This ram and sheepdog eye each other warily from the top of their respective pillars, either side of a farm entrance gate on Hillfoot Road near Clinton, South Otago. The sheep and dog blend in, in the sense that real sheep and sheepdogs are common in rural New Zealand. They stand out by being set on pillars either side of the gate.
My title is from Leya’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #18, set 03 November. Its such an interesting challenge and if you click on the link you’ll see Leya’s own fabulous post.
Photos taken by Liz and Nigel 01 November, 2018
For a clearer view of this inscription, you can click on the photo to enlarge (below)
There’s a dog face painted on the back of the letterbox (cropped from above photo)
Photo credits: Nigel took all the photos except the 2nd, 3rd and 2nd-to-last. These were taken by Liz. Nigel blogs at Growplan Landscape Architect
For more information on the Lens-Artists photo challenges click here
Text by Liz, Photos by Liz and Nigel; Exploring Colour (2018)
Exploring Colour 
A fun and thought-provoking response Liz! Thanks for joining our challenge
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I enjoyed it Tina, thank you!
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Great idea for the challenge! I love how thoughts wander and how different people answer to a prompt. A really good one!
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Cheers Leya, thanks so much! Great challenge theme!
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Cheers to all of us for enjoying ourselves!
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What a fascinating topic, Liz. I followed your link to Leya’s original post and it sent my mind off in all kinds of directions. My wildlife photography periodically features creatures that take advantage of natural camouflage to stay hidden. However, the postings from both you and Leya prompted me to think about that deeper implications of the question for me as a person. How comfortable am I in standing out? How much of a conformist do I want to be? Most of my life I have been content to conform, but as I have gotten older, I feel a need to express myself more overtly, to worry less about what others think, to muffle the inner censors that tell me to be quiet rather than to voice my views. Anyways, I really like the way that you and Nigel captured the images of the dog and the sheep–they definitely stand out!
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How you’ve engaged on the topic and shared your heart is humbling Mike. Thanks so much, and they’re great questions! They immediately made me think of Bishop Jake’s latest post. You might like to take a look Mike. Initially you might wonder why I’ve pointed you to the post but please stick with how Jake develops his theme – its very powerful! About what it means to be raised to new life. I found your questions very pertinent to the thoughts I’m processing as a result of reading Jake’s post. Interestingly he comes from Alexandria, Louisiana which I think may be the same town name but different State to you?! Anyway, his post is at: https://jakeowensby.com/2018/11/02/where-it-hurts/
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Thanks for sharing the link, Liz. In church this morning, the readings of the day included the story of Lazarus (I attend an Episcopal church, so it’s no surprise that we were dwelling on the same passage as Bishop Jake.) Our pastor’s emphasis was that Jesus’ conquering of death means that we do not have to live a life of fear–we are freed to live the resurrection life. As for Alexandria, I suspect there are lots of cities named for the ancient city in Eqypt that was once Egypt’s capital, I believe.
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Its kinda funny how I’m already doing Monday. I’ve only learned about the Episcopal church after coming across Bishop Jake via WP. I’m not aware of any Episcopal church in NZ but I’m really glad I’ve come across it online!
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The Episcopal Church in the United States is a part of the worldwide Anglican Communion that includes the Church of England and, I believe, the Anglican Church in New Zealand.
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At the time of the royal wedding I began to become aware of these links. I get the feeling that the Episcopal Church has a greater focus on love, grace, beauty, and a very genuine concern for the disadvantaged. And perhaps a less formal approach than what I’d expect in a NZ Anglican church (difficult for me to say given I’ve never been to an Episcopal Church). The teaching is refreshing, helping me to think about things in a different way and I’m thankful for new insights gained.
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Cool idea and it looks funny 🙂
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When you’re driving down the country road its a surprise to see the sheep and dog but very iconic for a New Zealand sheep farming area 🙂
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I really like all the photos to get different angles to really get a feel for this place. So fun and I am clicking the link (in the comment above) now…
🙂
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Thanks Prior, its great to know that you enjoyed these 🙂
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😊
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It’s nice to see when a family has such an ongoing connection with their land, passing it on to other family members.
It looks like the dog and the sheep are engaged in a staring contest, but alas, there will be no winner.
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When I read your comment I did a quick search as I’d heard of a farming award for families that have farmed for many years. Seems it started off down south here after a farmer from Lawrence (town near us) heard about the idea from North American visitors. Its for families that have farmed their land 100 years or more. They provide information (which is then properly archived) and in return receive recognition and an award. Seems a great idea. At: http://www.centuryfarms.nz/about
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