Sunday Selections #606
Long ago, Kim of Frog ponds Rock, (who no longer blogs), dreamed up a meme called Sunday Selections.
A place where those who were willing could put up photos they wanted to share, new, old, good, bad or indifferent, any photos you please.
Nothing rude or vulgar though.
And we don't mind at all if overseas bloggers care to join us.
The meme is now continued by Elephant's Child and I occasionally join in as do a few others. Andrew is one. Messymimi is another. Drop in to them and have a look. I haven't linked Andrew in case he doesn't yet have something going. You may remember google is giving him grief.
Starting with the birds this week:
a couple of days when the whole crew turned up at various times
look at that wing span and notice also the browning of his belly, the first sign I believe of the beak and feather disease
look at that clever one checking for traffic before crossing the road
these five look healthy enough
but there are several now with obvious feather loss, the one in the right front corner has a near naked neck, but seems to be camera shy
these last two shots are a bit out of focus as the birds kept changing positions at the seed trays.
Moving on...
our wattle trees are looking very golden right now
the flowering gums are flowering: these are pink, but other varieties are creamy yellow
the pink again, the rainbow lorikeets are loving these.
once the flowers finish these seed pods are formed, and once they dry and release the seeds
we end up with these which we call "gum nuts"
this is what happens when you lift the dead roses to take them outside and you bump your elbow.
the next two photos are all I can show of the many I took at the Doll and Teddy Bear Show last week
I forgot 😢 to pick up name cards from most of the displays, so can't show the beautifully made and dressed dolls and bears without giving credit to the makers. I picked up a few cards, but don't remember which photos they belong to.
I show this one and the next because the stall holder told me her name, the Mama bear and Baby bear out shopping were made and dressed by Nell Nitschke
another Mama and Baby out shopping. Nell Nitschke. She's so talented.
All the stall holders are very talented. There were beautifully crafted and dressed baby dolls that looked so real I expected them to move.
finishing now with some real babies, here you can see Ana is still a little smaller than Gen, but I think this is an older photo from a few weeks ago.
ready for sleep
reaching out, "I'm still here, I'll look after you."
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Adorable photos of Ana and Gen. When I first saw them I thought, "Wow. Those dolls DO look real!"
ReplyDeleteSteve Reed; I should have said they were the real babies above the photos. Ana and Gen are much more adorable than the collectables.
DeleteThe babies at the Doll show looked real and had many different facial expressions and body positions. I believe they are bought and just the outfits are made by the stall holders, Sale prices were very high.
Dear heavens. I thought you were saying they were dolls too. I was astonished. Then I saw the pictures of them in bed and thought...wait a minute here....
DeleteDebby; sorry to confuse you. The very real babies are my newest grand daughters, now 4 and a half months old.
DeleteSadly by feeding the birds we not only help the weaker ones but probably are helping to spread the illness. We have bird flu here and have been advised not to feed the birds. I really miss watching them.
ReplyDeleteIt is so sweet seeing the babies reach out for each other. What a bond they have.
Arkansas Patti; I know I shouldn't be feeding them, as sharing seed trays is one way to spread the disease, but in the beginning I thought I was only feeding one who can't fly, she (he?) climbs up and down the tree to get to the seed tray. Then the others all came around. I'm surprised to see the newly affected ones looking so ragged already, since the original climbing bird looks much the same still. I think the newbies are from a different flock, pushed out by bigger healthier birds maybe.
DeleteI think the girls are going to be very close as they grow up and will look out for each other at school. Close bonding is common with Identical twins.
Your spring is more advanced than ours. Roses are yet to flower, as are many of the eucalpyts. The cocky with the grubby belly may have the early stages of beak and feather disease but it could also be a reflection of the mud that is around after all the rain.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the twins, and their continuing connection are super, super sweet.
Elephant's Child; not too many roses are flowering here, the footpath garden bed which has my favourite buff coloured rose is still largely dormant, as are the roses in my own front section apart from the three I cut last week and now only the yellow one is flowering and a white one which has many smaller blooms in bunches. A Floribunda I think.
DeleteI don't know about the grubby belly and mud connection, we don't have a lot of mud around here and the big healthy birds all have white bellies. The diseased birds all have the muddy colouring, and I think that is the first indication.
The girls love being close together, as long as they can see and touch, they are happy, if separated too long they get a little upset. I expect that will change once they begin crawling and can move towards each other on their own. As things are now, while sleeping Ana will wriggle and wriggle until she can touch Gen.
Nice selection of photos all around, but the ones of the real babies are the best :-)
ReplyDeleteKathy G; thank you. All the baby photos are the real girls. only the Mam and Baby shopping bears are from the Doll and Bear show.
DeleteI looked up the hardiness zones for the red flowering gum and I'm too far north. In the US it says zones 9 and 10. I'm in zone 6.
ReplyDeleteMike; you are definitely too far north. We have flowering gums all over Australia though, different types in different areas and I don't know which type these pink ones are.
DeleteI guess the cockatoos are a small family group and the feather problem is a contagious disease. That's a bit sad. You took some really good flower closeups, and a triple feature of the twins this week.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; the disease is contagious and widespread throughout the country, apparently nothing can be done according to the wildlife person who emailed me.
DeleteThe flower closeups were easy, the tree is a small one and the flowers level with my head.
I don't have any more new photos of the twins, so this may be the last week I can show them.
I hope the cockatoos survive any disease that is affecting them. They're beautiful-looking birds, but can be so destructive, too.
ReplyDeleteThe doll and teddy show looks fun. The real little dolls are more fun, though. :)
Take good care, River...have a relaxed week ahead. Cuddles to the lovely Lady Lola. :)
Lee; I don't know how long the birds live once they have the beak and feather disease, but they don't recover. I'm seeing a little destruction here now, they have been nipping the tops off some of my succulents on the front porch.
DeleteThe Doll and Teddy show was VERY crowded, it's an annual thing, but I don't think I will go again. The real babies are much more fun. they eat, laugh, sleep, cry, they DO things. Dolls can't do that. Lola has been much more cuddly since we found a "cure" for her scratching. She is content now.
I am sorry to hear about the sick birds.
ReplyDeleteThose are some very talented artisans.
The babies are precious.
messymimi; the beak and feather disease is widespread in Australia but affects only the parrot family. I haven't seen evidence of it in the smaller varieties like the rainbow lorikeets, seems to be only the larger birds, galahs and cockatoos.
DeleteI was amazed at the talent on show at the Doll and Teddy Bear exhibition.
Ana and Gen are very precious.
Looks like the twins are growing like weeds
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
Dora; at the moment the weeds around here are growing faster, but the twins will live longer :)
DeleteLovely photos all of them River. Shame the cockies are not well, it's hard not to feed them when they coming looking for food..
ReplyDeleteMargaret D; I'm going to keep feeding them. The crowd of 16 doesn't come every day, usually it is just the one that can't fly, but I think the one with the naked neck will stick around now too. If the rest keep coming, I'll hold off on the food for a while, I can't afford to feed that many twice a day or even once a day.
DeleteWhat a great post! Nice seeing things still growing. I've nearly lost all our tree leaves!
ReplyDeleteJenn Jilks; you're in a different season, while we head towards summer. We do have a lot of trees that don't lose their leaves even in winter.
DeleteWhy did the cockatoo cross the road, heh, heh! The flowering gums remind me of the flowers here on a mimosa tree. I like the dressed-up bears from the Doll and Teddy Bear Show. The twins are living dolls, and have bear ears on their hoodies!
ReplyDeleteVal; mimosa is in the acacia family I think, so the flowers are fluffy like some of our wattle trees, maybe. The dressed up bears were made by the seller who also made the clothes, lots of talent there. The twins are little baby bears :)
DeleteThose twins are cuteness overload! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCharlotte; they are and I love them so much.
DeleteOh, I´m so sorry I missed out so long, life was getting crazy over here!
ReplyDeleteWhen I bump somewhere into I never get such great outcome as you with the roses-leaves!
Ohhh, the bears! So cute!
And yes! The babies are really different in size, how can that be? I noticed before I read it (not much experience in that sector).
Iris; the babies are much closer in size now, that particular photo is a couple of months old. The roses were very droopy and the petals were ready to fall, a bump just helped them.
DeleteThose busy birds tho! and the teddy bears. I miss seeing pictures of your threesome. The babies are gorgeous and I love the hands shot.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
WWW; I am very glad the whole flock doesn't turn up every day! I couldn't possibly afford to feed them. Usually I feed just one or two that hang around and don't fly away with the healthier birds. I love how the twins like to hold hands.
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