Foggy morn

It's that time of year when I can imagine all sorts of mystical, magical things happening up in the forest.

The little people could be out dancing with the cows and we would never know.

Mornings are cool but not cold.  Well, not inside my warm home.  It could be different if I were the one to get up early to milk those cows. 

Morning, noon and night fences

It's that time of year where we often have a foggy morning followed by a clear, sunny day.

And in the evening, we've had some pretty sunsets. I was driving home and hoping to get to a particular spot to capture this sunset but stopped to take this shot when I realized it was going to be dark in a few more minutes.  I had to lighten the image so you could see the fences on either side of the road.

Linking to Gosia's Fences around the World.

Fences in fog

My fence photos this week were taken on the foggy morning we had earlier in the week.

This one didn't turn out as I expected but I like it anyway.

The rest are just farm scenes within about 50 metres of my home.

 I'm linking to Good Fences.

Peace

Peace has been restored.  I no longer jump to attention and run out of the house, reaching for a stick to brandish, threatening violence to whichever cat has the chooks sqwarking like crazed banshees.  The chooks now cluck quietly and contentedly.  It appears all feral cats have been dispatched. 

The birds, also, are more relaxed.  The plovers used to send out the first warning that a feline was lurking.  One sqwark from them and the sparrows would take off.    They, too, are now quiet.  And the sparrows?  

This morning, after the fog cleared, something caught my eye in the paddock just on the other side of the fence.  Something was out of place.  Maybe it had just moved and that's what grabbed my attention.  Don't know but I was interested enough to use the zoom on the camera to see what it was.

I thought it was dead and immediately thought the worst - there's still a cat around!  I went over to have a better look.  To see if there had been a struggle, if it had been attacked.  I swear I'm lucky to have survived the fright I got when it did a half somersault and flew off.  I suspect it got quite a scare, too.  Sparrows don't often do half somersaults.

When I let the chooks out of the coop this morning the fog was quite heavy and had fooled them into thinking it was still bedtime and they were all snoozing on their perches.  I thought their body clocks would work better than that.

I like foggy mornings now that I don't have to drive to work in them.  By the time I took this shot I would have already been at work.  I used to guess how thick the fog was by whether I could see the bridge at the bottom of the hill, just down from my driveway.  Not too bad by the time I was out and about but wouldn't have been good earlier on. 

First sign of the coming of the end of summer?

Foggy morn

There could have been more fog this morning.  Don't know, I stayed snuggled up in bed arguing with myself about whether I'd get up and go to work or stay right there.   I now work in an open plan environment with three other women, perfect for spreading germs.  My boss is nearly due to have a baby and the last thing she needs is to be kept awake all night coughing.  So, for everyone else's sake I decided to stay at home.  Just me being noble, nothing to do with tiredness or laziness.  

Yesterday I had to stop several times on my way to work.  I do love foggy mornings. Didn't even make it out on to the road before I made the first stop.  The fog was lifting from the mountain but still drifting around the valley.

This is much closer to town.  I pulled over to the wrong side of the road to get the shot out the car window.   

Monday morn

I thought this morning that we must have the switch from Daylight Saving timed just about right now.  First Monday morn after the change and it was most decidedly cool.

I got a bit excited thinking "the fog might be back" and hurried to get on my way to work.  Morning and hurrying don't come naturally to me so, despite my best efforts, I didn't really have time to stop to take photos. 

But when I turned down the road to work I had a few minutes up my sleeve and stopped for just one shot of the fog rising from the hills behind the hospital.

Georgia's little dog came for a couple of walks with me around the farm at the weekend.  The dry weather hasn't kept the possums away, he was bum up digging a few times. 

I don't know if my son has sprayed the blackberry down by the creek so didn't dare sample these.  They did look lovely against the dry weeds.

 It appears there are only two roosters amongst the clutch of chickens.  The dark coloured one is the biggest and bravest of all the chicks, he is always the furtherest away from Henny Penny, leads the way when they leave the coop.  But he's also a bossy little so-and-so and likes to terrorise his sisters.  He could be on borrowed time.

The little grey one is the opposite, always closest to mother's side, so I'm not too sure if he'd be much chop as a rooster.  They are a constant source of entertainment for me.   Yeah, yeah, I know, easily entertained I am.  I swear they grow every day. 

Something has been trying to dig in under the coop lately, which has been causing me some alarm.   There is wire netting on the bottom of their coop so they should be safe but I've spent a lot of time thinking of nasty traps to set for the nocturnal digger.  I just hope whatever it is, it is solely nocturnal and will leave them alone when they are having their free range time each day.  I've become strangely fond of them.  Never thought the day would come when I'd get all clucky over a few chooks, but there ya go, you never know what might happen next when it comes to this ageing business. 

FSO - What does home mean to you?

When you stop to think about it, this is a pretty hard topic to capture photgraphically.  I think so, anyway.

After thinking about it all week and making no progress I decided to simplify the process and think about it as I drove home, so all my photos, except for the very last, are taken from the car. 

It wasn't a long drive.  When I've been 'away' the first time I get the feeling that I'm nearly home is when I come over the top of the Brynderwyns and Bream Bay opens before me.  From here I know I will be home in around an hour.

I know I'm nearly home when the sealed road stops and the rough road starts.

After heavy rain overnight I check the height of the murky creek and catch glimpses of the fog lifting from the mountains. 

I check my favourite tree which is just now springing into new life.  That's it in the middle of the shot.  It has a better profile going the other direction but I wasn't going that way today, I was heading home.

Bright bursts of yellow catch my eye at a couple of places -  kowhai flowering beside the road, another sign of spring.

 When I reach my driveway I know to look right towards the mountain, that no matter what the mood of the weather, I will find beauty there.  And comfort, knowing I am home.

 Today there were no traffic jams.  The ones below occurred on a miserable, rainy day just like today.

Home at last I know what home really means to me - putting my feet up unconcerned about holes in my slippers.

If I had to choose one word to describe what home means to me, it would be comfort.  I am comforted by those around me and my surroundings.  A feeling is hard to capture but I've given it my best shot.  To see how others of the team have approached this, just pop over here.

Surprise fog

It always seems to me that we get heavier fogs here than anywhere between here and town.  This morning there was a hint of sunshine outside my back door and a light misty fog on the hills.  

About half way between here and the corner there didn't appear to be much sunshine and the fog appeared slightly thicker.  Sorry about the gate across the shot but when I'm on my way to work there's no time to get out of the car to look over the gate.

Just as well I didn't or I wouldn't have had time to stop for this shot after I drove into a real pea souper closer to town.  

So the trip to work was very slow.  But not as slow as the trip home.  The skies opened just as I was about to leave work - and my umbrella was in my car.  Thank heavens for lovely work colleagues who offer their umbrella!  The rain was absolutely bucketing down, it was difficult to even see the centre white line on the road.   And worse than the rain were the occasional flashes of lightening which seemed scarily close.  I wasn't stopping to take any photos, I just wanted to get home.

Home has never looked so good.

Pukeko and fog

I always try to leave home a few minutes early on foggy mornings.  For two reasons - the first is to do with my own safety.  I need to drive a little more slowly when visibility is low.  Last week I hadn't seen a pukeko come up from the creek and walk onto the road.  I had to resist the urge to swerve to miss it.  I would have ended up in the creek!

The Pukeko, is New Zealand's Swamp Hen . It is one of the few New Zealand native birds to have flourished since the arrival of man, and can be found in almost any grassland area, especially in swampy locations.  We rarely see them here on the farm but there are a few areas of swampy land down along the road where they like to hang out, just past where the peacocks are and before you get to the ducks. They are usually easy to see as with their bright blue plumage and red beaks, they easily stand out against the New Zealand greenery, particularly when their white tail feathers begin flashing in alarm.  With their long skinny legs they look kind of goofy (and to be honest I don't think they are the brightest sparks in the bird kingdon) and their images appear on all manner of art and craft works.  They even make an appearance from time to time in our TV commercials.  This is one of them. We all love the pukeko and I felt a bit sick when I felt the thunk that told me I'd hit it.  

The second reason for leaving early is because I know chances are I will be tempted to stop to take a photo somewhere between here and the corner.  I love how the world looks when softened by fog. 

But one morning last week I didn't even make it out of my driveway before I stopped to take a photo:

Foggy morning

Moody morning

Yesterday was a rotten day. I know we all have them from time to time, those days when nothing goes right, when one thing after another goes wrong and you wonder why on earth you ever got out of bed in the first place.

I know my astrological friend would tell me my planets were out of alignment, Uranus (which often gives me bother apparently) must have had something to do with it but it felt more like my planets had been involved in something disastrous.

Luckily, my body now deals with an overabundance of stress by insisting on sleep, so I lay down for a nap after I got home from work and woke this morning, 12 hours later, still fully dressed and on top of the bed covers. During the night I'd flipped the bedspread over myself. But, boy, did I feel good!

Then, this was my first sight of the day out of the kitchen window.

I knew then it was going to be a lovely day. And it has been!!