Sunday Selections #67

Sunday Selections, brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, is an ongoing theme where participants post previously unused photos languishing in their files. 

Anyone can join in, just post your photos under the Sunday Selections title, link back to Kim, then add your name to her Linky list at Frogpondsrock.  

As usual I am running with a theme.  And I am reverting to one of my favourite obsessions - birds.  A little while ago we were visited by a pigeon.  Common or garden.  In a day or so he/she brought a friend to the dinner table.  And within a week we were getting up to twenty at a time, in a variety of colours.  I had assumed that they were an introduced species.

Wrong.  Or sort of right.  When I looked them up in our birds of Australia book (which I must update) I discovered that they are Rock Doves otherwise known as Feral Pigeons.

They are descended from the Rock Pigeon, found in Europe and Asia.  Many plumage variants have been developed over the years and the most common colours of feral birds (found in almost all Australian cities and large towns) are a mixture of grey, black, white and brown with purple and green sheens.  And indeed, they are very beautiful when you look at them more closely.

A sad truth

I came across this little gem.here.  I found it so painfully true that I asked her permission to steal it.  I don't play on Facebook so would not have found it for myself.

I am shouting loudly. ' It is true, true I tell you!'  I would prefer not to have known these people (many of them relatives) at all.  Sadly I did and do know them.  For some years now I have been running a kind of personal audit to ensure I don't become them.  In a sick sort of way it is nice to know that I am not alone.

Sunday Selections

Sunday Selections, brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, is an ongoing theme where participants post previously unused photos languishing in their files. 

Anyone can join in, just post your photos under the Sunday Selections title, link back to Kim, then add your name to her Linky list at Frogpondsrock.  

As usual I am running with a theme. I have been weeding my little heart out to make room for far too many bulbs.  The weeding is hard on my body and increases my pain.  It also calms my mind.  The mind wins over the complaining matter.  As I weed I become fixated and see only what needs to be done.  A wander with the camera is therapeutic, letting me see that there is some beauty in the garden now.  Not next season, not next year but now.

If anyone can tell me what this is I will be grateful. 

Liebster Bloggy Love

Karen  @ Meandering...One moment please passed on this award to me today!

 

Liebster is a German word that translates to; dearest, beloved or in this case favorite. The idea of the Liebster Award is to give it to an up and coming blog with fewer than 200 followers. – in order to create new connections, and bring attention to their wonderful blogs. 

Thanks Karen !

Here are the conditions that go along with accepting the award;

1. Thank the Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who presented you the award.

3.  Copy and paste the Liebster Blog Award on your blog.

4. Present the award to 5 bloggers who have a following 200 or less, who you feel deserve it.

5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

I didn't find the fourth condition at all easy.  I love so many blogs and I spend a lot of time each day being shown beauty, educated, amused or a combination of all of those things.  So I am going to award this blog to some of the people who gave me so much assistance (moral and practical) when I started blogging a little over a year ago. 

I strongly suspect that some (all?) of these bloggers are all awarded out, and may not wish to play.  Their prerogative, but their blogs all deserve this award.

Here are my five choices for this award.

Alexis, Baron von Harlot  who first encouraged me to delurk and put my toes into the waters of the blogosphere.

Ampersand Duck who introduced me to the term delurk.

River who epitomises niceness.

Jahteh whose blog contains feistiness and beauty in equal parts.

librarygirl who shares my bookish and gardening obsessions.

More Silliness

This post is in response to comments made by  daisyfae, dinahmow and Strayer on a recent post.   I had posted photos of the blow-up penguin who lives in our en-suite, noting that silliness is often something I rely on to get me through difficult times.  The helpful commentators mentioned above thought that this penguin should have a more active role to play in our life.

Strayer asked if I talk to the penguin.  Well yes I do, but I also talk to myself, the cats and I mutter things at inanimate objects around the house.

Daisyfae thought that it would be a good idea to dress the penguin up and invite him to dinner.  He (I am certain that he is male) thinks that the outfit he is wearing is quite dressy enough.

Dinahmow saw daisyfae and raised her by suggesting that the penguin should come to the first meal at which the smaller portion ate a proper portion.  She also well nigh insisted that I took photos and blogged about it.

And here we are.  The penguin is too big to sit at the table - and the smaller portion prefers eating off his lap at the moment but the penguin loomed in a most satisfactory way.

And the smaller portion ate all his dinner.  Including the carrots (which should not be part of his diet at the moment) which he and his sister colluded about adding to his plate.

Sunday Selections

Sunday Selections, brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, is an ongoing theme where participants post previously unused photos languishing in their files. 

Anyone can join in, just post your photos under the Sunday Selections title, link back to Kim, then add your name to her Linky list at Frogpondsrock.  

As usual I am running with a theme.  We went down to the lake yesterday to look for the swans we had been unable to find on our last visit.  And got lucky.  We found crows, and kangaroos and swans.  It was late in the afternoon when we found the swans and I had to take a few photos looking into the sun.  And got lucky again.  I really like the molten gold effect of the sun on the water.

Needless to say, I took many, many other photos as well but they can wait.

Flabberghasted.

Or, you could have knocked over my substantial self with a feather.

You may have noticed two new buttons on my side bar.  Last week, at a point where I was tired and crabby and the smaller portion was behaving like a toad, I received an email which moved me to tears.

The email came from the talented and lovely Kim of, among many other things, Sunday Selections fame.  She told me that she had nominated this blog for the Best Australian Blogs of 2012 Competition.  Oh.  Do you mean that?  And other incredulous phrases.

She did mean it.  So I have joined up, and with the other 1023 entrants my blog will be considered for the title.  Winners and finalists (and I have no expectations here) will receive writing courses (on line or face to face) at the Sydney Writers' Centre in Milsons Point.

Pretty amazing isn't it?

Oh, and I am told that, for those who are infinitely more comfortable with social media than I am, #bestblogs2012 is the competition twitter hash tag.  Voting for the People's Choice category finishes on Thursday 9 May at 5.00pm.

A little silliness

My eldest brother (who is incorrigibly serious) finds me too frivolous.  He may be right.  Just the same after weeks like the last couple it is almost always inspired silliness which keeps me going.

The smaller portion gave me this a number of years ago.

He lives in our en-suite and reminds me of this.

Another thing which often helps is the serenity of the evening sky as another day draws to a close.

The last few weeks have been very difficult.  However, the smaller portion is now eating on a reasonably consistent basis.  He needs to eat more, but a good start has been made.

His sister is going home next Wednesday night.

And, escaping from one or other (sometimes both) of them, I have made significant inroads into the weeding.  Next week if all goes well I will move into a planting frenzy.  The week after I think I will have a small nervous breakdown and retire to bed.   I cannot tell you just how tired I am.  Or how much I hurt.  Just the same, the end is finally in sight.  (And, once again, thank you all for your support.  It has meant a great deal to me.)

Sunday Selections

Sunday Selections, brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, is an ongoing theme where participants post previously unused photos languishing in their files. 

Anyone can join in, just post your photos under the Sunday Selections title, link back to Kim, then add your name to her Linky list at Frogpondsrock.  

As usual I am running with a theme.   I have been doing some weeding.  I have been doing a lot of weeding.  I tend to look at the garden and see what needs to be done, rather than the joys which are there.  So this morning I wandered outside and took photos of our trees.  So many different shades of green, so many different leaves.

Small steps (or we are getting there)

The Smaller Portion thought he would like an outing yesterday.  He suggested the lake so we could show his sister the swans and hopefully the kangaroos.

The lake had its usual calming effect on me.  There is something about water .... We wandered down to the water's edge but could see no swans.

Just the same it was calm and beautiful so we sat on some low benches and fed the everpresent magpies.

Then we wandered back to the car and drove slowly up the road looking for kangaroos.  Who were lounging in the shade about a hundred yards up the road.

The Smaller Portion's sister and I got out of the car to take photos.  He was too tired and feeling a bit weak and remained in the car.

When we got home the Smaller Portion told me that he thought that part of the reason he was feeling so tired was that he wasn't eating enough.  Well yes, I wasn't going to argue.

Now to the good news.  I cooked some chicken breasts in foil with a little white wine and lemon pepper.  I baked potatoes at the same time.

He ate a small piece of chicken and a smaller piece of potato and told me that the remainder would be nice cold (neither his sister nor I eat meat).  Good.

I retired to bed fairly early because I am tired to the bone.  As I headed off he was helping himself to a small bowl of chocolate icecream.  Behind the bedroom door I did some fist pumping and wobbly dancing.  If he regains the eating habit I will be very happy.



And today I plan on going back into the garden and weeding my heart out to make room for all those bulbs.