Photo scavenger hunt - March

I've been very lazy this month about taking photos and am relying on some of my photos taken from our Europe trip last year.  Oh well, perhaps I'll do better with April's challenge.

1.  Bubbles - in my champagne, 25th wedding anniversary September last year.

2.  Dessert - Also from 25th wedding anniversary celebration last September.

3.  Bridge - The Iron Bridge near Shrewsbury.

4.  Eggs - from when we use to have chooks.  They use to lay some big eggs and the big one in the photo would have been about 100g.

5.  Empty - A beautiful crochet bowl I won in a giveaway from Jacquie at Bunny Mummy 
blog.

6.  Green - in my garden a tall green succulent or Aeonium arboruem canariense (I think that is it's proper name.)

  7.  Shoes - In a shop window in Avignon, France.

8.  Gate - In the back yard.

9.  Three

10.  Toys - My faithful old teddy bear.

11.  Uniform - A policeman directing school children in Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy.

12.  Water - Venice, where else! 

Looking forward to the April list.

 Anne  xx

 

Home again

Hello, I'm home again in Victoria and back to cooler temperatures of 26C instead of 39C.  I actually feel like doing something, I had forgotten how much the intense heat saps your energy.

While I was on the farm I bought Mum a new bougainvillea plant.  She expressed a desire to look at the lovely blossom while doing the laundry in her outside wash house and I had so much fun creating an easy care patch of garden for her to make this possible.  My big strapping nephew very kindly cut down and grubbed out a dead privet shrub making space for the new garden.  I used whatever I could find including an old discarded 44 gallon drum, wire from some chicken netting, an old piece of trellis, some garden tie wire, stones from the farm, other pot plants from Mum's garden and a white pot for the bougainvillea. 




Mum and I both love the rusty drum although Dad thinks it needs a paint.






On the last Monday I was staying with my parents, my brother came over in the morning to deliver fresh milk, have a cuppa with us and was then on his way to move some sheep.  I hitched a ride with him so I could watch his amazing sheep dog Jessie in action.

It was an absolute joy to see her working and my brother says she is very mature for such a young dog.

Late Monday afternoon my brother took me, my nephew and the two dogs to Lake Baandee for a swim.  It is a salt lake which rarely has water in it due to the low rainfall in the area.  There has been water in the lake for the past two summers although previously it had been dry since about 1999.
My brother swimming with Bonnie.


 My nephew with his snorkeling gear on.  There was nothing much to see except a few mosquito larvae, he had fun anyway.
Gorgeous Bonnie with a salt and sand encrusted face.

 After swimming for a bit, Jessie decided it was time to go home and sat in the back of the ute.  She had to wait for us as we were having too much fun.

 Sun setting over the water.

 
 

 This is my favourite.


We came out of the water very crusty with salt but as I managed to float on my back for the very first time due to the saltiness of the water, I didn't mind. :)

I had a good flight home to Melbourne from Perth and passed over these salt lakes, one in the shape of a heart which I thought was rather lovely.

Flying over the township of Esperance.

Beautiful coastline along south eastern Western Australia.

So now it's back to the routine for a few months and then hubby and I are off to Europe for a couple of months.  There is a lot to do between now and then, so I had better get cracking.  Thank you for taking time out of your day to catch up with my blog.

Anne  xx

The weekend

This past weekend was an interesting one for hubby and me.  On Saturday hubby decided he would make use of the beer making kit we bought him for Fathers Day and started a batch of beer.  It's brewing away in our study/craft room, exuding strange smells and bubbling away.   Hubby has been collecting stubby bottles from everywhere so he has something to put the beer into when it is ready to bottle.

While hubby was making beer, I decided to make Christmas cards.  After the third design attempt, I came up with something very simple as I was fast running out of patience.  My sister is a much better card maker than me.

Sunday was wet and miserable and as hubby and I had a severe case of cabin fever, we decided to get out even though it was wet.  We started off with a bakery lunch in a local town and drove on down to Tooradin, a little town on Western Port Bay.   "The town's name is an Aboriginal term for a monster which the local Aborigines reputedly believed resided in a waterhole at this location.   It has the southernmost mangroves in the southern hemisphere."  http://www.townsinaustralia.com/Tooradin.1662.htm

Google images.  Tooradin is north of French Island, just above the word Gippsland.

 We first visited Tooradin when Genevieve was a baby and I had post natal depression.  Hubby would find somewhere different for us to visit each weekend to get me out of the house and to have something to look forward too.   I find water very soothing and peaceful so Tooradin is still one of my favourite places to visit.

Google images

Google images

We parked our car at the end of this road and looked at gulls and pelicans being buffeted about by the wind and the choppy high tide water.  We were warm and cozy in our car sipping on our coffee and eating a delicious sweet morsel from the bakery.  There were showers of rain about every ten minutes and when there was a break in the rain we went for a walk to the boat ramp which was invigorating in the blustery wind.

Google images

This was our view from the car window.

Through these trees and on the way to the boat ramp, we saw this camper van, complete with t.v. aerial and towing a covered trailer for extra camping bits and pieces.  I didn't consider it a very pleasant spot to camp with no shelter and very exposed, but each to his own.

Hubby and I spent a couple hours relaxing, talking about our trip to Europe next year and making plans.  I did some crochet on my giant granny square blanket and hubby read the paper and did the puzzles.  I suppose this might sound very boring to some, but we relished the time spent together without the interruptions that happen at home.  It's pretty amazing being married to your best friend.  We are both looking forward to the next time we can tootle off for a couple of hours by ourselves.

Thank you for all your comments on the Tea Party.  Sadly the sponge cake is all gone now and the biscuits going fast.


Anne  xx

Photo scavenger hunt - March

Here are my entries for the Photo scavenger hunt - March, 2011.

1.  Peeling paint

Tired old boat at Cannons Creek, Mornington Peninsula

2.  A shadow

My shadow in the early morning Western Australian sun.  Photo taken on my parents farm January, 2011.

3.  Something as old as me.

My teddy bear Leanne.

4.  A ring

This is the ring my gorgeous hubby gave me on our 20th Wedding Anniversary.  It is yellow gold and has 20 diamonds, one for each year of marriage.  Isn't he a sweetie.  Sorry the photo is so blurry, I just can't take good close up photos on my camera.

5.  A rainbow

This was taken from our backyard late last winter.  If you look close you can actually see there are three rainbows.  The main one is a double and above that is another very faint one.


6.  A lamb

Pet lambs on my brothers farm in Western Australia.  Photo taken July, 2010.

7.  A lion

In the middle of Berwick township, Victoria.



8.  Fancy gate

Rear gate entry to a local organic cafe/resturant. 
This was my hardest photo to find as fancy gates are few and far between where I live.  This building is the most historic in my local area.

9.  A collection

Some of my collection of owls.

10.  Something sentimental

My Granny's rose gold Rolex watch which was a wedding gift to her from my Grandfather.  They were married in the 1920's so it is quite old.  I use to wear it on a regular basis but some of the links have worn away.  It still keeps very good time.

11.  An empty chair

Cannons Creek, Mornington Peninsula.  I'm taking a bit of photographic liscence here.  I just loved this picnic table and seats all over grown with native habitat.

12.  Something green

A lady in a green canoe at Cannons Creek.  Thank you to this generous lady who was happy to have her photo taken.

Looking forward to Aprils list.

Anne  xx

Weekend mini holiday

Hello everyone.  Today hubby and I went out for the day as we both needed a break away from the usual weekend routine.  Hubby has been hard at work on remodeling our pergola and as it is half way to completion, I thought it would be a good time for us to have a little weekend holiday.

We had two possible destinations in mind either the Yarra Valley which is full of wineries and is beautiful in the autumn or the Mornington Peninsula which means we could drive through beautiful country, visit the sea and a mariner.  The Peninsula won our vote.

We had a leisurely start to the day not leaving super early as it is only a bit over an hours drive to the Peninsula from our home.  Our first stop was Yaringa Marina where we had coffee and a look at the boats.

This part of the coast is very swampy with mangroves growing and at low tide, the mud crabs come out to feed.  As it was low tide while we were visiting, we saw a number of crabs like the one below.  I lent over the rail from where we were having coffee to take this photo.  There were many crabs out and about but as soon as they sense movement, they run back into their holes for protection.

After coffee we headed for Flinders, a lovely town on the coast.  We decided to take some of the back roads which are far more interesting than the main roads.  When I saw this handsome fella, I asked hubby to stop the car so I could go and say hello.

We communed for about 5 minutes.  He had a super soft velvety mouth and face and was quite happy to let me pet him.  For an animal lover, this was truly one of the highlights of my day.  Further down the road we came across this quirky display of road side mail boxes.  Do you think someone was having a party by any chance with those balloons on display?

I particularly like the old green plastic toolbox being used as a mailbox.

These ducks were having a wonderful time in the water with a good deal of squabbling going on.  As soon as I came closer they all headed away out of the water so I was unable to get a closer photo of them.

This is Stumpy Gully Road where the above three photos were taken.

We passed a couple of people bike riding along the road, it was a beautiful day for it.

We had lunch in Flinders at this little place which was extremely busy although I managed to take this photo without anyone entering or exiting.  We sat outside in a little nook just behind the shrubbery on the left of the photo.  How could hubby and I resist the "Boozy Beef Pie" with salad?  It was delicious.  Hic!

 From the Flinders coast you can see a view of Phillip Island which is just 5 miles away across the water.  Unfortunately the "Boozy Beef Pie" rendered it impossible for me to take a photo with a level horizon.   Sorry.  Hic!

A pretty coastal view. 

The pier and houses belonging to some wealthy folk.

After visiting Flinders I asked hubby if we could visit Cannons Creek on the way home.  Cannons Creek is  another community on a coastal mangrove swampy area which we have visited many times over the years.  It was low tide while we were there today.  The shore is muddy and sticky rather than sandy but I love it as it's such a peaceful place.  The first time I saw this yellow house I fell in love with it and have always wanted to live in it, it's right on the water front.

Low tide.
.

This board walk on the foreshore takes you to the (my) yellow house and an old boat launching area.

This photo is an overgrown resting area on the board walk and the view seen when you are sitting on the seat.  :)  Hubby took the photo of me sitting on the seat and I'm sorry it's blurry.  I included it because I think I look ridiculous, you can't even see my head for overgrown foliage.  :)

The old boat launching area.

Look at this tired old boat.  I love the anchor.

After our return walk along the board walk, it was time to head home.  We had one more stop on the way home but you'll see what that was all about when I post the March scavenger photo hunt photos.  Stay tuned!

Now it's time to iron school uniforms and business shirts for the week ahead.  Our little break away for the day was lovely and I think I'll be planning another one soon.

Have a fantastic week,

Anne  xx