A late afternoon surprise: the Untouchables
I was preparing dinner last night when Mr Incredible called on the two-way radio.
“Have you got your camera handy?” he asked.
“There is a great sunset!”
Smiling to myself that my hubby was actually encouraging me to take photos (and therefore spend another half hour on the dreaded computer) I wiped my hands, grabbed the Nikon and raced outside.
…
The sky was turning all sorts of great colours, as Dad reversed the truck into the ramp…
(it was after 7pm so the light is a bit low, bear with me!)…
And then I looked south and found this…
(it was after 7pm so the light is a bit low, bear with me!)…And then I looked south and found this…
I don’t really know why, but this cloud looks a bit “Old Testament” to me?
What do you think?
I walked down to the southern fence to get a better angle of the sunset proper…
Mmmmm. Pretty.
And then, from the corner of my eye, I caught a small quick movement.
In the semi-darkness I had to peer a bit…
But there, in the corner of our houseyard, was a wallaby. A cheeky boy wallaby. (Wallabies are smaller members of the marsupial family than kangaroos and a little less upright).
He didn’t bounce away when he saw me… just stood and checked me out.
Then another movement, much closer to me, just on the outside of the fence.
Mr Wallaby’s girlfriend…
And their love child!
(OK. I have no idea if this one belongs to Mr Wallaby. Just go with me people!)
…
To keep this post a little ‘real’ I should explain that these wallabies live in or around our house paddock, and as such, they are “safe”. Dad’s mother and my Mum have never allowed shooting in the house paddock (with the exception of deadly snakes that gets too up close and personal) and I have continued that tradition. Wallabies and kangaroos can get to plague numbers sometimes, plundering precious grass and destroying fences, and (when it gets to that point) they need to be culled. It’s a harsh reality of life on the land. I know this. But as we have had drought up until last year (and it is once again getting terribly dry here) the numbers have stayed pretty constant. We co-exist happily. And the city girl in me loves that we always have a little family of wallabies to sneak in and steal sweet green grass from the houseyard. When they think no-one is looking.
I think they know they enjoy a special, priveleged place at Granite Glen.Our Untouchables.
Enjoy that sunset, Mama Wallaby.
…
Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year from Bush Babe and the crew!
Looking forward to 2009, and whatever wild surprises it brings…
17 Comments
Leslie
Happy New Year! 🙂
Andrea
Wow, what an amazing sunset! It’s so beautiful there in the bush!!
And your Untouchables are adroable!! I love them. And the cute little Joey! if that is what it’s called, a Joey?? So neat!!
Bragger
Oh, how beautiful. I really, really, really, really, really, really want a print of the mama and baby. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease……..
A Novel Woman
Oh, beeeyoutiful!! Although the Old Testament comment made me laugh.
But the wallaby, now that made my day. Imagine a WALLABY just wandering around! Pretty cool beans for this Canadian girl. We get white tailed deer and brown hares but no wallabies.
Have a Happy New Year!! May it bring more photo ops than we know what to do with.
Pam
Dawna Drake
I agree, that cloud is very Ten Commandments! I really like the sunset photo beneath as well.
Happy New Year!
Debby
My goodness, BB. The sunset is breathtaking. And the wallabies…oh, just too cute. How incredibly blessed you are!
The fact that you can photograph these things for the rest of us, well…how incredibly blessed we are!
Happy 2009 to all of you!
Cactus Jack Splash
Lovely sunset pictures. I love the little baby peeking out.
rhubarbwhine
We had the most amazing sunset here too. (Well, it WAS the same sunset as you, wasn’t it, but seen in a different place, but you get my meaning!)
Wish I could be at Southbank to day, it’s VERY hot here though.
HNY xxx
Portia
Those wallabees are way cool, we NEVER see anything like that around here.
That sunset is beautiful. Happy New Year.
Tami
That second shot is gorgeous! And the Mama Wallaby is pretty darn cute. I hope the New Year brings you and your family….health, happiness, love and prosperity.
Lydia
Thanks for sharing your epic photos with us. Cecil B. Demill couldn’t have done it any better.
Mom L
I love the photos! That “Ten Commandments” cloud formation is truly awesome. And boy, would I love to see a wallaby hop past my Atlanta apt.!! All I get to see are squirrels and the occasional bunny.
Nancy in Atlanta
Kate
You are one lucky woman! Those skies are fabulous and you have wallaby’s in your yard!!!!! They are so cute! I know they can be pests but i love them and i’m so jealous 🙂 Happy New Year!!!
Wrensong Farm
Incredible sunset pics for sure!!! Those wallabies look SO cute, loved the “love child” 🙂 but I definitely can understand how cute animals can get out of control if their numbers aren’t kept in check (by predators or otherwise). There is a place near here that charges people to come in and see their pet wallabies! 🙂 Haven’t paid yet….would rather go to Australia to see them.
Wrensong Farm
Oh yeah, Happy New Year to you and your family!!! Can’t wait to see what 2009 brings from Granite Glen!
Bush Babe
Thanks for the good wishes everyone! It’s hot as heck today – January 1 2009. Gads. That seems impossible… wasn’t it yesterday we all were sighing in relief that the millenium bug was a hoax??
Dawna and Lydia… nice to see some new faces (names?) around here…
I shall have to see if I can get some better kangaroo and wallaby photos for y’all. I forget how novel they are for non-Aussies. Or even non-bushies.
Hope your New Years are proving as fun as ours was… wherever you may live!!!
🙂
BB
Diane L. Dodd
OMG! That’s it- I am moving to Australia. How awesome!
Happy New Year 🙂