CBBH Photo Challenge: Blue

Jo Bryant, , ,

“This month´s CBBH Photo Challenge is leaving me feeling anything but BLUE – because I just love the colour!” is what Marianne has to say about her monthly challenge and I find myself heartily in agreement. So here are my blues !!!!

Okay all you gardeners out there – what is it called ???

Traveling home from Auckland last weekend I stopped in the Karangake Gorge. I love this part of the drive home.

Before I left I went exploring the Northern side of Auckland. St Paul’s Catholic Church at Takapuna drew me in.

I spent a fascinating hour there with a wonderful lady who explained a great many intricacies of the Catholic Church.
Down at Devonport in Auckland I found a few other great places.


Okay this was just for fun. I was testing out the batteries in my camera in a shop while waiting for a friend to finish.
Now another part is to direct you in to the path of two bloggers…so without further adieu…

Kangaroos of the Scrubby Bush

Beautiful Photographs

Published by Jo Bryant

I was born in the land of Banjo Paterson, gum trees, and weather extremes. I am a freelance photographer. I love to make images that make people happy. To capture forever a precious moment. I am also a freelance writer/editor. I live in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, but still like to claim my Australian heritage. I graduated with a Bachelor of Communications in 2008. I am writing my first novel. I love to write poetry, short stories, and also write for the web. And there is nothing that is on a par with a sunny summer's day spent at Waihi Beach.

75 Comments

  1. No, Iove the tap and its reflected blue … and the blue heron, of course (great capture), but it’s the cornflower blue of that little flower (and no, I don’t know its name – you’ll have to rely on cold-climate people for that!) rising out of its rosy background that’s grabbed me. Almost the same blue as my Papa’s eyes, such bright merry eyes they were. Beautiful Blue post 🙂

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          1. Thanks Jo 🙂 I had thought today would be the day to do a post about him, but every time I start I can’t go on. Never mind, the right opportunity will arise, and I’ll be able to tell the universe what a good and honourable man he was, and how much fun we had together.

            It only just occurred to me that with no children or grandchildren to pass his story on to, he does effectively disappear with me unless I put him out there into the netisphere.

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          2. No they never disappear. For their imprints will always be felt…sometimes we may think they’re gone forever, but in a kindness you do, or a smile you give that is passed to someone else, they remain and flourish. One day you will be able to write that post. It took me a long, long time to be able to do that. But suddenly you will find the words just coming. I recently read an article in which a physicist thinks that our energy [souls as some call it] leaves the body to marry with the universe when we die and that it becomes a part of the collective that is the universe. I rather like that idea and it makes a hell of a lot of sense to me. If you ever want to read what I had to say about my Dad on what would have been his birthday: Colin Arthur Bryant and the third child is the post. But don’t feel you have to. It just might make you feel that one day you will find the words, as I eventually did.

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          3. That’s pretty much how I see it too, Jo – though of course as inanimate matter – as part of the good, clean, impersonal matter of the universe. Now I’m going to read about Colin Arthur Bryant and that third child … 🙂

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  3. The flower is Love in a Mist, Nigella Damascena and comes in all shades of blue – I once had a deep one – white and sometimes even pink. It will self seed freely and had lovely seed pods too! Love your blues especially the heron. It always amuses me when I see place names from England – Devonport is 45 miles away in Plymouth, a big dockyard area.

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    1. Now funny how I suspected it would be you Gilly who filled me in on its name. I love THAT name. These are down my drive [the neighbour planted them], and there are white ones as well. I might have to pinch a few seeds one day I think. Devonport is where The Son works. It is where the Naval Base is. It is a great place to wander around. I suspect we [Australi does too] have a great many place names here that are reflected back in England.

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    1. Thanks Granny !!! Cricket you say – I used to be a mad follower when I grew up in Australia, but these days I barely know who is playing. I know – terribly sad and unpatriotic…oh well.
      😉

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    2. That was fascinating. I had no idea blue was such an amazing subject. I love the ‘sacre bleu’ reference and what it refers to. Thanks for the link.

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  7. Blue-siniy-bleu-blu-Blau-azul
    many way to agree… it’s my favorite colour too!
    Yours are superb examples…

    and this is my way to see blue (over and under, indeed) just in the right mood since here in Switzerland is rainy and quite cold!
    Have a lovely sunday :-)claudine

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    2. Oh Claudine…what a wonderful image. It is a rainy grey day here and that image just perked up my morning no end. Thanks so much for sharing it with me. I wish I was there right about now.
      🙂

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  8. Bravo! Wonderful blue photos, Jo – especially of the Love in the Mist flower – superb!

    Thanks for the information about the Karangahake Gorge. I´m sure it´s somewhere I have just driven by last time I was in New Zealand. Wont make the same mistake twice – I´ve added it to my list for next January/February!

    Thanks for the links to two blogs you enjoy visiting. These are both new to me, so I´ll HOP straight over. Great entry to this month´s BLUE challenge, Jo – well done!

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    1. It is about 45 minutes from Katikati on State Highway 2 to Auckland. It is beautiful there…with great places to stop. You really should do one of the walks when you are here. I hope you are planning to stop in my town. I would love to meet with you and show you about. I make a mean coffee and scones. Yes technically it should probably be TEA, but I love my coffee…hehehe

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      1. I would love to do just that, Jo. I´ll let you know when we will be up in your neck of the woods. Probably towards the end of January I would think 🙂

        We leave for Sydney in nine days . Can´t wait!

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          1. Ah yes, we have done that walk- fantastic – but are planning to do it again (including Waverly cemetery!).

            I´ve a feeling we´ve also done the Art Gallery too, but of course, didn´t know to look out for Tom Roberts paintings. Just had a look at your link – they look fantastic.

            Getting excited now!

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          2. He is an amazing artist…and his paintings are HUGE !!!! Have you spent time in Manly ?? If not – do !!! And when I went back in 2007 with The Daughter we stopped in Redfern for something. When I was growing up Redfern was rough and not the place to go…but we ended up spending hours wandering around there. The little shops are so eclectic and now it is being tidied up some of the houses are just wonderful.

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    1. Thanks Colline – neither did they make me feel blue. Funny that. It is rather an unusual expression. It is a Naval expression ” coined from a custom among many old deepwater sailing ships. If the ship lost the captain or any of the officers during its voyage, she would fly blue flags and have a blue band painted along her entire hull when returning to home port.” – Sourced from “English Language & Uses”

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  13. I love nigella (as Gilly said that’s the blue flower) – it’s so strange looking with its cloud of spiky green surrounding the flowers. Great photo of it. And great shot of the heron(?) flying over the rocks and blue water. But what really knocked me over was the faucet with the intense blue reflections!

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    1. I would sooooo love one of those in my house. Seeing stuff like that is what you get when you have friends who have plumber husbands…they take you to the most interesting shops !!!!!!!!!!!

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    1. Thank you. I was quite please with that heron myself…wasn’t sure if it would work or be blurry. It was such a lovely moment there on the river watching it do its thing.
      🙂

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  16. Great blues, but love the “blue bird”, Jo. The statue of Mary is beautiful. She always looks flawless. Even if she’s aged, or cracked – to me, flawless.

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    1. I had such an interesting time in the church. I learned all about Easter and Jesus in the repose. I loved the bird as well…I was thrilled it wasn’t blurred.
      🙂

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  17. These are lovely blue photos: the flower is crisp against the pink background; the blue heron was captured perfectly; and the faucet has clean zen-like lines.

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  18. I learned the non-standard german name of this flower from my grandmother. She would have said it is a “Gretel hinter’m Busch” which I translate as “Gretel behind the bush” or “Gretel hiding in the bush”. Because my second name is Margarete (and Gretel is an abbreviation), “Gretel hinter’m Busch” is my name-flower. She and my mother teached me most of the non-botanical names of the flowers and plants that I am still using today. 🙂

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  19. Thought that was a cornflower, but Gilly is our expert on all things gardening 🙂 It is an exceptionally beautiful shot Jo! Now off to check out those two new names.

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  20. You’ve made me feel all summery seeing your gorgeous blues Jo !
    You lucky people have it all to look forward to soon 😉

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          1. please feel free – if you want to download it from our website that’s fine – just loop it back to this link here
            http://www.a3art.co.uk/photo_10676532.html
            I’ll be doing a blog post about it over the next week or so too if that’s ok with you – once we get the sale over and I have collapsed in a heap somewhere for a rest!!!
            and thank you again for letting me use your lovely photo x

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  22. Ooooooo blue! 🙂 Love the one of the heron, especially. We have the grey ones here, but I remember the blue ones from my time in the Pacific Northwest. They are such majestic (and BIG) birds!

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    1. Aren’t they just. I love herons…we have a couple that come to visit when it rains. They take over a paddock across the road that floods. I could watch them for hours.

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  23. Pingback: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things that make you happy | Chronicles of Illusions

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