Australia Day & taking photos of fireworks

26 January in Australia is Australia Day.

I've blogged about it before here - Celebrating Australia Day and Waltzing Matilda 
and here - Australia Day on the beach 
and here - Australia Day - How Australian Are You? 

 There has been a lot in the press lately about Australia Day celebrating the day the British "invaded" Australia and took the land away from our indigenous population, and that the date should be changed. There were also protest marches in the street on Australia Day.

The date of Australia Day, 26 January, marks the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales in 1788 and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip.

What will be your inspiration in 2018?

As my header today says - what will be your inspiration in 2018? Have you a yearning you want to follow? Well if you do, and I am sure you do, you should just follow it! You might be surprised where it might take you.

 

Have you ever attended summer school?

Summer School  at the Stirling Street Arts Centre in my town has just finished. They really have an amazing program of events over the two weeks - arts, writing, physically activities, music, drama, exploring culture, healthy living, workshops for kids, the list goes on. There is something for everyone. 

I've written about Summer School here before - Exploring your creative side - and every year I look forward to seeing the program. The hardest thing for me is narrowing down my list of "I want to do".

The Summer School workshops really are an excellent way to try out something without having to sign up and pay for an extended course, or lay out a lot of money on requirements or membership fees. 

Over the last couple of years I've tried acrylic painting, water colour painting, sketching, paper folding, eco-dyeing, book making, flower arranging, and hand embroidered a Boro bag and I took my grandson to Capoeira classes.

Summer salad days

It is summer over here down-under in Australia. Australian's love the beach, though I don't frequent the beach in summer so much these days, except when I am on holidays. I tend to stay indoors in the summer out of the burning rays of the sun.

 And when the hot days of summer hit the last thing I feel like doing is cooking. So that's when the salads come out. I have a particular favourite which I often make when we are invited to a BBQ and are asked to "bring a salad" to share. It is common here in Australia to "bring a salad to share". Is that something that happens where you live? 

How to make a Kusudama flower ball

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog. How is your 2018 going?

Whether you are in the depths of winter or the heat of summer in January, it might be a time for staying indoors out of the weather, and doing a little crafting, so hence my blog post for today.

How to make a Kusudama ball. 
I must admit that until I read my copy of "Breathe" magazine a few months back I had never heard of a Kusudama ball. which is a traditional Japanese decoration that can be hung to twirl in the breeze.


According to British Origami Society - "Kusudama (medicine ball) is believed to have originated in the Heaian Period (794 - 1192). At first fragrant woods and herbs were placed in a small cloth bag, which was decorated with blossoms of sobu or iris and other flowers. Long silk threads of five different colours were attached to it. This was hung in the house on May 5 to dispel evil spirits and disease."

And so 2018 begins

Today is the first day of 2018. Usually when I blog this time of year I look back with a summary of the past year. But today I am sharing just a small selection of my photos from 2017, as I doubt you really want to hear about what I have been up to, and anyways you can always go to my Index, or my Blog Archive list on the RHside there. So here are just a few pics from 2017....

 When I looked back to find some photos for this post, I realised we had had a very good year overall. I enjoyed scrolling back through memories of my year through my photos. Now we are retired we have had the chance to do some travel and for me, at least, to explore some arts and crafts that I have wanted to try.

A Christmas wish

Wishing everyone around the world peace, love and light to wash away the darkness.  

20 things to do with kids over the school holidays that won't break the bank

Looking for free or cheap ideas to keep the kids amused over the school holidays?

The summer school holidays have begun here in Australia, and we like many grandparents across the country, help out our children while they are at work, by looking after our grandies for at least some of the school holidays. The years rush by so quickly, that before we know it our grandies won't want to come, or have reached the age when they don't need to come, to Grandma and Pop's house over the holidays, so we are very happy for them to come over for the day/s or for sleepovers throughout the holidays. I think as Grandparents we have more time for our grandchildren and appreciate these precious visits when the kids are not with us 24/7. 

December randomness

It's December and the summer heat has struck and it's beginning to look a little bit like Christmas is just around the corner.  How is your December going?  Today I am going to share a little December randomness from our corner of the world.

Below is the Candlestick Banksia (or slender banksia) - Banksia attenuata - which flowers from October to February in the south west of Western Australia. I always think the bright yellow candlestick shape flowers which grow up to 20-3-cm tall and 5cm across, are very appropriate for this time of year around Christmas. 
I blogged more about banksias here - Celebration of the Australian Banksias

Summer in my Garden

Hi everyone! Welcome to the first week of December! I don't know about you but I feel like the year has rushed by in a blur. I have been busy yes, but can it be December already? There is so much going on this time of year with school concerts, end of the school year, break-up parties for work places or groups that we belong to, Christmas shopping, Christmas festivities, get togethers with family and friends, perhaps preparing for a summer holiday (summer holidays here in Australia anyways). 

So amongst the rush towards the festive season, I thought I would bring you a few pics from my garden and share some quiet places with you. We need a quiet place to sit to prepare ourselves for the weeks ahead don't you think? 

I only have a relatively small suburban garden, but it always puts on a beautiful show in December, putting on its festive colours - yellows, reds, greens, purples -  though I must say the yellow daisies are flowering a little earlier than I would like. What a love about my front garden is that a lot of the plants here basically look after themselves, except for a little pruning and weeding from time to time. I don't like gardening in the heat of summer, so I am happy they are happy to do their own thing.

Biodiversity Hotspot - Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia

Looking back through my travel pics I discovered that it was October 2011 when we last visited the Fitzgerald River National Park on Western Australia's south coast, and I was very keen for a return visit so I could take photos of the iconic wildflowers of the region. So in late October we hitched up our caravan and took off for a week to explore.

In my blog a couple of weeks ago I showed you the Farm Gate Art Trail centred around Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun. You can click here if you missed it - Farm Gate Art Trail 

These two towns, and nearby Bremer Bay, are the gateway to the Fitzgerald River National Park, a world renowned global biodiversity hotspot, bordered by the Southern Ocean to the south and the wheatbelt to the north.