Jane Grows Garden Rooms

Photostory

Photo a Day Challenge

A Blur of Activity as Summer Holidays Draw to a Close

Photo a Day Challenge: Week 59 — January 13th to January 19th

As our Northern Hemisphere moves through Winter, we are in the height of Summer. Our five-week break over Christmas and New Year ended this week and the last two days were spent at work preparing for a new school year.

Over the break, the groundsman planted green manure crops in the agriculture section to enrich the soil. Soon the delightful yellow flowers in the feature shot will be ploughed into the soil so that we can plant for the true growing season in the Tropics. Here Summer is too hot for many crops while Autumn and Winter provide clement weather for all sorts of plants that yield edible delights for our tables.

I am looking forward to planting wildflowers that we can enjoy and eat!

On Friday, the first day of my photo week, I looked up at the mountains for signs of rain. We often see the rain approach over the forested slopes before it gets to us at the base. I saw a stark white tree against the green and was fascinated by the contrast. I snapped a photo and was enamoured by the variety of greens and foliage textures. It is World Heritage Listed rainforest and I feel so fortunate to see it in the distance every day.

On Saturday, we drove two hours North to celebrate my niece’s birthday. She turned three. There was a bubble wand that created massive bubbles and children of all ages spent an hour trying to catch or pop them. This shot was taken when my son jumped up in the hair and headbutted one to pop it.

On Sunday I was thrilled to capture this Yellow-shouldered Hover Fly foraging in the Portulacas. I love the way its yellow markings are the same colour as the flowers.

Can you see the little ant sharing the bloom?

This was a massive day for me! I finished my eBook which has been a time-consuming labour in January. I took the photo of the Green Tree Ant above for one of the pages. Believe it or not, these are bush food. I wrote about them in The Daily Cuppa a few months ago.

Harvest this bush tucker with care!
Australian Bush Tucker Bites presents Green Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina).medium.com

On the last day of the holidays, I released my eBook and needed to get away from the computer so we took our puppy to Bulgun Creek, which is a five-minute drive from our house. We wanted to exhaust her so that she wouldn’t miss us as much while we were at work. There’s no mobile phone service at the creek so it’s a perfect way to disconnect.

The water is cold but crystal clear and runs straight out of World Heritage Listed rainforest. It’s actually the water that the town draws from for household supply, but that is drawn from up near the source not where we swim.

We had a lovely time in the cold water despite the mosquitoes and the puppy had her first swim. She was less than impressed by the cold water, but hopefully, she will learn to enjoy it! It’s wonderful exercise and hopefully will help her strengthen her growing muscles.

The next day at work I was looking at the Native Gardenias on campus to see if any fruit was ripe enough to be fixed when I spied this nest in the branches. Many birds in the Tropics create nests that are fully enclosed apart from the entrance. I assume it’s to avoid inclement weather as well as protect the young. I’m not sure what species made this nest but I love working in a place that provides habitat!

On Thursday, I took photos of the green manure crops in the agriculture section. After taking photos like the feature shot, I decided to experiment with blur and slowed my shutter speed to capture the movement of the flowers in the wind. I was quite pleased with the results, especially when I zoomed in (photo on the right and saw parts of the plants were discernable despite the blur.

Now taking photos will get more challenging again as work keeps me busy three days a week. Needless to say, I would love to have a job that was all nature, photography and writing! I’m trying to work towards that goal but progress is slow and the industry is a challenge. I just have to take a deep breath, have faith and leap empty-handed into the void!