Saturday, February 12, 2011

Hard on the Eyes!


SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY
http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/

HARD ON THE EYES!

It should be so relaxing
Gazing up at the sky;
Nothing really taxing,
And so easy on the eye.
But I'm beneath a pergola,
Of a plain criss-cross design,
And my brain is quite insistent
That things should be in line.
One way straight, one way across;
It's hardly rocket science.
But my brain rejects the diagonals,
There's simply no compliance.
Instead of a peaceful afternoon,
I'm squinting the day away.
I think I'll go indoors and rest....
Give my eyes a holiday!
*

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ROSLYN RESERVE

It lies between the houses like a little secret place;
Almost like a grotto, in a way.
Like a little piece of summer that was somehow left behind,
For us to find on a chilly winter's day.
It isn't quite a park; there are no roundabouts, no swings,
In fact there aren't amenities at all!
Not even paths to walk along, though shadows fleck the grass,
Thrown down by gum-trees standing straight and tall.
And it's there we took my grandson to run between the trees,
Chasing the dog and playing in the sun.
It felt like a private Paradise, designed for just we three,
So near and yet so far from everyone.
*

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PS
Quite a busy week but few photographs. I enjoyed the second staging of 'Tiddly Pom' even more than the first, because it was cooler! And then I had a very successful poetry gig which Mike attended. He was the only person in the whole room of about a hundred people that had enjoyed the previous week's heatwave. Everyone else groaned at the very thought!

Because of the heatwave I haven't been out with Mike as much as I usually do when he's out here from the UK, but we had a very Australian outing yesterday morning. Malcolm had gone off to his bowls game and Mike and I went down to Newcastle Baths. We rarely go there ourselves as Merewether Baths are so near where we live, so I was surprised at how pleasant the whole area was.



This is Mike photographed with the Art Deco baths in the background. We were surprised to discover that only the facade has been preserved from its glory days!


I preferred to be snapped with the background of the surf and rocks.


Here you see the constant background of yachts and coal-ships.


And here is Mike proving he was there!


If you enlarged this shot and peered  just to the right of the steps you might see the little dot which is my white hat. I was chatting to two Swedes at the time. They return on Sunday to the Swedish snow!
*

9 comments:

Maude Lynn said...

What gorgeous pictures!

Margaret Gosden said...

Quite a leap from Westbrook promenade UK and, further to the right, the 'baths' in Margate, also separated from the sea by sea walls! How long is Mike staying, is he looking to stay, I wonder. He looks quite at home there!!

Caty said...

I'm so jealous. I want to be at the beach!!

Caty said...

i would love to be at the beach right now ;) great pics!

Betty said...

Hard on the Eyes is good - so are the pics of the beach. Nice to see the sun shining & thanks for visiting my blog.

Gemma Wiseman said...

Striking shadows (double meaning to fit in with your delightful poem!) And love the whimsical reflection on Roslyn Reserve!

It has been many years since I saw those baths! I don't know the tall curved building top right at all! And the rest looks so "clean-lined"! My memory is of vacant, crumbling buildings! Good to see this area has been so delightfully polished!

Sue said...

Love the fun poem!
I was there in midwinter a couple of years ago, it looks like a great spot to while away a couple of hours in summer.

Kay L. Davies said...

Delightful, Brenda! I think my eyes would be like yours, anxious to get away from the irregularity of those shadows! LOL
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Becky Chalet said...

I'm hitting two birds with one stone for each visit.