Al's favourite piccies

My piccie of the day is one of my favourite ever piccies.

I caught this on the rugged coast west of Port Campbell, Victoria back in April this year.

The sun was setting through a sea-mist and simply turned the shadows on these cliffs into a vision.

Hilda VIII: Church

Well Hilda has languished a little this past week.

As you know I write on the train on my way to and from work. Well this week I have been thinking more about my other WIP Veil of Iron than writing on either.  I say thinking because I have a plot problem I want to sort out and it has me stumped.

The net result is not much writing at all. Although I have done little with Hilda, as I said last week I am somewhat ahead of tonight’s extract.

Anyway, the extract this week follows on immediately from last week. Hilda is still anxiously awaiting her parents’ verdict on whether she can take the scholarship Miss Wilson has arranged for her to go to High School.

1911

‘There’s Miss Wilson,’ Hilda turned to her mother, ‘can I sit with her?’

‘Of course dear.’

Hilda almost skipped toward her teacher, ‘Good morning Miss Wilson.’

Miss Wilson turned at her voice, a warm smile lit her face, ‘Good morning Hilda.’

‘Can I sit with you in church today?’

‘Yes, you may sit with me.’ Just a hint of emphasis on the word “may”.

‘Oh, I’m sorry. May I sit with you today.’

‘Of course.’

Hilda walked beside Miss Wilson into the church. Reverend Jarret, the vicar smiled and nodded, ‘Good morning Miss Wilson, good morning Hilda.’

Hilda liked old Jarret, his sermons always seemed to focus on the nicer parts of the bible. There was never much “Hell fire and damnation” from the old man.

As they settled on the wooden pew Miss Wilson passed Hilda a prayer book. ‘I’d have thought you had enough of me at school?’

‘Miss Wilson, you shouldn’t say that. I love every moment of school!’

‘Even trying to teach Bess Tomlinson her seven time’s table?’

‘Even that!’

‘Well I must say you are more dedicated than I.’ Her teacher paused, ‘Have your parents said anything to you?’

‘Not yet, Mum says they are still talking about it.’

‘We must take it as a good sign, they haven’t given you an outright “no”. We should say a prayer that they’ll make the right decision.’

Now as I say Goodnight a piccie of the day:

 Melbourne at Sunset

Piccie of the Day: Sunset in the Mountains

I took this piccie this evening in the Yarra Ranges on our way home from a drive.

Last Light

My Piccie of the day was taken this evening In Eastern Victoria. As we began a three hour drive home I noticed the last light in the sky reflecting on the Thomson River down in its deep valley near Walhalla.

Sunset Through a Sea Mist

Tomorrow I'll post an answer to What is it Wednesday?

As for tonight it's "just" a piccie of the day.

I took this on our Holiday back in early April. In the late afternoon we pushed along a rough track that followed the cliff tops well away from the usual tourist haunts. Then as the Sun to dipped to the horizon a sea mist began to form turning these spectacular cliffs into something really special.
I think it counts as one of my favourite ever photos.

Sunset

My piccie of the day is a sunset I took back in July.
I have no time for more this evening.
Tomorrow the lake that came back

Surf's Up!

Well this week's “What is it Wednesday” was a bit harder than I thought. There were some very creative guesses, for this image but it was Carolyn V of Checkerboard Squares who guessed “Okay, I'm guessing differently. Is it a surf board?”

Yes it is, well spotted! I guess the colour threw the guesses off.

It was a grey day. I took this image one cold midwinter morning in July (Summer is at Christmas time in Oz remember). Deb and I took a one night trip to Phillip Island to get away.

It was freezing on the Sunday morning as Deb and I walked along the beech but that wasn't deterring the die-hard surfies.

I posted another piccie from this sequence back then and a sunset from the night before.

So in the spirit of photo sequences here is another from the sunset set.

Now tomorrow we are off for brief trip away. We are heading out to the western coast of Victoria.

I'm not sure if we'll have internet connection where we are staying so I could be off-line till I get back on Wednesday.

What is it Wednesday

First of all I would like to wish you all a belated from Melbourne. I had intended a quick post on Christmas day but my plans were derailed.
We went out for a very non traditional BBQ for Christmas (almost no washing up).
Very relaxing (did I say no washing up?)

Why a BBQ? Well remember Christmas means summer in Oz and the weather seemed perfect.

Anyway we headed home in the early afternoon just in time to beat a terrible storm that lashed Melbourne late Christmas Day.

There was hail, terrible winds, and rain that caused flash-flooding across the city.

A section of the railway line I commute on every day has apparently been washed away (I haven't had a look yet). The shopping centre where Lu does her part time job has lost half its roof.

As for us we had two trees come down, one of which managed to fall between two of our cars (mine and our eldest's) without hitting either.

Our power went out for hours which kind of meant no posting!

Just as the sun set the storm began moving across and I braved the elements to capture this eerie sunset peeking under the edge of the storm (and droplets of rain still overflowing our gutters.)Speaking of droplets, to the business of the day.

What on Earth do you think this is?

Despite the weather

I didn’t manage a post over the weekend because despite wintry weather Deb and I went away for the weekend.

I won’t say much because I’m only just home from work.

However I will promise more in the next few days and say our action packed weekend featured:

Verdant but windswept islands.Unique Aussie wildlife.Glorious sunsetsQuiet walksPounding wavesAnd mountain streams.Stay tuned

In Which Al goes batty (again)

A few months ago I posted about a flying fox (fruit bat) colony on the outskirts of Melbourne.
I posted some piccies of very cute flying foxesThen I went back after dark and attempted to get some piccies of the bats leaving on their nightly fruit and nectar foraging missions.

Alas my old camera was not up to the task and the best I got was this.Those funny squiggles are bats flying past a long exposure.

Tonight, I went back again and waited until the sun setAnd the moon came out
And tried again
Now my new camera is light-years ahead of the older model. But it seems I am just asking too much of a stills camera because these are the best I got.At least they are now fuzzy bats rather than squiggles ;-)Having said that I am not at all disappointed.

Because I had fun and…

While I waited for the sun to set some of the other wild life in the area kept me entertained.

This Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) landed right near my feet.
He/she looked at me and turned around and had another look and must have decided I wasn’t a tree and flew off in a panic!

Then this pair of rainbow lorikeets became very interested in this hollow branch.
One looked Then the other looked And the first looked again.
I guess but don’t know that they are scoping for hollows in which to nest (most Oz parrots nest in tree hollows).

Then in the last light I heard a mournful cry. Looking up I saw a flock of Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus funereus) flying high overhead, presumably looking for a roosting spot for the night. These birds are beautiful black cockies with yellow cheek patches and a flashing yellow tail. I’ve seen them many, many times but never managed to photograph them.

That is me for the night. Good night!

A total lack of inspiration

I have come home tonight wanting to post.

But I am just too tired.

With the autumn running towards winter the days are getting shorter.

When I get to the station in the morning it is
That’s right dawn. (a crummy photo taken on my camera.)
Then when I get home at night it is sunset or later Now to end on a positive note. I have a job interview coming up next week (on Wednesday). I mentioned a while ago that I went for a public service job and the unit manager said she was really impressed, another panel member asked me to apply for a second job. I didn’t get either job.

However, the unit manager’s PA phoned and said they had another position they wanted me to apply for.
Of course I put in an application and they want to interview me.

It’s a strange experience to have people asking me to apply for jobs. Seems positive to say the least!

Regeneration and Sunset

Once again we have been spoiled with beautiful Autumn weather.

And once again we have been out and about. We were late getting away so we only drove about an hour into the hills to the north.

We went to a spot called Island Creek Reserve in the Kinglake National park.

Kinglake was one of the towns all but destroyed in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires (173 people died in the fires-many in Kinglake).

The bush here was devastated by the fires. Yet the Aussie bush is amazingly resilient. Eucalyptus trees usually survive fires.

This piccie was taken from the picnic area; around one in five of these mature trees have perished in the fire. The rest are struggling and hanging on. I expect some will recover while others will perish over coming years.

But the bush has a strategy for jumping back. Many species seeds germinate after a fire.

As you can see from this piccie literally thousands of saplings have sprung up from the ash. It is barely possible to move away from established paths here. These young trees will grow like mad for the light, gradually thinning themselves out as the larger ones shade out the smaller.

By the time we finished our picnic we had time only for a short walk because dark was threatening to close in.

As we walked I got a shot of the creek, once again the banks are choked with new growth.

We saw a number of little delights.

This little fungi

And this thing, I have never seen one before.

My guess is some kind of fruiting body of a fungi but honestly I have no idea. Click on it to enlarge it is the strangest thing.

When we got back to the car this little fellow was arguing with his own reflection in our wing mirror!

Sorry about the bad photo but it was really bad light under the trees. By the way he is little native known as a “Scarlet Robin” (Petroica multicolour)

On the way home I paused to look down into the valley.

The lingering sunset was drawing amazing colours across the landscape.

I thought the harsh lines of the power-lines made a great contrast to the soft pastels of the light

If you click on the third sunset piccie you might be able to see some distant lights twinkling. They are part of the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

Now in case I don’t get to it tomorrow (it’s been one of those weeks) an extract from my WIP. And by total coincidence it is kind of fitting this gets posted this weekend.

It follows straight on from last weeks post. Valentina is still hidden in a hanger on a Berlin Airfield and still recovering from shock…

Valentina Meshcova

Berlin 1948

‘Penelope?'

‘Yes Val?’

'What's going to happen to me?’

'I'm not quite sure, Ronnie is trying to organise travel documents for you. To get you home to England. The fact that you're a Major defecting is worth something, but they aren't jumping with excitement because you are a medic, not a field commander, or in intelligence. He’s having to make a few phone calls and wake people up.'

'Won't he get himself in trouble?'

'No, plenty of people owe Ronald Chesterfield favours. He'll just call some of them in.'

I was dozing on one of the chairs when I realised she'd gone again. A different guard was sitting by the door. The mattress was empty Natasha was gone.

Panic gripped me, I barely remembered to speak English. 'My little girl, where is my girl?'

He smiled reassuringly, 'It’s all right Luv, she's gone with Mrs Parnell.'

'Who's Mrs Parnell?'

'The lady who was here before.'

I relaxed, a little. He explained, ‘She, meaning Mrs Parnell, said she was taking your daughter to find some breakfast.’

‘What’s the time?’

‘It’s just coming up to eight o’clock.’

I dozed again, still sitting in the chair. Somehow I felt I would be too vulnerable if I lay on the mattress.

Some hours later a car rumbled into the hanger. I waited expectantly, Natasha burst in followed by Penelope, ‘Valentina we brought you some flowers.’

I smelled the roses she thrust under my nose. ‘Thank you, but some breakfast would have been more useful.’

‘But they do smell lovely.’

‘They do but they aren’t as lovely as you.’

Penelope frowned, ‘I was planning to take you for something to eat. But you’ve slept on wet hair.’

My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. ‘Do you think it will be safe?’

‘Safe enough, we’ll go to an army canteen. Now let me help with that hair.’

I didn’t mind being spoiled. But I drew the line when she suggested makeup. ‘I am going to eat breakfast not to the Bolshoi.’

‘With a little practice you could all but cover that scar on your cheek.’

‘Why? I’m hardly husband hunting.’

Natasha burst out laughing, ‘What is so funny?’

Her laugh continued, we had tickled her fancy. She giggled breathlessly, ‘Husband hunting!’

I sat low in the back of Penelope’s Volkswagen. It didn't make me invisible but I definitely felt less exposed. Berlin felt as hostile to me now as it had in April and May 1945. As dangerous now as when we fought our way in to root Hitler out of his lair. I did not look twice at the building where we stopped, like so many in Berlin it was pockmarked with bullet holes and still had its windows boarded up.

Natasha skipped happily across the footpath and onto the step at the front. She stood with a self satisfied smirk. 'Valentina hold these for me.'

Obediently I took them, and then looked, 'Why on earth did you bring the flowers?'

I did not realise what the building was until I stepped inside. An aisle ran down the centre, lined with benches along each side.

A church.

At the far end sat half a dozen uniformed men.

In front of the altar Fred who had been our armed escort the afternoon before.

And a priest.

And Ronnie, smiling the happiest smile I had ever seen.

I never expected to cry at my own wedding, but it passed through a blur of my tears.

The words meant little to me, I repeated what I had to repeat. What mattered was the man standing so tall, opposite me and smiling the smile that had enchanted me six years before.

But then consternation, 'The ring...'

Ronnie's smile evaporated there was no ring. In Ronnie's rush the obvious had been overlooked. 'Bugger! Oh, sorry padre.'

'I have a ring.'

Penelope struggled with her finger and passed the ring to her brother.

'Danny's ring? Are you sure Pen?'

She smiled, tears in her eyes too. 'Danny wouldn't mind.'

Her next smile was for me, 'See Val? I said I was your friend.'

Unwinding and a Vote

Well I have been away for the weekend.
Deb and I went south to Barwon Heads and Queenscliff, down at the south end of Port Phillip Bay for a night.

As is my wont I took quite a number of piccies, although not as many as usual. Yesterday was absolutely beautiful spring weather and I just unwound for the day and barely touched my camera.

It was not until the evening when we were sitting up on this bluff at Barwon Heads that I took any piccies. We went there to eat our dinner which was some beautiful fresh battered prawns, sea scallops, calamari and fish. This feast came from a local fish and chip shop called “Gilligan’s”. I haven’t had such fresh seafood for ages, if you’re down that way I recommend them.

A quick word about “prawns”. I believe: in the US they are called “shrimp" and in the UK the small ones are called “shrimp” and the larger ones “prawns”. Here they are all “prawns”, if we want to distinguish by size we call the smaller ones “school prawns” and the larger ones “king prawns”. Oh, and the calamari I am referring to here are rings of squid lightly battered and deep fried. All of this feast was cooked exactly right and was simply heavenly!

Now where was I? The evening and the bluff.

As we ate, the sun began setting so I interrupted our feast to shoot these piccies.These are taken out over Bass Straight which lies between the Australian mainland and Tasmania (although looking west rather than south towards Tassie).Now I did it once before, so I am trying it again.

A vote!

What would you like me to post about next:
More about my trip this weekend including Fort Queenscliff.Or more about my Mum’s place where I went a number of weeks ago.
The choice is yours!

Happiness

Way back on the 8th of June Myrna from 'Night Writer' passed the ‘Happiness 101 Award’ on to me. Things have been so hectic round here that I haven’t had the chance to acknowledge Myrna’s kindness until now.
Thank you Myrna!

I haven’t quite been able to work out if there are any ’rules’ to this award so I am just going to have to follow Myrna’s lead and list ten ‘things that make me happy’ and pass the award on to a few other people.

So with out further ado.

Ten things that make me happy (in no particular order).

Sunsets

Hall, Australian Capital Territory

Writing

The cover of my soon to be published book Veiled in shadows

The Aussie Bush

Fitzroy Falls, Morton National Park NSW.

Architecture

Fitzroy Library, Melbourne Victoria

Flora

‘Pink Fingers’ a tiny native orchid, Gundaroo NSW.

Fauna

Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Honeysuckle Creek Australian Capital Territory

Archaeology

Milecastle 37 Northern Gate, Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland England.

Oceans

Bay Of Martyrs, Victoria.

History

German Gun Breech, Captured by Diggers Western Front WWI

Thunderstorms

Storm-cloud near Toowoomba Queensland

I will pass the award to a number of bloggers around whose blogs I frequently lurk:

B. at ‘B. Miller Fiction’

Mary at ‘The Ethos The Logos The Pathos’

Theresa at ‘Substitute Teacher’s Saga’

Hanna at ‘Musings of a Palindrome’

Cynthia at ‘Cynthia Reese’