Astrid's Photo Scavenger Hunt Challenges - 29/04/2021

This week Astrid has challenged us to find pictures relating to Bubbles.  I knew I had one of Roxy and I was delighted when in my search for 'bubbles'  a couple turned up  I had long forgotten about.

Bubbles  1

The first of these surprise 'bubble' picture was of  dear old Roxy when she was very young (and much slimmer) taken in her  kitchen. 

Bubbles 2

We met Bubbles when we started going to buy bird food at our local pet shop a few years ago now.  He is a tough street cat who has chosen to take up residence in the pet shop where he is well fed and earns his keep by keeping the mice population in check.  He also thinks he is in charge of quality control of all cat and dog beds and they have to keep removing cat fur from them.  

He is rather rounded (I'm being polite - he is very rotund!!) and been put on diet.  His slimming food is weighed out for him but he has found out how to stand up tall and help himself to the open containers of cat food that customers can scoop out and buy by weight and completely ignores his special diet food.  The owners are considering putting clear plastic covers on the bins to keep him out!!   It doesn't help that he has a following of ladies that bring him in treats, fish, chicken etc.

He wears a lovely red collar with a tartan bow and we learnt today that he has just recently started to purr when they stroke him - after a number of years living in luxury. The shop assistants can pick him up but he keeps himself aloof from the customers.

When I took this picture I had caught him 'mid wash', hence the rather annoyed expression on his face!!

                

Bubbles 3

The second and by far the best 'surprise' picture is one of Katie taken in Salisbury,  Southern Rhodesia (Harare, Zimbabwe) in the garden of a house we were temporarily living in while we were waiting for our house to become vacant.  

Bubbles 4

I thought I had finished with three bubble pictures when I happened to look at my old favourite site Africam.com and there was this elephant knee deep in the waterlilies blowing bubbles in the Tau water hole and I just had to include him.  So I have just retrieved my blog to add this one last picture.

           

Well that's my lot for this week.  Now I'm off to see what other bloggers have posted.  

Astra's Photo Scavenger Hunt Challenge 22/04/2021

 

This week Astrid has selected the word 'Earth' as our prompt.  Much to my surprise when I switched on my computer this morning I saw a new Google Doodle and it said it was EARTH DAY.  I had no idea there was such a special day.  Coincidence Astrid - or well planned choice of word??!!

At the moment I am busy in our garden repotting all my shrubs as I have not done some of them for a couple of years and they are getting pot bound.  We always make our own compost and this year have a lovely lot of rich brown EARTH to use.

What is it about toddlers and mud (wet EARTH!!).  This picture was taken when we lived in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). Katie is making the flower bed all muddy and little brother is eating the mud!! I'm not sure who was having the most fun.  

Then of course there is another kind of earth - the one in an electrical plug.

Finally, there is our Earth.  I was not able to book a seat on any space flights so I have zapped one off NASA'S  free images.

"The Blue Marble is an image of Earth taken on December 7, 1972, from a distance of about 29,000 kilometres (18,000 miles) from the planet's surface.  It was taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon and is one of the most reproduced images in history.

It mainly shows the Earth from the Mediterranean Sea to Antarctica.  This was the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap, despite the Southern Hemisphere being heavily covered in clouds.  In addition to the Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar, almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible.  The Asian mainland is on the horizon."   (Wikipedia)

Now off to see what everyone else has done this week.

Keep well and see you next Friday. xx 

Astrid's Photo Scavenger Hunt 15/04/2021

This weeks prompt chosen by Astrid is 'The Colour Purple'.  Fortunately I do still  have a few pictures that will fit that heading so here goes.

THE COLOUR PURPLE 

 While searching through my archives - fortunately all saved on a Photo Stick - I noticed how the flame on this burning Christmas pudding was a shade of purple.

Another Christmas picture, this time of a lovely felt heart tree decoration made for me a few years ago by Kate.  It always has pride of place on our tree each year.

A photographs of our daughter-in-law's wellies in the garden of a holiday cottage in Northumberland taken some years ago.

More purple pictures this time of flowers taken around gardens and places we have visited.

   This picture was taken in The Shambles during a visit to York some years ago.  These people always fascinate me.  I know I could not keep still that long, my nose would itch!!!

Remember those gorgeous wellies in an earlier picture..................well look who is wearing them  now!!

and now wearing our son's wellies too!!! 

Roxy, their dear chocolate labrador, who is sadly no longer with us.  

Now off to see what everyone else has posted.  Keep well and stay safe.  Many regulations have been lifted here in the UK this week so what with that and the spring weather, life does seem a little brighter. xx

Astrid's Photo Scavenger Hunt -9 March 2021

The word selected by Astrid this week is Farm.  As we live opposite a small holding and then a couple of farms on the other side of the road from us and they are part of our daily view out of our window, I thought it may be appropriate to use photographs taken at different times of the year of 'our farms'. 

Spring

I love the fields when they are this gorgeous shade of spring green.  The farmer originally kept a few cattle and free range chickens on his field.  One silly hen kept getting out and laying eggs in a clump of grass next to the path way.  Only once did we see anyone pick up the eggs as they walked past.  Most just ignored them. 

    

When we have heavy rain a lake forms just beyond the old railway line.  It is often covered with different water birds.   Here the mist has come down as far as the canal and hidden Weets Hill in the background

Summer

Every year we watch the hay being made in the field.  First cut,  dried, then scattered  again, then put into lines ready for the bailing machine that  scoops it up and spits it out the other side in neat round bales.  Eventually they are picked up again, wrapped in black plastic and left for collection to be taken to the farm yard. 

Autumn

It is with mixed feeling when the trees start to change to their beautiful autumnal colours.  I love to see the change but know that summer is ending and winter is on its way.

Early morning autumn mist over the distant canal.

Winter

I just love to see the snow when it covers the farm fields and the hill beyond.  One year when the farmer had just started keeping sheep in the field on his smallholding we were expecting heavy snow.  So with the help of his teenage children he built a shelter for the sheep out of bales of straw and covered the top with a blue tarpaulin.  

But the silly sheep just saw it as a huge supply of hay and started munching on it first on the outside, then they moved inside and were eating it there.  The roof began to sag.

Going....going................

..........gone!!

But I must say, in the farmers' defence, that we did have very heavy snow overnight.

The trees in our garden that same morning.

Well now off to see what everyone else has done.   HERE is the link back to Astrid's site.   Keep well and see you next week with The Colour Purple.  

Astrid Dragon's Photo Hunt - 02.04.2021

Welcome to Astrid's first Photo Hunt.  She has selected the word Chocolate for our first prompt; a very appropriate word.  I'm sure that where ever you are, we all associate chocolate Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns with this time of the year.

We have always given our grandsons either a chocolate egg or sometimes a chocolate rabbit and this year is no exception.  I have been itching to buy them ever since they came into the shops.  B kept telling me that they are grown up now and I don't need to get them an Easter egg but eventually gave in.  We are expecting to see them this weekend with their girl friends as we are allowed to see people so long as we stick to the rule of 6 and are outside in the garden.   My picture shows three chocolate bunnies, two blue and one pink and one box of milk free eggs for one GF who has to avoid dairy products. I had a job to take the photograph, the foil wrapping was so shiny.

Thanks Astrid for taking over the reins from Kate.  Look forward to joining in each week.  Wishing you all a very happy and blessed Easter.  Lets hope this is the start of things improving for us all, where ever we live.🌼