Nature walks

I am slow in writing my blog this week. The days are a little cooler, and I am starting to feel a little better after coming down with a summer flue a few weeks ago, so I have ventured out for a walk a few times in the last week. There is something rejuvenating don't you think about getting out in nature, whether it is in a park, along a river or the beach, or in bushland or forest.

I am lucky that I have four places close to home where I can walk along a bush path or by the water. Walking along suburban streets is too boring for me and I like to walk where there is shade.

The first is very close to home, only a couple of hundred metres away, a bush block tucked between suburbia and the main road into the city.  Here you will find a mixture of peppermint trees, jarrah and marri eucalypts, a couple of varieties of banksia, creeping hovea and wild wisteria, and a host of wildflowers, including orchids pushing up through the imported weeds during spring.

Peppermint trees

 The second is a favourite walk along the Leschenault Estuary first thing in the morning or late afternoon or at sunset when it is cooler after a hot summer's day.  In the sunset pic you can see our port facilities on the horizon, beyond that is the Indian Ocean.

The third is along the Collie River which flows into the estuary. It follows along the river. If you cross the bridge you can walk along the other side. Sorry about this rather dodgy phone photo from a lookout point. Silly me decided not to take my camera! It was a cloudy morning though.  I am sure I have better photos....somewhere on my hard drive....

 The fourth is behind the houses along Miller's Creek, a shady artery which runs through the middle of a housing development. This shady walk is particularly lovely on a hot morning. 

Do you have a favourite nature walk? What does it look like? Perhaps you would like to share in your comments. 

You might also like - 
Down in the woods today
Where wild orchids grow
The wildflowers are starting to pop at Crooked Brook
  
A circle - a moment in time - on the forest floor 

A circle on the forest floor

 Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 


I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday
Friday Bliss at Floral Passions

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Understory

I had a little incident last weekend that threw me a little off-kilter just when I was feeling really good about my life and my creative life in particular. I was happily going along, enjoying my creative life, being involved in a few photography projects, feeling good about myself and what I was achieving. And them "bam!". It is amazing how one little comment or incident can really throw you and how hard it is to pick yourself up again. Since then I have been feeling a little low, and in a reflective mood. I know I can tend to wallow, and know it will pass, but until then it is hard to pick myself up. But I know I will. I have much to be grateful for in my life. I know. 

I've just randomly opened my "workshops" note book and there on the page staring at me from am Art and Business workshop I went to in August with Andrew Fraser from 6-2-3-Zero -

"Horrible days doesn't equal horrible life. Don't let it define your life.
Don't self sabotage - just walk away and come back later" 

Thank you for the reminder Andrew! That was exactly what I was doing - self-sabotaging.

I don't know where this written piece below came from originally, but a friend shared it on her Facebook page today, and so I thought I would share it here, as it really ran true with me. I know how easy it is to be caught up in what others want, expect, think, say, instead of being true to ourselves. It can be very disabling.

I once asked a very successful woman to share her secret with me. She smiled and said to me..
"I started succeeding when I started leaving small fights for small fighters.
I stopped fighting those who gossiped about me...
I stopped fighting for attention...
I stopped fighting to meet peoples expectation of me...
I stopped fighting for my rights with inconsiderate people..
I stopped fighting to please everyone...
I stopped fighting to prove they were wrong about me....
I left such fights for those who have nothing else to fight...

And I started fighting for
my vision,
my dreams,
my ideas and
my destiny.
The day I gave up on small fights is the day I started becoming successful & so much more content."
Some fights are not worth your time..... Choose what you fight for wisely.

Sometimes it is hard to push aside the curtains and sift through the haze to find out who we are and what our dreams are.  They are your dreams. They don't belong to anyone else. Just you. And you are special and deserve to follow those dreams.

I have been reading a book this last week called "Under Story" by Inga Simpson. Inga lives in a cottage in forest in south-east Queensland, Australia. In each chapter she describes the trees of the Canopy, Middlestory, and Understory of her forest garden. I know many of the Australian trees she describes.

Interwoven into this is a memoir of the dream her partner and her had to open a writer's retreat. Along the way they were hit by the Global Financial Crisis and lost almost everything and were left with a huge debt. Inga's partner also left her. Inga eventually starts over, found her own path as a writer, and has successfully published several books, won awards, and offers writing mentorship.

I think underpinning all this is finding your "under story" and your path. Who are you?  What makes you happy? Our own happiness is so important not only to ourselves but to those around us. 

What is your understory? Where is your happy place?

Mine is my creative life.  Not always on the surface as I go about my life as a wife, mother, grandmother, volunteer, and numerous other "me's". But it is always under the surface. As a photographer I am always seeing the way light plays. My happy place is walking in the Australian bush with my camera. It is the place that takes me away from the stresses of life. 

Years ago I wanted to be a botanical artist, but without the encouragement to do so, I didn't keep up the practise. Perhaps this is something I can go back to. Now I represent the Australian bush through my photography, paper flower making, and in the last couple of years through eco-printing on cloth and paper. The eco-printing is an absorbing and fascinating art as you never know what you are going to end up with. 

I still have a lot to learn, and my eco-prints don't always work how I would like, but I was very happy with this recent print on Georgette silk printed with eucalypt leaves from near where my mother used to live as a girl in the Western Australian wheatbelt.  The cloth was original dyed with avocado skins and then the leaves printed over. I love the orange prints from the leaves and the unopened flower heads.

I think having something we love doing which we can retreat to helps us during those dark times that I am sure come to all of us at some stage.  So please do follow your dreams. 

And remember even in the dark shadows of the understory we can find light and colour. It's there. We just have to look for it. 

Recently I was discussing with some friends that people only seem to share on social media the good things in their life. We share on social media looking for affirmation and likes. And become upset if people don't respond. Such a pressure, particularly on young people, to appear perfect. We make ourselves out to have everything, are involved in lots of things, have a fantastic life and that we are always happy. But that isn't real life is it? There are dark times too. And I think sharing these can help others. I hope so any way.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I didn't really know where my blog post was going today, but I hope it made sense and that there was something in it that connected with you.  Perhaps you would like to share with us your "understory". Where is your happy place?

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

You might also like: 
A walk in the bush with my 50mm lens 
Blessings and inspiration 
Exploring your creative side in retirment 

I am linking up the the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit and 50 Shades of Age
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

If you are a blogger you can join Wednesday Around at Communal Global right here!

An InLinkz Link-up

A walk in the bush with my 50mm lens

On the weekend I had the opportunity to go bushwalking. It really is wonderful to get away from suburbia and be immersed in the clean crisp air and the quietness of the bush. And best of all to take my camera with me. For me this is a great way to forget about, for a time at least, whatever else is going on in the world out there. 

I took with me my 50mm lens for my camera. By taking only this one lens with its fixed focal length I was forced to look at things differently. I couldn't zoom in, and I couldn't take macro photos but there was still plenty I could do. 

Being still winter, the wildflowers haven't opened yet, but the buds are forming and getting ready to burst into flower. The plant below is called water bush - bossiaea aquifolium. It has yellow flowers and the leaves cup any falling rain and shower it on you if you brush past. There was a little caterpillar on one of the leaves.

Below is the Prickly Hakea - Hakea amplexicaulis. Can you see the bud in the middle of the last leaf? The flowers form in the centre of each of those leaves coming up the stem. These will still be a couple of months before they flower.

Below is one of the Banksias. I took this photo from below the tree looking up. Near this tree I spied a new banksia pushing up through the leaf litter.

 More leaves

Don't discount the browns

And looking up. It had clouded over when I took this photo, but I rather like the affect.

 And catching the light

And playing with some creative blur

And photographing into the light.

Do you have a 50mm lens? If you "google" there are lots of places on the net where you can find out more information about using your 50mm lens. Here are a couple I found.

Digital Photography School - 5 Creative Uses for the Super Versatile 50mm lens
 Audreyannphoto - Tips for using a 50mm lens

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

You might also like -
Enjoying the Australian bush 
Down in the woods today 
Celebration of the Australian Banksia

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit and 50 Shades of Age
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

If you are a blogger you can link up to Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global right here!

An InLinkz Link-up

Down in the woods today.... in the Western Australian bush

We took a drive up to the bush today inland from Harvey about an hour or so from home. I love walking in the bush as long as it is not too hot, which it wasn't today with winter starting to take its grip on Western Australia's south west.

This area is predominantly jarrah forest. There were no wildflowers out yet, I will have to wait for spring for that, but did I care? No not one bit. There is always something to photograph. And anyways just being in the bush, walking, absorbing the quietness, and then sitting with our cup of soup and bread for lunch, was just perfect for me. 

There are greens

 The Prickly Hakea - Hakea amplexicaulis - which flowers August to October. I love the way the prickly wavy leaves wrap themselves around the stem. The flowers sit on top of these leaves. 

This was taken last year - not quite open

The Leucopogon verticillatus, or Tassel flower, is the tallest epacrid in Western Australia. Its striking form and similarity to bamboo made it the first Western Australia export to Japan, where it is used in flower arrangement. The small flowers form tassels of pink or red. This is an understory plant which grows in heavy soils in Karri, Jarrah, Tingle and similar forests in the south-west.  Wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucopogon_verticillatus

There are browns on the forest floor, and in dying leaves - which are still beautiful

There is bark. I love the textures of bark. The one the left and right are burnt bark. Some of this bush land was devastated by the horrific bushfires which raged through Western Australia's south west in January 2015. I showed you some pictures in my blog post - Bushwalking at Hoffmans Mill
It is good to see the forest is slowly regenerating.  

In that particular blog post I showed you images of the bushfire devastated bushland and the historic Long Gully Bridge which was destroyed in those bushfires. The bridge had been an important river crossing for the Bibbulmun Track over the Murray River.  Sad to say the bridge has not yet been replaced and there is now a 30 kilometre diversion in place on the track. Please make sure if you intend walking on the Bibbulmun Track that you contact them or check their website for up-to-date information, track closures and diversion etc.  
 Here is their link - Bibbulmun Track and a link which shows images of the historic bridge and ways to donate - Bridge the Gap
 

My favourite "Snotty Gobble" top left hand corner below - which I shared with you last year - Enjoying the Australian bush - and at the top right hand corner I think is the Couch Honeypot - Dryandra lindleyana. I saw it flowering for the first time last year, and was fairly sure of its identity. It is a low ground plant. Below that are fresh and dried versions of fern.

And a photo of the Couch Honeypot which I took in late September last year. 

There are also other treasures to discover hiding in the undergrowth. The sun kissing the orange-red of a fallen leaf.

Raindrops

And how about playing around with some blur just for the fun of it. I hope this image doesn't make your head spin!

And the best thing? Being out in the fresh air away from the stresses of life, indulging my passion for photography, and it's free!

 Lastly..... today I was reading in The West Australian weekend newspaper about the creator of Canva, Western Australian Perth girl Melanie Perkins, in 2012. They now have over  100 team members from 12 countries in 3 offices, and have created over 100 million designs and have over 10 million users. So I thought I should have a look at Canva. At the moment I am using Picmonkey for my collages (it is super easy to use), but it looks like Canva have lots of cool features. Obviously it takes a little to find your way around (I can't figure out how to just get a basic 6 opening template yet.....), but here is a small start.  I'm not sure I like the way they just changed the colours of the leaves without me asking them to. What do you think?
I was wondering what program do you use for your collages?

Do you enjoy bushwalking? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about your favourite bushwalking track in the comments. 
In the meantime, thank you so much for dropping by. I hope you have enjoyed this little walk in the Western Australian bush in late autumn with me. I appreciate each and everyone of you who take the time to stop by, look, and comment. I will try in return to visit your blogs.  Have a wonderful week. 

I just found this site you might find of interest -
Wildflower Society of Western Australia

You might also enjoy -
Enjoying the Australian bush
Bushwalking at Hoffmans Mill, Harvey
It's time to be out on the Bibbulmun Track again 


I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday 
Life Thru the Lens 

Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard 
Sky Watch Friday