lest we forget

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

If you are Australian you will of course know today is Anzac Day, where we commemorate fallen soldiers and those that serve our country. The day refers to the landing of Australian troops at Gallipoli in WW1 specifically but in general pays homage to all those that have lost their life in service to our country, and those that still serve today.

There is something so very haunting about The Last Post.

Our little community holds a small service every year (well, nearly) with the school children speaking and reading. Its short and sweet but just perfect. We then have a little morning tea and get together. This year I rode with other community members, leading the march on horseback. There is just something about seeing those horses (representing the Lighthorsemen) leading the way with the Australian Flag blowing in the breeze. I'll photograph it next year. 

Although the old horses who could just about do it without riders don't look all that excited. And I never said we were drilled or polished. (I must get my own hat, I was wearing my husbands)

some of the kids; they had been practising their little bits at school, Angus said he had to "put the fing on the rock and fink about the soldiers". I think I may have mentioned before about how literal this boy is.

Raising and lowering of the flag to half mast, at the memorial rock.

And there we go, Anzac Day done for another year. My sister in law took these photos with my little camera and I thank her for snapping them for me, anything is better than nothing!

says it all really :)

done

yes more wedding invitations, this time with a much tighter brief, the bride having a strong idea of what she wanted and the groom as well (no pink or bright-bloody-colours!) although we sure showed him - he never said anything about RIBBON!

Dress making will commence for the girls in due course, they are terribly excited about being flowergirls, and the boy is a Ring Bear/Cowboy (his idea of his task) with a cute little suit. Father of these children is aghast that he will have to wear his suit AND a tie (bride did suggest a pink sparkly light up twirly one which was not well accepted). Mother of children and sister to the groom is also having dress angst, having decided to wear TWO outfits, pants to the ceremony to prevent any knicker showage when assisting in photographic endeavours, and then a dress to the reception so as to glam it up just a wee bit.

Am thinking of black boards with swirly chalked lettering on it. Must talk to the bride. She likes swirly. Exciting times.

the perils of having big sisters

wearing a hannah montana wig, a pair of his sisters undies and sisters dress up top. A boys gotta do what a boys gotta do. Compromise, can't be lego building and playing pirates and building dams at the sandpit all of the time, can we?

Its also very handy for mother to photograph and thinking how useful these photos will be in years to come :-)

addictive

Recently I found instagram for android (not having a phone as fancy as an iphone) and now I am addicted. These gems were on my phone and would have been all but forgotten otherwise, unless of course I ever got around to working out how to download them onto my computer. Don't need to worry about it any more!

I'll be a crazy phone snapping fool from now on :) Lacking a blog button to share with you I have instead included my instagram page at the top of the blog here. Don't ask me how you comment or follow, that bit is more than I can tell you!

bin campin

so love butchering the english language, don't you? :-)

Apparently there has been too much basking in the glory of my own fantasticness around here, so how about a change of subject. After the easter long weekend and we recovered from the sugar overload (lets just say the kids eating a fairly sizeable tupperware dish of leftover eggs that mum was supposed to dole out, in ONE SITTING did not put mum in a good mood) caught up on the laundry, late night and the excitement of it all, we went camping.

It may have been said we could have gone for a week with the amount of preparation required for just one night in the wilds, but that is all we were able to fit into our schedule. There may have been some reluctance to return to reality though.

A taste of the camping trip.....

There is a road there in amongst that long long grass. Lots of seed on the car and in the front grill. 

Our camp all set up above the river bank (second trip for the camper trailer purchased in September last year, first one being at Easter. Yes, we are slow). That bank is a lot steeper and sandier in real life than it appears in the photo. Lots of aerobic exercise. Calf muscles still tight.

Scenery that was very hard on the eyes. Lots of big fish seen, but not many hungry ones. Would have been easier to catch with a hand net on a long handle than a line and hook, they were so fat and lazy and uninterested in the bait. Lots of hungry small fish though!

  The water's not cold mum, its BEAUTIFUL! yeah right. Mum ain't that silly.

A little geology lesson.

  And after catching probably a dozen smaller throw-em-back in fish (husband impressed that his fishing time was taken up by unhooking fish) I just about had kittens when this bigger one turned up on the end of my line.

And then after that excitement and further disgust at the big fish that we could poke with the end of our lines but wouldn't bite, and the kids had another swim in the its-not-cold-mum water, we took ourselves off home. I must say, that warm shower was heavenly after the skinny dipping, speedy wash of all smelly bits in the frigid water the evening before!

I have more photos of our wildlife adventure walk on the other camera. I'll share them soon!

yesterday

we went to a wedding. The venue was gorgeous, a true country wedding.I took some photos. We camped. We are tired. But we are home.

Just a couple of my favourite shots, picked quickly as I downloaded the camera.

The groom with his gorgeous daughter, my goodness she is photogenic, and being just 14 years old has the most lovely, translucent skin. I really love this photo!

The coffee bottles I collected and cleaned and made tags for....]

And last but not least, two good lookin' birds that are not normally in front of the camera!

Now, off for a little lie down, maybe some chocolate :-) and then tomorrow, some editing.            

rainbow toes

one really shouldn't just paint over the top of deep red polish, and then go traipsing across the lawn before it dries. Oh well. All about keeping it real, and all about THIS. Do go and visit and find out why.

That big toe is hiding for a reason! And yes, my feet are a little bit grubby. Dirt is good, yes? :-)

Happy Easter everyone.

This weekend

Do you remember this, from last year? (did I show it to you?)

Well, the time has come, and this has been on the fridge for a little while, reminding us of the fun to come...

Along with this one too. I might have had a hand in the design of each ;-)

Gathering up all of the saved coffee bottles from around the place, cleaning, de-labelling, and prettying up with a tag (featuring the cute birdy/flower graphic on the invite) and string, and plunking in some candles to go on the white clad tables at the country garden wedding. She has lanterns to string through the trees and around the place, and some of the big paper ones to hang in special spots. It should look just GORGEOUS.

And then finding my camera and giving it a bit of a de-dusting and putting on my photographers hat. This wedding photography lark is starting to become a (non-paying!) habit. Thankfully I have my lovely mate Mel as wing man. She's a handy one to have around when time is of an essence, the days are getting shorter and dusk falls all too quickly.

And both husbands will be there to supervise the kids. Hmm. They are easily distracted (the husbands, not the kids) Hoping they don't end up in a shed getting their wedding finery covered in grease (kids, not the husbands).

Stressing just a little. A few butterflies. Hoping I get time and a few quiet moments to catch my favourite details shots (the dress, the ring, the shoes, the lanterns, the glass bottles with the candles. The flowers.). Hoping that I get THE shot of the bride and groom. You know the one. It can't be set up, just pressing the button at the right time, catching a smile, the joy.

And with all of that floating around in the ether, luckily I had a friend do some easter bunny shopping!

one day...

We live in an old, tongue and groove timber house, that slowly over the years we've been doing bit and pieces too. Its not a big house, and as the kids get bigger I keep feeling the need to expand so there is a just a bit more space for everyone, but particularly mum and dad for some peace and quiet!

On the list, for Lotto Winnings/Spare Cash expenditure (ha ha!) is a long verandah along the side of the house, joining onto our existing small front verandah....something like this: (bless you google images! I always find what I am looking for there)

The other day, wandering around BUNNY'S (Bunnings for the rest of the nation) I found the perfect furniture with which to fill my one-day verandah. Nothing like counting ones chickens or putting the cart before the horse of course.

For dining - and the stools tuck under the table when not in use, creating a nice tidy area.... ($498.00, what a bargain ;-)

And in the corner, for reading the paper, drinking a coffee, having a snooze, entertaining guests, or hiding from the kids:

Seriously, this couch was built for lounging. I sat on a few, waiting for the kids as they galloped around the playground as if they had never seen one before, and this one was IT. The others didn't even come near to being as comfortable.  If you are in the market for some outdoor seating, I suggest you look at this one. For a mere $999 it can be yours :-) Sure as eggs it won't be around the one-day when I might find myself requiring one.

Unfortunately the husband would neither take a photo of me relaxing on "my" outdoor lounge, nor let me take it home with me.

He wasn't keen on these either:

Even though I do think my argument that they are far cleaner and cheaper to operate than the live version was very valid.

Party pooper.

Sigh. Bunny's. Fun for the whole family :-)

(and so endeth our city adventures!)

a first for the kids

allright, so we don't get out much, but when in the city the other day, the kids had their first dining experience outside of the local cafe or Macca's. It was indeed a big deal, especially I wouldn't let them OR the husband eat anything before going out as I did not want any (expensive) half eaten plates of food lying around the table.

Now I know this isn't exactly fine dining, but we went to Sizzlers.  A wee bit classier than Maccas, and the kids loved it!  I loaded them up with spaghetti bolognaise from the salad bar first, and then the girls ventured off to get their own salad.

Please note her choice of salad - yes I have bred a child that loves her raw salad vegetables. And she ate it all. Georgie got very much similar, except more beetroot and bacon, and Angus after spying my pumpkin soup declared that is what HE wanted and he did indeed gobble it up.

The Husband was most pleased with his sizzling beef and prawns....(if only a photo had SOUND! they didn't call it sizzling for nothing!) The highlight of course for the kids, was dessert....soft serve ice cream (chocolate AND vanilla!)  and any number of delicious toppings...kid heaven. They all went home holding their very full bellies, and I am pleased to report no one put their feet on the table, spilled food or drink or generally behaved like a hooligan in any way. They obviously save it all for home!