ROSE TRIO

Greetings...
The roses are blooming at our place, having taken a liking to our hotter than average Winter.
I mean, there were about two weeks when we got down close to zero in the mornings...
Now here we are in August, traditionally our freezing month with Westerley Winds, and it is way above average.  The Weather Powers said we had the hottest July ever recorded.

Goodness knows what they will say about August.

This red rose was absolutely enormous - although I was not smart enough to put something in the photo to show scale.  Trust me on this one.

Oh, and I bought a new camera to take overseas.
Because the other one has developed some kind of battery power leaking problem.  It loses power even when no pictures are taken, and a full battery only lasts through about six photos.
Which the camera shop says would be difficult to solve, and probably unsolvable.  They said it happens with various electronic devices, occasionally.

A poorly functioning camera is not an option just at the moment...

Little Aussie has visited, and was flying his Pokemon kite around the neighbourhood...

He also took me on my first Pokemon hunt with his father's phone.
Unfortunately we did not find one, so I continue to have no idea what happens, or how they introduce themselves.
He is only six.  How do today's children become technical wizards so quickly...

This is not a painting to be found at the Queensland Art Gallery.
It is by an unnamed amateur painter, and my father owned and kept it in his room at his final home.

It is a picture of Mt Lindsay, part of the MacPherson ranges on the border of Queensland and New South Wales.  I took this picture on the last time we took Dad to that area for his Sunday drive.

A hail-storm was brewing, but we managed to drive out of the region before it could catch us..

Dad loved the bush, the forests and the mountains.
It is nice to have his painting hanging in the Red Cardinal nest.

May life bring you roses....

XXXXX

WHY RED CARDINAL?

Patiently waiting for me to put out the morning seed...

Yes, Mum, Dad, and those crazy twins still hanging out here every day

The kids are as big as their parents, and in a still photo it is difficult to tell which is which..

The clues lie in their squawks - they have yet to learn to trill or sing..

and behaviour - they are the babies heads down, tails up.

Parents are grimly hanging on trying to eat the seed, and some beak to beak feeding still occurs.  I have tried, but am unable to catch that because it is so quick.

I come from a family of bird lovers.

My Dad is a real expert, and even with a bit of dementia has a vast knowledge of Australian birds.  For many years he did monthly reporting for a national register of native birds, going to appointed places and noting the calls and sightings of all species in the area.

His six children all have a passing interest and most of us have 'bird-books' for quick research purposes.

Today we took Dad for one of his beloved bush drives, past newly green pastures (there have been a few heavy storms this week)..

a sweet country church and graveyard..

and on to the foothills of Mt Lindsay, part of the border ranges between Queensland/New South Wales.

Mt. Lindsay, as I learnt in childhood, looks like a lion in repose, and can be seen from a hundred miles away.

The object of our quest was to listen to a colony of Australian bell-birds..

They were still there, where I remembered!

Their call is like a tiny, crystal bell and I made a little recording, but can't upload it successfully.
So here is one from uTube:

My Christmas Cross-stitch of - what else? - cardinals in the snow!

The lovely Sheri, from Red Rose Alley, asked me the other day why I called my blog Red Cardinal, which seems a perfectly reasonable question.

I have always been intrigued by the idea of a beautiful bird which is completely red, such a joyful, happy, and, it must be said, Christmassy colour.

Many visits to the North American continent later, and much stalking of the neighbourhood wherever we go, but to this day I have never seen the elusive Red Cardinal.

My daughter eventually settled in Canada, and we visit regularly.

I live in hope!

Looking for a blog title, it just popped into my mind as something I like..

(and I had a perfect pair of little china cardinals to photograph as my calling card).

Dear Sheri, I hope I have answered your question!

XXXX

SUNDAY IN THE HINTERLAND

My father will be 92 in a few weeks.

He must feel as old as good old Mount Lindsay, the highest peak in the MacPherson Range along the Queensland/New South Wales border.

Looks like a resting lion, doesn't it ...

We all enjoyed the country scenery ..

 and the mountains ...

The creeks were lined with Silky Oak trees ...

and we passed an art installation, a daft piece of Australian Country Conceptual Art:

aka, a red car hanging from a tree in a cow pasture!

Somebody is going to sleep well tonight!

Hope the weather remains calm,

and you all have a lovely week.

xxx