July Photo Scavenger Hunt.

Panic.........I've just realised it is the last Friday in the month.....there are none next week.  I have done no more than think about the words when they were first published by Kate.   So here is a most hurried selection of photographs and words.

Paddle

I have a few pictures of a certain daughter paddling in sea at Capetown but not sure if they would be met with approval so I have resorted to using a picture of our 'grand dogs' Roxy and Jess paddling in the sea at Northumberland.  Roxy, the chocolate lab only ever paddles, won't get wet beyond her elbows where as Jess so loves swimming she will swim out and then surf in on a wave.

Pink

I could have gone down the pretty pink flower route ...............

...........but decided to use rather a picture of a hippo sleeping in the sun, slowly going pink.  Tourists who see often this think they are turning pink because of the heat of the sun burning them but actually it is a natural sun screen. They secrete a reddish oily fluid from special glands in their skin which is very sensitive to sunburn.  I remember the first time we saw it we were most confused to see a pod of hippos lying on the river bank, all pink not dark grey.

E   is for

Elephant - what else.  Those who have followed my posts will remember that I watch the Africam.com site for hours.  Have it on all day when home and even at night casting an eye on it while watching television.  Last night we were lucky enough to see a pride of lions sleeping then gradually all waking up and going to the water's edge for a drink.  I take photographs of the computer screen with my smart phone which is why the colour is not quite right.

How to keep cool on a hot day - a mud bath!  

Roof 

Last year our landlord decided to cut down all the leylandii trees growing down one side of our garden.  They were getting too high and did make our garden very shady on that side but oh dear, what a big job it turned out to be especially as he decided to do it  himself with the help of a friend.    

As the trees were right next to B's shed and my greenhouse we watched anxiously as the trees alongside were chopped down.  Of course the inevitable happened and one branch of a large tree crashed down on the shed roof.  Fortunately very little damage was done.....a small tear in the roofing felt but the force of the falling branch hitting the roof made the contents on the shelves all bounce off onto the floor and  on another occasion  lost one pane of glass in the greenhouse!!! 

My Own Choice 

This is a picture I took of a zebra drinking late in the evening at Nkorho pan.  I just love the reflection in the water.  It is mid winter in South Africa now and you can see all the grass has either been grazed or died back till the rains start in October/November.  

Unfortunately Kate is having internet problems as she changes provider so I may have to wait a while to read others interpretation of the list of words but they will be worth waiting for, I am quite sure.  

June 2019 Photo Scavenger Hunt

The Merry Month of May was not too merry, soggy would be a better description and June not very flaming.  So this month I am using as many sunny, warm pictures as possible.

The list is interesting again with Notice, Spotted, Begins with a K, Cobweb and Step being the given titles and then My Own Choice too. So here goes........

Notice

B and I took our car to a local garage to have the wheels aligned.  It had been described as an old family business and what an interesting place it turned out to be; an old workshop in amongst all the hideous shiny units, all uninteresting, boring and identical.   We handed over the car and keys and went to pass the time in the waiting room.  It had a high desk with one of those counters that lift up to allow people to pass through and the lower part of that had a well used swing door with a gap at the bottom.  There sticking out, gazing longingly at us, were two pairs of eyes, two hairy noses and a blue ball.  Unfortunately I did not take the first photograph quickly enough as Molly the Collie wanted to play and I kicked the ball back to her and the spaniel moved away.  

After playing with Molly the Collie for a while I read the notice stuck on the door and quickly took out my camera to take a picture of it.  Just what I needed for this prompt. The dog in the photograph is Molly the Collie.

Here is her friend and partner in crime peeping under the swing door, waiting her turn. 

But now I had started something.  Molly was let out to join us and entertained us for the full half hour it took to get the wheels aligned. She even asked the Postman who called in to throw her ball and of course he obliged!

Who needed magazines to read when a dog and ball was supplied!!

Spotted

Look what we spotted!!  This photograph was taken at the Hoedspruit Cheetah Project and Breeding Centre where they take in young orphaned cheetahs and rehabilitate them so they could be returned to the wild.  Unfortunately some had been kept as pets before being given to the park so could not be returned to the wild. They had huge enclosures to enable them to live as normal a life as possible. Some, like this one, were tame and had been used in commercials and other photo shoots. She had been lying right next to the fence and when we spoke to her she purred just like a domestic cat but a hundred times louder!!  

It begins with a .......K

We were game watching but this Klipspringer was people watching that day.  He had a good vantage point here.  Klipspringer translates from Afrikaans as Rock Leaper.   It is one of the smallest antelope only about 24 in (60 cms) and its coat is good camouflage for its usual rocky habitat where it jumps from rock to rock on its little hooves.  It is nocturnal and rests up during the heat of the day so we were lucky to see this one out in the open.

Reading the distances here reminds me how large the Kruger National Park is, we had come 15 kms from the rest camp at Skukuza  (approx 10 miles) and still had 26 kms (just over 17 miles to Tshokwane which was just a safe rest point where you could get out of your car. There were toilets, shady sites, a small shop selling cold drinks and snacks and was about half way to the next rest camp.  As the speed limit was 30 mph on tar roads and 25 miles per hour on gravel  it was a long journey but always made enjoyable by seeing  the game in their natural habitat. 

I just had to include this lovely picture of a male Kudu, the antelope used as the logo for the KNP. I have used it before but felt I just had to have him here too. (Of course, he also begins with K)

Cobweb

This cobweb picture was taken many years ago.  It reminds me that Eldest, now 21, called them pasta webs when he was a toddler!! 

Step  (Ladder)

This picture is self explanatory!  I just stood and laughed, fetched my camera and took a few pictures of B standing in his spilled paint, trying to get it off his trousers, shoes and the step using the roller.  We had fortunately rolled back the carpet.  No paper or cloth down, though I must say in his defence, that B never spills or even splashes when he paints - well almost never!!  I was in the dog box for laughing and not helping!!

My Own Choice

I had searched and searched all my archive pictures as I knew I had this one somewhere and I wanted to use it for 'Notice' ..... eventually I found it in 'Back up' on my Tablet then remembered it must have been one of those I lost from my computer when Dropbox made some changes.  By then I had taken and used the pictures of Molly the Collie. But as I might not get the opportunity to use the picture again I have made it My Own Choice for this month.  

The sign was in the window of the local 'Pensioners' club and I just could not resist taking a picture.  I took it in 2016 - it is still there but very faded.

Now I'm off to check what everyone else has done this month. 

May 2019 Scavenger Photo Hunt

Another month, another selection of interesting topics to search out.  As we were away in Scotland for a week this month I wanted to try and use original pictures, not so many from my archives.  So here is my interpretation of the titles.

Seat 

We went to stay with our son and daughter-in-law and their two Labradors.  One day we went to Loch  Leven to give the dogs a run and a swim -  their best thing.  I am always amazed how all dogs here in the UK seem to get on with one another.  At one point we had 12 dogs running and playing together and our two labs were the only duplicates of a breed.  There was a Hungarian Vizsler, Border Collie, Spaniel, Basset, Grey Hound and various other dogs.  It was mayhem but fun to watch!!

I saw a suitable seat as we walked to the Loch but there were people  around it and when we returned a couple were sitting there having their lunch.  But then I found this beautiful bench but it was not overlooking the Loch, rather facing the farm field in the distance.

The spider on the side was so beautifully carved that I had to take a more detailed photograph of it.

View from the seat

The seat was facing away from Loch Leven overlooking farm fields and distant hills, also a lovely view, just not what I had planned.

Lunch

             Fish and chips in a restaurant in Seahouses, Northumberland, taken a few years ago.

Starts with a P

Nearby our son and daughter-in-law's house is this little Park and Playground.  It seems like a quiet corner of green but just behind that row of trees is a huge Supermarket!

Transport

Some years back we took our grandsons to see the Motor Museum in the Lake District.  It has the most amazing selection of vintage cars as well as a replica of Donald Campbell's Blue Bird speed boat.

My own choice

This  picture was taken from Stirling Castle towards the William Wallace Monument, an imposing Victorian tower built to honour the Scottish hero.  We visited it last time we were in Scotland. It was quite a walk to the top but fortunately  a mini bus was on hand to take up those who did not want the climb.

                           That's it for May. Now off to look at all the other photographs.  

Photo Scavenger Hunt for April 2019

What a variety of words chosen by Kate again.  Makes one think, especially if it involves thinking out of the box.  It's the end of April already, the year is flying by.

This months words are Edge,  Bridge, Mine, Black and My own choice.

Edge

As a child we lived in Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia (present day Zambia) and each Christmas and New Year we would go with friends to stay in the beautiful old colonial Victoria Falls Hotel, about a four hour journey over dirt roads most of the way.  It it was wonderful hotel and when I last heard the area is not full of health and safety fences and you could go and stand right on the edge and look at the water crashing to the gorge below.  In the dry season, when the water was low you could cross the smaller Devil's Cataract to an island then walk across the edge of the falls and even swim in the deep pools that had been gouged out by the force of the water over the millennia.  I was terrified and let the 'grown ups' do that. That was one edge I did not like.  B, whose parents lived in Livingstone, the nearest town, swam in these pools with his friends. He tells me now that crocodiles also used the pools to catch trapped fish. Good job I did not know that before.    Sorry. these old pictures are not so  good. This is me aged about 8 with my father an a family friend and where we are standing is just a few feet from a sheer drop. . 

This statue is of the explorer/missionary David Livingstone who was the first European to see the falls in 1855 and the words he used to describe them are on a plaque at the front of this statue.  "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight  He named the falls in honour of Queen Victoria but the locals call it  Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders). There is so much spray from the falls in this picture that you can't see them.

Bridge

To continue with the Victoria Falls theme.  This is a picture of the famous Victoria Falls Bridge that spans the gorge and links present day Zimbabwe to Zambia across the Zambezi River. 

Quite a few children from Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) went to high school by train to either Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) or South Africa and a sort of rite of passage was that the boys had to throw the green leather bolsters out of the windows when of the train as it crossed the bridge.  I'm sure they floated downstream and were being used by some of the locals living further down towards Mozambique.  Today tourists are able to bungee jump from the centre of the bridge. Not for me, thanks. 

Mine

This prompt could either be a Mine or my choice of the personal pronoun mine....all mine. 

This picture is of our two Tonkenese cats, Thai and Shan.  They did everything together - good or naughty! Here they are in the bird feeder trying to get the gecko that is on the pole below.  Shan has nearly caught it.  I'm sure she is thinking it is 'All Mine'!

Black

There was no hesitation with photographs for this heading.........Jak our black cat. Here he is bird watching out the window. 

My Own Choice

I had no problems choosing my picture for this Easter month.  Many years ago, in the 1970's I think it must have been, we were travelling from Capetown back to our home in present day Zimbabwe, a distance of about 1570 miles (2528 kms). I have just looked it up and am thinking 'wow' did we really do that every second year to spend Christmas with my parents in Capetown, once even towing a caravan. It took three days.  Definitely with the enthusiasm of youth!  I digress.  The distances are vast and petrol stations often few and far between and then in the smaller towns they were closed on Sundays.   As the new Highway had bypassed many of the smaller towns the garages took quite extreme measures to advertise their presence, usually with very high signs.  But this Caltex garage had gone to even further lengths......they had a Caltex Bunny standing on the main road and he would sort of dance as cars approached (as you could go miles without seeing another car in those days he would not have been that busy). As it wasn't Easter, it would have been early January, it seemed quite incongruous but Caltex advertised their clean rest rooms with an white bunny - not sure why.

That's all for this month.  Now I must go and check the other posts.   See you in May. 

Photo Scavenger Hunt for March 2019

March winds have definitely lived up to their reputation and more this month. What with the terrible cold windy weather we have had in the UK although it does not compare with what has happened in  Mozambique, Malawi and our beloved Zimbabwe. Such devastation and to people who, in the main, have very little and live in very ramshackle houses. 

Here are my interpretations of Kate's selection of words for this month.  I hope I am thinking far enough outside the box.  They are either from my archives or taken from my latest photographs of what we have seen at Tembe Elephant Game Park in Natal. The only trouble is that the quality of pictures is never 100% as I have taken them with my iphone of the computer screen. 

Flat

My choice for this word describes the topography of the Springbok FLATS in the Limpopo region of northern South Africa.  For a while we lived in Zebedelia and our view was across this vast FLAT area. It is about 9 kms x 130 kms (5 x 80 miles) and approximately 1000 m (3300 feet) above sea level.  It is very fertile area with large mineral deposits of uranium and coal. 

Wheel

This picture  was taken in January 2010.  Fortunately not our car snowed in but one parked below our flat. I have been looking at all the snow in that set of pictures.  I think it was the most we have had since returning to England in 2000. 

Swing

Prior to the second world war my father had a small band and they played in hotels in and around London and Eastbourne, mainly for tea dances. His choice of music would have included SWING as that was becoming popular around that time.  

Photographs from that era show ladies in their frocks and hats and googling the details now shows tea dances are still going strong in Eastbourne today.

This picture is from an original postcard I have in my collection. It only shows four band players but he ended up with seven men in his group.

When the call came to enlist early in the war, my father and his band all joined up together.  He was turned down for the air force because he was slightly colourblind and the the army because of his flat feet. So he and his band were sent to work with ENSA, the Entertainment National Service Association.  They played for the troops all around Britain and also were used as decoy soldiers when ships were sailed north towards Norway to confuse the Germans.






Below is a picture of my father in uniform  with his SWING band.

Ragged 

I can't do Kate's picture hunt without using one of my photographs taken from the Africam.com site. This time it is of a very RAGGED ears of two elephants.  They get torn by thorn bushes, males fighting and general wear and tear.  It is a useful way of identifying different elephants as they do look rather similar.  The camera has been off line for four days.  We had been watching a terrific African thunderstorm on Monday evening when the camera went off line.  We found out it had been hit by lightening. As the game reserve is close to Mozambique it may well have been part of the horrific cyclone that hit that area.

                                                         

Pot  

Pot, a cooking container; a flower pot; the total sum of bets made on a round in poker and other card games; to plant in a flower pot or preserve food so google tells me.

Then there is the other kind, the one you smoke ... no not the illegal marijuana kind but my father's tobacco jar or pot.  He brought it back after a trip in 1949 to Nyasaland or present day Malawi. I love it. It still smells of his tobacco after 37 years.  I love its badly repaired knob on the lid and the fact it also contains things made by his grandchildren in the 70's when they were in junior school that my mother must have stored in there. I don't know what wood it is made from but it is very heavy.  Next to it is his pipe, tamper and penknife.  Memories.............

My Own Choice

Little Em outside our window asking to be hand fed nuts.  She gave us so much joy even coming in the front door if we ignored her.  Jak our cat did not mind her in the garden but objected strongly if she came into HIS house! 

Photo Scavenger Hunt for February 2019

Is it Winter or is it Spring?  It's hard to tell these days!  Whatever - it is the end of February and time to submit my photo selection which again this month is done after a frantic search last night as somehow this month time has flown past again.

I was tempted to submit one picture to cover all the words - think of it -  a picture of delicious Fish and Chips could cover Taste, Smell, Sight and even Touch...the feel of that first chip you always pick up and eat with your fingers and the Sound of an approving mmmm after the first bite!! Then My Own Choice could be the empty plate!  But then I thought no, that is not playing the game properly.  So here is my very hurried selection of pictures.

Taste

This picture was taken in fish restaurant in Seahouses where we always go when staying in Lowick, Northumberland.  I love the way it is always on a 'newspaper' page. 

 Whilst looking for the fish and chips picture I came across one taken a few years ago when we took Youngest grandson out to lunch at a local carvery. The meat was put on the plate and then we could help ourselves to the vegetables etc.  Note his choice, a sausage, three types of potatoes; chips, mash and roast ................. and not a speck of green on his plate!!

Smell

There are so many things I could have chosen, favourite perfume - old fashioned Tweed; cooking and baking smells; many flowers too. But something I love is the gentle, soft, summery scent of my peonies.

Sound

We always stay at the same cottage on a farm in Lowick, Northumberland when we go there on holiday.  A few years ago an artist was living in a lovely cottage also on the farm and  he had been allowed to put art works in and around a little forest the farm owner was developing.  One of the many unusual objects was this wind instrument.  It made a strange haunting sound as the wind blew through it and one could turn it and play the strings too.  Odd but fun.  The curious cows in the distance would nearly always walk over and stand by the fence watching us. 

In complete contrast here are some Hadeda (ha de da) Ibis, with the reputation of being the loudest birds in Africa.  They are named after their raucous voice which is heard when they are in flight. 

Touch

What is softer to touch than a puppy's ears?  This picture of Roxy was taken when she was a few months old with her favourite toy, the softest teddy you can imagine. It was her comfort, her cuddly, her very best thing.  He came from the local charity shop as did most of her and later Jess's toys. 

  

Sadly she and Jess have moved to Scotland with my son and his wife but to this day when I talk to my daughter-in-law I send ear ruffles to Roxy and Jess. 

                  

           ,

Sight/See 

We have our computer on most of the day and evening on the  Africam.com   site and have some fantastic photographs.  The quality is not always that good as I am using my iPhone to take pictures of the computer screen.

Below are a couple of giraffe who have started to be regulars at the Tembe pan.  They are very vulnerable when they are drinking and take a while to put their heads down.  They have large neck veins with a complex system of valves that stop the blood flowing backwards when it dips its head, which can be up to 20 feet lower than when upright.  (thanks to Google)

 Young males practicing fighting, slapping their muscular necks at each other. 

My Own Choice

My own choice has to be of these young male elephants having a mud bath in the huge muddy puddle that took them quite a few visits to the pan to dig it deep enough to be able to lie down. They seem to be having a wonderful time.  They cover themselves with mud as protection from ticks and flies. The antelope in the background are Impala and the large bird a Wooly Necked Stork. 

Here is a short video of them playing in the mud. The sheer delight they are having is so obvious.  Again the  antelope in the background are Impala and the large bird a Wooly Necked Stork.  Apologies for a brief appearance of my finger. Got over excited at seeing this action!!

PS.  Do view it on full screen xx

Photo scavenger hunt for January 2019

Greetings to all fellow followers of Kate's fun blog and best wishes for 2019.

Another year, another interesting selection of topics though my thinking cap  has been working overtime with month.

Metalic

I drew a blank on this one since first reading the list then as I was packing away the surplus Christmas decorations I saw this pile of tinsel and baubles lying on the table and thought.....metallic. We have downsized from a 6 ft to a table top tree and are sending the now unwanted - no that sounds a bit harsh describing our beloved decorations - unneeded decorations to the charity shop along with the large tree.

Made

I must admit, I have not really made anything much this year except some knitted woolly hats.  I was inspired by seeing a programme on our local news about an event in Manchester where knitted hats, gloves, scarves and socks etc were being given out to the homeless and rough sleepers.  I rather felt I could knit beanies (knitted hats for our non-UK bloggers) rather than sit and twiddle my thumbs as I do not  have a project on the go except a jersey that I am struggling to finish.  So that is what I have been doing.

The felted hare is something Kate made me ages ago and the Tomte (Swedish Gnome) she made me for Christmas.  I could not pack him away with the decorations.....he would have not liked that...so I've kept him out.  Now I have a problem...I put him on the bookcase and he jumped off overnight.  I tried another bookcase and he was lying on the floor in the morning.  Now I have foxed him, he sits in the middle of the dining room table with the hare. He can't jump off that!

Aged

What is aged, wine - got none like that, a gnarled old tree - none immediately round here, us - well there is a couple living here that qualify but that is not very original. So as this month we have been looking and photographing wild life roaming round a reserve in South Africa  (details at end of blog) I thought I would take inspiration from there.   We photographed many elephant but this gentleman is the oldest, known as a Big Tusker for obvious reasons.  There are not many left in the wild as they have sadly been poached for their ivory.  But here at the Tembe Elephant Game Reserve in Qua Zulu Natal there is this one. You can also see he is old  by the sunken areas above his eyes and rather bony back. 

Modern  

Following on this same theme here is a younger and more modern version of the old man above. Two females, each with a new baby and one has the previous offspring there too.  

My own choice

Again a selection of pictures taken of animals at various drinking pans since Christmas.  We are spending hours watching them.  The computer is on all day till bedtime and I am just using my iPhone camera to take pictures of the computer screen - it is quicker than taking pictures via their web site but the quality is not always that good.  

(Clockwise) Bush buck, African Eagle and herd of elephants leaving the water hole at Tembe.

Female and young Nyala  drinking at Tembe.
Pair of Giraffe at the cat-EYE pan (no idea why it is called or set out like that).
Wooly necked stork at Tembe and zebra drinking at Naledi pan.

You can even watch at night as they have lights and special cameras operating.  This is a African Spotted Genet hunting. They have the longest tail of all the cat family.   

Finally I just love this sign.  I must be honest and say I pinched it off their web page. 

If anyone feels like watching wild animals under a sunny South African sky this rather dreary time of the year this is the link............. Africam  

There are about five different watering holes to choose from but we have found Tembe the most successful.  O. River is the Olifants River.  

So far we have seen elephant, giraffe, zebra, lioness, leopard, a long tailed spotted genet, a single buffalo, hyena chasing a small herd of buck, baboons, vervet monkeys and hippo (the latter two at Olifants River),  antelope namely kudu, nyala, bush buck, and impala, social weavers with their hundreds of nests in one tree at Tembe, grey heron and a pair of woolly neck storks as well as other bird life.  It's worth a look, you may even get hooked as we are.  It's rather like having one of those original screensavers we all used to have!