Jack’s Walk

 

Bubbles trapped in melting ice, ©voyager, all rights reserved

It’s been above zero for a day or two and most of our snow has vanished. In its place we have soggy ground, slush, mush and mud. Lots of mud. Jack didn’t mind. He was so happy just being outside again that I didn’t want to limit his fun, so I let him get dirty. His wound has healed and water is cheap and we keep a stack of “dog towels” for just such an occasion. Sometimes a dog just needs to be a dog. I remember once taking my other lab Lucy, who died last year, to the dog park. There was a small white poodle there who clicked with Lucy and the two dogs romped and played right through a mud puddle. The poodles owner stormed over to me quite angry that my dog had gotten her dog dirty. I laughed and said something about how much fun the dogs had while getting dirty and that made her even angrier. I finally told her that she shouldn’t bring her dog to the off-leash park again with such a bad attitude. She bent down to the dog and made quite a show about not wanting to touch the ick while she attached his leash. Her face was all screwed up and she was breathing noisily and heavily with punctuated snorts. Finally, mumbling not quite under her breath, she and her dog walked away and got into a small white car. Lucy and I both had a laugh. This is one of my favourite stories and it’s possible that I’ve already told it. After some 200+ Jack’s Walk it’s getting hard to remember. If it is a repeat, I’m sorry. The photo is new, though. Happy Friday, everyone.

Betty Boob

I’m quite used to seeing beautiful flowers in our inbox from DavidinOz so this not-floral submission by him caught me by surprise and made me smile out loud.  Thanks, David.

In addition to roses, David Ruston also collected cars. Here are a couple of oddities.

The pink tractor, Betty Boobs, is used at functions / events raising money for breast cancer research and support.

The Yella Fella is a Lightburn Zeta, designed and build in Adelaide by a company best known for washing machines and cement mixers. Fewer than 400 were sold as it hist the market at the same time the Morris Mini arrived in Australia and mini mania took hold.

Cheers, David

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

Mushroom Hunting – Part 2

Yesterday we saw Part 1 of Nightjar’s quest to find mushrooms as a Tree Tuesday post. Today, the mushrooms have been found and Nightjar’s photos of them are so wonderfully evocative that I can almost smell that earthy forest scent.

... and here are the mushrooms! The yellow Tricholoma equestre were the ones we were searching for, and we did find enough for a meal. And then there were some pretty ones of unknown edibility (to us). There were more, but the mosquitoes make photography a very difficult task.

Thanks for braving the mosquitoes to get these photos, Nightjar, and thanks for sharing.

 

1. A mushroom-promising sight. © Nightjar, all rights reserved

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Roses for Monday

Today we have one last look at Ruston’s Roses courtesy of DavidinOz. It’s been a real treat for me to see such fresh, lush roses at this time of year. Although this is the last post about Ruston’s, David has sent us a few more flower photos that we’ll be posting later in the week. I guarantee they’ll chase away the winter blues for at least a moment or two, so please check back.

Thanks David.

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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Landsknecht and Death

I was looking for inspiration for a dagger&sword project for next year, and during my web crawl I found this image. And I was immediately reminded of Caine and the “Dance with Death”series she posted this year. I think she would love it.

I would like to provide you with the translation of the german text, but I cannot read the font no matter what so I cannot even reliably transcribe the original – I understand about a half. On top of it I suspect it is poetry and that gives me trouble even in my native language, let alone in archaic German.

Strauch, Wolfgang: Landsknecht und Tod

Source -click-

Let’s end the week with roses

These bright, cheerful photos are from Ruston’s Roses courtesy of DavidinOz. This area of the gardens looks perfectly set to host a wedding. The path is lined with pure, white roses and at its end is a lush canopy of deep red roses signifying love. David didn’t specify, but I think Ruston’s must host a few weddings here. I was most delighted by the wandering red rose who has traveled far from home alone. Perhaps it was for love.

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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A Spider Drops in to Visit

At some point Affinity became the go-to place for spiders and Nightjar continues this tradition with a wonderful set of photos taken at dusk.

I’ve noticed a lack of spiders on Affinity lately and since there is one currently living right in front of my bedroom window I thought I would share. I’ve only seen it after sunset, I think it’s one of those spiders that only sit in the middle of the web at night. I got home late today, saw it and went inside to grab the camera to get some silhouette shots against the evening sky, but the light faded too quickly and I had to resort to using the flash for a few more photos. The flash really brings out all those hairy and spidery details, making the last photos particularly unsafe for arachnophobes I think.

All photos are posted under the fold.

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Tree Tuesday

 

This week we have an incredible tree from Down Under that’s full of big, bright, colourful flowers, courtesy of DavidinOz.

The first 3 are of a huge Bottle Brush tree, an Australian native that has been exported to other climes.Look closely in 2 & 3 and you will see bees had at work.

4 & 5 are of a different tree, but all the better to see why they are named …. Bottle Brush.

Cheers, David

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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A Painting

Sorry for being so quiet lately. I could explain, but there is no point to it. Sometimes I genuinely do not have the time, but mostly I just cannot muster the strength. Inspiration got away with the sun.

So today for lack of better material, here is one of my paintings from way back when I still had the strength to actually do something and managed to follow through. It does not have a name (none of my paintings has) because I do not like to prompt people what they are supposed to see and how to interpret it.

Distemper on HDF coated with bone-glue based gesso, lacquered, 610×485 mm.

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

Let’s Start the Week with Roses

More photos of the famous Ruston Roses courtesy of DavidinOz.  The pink roses at the end look so fresh and fragrant that I wish there was “smell-o-vision.”

Some photos showing the scale of the garden at Ruston’s Roses. You can also see the potential if the new owners succeed.

 

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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David Ruston’s Roses

From Lofty, the story of the man behind Australia’s famous Ruston’s Roses.

This is a statue of David Ruston in a park in Renmark, a tribute to the man and his contribution.

… Ruston’s Roses in Renmark, once Australia’s biggest rose garden. David Ruston began working here at 18, and developed a life long passion for roses. He became world renowned, and was for a time President of the World Federation of Rose Societies.  He built his father’s original collection of 500 rose bushes in to over 50,000 bushes. But he didn’t just grow roses, he was also an expert floral arranger.

Sadly, his health declined, as did the gardens, although they are still open to the public and with new ownership I hope the garden will return to its previous splendor and supply roses to the world once again.  The garden currently has a contract to supply rose petals to the Nineteenth Street Distillery in Renmark for use in their Gin.

David had a fall a year ago, and although he was present for the opening of the Renmark Rose Festival he was unable to participate.

I like the use of hard steel to display a man of flowers.

©David Brindley, all rights reserved

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