Sunday Selections #342

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?  It has been a busy week, but the business has been largely centred around home (or places a camera would be inappropriate).  So my photos are from home, and feature my usual obsessions.

I had never heard of a broco-flower, but when I saw this vegetable had to try it.  Steamed with lemon juice it was delicious.

The sky has ranged from eerie to beautiful.

And the garden continues to give me joy.  Spring is very almost here.

The bed of wallflowers is for dinahmow - to show her what they look like when they develop Triffid qualities.  They have taken over that bed almost completely.

The first hyacinth stems are perfuming the kitchen delightfully (the black cat beside them is a teapot which I never use because it dribbles).

The birds also continue to give me joy - despite the fact that a magpie has taken to beheading daffodils and ripping the emerging leaves from tulips.

We had a very little welcome rain, so this King Parrot was damp.

I adore the Eastern Rosellas.  They brighten any day.

Queued up...

Sunday Selections #341

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? A kite festival, 'Flying High', which runs in a nearby city.   Each year they advertise giant feature kites and the two years we have gone there has been insufficient wind for them to take to the air.

A lot of fun was still there for the taking though.  In my usual minimalist fashion a lot of photos will follow.

Starting with a huge kite which took to the air for thirty seconds or so.

And then focussing on the family fun which was had by those with smaller kites. 

This sulky moppet made me smile.  She wasn't having fun and was taking her kite and going home!!!!

The final shot shows just how many of the smaller kites were able to take to the skies.  

In other news, we are moving to the NBN (National Broadband Network) tomorrow.  Hopefully it will all go smoothly, but some people have had shocking experiences and have been off line for days/weeks.  Cross your fingers for me please.

More from Tidbinbilla

On Sunday I finally took you to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve with us.    It is a big area and we saw only a tiny fraction, concentrating on the bird life in the Sanctuary (which is a wetlands ecosystem surrounded by bushland and protected by a predator proof fence) and an excursion to the Eucalpyt Forest.  There is lots more to see, and we will have to go back.  Which will of course be a trial and a torment to us both.  Not.   There are 21 different marked walking trails, ranging from an easy 15 minute stroll to an all day 8 hour bush walk.  Many are wheel-chair accessible too.

Starting with The Sanctuary, and continuing to show both natural and man-made art works.

This fox can look but cannot get inside...

A slightly different view of the goanna which many of you liked.

The black-billed ibis seemed very happy - and ignored us completely.

We did see a platypus - but I was far too slow to take its photograph.  It came up and briefly basked in the sun in the pond in the next photo. 
 

Dozing magpie geese.

The Brolgas were camera shy.  I took rather a lot of shots where I inadvertently beheaded them.

I really liked this carving of the pelican.

While we were in the Sanctuary we also saw a potoroo - which I have never seen before.  Of course I failed to capture it with the camera. 

Then we wandered a couple of hundred yards away to the Eucalypt Forest.  It was our lucky day.  We know that the Eucalypt Forest is home to several koalas, but they are usually hard to see.  We have often not seen one.  This time?  We saw this pair not long after we entered the area.  We then followed the trail (a kilometre or so in a loop).  We saw no more koalas.  When we returned to the starting point there wasn't a koala to be seen. 

I am going to finish this long and photo-heavy post with kangaroos.  We see them much closer to home a couple of times a week - and loved seeing them here as well.