Photographic Fun Day or was that Monday?

I so enjoyed my photography session yesterday at the river and having been inspired by Darlene's amazing photography on her blog (My life for a day - on my side-bar), decided to get my camera out and really work at my hobby again. 

It was a misty morning so after dropping Matthew at school, I headed straight to our river.  I loved the eerie feeling as the fog lifted and this great tree in the river is one of my favourites.

 Of course the morning wouldn't be perfect without Spider-webs - I just love photographing them in the early morning dew.  A mother duck was protecting her ducklings, so I tried to give them a wide berth - after taking a few snaps first.

 Another perfect web.

 With the floods, so many trees were lost, but the river has opened up. I walked slowly along the bank for ages, enjoying the sunshine, the quiet and just some time alone.

 This bench is still covered in debris, a timely reminder of our January floods.  Nature however, is rejuvinating the river banks and trees and the birdlife is slowly recovering.  Mommy Duck and her babies, gave me hope for Spring.

It was such a nice day, that once I arrived home an hour later; I decided to head into the mountain to the Rainforest with the girls and Mum and Dad.  We had a few glorious hours, taking photos and enjoying nature.

Look out for the next post tomorrow, with photos of our day out at Mt. Glorious.

It Takes Time

 Our beautiful park at Colleges Crossing is slowly recovering from the flood - or is it?  The once lush green grass area is still covered in river sand/silt and instead of grass we have weeds.  The once magnificent trees are all now chipped for mulch, but the pile sits in the park unused.

 The river still winds it way down to the sea, today it was a quiet meandering stream. The tide was out and this log draped in green algae was a photographer's dream.

 With strange lighting and shadows, it was fun to experiment.  My camera is playing up a little, but I was not too unhappy with the results.

 I like this photo with the sun in front of me and the face in the wood, was quite creepy.

Another angle

So for those of you who don't remember where we were in January this year, here are a couple of photos of the same patch of river and the same park.

 Where will all this be in 12 months time, a place of recovery I hope.  We did see a few people enjoying the Sunday morning sun; a family with their little son, riding his push-along-trike; a Grandma and her grandaughter feeding the ducks; a man fishing and  a guy flying his model planes and helicopters.  Of course, Elizabeth and I were enjoying the sunshine and the photography.  So I guess, time will fix it all.

SMILE!

My friend Michelle, posted this FANTASTIC  clip on her blog - Joy Express this morning and I enjoyed it so much that I am sharing it with you.

If you don't think you are worth much, just take the few minutes to brighten up your life.
It is worth it and so are you!

Thanks Michelle, for sharing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao&feature=youtu.be

Good morning world!

What a difference a day makes?

Yesterday my lovely children helped me clean and tidy the house.  When we started renovating in late April, house cleaning became a 'lick & a promise' routine.  Now that works, house got vacuumed when it needed and dusted when we couldn't see the TV anymore.  So we could concentrate on the renovations. It was a busy few months.

Once it was finished it was straight into surgery for me and a few weeks of taking it easy.  Ivan then took a weekend to move all the major items into the garage, but still the house needed a good clean. 

I have felt so down, so overwhelmed and so unmotivated for weeks. I just couldn't face cleaning, but it has been getting me further and further down.

Yesterday, was the day.  I nominated specific tasks for Matthew and Sarah, and then Elizabeth and I began in the dining room.  We cleared away all the scrap booking stuff and cleaned.  Each room sparkled by the time we left it. 

We completed the dining room, the lounge, the kitchen, the family room, the bathrooms, and the bedrooms all got a once over.  My bedroom still needs a lot of sorting out and the study is a disaster, but the house is just beautiful again. 

We could barely walk by the end of the day, but it looks amazing.

This morning, I have woken to blue skies, sunshine, a clean, sparkling house and a smile on my face - what a difference a day makes.

Mountains, Valleys & Plains

Do you live in a valley or on a mountain, or maybe on a flat plain?

Well in Brisbane it is very hilly, small almost invisible hills, but no road is flat.  There are no open vistas and every road twists and turns.  If you visit our local landmark Mt. Cootha with its lookout, Brisbane and surrounding areas look flat with a river that winds it way to the sea, but drive into those suburbs and the hills surround you. 

Now you may be wondering why I am rambling about the scenery - well it is because I have been thinking about life. 

I have realised that life is like scenery:

Sometimes we live in the valleys, walls surround us and we have to dig deep to keep going.  The sun is blocked out by the mountains surrounding us, and every time we look up, we see small patches of sunlight and blue sky. We see the challenges ahead to climb out. Valleys are beautiful places, they are protected and safe, but sometimes, they can also seem very low.  Valleys can be the lowest place in life and can keep us trapped. The need to move on and out becomes overwhelming and yet so daunting that we stay stuck.

OR.......

Now, we can climb mountains - energy appears - a goal arrives and we strap on our gear and begin climbing.  Every step can be a challenge or a joy, but we keep moving upward and then we get to the top. The view is breathtaking!  Literally - breath-taking. We are tired from our climb so we rest. We look out and feel wonderful.  Everything is below us and we know we have arrived. For a while we sit and admire our achievements, indulge in the view and then what?

When we are on top of the mountain we have arrived, have succeeded, but as humans we need to move forward.  For most of us, being on top of the mountain is not enough - we look for the next mountain. Or we head back down into the next valley - the valley which is safe and protected. Alternatively, a wind comes along and knocks us off that mountain and we fall back into that valley or the next - the valley which we had climbed out of.

I guess the final place to live is on the plains - where the view extends forever.  In this place you can see far into the distance - the distance of the past and the distance of the future.  You know where you are, where you have been and where you are going.  This place sounds perfect - safe and peaceful. Yet, for so many, the plains are boring, no challenges, no growth and so we seek the mountains and the valleys. The plains are where most will live their lives.  They know their path and only seek variation along it.  It is a place of predictability and peace - a place where the known is wonderful.

I wonder where you live.  I know that I have lived in all three places in my life.  Mostly in the valleys and the mountains, sometimes on the plains. 

Which do I prefer?  I don't really know.  I love the open spaces of the plains - knowing where I have been and where I am going.  Valleys are low places for me; places of sadness and tiredness, but I do like to look up occasionally and know that there is something worth climbing out of.  And of course there is then the mountain - the place that I stand on occasionally & shout to the world -

SEE ME, HERE I AM!

and the world echoes back - we see you, and you are amazing.

Where are you living your life?  Which is your favourite place? 

I hope it is a combination of all three, or maybe a favourite place that satisfies all within your soul. So think about it today; do you choose the Mountain, the Valley or the Plains?

Spring is Sprung!



This is Princess Cleopatra - Queen of our Home.

Cleo has become such a part of our family - she lives in our bedroom but is part of the whole family.

 Elizabeth and Sarah spending the morning scrapbooking their Disney photos.

 Our tree with almost all its leaves gone and new buds beginning. A sure sign of Spring in Brisbane.

An early morning visitor and the new buds on the tree.

Some photos to make up for the week of no posts and photos.

Phone companies and technology

Isn't technology wonderful when it works and doesn't life suck when it doesn't?

It has been a tough week with no internet download!  I didn't realise how much I was going to miss my computer.  The best part of all of this is that I have been trying for over a week to deal with our phone company to try and resolve the issue and get on a new phone/internet plan.

You would think that it would be easy to give them more money - but no - it is impossible.  I have spoken to three different people (of course) and to date have no new plan or extra download. Luckily however, our usage reset on Sunday, so at least we have another month's usage - what a fiasco!

So after 2 hours of phone time and lots of energy, I will try again today to update our plan.

At least I have my computer back and can answer emails and post this 'moan & mutter'

Back tomorrow with a more positive, cheerful post.