Country Bridges

These photos were taken by Nigel when he was returning from Balclutha on Thursday 28 May. There's a current road bridge and an old no-longer-used railway bridge. The location is called Conical Hill and it's a very pleasant drive. Photos taken by Nigel I took this tight crop out of another photo. Text by Liz,...

Rural Anzac Day

It was nearly sunset on Thursday when Nigel and I were out for a short drive in a rural area near home. Approaching an intersection we found this eye-catching Anzac display on a farmer's silage bales. It would have been created for 25 April which is Anzac Day when we remember Australian and New Zealand...

Marking The Spot

Lockdown in New Zealand isn't nearly as restrictive as it was so Nigel's now free to travel to jobs and visit farms. Yesterday on a lovely autumn afternoon he visited a farm not far from home where he was engaged in project management at short notice as a digger driver was available to do a...

Ennis House LA

In yesterday's post I offered a distant glimpse of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Ennis House on a hilltop in Los Feliz, Los Angeles USA. It was a truly magical experience to see this house and I don't think I had any idea of what to expect! It looks like a huge Mayan Temple and...

Hummingbird Day

This post is about the lead-up to finding the Ennis House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Los Angeles (in 2010). We don't remember much of that day but from the photo-dates it appears we found our way there the same day we visited Hollyhock House. We remember spending time in Los Feliz and loving...

Mexican Amberwings

Just found these beauties on Twitter this morning and have to share. Many thanks to Michael Thomas Bogan for permission. Michael Thomas Bogan. Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment. The University of Arizona. On Twitter:  @mtbogan Photos below are from this tweet Dragonfly season is in full swing on the effluent-dependent Santa...

Hollyhock House LA

I've been building up to this post with my recent photo-postings of hollyhock flowers and in this post I'll share photos of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House in Los Angeles. These were taken by Nigel during our 2010 stop-over in LA. This was our first visit to a FLW house ever and it was...

Priceless Gift

-- poem by Eileen Carney Hulme Poet in Scotland, three books published Stroking The Air 2005, The Space Between Rain 2010, The Stone Messenger 2015 [poem used with permission] Twitter:  @strokingtheair I was delighted to also find on Twitter this lovely colourful photo of a starling mumuration at Brighton (UK). Many thanks to Marianna Bjerglys,...

Pink Hollyhock, Clyde NZ

I took this hollyhock photo in Clyde, Central Otago, New Zealand just a few days before we went into L4 lockdown, 22 March 2020. Another beauty!

Purple Hollyhock, Clyde NZ

I took this hollyhock photo in Clyde, Central Otago, New Zealand just a few days before we went into L4 lockdown, 22 March 2020. What a beauty!

A Very Dandy Dandelion

Found this photo on Twitter and I'm amazed at the determination of the dandelion. "Botanical tenacity last week in the gardens! A pilon at the edge of a path ended up on top of a dandelion. Remarkably, the plant produced a 60cm tall stem to get its flower through the opening!" --Kevin Kavanagh, South Coast...

Bristol Sunset

A contemplation of colour. This morning on Twitter I found a wonderful poem about sunset colours - this particular sunset happened to be in Bristol, UK. In the poem the sunset colours are matched with sources they could have been derived from here on earth. Let's look at some natural colour sources before enjoying the...