Rocking Your world 2017; Week 40

My word - week 40 already. And it will be a very quick post today as I am busy sorting the house and packing our cases, ready for an early  flight tomorrow.

I'll start off with some visitors we had this week. I heard their lovely bells jangling in the green zone behind us so I went out to see them.They always make me smile, as they clamber over one another to reach a special leaf they have seen. It is pretty much dry scrub out there at this end of the summer, but they still found plenty to munch on. They are doing us a favour if they clear some of the dead plants.

What made me smile more was the goatherd. These are usually quite old men who have spent their lives wandering the campo with their herd, looking for food for them to graze on, and they sit on any patch of higher ground so they can keep an eye on the animals, and usually they have a goat-dog along side them. They rarely need a dog to actually herd the goats as one word from him and they obediently follow him. But these goats behind us had a much younger goatherd, and he was passing his time, browsing a smart phone. How times change!

Most of this week, the days have ended with a clear sky that fades to a lovely peachy pink and then goes dark. But one day we did have some broken cloud. My dad was a fisherman in his free time, and he would have called this a mackerel sky. As the pink crept in around the clouds it was so pretty.

I sat out the back and watched it for a while. The sky was full of little birds, all chattering to one another as they made their way to their night time roost. They were everywhere, but they move so fast that it is really difficult to catch them on the camera. But there are about five in this shot.

Last week I showed some little lavender dolls I had made, so this week I have been working on bells. They are quick to crochet, but a bit fiddly for my fumble fingers these days. When they are finished they have to be starched and shaped over a ping-pong ball sitting in an egg-cup. Here are three that were dry in time to be photographed. I want to make at least another blue one and a couple of cream ones before my charity sale.

Last night as I was clearing up, Chris came in and suggested I went out to see the Harvest Moon, which is supposed to be bigger and brighter than your average full moon. So of course I grabbed my camera and followed him outside. The moon certainly was big and bright, but taking a photo of it is not something I have much success with. After a few tries and changes of settings - without me having a clue what I was doing! -  I got this one which is clear and sharp, but could actually be a picture of almost anything big and round!

While being a bit better than I usually manage, I wasn't very inspired by it, so I kept trying. When I zoom in as far as I can, I should have a tripod, as it is impossible to hold the camera still enough to find the target. Hence the collection I have of moons just sailing out of frame! So I borrowed Chris's shoulder to lean on, and steadied myself as best I could, and after a few more abortive attempts I got this one, which I was quite pleased with.

So, on that note I will link up with Annie's Friday Smiles and Rocking Your World, and then get back to the packing.

Please forgive me if I don't get to do much commenting this week, and next week I doubt whether there will be a post at all, as it is the day I hopefully fly home, along with my sister Jean. But there will be plenty to tell you about the following week.