I’ve taken THE PLUNGE!!!!!!

I have booked my first ever market space at The Handmade Expo. I am excited and nervous and overwhelmed. So make sure you mark it in your calendar, Saturday the 21st of November from 8 till 2. Don’t worry I won’t let you forget I am sure I will remind you again and again before we get there!!

While we are on the subject of The Handmade Expo, don’t forget to pop over to the blog and leave a comment on the give away post, even if you can’t be at the market to spend the voucher, by leaving a comment you will be increasing the prize money for the lucky winner (and that could be me!!!).

And just because I always like to include a picture and while we are talking of taking a plunge….. We took a plunge here too.

The ocean was crystal clear and it was perfect swimming weather, but it was just a quick dip as we looked out for salt water crocodiles! It is Cape York Peninsular (right at the very top of the pointy bit on the map of Queensland). It’s one of those very, very special places on our planet and I do hope we get the chance to go back there next year. Wouldn't you love to be there right now?

Camping Adventures

We are home, all unpacked and cleaned up. As predicted many photos were taken and here are a few that I’d like to share…..

Sunsets and Sunrises. Little Guy made sure we didn’t sleep through the sunrises.  Or much of the rest of the night – but I didn’t get my camera out for that!

Lots of Aussie wildlife, all drawn to the water's edge.

We delighted watching Rainbow Lorikeets dance and sing outside a tree hollow in our campsite, we assumed they were proud parents. When the Galah’s returned they made sure we knew whose nest it was and that trespassing by lorikeets would not be tolerated!

A canoeing adventure, which had a dramatic ending attended by an international rescue team.

Ok it wasn’t that dramatic, they tipped the canoe, but they were a long way out and had our 5 year old camping companion with them. They were rescued by a bloke from Canada and a bloke from Scotland who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Thank you International Rescue for bringing Curly Guy back to me safely.

Now I just have to wait for inspiration to strike and lead me to the piece of our trip that needs to become a work of art.

I think I’m losing my voice, perfect timing for another round of…..

Wordless Wednesday

I wish I had a Polaroid camera…

I have been under the weather, so I missed posting yesterday, sorry. I felt bad because I pledged to post every day in Blogtober, but there was no way I was up to sharing anything yesterday.
I found the following post in my draft folder tonight, which is the only reason I have a post to share now. I have my fingers crossed I am back to full health tomorrow.   I have so many creative ideas buzzing around my head at the moment, it is torturous to be sick and not up to indulging in them.

I love the look of Alicia’s Polaroid’s on Bloom Grow Love. The colouring of them is so appealing to me as is the soft focus. While blogging around I came across a link to Rollip where in just a few clicks you can make your photo look like a Polaroid. It is a lot of fun and very easy. It still can’t make my amateur photography a scratch on Alicia’s offerings, but I can play around and imagine what I might capture if I had a Polaroid and some elusive film for it.

All of the photos in this post are from a recent Sunday afternoon drive, I really love how the mood is so different from the original shots in this post.

Backyard Bounty

A little home grown beauty for you.

I hope you're enjoying your Sunday.

Side by side in orbit, Around the fairest sun?

I took these photos a few nights ago but with the excitement of recycling paper, carving and printing little owls, delivering playdough (which is nearly sold out, I must get cooking again!) and my first ever giveaway there just hasn’t been time to share.

While photographing a stunning full moon rise I kept getting two moons in each photo, which was interesting, but I couldn’t figure out why it was happening.

Curly Guy sorted it out really quickly. I was over exposing the picture because I was compensating for shooting at night, but not allowing for all the light in the image from pointing right at the moon. I tested his theory and he was right.

Unfortunately by then the moon had risen too high above the horizon and low lying clouds to make an interesting photo, but I was now capturing just one moon and with the definition on the surface visible.
I do like my two moon photos though; they had me singing these lines from REM’s Nightswimming for days!

I’m pining for the moon.
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?

It was a lesson well learned; I always learn best when I experience things first hand. Now I will be prepared to make the most of the next stunning full moon! What lessons have you learned recently?

A perfect Sunday morning

Thanks for the flowers Little Guy and Curly Guy.

We indulged in German Pancakes for a late breakfast, a bit of a nod to Blogtoberfest!  The recipe came from Salt and Chocolate, thanks Mary Beth, it was so yummy and so easy, it will be added to our special breakfast repertoire.

What’s your perfect Sunday morning?

Paradise

Join me for a dip anyone? Tantalizing isn’t it? The morning we spent swimming here and photographing this little slice of paradise is as close to perfection as it gets for me.

We hope to head back to Cape York next year and another swim at Fruit Bat Falls is on the top of my to do list. This time I will take lots more photos as soon as we arrive. We didn’t realise how lucky we were to have this place all to ourselves until we looked up from our swim to see the hoards of tourist arriving.  Ok that’s an exaggeration, maybe half a dozen tourists, this is Cape York after all! I am glad I got some good shots before they arrived though.

I have this photo as my screen saver, it is serene and beautiful, but also serves to remind me of how lucky we are to have visited such a spectacular place. We have had this up for years now, we have visited many other beautiful places and I have lots of stunning photos, but somehow I can’t bear to take this one down. Where is your slice of paradise? Maybe we can add it to our places we must visit, list.

Sunday Afternoon Drive

I have been lamenting the fact that the repeat dust storm wasn’t as dramatic as the first. The air here is almost clear again, so after the house was dusted and mopped we drove of to capture a little bit of nature on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Dust, dust, dust

Thick dust veiled the sun today. At noon as Little Guy slept,  I crept outside to document the eerie orange glow in the air. In the evening we all drove into the countryside to witness and document the landscape shrouded in grey.

Water, water

Yesterday was such a fun filled, busy day.   Little Guys cousin spent the day with us and he loved it. We visited a beautiful park in the morning; it was so nice having a little helper, I got to take a lot more photos than I would have if it was just Little Guy and I.  His cousin loved keeping him occupied while I was being snap happy.

Little guy was captivated by this waterfall at the park, he just kept looking over the edge saying water, water, he was fascinated and would have stayed for hours. I suppose it nothing to be surprised about his Mum is rather fascinated by waterfalls too. The painting below is one of my largest works, it is called “Cascades” and it hangs in Little Guys toy room. It takes up most of the wall, so I guess it has had an impact on him.

We finished off our day by making chocolate chip cookies and drawing, what a perfect day.

One day only

I thought this was a native (to Australia) iris, but I have been searching for a link to add here and haven’t been able to find mention of a native iris that looks like this. It isn’t listed in my Gardening Australia Flora’s Native Plants book either, so perhaps I have been mistaken about it’s identity for many years. If anyone can enlighten me as to it correct name I would be very grateful.

No matter what it is called or where it comes from it is one of my favourite plants in our garden. It flowers once a year, for one day only and this year’s display was our best ever. I love the colour, the patterns, the leaves, and the form is just stunning, so complicated, but so elegant. Just another year to wait until the next flowering.

Do you have a favourite plant?  What about it draws you to it?

Spring

Spring has certainly sprung in these parts. It is my favorite time of year.