Share Your World 2019: 17 June

QUESTIONS:

If you were suddenly injured or died, are your bedside table drawers ready for someone else to go through them?   If you care to share, what’s the most unusual item someone might find, that might be potentially embarrassing?

Timber panelling in a bedroom

My bedside table drawers are boring, a couple of pairs of compression socks, cough lollies, a tube of stuff for relief from insect bites, some beads, tags from clothing for the size or laundry information. The only thing I’d be embarrassed about is how uninteresting they are.

What keeps you going?  (However you might interpret that is correct.)

Finding pleasure in the small things in life.

Share a photo or a sentence about ‘your favorite thing(s) (credit to Judy Dystkra-Brown in response to this:  ttps://pilotfishblog.com/2019/06/08/lens-artists-photo-challenge-49-favorite-things/   )

If we are not counting people or animals then I guess my favourite thing in life is my “stuff” and of my stuff, my dolls mean the most to me.

Some of my larger dolls.

At the end of the song “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M.,  where did they all go?

I know this song but I can’t recall if I’d ever seen the video before. I watched it twice and still couldn’t decide where they were all going. All I can say is that they looked like they were being called to go somewhere but there was no joy, eagerness or even curiosity in responding. I wouldn’t watch it a third time as I found it too sad.

What are you grateful for right now?

I’m grateful for my home and although I love spending time with others I am also grateful for the days when I can stay home and enjoy it with just Polly and Cindy for company.

Snapshot Sunday: The Cricket World Cup

It’s hard to believe that it is four years since the men’s Cricket World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand. Although David was sick as the tournament began I was able to attend a match in Hobart and eagerly watched the matches in other states and in New Zealand on TV. This time around it is being held in England and Wales and I have subscribed to a sports channel for a month so I can watch it. I watch a game most evenings even if Australia is not playing; might as well get my money’s worth. As the matches start in the early evening our time and go on till 2 or 3 am I don’t always stay for the end, there are handy replays the next day. The format of the tournament is a bit different from the last time and I have rather missed seeing Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Zimbabwe although Afghanistan and Bangla Desh are participating. As it is summer in England it is, of course, raining a lot and several matches have been completely rained out which is a pity as it may affect the outcome. In the event of a washout, teams are awarded a point each. Australia has been lucky not to have had a match washed out so far. It is a shame for the fans at the ground who sit in the rain all day hoping for some cricket until the officials finally decide it is too late to play.

My photos are from matches that I attended at Blundstone Arena in Hobart in the past. I haven’t been to a match in a couple of years now and don’t know if I will ever be able to attend another.

  • Blundstone Arena under a cloudy sky.
    Blundstone Arena under a cloudy sky.
  • The World Cup Trophy
  • Michael Clarke during the Australia v Scotland pool game at Bellerive Oval, Hobart
  • Steve Smith on the field at Bellerive at the Australia v Scotland World Cup Match in 2015.
    Steve Smith on the field at Bellerive at the Australia v Scotland World Cup Match in 2015.
  • Mitchell Starc – Australian Fast Bowler – Bellerive Oval March 2015

RDP: Delay

Waiting

Who hasn’t spent time hanging around an airport due to some unforeseen delay?

Jet taking off at Tullarmarine Airport, Melbourne.
A Jet taking off at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne.

The first time I ever flew was back in 1977 and my flight was delayed in departing from Melbourne for something like 9 hours. The first few were not too bad. I’d never been to an airport before and David was with me so we explored, we looked at the planes from many different airlines, we got something to eat. I didn’t want to leave the airport because I had no idea how long my flight would be held up. No handy apps to let you know back then. In the end, David had to leave, he had come to Melbourne to see me off on my trip but I had to see him off as he was getting the train back to Adelaide that night. I read the book I had brought to take on the plane and when we eventually took off sometime around midnight I waved away the flight attendant who was serving dinner (at 1 am) and went to sleep.

image Virgin jet
Virgin Airlines passenger jet from 2013.
image jet at airport
Waiting to board

That was probably my worst experience with airport delays. I don’t fly that often but if I go on a holiday or to visit friends and family in Adelaide or Melbourne I generally have to fly. Hobart airport is so small that there really is not much to do, the larger airports in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide offer a few more places to eat and a few more shops but as I don’t have a great interest in fashions, shoes or bags they don’t really hold my interest. I usually visit the newsagents and may buy a book or a magazine but generally, technology is what gets me through long waits if I’m on my own.

Domestic Terminal Melbourne.
Domestic Terminal Melbourne.

Flying to and from Adelaide from Hobart usually involves a change of planes in Melbourne or sometimes Sydney. Occasionally they can be three or more hours. So what do I do? Well, I usually try to travel with my camera in my hand luggage so I can use the downtime to take some photos at the airport. I also have my Kindle for reading and I take advantage of free wifi at the airport to read blog posts, answer comments and sometimes even write something. Most of the photos in this post were taken while I was entertaining myself during an airport layover.

image travelator
How much time is this going to save you really?

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Open Topic

Port Huon

As Cee has given us an open choice this week I went looking in my archives for something interesting and found some photographs that I took at Port Huon several years ago now. Port Huon used to be an extremely busy port as apples were sent from here to overseas ports. After Britain joined the European Common Market trade declined and so did the port. There is a little boat repair business at one of the nearby slipways but most other businesses that were there have long gone.

When I took these photos it was still possible to go on to the wharf to fish or take photos but it is used by a fish farming operation and I believe that they have now completely closed off the wharf to the public. I love old buildings like these and I thought that the old sheds would make good subjects in black and white.

Port Huon Wharf April 2014
A barge that I think was being used to take food out to the salmon farms in the bay.

A Photo A Week Challenge: Urban

City Scenes

I’ve chosen some photos of some large cities, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Densely populated cities with highrise buildings may be interesting places to photograph but I would not care to live in one.

Sydney's ultra modern skyline. March 2016
Sydney’s ultra-modern skyline. March 2016
Public transport, Kings Cross Sydney 2012
Public transport, Kings Cross Sydney 2012
Melbourne
Melbourne has bike rental stations all around the city.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Laundry hanging from the windows of an apartment building, Singapore.

30 Days, 30 Songs (13)

Bohemian Rhapsody

Here is my contribution to Sarah’s 30 Days, 30 Songs challenge for today. Sarah has chosen a classic Queen song, “We Will Rock You”, so I thought I would choose another but with a bit of a twist. It’s a song that has spawned many cover versions and parodies over the years. Here is a couple. I love the Muppet version of the song, well I love The Muppets. You just know it’s going to end with “Nothing really matters but moi.”

The second version I’m sharing is a parody made by the staff at Shoalhaven library in NSW. They are not the greatest singers but they sure know how to make a music video.

While I was searching to see if there were any other fun versions or parodies I found another that I had not seen before so if you are up for another one here is a link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IABRgZH12YA

RDP: Drizzle

Drizzly Days

At the moment drizzle seems to be what we are having when it’s not raining. It’s winter here in Australia and the days are short and when it is wet like this it seems to get dark earlier and earlier. Yesterday it was overcast and drizzly all day. It didn’t rain all that much but it looked so much like it was going to that it was not hard to talk myself out of walking to Geeveston.

Dark clouds gather

Today we had a bit of everything. I was at the Op Shop until two thirty and we had a bit of wind, a bit of drizzle and just before closing a bit of sunshine. When I got home I threw a tennis ball for Cindy for a little while noticing that to the north the sky was blue but that looking towards Geeveston black clouds were looming.

Now it’s just after 3:30pm and the rain has come making it dark enough to put the lights on as well as the heater. Cindy has settled down and Polly is parked on the arm of my chair. In another hour and a half, it will be dark. Yes, winter is here.

Late on a rainy afternoon.