Whoops

Wow, it's been a year! I'll have to pull my finger out. Have still been taking photos, lost most in a computer melt down. Back sooner rather than later.

I hope.

"Season Creep"

And I thought it referred to the expanding length of both cricket and football seasons! Look here for the 'official' definition.

Hiatus

Wow. It's been a month and a half since I last had a brief spurt of posting here. That is really slack of me and I apologise to those loyal few who might have come calling in the meantime.

I think I can say the hiatus has been a result of two main factors:

1. We got a newish computer. That now has the internet connection. Our older computer has all the photo software and photo libraries on it. That will take time to transfer across - which I haven't done. Thus, not a one stop thing to do to get a post up.

2. I had to spend hours a day more out of the home on work related activity. Something had to give. Sadly, this blog was that 'something'.

There's a cool article about the trials of blogging here. Reading that inspired me to write this.

I think we're getting the computer and work issues sorted out, so I should be up and active again soon.

Silvereyes

Above: There's a wee gang of wee silvereyes that's been swooping through our front trees when they think no ones looking. Below: Occasionally they stop for long enough to get a photo.

Below: If you can see one, if you look carefully you'll find another.

Cottager Backyard

Above: Backdoor area of cottage. Below: New garden beds begin to take off. Judging by evidence elsewhere, it has taken a bit of persistence on behalf of the owners of the property to get things established. It will be good to see what the end result is in a year or two.

Fountain of Love

Easily the dominant feature of the backyard enclosure of the cottage we stayed at in Clare was this fountain/statue. It's continual burble was gentle music through the night.

Roadside Views

These roadside photos were taken on the road between the small townships of Seven Hills and Mintaro, at the Southern end of the Clare Valley. Above: archetypical roadside panorama of south eastern australia after a long hot summer. Below: similar, rich agricultural country (sheep/wheat mainly).

For a video (nearly 50 Mb, so be careful if you're on dialup), click here.

Roadside Dustdevil

This photo was taken from swiftly moving car, between Gawler and Roseworthy. We had been seeing a pillar of dust from several kilometres away, itself moving across the landscape at a speed in the tens of kilomtres. It was whipping up quite a wind within itself, and looked like a dust devil. This high zoom photo is of its base. Not very spectacular looking, but you get an idea of its scale. I have seen these tornado like winds pick up objects weighing over 50 kgs and hurl them a hundred metres, out of the blue on an otherwise calm day.

Happy Easter!

Above: Rose and church from Billy Goat Lookout, about a kilometre's walk from the cottage where we spent a weekend in Clare in March. Below: White Rabbit in Mintaro Maze - scene of an infamous Annual Easter Egg Hunt.

I'll be posting a few photos from our trip in the near future. Until then, have a safe and happy easter!

Cat and Contraption

Above: Mishka enjoys a contemplative view from his 'contraption'. Below: This remarkable architecture was built by our friend Paul when Mish had outgrown his kitten sized scratch pole. Since he's had it, Mish has tended to be a well more well adjusted adolescent cat (he's about 7 months old). Note that His Haughtiness has registered my presence and is doing his best to ignore me.

Mishka relishes the fact that there is a bit of the house which is purr-ly his. In fact, he's quite territorial about it. He often uses it as an ambush point against people or bugs walking by. Below: Concerned.