The waft of Spring.

" But now it was spring again, and spring was almost unbearable for sensitive hearts.  It drove creation to it's utmost limits, it wafted its spice-laden breath even into the nostrils of the innocent. "

― Knut Hamsun, Dreamers

Hidden Places In Hahndorf

Hidden places, in the Adelaide Hills. A little spot we go past every day on the way to school. In spring, it is filled with beauty and delicate blossoms, to delight the eye and make the heart swell.

The Red Flowers

When I was a little girl we had a huge 10 acre field behind our house. I spent a lot of my childhood there. It was wonderful. I would get up in the morning, at the break of dawn, (which my daughter now does, and it drives me crazy, just like, I am sure, it did my own mother! ) and I would venture out into my very own private world.

It consisted of high grass, a creek, huge gum trees, pine trees to climb and native shrubs, a big rock pile which usually had a cubby built within its formation, big logs and two ex racing horses, who became pretend unicorns that came from the land beyond the rainbow. 

And in spring the entire field was covered in these red, white and occasional burgundy flowers.

 I absolutely love them. They always make me feel like home. 

The paddock is gone now. It was transformed into a housing estate, at a time when I was moving from child into adult. It somehow felt like the passage of youth. I spent many days cursing that big yellow bulldozer, and crying about my childhood, ending so abruptly and in such a cruel way. That my playground, of childhood dreams and fantasies, of fairyland, flying kites whilst lying in waist high grass, making tunnels and creating adventures with the neighbourhood children. Of sneaking out at night, while the rest of the world was sleeping, to lay in the grass, feeling the soft wind blowing, the gentle warmth of darkness and stare up at the universe, overwhelmed with the feeling of love for the earth. It used to fill my soul and make me shed tears of wonderment and joy, and it was coming to an end.

That is why I love them so much. The memories of my childhood. So rich, colourful and bright.  Never, ever forgotten.

Plum Blossoms.

I am going to have so many plums this year!  Pretty darn exciting!  I love plum and peach jam, and if the bees and the weather align, I just might get a bucket load of each!

The canola fields

There are flowers blooming. And living in the Adelaide Hills, we get to enjoy so many variations of colour. Sometimes found in a huge field, of yellow and green. The flight of butterflies and the buzz of the bees. Canola as far as the eye can see. And dark skies above, ready to burst with a spring shower. 

And this sweet child of mine, standing in the middle of it all.

Simple things

Still no roses, but they are not too far away.

A quiet time, for me, waiting for the change.

There is a wonderful feeling, when the flowers are almost ready to burst. Like waiting for christmas, and the opening of the presents. Spring time, such a special, pretty time of the year.

Spring Lambs!

Our sweet neighbouring girls have adopted two little Lambs. They were abandoned by their mothers and need a bottle feed every six hours! That means getting up at 5am to give them a snack! Either way, they are incredibly cute little bundles of wool!

Autumn Leaf

Such amazing colours. All on one leaf.

How incredible and vibrant. As if natures hand took a brush and painted it so.

Lavender

How do I share the beauty of this day with you? 

The gentle sun, warm and rich, the changing of the leaves to reds and golds, or the little buzz of nectar gatherers, reaping the remnants of pollen from summers last flowers in preparation for the future days of cold and frost. 

Ahh autumn, how I love you so!

Mothers Garden

In my mothers garden. 

She always has something sweet, growing tall, or small. Always bright, cheery and beautiful. 

Just like her.

Cat

“Of all God's creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. 

That one is the cat. 

If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” 
― Mark Twain

Rainy days

There are days when the rain is falling so gently that it almost feels like we are living in the misty clouds of heaven, instead of on the earth.

Dog, Cat and Bird!

I think I photograph my children so much that I sorely neglect the "other" members of my family!
So to cut a long winded apology short, I decided to give them their own studio photo shoot.
To say it was interesting is the understatement of the year. ( not that we are that far in yet...) Anyway, I did manage to get a few nice shots... Let me introduce you to them...

This is Holly, our dog. She like to lean on us, and loves to give us that pleading look which demands hugs, pats and kisses. Her bark is much, much worse than her bite,. That said, she is a little bit protective of her family, so we know that she is there for us in much the same way as we are for her.

This is our cat, Mr stinky. He is getting old and I adore his snuggles. It seams that as he gets older, the more he requires pats and love. I don't mind. I know that the day will come when he passes on from this life, and i think it will break my heart for quite a while. 

Oh, and why the name Mr Stinky?  When he was a little puss, he came to us in quite a sorry state. Of course, we fixed him all up, but at the time he had a serious problem with gas! 

This is Sonic, our Galah. He is a little bit nutty... ok... alot! He worries me the most of all our pets. I don't think he is very happy in a cage, and we are working towards getting a big aviary for him, in which he can have a bird mate, instead of a human one, and enjoy his life a little bit more. 

Fluffing his feathers.

Charlotte's Web!

In our garden there lives a very special spider. We have named her Charlotte.

This is her web.

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.” 
― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

And this is she...

Reflections

Every person is unique, and all it takes is a simple smile and a kind word to suddenly close the distance. A small and genuine effort to extend yourself, even when it is difficult and takes you out of your comfort zone.  
Kindness is one of the most affordable things one can accumulate. It's richness is everlasting, fulfilling and can make us blossom and grow. You don't need to have a religion or belief system to understand this most fundamental and basic action of human spirit.

Sometimes I think I am too forthright and bombastic with my approach. I am not always gentle with the way I say things. I just blurt it all out without considering how it may come across to another person. 

Something to work on. Always something to work on.

To become softer, kinder and gentler.

Things my soft, sweet and spiky roses can teach me.

Spring Garden!

I love my garden in the spring. Everything is green, the wind has not blown all my flowers to bits and the colours are vibrant. 

And the scent! Oh it is heavenly!

Flower patchwork.

So that you can see the process that goes on when I create a patchwork image.

I started with a sweet little flower photo, that I took last summer.

I was a bit bored today, and needed something to create!

So I flipped it, a number of different ways, sometimes cropping the image until I got quite a few choices of images to choose from.

Tiled a bit...

And a bit more...

Till it turned out like this!

Most of the delicate detail is lost. I think if it was printed huge, wall size, the detail 

would still be visible.

 

                                                         Found some gorgeous fae, too!

Lady bug

Today we went to the forest with our children.There was plenty to photograph, but mostly what got me excited, were the Ladybird beetles! Yellow ones! They kept flying off, and our daughter got antsy with me trying to get a decent photo... ( she is the impatient one in the family... wonder where she got that from??? ) So we went for our walk, and on the way back, I told the kids that if they found one and let me photograph it, I would give them a prize. ( Usually it's chocolate! ) Some time past looking for one, when Gisele came up to me and exclaimed, "mummy, you have one in your hair!" It must have come for our entire walk with us! Oh So Sweet! I felt very lucky!

Here she/he is!