October Photo Hunt 2020

It's a grey miserable day, rain falling, trees bare and it's getting dark earlier but looking through my old photographs should have cheered me up.  The only trouble is I have lost two thirds of my photographs going back to 2005 when moving them on to my new computer.  Don't know why or how.  I had fortunately previously put them all on a photostick gadget which sucks out every picture from your computer - that sounds fantastic till you realise that they are taken out of their files and put in a completely different order.  So now all my photographs numbered 1,2,3 etc are in that order - all the 1's then all the 2's etc, then any labelled (not many unfortunately) are in alphabetical order and finally all those downloaded from my camera with the cameras numbers  are in numerical order.  So nothing makes sense. I spent the whole afternoon going through them pulling out those I could possibly use here.  I might add that there are thousands of pictures, 1751 of them are duplicates!!!   So that is what I must do this winter, as well as sort out all the actual photographs from albums - got far too many.  So forgive my random selection.  I have not been out this month to take any pictures either. 

Sweet Treat

This is a cake and scones I made for Kate's birthday a couple of summers ago.  It was a lovely summer day and we sat out in the garden.   All that cream and the strawberries must surely qualify as a 'Sweet Treat'.

Starts with a 'W'

I was spoilt for choice here but eventually settled for this lovely one of dear Roxy, who is no longer with us, wearing my daughter-in-law's Wellies.

  

I just have to have one of my favourite wild animals - the comical Wart Hog. They are so ugly with their tusks and warts but somehow they always make me smile.  The family will run in single file following the male or female with their tails straight up in the air.  Like domestic pigs they love rolling in mud and root for their food whilst kneeling on their front legs. 

Reading now

My daily bible reading guide, together with an Alexander McCall Smith book.  I had the complete set - well thought I did, I then found this one I had not read.   The turquoise book underneath is being deliberately concealed as it is a present for daughter-in-law and  it has not  been put away with other Christmas presents as I keep dipping into it. 

Something Purple 

Again I was spoilt for choice.  Looking through my zillions of pictures I was surprised how many purple flowers I had photographed over the years and then I found this picture............. I couldn't not use it!!   He is one of those still life models that you can have your photograph taken with for a donation into his tin.   He did not move in all the time we watched him, just his eyes with an occasional blink.  This was taken in 'The Shambles' near the York Minster. 

This beautiful purple Streptocarpus was given to me by Eldest grandson years ago and each year gets better and better.  

My Own Choice

Some of you may remember Herbert the Hippo that lay in the water at Kwa Maritani Game Lodge.  I photographed him with terrapins on his back in the sun and Egyptian Geese sleeping on his back for safety at night.  Well this entry could well  be called -

An Eulogy to Herbert, the patient Hippo

Every night we would watch out for Herbert as he lay quietly in the water till about ten at night when he would lumber out of the water to go and graze.  (For all their being responsible for the most deaths by a animal of  people in Africa they are only grazers).   Then later he would be there again with his two geese standing in their place on his back.  By day the terrapins would scramble onto his back to sun themselves in safety.  He was a long time resident of that particular pan and just spent his days  quietly in retirement.

Then one morning recently I noticed a lot of comments on what had taken place overnight at Kwa and seemingly another male hippo had come into his territory and there had been a bitter fight to the end and the elderly Herbert was killed.   As the rangers always leave nature to get on naturally they just moved his carcass away from next to the lodges as they knew its remains would be eaten by scavengers and rot in the heat.   We miss seeing him each night just lying quietly in the water. 

Turning pink in the sun.  Hippos excrete a pink waxy substance to protect their skin in the heat. 

Lying in the cool water with his terrapin passengers!

Egyptian Geese keeping safe overnight away from the edge where predators may catch them. .

Now a more cheerful note on which to end up this month. 

This was taken in 2008 outside Abbots Harbour restaurant in East Martin Lancashire where we had stopped for tea with our son and daughter-in-law and their two dogs, Roxy and Jess.  We  had chosen an outside table when a couple came walking along with their dog and tied him up outside whilst they went in to order.  His earnest but resigned little face made us smile at the time but now it is most relevant........wearing a regulatory mask at a restaurant!!   Little did we know then!! 

That's all for this month.  Now off to see what everyone else has done.  Keep safe and well. xx

September 2020 Photo Hunt

I can't believe how time is flying.  Autumn is here, leaves are turning and even falling already.  Hope winter flies past as quickly and we can look forward to spring............


Words for this month are Seasonal, Favourite seat/place to sit, Comforting/cosy, Micro/mini//teeny/tiny/, Delightful/delighted and then My Own Choice.   Here is my selection.

Seasonal

Rain drops on the cotoneaster outside our kitchen window.

Favourite seat

We bought this bench about 18 years ago from a second hand shop.  The  rotten wood needed replacing so we changed it from a 3ft seat to a 6ft one.  The centre 'seat' was commandeered by our black cat Jak. As soon as we sat down on it he would jump between us.  We then started taking a few 'munchies' out with us if we were having a brew.  It soon became the teatime ritual.  Tea for B, coffee for me and munchies for Jak.   It is not a pretty bench in a shady part of the garden but to us it is special.  We still call it Jak's bench even though  he has sadly been long gone.

Comforting/cosy

I knitted a tea cosy for us then decided to make a larger one for the Community Centre large tea pot.  It was completely accidental that it was in Burnley Football Club colours. I never noticed it till someone pointed it out - Burnley is our nearest football team too!! 

I give up......each time I try to insert and centre the second tea cosy into the blog it disappears!  So take my word for it......It was huge!! 

Micro/mini/teeny/tiny

Look hard and you will see there are three elephants in this picture. Perhaps I should name them Mini, Teeny and Tiny.  The largest one is only a youngster  herself - sort of big sister looking after the next two of her mother's offspring.  The water is very low in the waterholes and dozens and dozens of elephants are heading to either Tau or Tembe  at Africam  in their hoards.  I have never seen such large herds.  The trouble is the big elephants trample the water's edge to soft mud.  Now instead of bathing in the water they are rolling in the mud.  It does help keep off the biting flies.

My Own Choice

My own choice this month is again from Africam web page.   Some of you may remember the hippo that would lie in the water with terrapins on his back.  Well they have been evicted by the new tenants - a pair of Egyptian Geese.  They are there nearly all night only getting off when the hippo goes out of the water to graze.  

Now off to see other's interpretation of Kate's choice of words.  Take care everyone and keep safe during these trying times.   

August 2020 Photo Hunt

August, where has this strange year gone?  We've been out a bit more this month but still very cautiously.  Only go where we feel we are safe or within our family bubbles.

List for this month had me searching through the archives again.  Well,  here goes....

MOVING

With B being in government service we were transferred round Rhodesia - then in South Africa when he was in hospital management we were moved around the country as we did not have school children to take into account.  So whenever there were problems with striking nursing staff off we went again as B was very good at sorting out Union problems.   But in all those moves, 30+ , we never took photographs.  Maybe because in those days films had to be developed, no free digital pictures like today and we did not have such convenient camera phones.  So I literally had two photographs which fortunately fitted the bill.  But as both had Kate and G in them, I asked and was given permission to use them.

Here we are on the move from Hemel Hempsted to Lancashire prior to returning to South Africa in l990.  I only took the pictures because of the name of the removal firm!!

BOXES

and lots of them...................

Beginning with D .............

D stands for delicious.

B and I decided to take advantage of the "Eat out to help our" scheme.  For those non British bloggers the UK government wanted to encourage people to go out to eat to help get the restaurants back on their feet again after lockdown.  Each person got a 50% discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in participating establishments to a maximum of £10 discount per person. So you only paid for anything over £10. What a bargain.  So we went to a lovely pub on the nearby canal and had a steak.   Looks good, doesn't it?

BREAKFAST

Lions sleeping off their breakfast after an overnight kill.  Look at the size of the male's feet and head, let alone his enormous belly!!

MAKING

I must be honest, I have done no craft, knitting or crochet since lockdown started.  I have to resist baking as it is only B and I to eat it and that is not a good idea!! So I was wondering what on earth I could use for this prompt.  Than as I was cooking supper I had a brainwave - photograph what I was 'making'.  

So here is our supper, Salad Nicoise using Yellow Fin Tuna steaks.  Not used them before. They were delicious.  I had marinated them in honey and soy sauce as I know tuna can be a bit dry. We did enjoy our meal.

MY OWN CHOICE 

You may remember the view of this dam from the picture of  white  rhinos having a drink at Kwa Maritane  in my  June blog.     A few nights ago we were checking all the Africam.com  channels LINK and to our horror saw this picture of an enormous fire coming down the hills behind the dam.

Next morning when I checked the site you could see it was still burning.

But by evening it had not only flared up again but moved round towards the lodges.

You can see the lights of the lodges.

Getting closer. All the small fires are fallen trees still burning. 

Thankfully by morning it was under control but the burnt grass in the field in front of the lodges show how close it had been the night before. 

For new readers of Kate's monthly photo hunt, my husband and I keep an eye on the  Africam.com site most evenings while watching TV and when the computer is not being used during the day.   I take photographs of the screen with my smart phone of all the different animals to be seen at any of the eight cameras set up at different game reserves around South Africa.  Nearly as good as being there and a reminder of the many happy days we actually were able to do that. 

Now off to see how the other bloggers have interpreted the prompts.  

July 2020 Photo Treasure Hunt

Well, here we are, still living under partial lock down.  We thankfully have been able to get out to early morning shopping for the over 70's at a well know supermarket for a few things.  It relieved Kate of some of our shopping and then the last two weeks we have been to our local German supermarket to do our bulk shopping for ourselves. Thought we might as well get out before the next lockdown!! What strange times we live in.  

List for this month was not easy for me.  I have just transferred everything from my old computer to a mini stack but in doing so I have completely muddled up, copied twice, lost then found my vast collection of photographs going back to 2004.  There are so many duplicates to delete.  But in doing so I have mislaid/lost/deleted my selected pictures for this month.  So today I spent the morning searching for them again.  I am so used to having our son living close by and he would always do any technical stuff for me but he now lives in Scotland.  This time he tried to help using Skype to share screens but found it frustrating as it was slow - him telling me what to do.  Then I remembered a friend in South Africa telling me about Teamviewer where you get a month's free use of their programme.  It enabled David to take over my computer completely. I just watched as the cursor darted around.  Brilliant.

So here are a my selection for this month.  Something purple, Shades of green, Starts with F, Still life, Snapped at this moment..  Just noticed - all prompts start with an 'S'.  A coincidence maybe??

Something Purple

All from our garden a few years ago.  This year we have had too much wind and the garden is not very happy.  (nor am I)

Shades of Green

I could't decide which so you get three. The first is the Black Devon River in Alloa where our son and daughter-in-law walk their yellow labrador Jess.    A few weeks ago a man stopped his car to ask them if they knew that the sewerage works higher up had burst its pipe a couple of weeks back. and everything was flowing into the Black Devon.  Jess was hurriedly taken home and bathed, and bathed and now they walk elsewhere!!  In spite of this  being a proper marked path the council had not put up notices here. 

This was taken years ago on a walk  with the family. I love the sunlight shining through the trees.

I  took this picture of the water wheel at Rutter Falls in the Eden Valley near Appleby. I love all the different shades of green.   The white building housed a lovely tea room but today it seems to be a holiday cottage  like the wheel house building. Its a shame, the scones were to die for!!! 

Still Life   ..............without  onions!!! 

 

All my teenage years (a very long time ago) my parents had a picture on the dining room wall, opposite where I sat.  It was a print of  Paul Cezanne's  'Still Life with Onions'.  Since then I only have to hear the words 'Still life' and in my mind I continue....with Onions!!! 

But not having any lovely onions, or antique wine bottle I will have to use something else for this prompt.

So here is my still life............with scones!!      We  had tea at the beautiful Rutter Falls tea room and were served the most de-lish-ous scones.  The lady told me she uses cream not milk and when rubbing in the butter she lifts the mixture very high to make the scones extra light. 

Starts with an 'F'

Again, I could not decide so you get two pictures beginning with 'F'.

Footsteps .......there and back again.  Taken on Holy Island, Lindesfarne in Northumberland a few years back.  I wonder who made them.  Not us. 

The picture of these fossils was taken not far from Lindesfarne at a beach near Berwick-on-Tweed.  Scremeston beach is well known for its fossils in the rocks at low tide and found in the rocks further back among the rocks.  (Compare the size with a £1 coin.)  We love going there, usually just a few dog walkers and a large empty beach.

Snapped at this moment.....

I'd been working at my desk and stopped for lunch and as usual put Africam on screen, this time Rosie's Pan.  As I opened up there was this herd of  female elephants with their babies.  So out came the camera ......

My Own Choice

In my big computer move I came across all sorts of photographs, this being one.  It is of my mother standing in front of a giant Baobab tree in Northern Transvaal, or Limpopo Province as it is now known, in South Africa in about 1995.   The baobab has huge seed pods which the local children sell to passing tourists.  They were the original source of Cream of Tartar. Large trees can contain up to 120,00 litres of water in their fibrous hollow trunks which is why elephants and warthogs in particular chew on the bark in times of drought.  

The Baobab is also called the upside-down-tree because when bare of leaves the Baobab looks like roots sticking up in the air as if planted upside down.  Legend holds that god Thora took a dislike to the Baobab growing his garden, so he threw it out over the wall of Paradise on to Earth below and although the tree landed upside down it continued to grow. Try this link for some beautiful photographs and  Baobab facts 

That's all for this month. Off to see what others have done.  Take care and keep safe all of you.

June 2020 Photography Hunt

It's June and at the moment sweltering hot.  Today is said to be the hottest day of the year.  Even though I lived in Africa for 55 years, I am melting!! I have acclimatised to living in the UK. 

Kate has selected some very good words for June, very suitable for this month.  As usual I have not noticed the date and am hurriedly assembling the pictures I had mentally planned to  use. 

My Garden

This panoramic picture was taken a few years ago, before the enormous Leylandii trees were cut down completely changing the look of our garden.  But this is what I prefer to remember it as looking like.  This is all done in pots on the end of the driveway in the block of flats where we live. (Click on picture to expand to full size)

Flowers

A week ago, out of the blue, I received a delivery of cut flowers.   I had no idea who had sent it, in fact I double checked the box in case I had opened something for our neighbour.  From the original box it was delivered in to the unpacking of the flowers I was full of amazement.  The pretty outer box contained wrapped flowers with a pink ribbon and sticker saying  shh...your flowers are sleeping.  Then each flower was carefully enclosed in stretchy netting.  There was a booklet naming all the flowers and giving arranging suggestions.   And then when I saw who the card from I realised it was from a very special person.....................thank you.

My peony bush was in flower, never gets many blooms so they are special to me.  This year we were having very windy and wet days so I thought I'd rather cut them and enjoy them inside.  I added them to my beautiful vase of flowers which had started to open up and were so beautiful.  Here they are together.

Sunset

Our lounge has a large window facing towards the most beautiful sunsets.  They vary from month to month,  I used to photograph them but now have so many I have not taken pictures for a few years.  I did not realise that until I searched through my archives to find one taken in June.  I must remedy that. Never take beauty like that for granted. 

Something Wild

I can't have a post without one of my photographs from the game parks in South Africa.  As you all know, rhinos are protected as they are being poached almost to extinction.  But they roam free in these game reserves and are not worried about the cameras on the water holes.  The rangers on the camera do not allow them to be seen and the minute one appears the camera is whipped away and we get to see sky, trees, anything while they focus their cameras elsewhere.  Because we watch late at night we are occasionally lucky enough to see rhinos going to the water for a drink as the person on camera duty may not be so alert.  So a couple of nights ago I was closing down my computer and just checked all sites,  and  there were two rhino having a drink.  I grabbed my camera and took a photograph of my computer screen.. There is a time difference between us and South Africa and I think the cameraman must have dozed off as we had a long privileged view of these two precious animals.  As they turned to walk away we could see their horns had been sawed off  for their safety.  Sorry it is not such a good picture but they are so special, I had to share.

My own choice

Back in March I ordered some bedding plants on line from a well know supplier as we did not think we would be able to buy as usual.  The seeds I had ordered at the same time came promptly and I knew I would have to wait for plants as they always arrive at the correct time for planting.  I duly received notification mid May saying they had been dispatched and would be delivered within 48 hours.  But they never arrived.  I contacted the company only to receive an automated email - not very satisfactory.  But last week, after I had given up all  hope, I received an email saying they would be fulfilling my order or would reimburse me.  Then on Monday I was notified that my plants had been dispatched and they arrived yesterday.  I am so pleased - now to find somewhere to plant 60 assorted plants as I have planted up nasturtiums and some petunias eldest grandson and his girlfriend found for me at Aldi as I needed to fill all the empty pots!!. 

Now to go and check on everyone else's entries.  Keep well, keep safe and don't melt in this heat.

May 2020 Photo Hunt

Another strange month.  Fortunately we have had wonderful weather making it easy to be out in the garden. But I feel for those people who live in flats or houses with no garden.  We live near an A road and it has been wonderful having very little traffic.  Makes the air feel cleaner and fresher and the birdsong seems louder all around us. We usually have a criss cross pattern of contrails above us in the sky but now most days we have only seen one or two.  No wonder the air is cleaner and the sky a deeper blue.

I have drawn my pictures from my archives again as we have been at home now for 9 weeks. 

Circle

I have had this picture for years waiting for the right time to use it and at last I can.   I am not telling what the picture is, see if you can guess. 

Triangle

Many shapes can be found in nature and here is a good example.  With a bit of imagination the stripes on the shoulder of this zebra form a triangle.

and how about the giraffe's necks and legs, more triangles.

                                and here is a genuine triangle and a rectangle together in this sign.

Splat!! 

            Eldest grandson having wonderful fun in our bird bath in Kiepersol, South Africa in 2000. 

My Own Choice

Continuing with the theme of shapes I have another circle.  This was Ben our German Shepherd in South Africa.  He excelled at obedience and agility. Here he is framed by one of the agility hoops. 

Finally, the answer to my question, what is the subject of this photograph?

It happened completely by accident.  I was making a Chinese recipe and had to mix together oil and soy sauce and this is what happened before I mixed them together.  The liquid is in a stainless steel bowl.  Did you  guess it correctly?

Now off to see what everyone else has done this month.  Enjoy the good weather, long may it last.  Keep well and stay safe.