back after some care and attention.

We were not alone in the garden though. As we were digging around our (very healthy!) pecan tree we noticed a kookaburra watching us from its perch in the pear tree.

You might notice the intensity of this gorgeous bird’s gaze! We knew what he was looking for – dinner – and it wasn’t long before he swooped down to catch a tasty morsel he had noticed in the soil.

At other times he seemed quite nonchalant, as if the potential of discovering a meal in our turned garden soil hadn’t crossed his mind!

After collecting dinner he flew back to the tree branch and dined alone, then shortly after he flew away.

Meanwhile, we heard the crackling sound of a sugar cane fire starting in the valley.

The fire was just a short distance away from our yard, but far enough away from the sudden drop at the end of our yard to be able to see the cane fire clearly. As the fire burned, I took a series of photos.

The outer perimeter of the cane field is clearly outlined, and as you can see the fire has been lit around the perimeter. The flames quickly gain momentum, burning the inner section of the field to remove leaf debris before harvesting can take place.

Within an incredibly short time, the fire is over. The job is done.

The time between the last two photos is just two minutes.

Just one minute later, the flames are virtually gone.

From the first dim sound we heard as the cane fire began, to the time the flames were gone, just ten minutes passed.

The sugar cane industry has played an integral role in the Tweed Valley for many generations. Newcomers to the area often cannot understand the attraction locals have to seeing cane fields ablaze every winter, but to the long-standing locals like myself, and to my husband – a fourth-generation Tweed local – the area simply would not be the same without the familiar orange glow in the valley each winter.