Spanish Flamenco dancing

After two very difficult and emotional weeks, it was wonderful to get back to my Spanish Flamenco dance classes last week and be enveloped by the sound, colour, movement and vibrancy of a gypsy dance.

The class you see here is the advanced class. They are getting ready for a performance in August.
Spanish dancing is not easy - in fact it is very difficult to learn. I am in the beginners class. At the moment I am trying to get my head around the steps for the "Sevillanas"dance. My teacher assures me that it takes about a year before Spanish dancing finally "clicks" in your brain! You certainly can't think about "life" while you are concentrating on what your feet and hands are doing!

 Canon G11. Straight out a camera, dance studio light, no tripod, hand held.

Last week I was given a wonderful book called "Blackboards, Bubbles and Cappuccinos". Written by Ruth Tearle. Not just a novel, but an inspirational book encouraging you to follow your own unique path. With the book came a little pack of cards of quotes. Each day I pull out one. Today's said - 

We are born to be creative, to do, to risk, to shine our own light. 

So here is my image to go with the quote

  

I call this image below "the dance class". Taken at my Spanish Flamenco dance class a couple of months ago.  I know there is a lot of blur happening, but I rather like it and the blur projects the feeling of fast movement.  Processed in Elements with Radlabs "Grandma's Tap Shoes" & "Vario saturation". I rather like the antique look of the colour. The dance classes are held in the dance room of the Art Gallery - a former convent. I love the feel of this classical old building.

Thank you for stopping by. I look forward to and appreciate your comments.

Take care and have a wonderful week.

You can find out more about Ruth Tearle and  "Blackboards, Bubbles and Cappuccinos" by clicking here - Change Designs

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House - to see the posts from Mary and other wonderful participants, please click on the link here - Mosaic Monday

You may also like ( click here) - Flamenco!

Sunset over paddocks

After two very stressful and emotional weeks, the beautiful late afternoon light over the paddocks on my way home tonight gave me a feeling of peace and calm and a reminder of the beauty of life and to cherish those we love.

Take care, have a wonderful weekend, hug the ones you love, and tell them you love them.

Forever in our hearts

Forever in my heart - my dearly loved and loving mother - passed away peacefully at home 19 July 2012. A blessed release from her suffering. Rest peacefully dear Mum.

30 July 1924 - 19 July 2012

And sending all my love to my wonderful father. He is greatly admired by his family and all that know him, for his love and dedication to Mum. He never wavered from his determination to look after her at home for as long as possible.  It is time to look after yourself now Dad.  I love you  xx

Straight out of camera, TV priority 1/200 seconds, F2.8, rested on mirror with black backdrop, natural window light.

Winter warmers - It's winter in Western Australia

It's mid winter in Australia, and I woke up this morning to the sound of the rain pouring down on our roof. So how about a bowl of hot home made winter soup to warm us up? I love making a big pot of hearty home made soup - there is nothing better on a cold wet winter's day. The delicious smell of the cooking soup seeps through my house - it is a welcoming smell - that says come in and have some!

I have some recipes of soups that my mother used to make - ie the Vegetable, Lamb Shank & Barley soup was always a standard in our house when I was growing up -  but now I like finding new recipes that reflect our multicultural Australia - ie Mulligatawny Soup and Minestrone Soup. During the summer when there are plenty of tomatoes, I make big batches of tomato soup, and freeze it in containers, then in the winter use it as the basis of the Minestrone Soup. It is wonderful on a cold Sunday night to have a bowl of Minestrone served with Italian Roll-up rolls, in front of the fire for tea.

I like a thick soup with lots of flavour. What is your favourite soup?

What sort would you choose? From top left clockwise - Pea & Ham, Moroccan, Minestrone, Vegetable & Barley, Pumpkin, and in the centre Mulligatawny  -

And we better have something to go with it - scones, Italian roll ups, and fresh crusty bread -

My sister reminded me today about making damper - I haven't made it for years - I will have to make some soon to go with our next pot of soup. For those who don't know what damper is - it really is a traditional Australian bread which was a staple food in colonial days, and now favored by people out camping, cooked in the camp fire - here is a link to find out more - Australian Damper

The sky is amazing in winter - What a glorious palette of colour it can be - these images in my collage were taken between lunch time one day and 5pm the next day a couple of weeks ago. In the first image - lunch time - the sky was blue, then in the evening there was beautiful pink colours in the late afternoon sky, threatening clouds next morning, rain at lunch time (the lighthouse pic), and then driving home that afternoon - a glorious sunset. What an ever changing colourful pallet the sky has!
These images are all totally straight out of camera.

Yesterday we went walking in the bush along the Timberline Trail in St John's Brook Conservation Park in Nannup - below is a pic. I love bush walking during winter or spring. We walked through some misty rain but it didn't bother us. There were a few wildflowers starting to open, hinting of the spring to come. We took a picnic and had lunch at the overnight hut along the trail. I hope to bring you the story later this week.

Until then take care, by happy, and have a wonderful week. I look forward to hearing from you and your comments which I always appreciate. I am linking up with Mary and the other wonderful contributors at Mosaic Monday at Little Red House - click here to see their work - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

Interested in seeing what I was doing this time last year? - go here - The Oceans Edge - Yallingup Western Australia - The Oceans Edge

Busselton Jetty & the Equinox Cafe, Western Australia

We had the most fabulous Saturday lunch at the Equinox Cafe on the beachfront in Busselton recently. The restaurant has always been a favourite of ours.

Years ago when both arms of the jetty ran right out to its full 1841 metre length, we used to go to Busselton for late afternoon fishing off the jetty, and then squidding in the early evening. Finishing with buying chips at the fish and chip shop in the shed at the end of the jetty, before the drive home.  And even before that, my husband and his family holidayed in Busselton every summer, and the boys would ride their bikes out along the jetty for a day of fishing. Over the years it has been a favourite place to take friends holidaying from Perth or for day trips with our children - only half to three quarters of an hour from our home in Bunbury. You could just about always guarantee you would catch something off the jetty!

Busselton Jetty is the longest piled wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. Built in 1865 to cater for shipping for both goods and tourists, several subsequent extensions were added up until 1911. A final extension was added in 1960, and the jetty was closed to shipping in 1972.

In 1978 when Cyclone Alby swept through the south west, the southern arm of the jetty was washed completely away, leaving only the railway jetty.  Since then the "Boatshed" interpretive centre, just off the beach, and the Underwater Observatory, 1.7 kilometres from shore, have been erected. You can jump on board the jetty train to reach the Observatory. 

Or you can just take a picnic or buy fish and chips and sit on the grass or under the huge Morten Bay fig tree, and enjoy the views and the promenade of people walking by.

Or you can have a meal with a view at the Equinox Cafe as we did. We chose two of the day's specials. My husband had the Thai Style Chicken Curry - medium hot chicken breast pieces coconut curry with naan bread, salad, rice and raita.

Whilst I chose the Babotie - a mild fruity cap Malay minced lamb curry served with fruit chutney, naan bread, salad, rice and raita.
Both were absolutely delicious and so beautifully presented.  And the service was warm and friendly.

What a lovely way to spend a leisurely lunch overlooking the ocean, or just go for coffee or morning or afternoon tea. They are also open for dinner. To find out more - click here - Equinox Cafe

The local community have put a lot of time, effort and resources into restoring and maintaining the jetty and ensuring this piece of Busselton heritage will remain for families in the future.  A trip to Busselton isn't complete without visiting the jetty.

To read more about the Busselton Jetty - click here -  Busselton Jetty
 

Delighting in a bowl of cherries

Welcome July!  We are now past the shortest day of the year which means we are well into winter and spring is on it's way! Though I must not hurry it on as we desperately need the rain, the dams are so low down after several dry winters.

Of late whenever I go to our local fruit and vegetable market I look for interesting delicious fruit and vegetables to buy and bring home to photograph. I don't mind the simple approach to just photographing the fresh fruit in natural light.

It is mid winter here and certainly not the time for cherries - but our local market has been selling cherries imported from America - so of course I had to buy a bag of cherries so that I could photograph them and eat them after! Seen here photographed in natural light on my patio.  The china bowl has come from my mother-in-laws china cabinet.

There was also these Pomegrantes. This is my first try at photographing and eating pomegranates. Seen here photograhed in natural light on my patio and also in the bottom right hand corner under tungsten light on my kitchen bench. Drizzled over icecream and eaten by me afterwards - delicious! I must buy some more!

The cherries were so delicious l I just had to go and buy some more so I could play around taking more images. And of course eat them also! They feel like such a luxury! Photographed here in natural morning light on my kitchen windowsill - I really like the reflection in this one.

For this image I put the cherries on a mirror with a white backdrop-

And I also found these wonderful squat red pears at the market....

It is also the time when we have oranges and lemons ready to be picked in our garden. I always think that fresh tree oranges are so much more sweet and delicious than shop bought ones.....

And what about quinces - such a delicious smell and flavour - I can't describe it. They are a rock hard fruit that you can't eat raw, but when you cook them they turn a delicate pink - the aroma is wonderful. You can also make quince paste to have with biscuits and cheese!

and to finish apple tart..........

I hope you have enjoyed my fruit collages - what is your favourite fruit?

Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. To see the work of Mary and other wonderful contributors - click here - Mosaic Monday
I look forward to hearing from you and your comments are always welcome. I love making new connections and seeing parts of your worlds too!

Hopetoun & Fitzgerald River National Park, Western Australia

Last October we visited Hopetoun and the Fitzgerald River National Park on Western Australia's south coast.

  Below is a excerpt from my latest article published in "On the Road" magazine , July 2012 - "Coastal Palatte of Colour" which I wrote following our trip.  As you scroll through you can see some mosaics of some of the glorious wildflowers to be found in the Park. 

Here is the opening page of the article 

A little cake for Friday

A little cake for Friday - yes you can have your cake and eat it too! Bought especially to photograph - but oh so delicious to eat.

Have a wonderful weekend - and let there be chocolate cake!

If you would like some more delicious delights - I would love you to come over to my food set on Flickr - just click here - Jill's Flickr food set

Enjoy!
and remember - if you have only one piece of cake, and three friends, remember the "rule of thirds" and make sure you have three forks!

If you have a food photography project coming up, let me know, I would love to help you with it! 

I value your comments on my page, and look forward to hearing from you.  

Photography project on a wet windy day

 We have had wet wild and windy weather here last week - two big storms within three days with cyclonic gale force winds, trees and fences down, roofs lost, boats wrenched from their moorings, trampolines tossed about, and power outages (some people without power for 1, 2 or 3 days - my friend was without power for 6 days!)  We lost part of our back side fence and lost power on Monday 6.30am to 4pm, and then Tuesday night when the second round of storms came, from 6.15pm till sometime in the early morning hours. 

An image I took in the dark on Tuesday night.....had to adjust the levels so you can see it!

The power is now back on and all is calm - so what would you do for a day without power?

Here are a few wintery images from around my garden.....

Monday is my day off my paid work - so this is what I did without power last Monday - 

- rummaged in the camper trailer to find a kettle so I could boil some water for a cuppa on the BBQ wok burner. Do you know the you can heat soup on there pretty well too for your lunch - a wok burner has a host of uses. Dragged out some candles in case we needed them tonight.

- brought in wood and lit the fire

- spent an hour or so photographing a few vegies in natural light outside under the patio - well that's all the light there was today - it was a good exercise for my food photography using TV priority. 

- when it stopped raining I pruned the lavender bush, and chopped out one that had died,  picked up fallen oranges from under the orange tree, and took some photos around the garden.

- rang the RAC & reported our claim for the fallen fence.

- edited a travel article. 

- spoke to my son and my father.

- delivered my husband up to school at 7am - he took kids on an overnight camp in Perth today!!!....fun! 

- sorted through a whole heap of dragon boat paper work going back years and ditched it all - they say clearing out is good for the soul. I can now see the corner of my study - well sort of - there is still a box of dragon boat stuff there....couldn't throw all of it - too many good memories. 

- decided the only thing in my fridge that really needed to be kept really cold was the milk and the sliced ham and left over roast chicken, so put them in the freezer. Lucky it was cold today. Everything in the fridge and freezer has survived. 

- My youngest son was sent home from work, as they closed the workshop, so have had his company today - he has been sitting doing his Word Sleuths all day. As soon as the power came back on at 4pm he turned on the "Wii" straight away!

*** What I didn't do - sit on the computer all day!!!! 

Here is some images from Monday......taken in natural light on my back patio.....
Peas.......

Garlic....sprouted!..... 

Honey fresh from our friends hives....sweet and delicious.............

some autumn leaves..........

last few lavender blooms...........

Raindrops on leaves...........

and a rosebud sheltered by the opening petals of the white rose -
with words from Mother Teresa......

"It is not what we do but how much love we put into doing it"   (Extract from her address in Rome May 1982)

for Kim's Beyond Layers e-class using her texture "peony'.

I've used 2 layers of the "peony" texture in "soft light" mode. 

To everyone in the South West of Western Australia, I hope you all came through the storm, and didn't suffer too much damage. 

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. To see beautiful images from Mary and the other wonderful contributors at Mosaic Monday please click on the link - Mosaic Monday

Have a wonderful week.

I value your comments and I look forward to hearing from you.

Book Spine Poetry

The latest challenge for Kim's "Beyond Layers" e-course was for "book spine poetry". I hadn't heard of it before, but it was fun, looking through my shelves of books and putting titles together. 

Here is my offering. 

 Just read the titles - 

Rebecca
Whatever you do, don't run
Sinning across Spain
Eat pray love
In the Hands of Providence
Under the Tuscan sun.

 Had another go at "book spine poetry" tonight - using books all set in Africa.

Just read the titles -

Desert dawn
Dry water
Elephant dance
Slow journey south
Out of Africa

Two layers of Kim's "Zuzu" texture in "soft light"

To take look at Kim's blog and check out her fabulous e-courses - click here - kimklassencafe