Tag: Australia

Australia · blessings · new

Magical Beginnings.

Joanne7 Comments
happy new year 2015
I found this elegant photo on Facebook and love the complete image it portrays ~ the pine for Christmas just past, the subtle streamers for celebrating the New Year, and glasses of champagne, for a toast to the very best wishes for 2015 to friends and family.

 

As I begin to write today, I think it would be safe to say that the entire world has now welcomed in the New Year. I always feel that the promise of new beginnings, carried through on a wave of excitement into a new year, is perhaps the most magical time on the years calendar.

The thought of writing a list of New Year’s Resolutions leaves me rather cold, however. I prefer instead to feel my way to a higher level of wisdom, and for want of a way to describe my feelings, that is the best I can come up with!

The magic of this time of the year in Australia also lies also in long, lazy, hot summer days, taking a break from work, setting the usual routine aside, and relaxing. Since Christmas day, I haven’t cooked a real meal, we have lived instead off the left overs of cold Christmas meat, the occasional bar-be-que, and salads. We have mince pies in the cupboard, rum balls in the freezer, and oh, the chocolate! My indulgence in sweet treats will end shortly, then I will diet. 😉

My husband is at home every day, not doing anything in particular other than relaxing. He’s also reading a lot. I remember many years ago, a time when he simply hated me reading, feeling it took time away from our “together” moments, and I actually stopped reading for a while, just to keep the peace. How times have changed. After thirty-five years of marriage, he finally discovered the joy of reading for himself, perhaps initially with an attitude of “if you can’t beat them, join them”, and recently he confessed that he regretted the time he resented my books, and wished he had discovered the joy of reading sooner. Those few sincere words from my husband were a highlight of 2014 for me. We now enjoy our together time, sitting in the same room, on different comfortable chairs (it’s too hot to share a sofa during summer!) each reading the book of our choice.

Today is a photo-free day, just an opportunity to wish good health, good luck, happiness, blessings and love to all my friends, as 2015 begins.

I have a great feeling about this year….it’s going to be magical. ❤

 

 

Australia · authenticity · friends · In My World · new beginnings

In My World…..

Joanne8 Comments

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I’ve had an idea floating around in the ole grey matter over the weekend, and wondered if it would be possible to change the name of my blog….

I just checked….and I could….it took but a second of time to do so….and I did it, then realised the confusion that could occur when my regular blogging friends dropped by!

Of course, the www. address remains the same, the only way to change that is to forget this blog and start up a new one. I didn’t want to do that though, I have become quite attached to my little place on the World Wide Web, our association goes back many years now, so will remain.

There is a magazine in Australia, called “Country Style”. I love this mag and have been a reader for over twenty years. I subscribe to the magazine….I really love it! However, about three or four years ago, they decided to begin a blog, and called the blog (can anyone guess…..?)…..Homelife!

As lovely as the magazine, the “other” blog, and the name of the other blog are, I have felt a tad overshadowed by this immense media power ever since. This is my tiny (in the perspective of the Web) little blog, mostly set within the realms of my home and garden. I also include nearby towns, and write about holidays I have taken. The posts are written from my personal perspective, are perhaps not always politically correct and certainly do not express the opinions of the multitudes. I am not up to the minute with the latest and greatest in fashion, neither around the home or otherwise, and I do not even have a particular word than even defines my style…..I’m just little old me, sharing my world with friends.

I like the title “In My World”. It’s personal. It’s authentic. It’s My world, and no one else’s. Home life can encompass many a person’s life at home, My World is all about me, and the people, creatures and things I wish to include in my world, just the way it should be.

And, dear blogging friends, you are all a part of my world and I enjoy sharing your world too. 🙂

Now, onwards….2015, here we come. (2015? Wow, I still can’t get over how fast 2014 has gone!)

Australia · photography · rain · spring · The Week That Was

The Heat is Back!

Joanne19 Comments

???????????????????????????????What an array of weather we have had this week, all the way from cool rains, right through to the extreme humidity of our sub-tropical climate.

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I think that if you compare the two photos above, you will see what I mean ~ the first photo shows a kookaburra on a bright sunny day, feathers fluffed up, and looking very handsome indeed.

The second photo shows a bedraggled kookaburra on a dull day, with feather weighted down by the drenching rain.

All of these photos were taken during the last week…….

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In the next photo you can see a placid kookaburra enjoying a quiet moment in the morning mist. The purple tree beside him is a Jacaranda, a beautiful tree which puts on a brilliant show in the late spring in our area.???????????????????????????????

For a couple of months now I have seen very few rainbow lorikeets, even though most days until recently I have had thirty to forty of them in my garden at a time. Their numbers seem to have decreased, and I have no idea why. This week though, they have started to visit again, first just two, then four, and today I had six lorikeets here, enjoying breakfast at the bird feeding table.???????????????????????????????

Without the rainbow lorikeets in the garden to take photos of, photography loses some of its appeal to me. I think I would feel the same if any of my regulars stopped visiting though, they are like my own little wildlife family, right outside my back door, and I miss them when they are gone.

With summer making its way back during the last few days, Christmas being just around the corner is becoming a harsh reality……but how did the year vanish so quickly?

 

 

Australia · Pacific Ocean · photography

Last Night : The Lunar Eclipse.

Joanne12 Comments
April 12th.
April 12th.

The moon caught my eye a few days ago. Every night, the sky looked so bright and I would look up to see the moon dancing with the clouds. I took the photo above on Saturday night. And it looks very clear, very moon-ish, all cratery and rickety around the edges.

Last night when I took myself just a tad east of home, towards the Pacific Ocean, for a view of the Lunar Eclipse, when I first spotted the moon it looked like a red ball in the sky. Moments later though, the red had diminished. And the photos I took didn’t turn out as clear as the one taken on Saturday night either.

Here is what I saw last night. Actually, it’s what my camera saw, I saw the moon through a much clearer lens ~ my eyes. Perhaps the darkness of the eclipse didn’t agree with the eye of my camera, but it shows you a few stages of the eclipse and for that I am grateful.

6:34 PM
6:34 PM
6:42 PM
6:42 PM
6:43 PM
6:43 PM
6:47 PM
6:47 PM
6:49 PM
6:49 PM
6:50 PM
6:50 PM
6:56 PM
6:56 PM

By 7:00 PM, the moon looked like its usual self. The fun of the eclipse was over.

For future reference, I have made a note to myself to set an alarm to remind me to get outside to see the eclipse earlier, as apparently most of the Blood Moon effect showed up earlier than my photos began.

So mark your calendars, the next Lunar Eclipse is on October the 8th this year!

Australia · Pacific Ocean · photography · son · South West Rocks · winter

White on White : The journey continues around South West Rocks.

Joanne7 Comments
White on white.
White on white.

When Adam told me I would find an abundance of subjects to photograph at South West Rocks, he wasn’t exaggerating. It was the most beautiful area to visit, but the highlight for me was the lighthouse area in the early morning light.

Pacific Sunrise.
Pacific Sunrise.

As our visit to the area was during July of last year, the sun rose quite late, being winter here, so we enjoyed not only the crisp morning air and the beautiful white lighthouse against the backdrop of white clouds, but also the sun rising over the ocean.

A white spectacle awaits.
A white spectacle awaits.

Everywhere I looked, pristine white surrounded us ~ the clouds, the lighthouse, even the white wooden fence along the way….

Accommodation.
Accommodation.

….the quaint white house on the right can be leased to holiday makers. Can you imagine waking in the morning and beginning the day with this view? I’d think I had died and gone to heaven!

Sun-spot.
Sun-spot.

As the sun began to rise, we caught an occasional glimpse of it as it tried to peek its way through the clouds, forming a white sun-spot on the ocean.

A western glimpse....
A western glimpse….

Even as we walked along the path towards the lighthouse, glimpses of the ocean could be seen behind the rental accommodation, looking towards the west. I’m sure that every window in these houses must have a view of the ocean.

A touch of orange against the white.
A touch of orange against the white.

Even the flora here was magical. I could have taken photos all day!

Is this real?
Is this real?

The waves below looked surreal. How could so much beauty be real? Surely it was all an illusion!

Bottlebrush.
Bottlebrush.

These Australian natives are known as Bottlebrush trees, for obvious reasons. Again though, the colour seemed almost angelic.

Gumnuts.
Gumnuts.

I think these are a kind of gumnut, or a hard seed cone. There is so much wild beauty here, and so close to the ocean too. Incredible.

Who goes there?
Who goes there?

Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched? I did, and I was! These two magpies didn’t seem to be bothered by Adam and I visiting their territory though. Perhaps they are used to humans losing all sense of time when they are visiting their home. 🙂