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! 

November 2018 photo scavenger hunt

I can't believe it is the end of November and Christmas is just a few weeks away.  Where has the year gone?  Once again Kate has set us an interesting set of words for our headings.  I hope to be able to think outside the proverbial box with most of them.

Post box

In most towns in South Africa there is no postal delivery, all mail goes to your 'P.O.Box' at your nearest post office.  In the background you can see some blue private post boxes. We each had our own keys and could collect post at our leisure.  But posting mail at Hazyview Post Office where we lived, is another thing. This picture was sent to me by friends in South Africa showing the post box - minus door!  One wonders why; did someone want to retrieve something they had posted, was a thief at work - the mind boggles!!

Decay

Seems like this decayed plank will need replacing.  A job for a warmer day perhaps.

Secondhand

Second-hand or second hand - it all depends on the presence or absence of a hyphen and interpretation.  This clock is definitely not second-hand , we bought it new - but it does have a second hand.  It is the most brilliant kitchen clock.  It is radio controlled so always correct and it even changed when the clocks went back, all by itself.  We were most impressed!

Strand

A photograph immediately came to mind when I read this word and when I asked B his reply was the same.  Not a strand of hair, or wool, but Bloubergstrand in the Cape or just the Strand as we knew it.  I'm sure you are all familiar with the famous view of Table Mountain, with or without its tablecloth on top but what you may not know the picture is it is always taken from round the other side of Table Bay at Bloubergstrand (which translates to Blue Mountain Beach named after nearby Blue Mountain).  When we used to visit the Cape where my parents were living we loved going to the beach there.  There was a little village with just a few houses.  Now it is a huge sprawling suburb of Cape Town.

Fold 

I don't have picture of a sheep fold, or folding paper to hand but I did find this example of a fold of flab in my collection.  It was taken in a Private Game Reserve outside Amanzimtoti in Kwa Zulu Natal some years ago.  This orangutan was part of a breeding project which explains why he was so far from his home in Borneo.  But you must admit......it is a fabulous example of a fold!!  

My Own Choice

My scanner is suddenly not talking to my computer! Not sure why.  So I have had to use a photograph which I fortunately have on the PC sent to me by my friend in South Africa, so I am afraid it is two cheats this month, using my friend's photographs.  It is taken in one of the game parks in Northern Province.  What luck finding such a large family of lions just lying in the road.  

  As this is the last monthly scavenger hunt this year I would like to wish all of you a very Happy  Christmas and peaceful 2019.

                                                 

                                                         

October Photo Scavenger Hunt

Once again Kate has set a random selection of words.  It took me a while this month to decide which photographs to select and then I completely forgot to do it.  Life took over.  Then yesterday Lovely Lady reminded me they should be posted today.  Panic. So here is my take on Kate's words - rather hurriedly done.
Kate has been too busy to post this month.  If you could see the work she has achieved together with a couple of friends to get the Trawden Artists and Makers village art festival up and running then I know you will forgive her.  You can check out what she is up to here   TAM-trawden-artists-makers- 2018 and see some of the work on display this weekend.

Print

Like most proud grandparent I keep a few 'art' works done by the grandchildren.  I think these two pictures, though I am sure were done with the help of their mother, fit the heading.

The double print was done by eldest who is now 20 and doing his 3rd year at Lancaster University and the single print is done by youngest. now 18, who has finished school and has started an apprenticeship.  

                    

Spot

Near where we lived in Mpumulunga, Northern Province in South Africa is a Cheetah rescue centre where they take in Cheetahs that have been raised as pets or injured and rehabilitate them so they can return to the wild where they belong.  There were a couple of Cheetahs who had been raised as pets and been used in advertising alongside beautiful models.  They were so tame they could not return to the wild so lived in this enormous enclosure but preferred to stay near where the visitors entered the centre.  That explains why my photograph of a beautiful spotted cheetah was taken through a wire fence.  She just sat there purring just like a contented domestic cat but what a purr.  It was so loud

    .

Boundaries

Not much to say about this sign except it was taken on the road north of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland. 

     

Flame 

The Flame Lily (Gloriosa Superba) is the national flower of Zimbabwe where it is a protected plant.  A diamond broach in the shape of a Flame Lily was a gift from Southern Rhodesia (modern day Zimbabwe) to the Queen on a visit in 1947 while she was still the crown princess.

When the rainy season started these beautiful flowers would come into bloom.  We used to pick a vaseful of them but as so often happens, people stripped the countryside to sell the flowers and so they became a protected species. 

You can see why they are called 'Flame Lilies'.

Leaves

Ever tried making roses from the gorgeously coloured autumn leaves?  Kate and I made some years ago and some of them are still going strong.  I get them out each Christmas and use them in my indoor Christmas Wreath which I make using as many dried things as I can as the central heating kills it off otherwise. 

The heading 'leaves' inspired me to go and find some fresh leaves and made some again for this post.  Trouble was, I don't have the right kind of trees here any more so we dashed off to Aldi where there are sycamore trees but the winds had blown most of the leaves off.  I did bring some home but they were not supple enough.  So I have resorted to using the lovely yellowing leaves of my climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris) which were really on the small side.  If you can still find some leaves where you are they are fun to make. 

Selection of rather small leaves

Fold in half

Roll up small leaf for centre and wrap first leaf around it, outer corners folded across from each side. 

Give a half turn and fold another leaf around first 'petal'.  Continue in this way until a rose bud forms.  This is easier with larger leaves. Holding it firmly at the base, wrap some florists' tape around the stems of the leaves. 

Now you have seen how easy it is, check out this site diy-maple-leaf-roses-6-easy-steps

My Own Choice

As it is the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI at the moment I thought I put in a special mention of B's grandfather who was killed in Belgium where he was a tunneller with the Canadian Engineers.

We recently went to see the war memorial in Dunfermline, Scotland,  his home town, where his name is listed.  There we saw these lovely memorial benches that were all around the area.