Blogging from A to Z challenge - I'm in!

A blogging challenge in which you post every day during April, except Sundays, and structure your posts around the letters from A to Z. It's taken me a while to decide whether to participate or not. It's a big commitment and the number of posts I have written lately has been... Let's just say I haven't posted much of late. Can I write 26 posts in a month? Or more specifically, can I post 26 posts in a month? I have decided to start planning during March and have at least some of my posts pre-written and scheduled.
Last year I participated in the A to Z challenge and enjoyed it. I started off making alphabet cards but found it a bit tiresome part way through and ended up writing about different words.  
This year I have decided on a broad theme - sharing books with children. I love children's books and this gives me a chance to share that as well as learn more. I'll probably narrow that theme down as I continue thinking about it over the next few weeks. For now I'm excited to be thinking about the books I love and the 26 different possibilities. 

Shadow Shot Sunday - February 19th, 2012

A short break from my usual Shadow Shot Sunday programming this week. Until now all of the photos I have taken for Shadow Shot Sunday have been from around my house and yard (both front and back) and have been taken on the day with my Nikon D3100. I will probably return to that format next Sunday. I like imposing some limits on my creativity. Today though it is time for something a little different. These photos were taken last Monday, at the beach, using Hipstamatic on my iphone. I went for a walk at the beach after the school drop off. It was beautiful there and the shadows were stunning! 

Immense beauty...where was my camera?

Immense beauty...where was my camera?


Sometimes it can feel scary to really look. When you actually do look though and get over the bump of initial dizziness, the fear eases and you notice the raw beauty in the immenseness before you. 

Well, almost. I didn't quite get to that point. A few days ago I went to the beach with Alysha. She was keen to go for a walk and climb over some rocks. I was keen for the walk part. Go me - following that intention to walk more! I wasn't so keen on the climbing over rocks part but I gave it a go. Well, I'm not as used to climbing over rocks as I was once. I was feeling a little dizzy and it was hard to look down. I made it from the beach to the path at the top. We walked along the path for a while and then Alysha thought it would be a good idea to sit on the rocks and look out at the sea. "No way" was my first thought (along with the worry of her sitting out there). I sneaked a little look and recognised the immense beauty. I thought that perhaps it would be nice to sit there for a while. I struggled to get there though and after scraping my toe on the rock gave up, along with lots of (over) complaining about my slightly bleeding toe. The view was quite breathtaking and I started to wish I had my camera. Actually my iphone. I have been taking lots of photos lately and posting them on instagram. I am particularly fond of Hipstamatic and trying out different lens and film combinations and recently discovered a great community (Hipstaroll) where you can share shots each week using certain film/lens combinations. Fun! 
That time though I'm glad I didn't have my phone/camera because sometimes it gets in the way of just enjoying the view. Sorry I can't share it with you. 


Here's a different Hipstamatic shot of the beach though - from yesterday. The beach makes a great subject for taking photos and I am enjoying it much more as a result. I never considered myself a beach person but perhaps that is changing. I've even been swimming a few times lately. 

Shadow Shot Sunday - February 12th, 2012

Lots of great shadows here today. I am particularly fond of the one on the front door which I notice fairly often. Usually it is gone by the time I get the camera ready. 

Shadow Shot Sunday - February 5th, 2012

Taking some tiny steps back into my blogging life after a short break for various reasons. Here's a couple of photos for Shadow Shot Sunday. 

When I got back from a recent short holiday I found the cucumber plants that had been planted from seed and were growing well had not survived the bout of hot weather while we were away. This is one of a few seedlings I got from Bunnings to replace them. Maybe next year I can grow some from seed...

And here's a shot of our cat, Chester. It's really hard to get a good photo of him as he is either running away or getting too close to the camera so I was pleased to get this one, complete with shadow.