Category Archives: Life through the lens

WPC: Abandoned (Tilly, don’t look!)

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Abandoned: the word speaks of the ghosts of things, memories, people, activities, better times, and not a little sadness. A few weeks ago, my husband found this cicada exoskeleton still clinging to our garden fence, after its living contents had taken flight. So perfect in form and function, yet used no more.

Abandoned Cicada Exoskeleton

Abandoned Cicada Exoskeleton

My five favourite interpretations from this week’s WPC:

Puncta Lucis
(Evokes wonderful images of mad-haired, smoking hacks, clacking away to meet their deadlines.)

On Dragonfly Wings with Buttercup Tea
(Who lived here? Where did they go? Why?)

Chronicles of Illusions
(A star that should have been.)

Picture the Pretty
(The tragic truth of many lives.)

365 Days of Thank You
(Reminds me of my first day of school, around 44 years ago, and the fact that BM tried to kiss me in the sandpit after the parents had left, haha.)

(Sh)It’s in the mail

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First came the warning letter…

..and then the package.

Sending poo in the mail: there are few things more deviant, surely?

No, it’s not what you’re thinking: I didn’t receive poo in the mail from some demented troll, but have been requested by my Government to send mine. I kid you not. In Australia, you know you’re 50 when you receive…

bb-bcsk..your very own Government-sponsored DIY bowel cancer screening kit. With instructions in 18 languages, an information & FAQ booklet, sample sticks, test tubes, labels, return envelopes, the lot.

FAQ: Can I place my samples in the fridge?
The mind boggles, and the imagination runs riot (the unsuspecting child, home from school, thinking mum’s left them some sort of treat, a la Heston Blumenthal).

Mine would be more along the lines of: Can they tell I drank a whole bottle of champers within 15 minutes of stepping through the front door last night? (Or that I have gag reflex to shots of our PM is his red budgie smugglers?)

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So, Australia, not only is Big Brother watching you, but your poo, too.

Secretly, I’m impressed.

WPC: Selfie

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Selfie, Picasso-style

Selfie, Picasso-style

Self Portrait (a re-post)

They say

We know
who we are
in adulthood –

Sister,
not brother,
Wife,
not mother  –

A prosaic mosaic,
fragments of a self

But don’t ask me
to complete the picture –

Time has lost
more than a few pieces.

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For other selfies, see The Daily Post.

Five favourites from this week:

Jacquie Just Doing Life

Cee’s Photography

Midlife Crisis Crossover

The Syllabub Sea

Shmamaland

WPC: Family

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You’ve probably heard about elephants mourning their dead, but what about cockatoos?

I often pass this family of cockies on my way to work. They’re usually feeding on seeds on the verge, playfully whirling and wheeling, and creating general cacophonous havoc.

bb-fm0But yesterday, they were crowded around on the road; I drove back to see what they were up to: it was a heartbreaking scene.

bb-fm1They were very quiet except for a few plaintive squeaks and squawks.bb-fm3aOne kept on nudging the lifeless form on the road.

bb-fm4aI wonder if they feel grief.

1For more entries to this week’s challenge, see The Daily Post.

Previous WPC Family theme

WPC: Beginning (of a twister?)

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Beginning of a twister

Swirling Cloud

On our recent holiday at Cape Schanck, we were sitting on the balcony of our hotel room, when a loud siren sounded from the National Golf Club (building on the far left) – a storm which had been threatening for a while began to move rapidly towards land, fronted by this amazingly low cloud, which swirled ever so slowly as it came.

I attempted to capture some of its slow swirling motion with my iPhone, as it moved overhead.

For more entries to this week’s WPC, see The Daily Post.

My top five notables from this week’s entries:

An Enchanted Eye

puncta lucis

Flickr Comments

Oh, The Places We See

Zeebra Designs and Destinations

WPC: Joy

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I confess, I love road trips, but only if there aren’t too many people involved in the planning, logistics and execution. I enjoy taking them with my mum – even though we disagree on a few fundamentals of life, we travel well together – and my husband, who is the subject of this photo. Travelling with the people I love is one of my great joys in life. imageFor more entries to this WPC, see The Daily Post.

WPC: Community (The Secret Life of Cows)

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“I really don’t like the look of this two-legs.“

“Always suspicious of outsiders, aren’t you, Wazza?“

“Well, look, for a start, it isn’t making the usual ooh-they’re-so-cute noises.“

“He has a point, Dazza. It’s giving us the death stare. Maybe this two-legs has something to do with the overnight disappearance of our mothers, and our milk supply.“

“Ever the conspiracy theorist, Davo.“

“I reckon, it’s a Gary Larson agent.“

“Talking a load of bullocks, as usual, Kezza.“

“I think it should be eliminated. Charge on 3!“

“Good luck with the electric fence. Catchya later at the ‘Trough and Tag’.”

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For more entries to this week’s WPC, see The Daily Post. These 5 stood out for me:

Frizztext

Broken Light: A Photography Collective

autopict

Piran Café

Ellen Gregory

WPC: Let There Be Light

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Inspired in its use of paint and colour to depict light is my favourite painting in the Art Gallery of NSW: Elioth Gruner’s Spring Frost – if you ever have the privilege of seeing this painting in its original form, look closely and you will see the light shining through the farmer’s earlobes – it’s quite remarkable.

And, one evening this year, came upon this pretty scene while walking through Hyde Park in Sydney.

bb-ltbl1For more entries to this week’s WPC, see The Daily Post

Below, my top 5:

Creativity Aroused

A Meditative Journey with Saldage

Wind Against Current

Ron Mayhew’s Blog

On Dragonfly Wings with Buttercup Tea

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected

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bb-un1Wild Conspiracies (a re-post)

I ask scribbly gum moths:
Why this graffiti on trees?
“Mind your own business,
they’re just doodles, if you please”

I ask a plodding snail:
Why the squiggles on the path?
“There ain’t nothing in it –
I just do it for a laugh”

I ask the sly hyena:
Why the tunnels ‘neath the trail?
“Well! Installation art’s
not only for the snail!”

I ask the bower bird:
Why that hoard of shining bling?
“Oh, poppet, it’s no mystery
objets d’art are my thing”

I ask the primping zebra:
What’s with the barcode?
“Poor darling, don’t you know?
Stripes are back in vogue”

But, you know, I don’t believe them –
It’s a vast conspiracy
It’s clear that they are sending
secret messages to me…

😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯

For more entries to the WPC Unexpected theme, see The Daily Post.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

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bb-hb1It’s our habit, on a Saturday, to head out early for breakfast at our local, and then to the golf course for 18 holes.

We got more than we bargained for today – on the fourth, a thunderstorm so powerful in its rain and wind action that we struggled to run against it to seek shelter from the lightning spiking all around us. The golf course was flooded in a couple of minutes – it’s frightening how quickly the weather can turn deadly.

For more entries to the WPC Habit theme, see The Daily Post.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon

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Smoke Eclipse

This is a snapshot of the skies towards the Blue Mountains, which were ablaze with raging bush-fires last week – and there is more of the same on the horizon for Australia. Today, a week later, Sydney is blanketed in smoke once again, and Summer is not yet upon us 😯

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Didn’t get time to do my usual 5 favourites, but love these two entries to the Horizon WPC

Wind Against Current

Third Eye Mom