Down on the farm in Southland - a bit of sheep herding and some pink hay bales

farmland, Garston.

I have been researching hay bales.

An important topic if you are a farmer. Which I am not.

Bale wrap comes in a variety of colours.

Green is the most popular, as it blends in with the countryside ( unless if is arranged on a fence)

green bale wrap

White is a close second.

And I have once seen blue.

But it was the pink ones that caught my eye.

marshmallow bales

pink bales

I have learned that they were developed to raise awareness for breast cancer. You can read more here 

And the blue ones are for prostate cancer. Farmers Weekly has the low down

It could get complicated....


There are many colours and many diseases....

pink for breast cancer support

I have also been rounding up sheep on the beautiful Glenfellen farm.

You will not find kinder, more welcoming folk than the McMillan family and their friendly woofers. Woofers work on the farm for board and lodging, as a means to travel overseas.

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Not to mention the dogs.

The house dogs are not allowed to work with sheep ( wrong brain cells)

House dog

And the working dogs are not allowed near the house, but are allowed to ride on the quad bike.

working dogs

The farm is steep and the tracks are rough gravel, but the walk to the top of the hill is well worth the climb.

the top of the farm

A flock of sheep needed to be moved, soon after my arrival, to a different part of the farm.

sheep moving

Moving sheep involved about six dogs, a quad bike, two farmers and a truck.

driving the sheep

I rode in the truck. It was suitably scruffy, and made mincemeat of large swathes of thistles.

truck interior

house dog watching the action

the truck

You will, of course,  notice that the passenger door opens onto a very large clump of thistles.

I now know why farmers wear jeans and boots rather than shorts and sandals.

Scotch thistle is a problem, as is English gorse, and California thistle. All imported. None useful.

And here are the sheep, in case you are wondering.

Once the excitement was over I climbed to the top of the hill where I found more sheep.

It is not possible to get closer than this to a sheep. They run off when you reach a critical distance.

sheep

The view was stunning.

farmland

I would have loved to stay much longer.

Maybe I'll take up woofing....

Still here after all these years - learning how to see without a camera.

proof of my existence

10 years ago this month I started treatment for breast cancer. It was not fun. I thought I would die.

5 years went by and I felt really, really lucky. I felt as though a coin that had been flipped up in the air , rotating slowly for 5 years had finally come down on my side, as I knew from the outset that I only had a 50% chance of still being well after 5 years.

10 years passed this week, and again I found it really hard to believe.

Oh me of little faith.

I AM a survivor.

It has been photography that has sustained me through those years, as a way to express my gratefulness for being alive and as a way to find inner peace.

As a consequence of small celebrations I have been gifted a new camera; see above.

I have been challenged to create something special with it.

The gauntlet was thrown down thus......

"They say a decent photographer can make something beautiful with any camera, so let's see what you've learnt over the last 10 years"

I have yet to decide how to respond; there are no instructions with the camera, and it has a flash, but I have no idea how many times it will fire. I will take my time.


Here are a couple of my favourite quotes from other photographers that feel appropriate right now.

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“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” - Dorothea Lange

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“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.” 

― Ansel Adams

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Here are some fish, from the Mediterranean sea.

I am not sure I'll be able to create anything like this with my little Kodak; this was taken in a harbour in the Med last weekend on a mini break with my other half.



He took my portrait.

 wife with old stones........... 

As you can see, I am fully alive .

And still married to a man who would rather I took more pictures of a conventional nature; in focus and preferably with an old rock or two in the foreground.

We both can dream.