Susan McCreery

@susanmccreery

Writer. ALL THE UNLOVED out now. Retired proofreader (90 issues!) for Australian Geographic. Still work for trade publishers. Freediver. Ocean, flowers, movies, birds, books, cats, silliness. Thirroul/Dharawal, Australia. susanmccreery.com.au

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Bluesky

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Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· 27d

Meanwhile (just because), here are a few of the treasures I've collected over the years – all things the sea has brought ashore during stormy times. 🐚💎

An open wooden container, kind of like an old printer's box, with 50 tiny compartments holding ceramic shards (potsherds?) & shells & seaglass as well as the odd plastic toy, car, rusted metal, Lego, etc.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· 29d

Fool's cap ➡️ foolscap. This I did not know! Day 303 from Vanessa Berry's CALENDAR (Upswell Publishing, 2025), in which she presents a year through 365 objects.

303. Foolscap Notebook
When I first became aware of it, foolscap-sized paper had almost been phased out, replaced by A4 as the new standard. Foolscap pages were long and narrow and their weird name fascinated me with its merge of syllables. Fool's cap, named after a watermark of a court jester wearing a pointed hat with bells. Over time the words had run together, and foolscap became a way to describe a particular size of paper whether it had the watermark or not.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 15

Blending in. 🪶 Masked lapwing (eastern form) in a sea of seaweed, Thirroul beach.

Masked lapwing (plover), walking through a tangled mass of seaweed (yellow, brown, green) on the shore. The bird has yellow facial wattles & bill, & a black patch on side of neck. Top of head is black & wing a kind of dark cinnamon.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 14

Perched for a while on a rock by the sea.✨️

View across a calm sea on a darkish afternoon, sky a blanket of cloud. Taken from the southern end of Thirroul beach. Further south, across the water, is Sandon Point.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 13

Morning shadowlands.

On the wall is a small framed painting of nasturtiums in a green jug. Shadow lines of slatted blinds cross both wall & painting. Also: reflected in the painting's glass are the dewy windows with their open blinds, & beyond, the sun.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 12

Spectacular cloud scene this morning.

Extraordinary cloud formation sweeping upwards across the morning sky. Peach & grey, a gigantic brush. Trees in silhouette. Glow at the horizon, over the sea. Taken approx 10 mins before sunrise from my house, Thirroul, NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 12

Magnolia splendidly in her cups. Seen today round the streets of Thirroul. #FlowerReport

Buds n blooms of a large magnolia in a suburban setting against a brilliant blue sky. The landform in the distance is the Illawarra escarpment.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 9

this way ~

Before sunrise, looking down on a track through grass to the curve of McCauley's beach, Thirroul. A softness to the sky, clouds & sea. A sign denoting this as a dog-walking beach & habitat for sooty oystercathers. Two figures & dog on the sand.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 5

...so I wandered round the winter garden picking violets.💜 #FlowerReport

Posy of violets in a tiny old green glass medicine bottle. A mix of Australian natives (purple & white) & sweet violets (purple). Other odds n ends on display.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 4

Bold, shy, independent, she is all of these. 🪶

Female satin bowerbird perched on a timber fence & partially obscured by bare branches & the side of a cubbyhouse. She is a dappled green, with a dark beak & blue eye. She holds herself tall & firm. My garden, Thirroul, NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jul 3

Blue skies, a cold westerly and lengthening shadows. Afternoon at the old boat sheds. Sandon Point, Bulli.

A cluster of about 10 timber & corrugated iron (painted green) boat sheds at low tide. Their ramps rest on sand. These are heritage-listed. The first ones were built in the 1890s.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 30

This morning's view over sky, town, sea.✨️

View at dawn over the darkened town of Thirroul to the sea. Pinpricks of light. The sky is a spectacular colour & cloud show, trees in silhouette.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 29

If you can't take the house, take the door. (Greek doors, an occasional series.) Fourni 🇬🇷

Blue painted timber door with frosted glass panels & a small message in white: Old House. It is set in wire fencing & fronted by two short walls of rocks as an entranceway. Beyond the door (padlocked to fence) is an open yard. The door has been sawn off at the base.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 28

Winter-flowering diosma after heavy rain. #FlowerReport from my Thirroul garden.🌸

A spray of delicate pink-white flowers along a slender reddish stem that is also growing narrow lime-green leaves. In the background is a garden seat. Thirroul, NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 28

Sunday afternoon, winter.☁️

View from a high headland across the Pacific & Thirroul beach, NSW, on a cloudy day with patches of blue. Two lone figures are walking along the beach. In the foreground are spiky plants & some red hot pokers.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 27

Meanwhile, miniature landscapes of moss are soaking up rain.

Foreground: damp moss, filaments holding raindrops. Blurred yellow leaves & timber retaining wall at rear. My garden.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 25

When you want to be alone and still keep tabs on the action. #CatsOfBluesky🐾

Bella the black cat seated at a timber table with only her eyes & ears showing.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 23

I like this a lot. First part of a 12-part poem by Julia Rose van Haren in the latest Australian Poetry Journal (14.2).

Poem: Thetis, teach me how

At school my son makes a list
*poo bum
*doodl
*vgina
*volva
*peenis
*stingky
His teacher calls them 'toilet words'.
"The portal to creation, as I see it, isn't a toilet word".
"Vulva" she explains, is a "little crude".
"It's anatomical", I reply.
Like, elbow
or nose
or arsehole.
Later, when I ask him about the list, he tells me he was practicing dot points.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 23

The first known use of 'gnarled' was in the early 1600s. Old man banksia/saw-tooth banksia (B. serrata).🌳 #ozplants #ThickTrunkTuesday

Look up the gnarled old trunk of a tree in bushland on a blue-sky day. South coast NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 22

Salvia catching the morning sun. Looking healthy after the cutback.😊

Orangey-yellow buds on a salvia catching the morning light. Out-of-focus background of plants & blue sky. My garden, Thirroul.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 21

Of dewdrops, green wings & flares. Fuchsia heath (Epacris longiflora), a bright spark in the winter bushland, south coast NSW. #FlowerReport #ozplants

Delicate crimson tubular flowers hang from a slender branch. The base of each flower flares like a dainty white skirt. A dewdrop clings to one flower. Along the branch are triangular leaves like wings.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 20

Winter solstice swim.✨️

Swimmer's view of sunrise, across the expanse of ocean. The sky is clear. The slope of land to the left is dark. Taken at 7:04am off Thirroul beach, NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 18

Change is coming.

Mashed-up ocean under a dawn sky full of grey clouds, some of which are tinted in glorious sunrise tones. Thirroul, NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 18

That blue gaze! Female satin bowerbird feasting on the fruit of the monstera in my backyard just now.🪶 #wildoz

Greenish bird with shades of brown on wings. Breast & abdomen whitish with dark scallops. THE most startling blue eye. It's on the ground in long grass, before a half-eaten log of monstera fruit.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 17

This morning's view over town, sky, sea.✨️

View over the darkened town of Thirroul & the ocean as day is breaking. A rich red-gold glow along the horizon. A slant of grey cloud, the odd star & other pinpricks of light.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 14

For this week's #FlowerReport I bring you the lemon-scented myrtle (Darwinia citriodora), a hardy shrub from Western Australia that attracts nectar-feeding birds. #ozplants My garden, south coast NSW.🌻

Small, tightly packed yellowish flowers with prominent styles & surrounded by reddish green bracts. Leaves are grey-green.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 13

This morning's silvery sea.

Swimmer's view of the ocean's surface rippled with silvery reflections of the light between clouds. This is the stretch of water off Sandon Point beach, Bulli.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 13

Hello #lichen and other natural delights.🍂

Weathered wooden slats of a garden seat daubed with lichen & sprinkled with brown leaves from the Japanese maple. The armrest is painted teal (I think) & also weathered. My garden, south coast NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 11

here's to a softer world

Scattered cloud cover over the ocean at sunrise with the softest of tints. Thirroul, NSW.

Susan McCreery@susanmccreery· Jun 11

This is the Greek side of my house at the moment. (what's in the sky isn't) (Greek)😊🪶