Australia, blogging

Beneath My Feet-Friendly Friday Blog Challenge and Photography tips

Forestwood

Recently, the Home by the Sea had an addition beneath our feet.

Instead of the verdant grassy backyard of our dreams, a patchy, weed-ridden excuse for a lawn evolved crying out for weekly attention. Attention the M.o.t.h. (Man of the House), neglected to allot, so we thought it might be time to look at options. The Schnauzer dogs vetoed getting rid of it altogether. A compromise was needed.

It is hot here for over half of the year.

Lawns in Australia, notoriously devour voluminous gallons of very expensive fresh water and require careful weeding, fertilising and nurturing. As the M.o.t.h. would rather support commercial television programs than the manure retailers, it was decided to swap out the backyard lawn for a lower maintenance option of exposed aggregate concrete.

For months, we had no luck finding a “tradie,” (tradesman), to do the job, given the current construction climate. The Australian building industry is booming in a, ‘boom, or bigger boom,’ kind of way, ever since Covid. [I am waiting for the bust, but it hasn’t come yet]. It’s crazy, especially given that most building materials are in very short supply.  B.C. (before Covid), our Home by the sea was built in just 18 weeks, now an average house build has spanned out to take 18 months or more! Such are the consequences of a pandemic.

Finally, we found some motivated fifty-something guys who were willing to do the job beneath our feet. Well – most of the time, anyway:

Hard at Work – our concreting crew!

I captured this photo soon after these guys told us the young blokes weren’t tough enough and couldn’t hack a whole day of concreting work!!!

But bless them, by the end of the day, we had a super new patio area devoid of grassy tufts that invariably found their way inside my house. That equals less housework for me – Yay!

Friendly Friday Photo and Blog Challenge Theme

-Beneath Your Feet

Noosa National Park, Australia

The Challenge this Friendly Friday is to write a post about, or photograph something, “Beneath Your Feet.” It might be some interesting rocks,

beach rock tesselations Australia
Sunshine Coast, Australia

freshly formed fungi,

mushroom

a reptilian or animal species,

lizard
Bearded Dragon at Coolangatta, Australia
snake in the grass
A red-bellied black snake?

or snow!

footprints in the snow - australia
We were in Norway!

Tips for Shooting Photos on Low Surfaces

  • When photographing the ground, it helps to include something else in the frame to show context.
  • Capture an object on the floor, look for something to frame the shot such as overhanging branches or buildings or internal walls, cupboards.
  • Keep in mind the “Rule of Thirds.”
  • Include a person — or part of a person — to add movement and life to the shot.
  • If outside, use shadows to capture shapes and details on your surface.
  • Try different angles for a dynamic composition.

Friendly Friday Photo and Blog Challenge

This Friendly Friday Prompt runs for two weeks after which we will have a collaborative guest post from the What’s on the Shelf Bloggers, Deb, Sue, Donna and Jo. 

Everyone is welcome to join in with the Friendly Friday Challenge: Beneath Your Feet. You just need to:

  • Construct a post
  • Title and tag it ‘Friendly Friday‘
  • Include a ping back and url here along with a comment on this post, so we can find your blog and visit your post.

That is it. Easy Peasy.

More details on Friendly Friday here

Friendly Friday

Published by Forestwood

A philosophic Aussie writes here at StPA, one who will readily admit to loving Scandinavia. I'm interested in global politics and what drives us to be who we are. Scratch the surface and you'll find a practical Environmentalist with an egalitarian bent, trying to unleash a little creativity via the written word. Scandinavian culture, literature and traditions are close to my heart, even though I'm Australian. Travel and courteous discussions greatly broaden the mind, so I travel if I can and am always up for a vigorous, respectful discussion. I'm an avid reader, a writer and I enjoy photography and crafts, particularly traditional art forms. I hope you'll find 'Something to Ponder About,' in my WordPress Community.

66 thoughts on “Beneath My Feet-Friendly Friday Blog Challenge and Photography tips”

  7. Pingback: On the sand – bushboys world

      1. That’s a Dad joke? Funny. You know the one about:
        Mom is texting…
        Mom is texting…
        Mom is texting…
        Mom is textin…
        …
        …
        “Hi!”
        (That would be a Mom joke?)
        Cheers Mate.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Hey Brian, Yes it was a Dad joke. Dad jokes here are invariably lame and corny. More witty than funny. P.S. I think I get the Mum joke. Being a Mum might be an obstacle to “getting” it! Lol.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Takk – viking for thanks!
        Glad does sound very English as English is a hybrid of French and Northern Germanic languages (one branch of which is the Scandi languages). All the towns names ending in “….by” come from the Danish word ‘by’ for town. Vikings settled there once!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you Jane! As well as the environmental aspect of reducing water usage, the cost of water is astronomical! Most likely as the council has outsourced the supply and the costs are increased by the addition of this third layer of administration.
      I think you would like the Sunshine coast area of north-eastern Australia!

      Liked by 1 person

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  15. It’s interesting that in Australia concreting over a patio is seen as the green choice, because you save water by doing so. Here in the UK a lot of people are very against the replacement of lawn and plants with concrete because of the positive benefits of plants, such as providing us with oxygen. But that’s mainly in our crowded cities where every patch of green is welcomed, no mater how small!

    I’m a bit later than usual responding because we’ve been away for the weekend in Portugal 🙂 But I spotted your theme and was excited to see how closely it fitted with some of the photos I’d been taking over there. So I made sure to take more to fit and here they are: https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/gallery-underfoot-in-the-algarve/

    Like

    1. I was a tad concerned that claiming concreting was a green choice was a bit of a stretch as I am well aware of the effects of too much concrete in cities. The way it affects water flow, rainfall absorption, less green space, habitat loss, decreased plant biodiversity etc and then there is the level of energy required to make cement. However, framed in the microcosm of my backyard and in terms of water and chemical use, it is environmentally preferable. We have tons more green space in Australia than the UK admittedly, yet urban sprawl and habitat loss, it should be a large factor of consideration in any environmental decision. Even with the new patio, we still have a section of grassy lawn in the backyard and for our small house block, loads of plants and gardens, and even a front lawn too! (perhaps an eco-friendly deck there in time to reduce water use). My considerations were somewhat selfish and practicality-based. I also wanted a low maintenance option and hate using chemical fertilizer which has disastrous effects for the waterways via runoff. So on balance, I feel it is tipped a little towards greener benefits than disavantages.
      Having said all that, I am looking forward to seeing your theme. I never made it to Portugal and it was somewhere I would have liked to travel to, so I am keen to see your post. How long is the flight?

      Like

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    1. The challenge rings for another few days so not to late, Sofia.
      I have left a comment on your post, Sofia. The shot looking down on Lisbon with the gleaming white tiles bordered in blue is marvellous.

      Liked by 1 person

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