A Walk between Showers

The rain seemed pretty unrelenting today but in the afternoon the sun struggled out for a while so I grabbed the opportunity for a walk. There is not much to photograph at this time of year. I wandered through a section of woodland and about the only thing that caught my eye was the moss.

And the view looking out the other end of the wood.

Then of course I had Monty with me. I know Helena is away on holiday and won't see this but I thought it was time for a "Monty Fix".

Waiting at the gate to run up the next field.

A Little Sprinkling

When I look at the posts that Mary-Lou has recently published showing the amount of snow they have had recently I would say that we really have had NOTHING! Nevertheless when we woke the other day there had been a dusting of snow.  I am quite aware that I haven't had a chance to get a really good photo for Eileen's photo hunt for No. 10 Winter Weather. I have some pretty good excuses such as I was too busy leading up to Christmas then we were away and then it has been too grey since...

So out I went before it was all gone. There was more wet snow coming down which was having the effect of melting the snow that had pitched. 

So here are a few possibilities.

The crocuses ( or croci if you prefer) looked pretty miserable but gave a splash of colour.

The polyanthus didn't look any happier!

For us business went on as usual.

Nearby the birds were very busy on the feeders and the bird table.

So that could be No 19 completed as well. A bird table or bird feeder. I think I might keep working on that one.

Memos, Mail, Me and Monday: What Postcard?

I am sending a little late wave to Sian and all the other Monday bloggers. I have not had a landline and consequently any internet since Wednesday. The young lad ( ok I concede that it's me getting older not the workmen getting younger) from BT came this morning and after two cups of coffee, a pile of sugar and a twix bar he had fixed it. I had a smile to myself when I finally got to retrieve my landline messages. I had several voice texts from BT telling me the engineer was on his way...

So post. What have I received this week? Sadly my only piece of post has been a letter from Tesco Clubcard with my most recent vouchers. The big question is do I save them towards a new IPad or do I change some to Red Spotted Hanky vouchers to help the student with her next rail ticket home? What do you think?

I got quite excited when I saw a pile of post arrive.

Only to discover that it was all for the daughter on a skiing holiday. A holiday? Well that must mean a postcard. The skiing daughter arrived home Saturday with postcard in hand. She is a farmer's daughter after all . Why would you spend money on posting it when you can bring it home for free?

Anyway there were some tasty gifts to go with the postcard so there was no complaining.

Sunday has been spent eating roast dinner at my brother's house, sitting by the fire, hearing holiday tales and looking at skiing photos. So pretty pleasant all round.

Have a good week everyone!

A Photo a Week Challenge: Details

I was interested to see that Marshaleith at Coolquilting has been following a new meme created by Nancy. You can read all about it at  Nancy's blog. The idea is that Nancy gives a subject matter and you provide a photograph to interpret it.

This week the subject is details showing a series of pictures showing the grand scale down to the detail. I have chosen Fox Glacier which during our trip to New Zealand we were able to walk within 480 metres of it.

The first photo shows the view from a far distance which we saw from a road the other side of Fox Glacier.

Then the view from the end of walk so the closest we could get.

Then the extraordinary rugged detail taken through a telephoto lens.

This last shows through a telephoto the water melt underneath and demonstrates the risk of ice dams holding the water back and then causing a flood of water.

Fur or Feather Part 2

Today I move onto 'fur' in my quest for a photo for The Winter Photography hunt. We did not see so much in the way of furry animals. We saw quite a lot of possums at the side of the road which had become victims to the passing cars but we did spot one in a car park. Possums were like many of their pests introduced to New Zealand by the early settlers. This time from Australia. They are considered a nuisance because they carry TB and there is a campaign to eliminate them.

We were delighted to see quite a few fur seals sometimes at quite close quarters. I make no apologies for reposting this picture taken at Doubtful Sound.

These next few photos are pushing the rules slightly. This fine bronze collie dog is situated on the side of Lake Tekapo. He stands out watching all passing by and is an acknowledgment to the vital role that the working sheep dog plays in the vast sheep farming on the surrounding hills.

These crazy chaps (dingos I believe) were on Mount John on holiday from the States. What else is there to say?

Finally this one has no fur or feather but we were fascinated to see these extraordinary creatures which were in a breeding sanctuary in the Southland Museum in Invercargill. These endangered tuatara which can live for over 100 years can be viewed from inside and outside of the museum.

So the question is now which should I choose?

Fur or Feather Part 1

I kept a little eye out when in New Zealand for a possible photo for No. 5 of the Winter  Photography Scavenger Hunt Fur or Feather. We saw quite a few possibilities. It was just a question of catching them with the camera.

There was a good range of birds. These shags were busy nesting and raising their young in the trees. Our elevated position on a river walk gave us a birds eye view.

I spotted a few of these Stilts whilst on a walk in a wetland area.

These birds didn't budge when we walked right by them on a deserted beach at Abel Tasman.

The Australian Black Swan is one of my favourites. There were a number of these in the harbour at Taupo.

There are quite a few flightless birds in New Zealand. This cheeky weka was intent on getting in our car. I suspect it was used to being fed which had sadly made it a bit of a nuisance.

The highlight for me was seeing this Yellow Eyed Penguin. I honestly thought we were going to leave New Zealand without seeing one. This juvenile was on the cliff at Curio Bay.

Tomorrow I shall move onto "fur".

A Lifelong Hobby

Today would have been Dad's 95th birthday. This is of course the first time we have had not had him with us to celebrate. One requisite of his birthday was to find a birthday card with a steam locomotive on it. Preferably one that he did not already have because if he was uncertain whether he already had it he would get out his albums of cards and search to see! This proved to be quite a challenge to search out new ones each year (and on Father's Day as well of course).

Dad had a lifelong interest in steam locomotives and it was a hobby that incorporated the whole family. He had his own model railway in the garden and ran his trains at home and on other model tracks. The whole family were encouraged to participate.

Holidays were spent searching out the ever diminishing steam railways or visiting preserved lines.

It somehow  became embedded in us so that wherever we went we too would look out for any railways and report back with suitable photographs. I can see that this will be a habit that may continue and was something I certainly found myself doing in New Zealand, a country that he did not wish to visit due to its lack of steam!

There were signs in the small town of Kawakawa in the Far North for Gabriel the Steam Engine which travels down the main street. Alas there was no sign of it when we stopped there and it seems we were too late for a cuppa in th station cafe too! We were still novice travellers at that stage. We soon discovered that most cafes closed around 3.30! Don't they know that the proper time for a cup of tea is 4 O Clock?!

Our second attempt was on South Island as we passed through a small town called Kingston, south of Queenstown. Signs to the Kingston Flyer Steam train had us deviating from our route again. This time we found a very derelict station and it was the very chatty toilet attendant in the local loos that told us that it had been closed for several years.

We had also encountered some interesting combinations of rail and road. We were a little perplexed when crossing a bridge in Hokitika to find that we shared it with the railway.

Followed by two roundabouts where the railway crossed over the centre. This required the farmer to drive round twice while I took a photo!

The part of our holiday I would however have been most keen to share with dad would have been our visit to Dunedin. It was pouring with rain as we pulled into the station car park to see the remarkably ornate railway station. Outside photos were therefore kept to a minimum.

This bluestone building was built between 1903 and 1906 and has a spectacular tiled entrance hall. The light was not good but I will try to give you a flavour of its style.

The individual detail was remarkable. In particular, the ticket office 

The mosaic floor.

Then the stained glass window.

Next door to the station was the Otago Settlers museum which was unfortunately closed for the day. We could see through the glass a steam engine of quite some note. A double ended engine. I have obtained this photo from the Internet due to the appalling wether conditions for photography.

I would certainly have had quite a bit to report back to him.