Friday 25 May 2018

May 2018 Photo Hunt

Don't know what has happened to my month this time.....I had not realised it was the last week of the month and other than think about what photographs I could use, I have done nothing about it.  The penny suddenly dropped and now I am having to do a rush job, not the way I like to do it, especially as the words were my suggestion this month.  So here goes.............



Cool

This picture was taken of our Labrador Misty who loved to cool off in the Giyani heat which could go up to the 40's in the height of summer.  She did this on her own accord.  She would alternate between the spray and then lying on the cool grass in the shade.  She had the right idea. 





Disaster

I have a very old knitting machine, an Empisal No 2, almost the most basic of all.  I was gifted it nearly 48 years ago when we lived in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).  It is so basic that I would knit the ribbing by hand, hook it on, then to make it work the knitting needed to be pushed back behind the needles, the wool laid across the now open needles then the work pulled forward to close  them.  The saddle is then moved across to knit one row.  Very basic but effective.  I could do simple cable by moving the stitches across each other, or lines in the work by pushing every 5th stitch back and it was terrific for stripes. I made our children's and our own jerseys for years including a cable cricket jersey with the appropriate stripes around the bottom and neck band.   

I have used it more recently for making long strips for Hawthorne's yarn bombing project.   It was for this that we got it down from the loft.  It has 2 pull out rods at the back . One slides out to enable me to push back the unwanted needles out of the way or the one at the back which holds in the needles and I could carefully slide out to replace damaged needles.  I don't know what I thought I was doing but I pulled out the rear rod which released all the needles which came crashing out.  As always, when I do something stupid like that I call for help from poor patient B who not only carefully replaced the fallen needles but first cleaned out years and years of dirt lodging underneath.  It really was a disaster. 
 





Movement

While on a nostalgic trip through old photographs I thought I would show movement in this lovely picture of Ben, our beautiful long haired German Shepherd who B had trained and used in displays with other dogs handled by Hawthorn, myself and friends at dog shows around Mpumulunga, South Africa.  I love the power in his jump and the movement of his long silky fur as he leapt fearlessly through this fire hoop.  This is only a single hoop in this photograph - he happily jumped through three or four standing side by side.






Fence

I love this picture of a fence taken at Long Newton. It is one of our favourite beaches we visit when we are in Northumberland.   After a high spring tide there are always interesting bits of china washed up on to the beach from a ship that was wrecked out at sea many years ago.




Spiky

This giraffe is feeding off an Acacia tortillis tree or Umbrella Thorn in the Kruger National Park.  The tree has long spiky thorns in pairs. each with a smaller hooked thorn on the side.  The giraffe has adapted to feed off these trees, thorns and all.  They wrap their long black tongues around the leaves and thorns and pull them off.  After chewing the leaves they spit out the thorns.  A clue to the fact than a giraffe has been feeding off a particular tree is the pile of thorns on the ground underneath. 




My own choice


Whilst searching through my KNP photographs for the one above I came across this one of a Vulture Restaurant.   This is something private game parks often do, not only to feed the vultures but also to bring them to one central area for tourists to be able to see them feeding.  We were never in time to see any of these in action but have seen vultures in their natural habitat waiting to feed on a lion kill when the lions have left the area.  

 


19 comments:

  1. I'd forgotten Misty cooled off by standing in the spray :) I don't think I've seen the vulture restaurant photo before - gruesome and interesting in one go!

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    1. Just looked again at the vulture feeding station and can just imagine them sitting on that dead tree waiting their turn.

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  2. What an & interesting lot of photos & stories, all of which captivated me. I love hearing of your time in Africa & seeing the pics. I've not seen one of those knitting machines in years & your dog jumping through the ring of fire is actually scary for me, in case he got singed. I can't believe the giraffes eat the thorns too, yuck. Thanks for sharing & picking the words. Take care.

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    1. Ben never even singed his fur. He went through too quickly. He loved jumping and would often jump more than one during practice just for fun!

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  3. I love your fence photo, it's stunning :-)

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    1. Thank you. The dark sky behind it makes it look sort of eerie.

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  4. Great photos, love the Giraffe. Hope you got all the needles back. I once had a knitting machine that was basic and used to knit the ribs and feed them onto the machine

    Julie xxxxxx

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    1. Thank you. I tried doing the ribbing on the machine as the instruction manual showed but it was not stretchy enough. Much better to do it by hand. Easier too.

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  5. Ooh, I do like your African photos. So different to what I might see in the UK. If you must do something silly, then do it in style!!! Well done B on restoring the equilibrium. So hard to pick a favourite, Ben? Fence? Giraffe? Clever giraffes learning to spit the thorns out; how long are they? Fence gets my vote!

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    1. Thank you. I always have you in mind when I do my blog and try to include at least one African one for you. The thorns are about 2" long.

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  6. How lovely your photos are. One dog keeping cool and another jumping through fire. What patience it must have taken to mend the knitting machine. My favourite photo is Fence, I woud just love to walk along that beach now:)

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    1. Yes it took quite a few hours to get all the needles back in especially as the machine had to be stripped right down to clean years of dust and dirt off first.

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  7. Wow, what an outstanding selection of images you've chosen. The picture of Misty is an absolute delight :) I would have expected to be upset by the vulture picture - normally I am far, far too sensitive to anything related to animal deaths but strangely I found it fascinating. Next time I go to Galloway I want to see the Red Kite feeding station, guess there is not much difference.

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    1. You are right, not much difference between feeding vultures and red kites except the latter are far more beautiful!uh

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  8. Thank you for the words for this month, they were an interesting challenge. And your photos are wonderful too. I do hope the knitting machine is back on track.

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    1. Thank you. Yes machine working well. It knitted yards and yards of narrow strips for Kate's yarnbombing of the village Community centre.v

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  9. So the thorns were 2" long; ouch! How does a parent giraffe teach a youngster how to do this???

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  10. Love Northumberland and its beaches, haven't visited for years though... Bamburgh Castle is one of my favourites. Thank you for visiting my blog, lovely to 'see' a new face!

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  11. What a wonderful selection of photos - the vulture restaurant omg. I can't decide on a favourite - for sure it was going to be Ben, but then the beach fence but I have to finally opt for the giraffe - my favourite animal of all - so so beautiful.
    Fil’s Place

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