Such a Treat

I read a lovely book last week.
About a dog in the Nor' West
of Western Australia
And the people who loved him

Louis de Bernieres' Red Dog

It brought back a lot of childhood memories
Of when we drove to Marble Bar
One of the hottest places on Earth
For a family wedding

It was a long drive on dirt roads
Several thousand kilometers
With my parents and my grandmother
It was quite an adventure


On our way there we called into Roebourne
To visit my Aunt and Uncle and cousins
Who lived in a caravan
In that dry and dusty place

The times were different
There were few houses for families
You had to be tough and resilient 
To live in that part of the world

The Pilbara has changed
since those pioneering days
Now it's all suburban amenities
And air-conditioned comfort

Which is why 'Red Dog' was such a treat
Allowing me to re-visit how it used to be
When the world was still a surprise
waiting to be opened.



.

New Dreams

Let me introduce you to Mr Orange Cumquat
Or 'Sunshine' as he is sometimes called.

We met when we were (very) young
So we've been married a (very) long time

                         
 He's a man who likes the outdoors

   
And 'going bush ' when he can

                     
He's been a great Dad

 

And worked hard for us all 

                                           

The years have flown

Mr Orange Cumquat is sadly not so well these days
And it's been a difficult time
For him, especially,
to come to terms with the Parkinson's
that is changing his life




My bossy red headed man
With his fiery temper and strong certainties
Has gone into hiding
And we miss him

The world changes
We have to change with it
To make new memories
From new dreams

Something to cry about

It was a beautiful day here at my home
I've lots work to do and I need to atone
For last weeks debacle (and nasty burn)
And I have some self respect I need to re-earn

.....So I pulled out my trusty old mower
And set to work

I gave the 'oval' in the middle of the driveway a bit of a spruce up.
(The bricks are a work in progress. ... though it must be said, this is as far as the old chimneys progressed after they were demolished several years ago....)

Alas the home orchard needs more than a little spruce (up)
It needs a complete makeover
And a lot of TLC

 

I gave it a burl, I gave it a try

But my poor old mower gave up with a sigh

Then so did I!

So much for regaining some self respect. 

I ended up utterly exhausted! 

Puffing and wheezing like a steam train climbing a mountain

I felt quite defeated

I wished I was 'The Little Engine That Could'

It was one of my favourite stories when I was a child 

I wallowed in self pity for a bit

How absurd am I?

A middle aged grandmother

who needs to grow up

still wishing life was a fairy tale.

I do have one success to brag of though

With all my lack luster endeavours to fix up our property 

I haven't been creating much (other than chaos)

But I did manage this

My first dish cloth, of which I in-ordinarily proud.

And you, everyone, is/are absolutely right

Once you've used one, you don't want to use anything else.

I'm working on number 2 now. 

I'll just keep reminding my self 

That if I was a 'The Little Engine That Could'

I wouldn't be able to crochet

And that really would be

Something to have a cry about.

Shaken not stirred.

This is a bit long .....

I guess we all have a view of ourselves

I think of myself as a certain kind of woman of a certain kind of age

Homely and unadventurous

Who reads and sews and crochets

I've never been bungee jumping or walked the Inca Trail

I'm happy with the gentle thrills that life sends my way

I like hunting for treasure and fantastic thrifting finds

I enjoy gazing at the world through my lens

Finding Public Art and unexpected vistas

I like trees 

And photograph them...

When I visit my parents

When I take my grandson to the zoo

And when I'm in my garden

I think I'm gentle, and kind,

somewhat dull, but caring and careful.

So it comes as something of a shock

To find myself responsible for 

This

I rang the Volunteer Bushfire Brigade

Asking them if they could do a burn on our verge

It hadn't been burnt in over 25 years

And seemed long overdue for our bush fire prone area.

I spoke to a Vollie, as we call them here,

Who said, 'yes indeed, now is the perfect time to get the job done'

'rain is coming, and it will soon be too wet', 

'but you'll have to do it yourself.'

He was very helpful with advice, had had a look at the area.

Told me how to prepare it, make the necessary firebreaks,

and how to beat it out if it looked like getting away.

'Call me', he said, 'if you've got any worries.'

So the weekend came round

I got my adult children to help

We loaded up with water and shovels

We cleared the firebreaks and lit the match.

And whoosh.

What started out as a small fire quickly grew

It engulfed the trees, the wattle exploded

And all hell broke loose

The flames grew at an alarming rate 

Threatening our power line that came from across the road

The containment lines were secure

just the odd spot fire to put out

It was all over in minutes

But, not to put too fine a point on it,

It was, without doubt, the most frightening experience of my life.

That was it for me. I refused to tackle the rest.

It was simply too dangerous. Fire is not to be tinkered with

Even in winter, if the rains don't come.

It was just too warm, too dry with too much fuel to burn.

Less than a quarter of the verge is now prepared for next summer

It's a problem that wont go away 

So there's some serious work is ahead. 

Clearing, cutting and yes, even another burn.

I suspect my view of myself

As a quiet observer of life,

ever afraid of their own shadow,

Is in for quite a shake up.

Splendid things

I'm taking a breath

Before tomorrow begins

With work, and schedules and watching the clock

Many important things that simply can't wait

And I need a clone

To get it all done

So before I start to hyperventilate

In a panic attack

I'll reflect on why

I'm now in a pickle

It's not so much that I'm a chronic procrastinator

(And I am)

It's more that life can sometimes be so delicious

I get distracted

It's autumn

and we had some rain

and it's been cold

Then the sun shone

We took Charlie to baby gym

And went out to lunch

It wasn't all fun and games

Of course

I did the usual stuff

The cleaning, the washing, the ironing

There was the white ant inspection, and the gas delivery

That didn't warrant a photo

But after class yesterday

(French classes, so handy when we live thousands of kilometres from the nearest French speaking folk)

We went out to lunch... again

And I photographed

everything

For my blog

So when I begin to worry

about the relentless demands of life
And fret about how I squander the hours 

I'll think instead about the joy

Of time spent on splendid things

Thank you to the lovely ladies who are following my ramblings

I love having you here

And visiting you too

Opening my eyes to the world around me

One of the up sides of learning to blog is that I've finally faced my camera...from both sides of the lens. 

I've had my camera a couple of years but until now I haven't really felt the need to explore all that it can do. I did a photography course years ago. I wasn't quite using a box brownie (that was my Mother's first camera) but I must say the technology has done a few leaps and bounds since those giddy days in the dark room.

Aren't digital camera's fantastic? Without the cost restraints, that used to limit the number of photos taken, we can pose in unlimited shots until we get a photo that makes us look respectable. Better still, all those ugly photos that make family and friends look like freaks out of a horror movie can be tastefully deleted away as if they never existed.

Here's a photo of me with my two beautiful daughters.

Now if you knew me even slightly you'd be amazed to find me sharing a photo of myself. But then in most of my photos I bear an unfortunate resemblance to Jabba the Hut, and I've spent a lifetime scowling and hiding from cameras. While I think my chances of becoming a photographic model are still on the limited side, it's really rather pleasant to no longer be afraid of the camera lens.

As I've been learning all the gadgets on my camera I've learned a few useful things as well. 

Moving targets are incredibly difficult to shoot 

 and animals are particularly uncooperative.

This Tassie Tiger at the Zoo was a nightmare. 

The poor little fellow was running round and round his enclosure at the zoo. Shooting him without fuzz was quite an achievement. Mind you, there were several (dozen?) blurred attempts to go with it.

Gus and Harry (my daughter's dogs) were a little more cooperative.

And of course Kangaroos in the daytime are a doddle.

Taking photographs at night is a whole different ball game
and I have so much to learn.

Having a camera on hand is a really good way 

to capture other peoples very good ideas.

But the most exciting part of my camera
is the way it's opening my eyes to the world around me.

Graffiti-ed bamboo at the Zoo. 

Is beautiful.

Making Memories

Last night 

 my son and his new wife

my daughter-in-law

threw a party

There were flowers

and speeches

 a cake

a kiss

dancing

partying

and the inevitable morning after

With all the changes 

the modern world brings us

Some traditions 

are worth keeping.

Thank you 

J & E

for a night

of

making memories