Six Word Saturday - December 24th, 2011

Cucumbers! Just in time for Christmas. 

A couple of months ago I bought a punnet of four apple cucumber seedlings. Three didn't survive due to the abundance of snails around the garden this year. The fourth plant was almost eaten. The snails had a good munch of the stalk but it managed to hold one. I have eaten a couple of cucumbers already. They were very tasty, just a little bitter. Today these four were ready to pick. Yum! 

and a bonus six words from me for today: 

Sending Merry Christmas wishes to you! 

I hope you have a good day tomorrow however you spend it. 

Six Word Saturday - December 17th, 2011

I am going to walk more. 

I'm getting in a little early with a new year's resolution. Actually I'm not much of a resolution maker, preferring instead to set a theme for my year. Recently, I have been doing a bit of thinking about next year's possible theme. More of that, though, in a later post. When thinking of what my six words would be today I was thinking something like, 'I plan to do more walking' but then thought more definite would be better. It's not hard really and doesn't have to involve huge changes. Even a short walk around the block or parking the car a bit further away at the shops. I have been motivated this week to also include longer walks into my life. 

On Tuesday morning a friend asked if I would like to walk to the beach where her daughter was doing aquatics. I offered a lift but she said she felt like a big walk. Well, I was a bit reluctant. It really was a big walk. We did it and I was TIRED afterwards. I felt quite unfit, as well as rather uncoordinated when part of the 'walk' involved me on hands and knees climbing over rocks. My friend walked over the same rocks with a dog, her bag and my bag too. Despite being very tired (and sore the next day) I felt quite good and motivated to include more walking in my life. Plus, I live a good walking distance from the beach. It takes around half an hour to get there. I can combine walking with taking photos and maybe even some writing. I have a favourite place to write near the sea. 

Here is one of the many great views during our walk on Tuesday. Another great reason to walk more! 

Deja Vu - Courage

While strolling around the internet a short while ago, I came across this great idea. A blogfest where people repost a post from the past. Click on the badge for more information. I decided to have a look at some of my early posts and came across this one on courage. It's a good time now for some courage I think so I decided to participate and repost this one which I originally posted on July 28th, 2010. As relevant now as it was then! It's late now and I'm rather tired. I look forward to visiting other Deja Vu posts tomorrow!

Courage

With some rather big changes happening in my life at the moment I have decided to gift myself some courage.

The courage to really live.

The courage to be myself.

The courage to enjoy life.

The courage to slow down.

The courage to speak my mind.

The courage to be seen.

The courage to let others know me.

The courage to worry less.

The courage to hope.

I wrote these words as part of a writing exercise at a group I attended in April, 2006. 
In May 2009 at a different group I decorated the handbag. These words seem particularly useful for me to remember at the moment. I recognise the huge amounts of courage I have required and used in the past and can continue to draw upon as I undertake new challenges.

Shadow Shot Sunday - December 11th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Tracy at Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots.

I was a bit sad to read this morning that next Sunday will be the last Shadow Shot Sunday, as hosted by Tracy. I am very grateful for Tracy's hosting of the weekly meme. She has done a great job since 2008. I am very glad to have discovered Shadow Shot Sunday and have certainly enjoyed taking part over the last few months. I hope someone else takes it over but regardless I think I will continue posting shadow shots on Sundays. I don't feel ready to stop just yet!

Today I have some washing line shadows - 

 

Six Word Saturday - December 10th, 2011

Reading instructions can be quite useful! 

I was reminded of this earlier today. It was the last meeting of our poetry group and I decided to make some little banana caramel pies to take along. Everything started off going to plan. I can't buy the small pastry cases I used to buy but have discovered some frozen ones which I have used successfully once before. I bought them along with the banana, caramel filling and cream. I've made them before so when I got home I quickly got to work filling the cases with small pieces of banana and the caramel filling and topping them with whipped cream. They looked great and nine fitted nicely in the container I was taking so I decided to keep three of them. I ate one straight away. It seemed a bit strange that the pastry wasn't coming out of the case easily. I remembered them coming out easily before. It didn't taste quite right either. I started to wonder if I was supposed to cook the cases before filling them. I dug the packaging out of the bin. Yes, that was the part I had forgotten about. They were supposed to go in the oven for 10 minutes. By then I was running out of time but was still determined to take them along. I scooped the filling out of each one and put them in the oven. After they cooled for a while - not nearly long enough - I put the filling and cream back in each one. The cream melted a bit as the cases were still warm. By the time I got to the group, just in time, they didn't look anywhere near as nice as they had originally but by all reports they were very delicious! 

the cases after 10 minutes in the oven

filling and cream waiting for the cases to cook!

The lesson in this for me today - 

Even when you are confident in what you are doing, a quick skim over the instructions can't hurt and may help!

Shadow Shot Sunday - December 4th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots.

Each Sunday I take a photo (or two or three or maybe more) from around my yard. So far I have been able to find plenty. I may resort to inside shadows at some stage in the future. 

Here's my shots from today - 

Shadow Shot Sunday - November 27th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots. 

Here's mine for today - 

Six Word Saturday - November 26th, 2011

Went to the Christmas Pageant today. 

Today's six words are brought to you by Brianna, aged 11. Thanks Brianna! 

A couple of weeks ago it was the big Christmas Pageant in Adelaide. We didn't make it there but did make it today to the Beach Rd, Christmas Pageant at Christies Beach. 

It was a rush this morning to get there. I didn't leave enough time to get ready and we only just made it in time. I'm glad we did though. It's always a great parade and this year was no exception. I have only missed one year in the fifteen since Alysha was born. It just seems to get bigger and better each year. It's a real community event, obviously enjoyed by many. 

Alysha and Brianna have participated in previous years. This year we were part of the audience. One of the highlights was a young girl, aged about 3, taking her time to make sure she gave a lolly to every child watching. Many of those in the parade were watching the audience as much as the audience was watching them. At one stage, one of girls left their group to race over and give Brianna a hug, telling her, 'There you are. I've been looking for you everywhere!' There were lots of special smiles and waves and 'Merry Christmas' wishes from those in the parade who spotted their special people in the audience. 

And there were plenty of smiles and waves with the appearance of Santa at the end. 

Three Word Wednesday - November 23rd, 2011

It's Friday already and I just decided to take a look at this week's words for Three Word Wednesday. I liked them. Hollow. Misery. Shallow. Here's the short piece I wrote - influenced by recent time spent at the beach. 

As she splashed in the shallow water 

For a moment the misery of the day was gone 

Her hollow heart began to fill with love again.

(and a photo - I'm a little obsessed with Hipstamatic for iphone at the moment!)

Shadow Shot Sunday - November 20th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots.

A couple of trampoline shadows today. 

Six Word Saturday - November 19th, 2011

Looking forward to the January River! 

• pausing a little each day to really notice something
• playing with words
• writing at least a little every day
• sharing your writing with others 
• reading other people's observations of their own small moments
• being more aware of and feeling more connected to your own world

Do these things sound good to you? If so, you may be interested in joining the January River of Stones, hosted by Fiona Robyn and Kaspalita.  

"A small stone is a very short piece of writing that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment." - Fiona Robyn 

This year in January many people paused to notice small moments and write 'small stones'. I found out about the project in December last year and decided to give it a try. I made a commitment to myself to write a 'small stone' each day in January. I ended up doing that and then decided to continue. I have written a short observation about a moment in my day every day this year (well, except 2). Mostly it's been lots of fun. Many times I have formulated a 'small stone' in my head when I've seen something and then gone to the computer to post it. There have been days when I haven't been able to think of anything to write and have opened up a new post and sat staring at the blank space for a while. Some days I have really enjoyed playing with words to capture my small moment and express it just how I want to. Some of my small stones have provided inspiration for longer pieces of writing. I really recommend joining in. I will be. Click on the badge below for further information. 

Shadow Shot Sunday - November 13th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots.

Very variable weather here today. There's been thunder and gloom and a few spots of rain. I didn't think I was going to get any shadow shots today. Then I looked out the kitchen window and noticed the sun was out. When I went out to explore, there were heaps of shadows waiting to be found. Here's a few from the backyard:

Six Word Saturday - November 12th, 2011

Beans. Parsley. Onion. From my garden. 

I'm on a bit of a quest to eat healthier. My diet hasn't been the best lately. It feels good to get some better food in to me. I'm particularly impressed with my efforts tonight. I picked some broad beans and some parsley, added some onion I picked recently and lemon juice from a lemon I picked from a nearby tree recently. Ingredients bought from the shop and added were cucumber, tomato, some cumin and olive oil. The result - a very yummy salad! Hopefully it won't be long until I can also use tomatoes and cucumbers I have grown myself. But by then the broad beans won't be in season anymore. Oh well, maybe I will substitute something else.  

Shadow Shot Sunday - October 30th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots.

Despite the need to be in a strange crouched position and crawling around near spiders and piles of dead leaves, getting these shadow shots was lots of fun.

  

Six Word Saturday - October 22nd, 2011

Have rediscovered my love of photography

I have loved the process of photography for a long time. Especially looking for and deciding on the subject and then finding out if the finished product is as I imagined or perhaps better. The actual technicalities of that process has changed a lot, particularly in terms of time. As a young child I loved using my homemade pinhole camera, choosing what to photograph and counting for 60 seconds with the 'lens' was open and then developing my photo in the darkroom. Watching the image appear was so exciting. Things have changed a lot since then. Now the results are a lot quicker. The past few weeks I have discovered that I can take great photographs using my iphone. The results are instant. Thanks to instagram, people around the world can see a photograph I have taken within seconds. Now, I didn't imagine that when I was in primary school writing those essays about what the future will be like. This rediscovery of how much I love photography has been greatly due to my participation in Bindu Wiles' The Photo Essay Project. I didn't realise how much I could do with my iphone before this course. This week is Hipstamatic week with a theme of lost and found. I have loved discovering Hipstamatic and experimenting with all the different lens, film and flash combinations. Here's a few of my photos from this week. 

You can read more about these and see some more at www.kylie-joy.tumblr.com or see you on instagram - kyliedin. 

Shadow Shot Sunday - October 16th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots. 

Late afternoon shadows I can see through my kitchen window. 

Shadow Shot Sunday - October 9th, 2011

Shadow Shot Sunday is hosted by Hey Harriet. Head over to her blog to see many more great shadow shots. 

Two very different photos from me today, both from my backyard.