Sepia Saturday 521

Sepia Saturday this week is about cars and trophies and wherever else this picture takes you. For me it's cars - vintage and veteran cars. I love them.

Close to where we live is the Australian National Motor Museum and I have spent many hours wandering around admiring the myriad of beautiful vehicles. Each year they organise a Bay to Birdwood run when vintage and veteran cars from all over this state and others drive from Glenelg, a beachside suburb of Adelaide up into the Adelaide Hills to Birdwood, home of the museum some 40 plus kilometres away, up steep and winding roads. Some of the vehicles stall along the way, but a surprising number make it.

Several years ago Don and I made the journey in a thirties Oldsmobile owned by our daughter's partner. We felt very grand driving in this gracious old lady and waving regally to the many spectators along the way. Here is a selection of the cars that took part - converted to black and white in keeping with the Sepia Saturday theme.

The Oldsmobile we travelled in.

Model T Ford

Not sure what, but American I think

Had to put this one in colour - always dreamed of owning one.

Silver Jaguar - would have given an arm and a leg for this.

A Humber - my Dad drove one of these, but not this model

Austin 7

Morris Minor - remember these as a teenager. Often the first car we could afford in those days.


I could keep going, but would hate to bore you.  I hope you enjoyed mr selection of golden oldies.

Liz Needle  -  linking with "Sepia Saturday".

PS. I've added this one in colour because one of my readers wanted it in sunshine yellow. This is the actual colour.

Off With The Birds - New Holland Honeyeater

My bird for today is one of the very common ones that lives in my garden  -  New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae).

These little fellows are very active, unafraid, aggressive towards other honeyeaters and very common in gardens and park.  I am get a lot of pleasure watching their antics in the garden and in flight.

The sexes are alike - mostly black and white streaked, with a bright yellow wing patch and white ringed eyes. They are mainly reliant on nectar, but do eat insects which they catch in mid-air  and are very protective of their feeding grounds. In our garden they like the Banksias, Grevilleas, Salvias and Agapanthus. They have a loud metallic high pitched call and other contact and alarm calls.

                                                      Drying in the sun.

                                                             Best of Friends

Liz Needle  -  linking with "Saturday Critters", "Our World Tuesday", "Wild Bird Wednesday" and "I'd Rather B Birding".

Off With the Birds - Grey Fantail

My bird for the day is another favourite - the Grey Fantail ( Rhipidura albiscapa). I really love the small birds that we have here, especially the ones that visit my garden.

Closely related to the Willy Wagtail  (Riphidura leucophrys), the Grey Fantail is found throughout Australia with subtle variations in different areas. They are active and restless, delighting onlookers with their athletic flight chasing after insects.

Their habitat is wide ranging, including open woodlands, parks and gardens. Both sexes are alike in appearance  while the immature birds are browner with buff head and wing markings.

They are playful and fearless and love playing in the birdbath.

Some years we have found them nesting in the camellia bushes.

Here is a video of a cheeky Fantail bamboozling a Re-browed Finch. I hope this works. I just got it downloaded (first time I have ever tried) then somehow I deleted it!!!

Liz Needle   -   linking with "Saturday Critters", "Our World Tuesday" and "Wild Bird Wednesday".

Off with the Birds - Silvereye

Finally I am getting around to a project I have been meaning to start for ages. It's taken the boredom of this enforced isolation and a very a painful back from too much gardening to get me motivated.

Australia has an abundance of beautiful birds, most of which are only found in this island which separated from the rest of the world eons ago. I would like to share with you some of those birds which live in my part of Australia and which give me so much joy.

Today's offering is the Silvereye - Zosterops lateralis.  This pretty little bird is familiar and widespread with 9 generally similar Australian races.  They inhabit Eucalypt woodlands, coastal heaths, mallee, mangroves, parks and gardens all along the eastern and southern coast and Tasmania. Most of the southern varieties move northwards for winter. They are useful in the garden as they eat unwelcome insects as well as fruit and nectar. Their nest is a small tightly woven cup of fine grasses, hair and fine bark fibre bound with spider webs. They usually have 2- 4 pale blue eggs in a clutch. and can breed several times in good seasons.

The Silvereyes we get here are Race pinarochrous. Other races may have more olive plumage, white and yellow areas.

As you can see from my photos, they are friendly, gregarious fellows who love the birdbath.

 Silvereyes are not exclusive to Australia, they are also native to New Zealand and the South-west Pacific Islands.



Liz Needle  -  Linking with "Our World Tuesday" and " Wild Bird Wednesday".

Sepia Saturday 504

The theme for Sepia Saturday is all about childhood, children at play  and the things we used to play on. Looking through my old family photos, I did not come across much to fIt the theme exactly, but I found some interesting shots of children at play which I am happy to share.

 This first one - not very clear shows my uncle (in white on the right) with some of his school mates with a decorated goat cart. Taken around 1916, I would guess.

 Not from my family photos,but cute nevertheless.  Two little girls in a toy cart.

My English cousins with pony. Late thirties.

My cousins Glen and Roger taken around 1944.  Pedal cars were all the rage in my childhood.

Some of my many cousins visiting grandparents.  Taken in the early forties

Our street gang. Very few candid snaps in those days - children were always posed for photos. I'm on the right with missing front teeth. Circa 1946.

The gang again, but now expanding in numbers. Taken around 1950.

Finally a swing.  My brother and I  - he in his first school uniform. He was so proud of it, he wanted to wear it all the time. Circa 1949

Even big kids like swings!

Liz Needle - linking with Sepia Saturday.

Bushfire.

Australia has recently been hit by devastating bushfires which have done enormous damage to the environment, native fauna, private property, vineyards, orchards, farms, livestock and human lives.

We watched in horror as the fire unfolded before our eyes. This is the scene from our front veranda early in the morning of the Adelaide Hills fire. An hour later as the fire got closer we evacuated.

We were able to return late that night to find that we were some of the lucky ones. Our property was safe. The next morning we realised just how lucky. The wind had changed an hour or so after we left and the fire was diverted around us, some 300 metres away on two sides.

Morning revealed the total devastation 300 metres away - burnt out paddocks, homesteads, scrub as far as the eye could see - tens of thousands of hectares gone!. I took a few photos, but my heart wasn't in it. Too much sadness and emotion.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Skywatch Friday

Sepia Saturday 502

Perfect. Just up my alley!  I have so many group photos I hardly know where to start. After 55 years of teaching, a teacher mother and numerous teaching uncles, aunts, cousins, bothers-in-law etc, my access to group photos is unlimited.

However I have decided to stick with family photos as these are more interesting to me.

My husband's great grandfather Captain Alexander Frederick Boord was a seaman and a pilot  He and his wife had a large family of 13 children  - mainly daughters - and he was known locally as 'the pilot with many daughters".

 Below is a family photo the Boord children - several of them died at an early age and do not appear here.

And Captain Boord and his brood.

And this is of a Boord wedding - circa 1914. Captain Boord is third from the left in the back row. The bride - his daughter Nellie Rae is third from right in the front row.

To jump forward to around 1948. Here we have some of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of Captain Boord. The lady in the centre front is his daughter Lydia Rosa Needle, with two of her daughter to the left of her and her grandchildren. Her son Ronald had six sons of whom my husband Don was the second.

 Here are 5 of the 6 Needle boys as youngsters

And below the 6 Needle boys as adult. My husband is the beardless one.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Sepia Saturday