Our World Tuesday - Circus Oz

It really is winter here.  Cold and wet.  We are not talking deep snow and wolves at the door, but I actually worn a hat today!

What better way to spend a winter’s afternoon than a trip to the circus.  Circus Oz is a circus with no animals  - well that’s not really true, all the performers are animals, but one can take pedantry too far!  It just has really talented people.  Think  Cirque du Soleil but without the self conscious seriousness and associated money making machine.

We sat in the semi darkness of the big top and had a great time.  Wonderful performances and hot donuts!  No flash photograph was allowed – but I sneaked a few flash free shots with my compact.  The whole event was about movement and light – and this picture seems to sum this up.  It’s not sharp, but it does have the feel of the whole event to it.

As a side issue, outside the tent are a set of bells on tall towers – the Federation Bells.  As we were waiting to go into the big top they were playing.  Some of the compositions were great – other were (as H put it) “all a bit random!” You can have a better look at the bells here – and you can play them on the web site to see if you can compose something a little less random!

You can find more images from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - Earth Stars

These strange looking things are Earth Stars – they are the fruiting body of a type of mushroom.  You can clearly see why they have gained their common name.

When they first appear they look like puff-balls, but then the outer “skin” splits and folds back to make the star shape. The central mass contains the spores, and these escape through the central hole as the wind blows – or more dramatically when rain drops crash into it. 

So, all in all they are a little more interesting than the mushrooms we slice and put on pizza!

You can find more macro shots here at Macro Monday.

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the pages.

Enjoy the close ups!

SkyWatch Friday - A blue sky at Lorne

This sky showed up on a late afternoon / early evening walk on the beach at Lorne.   For a while I thought a beam of light might pop out of the light patch in the middle of the cloud, but it was not to be.  As it happens I think like this image just like it is.

I wonder how many tones of blue there are in this picture.

You can find more skies at SkyWatch Friday.

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the page.

Enjoy the skies.

World Bird Wednesday - Australian Wood Ducks

These are Australian Wood Ducks.  They seemed very at home in the wet and flooded roadsides around the house we stayed in a few weeks ago at Lorne.

They were a little less accommodating than the “Balcony Birds” of previous posts, and made up for their photogenic nature being leaving an unbelievable amount of bird poo everywhere!  My kids seem to find this funny!

This bird goes by the scientific name of Chenonetta jubata , but there is a deal of controversy about what other ducks its related to.  It could be a dabbling duck, but then again it could be a shellduck – what it unquestionably is, is good looking!

You can find more birds at the equally good looking World Bird Wednesday.

You can find the post on my other blog that feature these ducks here.

Enjoy the birds.

Our World Tuesday - Downside

This is the Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, although I have only ever called it just “Downside”.  It’s a Catholic abbey, monastery and school that sits in the “no man’s land” between Chilcompton and Stratton on the Fosse, back in Somerset, near to where I was born.

This picture was taken on a frosty morning, and somehow the light seems to add a kind of painterly feel to the image.  I have to say that I was disappointed that there was a car parked outside the buildings, as otherwise the image would have had a more “timeless” feel.  Oh well.

 You can find more images from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the screen.

Enjoy the pictures.

Macro Monday - A pet hate!

I know why we have these annoying little plastic labels on fruit but the really annoy me!  In the mornings, with fingers still clumsy from sleep, the last thing I need to do is remove plastic labels from the fruit that ends up in my daughter’s porridge!

We had a school fund raiser on Saturday and I did not get to bed until it was well into Sunday – it would make out life easier if we just got a decent level of funding for our school and then I would not have to stay up half the night and then post grumpy posts about fruit labels the next day!

You can find more macro shots, presumably taken by people who have had their full ration of sleep, here at Macro Monday.

You can find the latest post to my other blog by clicking on the Paying Ready Attention image on the RHS of the pages.

Enjoy the close ups!