Sunday Selections #406

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?  I am continuing to show you some of what Dinahmow and I did during her visit.

A few more shots from the zoo.

The tiger was very dainty in the way she took pieces of meat from the tongs.  Which I expect means she wasn't hungry.

A dingo.  Zoo brother sometimes 'has' to walk dingo pups.  Goodness how he suffers.  I do wonder how many pure-bred dingoes are left.  Not many I suspect.

A Siamang Gibbon

All of the zebras were determinedly putting their best side forward.  I ONLY got butt shots.

 A Cape Barren Goose.  Amazingly early explorers apparently thought they were the young of our black swans.

An African painted dog.  I was fascinated to learn (on an earlier zoo visit) just how intricate their social structure is.  They greet each other at the start of a day and mourn their dead among other things.

And then to snippets from Dinahmow's last day.  I adore our National Library and took her there to see the impressive lead-light windows in the foyer.

And then we got side-tracked by the sculptures outside...

 

This was a new sculpture (and only there on a temporary basis).  It is by Suzie Bleach and Andrew Townsend and called Camouflage.   It is described as the life-size portrait of a horse - wearing the mask of a bull.  

Intriguing.

Believe it or not, these photos are the same sculpture taken from different angles.  Einstein as the dove of peace.  They are on one side of our interactive Science Museum - Questacon.

The other sculptures are arranged on the steps to the entrance to Questacon.  I loved the birds perching on Darwin's head and shoulders. 

It really was a delightful visit and as I have said before, she is welcome to return.  I am confident that my well known boring city will find things to interest her.  

I am less chipmunk like and in recovery mode.  Thank you for your supportive words.

Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Computer issues led her to bow out for a while.  The meme was too much fun to let go, and now Words for Wednesday is provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast. 

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme, which includes cheering on the other participants.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

The prompts will be here this month.
 
This week's prompts are:

1. peel
2. justify
3. wall
4. employee
5. temperature
6. roll

And/or

1. volume
2. revenge
3. fraud
4. explain
5. weak
6. vague

Have fun.

Where are the Words for Wednesday

Thank you so much for your generous response to my request for hosts for this meme.  We have the year to come filled!!!

I have done a tentative run at assigning people to months.  If they don't suit please let me know in comments.

November 2018:  The prompts will be here
December 2018:  River will be hosting
January 2019: lissa will be hosting
February 2019:  River will be hosting
March 2019:  Delores will be hosting
April 2019:  messymimi will be hosting
May 2019:  Margaret Adamson, and her friend Sue Fulcher (published here).
June 2019:  I will provide the prompts
July 2019:  Wisewebwoman will be hosting
August 2019:  River will be hosting
September 2019:  Delores will be hosting
October 2019:  Margaret Adamson, and her friend Sue Fulcher (published here)
November 2019:  Me again.
December 2019: Cindi will round off the year for us.

Sunday Selections #405

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?  I am continuing to show you some of what Dinahmow and I did during her visit.

On the first full day that she was here, we went to the National Zoo and Acquarium.   It was a big day, a tiring day, and a wonderful day.

The zoo has been open for twenty years now, and devotes a lot of time, energy and money to animal conservation both here and abroad.   I would still rather see animals in their natural habitat, but zoos have come a long way from the concrete prisons I remember seeing as a child.  And sadly, some species of animals only survive/can be seen in captivity.

Less talk, more pictures.

Hannah the very old wombat is still going.  And I loved seeing her with her snugglie.

Some day I will be lucky enough to see a Tawny Frogmouth in the wild.

 Those warty lumps on the giraffe are apparently self induced by bashing their heads against hard surfaces.  Apparently the macho image goes down well with female giraffes.

Opposite ends of an ostrich.  I really wouldn't want to get in the way of those feet.  Which look quite dinosaurish.

I have talked about pouch potatoes before.  I felt very, very sorry for this kangaroo mama.  It is high time junior got a room of his own.

The zoo has a number of cheetahs.  In the second and third photos we see Solo and his friend Zama.  Solo was born at the zoo last year.  Apparently cheetah cubs don't do well on their own, so Solo was given a friend to play with.  They play together, eat together, sleep together.  And we were lucky enough to see them being leashed up and escorted to a different part of the zoo.  The youngest of my brothers (who volunteers at the zoo) sometimes has to sit with Solo to 'socialise' him.  Jealous thoughts.  Some people lead a tough life.

And yes, there are of course, many, many more photos.  It really is a lovely place.

Words for Wednesday

This meme was started by Delores a long time ago.  Computer issues led her to bow out for a while.  The meme was too much fun to let go, and now Words for Wednesday is provided by a number of people and has become a movable feast. 

Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write.  Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image.   What we do with those prompts is up to us:  a short story, prose, a song, a poem, or treating them with ignore...  We can use some or all of the prompts.

Some of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on their own blog.  I would really like it if as many people as possible joined into this fun meme, which includes cheering on the other participants.  If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud.

The prompts will be here this month.
 
This week's prompts are:

1. enclosing
2. purpose
3. care
4. patch 
5. jamming
6. shame

And/or

1. bent
2. organic
3. mangle
4. textbook
5. gravity
6. excuse 

Have fun.

I am also on the scrounge.  River will provide the prompts next month, but after that the field is wide open.  Delores has said she will provide two months as has Margaret Adamson (though they haven't specified which months.

If you are willing and able to provide the prompts and challenge us please let me know in the comments specifying which month(s) would suit you best.  Ideally, I would like to map out the next year or so.

Sunday Selections #404

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River.  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
Like River I usually run with a theme.  This week?  The visit of my blog friend.

I am an introvert.  And shy with it.  Himself is an introvert, and also shy.  Jazz is antisocial.  Meeting up with someone new was a source of anxiety.  Misplaced anxiety.

Dinahmow is just as her blog and emails portray her.  We ALL enjoyed her visit and even Jazz the antisocial presented his belly for a rub shortly before she left.

So what did we do?  We talked a lot.  We laughed a lot. 
We watched birds.  I do wish they had let her hand feed them.  And speaking of hand feeding, we have been able to hand-feed a crimson rosella over the last few days.  Photos will follow when it is a little more relaxed.

 

We wandered around the garden.  And the neighbourhood though I forgot my camera.  Some of these blooms are from while she was here, and some burst into bloom after she left.

This white banksia rose covers the pergola over our back deck.

We went down to the lake.

We went to the markets (and fell in love with black garlic).  And then to the glassworks which are next door.

All these came from an exhibition at the Glassworks by Jane Cowie called a profusion of blooms.  We watched glassblowers at work too.

We went other places too, but even by my standards this is a photo-heavy post, so I will finish showing you some of the places we saw in a later post.

One more to finish with.  A gift she gave me - which made himself smirk and say 'you have been spotted'.  The coaster sits beside me and makes me smile.  Lots.

We had a delightful time.  She is welcome to return - which we don't often say.