Wordless Wednesday: Autumn rain
rain
When it wasn’t raining
The end of the year has been a mix of muggy, high temperatures, fierce storms and heavy rain. Christmas was no different. The day started off with a peaceful walk and a swim in a nearby creek and ended with me and my Dad sitting on their front balcony in the dark listening to the rain and enjoying the cool breeze. I took many walks during the time at my parents’ house, being in the country is so refreshing for me and seeing all the different wildlife makes me happy even if I couldn’t capture them all with my camera. A trip to the beach was on the cards for boxing day regardless of whether it was raining or not, the thinking was that if we’re going to get wet we may as well go for a swim in the surf.
Best spot at the swimming hole
Cousins Bella and Zoe
Lighthouse beach
Lighthouse beach
Alplacas
Frangipani flowers
Cousin Soxy in her favourite spot on Christmas Day
Horses and ponies all get a bath
Christmas lady bug
Maxi and Bundy’s fur cousins Zoe and Moscow
Yellow wildflowers (weeds?)
Raindrops
Local swimming hole
Local swimming hole
Local swimming hole
Wallaby
Bago Mountain on rainy morning
Golden sunrise
Dew on spider web
Alpacas in the fog
Golden web
Foggy morn
Wallabies
Big green frog
Cousin Zac begging for a chippy
Bush to beach
Friendly and hungry Scaly breasted Lorikeet
Kangaroos
Feeding time in the country
The local wildlife
Rainy day at the beach, Port Macquarie
Lighthouse Beach
View from the lighthouse, Port Macquarie
Lighthouse beach, Port Macquarie
Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflection
Summer is here with a vengance, it has been a few years since we had consistently hot weather and predictions over the weekend were for a week of temperatures in the high thirties (celsius). Yesterday was hot, air conditioned offices were a blessing and the storm that hit last night a huge relief. We had put up some of the Christmas fairy lights on Sunday afternoon, solar powered of course, and as the rain poured down, I noticed that water pooling on the pavers allowed for a colourful reflection of lights that we stuck in the garden. Tonight there is no such relief, today reached 39 degrees and overnight we’ll only see the temperature drop to about 24 degrees and there is no rain predicted so no more funky, colourful reflections.
A feeling of déjà vu
It is raining, heavy, constant rain that leaves you wondering if it will ever stop. At the moment there is a choir of frogs in the yard, they are almost louder than the rain falling on the tin roof of our outdoor area and at times it can be deafening.
With two days of solid rain and 6 or 7 more days of wet weather predicted it leaves me feeling as though we’ve been here before, only 12 months ago 75% of Queensland was under water including suburbs of our capital city, Brisbane. Already roads are flooded and with predictions of another 200mm to fall it must be quite frightening for the people who lost loved ones and homes in the floods of 2011. There are still those idiots risking their lives and the lives of others by attempting to drive through flood waters, already 3 people have had to be rescued from their car despite warning signs erected all over the state.
Photos taken during the last 24 hours of rain: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/queensland/severe-weather-hits-southeast-queensland-20120124-1qf10.html
With Australia Day celebrations scheduled for Thursday it is unlikely to be the usual day at the beach, playing cricket and enjoying a barbeque. Undercover barbeques prove extremely popular at this time and at least you don’t have to worry too much about flies or sunburn. Think I’ll stay home, maybe catch up with friends for a coffee and take the dogs for a walk between showers of rain, it will be nice to not have to go to work regardless of what the weather is like 🙂
…it’s raining again
It really isn’t supposed to rain this much during summer, spectacular lightning and thunder storms yes, but torrential, consistent rain no. During breaks in the bad weather I step outside, dogs in tow and survey the surroundings to see whether there is more rain coming and to savor the fresh air and watch local wildlife (spiders, birds, dragonflies and occasionally frogs) go about their business.
Today I stepped with my iphone and a new retro camera app that I was wanting to test on some poor unsuspecting subject, usually the subject is my husband or one of our dogs but a magnolia had blossomed in our garden and a flower, now in the last stages of blooming seemed like the obvious choice. The retro camera app has 5 different ‘cameras’ to choose from: The Barbl, Little Orange Box, xolaroid 2000, pinhole camera and FudgeCan and with each camera there is an option to shoot in colour or black and white. By selecting a subject that would not move or complain, it was easy for me to try all the different camera formats in both colour and black and white and compare the after effects. The Barbl and FudgeCan shots were interesting and among my favourites however the photos I liked most of all were those taken by the Little Orange Box, the contrast and colour appealed to me and the texture didn’t seem to be too heavily applied.
Two Black Dogs 