Weekend Reflections

I happened to be driving past this little dam the other day when I caught sight of this reflection. Luckily for one I had my camera with me, so risked life and limb and blackberry bushes to capture this shot.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Weekend Reflections

Sepia Saturday

The theme this week for Sepia Saturday is about boats, wharves, lighthouses, tall ships or whatever the picture leads you to. Unfortunately I was unable to find any ships or wharves in my collection, so I have chosen instead to write a little about my husband's great grandfather who was a master mariner and a captain in the Pilot Service..

Alexander Frederick Boord was the son of another Alexander Frederick Boord who came to South Australia in 1840 and established one of the first vineyards and orchards at Athelstone in the foothills of Adelaide. His farm, Freshford, also called Balcombe in some records has been placed on the heritage buildings list and although not open to the public, still stands today, though apparently not in good condition.



CAPTAIN ALEXANDER FREDERICK BOORD, was born in 1845 and was better known as Pilot Boord, for he was in the Pilot Service for over 30 years,  He went to sea at an early age, gained his second mate’s Ticket in 1867 and master’s in 1871. He was mate on the ship Bengal which took telegraph material and supplies to the Roper River, Northern Territory, for the Overland Telegraph party, 1872. He also served in the Day Dawn, John Williams, and the steamer Royal Shepherd, and for a time on the survey ship H.M.S. Geranium.

He joined the Pilot Service in 1873, when 28 years of age, and was known as "the pilot with many daughters". After his retirement from pilotage he spent a few years at the Signal Station, Semaphore, and died on July 17, 1926. During his sea experiences he was never shipwrecked, but his vessel was once struck by lightning, when he sustained slight burns, scars from which he carried to the end of his days.

Nine of the 12 Boord children

Captain Boord and his wife Fanny Eliza Ranford had 12 children - one wonders when he had time to beget this large family. I have a photo of the children when they were older and after their mother died in February 1894, but the photo does not blow up clearly. The youngest child was born in December 1893, so Fanny may have died because of childbirth complications - or exhaustion!

This family photo  was taken at the wedding of one of the Boord children. Quite a gathering.

Captain Boord is the bearded gentleman third from the left in the back row. My husband's grandmother is the lady with the large white hat standing behind the dowager in black in the centre of the photo.

 Below is a copy of the record of the ship of which Captain Boord was the master. It appears that his wife and baby daughter went on this trip with him.

 Liz Needle  -  linking with    Sepia Saturday

Weekend Flowers

I loved this beautiful Bauhinia - tree orchid which I snapped at the zoo in Bali.

The Balinese love flowers and use them as daily offerings to their household gods. They often buy them from the market or gather them from their gardens.

Baskets of flowers at the market

Flower offerings to the household god

We grow these in hothouses or as treasured indoor plants. In Bali they grow everywhere.

Liz Needle  -  linking with Weekend Flowers. Visit  to see more beautiful blooms.

Fridays Fences

Nothing much in the vault this week and the weather has been too off and on to go looking for subjects. A couple of months ago we did go for a drive to the Barossa Valley, the main wine growing area in South Australia - though I imagine people living in other areas would dispute the 'main' claim. There are some pretty impressive old winery buildings, but I  rather liked the gate that leads to the Mountadam Vineyards at Eden Valley - and I like the wines too!!

 

Liz Needle linking with Fridays Fences

Skywatch Friday

We have been having some lovely sunsets lately and so as not to be caught out I am taking my camera every time I get in the car. These memes are becoming somewhat of an obsession - but a fun one.

This particular sky was a very delicate one, but I thought it rather lovely and a change from the more dramatic ones I have been catching lately.

 And for a change. Just the previous day I took a shot from almost the same spot and got this. The flower grower in the neighbouring property uses a coal burning heater to heat his glasshouses and despite numerous warnings from the EPA (Environment Protection Authority) he continues, each winter, to pollute our little valley and our beautiful skies with these foul smelling fumes

 

Liz Needle  linking to Skywatch Friday.

Wild Bird Wednesday

Last week we went for a drive up the river (Murray) to Morgan and I was able to get these photos of one of my favourite large birds - the pelican. I love watching them. They are so ungainly on land, so serene on the  water and so graceful in the air. We spent a pleasant hour eating our lunch, watching life on the river and enjoying the passing parade of water birds.

As I was writing this blog, I remembered that years ago we visited Kangaroo Island and quite by chance came across an old man who had been feeding the pelicans daily for years, so I scrounged around in my old photo albums and found this one.

Reminds me of a childhood rhyme - was it ogden nash/

A wonderful bird is the pelican
Its beak can hold more than its bell can.

Liz Needle  - now visit Wild Bird Wednesday for some wonderful bird photos.

Sepia Saturday

My family are not really into bibles as such - well not interesting heirloom type ones. However I do have some quite ancient cards that belonged to my great aunts and as these are in written form and are hand me downs, I guess they qualify under fairly loose criteria.

These are a selection of the cards all found in the effects of my late great-aunts about whom I have written before. In addition there were a number of exquisitely written notes - all in German - I must get them translated one day.

This next one is a funeral card for my great great grandmother.

 This one is a poem written by a pupil  to and for my great-aunt  "Tante Ida" who was a greatly loved teacher. None of my pupils ever addressed me in such elegant terms.

 

Liz Needle

Weekend Reflections

Just wandering past reflecting on what I had to buy at the supermarket and i caught sight of myself in a shop window. Photo opportunity.

Easy one for a lazy weekend blogging. Visit Weekend Reflections for more creative efforts.

Liz Needle

Skywatch Friday

Back again after a lazy blog break. Looking out from my veranda one night recently. Amazing the range of colours one can get in the same sunset.

 Zooming in on that bright patch

And then a slight turn and........

Liz Needle

Friday's Fences

I've been a bit lazy lately and have been neglecting my blog, so now is the time to get back to it with Friday's Fences. I haven't seen much of interest lately - probably because its been too wet and cold to venture outdoors. Today we had beautiful sunshine so we went for a drive and snapped this cute entrance to a toy factory.

This factory and its giant rocking horse have been around for a number of years now and the horse is a great attraction for kids who love to climb the many steps up to the lookout on its back. I'm not sure whether the public is allowed up to the head - I don't think I would take up that challenge even if I was allowed to try..

Liz Needle

Our World Tuesday

Let me take you back to the beautiful Flinders Ranges in South Australia for a few more photos of the countryside. Linking with Our World Tuesday

Just out of Hawker are the Yourumbulla Caves I wrote about last week. They are part of this group of rocks which have enormous significance for the local Aboriginal people.

These two peaks represent the two moiety groups in Adnyamathanha society - the Matheri and Arura. Every one belongs to one of the groups and traditionally a person could only marry someone from the other group.  This tradition is still maintained by the older people.

This waterhole is very close to a tiny settlement called Nepabunna which is run by  a local council. If you are interested in finding out more about these people you can go back  to my blog (August 2009) where I wrote in detail about Nepabunna

The next two photos were taken in Mulkai Gorge which is an Aboriginal sacred site and only accessible through the Nepabunna Council. The Gorge formed part of the old Aboriginal travelling  route from the Northern Flinders to the Southern Flinders ranges. It is a beautiful gorge and has a huge presence about it - similar to being in a huge cathedral.

 These cave paintings in the gorge are many thousands of years old. They were painted by travellers through the gorge who wanted to leave messages for and to communicate with other travellers.A little like a modern community noticeboard.

These next two shots are part of a rocky complex called eagle rock. It was here that the local history of the eagle, magpie and crow took place.  This story teaches about respecting your elders and has been passed on among the Adnyamathanha for many generations. The story tells how the magpie and the crow who were originally white were very disrespectful to the old eagle and he paid them back by inviting them to a party in the cave, then building a huge fire in front of the cave so that the magpie and crow were trapped and had to fly out through the fire. Consequently the magpie who left first was partly burnt, but the crow was singed so badly that he was black all over except for his eyes which are still white. The rocks at the cave site are very black from this fire many years ago.

 Thank you for visiting. I would love you to leave a comment or question.

Liz Needle

Friday's Fences

Not a lot on offer this week. We have had 3 days of lovely winter sunshine and so I have been out in the garden snipping, raking, pruning and planting. One evening I went for a walk with the dogs and took these pics of a neglected vineyard at the back of our property. It is owned by a fellow who has tried a number of schemes, one of which was this vineyard. Unfortunately for a lot of people like him, the wine industry took a downturn and many amateur 'would-be'  vignerons, having impetuously spent a lot of money setting up their vineyards, gave it up as 'too hard' and 'not enough return' for their investment.

 There were young  vines growing here, but they were never looked after and after a year the owner gave up on his grand plan.

This is my barbed wire - a relic of the days when we had a goat stud.

The vineyard from the bottom of my hill.

Liz Needle

Skywatch Friday

A lot of rainy weather lately though we have had some lovely clear days with pretty sunsets.  However I was up early one day this week and drove to school in a thick fog. I love foggy mornings.

Normally from this spot on the ridge I can see for miles.

That same evening we had this quite dramatic sky.

Liz Needle

Wild Bird Wednesday

I would like to share with you all one of the really exciting events that happened to me as far as wild birds go.  We had a pair of grey fantails build a nest in a camellia bush only a few metres from our back door. These cheeky little birds happily reared their little family without any fear of humans or dogs and were not fazed by the camera being poked in close to their nest - we were very careful not to upset or disturb the little ones or the parents once the eggs hatched out.

We observed in total fascination the development of the babes and were lucky enough to be on hand to watch them take their first flights and eventually to leave home.

Liz  Needle

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday