From the Rising of the Sun

There's always something special about watching the changing sky as the sun brings a new day and again as the sun sinks below the horizon. A time to pause in thanksgiving and wonder, realising how small and fragile we are.

From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to             be praised.     

Psalm 133:3

Miss V and Miss E were both water baptised on Easter Sunday - a public confession of their personal faith. It was wonderful to have all the family present for this event - as well as many friends.

A small organic baby quilt has been stitched and added to my Etsy store along with a small selection of cards professionally printed using my photos. Some lovely new fabrics have inspired a few more blocks of my epp hand stitching project too.

We continue to making steady progress as we sort the possessions of my parents' in law, frequently contemplating the role of belongings, our impact on the world and the legacy we leave for future generations. Appreciating the past, making the most of the present and looking with hope towards the future.

*** You may also enjoy my Instagram feed which I add to several times a week. You don't have to join Instagram to view - just click on the little blue square camera logo under my blog profile (top right hand corner).
Karen

Beautiful November

With an ever changing mix of friendly familiar, new beginnings and fresh challenges, our Spring days are fast disappearing. We've not grown foxgloves before, as our climate is quite warm but when we saw some seedling at the nursery a few months ago we decided to give them a try. Only one has flowered, gradually opening and developing rich colours over the course of a couple of weeks. Quite a fascinating and beautiful flower, I hope to plant some again next year.

Cricket is a constant focus through the summer months for most of our children and now our youngest, Miss E (8) is also participating - and loving it! 

The purple jacaranda trees bloom for a few short weeks each spring. Our town has hundreds of jacaranda trees and an annual week-long festival centred around them. They sure do make the town very pretty. Grace had opportunity to perform at three events during the week, enjoying each one.

I have made a selection of drawstring bags which I have added to my Etsy shop, along with optional sets of blank greeting cards which I've had professionally printed using my photos. A combination of sewing and photography which I have thoroughly enjoyed working on.

My birthday came and went in a blink - but I still have a little of the gifted artisan Cicada chocolate left to savour, chosen at a market in Circular Quay, Sydney, and hand delivered (thank you my older daughters!).

World War I was the focus for our homeschool History studies this term - making a visited to our local Memorial Park on Remembrance Day much more meaningful.

Last but not least - we caught sight of the supermoon late last night when the cloud cover cleared. It was noticeably brighter and whiter than usual. I find it quite interesting to notice the difference angle/terrain of moon photos taken from the northern as opposed to mine* in the southern hemisphere. We live in an amazing universe.


 *Photographic Note: I used my DSLR with 55-250 kit lens. I was leaning the camera against a balcony post for stability, set to manual mode with ISO at 100, f/11, 1/125 speed. As I shoot in RAW I then edited as follows - Crop, sharpen, increase definition and contrast until I liked the result.

Sharing at Our World Tuesday.

Ordinary Lovely

I love how a photo can capture joy, beauty or particular moments in time with their associated emotions and memories. Here are some of the ordinary lovely moments of the last week or so, ending with a 'golden oldie'.

Yesterday we were visiting some new friends who live out of town when this Red-necked wallaby with her joey hopped by to leisurely graze on their front lawn. Wallabies are similar to kangaroos but much smaller. Our friends pointed out how the wallaby's pouch is at the perfect height for her joey to graze while the mother is also.
Our neighbour's zygocactus is a beautiful sight as the afternoon light catches the many blooms. It grows outdoors all year round, in a hanging basket under their macadamia tree just over our back fence, looking rather plain - until it flowers!
Now that the weather has cooled down it's much more pleasant working in the garden. Master T (16) has chopped down some small trees, breaking two brand new wooden handles axes in the process. The third axe bought this week (after receiving refunds) had a fibreglass handle and stood up to the job at hand, however the effort required appears to have been greater than anticipated, judging by the sign which appeared on the fence! 
Miss E (8) cleaned out her garden bed and sowed fresh seeds, labeling each area with a marker stone. I had to laugh when I discovered the label above. She later showed me the seed packet - 'Mesembryanthemum', yes, I guess they deserve the marker she gave them.  :)

A ruffled pansy on the back deck, a neighbourhood hedge scene, early morning calm on the river after a hot winter's day (30C/86F - crazy), a few more hand sewn hexie flowers for my long term quilt project. Last but not least is a family favourite, taken in October 2008 as Miss E reached out to her older sister's new baby doll - the similarity in their profiles is striking and so cute! Yes, I DO love the wonders of ordinary lovely days and photos....