Everlasting Designs

2011-01-21T21:12:00.000+08:00

This piece of Public Art is the "Dome Of Souls" at Geraldton. I have posted another photo of this dome previously but have found this one which I think gives a bit of the feeling when you walk under the dome and look up. 645 seagulls representing the 645 lives lost when the HMAS Sydney was sunk during WW2.

On 19 November 1941, Sydney was involved in a mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, and was lost with all 645 aboard. The wrecks of both ships were lost until 2008; Sydney was found on 17 March, five days after her adversary. Sydney’s defeat is commonly attributed to the proximity of the two ships during the engagement, and Kormoran’s advantages of surprise and rapid, accurate fire. However, the cruiser's loss with all hands compared to the survival of most of the German crew have resulted in a controversy, with some alleging that the German commander used illegal ruses to lure Sydney into range, that a Japanese submarine was involved, and that the true events of the battle are concealed behind a wide-ranging cover up.

2011-01-18T21:06:00.000+08:00

I am doing a photo series called "Dogs In Cars" - it can be seen here: http://www.pbase.com/ebears/dogs_in_cars

I am sure he is laughing at me - he is Kurgan, our staffy and I have been trying for ages to get a photo of him while he is in the car. He takes his rides in the car very seriously.

2011-01-17T22:15:00.000+08:00

Another piece of public art, this sculpture was placed withut much fanfare at the Mandurah Marina. It is one of two identical pieces of art with no information placque. Both pieces are on round- a- bouts with traffic going around them everyday but I wonder how much people really see this art work. I have realised we have quite a bit of public art in the city of Mandurah as I walk around it.

It has waves, boats, fish, all of which represent Mandurah, a coastal seaside city which has a seaside lifestyle.Do you have any information on these pieces.

2011-01-14T23:06:00.000+08:00

I started a series of photos last year called simply "Dogs In Cars". I have seen many varieties in cars often just waiting for their people to return. This dog was whale watching. In Manudurah we have a deep channel from ocean to the estuary very close to where I work. In July 2010 we had a Southern Right Whale pay us a visit for a day. Hundreds of people gathered on the bridge and shore to watch this beautiful whale enjoy its time in Mandurah. This dog was one of the visitors to watch this magnificant whale.

2011-01-12T20:00:00.000+08:00

Today I saw a photo of a dog in the paper that had attacked a woman. The dog was described as a Staffordshire bull terrier. There was no way this was a Staffy going by the photo. The people had let the dog off the lead It is not the dog that is bad but that the owners are not being responsible. The dog may be loveable at home but you don't know how they will act around strangers. In public dogs should always be on a lead.
This cute little staffy pup is Luca and he is my brother-in-laws dog. Luca comes to us once or twice a year when his owners go overseas. He quickly fits into our routine and gets on well with our nine year old staffy. They both go out for walks on their leads and are well behaved, but always under my control.

He is Luca playing with our dog, 9 year old Kurgan.

2011-01-11T21:35:00.000+08:00

Todays photo was taken in Paris. The building hidden behind the trees is the beautiful Notre Darme Cathedral. We had taken a river cruise on the Seine River. We bought a day ticket and hopped on and off as we liked for the day.
These little cafes were everywhere in Paris and highly popular. What we found interesting was that all the chairs faced outwards towards the road, so customers could watch the world go by. Even inside the cafe, all the chairs faced towards the window. Spring was in the air and so the Parisians were outdoors in force.

Meanwhile here at home we have been faced with bushfires just 20 kms south of us which were lit deliberately by some one. Not content with 1 fire, he lit 7 fires!!!! 9 houses were burnt down, horse burnt and a great deal of damage. I wonder what this person was thinking of as he touched match to the grass alongside the Forrest Highway.

2011-01-09T19:36:00.001+08:00

A chance of pace today - a friend was asking about places to see in Paris as I had been there in April 2010. We initially were having 6 days there but the Icelandic volcano caused us to have 2 weeks in Paris. As we had so much time we visited the Pere-Lachaise Cenetry, known for its famous graves. This is a worthwhile place to visit if you are visiting Paris
We tried to find a number of the famous from the map supplied but only managed to find Chopin's grave, pictured above.
There were some very old graves and some new ones. By now I had lost my good camera and was using a point & shoot one and I was frustrated when taking photos. Photo Hint: When travelling take a point&shoot as an emergency camera. You just dont know what might happen. As it is, there is a taxi driver in Paris that has a free Canon DSLR camera and a very expensive lens.
Père Lachaise is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. It is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. It is also the site of three World War I memorials. Today there are over 300,000 bodies buried there.

2011-01-08T20:31:00.000+08:00

Sunset in Carnarvon, Western Australia.
Sunset is such a peaceful time anywhere in the world. Mother Nature's colours are so beautiful to watch as they change with the setting sun. This photo was taken in June 2010 while we were caravaning in the states north west.

2011-01-07T20:55:00.001+08:00

This photo looks fairly boring. It is a photo of the Gascoyne River in June 2010. There was not a scrap of water, just a dry dusty riverbed. In the week before Christmas Carnavon received its yearly rain in a 24 hour period with the devastating result of flooding of the town and the plantations that are along the river.This dry river bed became full of raging torrents of water coming from the inland of Western Australia. The river peaked at 7.5 metres which mean this tree was mostly underwater. Below is a photo of the river in full flood, courtesy of the West Australian web site.

Carnarvon is Western Australi's food bowl - mangoes, bananas, tomatos, pumpkins and many other vegetables. We are noticing prices rising and many farmers are devastated in the losses they have experienced. My thought and empathy are with these people during this trying time.

2011-01-06T20:33:00.000+08:00

We are still on cows - going over my photos I wondered why cows are such popular choices for public art. At the entrance to this winery there are 3 cows at the entrance. They make you notice the winery entrance and lets face it, who wouldnt like to taste a wines of a winery that likes cow. This one is so cute looking at the sign. For more public art have a lot at my large gallery of public art photos. Please feel free to comment on my photos below.

2011-01-05T19:52:00.000+08:00

Here is some more public art - I found this cow in a West Australian country town called Mingenew, This town has a sense of humour, you can see it from the murals and "art" around the town. The artist has used the rusted corrogated tin to advantage, the cow seems to be starring right at you as if surprised to see you there.
This was found in a small park area dedicated to the pioneers of the area.

Another piece of art showing the humour of the resdidents of the area:

I found this mural on the side of the local tennis club building and found this information from the shire about these emus: " A fun picture of emus (which used to be plentiful in the area)Some very odd sights are seen playing on the courts during the summer months anyway. It is a painting for the community to enjoy, and guess the names of each emu. So the story goes - A long, long time ago, in a place named Minganu - ant's nest or Mininoo- place of many waters, lived a band of Emu's. They loved nothing better than to hit tightly rolled up grass to each other with mallee sticks. Over the years their ghostly forms have been seen on the lush green courts where the Tennis Club now stands. In honour of these pioneers, we have brought them to life, to stand guard forever and oversee the goings on, by that merry band of tennis addicts."

This is why I reckon this town has a sense of humour - I mean, can you imagine finding this at Wimbleton?

2011-01-04T20:56:00.000+08:00

I am still adding photos to my Public Art Gallery. When walking around cities everyday you tend to not see public art because it is part of the regulary scenery. Workers walk past without noticing the rich cultural experience amongst them.

This is what I noticed when I saw this sheep statue in the middle of a footpath in Canberra, Australia. I was a tourist with a camera and this sheep was just there...............................now why is there a statue of a sheep in the middle of a city? I could understand this if it was in a country town, unless it is to celebrate the sheep that built this nation. There is no information about this sheep on a plaque, so I searched on the internet to find out more. All I have found out is that the artist is Les Kossatz
Who commissioned this piece, why that particular pose? From some angles it can be considered a bit rude. I love this piece for its cheekiness and for where it is placed. Do you have any information about this sheep?

2011-01-03T20:20:00.002+08:00

I recently started going through my photos I have taken with my DSLR and was surprised at the number of photos I have taken of Public Art. I have posted some already at Public Art It has been interesting searching the internet for the artists of these beautiful pieces of art. For some I have found so much information and for others I have no information, like the Gorilla and Baby I found at Perth Zoo, Western Australia. Grandson Lachlan is seen here getting up close and personal. I have been unable to find the artist for thius piece. Does anyone have information?

2010-01-13T21:35:00.003+08:00

It has been months since I posted to my blog. I have become motivated to re start doing my blog when I joined the Art Journal Caravan at Scrapbook Graphics. What fun - there are no rules, just do it.

I do hope some people will come and visit. Our word to look at for our page this week is "ACCEPT". I have the numer 61 on my page for my age - I have had trouble accepting this age - it feels like I woke up one morning to find I was suddenly in my sixties. The last time I looked, I was only 55. Where did the years go??????????????

2009-08-07T11:25:00.002+08:00

Blog Prompt - Today is Wiggler Your Toes Day. Where do you like to wiggle your toes?
I love to wiggle my toes when I get into bed - a big stretch and then wiggle them. Ah bliss.

Today I posted a photo of a Pink & Grey Galah that visited our backyard. He was screeching at us as if to ask where was his food. These are the birds that ate the TV cable on our TV antenna. After replaving it twice, we now have the cable inside a plastic pipe so these birds can find a different diet.

2009-08-06T09:03:00.003+08:00

Blog Prompt - do you remember when we landed on the moon?

I remember I was nearly married and my first husband and I were working on a farm as a married couple. We didnt have TV in those days. On the day of the moon landing the owner of the farm invited all the workers into his home to watch the landing on the small black & white TV.

A lot of people didnt have TV's as a licence was required to own a TV. A lot of people would have a TV but use an indoor antenna so as not to attract the licence inspectors.

I havent posted a photo today as I thought I would show you a digi scrapping kit I made. I am placing my kits on Artscow.com, the site where you can make photobooks and heaps of other things. this kit is free on Artscow until the end of the week. Here is the link. I like playing with Photoshop, using filters, actions, styles etc. I am designing under the name JoanT.

Yesterday I received my new Tamron 18-270 lens from the people in Hong Kong where I pourchased this lens. I saved over $300 by purchasing like this and now cant wait to use the lens. Hopefully tomorrow I will have some new photos to show, using this lens.

2009-07-14T16:44:00.003+08:00

Blog Prompt for today: Tell about a day in your life that was utter pandemonium.

I cant really remember such a day but for the owner of this dog, I think it was pandemonium.

Friends and I were walking along the waterfront at Mandurah, Western Australian when we saw this dog with his lead in his mouth, playing in the water. His owner got hold of the lead but the dog had it in his mouth and wouldn't let go. We watched for some time as he enjoyed the winter sun.

2009-07-08T22:08:00.004+08:00

What is your favorite chocolate and when was the last time you had it? This blog prompt is so timely as we visited the Margaret River Chocolate Factory. They make every conceivable type of chocolate and the problem is making a choice. I have missed the chocolate we got while in Italy in 2005 and here in Western Australia have not found great chocolate until we went to Margaret River, a 3 hour drive from our home. Margaret River is a premier wine growing region and also has marron farms,cheese factories as well.

Above is a selection of chocolates available at The Chocolate Factory. I like any type of chocolate but prefer dark.

My absence has been quite long. I was made redundant in February this year which came as a shock and was unexpected. As I was 60 I decided to "retire". My absence here has been due to coming to terms with no longer working after 40 years of study and work.

2009-02-11T13:55:00.003+09:00

Blog Prompt - If I had 24 hours to evacuate my home before it was to be destroyed by a hurricane, what 10 things would I grab. This is so topical at the moment with the dreaful death toll from those bushfires in Victoria. My uncle lives at Yarra Junction which is now a town that may be in danger if the winds start coming from the north.
I have often thought about this and my list would be, in priority order and if I had time:

my bag with my purse in it - its always on the table
my camera which is almost always in my bag
my external hard drive - it has so many photos on it
my laptop
my baby photo
my photo box with hundreds of photos in it.
my jewllery - might need to sell it for money
my file that contains birth certificates, marriage certificates - it is easy to grab
the large box containg old photo albums
my husbands cricketing momentoes.

The photo above has appeared in many newspapers around the world - it is a scene from the Victorian bushfires.

2009-02-05T21:10:00.002+09:00

Prompt for today: Can you survive without e-mail? How has it changed your life?
Email has changed my life as it helps me to be in contact with people from around the word in an instant. For example our neice got married 4 days ago and we had photos within 24 hours. Her family live in Western Australia. She got married in Scotland.
Email has changed my life - I can answer quickly any queries, people can send me reminders as my dementia seems to sometimes appear publicly. My Admin officer at work can send me reminders that I can read when I have the time to digest her reminder.
I have always had penfriends up until I had children in my mid twenties. Email lets me to continue to have that.

Go Email!!!!!

Photo for today is of the apple orchards that make Donnybrook famous. I love the apple blossum.

2009-01-30T21:24:00.002+09:00

Todays prompt is:Today is National Inane Answering Message Day. What would you really like to say on your answering machine?
I thought about this as we were discussing at the office some of the messages you can leave on your answering machine.I would like to say something like "if you are selling, telling me I have won, want my opinion, want me to do a survey - - - get lost but if you are a friend please leave a message" .
In Australia we have a "DO NOT CALL REGISTER" where I have registered our phone number. But it doesn't cover political parties fund raising, political surveys, my telco asking me to upgrade my "plan", my bank trying to sell me more credit. I find I have become quite rude when I get this sort of call, usually because they ring while we are eating.
There is proably a Google Street View vehicle outside the house emailing someone to let them know we have started eating.

My photo was taken in the Swan Valley which is one of Western Australias premier grape growing regions. We drove here to buy grapes from the growers and rockmelons straight off the bush. They actually taste like the real thing, unlike what we buy in the supermarket.

2009-01-02T20:45:00.002+09:00

Today is Fruitcake Toss Day. Have you ever eaten fruitcake?

To me this is a strange question. I have been eating fruitcake ever since I can remember. When at boarding school, food was very boring. Mum used to make pumpkin fruitcake and send to me at school. My roommate & I often ate it while studying.

It was considered good nourishing food for morning tea for shearers. And all the mystery about the Christmas fruit cake - - sherry in it to keep it moist - check every week to see how it was coming on- and then on Christmas day we finally got to eat it.

New years resolutions: try to laugh each day.

Try to take better photos.

This photo was taken of one of my roses - i used the tripod to try to get a sharper photo.

2008-12-04T14:25:00.004+09:00

"What is the best day you have had without spending any money.?"`This was so many years ago with two young children at ages of around 6 & 8. It was school holidays and we had so little money to spend. I packed up the children and took them to the Japanese section of the main cemetry in Perth, Western Australia. They spent ages looking at all the unusual headstones of the Japanese graves and other religions and still talk about this. Another time I took them to an old cemetry, now closed. They were so excited to see an ancester of theirs buried in the cemetry.

A bridge near my home taken at twilight.

2008-11-04T12:38:00.004+09:00

Blog Prompt - "If I were a superhero, I would be..." - now this is going to take some thinking - when I was a young child many many years ago I used to tie a tea towel around my shoulders and called myself Mighty Mouse, after a comic book hero.
These days the thought of changing into a super hero costume in a phone box turns me right off - I mean where are these phone booths these days???? With the advent of mobile phones it is a rare site to see a phone booth, and they are mainly glass when you see them. Can you imagine being caught with one foot in a blue tights leg and hopping on the other foot. ?????
I think I will give the super hero thingie a miss - just couldn't cope with all that changing into tight clingy costumes.
Flower today is of a red grevillea.

2008-11-03T12:16:00.004+09:00

If you planned a field trip for you, your family or group where would you go, why, and what would you do?
My husband and I recently did a trip to the north western wheatbelt of western 'Australia to see the spectacular wildflower display in the bush. This trip followed the so called Everlasting Trail of Western australia. Why did we go????? I wanted to take photos and hadn't been in this areafor over 40 years. Above is a photo taken of the landscape at Coal Seam National Park.
What did I do there???? I took heaps of photos.

2008-10-24T18:47:00.005+08:00

Blog Prompt: The microwave oven was introduced by The Tappan Company on October 25, 1955. Do you use your microwave - I didn't realise how old microwave ovens were> I can remember wanting one back in the '80's and bought one when I sold my first home whilst working as a real estate agent.

I dont really use it much except for heating up leftovers and cooking rice. I recently was not thinking properly and put the rice cooker into the microwave without any water - it just had the dry rice in it. 15 minutes later I could smell the smell of disaster. I opened the door of the oven to be confronted with a brown melted rice cooker with a darker brown blog in it. It was melted onto the revolving plate and the smell of burning was right through the oven - there was nothing to do but carry out the oven and its contents and place in the garbage can. Don't want to do that again in a hurry.LOL.

By the way all photos on my blog are for sale if anyone is ever interested.just email me. Todays flower is the flower of one of our eucalyptus trees. I find this native flower to be so beautiful.

2008-10-24T13:07:00.002+08:00

Blog Prompt: Sometimes it is our little nicks, dents, and imperfections - yes it is these little nicks, dents and imperfections that make us are who we are today. School wasn't the happiest place for me - I needed to grow confidence in myself to be able to stand up and say who I am.

Over the years I have strived to achieve. At the age of 60 I think I have the right to say "yes it is those nick and imperfections that have made me who I am 60 years on".

Photos have been a little slow as I have been ill with a chest infection for the past 3 weeks. However I am posting a photo taken in september when we drove to the wildflower centre of Western australia, Minegnew.

2008-09-12T12:55:00.002+08:00

Blog Prompt for the day: Why do you work?
Easy answer to this is that I have just a few more bits of equipement I want to buy before retirement. I mean, look at this beautiful Western Australian wildflower I found. It is called "Peaches & cream " Grevillea. It is so beautiful. who wouldn't want to buy more equipment to get a fantastic photo of this flower.
Spring is here in Western Australia and the wildflowers are blooming. So many flower to photograph and such little time available.

2008-05-29T20:23:00.002+08:00

Prompt for the day:Would you want to take a ride on the Space Shuttle? Why or why not?
Had to have a think about this one - hmmm. I think i would leave it to the younger ones while I visited exciting places on earth first. I would like to go to Patagonia in Argentina, Alaska, Norway to the north pole, All of Europe and Canada for a start.
Why? its a bit like knowing your own country before you know others.
And talking of knowing our own, the weather has turned colder here and my zygo cactus (Christmas cactus) are flowering. Unlike the rose, they only flower for a very short time. They are very difficult to photograph due to the various different planes the petals are on.Here is one about to bloom.

2008-05-21T21:26:00.002+08:00

Our blog prompt for today is: what activities you would do if we had a blackout tonight. Here in western Australia we seem to get a few of these. TV and computers are gone - its dark and we find the candles yet again. It seems the best activity is to catch up on some sleep so bed it is.
The photo is of one of my roses in the garden.

2008-05-20T21:31:00.002+08:00

Describe your favorite pair of shoes. A quick one tonight - not sure which shoes are favourite but I think it would be my ankle boots. A lot of my shoes are now uncomfortable since I broke two bones in my left foot 18 months ago - still that may be a good excuse to buy more.
Still trying to get a good photo of my zygo cactus flowers - this white has just bloomed.

2008-05-19T21:24:00.002+08:00

On May 19, 1896, the fiirst automobile (Benz) arrived in Netherlands. Describe the first automobile you ever owned. This is easy - what sort of a vehicle would any self respecting girl have back in the 60's? A VW Beetle!!!!!. Of course I am telling my age.
I turned 60 on the 18 May and enjoyed my first ever birthday party since I was a child. My husband surprised me with a party of family and friends. But of course back to the car.
It was a second hand white Beetle with that was 5 years old and cost $500. I drove home to the country town where my parent lived to show off my new car.
Later in the evening I parked it in the machinery shed and went to bed. The next morning to my horror I discovered that the donkey we owned, had tried to eat the car by chewing on the door handles. I had parked the car where the donkey slept at night.!!
My photo is of a red zygo cactus today.

2008-05-16T21:35:00.002+08:00

Biographers Day is today. Who would you like to write or read a biography about?

This is the prompt for today from DSP. This is an interesting thought as there are so many people I could think of. Certainly not the politicians of the country. I would like to write the biography of a person who has had to fight adversity to survive - maybe someone with a disability who has achieved so much in their personal lives.

Recently I heard a talk by a man whose wife had recently died of motor neurone disease. In her last months her and her husband set up a Foundation to raise funds to provide specialised transport for people such as herself. A biography of her fight for live is one I would like to write.

Winter is approaching here in Western Australia and my Zygo Cactus are flowering. I am taking many photos to try to get the perfect photo. Here are two I took today.

2008-04-26T12:51:00.003+08:00

A quarter of the year has gone since my last post and interests turn more to photography. Yesterday was our ANZAC day holiday. We went to our local Dawn Service. The photo is of the Mandurah War Memorial, taken late afternoon.

My favourite saying: "A dog is man's best friend because a cat doesn't want the responsibility"

2007-12-28T21:42:00.000+09:00

On the twenty eighth day of December I will time-travel back to the time when Agro was just a pup. Why??? Because yesterday I had to take her to the vet for her final visit. She went to doggy heaven. At 17.5 years, Agro ( a female) had just worn out. Stubborn to the end, she was unable to walk any longer and had no idea where she was.

I got Agro when she was just 6 weeks old. She was so cute. One time when she was about 18 months old we had bought a heap of shopping to take camping. We left the tins etc in the bags and went out. When we returned she had emptied the shopping bags and piled all the tins etc into her basket and was sitting on top of the food.

I cant count how many left shoes she buried. She never buried both shoes, only the left. What about the slippers she took which I found in my husbands walk in robe.

I remember the time she would only eat human food with tomato sauce. I tried to break her of this habit by giving her dry food for only 15 minutes then picking up the bowl. When I stoppped doing it, she started eating the dry food.

She tried to chase a seagull in the boat - she ran right into the water and we had to pull her back into the boat.

The photo above was taken 12 months ago. I had just returned from a business trip and left my case open on the floor. This is how I found her.

Rest In Peace Agro.

2007-12-22T22:31:00.000+09:00

I heard someone on the radio saying we shouldnt be putting up Christmas lights because of global warming. We have just driven around tonight with our grandson looking at the christmas lights on display, especially the ones on the canals. The house in this photo is on the canal and has the most magnificant display of lights. We parked on a vacant lot opposite and people in the car next to us wished us a Merry Christmas - thats the spirit of lights and of Christmas - people wishing others well, even though they are perfect strangers.

2007-12-21T21:57:00.000+09:00

On the twenty first day of December I would love to see some sanity returned in my community - the traffic is horrific, I cant get parking at the shopping centre, and it is like a feeding frenzy. Today I had a work Christmas party on the foreshore in Mandurah, Western Australia. Normally it is 10 minutes by car from my office. Today it was 1/2 and hour!!!!. The old bridge was right beside where we were having the party. This photo is taken under the bridge.

2007-12-13T21:03:00.000+09:00

On the twelfth day of December I remembered my favorite dream and it was being introduced to Sean Connery, the actor. That voice of his makes my knees go to jelly everytime I hear it.

On the twelth day of Christmas I went to the old bridge at Mandurah, Western Australia to practise taking low light photos. This is the result above.

I haven't posted since October and thought abut why - one reason is that I have been developing my interest further in photography and trying to master the manual settings on my DSLR Canon.

I have two more Christmas parties to go to and tomorrow the grandson comes to stay for a week. He attends a vacation programme for kids while I am at work.

2007-10-24T21:46:00.000+08:00

Fill in the blank to make this old quote fit you: 'I _____; therefore I am.

i am thinking about this one - "I love photography;therefore I am"

Maybe it means I need to take photos to be who I am. anyway enjoy the western Australian wild orchid that I photographed last month.Its called a spider Orchid.

2007-10-23T20:40:00.000+08:00

Tell us--in glorious detail--about something you're embarrassed to admit you like...

This one gave me pause for thought. I must admit I do not admit to too many people of my love of science fiction and the TV series "Dr Who". Another TV series from the early '80's was a science fiction called "Blakes Seven". What about the "X Files"? and then there was the original Star Trek series with Captain Kirk.

Going back further with my love of science fiction were the Dune series, The Day of the Triffords, Farenheight 451, 1984 and so on.

My husband just does not GET why I like them.

Ahhhh well back to my Mills and Boons novels - now there is something I would like no one to know about - sssh-dont tell anyone.

On another note, I have been taking some photography courses and finally think I understand the M button on my camera - m = manual. Above is one of the photos I took on the weekend.

2007-09-04T21:03:00.000+08:00

Simplify life. We all have them, those household items that we purchase for one thing and then end up using them for another. What items do you have that serve double duty?

Thought about this for a while as I have been using some things on double duty for years. It just seems natural and sensible now.

Lets see - the wok. A wok is a sort of frying pan that is used in asian cooking - which all aussies do these days. Well why buy a fry pan, or a stew dish. I cook stew in it, fry in it, stir fry food, do spaghetti meatballs in it, chilli chicken etc. One wok saves on about three other kitchen implements in my view - saves water and storage - must also help prevent climate warming in some way. I mean - its a universal kitchen implement.

Same as the kangaroos that live around us - if I cant find a photo to take for the "Photo a Day" challenge at DSP, I drive around and find a kangaroo to photograph. Have a look at this young one - he is about 9 months old. I have photographed himbefore drinking from his mothers pouch.Isn't he beautiful.

2007-08-31T21:37:00.000+08:00

Now that school has started back here, the big issue is the dress code. Do you agree with having a dress code and if so, who should determine what it should be? Should it be the principal, the school board, the students, the parents, the state dept. of ed or someone else?

We have this issue also in Australia and in fact it drew a lot of attention in our local community newspaper when a girl refused to comply with the dress code.

It is a hard one - when I was 10 years old I was sent to Boarding School in the city where the unform policy was strict. (I still find wearing green uncomfortable). I like the idea of uniformity for all students and noticed today how nice the children from the local Catholic College looked while in the shopping centre.

My children went to a private school from 2 to 12 years with a uniform which they had no problem with. I remember my son wearing the school uniform in high school as it was easy to get dressed each day. Hmmmmmm - the jury's still out on this one.

So to lighten things up thought I would show you a photo I took today whiloe visitng a Botanic parks display of tulips.

2007-08-30T20:44:00.000+08:00

Name 5 things in your freezer right now.

Wow - I went and checked but my freezer is not yet the "House of Frozen Terrors" . This is because I have a brand new frig/freezer combo. I have the obligitory pastry sheets (in case I want to do some baking, but who I am fooling), frozen peas, frozen chicken soup from last Sunday nights tea, frozen passionfruit pulp from my vine and some frozen meat which I dont have the energy to de-frost. I have a love/ hate relationship with my passion fruit vine as last year I was picking up the passionfruit in my backyard when I stepped on one and broke two bones in my foot.

All my energy has gone into taking photos of our wonderful wild flowers out in full bloom.

Tonight I have a photo of our beautiful Everlastings.

2007-08-28T21:27:00.000+08:00

Describe the most serious illness you have ever had.

As a five year old living on a farm I was used to going anywhere I liked. One day I was outside when I found myself unable to walk. My screaming brought my mother running out to me. She picked me up and carried me to our neighbours farm 2 miles away. My father had the only vehicle and so my mother had to walk, carrying me.

I found myself in hospital - I had rheumatic fever. I spent a long time in the hospital receiving needles in my nether region twice a day. 54 years ago since this illness. The last time I was in hospital was to give birth to my two children 30 odd years ago..

I have been blessed with good health to which I am grateful. this is allowing me to indulge in my passion, photography. Have a look at my photo today of a Western Australian wildflower which is also the floral emblem of Western Australia - the Kamgaroo Paw.

2007-08-27T20:43:00.000+08:00

Blog Prompt: What are your 10 favorite words.

photo

blog

chocolate

coffee

spring

more chocolate

sleep

more chocolate

flowers

more chocolate

I put photo first because I have just done a 2 day photography course on photographing zoo animals. My zoom lens just didnt work all that well but my other macro lens gave me a few good results. I have learnt that the lower the f thingie is the fuzzier the background gets. Don't laugh, I am getting more technical as I go.

My photo above is one taken of a pelican at the zoo. It was raining quite heavily by this point and I was just about ready to go home when I saw the pelican. By the way, our theory day was spent in the classromm with the most beautiful sunshine outside. Our field trip to the zoo was done with umbrellas up.

2007-08-09T12:15:00.000+08:00

Goodness, again a month has passed without an update. Todays prompt - Blog Prompt: What is your favorite day of the week?
Well of course it has to be Friday - the weekend is upon us and I have 2 days to do as I want.
2 days to take more photos, 2 days to enjoy the sunshine (if any) in the garden pottering, 2 days before the work week starts again, 2 days before I have to step onto the work treadmill grind, 2 days closer to retirement. Of course it has to be a Friday.

2007-07-13T20:54:00.000+08:00

Do you have a lucky number? Why is it lucky?

According to books on numerology my lucky number is 9 - as for me, well I havent seen any luck floating around on the 9th - and 9 hasn't seemd to jump out at me and tell me I am lucky.
But number 13 - well this one is eally working as the day to watch out for.
Today, the first work phone call came at 7am. Something had happened with one of my staff that was so unusual and almost bizarre. Conversations, meetings and phone calls regarding this issue took me to lunch. Day was almost gone before I had even checked my work emails.
I made the simplist of meals for dinner tonight as the last Friday 13th I managed to destroy my microwave when I tried to cook rice with no water. Have you ever seen a molten black mass through the glass window of your microwave. the best I could do was drop the microwave oven is the rubbish bin and buy another.
So I think it prudent to remind ourselves of nature at work. Our grandson is staying with us through the school holidays and attending a Vacation holiday programme. They are hatching chickens at the recreation centre and my photo is of two of the chicks just 24 hours old.

2007-07-03T19:04:00.000+08:00

What do you think UFOs are? Do you believe in little green men?

A change of pace this month. To me UFO means "Un Finished Objects". That means the 6 or more scrapping albums sitting near my computer, the unfinished cross stitch I have in my embroidary box, the two unfinished bears I am making and the unfinished crochet projects I have on the go, 5 of them in fact.

I do not believe in little green men but do have an open mind about it - I mean I avidly watched x Files but still wasnt convinced. Roswell has hit another high the last day or so with a signed document by a man who saw a flying saucer in 1947 but has since died.

What I don't understand is why cant we discover them now with all the advances in technology, but they were seen in the forties????????????. Pst - can you hear THAT music??????

Here in Western Australia we have been having almost a week of severe storms and gale force winds. My photo today is of the estuary that is normally about 4 feet lower. Today it was lapping the edges of the pavement. It took some doing to keep the camera still in the wind and putting up with wet feet.

2007-06-29T19:37:00.000+08:00

What were your high school colors? Team names? Clubs you belong too? Did you graduate? What do you remember most about your graduation day?

My high school was Methodist Ladies' College (MLC) with the apotrophe after the s in ladies as we were always reminded. School colours were green, a light green for summer and a dark bottle green for our winter skirt. I attended this school for 7 years and after 40 years, I still cannot wear green.

The school students were divided into "houses", named after ancient Greek cities. Athens, Troy rome and Spartagus. The school houses competed against each other in school sports events and singing competitions. I was in Troy.

No clubs for me - I graduated.Don't remeber much about graduation.

another piece of information is MLC is celebrating its 100 years centennial. I am visiting my old school in a few months.

A Cook Island photo tonight

2007-06-28T21:23:00.000+08:00

What typical evening meals did you eat as a teenager? Did your mother or father prepare them or did you? What was your favorite? Least favorite?

While at Boarding school we ate what was in front of us - no choice. I do hate brussel sprouts with a passion though. The cook must have had a cheap supply.

After school I lived in a flat with some other girls - cheap was the order of the day which means a lot of spaghetti and visitng other people when the money ran out. Cant remember much about food for those days but Green Ginger wine was the in drink in the mid 60's.

I have been saving for a Macro lens for my new Canon EOS 400d camera (rebel XTi). got it yesterday and here is a macro photo of the centre of the gerbra I showed a few days ago. Not perfect but exciting to see what the lens can do.

2007-06-27T20:21:00.000+08:00

Did you listen to a lot of music as a teenager? Did you have a stereo, radio, cd player or reel to reel? Who was your favorite music artist? Favorite song? Which one still moves you today?

I seem to remember listening to the portable radio my mother gave me to take to boarding school. It was the hot 60's and the Beatles were BIG!!!!!. Hermans Hermits, Cilla Black, Manfred Mann, Rolling Stones (Mum would not have approved of them), Gerry and the Pacemakers, Paul Anka, Frankie Avalon, The Troggs, The Kinks, and that really "deep and meaningful" song - 'The House Of The Rising Sun' by the Animals. We all thought it was really a cool song.

I can remember singing along to this in my blue 'shift' over a black turtle neck jumper, thick black stockings and my beatle haircut.

Goodness, the worst part is that I still listen to 60's music, on now they are copied onto my computer so I listen as I write in my blog. (Then it was writing into my secret diary).

Someone last night commented about the Mouseketeers - I remeber Annette Funicello, and I think there was one called Bobby - anyone remember the others?

I have finally saved up to buy a macro lens for my Cannon EOS 400D (Rebel XTi). so of course my photo tonight is of a flower's stamens.

2007-06-26T20:35:00.000+08:00

Television.... Where would we be without television? Seriously though. Did you have a tv set while you were growing up? If not, did your neighbors or friends? If you did, what were some of the shows that were on and what were your favorites?

In Western Australia TV did not arrive until 1959. Until then it was listening to the radio while we did embroidery - from 5.30 to 7 there were the childrens serials, then the adult shows came on. My grandmother used to love the quiz shows.

In 1959 black & white TV arrived and my grandparents bought a set. There were 2 channels and my favourite show was the mouseketeers, annette Funicello being my favourite mouseketeer.

My photo today is of a gerbra flower which is part of a floral arrangement given to me on the weekend.

2007-06-25T20:04:00.000+08:00

Did you have an after school job as a teenager? What kind of job was it? What were you paid? What is your best and worst memory of the job?

I was a teenager in the early '60's here in Western Australia - we didnt have fast food outlets like MacDonalds etc and so the opportunity was fairly limited in those days. I went to Boarding School in Perth, our captial city as there were no high schools at that time in the country town where I grew up.Life was very strict with lots of rules.

We finished school at 3.30and had until 6 pm to practise the piano, have a shower, write letters or do homework. From 6 to 7 pm it was meal time and washing up and then it was homework until late.

Saturday was for going out to the movies etc and Ssunday was for doing our own washing and ironing, then more homework. This is pretty much it for the time I was in high school from 13 to 17. School holidays for me was back to the farm where I helped my parents. Reading it now it sounds pretty boring but it was what shaped me for the future.

My first year out of school I studied Architecture for a year but gave it up to sell books door to door - my first job. I was very good at it until someone met me at the door with a shotgun in their hand. I resigned that day.

I must show you this photo I took today as I walked by the foreshore of the estuary at Mandurah. There were about 50 pelicans feeding off a school of fish. This is just a few of them.

Exciting news also - the cold weather (for a west aussie lass its cold) has given me a brain freeze that caused me to put ALL my kits on sale for $2.50 each at The Scrapping Garden until 30th June. Get any kits you want now as I am retiring all the kits I made in 2006. I know - the cold weather has affected me this winter.LOL

2007-06-19T21:29:00.000+08:00

Moving on in life, as a teenager what do you feel were your greatest achievements and worse mistakes? Have these achievements and/or mistakes helped to make you a better person? Or did they hinder you as you proceeded into adulthood?

gosh this is a hard one - hmmmmmm. I think 13 to 17 were not my best years. Self doubt, lack of confidence, lack of self esteem, too many pimples, not very popular, my figure was at odds with bikinis - they both went in different directions.

My greates achievement was that I survived my school teens relatively intact. Worst mistake was not believing in myself.

Today I can look back on those years and sigh with relief - no way would I want to relive them. I know too much now to want to go back into the past.

My photo of the day is a Layout of my recent New Zealand trip.

2007-06-18T21:03:00.000+08:00

As a child did you have any exotic (i.e. those not indigenous to your area) or unusual pets? If not, did you have any pets at all? What kind? Did you give them standard pet names or come up with unusual and unique names?

As I have previously mentioned I grew up on a wheat and sheep farm in Western Australia. During my years before I went to Boarding School I had lambs, calves, chickens, puppies, canaries, dogs and a donkey to name a few. I was not allowed to play with the sheep dogs as they were working dogs, but we had inside dogs as well.

Once I caught some baby rabbits and brought them home which upset my Grandfather, as rabbits were considered vermin at that time.

I had a joey as a pet for a while (baby kangaroo) which had been found in the pouch of a dead kangaroo. We placed an old wheat bag over the back of a chair and placed the joey in it near the wood fire.

Small calves became pets when we had to hand rear them. I remember them trying to suck my fingers. My photo of the day is one I took in New Zealand recently.

2007-06-14T21:43:00.000+08:00

Did your mother and father work outside the home when you were a child?

I love this blog prompt - its about time I recorded some memories from the early 1950's. I grew up on a wheat and sheep farm in Western Australia. Mum and Dad both shared the farm work. My grandparents also had a farm next door to us and my uncle had a farm across the main road.

I often used to pack my "case" and run away to my grandparents. It was 2 paddocks away and was safe unless the bull was in the paddcok. He frightened me.

I spent many hours of my early childhood riding in the farm vehicles (the 'ute') with my grandfather. I slept when I got tired on the seat and drank water from the canvas waterbag my grandfather always carried.

We checked the sheep, chased the sheep and counted the sheep. We opened gated, we closed gates, we checked the water and the levels in the tanks.

I also spent hours on the tractor with my father or chasing sheep with my mother. I chased rabbits down their burrows and put my hand in the burrow to get the babies - once a snake was in there and I jumped in fright.

During shearing time, if not at school, I was in the shearing shed, chasing sheep into the pens, counting sheep, sweeping up the bits of wool lying around. I was driving when I was 10 years old around the farm which came in handy during a huge bushfire once when the only people left to move the sheep away from the fire was me (driving the car, aged 12), my non driving grandmother telling me what to do and my 5 year old brother. That was just the way life on the farm was.

My photo tonight is another one of the beach on the Cook Islands

2007-06-12T20:56:00.000+08:00

Did you collect anything as a child? Why or why not? What was the significance of your collection and where did you procure it? Do you still have any or all of the collection now?

wow - where did May go? Two weeks were spent in the Cook Islands and New Zealand, then back to the daily grind of a job (and a funeral).

This prompt is timely as I was recently lamenting the fact that so many people do not send letters any more but use email instead. As a child I collected stamps and was so pleased to gain penfriends from around the world so I could get more stamps. We used to swap stamps of our own countries in letters full of information about life in another place. The letter was airmailed (more stamps) and there were letters flowing across the oceans monthly. this hobby continued well into my '20s. I have remnants of the collection remaining, other parts have gone to other avid collectors when my time and interest waned.

My photo tonight is of the view from the deck of our bungalow on the Cook Islands.

2007-04-26T21:35:00.000+08:00

What is your definition of 'success'? Do you know any 'successful' people who inspire you? this is todays prompt - big sigh as I think.

To me success is what people have achieved - it is not about money or material things. You don't hear a successful person telling you how sucessful they are - they know and that is all that matters. I heard today of a person who has to tell his girfriend how much he has spent on her. Who is he trying to convince? Is he successful as a human being? Does he have compassion? Does he care? To me a sucessful person is someone who has suceeded as a human being.

A man yesterday in Melbourne Australia, bought a building to give back to the war vetrans who had to sell that very building as they were getting too old to raise money for its upkeep. It is theirs to use for as long as they want it. Now THAT is a succesful person.

My photo today is of the sunset just a couple of hours ago.

2007-04-25T21:11:00.000+08:00

"Let's write a poem. Try a haiku, rhyming, or any other style you like"

The prompt today targets my biggest failing (besides the lack of sporting prowess) - I am poetry challenged.

My daughter has found my blog which reminded me today, being ANZAC day, of the times her brother, her and I would bundle into the car at 5am to drive to the State War Memeorial for the Dawn serice. It reminds me of a time when she was participating in the Dawn serice in our suburb and she was in Army Cadets - it was pouring rain. I remember my son also taking part in a dawn service.

The memorial above was only finished last week but is where we live now. The sun rises over the water just as the service was finished. The faint memories of my grandfather return, a man tormented by the hell he saw at Gallipoli and France. "Lest we Forget"

2007-04-18T17:56:00.000+08:00

What's your favorite color? Describe it. Has it always been your favorite? Why is it your favorite?

My favourite colour has always been blue, I like the colour blue, it makes me feel good, it soothes me and relaxes me. Now that is different to green - to me green feels an evil colour. It doesnt like me and I dont like it - strange as emeralds are my birthstone. But blue saphires just work for me.

At last some good news after my Black Friday madness of creating a toxic waste dump in the microwave oven.

My daughters shop, Libertine, has just had its first write up - read all about it here. The photo today is of her shop. Of course she has a lot more stuff in it since I took the photo before she officially opened. All you US people should have a look as she is selling hand made jounral created by Erinzam of Kansas.

2007-04-14T20:54:00.000+08:00

Are you superstitious? Does the thought of 'Friday the 13th' make you nervous?

When I woke on Friday 13th I would have said no. I went to work OK, I drove 70 kms to the city for a business meeting OK, then on the way home I took this photo while waiting at the lights. I remember to pick up the grandson. I remember to go grocery shopping and almost remember everything - still all is OK.

Then it happened--------- We are going to have Beef Satay on steamed rice for dinner. So far, so good. Black Friday struck as I entered the speciality asian food mart and there is an empty spot where my regular supply of satay paste lives. The owner of the shop happily suggests a different type/brand of satay sauce. Hmmmmmmmm.

Safely at home, I put the rice in the microwave container, set the microwave oven for 22 minutes and pick up the sauce jar to read the instructions. The meat is happily stir frying waiting for the sauce to be added.

I smell something but dont see smoke.

I go to the bedroom to get my glasses so I can read those minute instructions that are so small they were never meant to be read. I come back and check the meat - it has burnt!!!. Black Friday has struck again. I pick out the burnt pieces of meat and notice a toxic smell now. There is smoke coming out of the microwave so I open the door to check.

Black Friday has struck for the third time. There is a black molten mass smelling like an environmental disaster. I had forgotton to add the water.

I give up - we have McDonalds for dinner - I throw the microwave oven in the bin-and go to bed before Black Friday strikes again.

2007-03-27T12:30:00.000+08:00

Goodness, where did March disappear to.

Is the name you have now the same name that's on your birth certificate?
My original surname was Henderson - two marrages later and now its Thompson

Why were you named what you were? (Is there a story behind it? Who specifically was responsible for naming you?) My names are Joan Lucille - - - - - . My mother was named Phyllis Joan and my grandmother was named Lucy Virginia. My mother had wanted to call me Lucy Joan. My grandmother argued against the name and so Joan Lucille was born.

I had always picked out the names of Amanda for a girl and Timothy for a boy. In the days when you had to wait for the birth of a baby before knowing whether it was a boy or a girl, I was in the middle of giving birth to my first and yelling at the nurses that it wwas either Timothy or Amanda. There were no options. When Amanda arrived I "knew" that my second would be a boy. I never picked out a girls name for my second as I was so sure it would be a boy. And so Timothy Francis Ian was born.

2007-03-12T21:26:00.000+09:00

what three things do you wish were never invented - well I must agree with some others about those ear pieces people wear when talking in their phones. Have you ever thought they were talking to you while in line at the bank? You answer them and they think you are crazy. Well who is the crazy one here I tell you.

What about irons - I hate ironing - if I was meant to iron on this earth I would have had an iron as an attchment to my hand.

And I hate all those digital gadgets that were invented by people still almost still in diappers. I mean how on earth are us baby boomers supposed to know how to program a DVD recorder when the object is invented by young thing still in pre school.

I'll wait now until the grandson comes so I can record American Chopper on DVD.

2007-03-01T21:14:00.000+09:00

Todays blog prompt - At what age did you feel most inspired?. I'm nearly 59 now so I have had a few years to feel inspired. From the age of 12 I have crocheted. My sewing teacher agreed to teach me how to crochet if I would stop being disruptive in the sewing class. I still crochet but not as much due to wrist pain these days. This photo is of one of my doileys I made.

I also felt inspired when I was doing cross stitch and creating my own designs - again the wrist pain has slowed me down there also.

I have also spent 8 years making and designing collectible teddy bears - I only made my own designs and had some of them written up in an english teddy magazine. the pain in my hand and wrist got so bad that I turned to the computer to see how I could use photoshop to mess around with my photos - a google search found the world of digi scrapping. I again design a lot of digi kits and spend hours during my spare time digi scrapping.

The time I felt most inspired? - - - the time I am in at the moment.

2007-02-28T21:22:00.000+09:00

What is your favorite outfit right now? - the prompts just keep coming don't they and I have this overwhelmong desire to respond to the prompts.

I have always been a "trousers and top " person. I have mostly various styles and various tops to go with the bottoms. A few skirts and tops for "posh frock" ocaisions. I am short waisted so gave up wearing dresses many years ago - I never wear skirts at home - it doesn't feel right.

Ten years ago - - hmmmmmmm - the same as above - - - just a different size.
My photo for tonight is one of the Dahlias I have growing in my garden.

2007-02-27T21:31:00.000+09:00

If you were to write your autobiography, what would the title be? And the chapter headings? Who would write the forward and to whom would the book be dedicated? wow - boy is this a tall order.

Title: One Step Forward, Two steps Backward

Chapter Headings:

Chapt 1 - its a whole new life out there
Chapt 2 - I want to come home.
Chapt 3 - The mistake of my Life
Chapt 4 - Rug Rats In the Kitchen
Chapt 5- Life Begins at 40
Chapt5 - Senility (what was I writing?)

Book would be dedicated to my children who became adults to spite me (joking only) and the forward would be to my children who have turned into wonderful adults.

2007-02-26T21:24:00.000+09:00

Do you like my photo? I took it sunday 25th Feb. We were fishing on some rocks near where we live in Western Australia. I had just got the themos flask of tea and my camera - JUST in case. I put the things down and looked into the water to see this stingray gliding along the rocks, about 4 inches below the surface.

I have travel on my mind as I am organising a holiday to the Cook Islands and New Zealand in May. The blog prompt today is so appropriate -" What's your favorite way to travel? Car, plane, train, boat? What do you do while you're traveling?" In Western Australia there are such vast distances from the east coast of Australia that flying is the most often used. I love flying but get bored - I read for a while until the in flight moveie comes on. If I am travelling on long flights overseas I usually take a tablet to make me sleepy so I can get some sleep. I learnt this after being on a plane for 20 hours and only getting 2 hours sleep. On the next leg home I fell asleep almost in my meal.

If we are driving any distance (usually more than 2 hours) I put on '60's CD's and guess who is singing. Usually my husband gets all the names right. I cant read while he is driving and NEVER can sleep. We used to drive 17 hours non stop to go camping at a place called Karratha, 1700 kms north of Perth. My husband would snore so easily while I drove from midnight to dawn. Trouble was I could never catch up on that sleep. I'm sure one time I saw weird lights - or maybe I was just tired. LOL.

By the way I have some new kits in the store at The Scrapping Garden. - 10% off until end of the month.

2007-02-21T22:23:00.000+09:00

The blog prompt for today is about the Colors in the Box
1. If you were a crayon, which color would you want to be? My favourite colour is blue
2. Which color do you think you would be regardless of what you wanted?Probably pink
3. Would you rather be used and get blunt, broken and lose your wrapper, or not be used and stay pristine? Used
4. Would you rather be in a small set of crayons or a large set? A small set - I dont have a lot of friends
5. Would you rather be Crayola, or a different brand? I love how Crayola are packaged - always bought them for my children.

Talking of colours I loved working with the colours in my latest kit above - it is available at The Scrapping Garden next week. Check it out and let me know what you think of it. Maybe that favourite crayon should be pink - my new fishing rod and reel is pink. lol.

2007-02-20T21:19:00.000+09:00

"Let's get personal!Personal Hygiene1. How often do you typically shower/bath?2. Do you prefer showering or taking a bath?3. What's the longest you've ever gone w/o a shower/bath? 4. What's your favorite personal hygiene product?5. Do you shave your legs? If so how often?"

Todays blog prompt certainly is personal - well why not - here goes

1.once per day

2. prefer a shower

3.longest I have gone without a shower was 5 days while campling in the bush of Western Australia with no shower facilities within 50 kms. We had fun on the camp as I was leading a group of long term unemployed teenagers. We were abseiling, canoing and caving.

4 -pass - not passing on my secrets - lol.

5 -I have got so old that the hairs dont grow on my legs anymore

To change the subject - the photo shows part of the burnt bushland near where I live - we had 7 bushfires burning around the outer edges of Perth, our capital city.

2007-02-16T21:23:00.000+09:00

List the qualities you prize in yourself. Is there one quality that you consider essential to your sense of your self? Hmmmm I think the quality I prize most is honesty, trustworthy and being a "good" person - After years of being the victim of domestic violence, the one quality I consider essential to my own sense of worth is being a "good" person - and by that I mean not going behind peoples backs, being honest in my feelings, dont hurt others with words or actions etc.
This is such a hard one to do.
So I'll escape from the inward reflection and show you a scultpure at our local marina that I like.

2007-02-15T21:34:00.000+09:00

What does “living out loud” mean for you? What an interesting thought to ponder on - I think for me it means giving my best at what I do - I have abseiled, done public speaking, had a book published, got a university degree, had two children who are successful in their own endeavours, a high powered executive job, visited Italy,done archery,can change a flat tyre, am president of the local Rotary club, and love photography. I am what I am and proud that I came out of adversity and survived.

Tonights photo is the sunset as I arrived home at 7.30pm after a wonderful meal out.

2007-02-12T20:31:00.000+09:00

I approach Mondays like a AA member - I take it one hour at a time. Why you ask - well, I seem to always start Mondays with a list of things I will do better. A bit like weekly resolutions - They list like this: - - -

I will get to work on time
I will take my lunch today
I will write those emails
I will not eat the chocolate
I will read thos emails
I will not eat the chocolate
etc etc etc et

This week I failed as soon as I opened my home computer to see what people blogs were saying - I had failed to keep an eye on the clock. Ahhhh well I will start agin tomorrow.

A little something to make you laugh though is our visit to Gnomesville here in Western Australia. It is about 2 hours drive south from where we live and started a few years ago when a gnome appeared on the edge of the road. As you all know Gnomes live in mysterious ways and now there are over a thousand Gnomes living out in the middle of theAussie bush. Enjoy a couple of the photos above. One show State Emergency Services volunteer Gnomes. The SES assist in times of disaster or emergency. The other photo shows what they did when vandals came a few weeks ago and destroyed a number of the Gnomes.

2007-02-05T20:50:00.000+09:00

My life is happy because... I am safe and my home is safe.

I woke up and could smell smoke - so I checked the whole house but it was just the smell of the burning bushfires that are raging around Perth and Mandurah at the moment. 16 homes have been destroyed & one woman died fleeing the fire in her car. They suspect arson in some of the fires. There are 7 major fires buring around Perth plus many smaller fires.

The photo shows one such fire - we were ordered to turn around on the road we were travelling because a fire had broken out yesterday.

My life is happy because......I am safe.

2007-01-26T21:55:00.000+09:00

You're packing for a weekend away from your family. You're going to be seeing a bunch of online friends for the first time at, oh I don't know, maybe a CHA tradeshow in California.What do you pack? What do you wear???
Wow - how exciting to consider a freedom run - should I pack sexy, seductive, practical, my own age or whatever is comfortable. I would proably think all of the above but when it comes to the actual packing - in would go my comfortable but modest clothes, suitable for business. A couple of my designer labels would go in (they are my only designer labels), my camera for sure, and lots of tissues - who knows when I might cry a few tears.
I have to smile at this as on this very website I have met a lady living in the same town as myself. We found we both lived in Mandurah, Western Australia, when we both started posting similar photos, many of which I recognised. We met for coffee and asked a stranger to take photos - of course it was the week before I had my hair re-coloured. LOL. We even were on the same highway about the same time as I recognised a photo I was going to take but kept going.
The photo above show one of many boats celebrating Australia Day here in Mandurah today.

2007-01-24T21:52:00.000+09:00

Which camp are you in: Should the toilet paper be hung so the paper dangles over or under the roll?

Had to go and check which way the toilet paper is hanging - found a book I had lost - sat to read a bit and almost forgot to come back and reply. LOL. Another blogger asked what happens down under - I wondered if this is like the question of which way the water runs out of the sink - clockwise or anti clockwise - depending if you are a down under person or a up over person.

Commenting from DOWN UNDER - (Western Australia) - my toilet paper is over the top so does that mean because I am Down Under it is going up and not down?

So confused.

2007-01-23T21:49:00.000+09:00

Here is today's challenge from DSP:

This Moment: just back from looking at the comet
Your Shoes: none as my feet have swollen
Craving: Cherry Ripe Chocolate
The State of Your Home: organised chaos
Annoyed By: a single fly buzzing
Noise In the Background: the fan humming
Really Want To: read a book
Thinking about: how to burn a slideshow to a DVD
Smelling: dogs around the house
Favorite Product: my digital camera
In Office Supply Aisle: stationary
Don't Ever Want To: parachute out of a plane
Your Eye Color: brown
The Weather: HOT
Have Never Tried: rock climbing
Think Everyone Should Try: taking photos
Last Vacation Destination: Italy
The Last Thing You Had to Drink: a cup of tea
Your Bad Habit: forgetting what I have to do next
What You're Going To Do Now:go to bed and read.

2007-01-15T21:26:00.000+09:00

I have been going through my holiday photos from 2006 - a trip 700kilometres (about 500 miles) up north of the coast to a place called Kalbarri - has gorges that are famous for abseiling, fishing (but it rained while we were there) and a bird sanctuary called Rainbow Jungle with the most amazing coloured birds. I fell in love with the LoveBirds - see the Layout above.

This is an 8x8 layout so to use the space at the bottom I have made a bookmark. It is free here for a couple of days. It is a jpg image that can be printed out on its own or at the bottom of a 8x11 page when you have done an 8x8 layout.

I used my kit called Love Birds at The Scrapping Garden if you would like to have a look.

2007-01-11T21:46:00.000+09:00

Do I Like to dress up - I think we all do - it just depends on what the situation is - I dress up every day to go to work - I prefer trousers rather than dresses. At home it is trousers or shorts. The last time I got really dressed up was in a designer label dress to attend a fashion parade that included some of my daughter designs. That is the layout above - I used my white Daisy kit available at The Scrapping Garden. I am on the left in a "Liz Davenport" outfit.

It is Australia Day next week on the 26th January. I will be having a crop on that day at 9pm EST at The Scrapping Garden. I have 4 Australian themed kits that will be on sale.

One is a new kit that is called Koala Times - I mean what else what you do when you saw a koal like this.

He lives at a local wild life park near to us. We werent allowed to touch (they scratch and wee on you) but I got a load of photos.

2007-01-10T21:25:00.000+09:00

What do you dream about lately? Hmmmmm now I know I sometimes have a dream but I cant seem to recall one lately. I remember I had one last week and I think it was about crabbing - we had been in the boat that day crabbing, but I cant recall any detail. Not even sure if it was in black and white or in colour.

Our dogs seem to dream sometimes - Kurgan, the 5 yr old Staffy, was sitting beside me on the couch sound asleep when he started to make these funny noises and little yelps - I could imagine a big cat coming into the yard and taking his bone.

I found this photo of our 16 year old Staffy, Agro - she was just 6 weeks when this photo was taken. She now sleeps about 20 hours a day and is totally deaf. I used my new kit called Softly, Softly at The Scrapping Garden. The photos corners were made using Atomic Cupcake's Gel action. I just love using actions and am so glad I purchased the CS2 program - much more fun than PSE3.

2007-01-10T07:07:00.000+09:00

The layout bugged me all night so I added a word - seems better balanced now.

To celebrate some rain at last I have a freebie - 50 buttons I made. Its available for 24 hours if you want them.

2007-01-09T21:53:00.000+09:00

Do you usually arrive on time or late?Do you get annoyed when other people arrive late or you really don’t care?

This is interesting for me because I used to have a 15 to 20 minute allowance either side of the appointment time for arrival. Up until I met my second husband, time was not something I gave a lot of thought to - I arrived when I arrived. My second husband becomes so anxious if we are running late that it is easier to go with the flow and arrive on time, even though I hate being the first person of a group to arrive at a function.

At work I have always been punctual for appointments so my comments above refer to my private life. I hate being so organised at home, get annoyed with shopping lists and like to do things in my own time - probably the result of living on my own for 15 years.

At work I get annoyed if people run late as sometimes I have back to back appointments, but at home - who cares.

I tried a fandango challenge from DSP tonight - freestyle. Boy was this hard to do - you would have thought with me disliking working to rule this would have been easy. Here is the layout of my daughter.

2007-01-08T20:53:00.000+09:00

Last week I was in the depths of depression and feeling so miserable - some kind comments on the blog helped me along the path towards acceptance of who I am. thankyou to those people.

So back to nature, the animals and their young - I was driving on the road just up from my house and taking photos of the kangaroos at sunet when I noticed this lady right beside the edge of the road. Her joey had just popped out for a look. I have done a kit called Kangaroo Kapers. Have a look at it here.

2007-01-05T22:21:00.000+09:00

I have just snuck in to do this prompt for my blog as we have visitors - supposed to be getting a cup of coffee - -"Describe your sleeping style" - - hmmmm - lets see - I sleep on my side hugging a pillow. I'm a light sleeper so any noise often wakens me.

as I am about to get my cuppa here is a photo of one of the kangaroos up the road - we drove slowly past and it wasnt until I was about to take the photo that we saw the joey in her pouch.

The kit is my latest called Lilac Dreams on sale until 8 January at 30% off.

2007-01-04T21:11:00.000+09:00

What do you sense you're supposed to do before your life is over?

wow - what a question to ask. I am going to be 59 this year and still have no idea. Is it to become the mother my adult children want me to be? Is it to have the confidence to say "I am an OK person"? Is it to say I have achieved some good things in this life? This is so emotionally draining to answer.

So here is another Kangaroo photo from yesterday morning - the sight of them cheers me a little - so nice to see nature at work amongst all this chaos we call life.

Did you see my new kit called "Softly, Softly" - on sale at 30% until Jan 8th.

2007-01-03T21:39:00.000+09:00

The question has been asked about collecting things - I ponder this as I look over the top of a pile of scrapping albums I have bought - just in case I need to do an album in a hurry. I justify the number because I went into the shop once looking for a 6x6 album and my favourite shop had none.

Then my mind moves onto the teddy bear making supplies - the piles of mohair I still have even after two years of no sewing (rsi of both wrists killed the sewing). I thought of putting them away in the linen closet, but when I opened the door, I was faced with the early nineties collection of cross stitching supplies. Oh dear, so where can I put the supplies of essential oils I have from my early days of being a single woman again - put away when the new man in my life wondered what " that smell" was.

I turn back to the computer and breath a sigh of relief - the kits I have purchased are on my NEW hard drive (bought to accomodate all the softweare and files I have created), the kits I have designed and of course all the photos I take with my digital camera, are all neatly tucked away on the new external hard drive and take up little space. I am guilt free.

To show that all this was essential, here is a preview of my new kit called Red Gum. This is inspired by some photos I took of a flowering red Gum eucalyptus tree here in Western Australia. Of course I have kept the excessive number of photos I took -just in case I need them for something else. ........

Here is a freebie stickit page to celebrate my new Red Gum kit, available at The Scrapping Garden. This will be available for 24 hours only.

The photo of the kangaroo is one I took this morning - he was about 100 yards up the road from my house.

2007-01-02T19:48:00.000+09:00

I am reminded of New Years Resolutions - what are they for this year? Well, number one has to be to lose some weight. 5 kgs would be nice as goal number 1. Too big a number to lose and I will lose interest.

Resolution no 2 - dont stress out about the job - its not worth it. Just keep your focus on your holiday to the Cook Islands and the photos yoou are going to take.

With the weight one I have enough to worry about so no more resolutions. Instead enjoy a photograph of the seed pods of a Western Australian Eucalyptus tree after the rain. We have had the driest 2006 on record so to start the new year with a little rain was exciting.

Come back tomorrow as I will have a freebie page for you.

2006-12-31T22:19:00.000+09:00

Its been a long time since I posted - some days life seems to be full and hobbies take a back seat.

Summer is in in full swing here in Western Australia with some very hot days. The kangaroos have been around a lot, probably due to the green grassed lawsn. I walked out to the rubbish bin yesterday to find a very surprised kangaroo eating my grass.

Many of the kangaroos have joeys now and I have uploaded a photo I managed to take of Mum with her joey in her pouch.

2006-10-01T15:23:00.000+08:00

October at last and the warm sunny days have arrived. I have a freebie for you.
It compliments my Green October mini kit that is available through the Rainbow Challenge at The Scrapping Garden.
School holidays are here in Western Australia and we have our 8 year old staying with us. He is attending the vacation programm and I drop him off each day.
Yesterday we went looking for crabs on the foreshore of the estuary where we live. They were so tiny I had to use the zoom lens on the camera. I have a LO in the gallery at The Scrapping Garden.

2006-09-14T11:28:00.000+08:00

This entry contains details of all the freebies I have available if you want to participate in challenges, or check out my sampler at The Scrapping GARDEN . This sampler coordinates with my Tulip Time kit also avilable at the Scrapping Garden.

Did you miss out on my August Blues mini kit? It was free for August for those who took part in the Rainbow Challenge. The mini kit is now for sale in The Scrapping Garden.

September's Rainbow challenge is September Orange and here is the mini kit you can get for free just by participating in the challenge. All details are here

At the end of 7 months you can have 7 mini kits the colours of the rainbow that can be mixed and matched.

I have a challenge going at The Scrapping Garden called Do You Remember? For this you can download the posting bonus and use it to post a layout. Why dont you have a go?

Now if you do all these challenges and check out my sampler, that is a whole lot of freebies you can get.

2006-09-12T20:22:00.000+08:00

I keep forgetting to tell you what I saw when I came home late from a Rotary meeting last week.

As I turn off the main road I have my head lights on high so I can see any kangaroos which may jump in front of me. As I came up to my home there were 5 kangaroos sitting on my front lawn eating the grass. One was right next to the front door, eating the shoots off my rose tree. I waited for them to move but it seemed as if they felt I was the intruder. I had to wait for some minutes before they decided to move away from the driveway. When I closed the door of the garage they were still on the far side of my lawn eating the grass.

This is a photo I took of a kangaroo at the local wildlife park. They look so beautiful when they stand up and check you out.

I have my Rainbow challenge running at The Scrapping Garden. Download some freebies and post a layout . You will get another paper and a element to add. Post a second Layout and get a further paper and element. Post 5 layouts using the pieces you have received and you will get thew whole mini kit free. This is the mini kit you could get for free.

This kit goes into the store on October 1 so get it for free now. The August Blues kit has now been added to the store. October is the green month. Watch for news here.Check back here over the next few days as there will also be a freebie offered that compliments my new Tulip Time kit.

2006-09-09T09:40:00.000+08:00

Its so long since I posted. This past week I have been catching a bus on an hour and half journey each way to attend a national conference for our industry. At each conference they have someone speak who tends to provide insipration.

At this conference they had Dean Clifford, a guy who was born with a genetic disorder with the common name of "cotton wool babies". It means his skin does not adhere to each layer and every bump blisters. He was never expected live long but he had a fantastic supportive family and is now 26 and doing motivational talks around the country as well as working part time for a Toyota dealership. Here is his web site Dean Clifford.

I found Debbie Pearsons latest Italian range of kits so am finishing off the Italian holiday album at the moment. I really want to be able to say - I have scrapped all I can about this fantastic holiday. Here is Michaelangelos Pieta in st Peters Bascilica. It is behind glass as someone tried to destroy it some years ago. It was scupltured in 1498 which is mind blowing for this poor old Aussie as Australia was only founded in 1789!!.

2006-08-27T21:01:00.000+08:00

A beautiful sunny day here in western Australia. We were in the garden planting carrots and tomatoes today and enjoying the sounds of birds around us. A 28 parrot sat on the TV antenna for ages while tiny swallows flew in and out of the open shed.

The boat's battery is dead so before we can take the boat out again we need to charge the battery - with these sunny days the beautiful spring weather will entice us very soon to the water.

Another LO in the saga of the ABC of our Dogs. This one is "Q is for Quick". Agro and Char were from the same litter and used to play and run on the beach together. Unfortunately Char got cancer and died soon after we moved to the beach. This LO shows Char sitting and waiting for Agro to catch her-just as Agro got to her she would run off again. she was quick to play and quick to run.

The lack of inspiration for designing kits continues - it is like there is a small black cloud hovering overhead.

2006-08-26T09:09:00.000+08:00

The morning here is looking good with beautiful suuny skies and here is a freebie (now removed) for 24 hours. This is for 8.5 x 11 scrappers although the elements will do in any size.

There is also my free samper page at The Scrapping Garden and the opportunity to get this August Blues mini kit for free by taking part in the Rainbow Challenge

Here is the B page for my dogs ABC album - I have re done this one as I wasnt happy with the first version I did late last year. The photo is of Tiger, a brave little Staffordshire Terrier who tried to fight off burglars but was injured. she never fully recovered and died a little time later.

I have used my Forbidden Passion kit available at The Scrapping Garden.

2006-08-25T20:28:00.000+08:00

This morning outside in the garden I discovered a "Bobtail " lizard - unfortunately it had been attacked and had died. My father used to tell me that if a bobtail was around you would not have snakes. I'm not sure whether he was just trying to make me feel better ot whether it was true.

Although officually it is still winter, my bulbs are starting to tell me its spring time. The daffodils are starting to flower and my pansies are making a show. The Araluen tulip festival has just started also so will arrange to make my annual visit. The tulips are so beautiful.

Last year when I viste the tulip festical I arrived early in the morning just after it had rained. I didnt notice at the time when taking the photos but when I uploaded them you could see droplets of water on many of the tulips.

I have a free sampler available at The Scrapping Garden - there is not time limit on its availability.

Also during August I have a full mini kit that is available through doing the Rainbow challenge for August. This ends soon and the kit will go into the store.

2006-08-22T06:15:00.000+08:00

I woke up early the other morning and went outside to check if the newspaper had been delivered. A kangaroo was very happily eating off my front lawn. She ignored me and kept on eating - at least she was leaving the new shoots on my rose trees alone.

Its great to see the kangaroos around, even though the development is reducing their space all the time.

Another LO in the ABC of Our Dogs saga continues. I now have the L page finished - again Kurgan features. I have taken to having the camera beside me when watching TV but still havent managed a photo of him chasing his tail. He sometimes even catches that "myterious" tail.

This was taken last year - he was just laying there on his back - not sure if it was comfortable or he was just waiting for a tummy rub.

2006-08-20T21:50:00.000+08:00

Went off to visit my daughters new house today. They have purchased a 1930's Art Deco house which has a rather interesting interior with lots of nooks and crannys.

I have managed another layout in the ABC of our dogs saga - the J page. Here it is.

This one was taken last year of Kurgan, named after the bad guy in the Highlander movie. Kurgan is acutally a cutie rahter than a bad guy though.

Don't forget that you can get a whole kit kit by participating in the Rainbow Challenge at The Scrapping Garden for free. Check out my free smapler also at The Scrapping Garden.

2006-08-19T17:52:00.000+08:00

I have tried to change the banner at the top of my blog page but the coding for these blogs defeats me. I have some html training but this stuff just blinds me. A very nice person came to my aid - so thanks to retta.

I have been continuing with my ABC of dog albums - I'm on a roll here - here is I for Idleness. Agro was only 14 when this photo was taken. Since then she has broken her rear leg and cant lay like this any more.

I have used an alpha set from Creative Delights again. see my previous post for the link. They are fun alpha sets and I am having fun with them.

If you want a free mini kit see my Rainbow Challenge go to The Scrapping Garden.

2006-08-13T21:18:00.000+08:00

I took our Grandson to see the movie Hoodwinked this weekend - he asked me when I was going to get into extreme sports like the grandmother in the movie. Do I show him abseiling photos of me when I was younger?
I finally got back to doing some layouts for my ABC of Dogs album - it has been languishing for a while. I have purchased a pile of alpha sets and other items from Lettering Delight. These alphas are great fun to play with and add a whimiscal flavour to layouts. I am up to the letter "J" in the album, but am stuck for ideas for a J layout.

Any ideas out there?

2006-08-12T08:01:00.000+08:00

Finally Western Australia is having a winter (of sorts). The rain has been falling and more is to come. The garden is looking good, although the weeds are also looking good.

I have a free sampler available at The Scrapping Garden. It is of aVictorian vintage flavour but could be used for memories of your first bike.

While you are there have a look at my Rainbow Challenge
This challenge is over the month and you can receive this complete mini kit if you do all the Layouts.

I have a new kit called Forbidden Passion just into the store. I taste tested a pile of chocolate while designing this kit. It is on sale at 40% off until Aug 14.

2006-08-06T12:57:00.000+08:00

August 6 - a day in history when the bomb was dropped on Japan, and my ex's birthday.

I have just spent 4 days in Melbourne, attending an ACROD conference on disability, the industry in which I work. One of the speakers was Li Cunxin, a world famous ballet dancer. He spoke to us for an hour and at the end of it there wasnt a dry eye amongst the 500 people there. He talked of how he achieved so much and what inspired him to always try harder, his defection to the USA and the pain that the loss of family contact caused him. He talked about the utter poverty that Westerners could not even imagine that he experienced as a child. If you read only one book, read his book called "Mao's Last Dancer" written by himself. He was one of the best speakers I have heard in a long time.

After that, everything else seems a bit of an anti climax, but I managed to catch a train and a bus (2 hrs) to visit my 83 year old uncle in the Yarra Valley. It is a beautiful piece of Australia and it was great to see my uncle. Another 2 hour trip back to the hotel and that was the whole day gone.

Plane food has got worse- to the point its almost inedible these days. Next time I will take my own snacks.

When I arrived home, my old 16 year staffy, Agro, was pleased to see me. She gets upset and ignores me when the suitcase comes out and gets packed. I came home and placed the suitcase on the floor to unpack. The photo shows what she thought of the suitcase - she got in it and went to sleep.