These stunning photos are from DavidinOz and they were taken along the Murray River in Swan Hill, Victoria. David says he was fortunate to be there at the “golden hour” and I have to agree. The light is golden and tinged with just a smidge of rose. The exposed tree roots alone make for dramatic photos, but combined with that light they become something special. Thanks for sharing, David.
©David Brindly, all rights reserved
©David Brindly, all rights reserved
©David Brindly, all rights reserved
©voyager, all rights reserved
It seems that winter wants to stick around for a bit. Oh joy.
Kestrel has sent us the second part of her series and things are definitely happening.
In our last installment, I started to cut out a piece of metal so I could make something out of it. And at last, the first side is cut!
©kestrel, all rights reserved
From Raucous Indignation, a curious turtle.
@Raucous Indignation
I forgot two pictures of the last series that are definitely not autumn gloomy.
No, I can’t hold a candle to rq’s talent in shooting against the sun.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
I keep being confused by the pic myself, even though I shot it. Let#s see how you lot do.
©Giliell, all rights reserved
From Avalus, information about a growing trend and a warning about climate change.
Maybe a bit macabre, so a foreword.
Graveyards, Mushrooms and climate change, perhaps.
In Germany there is a growing trend to be buried in a “Ruheforst”, (resting or still forest) instead of a usual graveyard. There your cremated remains get buried in a bio-degradable urn next to a tree of your choosing. There are no graves, no large markerstones, just an open, tended-to forest with many small paths and plaques on some trees. Some persons I know rest in such a place in the palatinate forest near the town Bad Dürkheim, so our family visits them every so often. Now to the bit macabre bit: It’s also a prime mushroom hunting place with usually plenty of different bolete species and other edibles. One of my grandmothers is sure, the ‘shrooms are nourished by the dead and refuses to eat any. I think they are so plentiful because by opening the forest, the trees left standing are getting more light and nutrients and so can give more of these nutrients to their mushroom-symbionts.
This year however, there were hardly any mushrooms of any kind there. The ground was very dry and most of the threes had small leaves. Instead, signs warning of forest fires were a common sight.
I did not pick up any of the edible ‘shrooms I found, but only took photos.
I have no idea, but I admired its roundness. ©Avalus, all rights reserved
I’ve been taking up daily walks whenever possible. Because fresh air is good and the outdoors is free and also I have taken up Pokémon Go again. This even means that sometimes the kids will come with me, but most of the time I am alone and take the camera with me.
I usually take the wrong lens.
This time I had the wide angle and the small tele (55-250 mm) and kept changing.
One of the neighbourhood kitties
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Da pond.
Not that impressive at 55mm
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Wide angle: the creek
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
I basically dangled the camera over the creek here.
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Change of lens. I found my long tailed tits. I hope they will return to the garden soon.
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Fairy lace
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Thistle
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Droplets
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
©Giliell, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Or a pair of great tits? Well, both. Somehow this year we do not have many visitors to the feeder yet. Maybe it is due to the very warm weather, the birds have mostly no need for supplementary feeding yet. So it is just tits.
©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Under the category of Be Careful What You Wish For, yesterday’s November blues have turned into today’s November whites. It is very pretty if you look past the mush on the road, and I do like the way the trees look with a blanket of snow, but thundering Jesus it’s made the walking hard. Most of the sidewalks haven’t been shoveled and my winter muscles for tramping are way out of shape. Suddenly it’s the season of boots and bundling up, of wiping Jack’s feet and checking them for salt and of doing the slip and slide on snowy sidewalks and wet floors. It’s also HappyJack™ season and that’s just enough to make it all tolerable.
Frosting, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Courtesy of Avalus we have a rabble of bumblebees to help chase the November blues away.
All from the first week of October.
The bumblebee on my hand was nice. It was a cold morning and she just buzzed to me, sat down on my hand and seemed to enjoy the heat. My hand hat just been holding a tea mug, so it was extra warm. I improvised some sugarwater of which she drank a drop from my hand and then after about two minutes flew away again.
I love these fuzzy critters.
I love them too, Avalus and it must have been wondrous to have one sit and your hand and stay for so long. Thanks for sharing.
octobees, ©Avalus, all rights reserved
Some lovely seagulls from Iceswimmer
@Iceswimmer
@Iceswimmer
@Iceswimmer
@Iceswimmer
Watching the squirrels scurry, ©voyager, all rights reserved
There’s not a trace of snow left in town, but out in the country we saw highlights of white persisting in pockets here and there in the fields. In the forest, the fallen branches and trees were frosted like cupcakes and the leaves on the ground were wet and nearly silent as we padded along. All but a very few leaves are down now and the trees stand like scratchy wire sculptures against a foreboding gray and gloomy sky. Late autumn has arrived and with it has also come the November blahs and blues. Even Jack seemed tinged with ennui today.
We’ve received a wonderful surprise from kestrel. She’s making magic and has decided to let us watch the show. This is part 1 of what may be about 5 parts and I am just as in the dark as you about what’s coming next. Kestrel will reveal all one post at a time so make sure to tune in for all the updates. That’s just the way magic should be, full of anticipation and surprises. And now… heeere’s kestrel!
A while back, Marcus posted about some mokume gane he had made, and the exciting adventures he had making it. https://freethoughtblogs.com/stderr/2018/03/27/mokume-gane/ I know it’s properly called mokume gane, but I like to think of it as MarcusMetal. (No doubt that will trademarked soon.) Much to my surprise, it arrived at my house early one morning. I immediately leaped up to polish part of it – away from the coffee, mind you – because I knew it was going to be very beautiful and I could not wait to see it. If you look carefully, you can see a pattern of swirls of copper against the nickel in the part that I polished. When I am done and I finish a piece, I will put a patina on the metal that will make the pattern show up in greater contrast.
©kestrel, all rights reserved