Old Owl's photos with the keyword: Wheatbelt

Have a Happy Fence Friday, everyone, and a pleasant and calm weekend wherever you are and whatever your weather. This suspension bridge crosses the Avon River in Northam, WA.

HBM to all. May your bottoms rest on comfortable benches and your day be calm and gentle. This is in the Wheatbelt town of Dowerin in WA. There are a number of benches along the main street, all of which are bright red. Note also the tin dog on the wall to the right. Again a number of dogs appear throughout the town, most of them with a front paw extended. This is Tin Dog country, named after Tin Dog Creek just outside the town where, according to folklore, miners on their trek from Perth to the Kalgoorlie goldfields (about 600 km) stopped to camp and eat on their journey, and where they left their empty corned beef tins. Just outside the town is a large statue of a tin dog ("Rusty") designed and built by students from the local high school in 2004. UPDATE WITH PiPs Three PiPs are in the top left edge of this picture: the first is of Rusty; the second is of Rosey, created in 2020 as a female companion for Rusty; the third is a tin dog affixed to a litter bin and doing what dogs do to such structures. These pictures were taken by She Who Must Be Obeyed and I give her much thanks for her permission to use them. Many thanks, too, to the delightful and caring Ecobird for helping me by telling me how to add PiPs. This was most necessary for I am an owl of very little brain ...

From somewhere on the Merredin-Nungarin road in the WA Central Wheatbelt. Press Z for a wider view.

Katanning evening. (Black is best. Press Z.)

Happy Fence Friday to everyone everywhere. I hope you enjoy a fine and pleasant weekend. It is the start of spring here in WA. Actually, according to the indigenous Nyoongar people of the region it is Djilba or First Spring, the season of conception which encompasses August and September and when many of the 12,000 different species of wild flowers which explode throughout WA begin to bloom. Many of these species are not found anywhere else in the world. We look forward to seeing them over the next two months. This is one of the traffic bridges over the Avon River in Northam, WA. The picture was taken by my wife and is used with her permission. Thanks, hon.

Happy Fence Friday, everyone. Let us hope all goes well with each of us and that we can enjoy our weekend. This is typical of the design of many pubs and hotels in country Australia, especially those built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the pastoral lands were being cultivated and the grain crops were being established. When we stayed there in July there was a dinner and meeting for (I think) the Rotary Club, which probably included many of the town's residents. It sounded as though a good time was being had. We, on the other hand, ate a nice pub meal in the bar with maybe fifteen people there; old and young, single and couples. The hotel is currently for sale, again this is a reflection of the decline in population in Wheatbelt towns and the relative isolation of Wyalkatchem from the main highways. Press Z to see it bigger, please. It deserves to be admired for its perseverance if nothing else.

Disused station in Wyalkatchem in the Wheatbelt of WA. Grain trains still pass here during the harvest season on their way to the CBH silos nearby. The town is a small one, perhaps 500 people, and it is not a place one would visit casually, thus a railway station is considered low priority. HFF everyone. I hope your weekend is a fine and pleasant one. Please keep yourselves safe.

This blue tree is in the small town of Trayning, WA. There are a number of trees painted blue in country Western Australia which attempt to draw attention to the importance of mental health and the high number of suicides amongst farmers and young people in WA. There is a Blue Tree Project website (https://www.bluetreeproject.com.au) which explains more clearly than I can. There is also a national organisation called Beyond Blue which tries to help those with suicidal ideation and their families. We should always ask each other: “Are you OK?” and be prepared to listen to the answer.

Happy Fence Friday, everyone. Keep warm (or cool, depending on your location), but above all, keep safe.