Welcome to Life Images by Jill.........Stepping into the light and bringing together the images and stories of our world. I am a photographer, writer and multi-media artist. Focussing mainly on Western Australia and Australia, I am seeking to preserve images and memories of the beautiful world in which we live and the people in it.
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It is starting to look at bit like Christmas over in our part of the world. Though there is no snow - it's summer! If you want to learn more you can click on the blue underline links to read previous posts.
In the bush theCandlestick Banksias (Banksia attenuata) are looking like giant Christmas candles, the purple/blue Jacaranda trees are flowering (they came to Australia from South Africa), theWestern Australian Christmas trees (Nuytsia floribunda) are bursting into yellow, and the red flowering gums are popping Christmas red.
Down in Manea Reserve the summer flowers are putting on their summer show - clockwise from top left - orange stars. red bottlebrush, Western Australian Christmas tree, busy boronia, native broom, purple fringe lily, yellow starflower, holly leaved banksia, and in the centre the candlestick banksia.
and the unique slipper orchid (Cryptostylis ovata)
In my garden the mauve-blue agapanthus and yellow coreopsis are looking brilliant, the honey-eating birds are being attracted to my green kangaroo paws, and my hoya which grows in a low hanging basket and is climbing up the hook, is looking amazing - so many flowers this year!
In my back garden the grape vines are starting to make grapes and the apricot tree is covered in white bags to keep off the parrots and the fruit fly. The quince tree is covered in fruit - picking time April - we've netted it to keep off the parrots. And the lavender is pushing up their flower heads.
It is nearly time for me to make the delicious little Christmas puddings that everyone loves and other Christmas baking..... and fresh cherries are in the shops and bursting with flavour.
The dragon boat season is in full swing for our sons and their team and it's time for the beach!
And summer drinks by the water
It is also time for Christmas markets - and I attended one last weekend at the Stirling Street Art Centrewith my eco-printing, cyanotypes and photography products. Thankyou so much to everyone who visited, chatted, admired and purchased from me.
It's also time for the harvest in the grain growing area. And my nephew and his team are in full swing getting the grain off before any more unwelcome summer rain comes. My grandson is working at one of the wheat bins in the wheat-belt for the harvest. It's very tiring but great income for him while he is on summer break from university.
Unfortunately it is also the time of year for bush-fires and there has already been bush fires raging across Australia with homes and properties lost. This photo below is from a couple of years ago, taken from my front yard - thankfully it didn't come too close though we had to evacuate.
However the joy of the Christmas season arrives as people and businesses decorate their homes, businesses, and streets. And there are Christmas street parades in our cities. I put up my Christmas tree today.
So that is that from me this week. It is a busy time from now till Christmas.
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!
If you are looking for a translate button - it's there near the top on the right hand side.
Hi dear blogging friends, and welcome to my Christmas edition.
I was wandering around blogland wondering what to do for my Christmas post and I came across this site - Why Christmas.com I found it to be a really interesting site explaining the traditions and customs of Christmas, and how different cultures celebrate Christmas around the world. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, but for those you do, or for those who are interested to know more, I suggest you take a look. When you go to the site, just click on the links to learn more.
In Australia, Christmas comes towards the beginning of the school summer holidays - which run from mid December to the first week in February, so many people plan this time for their summer getaway holidays. Because it is hot (usually around the mid to high 30sC or low 40sC) many people head to the beach on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, or laze around the pool (if they lucky to have one!).
I think this Christmas song from You Tube (Strolling Through a Summer Wonderland) sung by Ronan Keating (even though it was recorded for Air New Zealand) sums it up - New Zealand is only just across the ditch from us after all!
In 2021 is was so hot on Christmas Day (around 43C) that our grandson cooked a fried egg in a pan on the driveway.
Some people hang wreaths on their front doors and decorate their houses and gardens with Christmas lights. People drive around in the evenings to look at the light displays. Some people must spend days/weeks putting up their Christmas lights. Sometimes the displays are set up as early as December 1st. We took a drive around on Saturday night in our area. Some of the displays were truly amazing.
The shopping centres, hotels, and city streets, etc also put up Christmas displays.
In each State capital city there are Carols by Candlelight concerts. Famous Australian singers help to sing the carols and those who attend are encouraged to join in the singing. These concerts are broadcast on TV across Australia. There are also Christmas pageants and street parades in capital cities, that are also broadcast across the country. Most towns and cities have festivals and parades.
You can see a short video of some of Carols in the Domain in Sydney, Australia, in 2023 here from YouTube-
Many towns, cities and schools also hold their own Carols by Candlelight concerts, with local bands and choirs helping to perform the Christmas Carols and songs. In the past we held candles to read the words in the song book, whilst today it will probably be a battery operated candle.
As it is the middle of summer in Australia at Christmas time, the words to carols about snow and the cold winter are sometimes changed to alternate Australian words. There are also some original Australian Carols.
A couple of years ago I brought you a few Australian Christmas carols including two versions of The 12 days of Aussie Christmas - one showcasing our unique Australian animals.
There are some beautiful Australian trees flowering around Christmas. Below are the candlestick banksia (they remind me of giant Christmas candles) blue/purple jacaranda (beautiful - but not an Australian native), the yellow/orange Western Australian Christmas tree, and the red flowering gum. So vibrant.
When he reaches Australia, it is said that Father Christmas sometimes gives the reindeers a rest and might use kangaroos. He also changes his clothes for less 'hot' ones! Children often leave out carrots for Santa's reindeer. They might leave out milk and cookies or cake for Santa, with some cold beer - but should be non-alcoholic because Santa has to drive his sleigh!
There is a popular Christmas song about Santa using six white kangaroos, called "boomers" to deliver presents to children in Australia. The song explains that Santa's reindeer can't handle the Australian heat, so the kangaroos take over pulling his sleigh.
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun.
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
On his Australian run.
Most families try to be home together for Christmas and the main meal is normally eaten at lunch time. Although many people still have the traditional roast English Christmas lunch (turkey, pork or ham and roast vegetables), in more recent times a cold Christmas dinner or a barbecue with seafood such as prawns and lobsters is popular. Some people like to have 'traditional' English Christmas Puddingbut there may also be cold desserts like pavlova and trifle. An ice-cold 'punch' drink is also popular.
I always make sausage rolls and these little Christmas puddings you can see below here top left. I have shared the recipe here - Christmas baking when it's baking hot
After lunch on Christmas Day we often flop in front of the TV to watch a movie - especially if someone has been given a new DVD for Christmas, or collapse on the lounge with a book, or play a board game. Or for those with enough energy - a game of back yard cricket.
Dinner Christmas evening for us will usually be a casual affair of leftovers - a ham sandwich maybe and a bowl of icecream.
On Boxing Day many people visit friends for a barbeque. And there is often a new release movie at the cinemas - a good way to keep cool on Boxing Day in the cinema. People very often travel on Boxing Day to start their summer holidays.
A famous Yacht race - the Sydney to Hobart - from Sydney in New South Wales to Hobart in Tasmania is held on Boxing Day. Another Boxing Day tradition is the Boxing Day Cricket Test Match. It starts every year on Boxing Day and is held at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) in Victoria.
On Christmas Day we need to remember the service people in our community who continue to work for us - like hospital workers, doctors, nurses, ambulance officers, community service personnel, police, firefighters (bush fires in Australia are common this time of year), and the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service who are on hand if someone in remote Australia needs help. Thankyou to all those people.
This year is the 50th year anniversary of the Christmas Day cyclone that hit Darwin in the Northern Territory in the early hours of Christmas morning 1974 - Cyclone Tracy - when Santa didn't make it into Darwin. It devastated 80% of the city, and 66 people were killed. More than 36,000 people were evacuated from the city. Singers Bill and Boyd wrote a song about it -
Santa never made it into Darwin
Disaster struck at dawn on Christmas day
Santa never made it into Darwin
A big wind came and blew the town away
You can hear the song and see vision from the aftermath of the cyclone here on YouTube -
A bushfire came scaringly close to our house on 21 December 2021 - and I was so grateful to the firefighters who brought that bush fire under control. We had never been in that situation before.
And for those who are missing someone from their table for the first time this year a very special song on YouTube from Anya - Spirit of Christmas Past.
Here are some of my previous Christmas posts you may enjoy
I wish you all a blessed festive season spent with those you love. And for all a prayer for peace and safety around the world in these troubled times.
Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. How do you celebrate Christmas? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comment. 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!
Hi everyone, tis the night before Christmas, and I began thinking about the people I know that will have someone missing from their Christmas table for the first time this year, as I did back in 2014 when my darling father passed away a couple of months before Christmas, and then my mother-in-law on Boxing Day of the same year. I lost my dear Aunt earlier this year, and I am thinking about how my cousins will feel her loss this Christmas. I also have other friends and family who have lost someone this year, or who are going through difficult times.
The first year is always the most difficult after loosing someone.
A couple of months after my father passed, I wrote the poem you can read below here, and I hope it might bring some comfort to those of you who have lost someone this year. This is my gift to you. Hold onto your precious memories of your loved one. They are with you still.
The Ghosts of Christmas Past
Christmas only comes but once a year It brings with it joys and tears.
As I go through the motions of gift buying, decorations And planning menus I am thinking of those who will be missing from my table for the first time this year They are the ghosts of Christmas past.
My father hanging Christmas lights in the pine trees at our front gate The carol singers under our corner street light.
I lay in bed wondering how Father Christmas could possibly come down our kitchen chimney and through the little doors at the front of our Metters Stove. But he did – because the carrots and cake were gone in the morning.
The excitement of seeing my new big doll Lucy under the Christmas tree.
My mother dishing up the Christmas pudding with the threepences hidden inside Her Christmas carols that filled the house.
The long Christmas table at my Aunts With aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents And silly hats.
Summer heat and laughter, Playing under the sprinkler on the back lawn, And laying on the cool lino of the passage way with a new book.
The simple pleasure of humid summer evenings on the back lawn looking up at the stars.
As I hang the special Christmas baubles on my tree And light the candle of remembrance I look into the eyes of my grandchildren
And I see the ghosts of Christmas past.
I found this beautiful song from Enya several years ago, and I thought I would share it with you.
The Spirit of Christmas Past.....
When tears are in your eyes, it's time to look inside, your heart can find another way
Believe in what I say, don't throw this time away,
Tomorrow will be Christmas Day, Christmas Day
So, let the shadows go, and drift away like snow, Tomorrow will be Christmas Day, tomorrow will be Christmas Day
So dream until the night becomes the morning light
Tomorrow will be Christmas Day, tomorrow will be Christmas Day.
My thoughts are also with those around the world who are suffering from wars, famine and natural disasters. I wish man could find a way to live together in peace and help each other no matter what our religion or culture. I wish for a light to shine in the darkness, peace and goodwill towards all peoples.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish you peace and safety, shelter, food on the table, and time spent with those you love.
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!
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