Tag Archives: environment

Eclipsed Blue Moon

The highlight of my evening last night (it was a quiet one) was taking photos of the moon!

I’d read in the newspaper earlier in the day, that it was a Blue Moon and that there was a partial eclipse expected around 8:30pm.  And then I promptly forgot about it!

Then, I took Bradley outside last night to see if we could see the fireworks that were going beserk in the area… but all we saw was this beautiful moon.  So of course I had to rush inside, get my camera and tripod and see if I could capture it!

For those that don’t know, a Blue moon is a full moon, when there’s already been a full moon during that month.  The next time it’ll occur is in August 2012.   It’s extremely rare for it to occur on New Years Eve, and even more rare for a lunar eclipse on the same night!

Edited to add the link to the Atronomy photo of the day from that date… now that’s how to take a photo of the moon!

cat@juggling act (187 comments.) - January 5, 2010 - 9:26 am

I am so disappointed that I did not know about it. Great shot.

Avril (Mom) (385 comments.) - January 2, 2010 - 9:07 am

Wow – amazing !!!! Fantastic photo – would look good on a calendar !!

Wenchy (49 comments.) - January 2, 2010 - 7:32 am

Kev and I sat outside looking at the moon also

Girish (77 comments.) - January 2, 2010 - 5:38 am

Yeah we saw it here as well. Wonderful moon that night.

It’s a great start to the year. :) It’s said 2010 will have lot of such beautiful sky attractions, waiting to see all of them.

Great photo.

Susanne Van Hulst (29 comments.) - January 2, 2010 - 5:35 am

You’ve captured the blue moon so nice. I have not seen any blue color in our Florida moon :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Susanne

Helena (1 comments.) - January 2, 2010 - 3:45 am

That’s an amazing photo! I knew it was a blue moon last night, but had no idea there was an eclipse as well. Happy New Year!

Climate change even affects succulents

I signed up for Blog Action Day this year as soon as I got wind of the site being online.  This is the third annual Blog Action Day I’ve taken part in, and it really is a challenge considering this is a photoblog… especially because the theme this year is not very conducive to photos that I can take at home… or so I thought, until I read an article about how even the succulents are being affected by the change in climates around the world.

For some reason, I assumed that because succulents thrive in hot and dry areas in South Africa, that the prevalence of these plants would be increasing because of the change in climates.

Turns out I was wrong… I seriously didn’t realise how much water is required to farm aloes and to grow other succulents.

Aloe flower

For example, an Aloe Vera plant required 150l of water a month to live. Aloe Vera plants that survive drought conditions end up with bitter and strong smelling gel which renders them useless for farming because the gel cannot be used.  As a result, the aloe farms in Australia for example, have mostly shut down.  It’s not only in Australia, populations of Aloe dichotoma are declining the northern areas in South Africa as I type.

In fact, according to the one article I found this evening, the entire Karoo succulent population is under threat!!

And in response… there’s a website that seems to be aimed at the people that live in the Karoo area that deals primarily with the climate change issues in the area!

This has been quite an interesting topic to blog about actually, and I’ve enjoyed reading through other bloggers’ interpretations of the theme, and I’ve learnt quite a bit today.  Do yourself a favour, and visit the Blog Action Day site, watch this video explaining more about this event and learn about how our world is changing…. and then blog about it too!

Madelein (31 comments.) - October 19, 2009 - 8:52 am

That’s interesting. Also would mean less tequila.Bummer!!

Momisodes (40 comments.) - October 16, 2009 - 8:17 pm

I had no idea about this with succulents. Thank you so much for posting this and bringing light to what I’m sure is not well known. A lovely shot too.

Tamara (21 comments.) - October 16, 2009 - 1:31 pm

Wow! Amazing pic. Love the colours.

It’s amazing how far-reaching the effects of climate change are.

Barb (2 comments.) - October 16, 2009 - 7:58 am

I am learning really interesting things from this. Beautiful picture J!

Huckdoll (27 comments.) - October 16, 2009 - 1:08 am

Awesome! I’m proud of you for doing this and also for opening my eyes to something a little different in respect to climate. I’ve read quite a few BAD09 posts today but none from my blogging friends so this was good to see!

Firefly (273 comments.) - October 15, 2009 - 10:24 pm

SUPER SHOT. Absolutely awesome!

My Earthmosaic photos

Not only was today Election day in South Africa, but it’s also Earth Day, and as I mentioned a few days ago, there’s a little project on the go called Earthmosaic.  I just had to play along, and take some photos today to submit to the mosaic.

I took the first one at home in my garden.  It’s an indigenous flower called a Osteopermum.

osteopermum

Then after lunch (my mom and sister came over for a braai/barbeque), my mom and I hopped in the car to Honeydew to find a spot to take some photos.  A guy who owns a plot next to the strip of veld where we were taking photos, chatted to us and said we should wait for the sunsets… but we’ll have to go back for those shots another day… we needed to get to the polling station to cast our vote!

I just love the light in the photos… these are basically SOOC just with a little contrast added.

Barbed wire fence

Dirt road

Weed and the wire

angel (136 comments.) - April 28, 2009 - 3:27 pm

Oh my word I love the fences!!!

angels last blog post..Our Big Day!

Pia (46 comments.) - April 25, 2009 - 5:00 pm

gorgeous!!!! I just love these!

Pias last blog post..Selling The Drama

Last Forty Percent (1 comments.) - April 24, 2009 - 9:49 pm

Love these shots!

Last Forty Percents last blog post..TRISH AND JEFF – THE DAY…

desi (59 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 4:54 pm

very nice jen.
my fave is the last one

Annie (29 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 3:26 pm

Awesome as usual!!!! You are one talented lady!!! WELL DONE!!!!!

Annies last blog post..Back to work after weekend dramas

sleepyjane (9 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 11:51 am

I love them!! You take gorgeous photo’s Jeanette!

sleepyjanes last blog post..The “messy” bun

sally - April 23, 2009 - 10:25 am

we took some too but they are no where near as nice as those

Marylin (61 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 9:46 am

These are gorgeous! I love the first. :)

Marylins last blog post..Photohunt: Purple

Firefly (273 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 9:11 am

The picture of the flower is absolutely awesome. The second picture is right up there as well.

Fireflys last blog post..Pink Candelabra

Sue at nobaddays (4 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 5:17 am

Jeanette, these are ABSOLUTELY lovely! The earth certainly has an ally in you! ;-)

NatzG (12 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 4:24 am

Very nice, as always. I posted to EarthMosaic too *she says shyly* ;-)

NatzGs last blog post..Earthmosaic – Chimes in Urban Silhouette

Corey (294 comments.) - April 23, 2009 - 3:33 am

These are great. the first two are my favs. :)

I took like 148 pics today. Hope I find some I love for the Mosaic.

Coreys last blog post..Wordless Wednesday~ Happy Earth Day!

Louisa (41 comments.) - April 22, 2009 - 11:28 pm

Love the firat one with the barbed wire.

Louisas last blog post..Big Day

Avril (Mom) (385 comments.) - April 22, 2009 - 11:21 pm

Yours a much nicer than mine, of course – will post mine tomorrow

Jane (27 comments.) - April 22, 2009 - 11:06 pm

Your recent photos and sessions have been spectacular. Well done. :)

Janes last blog post..Day of Good News : Bad News

[...] Lainy’s life in jozi… my life as a working girl in Joburg « New to the blogosphere… Earth Mosaic…finally up! May 7, 2009 A few weeks ago, my photo mad family went out and took photos to contribute to the earth mosaic photostream. My mom went out with my sister one afternoon and took some amazing photos of the scenery around Mulderdrift… You can have a look at my moms photos here, and Jeanettes photos here [...]

A mosaic of the earth’s images

Next week is Earth Day… on the 22nd to be precise… which happens to be the same day as the South African elections.  So you SA guys have no excuse, it’s a public holiday… you can take photos!

A couple of people I know have put together a website called Earthmosaic.

It’s a VERY exciting project that I’m DEFINITELY going to be a part of next week, and so should you all! They’re looking for everyone in the WORLD that has a camera (not pro’s or anything) to take photos from across the world on Earth Day.

The photos need to be loaded onto the Earthmosaic website before the end of April, and they’ll be creating a mosaic linked to.  The image will be placed on a map showing where it was taken (from what I understand on the site).

Join in, by joining the Flickr group or the Facebook group and then loading your photos:)  It’s as easy as that.  We must try get people from across the world to join in… including Sarah in Uganda… would be great to have more African photos (not just from SA)!!

And as for the rest of my worldly blog readers… I hope you’re going to join in too!! Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to visit your blog or facebook page or Flickr page and look at your photos you’re submitting.

… and have FUN!!:)

Corey (294 comments.) - April 20, 2009 - 7:10 am

I’m so glad you posted this. I forgot. LOL I am so darn absent minded. So…what day is that…wednesday? I need to find a calendar.

Joy (8 comments.) - April 19, 2009 - 10:11 pm

hey Jenty thanks for blogging up earth mosaic. your ‘where in the world are you from?’ thread on flickr is great – we have people from all over signing up.

Joys last blog post..yawn

angel (4 comments.) - April 19, 2009 - 9:00 pm

I plan to play!

angels last blog post..BUTTON OUT AFTER F1 INCIDENT – BREAKING NEWS

Annie (29 comments.) - April 18, 2009 - 9:23 am

Gonna give this a try. Just gonna need some technical advice on how to use Flickr. Will chat in the office on Monday!!

Annies last blog post..I am a stalker

killlashandra (66 comments.) - April 17, 2009 - 3:57 am

Interesting it’s the same day as elections. Sounds like a great idea. :)

killlashandras last blog post..Theme Thursday – New Beginnings

Karin (116 comments.) - April 16, 2009 - 10:27 pm

It does sound like fun! Will definitely check it out.

Karins last blog post..Black and white in low light

MamaGeek (29 comments.) - April 16, 2009 - 9:48 pm

What a fantastic idea!

Weekly Winners 14 – 20 December

weekly_winners

Here are more of favourite photos from my Hermanus trip this week… yes, I took hundreds of photos!

Hermanus from the cliff path
Hermanus from cliff path

Pretty little mall
Tiny mall in Hermanus

Wild Flowers
Wild flowers

Sparkles in the sea
Sparkly ocean

Dung Beetle
Dung Beetle in action

Grassy dunes
Grassy dunes

My Uncle Bobby and Tanner walking on the beach
Man and his dog

Kite Surfer mid-flight
Kite Surfer

No Entry
No entry

Max-e (5 comments.) - December 25, 2008 - 7:26 am

Hi Jeanette, I have really enjoyed your pictures. The western Cape is calling.
Hope you and your family have a really great Christmas and a wonderfuul New Year. Thanks for all the visits and comments.

Max-es last blog post..Seasons Greetings

Huckdoll (27 comments.) - December 25, 2008 - 1:53 am

Swooooon! That white sand and sparkling ocean look so inviting.

Huckdolls last blog post..Christmas Eve Eve

Kerri (48 comments.) - December 23, 2008 - 1:56 pm

I LOVE them all….but that last “no entry” just grabs me! WONDERFUL!!

Kerris last blog post..Have a Tweety Tuesday!

Tanya (40 comments.) - December 22, 2008 - 10:46 pm

I would actually purchase the Dunes shot as a print !

Tanyas last blog post..I love summer!!

Momisodes (33 comments.) - December 22, 2008 - 10:35 pm

What gorgeous views (minus the dung beetle, lol). I just the beach shots. The sand looks so warm and soft :)

Momisodess last blog post..Scroogisodes

Drea (9 comments.) - December 22, 2008 - 7:16 pm

That mall looks so fun!

Janet B - December 22, 2008 - 12:50 pm

Wow Jeanette! You really have some magnificent photographs there. I must say that I quite like the one taken in the mall! Interesting …

Sue - December 22, 2008 - 9:44 am

Awesome pics!
Hope your trip went well

Gabriel (2 comments.) - December 22, 2008 - 7:13 am

Wow, those are some fantastic shots, one better than the other! I too wonder where this place is… but I sure want to go there!

Merry Christmas, and thanks for dropping by!

My post…

Gabriels last blog post..Weekly Winners #44 – Dec/14 to Dec/20

Jientje (2 comments.) - December 22, 2008 - 12:52 am

A paradise I had never heard of before, where is it? I love the sparkles in the water, the grassy dunes, the wildflowers, the mall, hell, I love them all!! Even the ice cream ones at the bottom!! Have a nice week Jeanette!

Jientje (2 comments.) - December 22, 2008 - 12:50 am

You manage to amaze me week after week with such gorgeous pictures!! Hermanus looks like paradise, a

Fiona - December 21, 2008 - 11:18 pm

Oooh I love the mall shot Jeanette..it has such ambience ~ it’s probably one of my all time favourites. The grass dunes and kite surfer pics are also very cool. I think you can at least get 2 of your 3 photo’s for camera club in Jan out of this lot. They are stunning!

Louisa (41 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 11:03 pm

Wow! That’s really stunning… :-)

Louisas last blog post..Quotes of the week

Karin (116 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 10:34 pm

Ag nee, I can’t pick a favourite! I love the clouds and composition of the first one, I love the dung beetle, the sand dunes are awesome and the last one is fantastic. And all the rest are also great! You really had a great photography week!

Karins last blog post..Weekly Winners: 14 – 20 December

Donna (A Grown-up) (3 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 9:53 pm

Wow, those are really stunning shots.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Hopefully your kiddos will see Santa soon!

Donna (A Grown-up)s last blog post..Weekly Winners December 14 -December 20

Kat (5 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 6:43 pm

Wow, beautiful!
I had to google Hermanus, I had no idea where it was!

Kats last blog post..Weekly Winners

JC (45 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 6:28 pm

Fabulous shots! That last one looks more like No Exit ;-)
Merry Christmas to you and yours!

JCs last blog post..PhotoHunt: wide

Laura (50 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 6:14 pm

These are stunning Jeanette!

Love the shopping centre and the last one!

Lauras last blog post..Weekly Winners

Tiaras & Tantrums (20 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 5:05 pm

WOW – stunning scenery – looks like a great place to visit!

Tiaras & Tantrumss last blog post..Weekly Winners

Bobby Becker - December 21, 2008 - 5:02 pm

Really great shots J. Bobby.

Elaine (27 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 5:01 pm

I love them all this week but the dunes one really struck me. I love the beach and the ocean… so gorgeous!

Elaines last blog post..Weekly Winners 12/21

SECRET AGENT MAMA (160 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 4:38 pm

I love your landscapes, Jenty! They are GORGEOUS!!

SECRET AGENT MAMAs last blog post..Weekly Winners LVIII

Karen MEG (4 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 4:34 pm

Gorgeous shots, Jenty… the sand and beach shots are awesome!!

texasholly @ June Cleaver Nirvana (12 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 4:02 pm

The dunes picture was my favorite. It is an amazingly beautiful place!

texasholly @ June Cleaver Nirvanas last blog post..Celebrating fun

Marylin (19 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 3:06 pm

I love the mall! Gorgeous pics hun. :)

Marylins last blog post..The First Nativity

Secret Mom Thoughts (52 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 3:01 pm

These are all awesome. My favorite is Wild Flowers.

Secret Mom Thoughtss last blog post..Weekly Winners

Tanya (40 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 12:58 pm

You’ve outdone yourself with these! Wow!! Which lens were you using?

Tanyas last blog post..Wordless Wednesday – when having the wrong settings can be interesting!

tiff (43 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 10:57 am

Absolutely stunning. I love the windows shut tightly and the man and dog on the beach.

tiffs last blog post..Weekly Winners.

quilly (17 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 10:22 am

I love your landscapes. Your local travel industry might be interested in your photos.

That dung beetle was pretty interesting, too!

quillys last blog post..See Wall? Sea Wall!

kompostela (40 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 10:03 am

Very beautiful! I thought you are master of portreit but your landscape pictures are also great!

kompostelas last blog post..Reading With a Toddler – Your Secret Mission

Lea (1 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 10:02 am

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing.. may I ask please what camera you use? I am looking to buy a new one after the holidays and am trying to find one that I like as much as my Sony, but better quality.

Leas last blog post..Sunday photo post..

Connie (18 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 9:34 am

All spectacular shots this week~my fave is sparkles in the sea.

Connies last blog post..Weekly Winners=Dec. 14th-20th 2008

Gillian (27 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 9:08 am

I love the grassy dunes!

Gillians last blog post..Uncle Charlies Farm

desi (59 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 8:47 am

nice!
i like grassy dunes and wild flowers!

Cheri - December 21, 2008 - 8:47 am

Beautiful photos. Really makes me miss Hermanus, it has been years since we have been there. Love the photo of the man walking on the beach.

frogpondsrock (18 comments.) - December 21, 2008 - 8:15 am

They are all beautiful Jenty, simply beautiful. I really like them all. cheers Kim

frogpondsrocks last blog post..Weekly winnners

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