Month: July 2015

CASA CREAKINGBONES AND SOME OF OUR RESIDENT MAGPIES

~ creakingbones ~ 11 Comments

The Australian Magpie is a black and white bird found in all areas of Australia except in the arid almost treeless desert country.

Totally adapted to the presence of humans and happily established in cities and towns Magpies are welcome visitors to residential backyards where their beautiful call makes a pleasing and melodic accompaniment to early morning risers.

The Magpie is strongly defensive of its environment and in the breeding season is known to attack humans and pets that come to close to their breeding areas. This has never occurred to residents or pets at Cassa Creakingbones.

Magpie family groups can number up to 24 birds and once they adopt a backyard, if you have made the mistake of feeding them, they are almost impossible evict.

That is exactly what has occurred at Casa Creakingbones. We took the decision about 15 years ago to feed about four Maggies that visited from time to time. It wasn’t long before we were hand feeding them with mince meat, toast and the occasional biscuit. That is when our visitors moved in permanently.

Now, just after the breeding season in spring and early summer, their numbers in our backyard can number up to 30 or 40 resident individuals. We know that we should not feed them but it’s amusing to watch their antics, listen to their wonderful songs and from time to time, break up quite violent fights as the elders work to drive unwanted members of the clan to places new.

Once a week it’s necessary to pressure wash our kitchen window sill and the area near the backdoor of their copious droppings. You see, the little devils, the moment they observe movement in our kitchen swoop down and land on the kitchen window sill and rap on the glass with their beaks to remind us that they are hungry. The glass gets grubby and the window sill, well, I leave it to your imagination.

Today was no exception, as our lunch was being prepared, eight magpies arrived at the back door and four of their number settled on the window sill, waiting to be hand fed with beef mince and toast, their favourite.

Now I should add that they are quite tame, our cat Ginger can wander around among them and cause no distress. Not only that, if we leave a door or window open, the four of them come immediately inside to feasts on the cat’s food. No, they are not house trained and after we have managed to convince them to leave, the carpet cleaner is put to good use.

Today I decided to grab a few images of the lunch time occurrence and took a quick shot of the four on the windowsill and then around the back door and their carefree attitude to Ginger the cat.

GINGER AND THE MAGPIES COEXIST PEACEFULLY.
GINGER AND THE MAGPIES COEXIST PEACEFULLY.
WAITING FOR THE BACK DOOR TO OPEN
WAITING FOR THE BACK DOOR TO OPEN
MAGPIES ON THE KITCHEN WINDOWSILL.
MAGPIES ON THE KITCHEN WINDOWSILL.

LANDROVERS, THE ULTIMATE 4X4 BY FAR REVISITED

~ creakingbones ~ 7 Comments

When I wrote the original of this post, it was my intention to illustrate my narrative with images from trips in our Landrover She Who Must Be Obeyed and myself have taken in our Landrovers. That part of the exercise failed and now, using my MacBook Pro the uploading of the images can occur.

So, here are the images I intended to show you:

MR BROWN SWIMMING NEAR TOM GROGGAN
MR BROWN SWIMMING NEAR TOM GROAN
MR GREEN PLAYING IN A PUDDLE NEAR COWOMBAT FLAT IN VICTORIAN HIGH COUNTRY
MR GREEN PLAYING IN A PUDDLE NEAR COWOMBAT FLAT IN VICTORIAN HIGH COUNTRY
A COLDISH CAMPSITE ON THE DARGO HIGH PLAINS IN VICTORIA.
A COLDISH CAMPSITE ON THE DARGO HIGH PLAINS IN VICTORIA.
A LONG AND DUSTY ROAD IN FAR WEST QUEENSLAND
A LONG AND DUSTY ROAD IN FAR WEST QUEENSLAND
ABOVE THE SNOWLINE, WALKERS ONLY HERE SO WE ALWAYS PARK AND WANDER DOWN A WAYS ON FOOT.
ABOVE THE SNOWLINE, WALKERS ONLY HERE SO WE ALWAYS PARK AND WANDER DOWN A WAYS ON FOOT.
THE RESULT OF BUSH FIRES AND STRONG ALPINE WINDS.
THE RESULT OF BUSH FIRES AND STRONG ALPINE WIND
MY DRIASABONE KEPT THE FROST OFF THE BOTTOM OF MY SWAG IN THE VICTORIAN ALPS.
MY DRIASABONE KEPT THE FROST OFF THE BOTTOM OF MY SWAG IN THE VICTORIAN ALPS.
A TRANQUIL STRETCH OF THE SNOWY RIVER NEAR THE VICTORIAN-NEW SOUTH WALES BORDER.
A TRANQUIL STRETCH OF THE SNOWY RIVER NEAR THE VICTORIAN-NEW SOUTH WALES BORDER.
SUNSET NEAR TIBOOBURRA IN FAR WEST NEW SOUTH WALES.
SUNSET NEAR TIBOOBURRA IN FAR WEST NEW SOUTH WALES.
MY MATE IN THE 'YELLOW PERIL' HAVING SOME WADING PRACTISE.
MY MATE IN THE ‘YELLOW PERIL’ HAVING SOME WADING PRACTISE.

These image are not in any order,neither numerical nor chronological. A number of them are scans from slides made on Kodachrome 64 and some using my Nikon D100 before I had it converted to infra red only.

With any luck over the next few days I’ll have unravelled why the IMac refuses to upload images and when I do, whackoh.

Hoo roo for now

ONCE UPON A TIME REVISITED

~ creakingbones

Yesterday I encountered a mysterious problem that prevented me from uploading images to the blog I was composing.

In a test earlier today, I switched over to this MacBook Pro and lo and behold, an upload actually worked. Bravo.

So, without further ado, and before the mysterious gremlin returns, herewith the magic mug I wrote about yesterday.

A SPECIAL LOGO ON A SPECIAL MUG
A SPECIAL LOGO ON A SPECIAL MUG

Hoo roo

ONCE UPON A TIME.

~ creakingbones ~ 2 Comments

I was spurred to write here today because of two events which occurred, one yesterday and one today. Prima facie, individually they appear totally unrelated but when viewed together by a few individuals are seen to be closely linked. I just happen to be one of those individuals.

‘How is it so’ to quote the late Professor Julius Sumner Miller.

Well yesterday I was totally unable to upload any of my images onto this WordPress site. No big deal you might say but without supporting images the thrust of yesterday’s blog was lost. Event number One.

Then today,  She Who Must be Obeyed, when examining the darkened interior of a rarely accessed  cupboard came across an interesting and never used white coffee cup bearing a most unusual  logo of a black hat with black sun glasses beneath the hat with the dates 1940-1997.  Event number Two.

Once upon a time I was fortunate to be a part of an organisation that preferred to be  the ‘unseen and unheard of’ element of the main organisation. In fact, had we been able to become invisible, many of our tasks would have been oh, so simple.

Now photography was an essential element of the job and without photographs the thrust of our written work (not in invisible ink of course) would have been lost. Go back to Event No. One.

That brings me to the mysterious coffee cup.

The Unseen and Unheard element of the main organisation was formed in 1940 shortly after the outbreak of WW11. It’s task was to be on the lookout for fifth columnists, communist sympathisers, members of the Communist Party, aliens and any other people or organisations perceived by the powers that be to be a threat to National Security. Photography was an essential activity.

In addition gathering information and reporting to the main organisation, the reports and photographs made their way to Federal agencies with a similar mandate.

During the times of civil disobedience Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam conflict and the implementation of conscription, it was exciting and extremely busy working in the ‘unseen and unheard’ element. The information flow was the same in the 1960’s as it had been in the 1940’s.

I learned a lot about available light photography, black and white film processing and printing. More   importantly, I was also getting to understanding what motivated normally law abiding people to express their political views and opinions in sometimes forceful and unlawful ways.

Eventually I came out of the shadows as they say and went into another line of work in the main organisation.

Then in 1997 the Government of the day determined that the ‘unseen and unheard’ element had outlived its usefulness and it was disbanded without fanfare.

Subsequently, a reunion of those of us who had worked there was held and only the coffee mugs with the black hat and black sunglasses survive to remind us of the work we carried out. Go back to Event No Two.

What a coincidence, Event No. One and Event No. Two have come together to suggest this blog to me so here we are. A report unsupported by photography. Impact lost.

Hoo roo for now.

LANDROVERS – THE ULTIMATE ALL TERRAIN 4X4 BY FAR

~ creakingbones ~ 7 Comments

I’m just unsure what comes first in my lifestyle (how I abhor using that word). Could it be Nikon cameras or Harley Davidson motorcycles or, Landrovers.

In the early 1960’s when I worked in the country I was always attracted to the Series 1 Landrovers I observed being used for various tasks on farming properties as well as being a general farm mode of transport.

Transferred back to Sydney I soon learned that one of my workmates was a Landrover fanatic and by early 1969 I was the proud owner of a second hand 1967 Short Wheel base Sahara Gold ( fancy name for yellow) petrol Landrover hard top.

At the insistence of my workmate Roy, I joined the Landrover Owners Club of Australia, Sydney Branch, where he was then President.

What fantastic times we had on Club trips and also our private Landrover adventures.

I know I’ve got photos and slides by the hundreds of my SWB Landrover but somehow or other their whereabouts escape me.

All those years ago it bore number plates GCA-400.

Since 1969, I’ve never owned a sedan motor vehicle. However, I’ve owned three Landrovers and I’m proud to say that I still own and drive two of them. They are known affectionally as Mr Brown and Mr Green. Mr Brown was purchased new in 1984 and Mr Green purchased new in 1991. Both have covered many, many thousands of miles around Australia and are still going strong.

She who must be obeyed now is the main driver of Mr Brown and I almost have to make application in writing to gain permission to drive it. In fact Mr Brown proudly displays ‘Her Ladyship’s’ personal number plates.

However, I digress.

This morning we had a visitor new to the delights of four wheel driving and I trolled through part of our archives to find some Landrover images to show her. By the time I’d completed that task she had made her goodbyes and left.

Not wishing to return the images to the depths of an external hard drive I’m going to inflict them on you so here they are, in no particular chronological order. All are scans from Kodachrome slides so they may not be as sharp and colour accurate as you may expect from a user of all things Nikon.

As for my ‘lifestyle’ preferences, I’ve decided they are all on a equal par.

One early morning on one of our Landrover trips into what we call the High Country we awoke to see this inquisitive Grey Kangaroo with its Joey securely in the pouch casually standing at the edge of our camp site. She didn’t even move or blink when I grabbed at the camera and made this image.

ROO AND JOEY
ROO AND JOEY
Now that I seem to be able to upload an image, I’ll try for the others I was going to add to this  Landrover Best 4×4 By Far diatribe and coax them into into another blog later on.

Now it’s really hoo roo.

A RARE SNOWFALL IN MY HOME TOWN

~ creakingbones ~ 4 Comments

On Friday the 17th July last residents of my town awoke to see a mantle of snow draped across the landscape.  An extreme cold front had spread across the southern part of our State, New South Wales, bringing snow and strong winds to towns along the Great Dividing Range.

My town is on the south west slopes of the range and in the down town central business district the altitude is 690 metres above sea level, 2,264 feet for our non metric friends.

Where I live, just 4.5 klms, that’s just 2.7 miles, from the CBD, the altitude has risen to 705 metres of 2,3132 feet. Not particularly high when compared with Europe and north and south Americas.

In the 15 or so years I’ve lived here it’s snowed three or four times but on this occasion the snow fall was the heaviest seen for over forty years.

Many roads were closed including the Federal Highway that links Canberra, our Nation’s Capital to much of the northern part of the State.

From 5.30am onwards like many other locals I made copious images around the house and environs and here some of them.

THE HOUSE ACROSS THE ROAD AT 7.30AM ON 176th JULYN 2015.
THE HOUSE ACROSS THE ROAD AT 7.30AM ON 17th JULY 2015.
5.30AM ON 17TH JULY 2015
5.30AM ON 17th JULY 2015
5.45AM ON 17th JULY WITH OUTSIDE LIGHTS ON
5.45AM ON 17th JULY WITH SOME OF OUR OUTSIDE LIGHTS  ON.
11.30AM ON 17th JULY AND THE BIRDS ARE STILL FEELING THE COLD
11.30AM ON 17th JULY AND THE BIRDS ARE STILL FEELING THE COLD IN OUR BACK YARD
9.30AM ON 17th JULY, A PRETTL LITTLE NOOK IN THE BACK YARD.
9.30AM ON 17th JULY, A PRETTY LITTLE NOOK IN OUR BACK YARD.

We know that compared to countries where it does regularly snow, our little fall would not even raise an eyebrow.

However, for many of us it’s an event of great interest and enjoyment, particularly for kids who get to see and play in snow for the first time in their lives. Our local newspaper even ran photos of snowmen kids had built .

We all complained about the bitter cold but in a few months time we will all be complaining about the +38c to +40c summer heat.

Such is life in our wide brown (most of the time) land.

Hoo roo for now.

HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTOR CYCLES AREN’T JUST FOR RIDING

~ creakingbones ~ 3 Comments

There is a great Harley Davidson T Shirt that carries the words,’ If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand’.

Those eight simple words epitomise the meaning of owning and riding an Harley Davidson motorcycle and also being a member of The Harley Owners Group, put more simply, HOG.

It’s not just the ride, it’s pride of ownership, it’s a feeling of belonging to a responsible group of like minded motorcyclists and, dare I say it, being the envy of non Harley riders.

Non Harley riders might have mechanical marvels but they all have a major missing ingredient and that is, wait for it, Pose Value.

For example, there is absolutely nothing on this earth that gives you the same ego boost than when you see,i n a shop window, the reflection of you and your Harley as you glide effortlessly past.

As I said typed in the heading, Harleys aren’t just for riding,

There’s the buzz you get when you emerge from your Harley dealer armed with boxes of bling to add to your ride as soon as your get home.

Add the Screaming Eagle go fast bits, white wall tyres, forward controls and different shaped handle bars and your pride and joy takes on new look and meaning.

Then, in the privacy of your own home you can browse through your 888 page Harley Davidson   Genuine Motor Parts and Accessories catalogue. Of course, there is also the motor clothes catalogue. It’s easier to read and study in bed because it is not as heavy. Both lead to pleasing dreams and a lengthy wish list.

Back to reflections of yourself and your Harley, even when stationary they are a wondrous vehicle for reflections.

REFLECTION IN A FAT BOY WHEEL
                                    MY REFLECTION IN A FAT BOY WHEEL

MY REFLECTION IN CHROME ON MY 2014 HERITAGE SOFTAIL CUSTOM
MY REFLECTION IN CHROME ON MY 2014 HERITAGE SOFTAIL CUSTOM
Now the beauty of selfies with your Harley is they show off, not only yourself, but the technical excellence, design, quality and visual beauty of your Harley.

It’s not only blokes who admire and  ride Harleys, sheilas do too. The female Harley riders are a privileged lot. Not only are they full members of the Harley Owners Group where we are all equals, but they have their own special group too, Ladies of Harley.

SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED AND HER OBEDIENT SERVANT REFLECTED IN A FERRY WINDOW.
SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED AND HER OBEDIENT SERVANT REFLECTED IN A FERRY WINDOW.
She who must be obeyed, reflected here with her back to the camera, after years with Hondas and BMW’s finally saw the light and bought a 100th Anniversary 1200cc Sportster Custom. Goes like a cut cat I can tell you.

So there we are, reflections, and not just in a ‘golden eye’.