April 2020 Photo Hunt

What another strange month this has been for all of us, I'm sure.  My husband B and I have not left our home since we last went shopping on Friday 13 March......ages ago.  So consequently all my pictures this month are from our favourite hobby, game watching on my computer. I've taken masses of photographs and now hope to select those that fit the headings.  So here goes.............

Positive about............. 

Sunrise heralding in a new day, fresh and full of hope.

Sunrise at Nkorho Game Reserve

Makes me smile .................

Animal babies can be as amusing as human babies and have just the same sort of fun.

Here is a baby elephant having a mud bath at Tau game reserve.

and this made me smile too............I can just imagine this baby warthog asking his mother whether he will grow up to look just as beautiful as her - talk about warts and all!! 

Warthogs in Kwa Marikane Game Reserve

Relaxing with .........

We watch Africam all day until I switch off at bedtime and even if game viewing is poor we can count of watching baboons all relaxed and sleeping in each others arms. Not sure if it is out of love or making sure they don't fall out of the huge wild fig trees that line the Sabie River where they sleep high up in the canopy where the branches of the trees are thinner so keeping them safe from leopards. 

Baboons at Olifants River 

Busy with....................

Doing guard duty at sunset.  They are always on the watch out for leopard who hunt at night as baboons are a favourite meal.  

Baboons at Kwa Maritane Game Reserve

Happiness is......................

The cool of the evening after a day in the hot African sun.  In the northern regions of South Africa daytime temperatures can easily reach anything between 30 - 35 deg and even hotter mid summer.

Sunset at cat-EYE water hole.

My Own Choice 

This peaceful picture was taken at Tau, a new addition to the selection of waterholes around northern South Africa.  There is such a variety of game there where you can see giraffe, (did you know a herd of giraffe is called a Tower - I didn't till recently), wildebeest or gnu at the water's edge, water buck in the water eating water lilies in spite of a resident crocodile, and assorted water birds.  We have also seen wild dogs, kudu, impala and hartebeest (or tsessebi) antelope, Cape buffalo,  masses of elephants more than we could count,  baboons, vervet monkeys, ostrich and many waterbirds such as spoon bill, cormorants, herons - grey and white, Hammerkop, shelducks, and so many others I can't think of them all.  Kwa Maritane has a resident hippo who usually spends the day in the water before going off to find some good grazing when its dark. 

and just to end the day another of my favourites..................

PS   ........In case anyone of you would like to watch live game water holes in this time of incarceration or would like to amuse children, the web site is Africam.com. That will take you to their home site where there are sample videos.  Click on Live Channels and you can see what is happening at the different sites, there are 8 to choose from. Or try this link. Africam Live Channels .  But be warned, as anyone who has been game watching will know, there are times when you see nothing at all. It may be too hot and the game is resting in the shade, or lions or leopards have been down for a drink and frightened off the game for a few hours. You need to  be patient.  If you do check out Africam you may find as much pleasure as we do. 

Now to check out what everyone else has done this month.  Cheers. 

March 2020 Photo Hunt.

What strange times we live in.  This time last month nobody had any idea how our lives would be changed. B and I are stuck at home, being well over 70, but Kate and her family are looking after us, doing our shopping and collecting medication.  What would we do without our family.  We have also been allocated a 'church buddy' who telephones to see how we are and if we need any help. 

Of course all this means no going out to look for photographs for the photo hunt, rather delving into my archives even more than usual.

Birthday

This picture was taken in Kate's studio.  She had made the gorgeous scones with jam and cream and fruit cake for B's birthday. It was lovely sitting in her sunny studio with the family enjoying his birthday tea. 

Jazzy

I was stuck for Jazzy ideas until we were wandering around B&M and saw this very snazzy, jazzy wall art.

    

Flag

My flag is actually a flag stone.  My son and his wife found this beautiful little bird sanctuary, the RSPB Black Devon Wetlands within walking distance of their home.  It was full of gorgeous different art projects.  There were a number of these flag stones all around, all different, all nature themed.  I must admit to not having taken this picture, it is one they sent of their walk. 

Three

When reading this prompt I immediately thought of these three terrapins sitting in the sun on the  back of a hippo at the Kwa Maritane game park in South Africa, one of those web cams I watch.  I take pictures of my computer screen with my smart phone so they are not always such a good quality.  This is something we have never seen before.

Just in case you are not sure if that really is a hippo and not a strange rock,  I have included a different picture showing one terrapin on a hippo which shows the hippo more clearly.

My own choice.

Mother's day was a strange one this year.  Like many of you bloggers we were 'grounded' and could not have our usual big cuddle from the family.  It was strange and sad.  There was a knock on our door and when we opened it there was this lovely bowl of primroses and cards along with a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, bread and sausages, shopping we had asked for. I wish I had taken a picture of them all on the door mat - it was the Worcestershire sauce standing next to the bowl of flowers that made me smile.

We did manage to chat to one another,  Kate's family stood outside the outer door to the passage of our flat and we stood at out own front door, well over 2 metres apart.  Better than nothing.  I do hope life normalises again.

That's all for now.  An odd collection of pictures but I must be honest, I left it too late, they need to go online tonight. 

Now off to see what all you other bloggers have done this month. 

February 2020 Photo Treasure Hunt

What an odd February it has been.  Terrible floods in parts of the country again, even our little neighbouring village had some panicky moments when the beck was inches from topping the edge.  Then last week we did not use our heating once,  now we have had snow and heavy mist - lost our view completely.   

This month Kate has given us an interesting selection of words.  Trying to think outside of the box is not always easy, but I have tried.

Hearts

We have two very special ladies in our family - our daughter and daughter-in-law and a few years ago I bought them each  a wooden heart each just to show them  how special they are.

Repair

No trouble finding a topic for this heading.   I have a lovely elephant that was originally my mothers' and it always stands on the bookcase next to an elephant picture I took when I was absolutely terrified and thought I'd better take a picture so anyone finding us would know what happened!!  (You can check that hairy story by clicking on 'elephant picture'. )

I was moving a book on the bookcase and another, heavy book slid down to fill the empty space and knocked into  my poor elephant breaking his ear. (Thanks Bill Bryson and your hard cover edition of 'A Short History of Everything'.)  I was so upset but thought I'd speak to our own 'Repair Shop' expert - Kate.  She said no problem and returned my elephant a few days later, as good as new!  

Repaired and as beautiful as before.  Thanks Katie.

Tail(s) 

Once upon a time there was a family of  Nyala who went for a drink at Tembe water hole in South Africa;  father, three wives and two children.  Someone sitting at her computer miles away saw them and could not resist taking a photograph of six tails, all in a line!!. 

Just thought I'd check how far away I actually was...... 8,696.9 miles via Trans-Sahara and it would take me 186 hours, non stop driving.  I've done it once as a child, don't think I'll do it again.  Think I'll stick to watching them from my computer!! 

You can check out that story here.  It is the 4th Prompt.  I'm not smart enough to just include the one story, sorry.  

Key

Sadly I don't have any lovely old keys to photograph, just the keys to our new (to us) Citroen C3 Picasso.  Keys don't look like keys any more.

Knot

I just had to use this giant knot in a macrame wall hanging I made nearly 40 years ago. (I had no idea it was that long ago till I just worked it out now).  B had been transferred and we moved into an enormous house that went with the position, with views that stretched for miles across the African hills and bush.  But we did not have enough pictures to hang on the vast walls.  As we never can agree what we like I decided to make huge macrame wall hangings using broom handles as the supporting pole.  They are long gone but I do have this one left.  

So here is my knot or knots as there are 84 strings knotted onto the centre ring alone, as well as the knots top and bottom.   This is one panel - there are four more! 

My Own Choice

We were shopping at a well known supermarket the other day and this caught my eye, looking most out of place.  It was in with the reduced price goods.  I was amused at the label on the back of the brush and pointed it out to B.  Mischievous as ever he finds an assistant and asks where they keep their coffins.  Poor chap looked most confused till B pointed this brush and dust pan out to  him .  He quickly removed it and when asked what 'coffins' were in shop speak he told us they were the baskets the bread was displayed in.  Mmmmm.  Not saying anything!!!

That's it for this month.  Now to go and check what everyone else has done with the prompts.

January 2020 Photo Treasure Hunt

Greetings and best wishes for 2020.  It may be a bit late when you read this but as we are expecting our nephew and his wife from Australia for a couple of days at the end of the month I thought I'd better be organised early.  We have not seen them since 1981 and even though I do follow her fb page  we will  have a lot of catching up to do.

I  have a file labelled 'poss.pix for t.hunt' and whenever I see something odd or different amongst my photographs I store it in there.  I have been looking for a particular photograph for ages and thought it was LOST  but while sorting through some old PRINTS  there it was. I had FOUND it.   I think you can see a pattern here - I've already used 3 of the prompts.  This made me decide to see if I could do them all legitimately using only one photograph.

MY OWN CHOICE  is this photograph of our daughter-in-law,  a geologist.  It was taken in 2001 at the Saxondrift mine near Kimberly in South Africa where they were prospecting for diamonds.

IT STARTS WITH AN 'M'......It is a Massive, Magnificient piece of Mining equipment.

IT ENDS WITH A 'T'.   It really is a gianT piece of equipmenT. The scoop  of the excavator takes about 10 tonnes at a time.

My son was only able to take this picture of his wife as it was the driver's LUNCH break. 

Now  you see I have used all the prompts on one picture and this is it.  I have also used this picture with a Lovely Lady in mind who has Threads through her Life.  She could do with a little digger like this to dig drains in her soggy field.

PS.  I may  have used that bit about LUNCH break just to fit the prompt.  It's not cheating if you own up to it.......is it?

Now off to check what lovely photographs others have used.

November 2019 Photo Treasure Hunt

It will teach me not to leave finding photographs to fit the titles till the last minute - my computer wont let me access my stored photographs.  No idea why.  So what you are seeing are odd pictures I put on my blog page earlier in the month.  I normally do this then delete the ones I don't want and put in the description.

So please forgive my limited entries this month.

Seasonal  View

Autumn colours in the grounds of Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire.

Oops

A few years ago we awoke one morning to loud knocking on our  front door  after a very windy night. It was our son.  He had taken his dogs out early and seen  glass on the ground glinting in the sunshine. Not only were many panes of glass shattered but all the bubble wrap I always line the greenhouse with to help keep it warm was all ripped and everything blown over.  We do live in a very windy area so we replaced the glass with PVC panels which still blow out, but don't break.

Sea Shore

A view across the deserted beach on the far side of Lindisfarne or Holy Island in Northumberland.

Striped

What has more stripes than a couple of zebras?  I love the way the little foal is almost camouflaged
standing beside her mother.

My own choice

Our grand dog Roxy doing what she loves - lying in the snow.  This was taken some years ago, now she is a rather rheumatic old lady who survived a major illness,

Well that's all I can manage this month.  I will have to sort out my computer problem - well at least try.  Now to see what everyone else has done. 

As this is our last photo hunt for the year I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and the best for the New Year.

October 2019 Photo Treasure Hunt

October: 'Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness.'  

My mother always quoted this line from 'To Autumn' by John Keats and for the first time today I looked up the poem to see if I had the quotation correct.  I am not a poetry lover but this one is too beautiful and describes this time of the year perfectly.  Now to find pictures to fit the words chosen by Kate and possibly of autumn too.

Umbrella

This picture was taken in our garden when Kate was about three years old. I have not looked at it close up for years and when I looked closely I saw it was one of my mothers, had red stripes and flowers on it.  Not thought of it for years.  This is what is special about using pictures from ones archives. Memories. 

This is my own much larger umbrella, one of those with hidden vents to prevent it turning inside out in the wind.  I used it one windy day this year and what did it do.....turned inside out!! Though to give it its due, it was exceptionally windy.

Wet

When we lived in South Africa we had a lovely ginger cat we called Thomas.  Like most cats in Southern Africa he wore a tick/flea collar under his regular one.  The trouble was he would not wash himself and as we had only one cat he did not have a companion to wash his ears and back of his neck. His hair under his collar was always full of red earth and the only way to get it out was to bath him; something he hated.  You can see from the photograph he is very wet and unhappy. Poor Thomas.

He was very tall, long legs and even his back seemed longer than usual. Impossible I know as he must have had the same number of vertebra as normal.  He could stretch up and try to steal food from your plate on the dining room table. 

Overflowing

I know that this should be a very autumnal/wet set of pictures but when I walked into the kitchen of a friend's house and saw her daughter trying to put glace icing on a still warm cake, the word that jumped out at me was 'overflowing'.  Now I think about it, it was a wet and windy day so maybe that could be the link with my watery pictures.

Splash

Here are two of my favourite pictures. the first is of 'Eldest Grandchild'  having fun on a very hot African day splashing in the birdbath.  The look on his face is priceless. 

              The second picture is another of my favourites.  It is of our son and son-in-law having fun in the swimming pool.  

My Own Choice

On a recent trip to Scotland to stay with our family there we went on our wedding anniversary  to see the Coffee Bothy just outside Stirling.  The car park was full of beautiful sculptures in wood and metal but what caught my eye was the cow on the roof.   What an advertisement for a coffee shop.  It was actually more than that, had beautiful homemade jams and a large selection of other gifts as well as beautiful wooden furniture and art.  We had a delicious lunch in one of the two restaurants.  It was so nice we went back again on the last day of our stay there.

Now to go and look at how everyone else has interpreted the selection of words this month.

September 2019 Photo Hunt

End of September already.  I can't believe how quickly the year is flying by.   Kate has given us a
really  autumnal selection of words this month.  Here are my selection.

 

Cosy.

My first thought for cosy was warm, glowing fires and as we don't have an open fire I remembered how our son and his wife's dogs, Jess and Roxy, took the warmest spot in front of the fire when we all went on holiday to Northumberland.

......................but then as I was searching for the photographs I came across this picture.  I had not even thought of this but when I saw it I thought.....yes...a cosy....a tea cosy.

Changing Foliage

We went for a lovely walk along the River Wharf  where it flows through the grounds of Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire.  The colours were amazing.  I had so many pictures to choose from but this one with the stark whiteness of the tree trunks against the autumnal colours caught my eye.

   

We were lucky there was a sculpture exhibition all along the walk and I just adored these birds on the rock.

Scarf

Oh which one to choose.  I have many.  My favourite light weight ones hang on shower curtain hooks on a coat hanger and I have a drawer full of warm ones.  When the weather turns cold I have two favourite ones, both warm and cuddly, one from each of our families for Christmas over the last two years.

Cobweb

Frost on a cobweb on a leylandii hedge.

My Own Choice

There is something special about receiving a unexpected present, especially when it is so beautifully hand made.  This one was gifted to me by Susan Smith another blogger and faithful follower of Kate's blog.  It is  beautiful.  Thank you Susan.

Now to go and see who else has posted this month.