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

The Heat is Back!

???????????????????????????????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?

 

 

daughter · photography · sisters

Lady of the Dead ~ A Halloween Makeup Session

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Who is that girl in the photo? I don’t recognize her! But that’s my clock, sitting on the mantle piece, right behind her!???????????????????????????????

Now that’s more like it, I know these two girls, my beautiful daughters, Emma and Hayley. Hayley loves playing around with makeup and creating different effects, so when Emma asked her to turn her into someone who even her mother wouldn’t recognize, eg, The Lady of the Dead, (as you can see in the photo on the phone in Hayley’s hand,) Hayley was all for it!???????????????????????????????

It began quite simply, just a big circle around her eyes……???????????????????????????????

Well that was a surprise….a bit dark, don’t you think????????????????????????????????

I thought Emma said she was going to the party as The Lady of the Dead, not a Panda Bear!???????????????????????????????

That softens it up a bit, Hayley is getting into her “Flower-Power” mode….she always did love drawing flowers when she was a little girl. 🙂 ???????????????????????????????

Aww, that’s kind of cute, a little black nose…..???????????????????????????????

…..and funky little whiskers too; maybe she is going to the party as a cute little fury creature, after all. ???????????????????????????????

Oh, a cute little fury creature with white lines on its face…..I’ve got it ~ a white tiger…..or, or, or……a zebra!???????????????????????????????

Well that’s kind of pretty, in an odd sort of way, if you half close your eyes…..???????????????????????????????

What the….?!!! That can’t be Emma! She wouldn’t be caught dead with hair that messy!???????????????????????????????

I think a nice necklace would look better, Emma, don’t you????????????????????????????????

Here comes the special effects lady Hayley again, what’s she doing this time????????????????????????????????

I feel faint…….???????????????????????????????

Eeeewwwww………………that can’t be my beautiful girl, can it?

Thank goodness Halloween only comes around once a year!

Footnote : Emma enjoyed herself, didn’t drink too much, and went to bed reasonably early, if you call 3 am early!

freedom · friends · new beginnings · photography

The Muse Who Disappeared

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I haven’t had anything to say here for months. That’s not because I’ve had nothing to say, I’ve been talking plenty, both to the people in my physical life, and those who I know online.

Every now and then I have been visiting my blogging friends blog pages (as you will know!) and I love reading your thoughts, and hearing about what you have been up to. I have even continued adding a photo a day at blipfoto, which I really enjoy, as it keeps a daily record of what I’ve been up to, and I pop into Facebook nearly every day too.

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Then I go to the dashboard of my own blog ~~ and there’s nothing.

Why?!

I seem to be in some kind of slump, but I don’t know why. So taking matters into my own hands, rather than awaiting the return of my “Homelife Muse“, here I am. Babbling on about nothing.

But it’s a start…..right?

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I do have a rather wonderful event to talk of (maybe my Muse just came by for a visit!) My husband and I just had a four day trip away together, just a two hour drive from home, but the best part of the trip was that it was just the two of us!

Don’t get me wrong, I love my children to the moon and back. But you know, they are all so grown up now, they have their own lives. And I will always be here for them if they need me….but they can live their own lives now, independently of me….I can actually go away with their father for a few days without the sky falling in on them!

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My photos today were taken while we were away. I’ll tell you more about the area we went to another day (I don’t want to exhaust my Muse while she’s here!)

I took over four-hundred photos during the four days, and I’m still sorting through them all. But I’ll be back soon ~ Pinky Promise!

trio

“Mistress Creation keeps calling my name… I long for her, and she, for me… we will be reunited soon. In the interim, I bide my time dreaming of her, writing about her and stretching her across the vast landscape of my imagination. “Soon”, I whisper to her, “Soon”.”
~ Jaeda DeWalt

Australia · Pacific Ocean · photography

Last Night : The Lunar Eclipse.

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.

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. 🙂