Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia Day everyone....hope you all had a great day, whatever you were doing. For us, the past few years it has been about hanging out with family & friends, having a barbie, and a few drinks and listening to the Triple J hottest 100. A great day of music & fun. A bit like xmas really but without all the hype & stress!!. We had Lucy here & her lovely friend Grace, up from Sydney, (my how she has grown!!) and they spent the whole time wet.... either in the dam or under the sprinkler!. It was very hard to keep them out of the intense sun during the middle of the day, because all they wanted to do was swim!. But we survived by having the fan going on the verandah & the sprinkler up on the roof which cooled things down considerably!.

(Check out the colour of Summers hair....it has turned a reddish brown from all the dam water!)

Buggy fun.....

Our good friends Adam & Rachel gave us a buggy that their kids had grown out of. It arrived during all the rain & was the source of hours of DIRTY fun!. It was so cute seeing the kids driving around with little Finny as their passenger. He loved it and wasn't scared at all. Another great toy to have around the farm.... You seriously wouldn't believe the amount of washing that this toy created for me!!

I love this shot of Che trying to console Finny when it was time to turn it off!

The Ageing process.....

36 today......Creeps, I've just tipped the scales ever closer to the 40's, and boy does it feel like it!. I have been having a bit of trouble coping with this ageing thing lately. Up until now I've never really thought much about it. but now when I look in the mirror I can see the effects it is having on me. Where did all those lines come from???......and all the bags & sags in places I never knew existed. Sometimes I wish I didn't have a memory of the way I was before, because I am constantly comparing myself to my younger self, and it can be quite nasty at times!. I want to erase the memory of my former self & just embrace who I am now. I mean that former self I carry in my mind, didn't have 4 kids, and skin that had been stretched to within an inch of it's life!, or had she felt such sorrow and stress and joy & elation, and hardship & depression & serenity. I truly value the experiences that have made me who I am today, I really wouldn't have it any other way, if given a chance to go back. But, I just can't help wishing that the lines & crevices & bags & sags, didn't come along for the ride!. Is that really vain of me?.....because I hate vanity! The above photo is a little challenge I have taken on, to really see myself, so my kids can look back & really see me for who I was. It is very confronting....and some days I love it & others, well let's just say it's the complete opposite. But I will try, to look, & love.....ME.

Happy Birthday to all the Capricorn/Aquarians out there, especially... Barb, Bethy, Wendy & Brett. Love to you all x

Fun in the WET

It is still raining. It is school holidays. ALL their clothes are wet & muddy.

I know it might be fun for us....even though we are flooded in, but seriously, Oh my god. I cannot believe what is going on in Queensland. This is the most insane weather. It just doesn't stop raining. And there is more to come. It's simply not possible to have this much water is it??. Because we are high, and even though we are stuck here, we will not lose our home or lives. But to all of you in the low areas who are coping with this intense deluge......our thoughts are with you. Stay safe.

You Capture - Best of 2010

Ok, now this was a hard one. Trying to pick my 10 best photos of 2010 was no easy task, but in the end I realised it actually came down to photos that had a story behind them. Even though this year I had set myself the challenge of turning the camera off automatic and learning how to use it properly, I found myself being drawn to the pictures that were not 'technically perfect', but ones that were just captured in a single moment of time. So, here they are.....

the Parthenides girls, Mia, Asha & Lola. I love that I captured Lola

in her tired phase...fingers in mouth, & one up the nose!

Holly, so thankful that you are here, safe, and still holding onto your

wonderful sense of humour.

Just because this is just us....no pretenses here!

And this because I love how, in a single moment, this is the word that came into my head.

And this because it's just so very adorable, they lambs were so cute, and Finn was so excited!.

Cleo, with a cheeky little expression, I wonder what she was thinking...

This one because, Jed's look says it all.....Yep, finger up his nose again...I am pleased

to report that the finger up the nose phase has long gone, and we are now in the " why? " phase.

Actually, maybe the finger up the nose wasn't so bad after all.....!

I love this photo because, I admire these women. They are my biggest

role models, and they are my family. (And they sing pretty good too!!)

It just reminds me of the joy of sitting on the beach. Of how good for the soul it is,

even if the weather was shite!.

And this one because I love it when he smiles. He absolutely shines....

and I hope he never forgets it.

New Years Day

New Years Day fun with party poppers, beach balls, friends & family....