Time Out.

Neither my body nor my brain are playing nicely.  I am sore, tired and overwhelmed.

I am taking some time out from the blogosphere and hope to be back some time in March.  (I will put up a post early in March to let those of you who play know where to find the Words for Wednesday).

Take care of your important selves.

I have turned comments off for this post.

Sunday Selections #572

 

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. 

Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image. 

The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.  Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle. 

 

The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.

   

I usually run with a theme.  This week it is more snippets from home.  The week just gone was a very busy one, with some ugly bits (no photos) and some beautiful things too.

We finally had our solar panels installed on Thursday.  It has been a long and complicated process but they are up now.  We have a battery too so we should use very little energy from the grid (unless our current cloudy days continue).  Any extra energy we produce once the battery is full goes back into the grid.

I was at Lifeline (and very busy) the day the panels were installed.  I gather the panels went up quite quickly.  It was a hot day, and the installers were knackered when they came down off the roof.

Installing and connecting the battery didn't go as smoothly.  Supervisory head scratching was involved.

We are very glad it is done.

The garden continues to bring me joy.

The begonias and the daisies continue to flower.

This week I was also please to see the first of our Naked Ladies (Amaryllis Belladonna) burst into bloom (and my childish self enjoys thinking of Naked Ladies in our garden).

The birds continue to bring us colour and joy too.

I hope you find colour and joy too.

Sunday Selections #571

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. 

Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image. 

The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.  Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle. 

 

The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.

   

I usually run with a theme.  Last week I mentioned that we hoped to go on an outing.  And we did.  Finally on the Friday just gone we went to the National Museum of Australia to see an exhibition on Ancient Greeks titled Athletes, Warriers and Heroes.  All the items in the exhibition were brought to us from the British Museum (which is a story in itself).

The museum has free entry, but special exhibits like this one do attract an entry charge.  A charge we have never regretted paying.

Before we go in I am going to show you a little of the museum itself, from the outside, and in the foyer.  It is an unusual looking building, but I like it.  Just the same I mourn its position.  It replaces the hospital in which I was born and in which my father died.

This FJ Holden Special has lived in the foyer for as long as I can remember.  It had only one owner, a local woman, who drove it across dirt roads, fording creeks from her farm to town.  She obviously cherished it, and drove it for more than twenty-five years after she bought it in 1955.

This is a recreation of the Muttaburrasaurus.  It was a vegetarian (good) and its fossilised bones were found by a grazier in 1963.

Almost all the plants around the museum are natives - which is entirely appropriate.

 I love the way that the light streams in.

Now to the exhibition.  It was beautifully presented.  Numbers attending were limited and everyone was masked.  A

Just the same, athletes, warriors and heroes excludes vast swathes of the population.  Needless to say women barely got a look in...

There were lots of beautiful ceramics.  Most showed obvious signs of damage and skilful restoration.

 And there were many skilfully executed sculptures (almost always of men).

The Discus Thrower.

While most of the men were naked and unashamed, the same could not be said of the only naked woman.

I found it ironic that Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love was presented as being coy.

Some other things I really enjoyed included:

Women playing a game, similar to our knucklebones or jacks.

This musical instrument could be blown from either end or using the mouthpiece.  Goodness how versatile.

Needless to say I took many more photos, but this post is photo heavy enough.

I had planned to wander through some of the rest of the musuem too, but was simply too tired.  Another time.  There is apparently a Covid related exhibit of a life sized horse made from paper bags created by someone in hotel isolation.  I would really like to see that. 

I hope your week is packed with beauty and fun.

 

Where are the Words for Wednesday?

  Hilary Melton-Butcher provided the prompts and tested our mettle last month - for which we thank her.

February 2022:  C.Lee McKenzie is providing the prompts on her blog this month.  She tells me that when it goes live you will find the first set of prompts HERE.

March 2022:    River is providing the prompts on her blog.

April 2022:  Messymimi is providing the prompts on her blog

May 2022:  Wisewebwoman will be providing the prompts on her blog.

June 2022:  Charlotte (MotherOwl) is providing the prompts on her blog.

July 2022:  Hilary Melton-Butcher is providing the prompts but they will be here again.

August 2021:  I am providing the prompts here.

September 2022:  David M. Gascoigne will be providing the prompts but they will be here.

October 2022:  River is providing the prompts on her blog.

 
November 2022:  Messymimi is providing the prompts on her blog.

 
December 2022:  Me again.  Here again.

Given that the prompts are provided from both the Northern and the Southern hemispheres the prompts can appear from as early as Tuesday your time until Thursday your time. 

This meme definitely falls into the 'more the merrier' category.  I hope that lots of you will visit whoever is providing the prompts and play - or applaud.  Commenting on other people's creations -whether they post them on the host's blog or their own, is hugely important.  We ALL need encouragement.  So please, take a few extra minutes to comment on the participant's creations.