What's wrong with this picture???

I took this picture the other day and realised something a bit odd with this picture. So I'm posting it here and asking the question of you of "What is wrong with this picture?". I'll give everyone (all 2-3 of you) a day or two to have a guess and in the next post I will reveal what is actually wrong with this picture. You will also notice that this is my lame attempt at making a viable post. Anyway, have a look at the photo and leave me a comment as to what you think is wrong with the picture. Until the next post as always take care and enjoy...

12 of 12 for November 2009...

Well, as promised here are my photos for this months 12 of 12. Now for those of you that know, this is a project that I take part of each month which allows me to have a bit of fun with my camera and also fills in a large hole when I don't post as often as I should. Everyone will also know that the 12 of 12 project is not my initiative but rather that of a very nice man named Chad and you can find out more about 12 of 12 from his blog here.

This months 12 of 12 was a bit difficult once again due to the fact that I was stuck at the house and I needed to become overly creative in my picture taking. Since I don't drive, it is difficult for my to get to different places when the 12th comes along but in saying that maybe next month come hell or high water I'll just walk into the city and when I'm finished I'll take a taxi home. Now see how much I'm willing to do just so you get quality in each post.

Anyway, this months 12 of 12 has a distinct floral feeling, mainly because spring is in full swing here and all of the flowers, especially the roses are starting to bloom. So indulge me and have a peruse of this months photos and hopefully one of them will make you smile and until next time take care and enjoy....

This list is on our fridge and it is the beginnings of our preparations for the big move back to the mainland. For those of you who don't know and who might care to know, we are moving off the island we have called home for the past five years because we are unable to find sustainable work on the island. We will keep this house and someday when we get ready to retire it will still be here when we need it.

This month also saw me get a year older and last week I celebrated another birthday with a very dear friend who also shares the same birthday as myself. She came over from New Zealand and spent the week with us and on Sunday we celebrated our very special day. I'm telling you all this because the next photo (the one above) is one of the presents she gave me. It is a piece of glass art that comes from New Zealand and it is called "The Twist" It represents the eternity of a special friendship or relationship. I can say without a doubt that I have always had a special friendship with this friend and it will continue for many years to come.

This is another gift I received, also from the same friend. This gift was not actually birthday gift but an early Christmas present from her to both myself and my hubby. This piece of glass is called Spiral - Koru and the koru is the Maori name given to the new unfurling fern fronds and symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace.

Now, I know that by now most if not all of you has either seen or already owns an iPhone or iPod Touch. Well I had neither and since I have a phone of which I just started a new two year contract and so do not need a phone, hubby bought me an iPod Touch instead. I love my gadgets. It's all about colour, lights and movement. Give me those and I'm amused for hours. Anyway, I love my new toy and I love my hubby for being so good to me.

As I mentioned it is spring here and a lot of things are blooming in our garden. Some of the best things growing in our garden are our roses and this one is called "Blue Moon". This particular plant is well over 50 years old. The previous owners gave us it's history along with the history of a few other plants we have in our garden. Needless to say it's a wonderful rose bush with these beautiful purple blooms accompanied by the strongest fragrance. Also if you look really close to the right of the flowers you'll see a wee little visitor, come to do what they do best for all of flowerdom.

Just a close up of one of the bearded irises I planted a couple of years ago. There is something oddly strange about the purple and yellow together that make this flower pretty, or at least I think it's pretty.

A lovely closeup to another lovely rose that, as you can see, is almost fluorescent in a red and yellow combination.

This lovely yellow rose is growing outside in our front garden and is just outside our bedroom window. So we are greeted not on by the sun and the river down below but also this little bit of sunshine right from our garden.

Here's hubby, in the office, on the computer, being so kind as to be a model for one of this months photos. Actually, I believe he was paying bills so it probably wasn't the best time to take his picture.

This little cast iron cow door stop works a treat when we have all the windows open around the house and the breeze picks up momentum down the hallway and keeping the hallway door from slamming shut every few minutes.

The lavender around the house is also blooming like crazy and it smells so good when it drifts into the house from the open front windows.

Last but not least yet one more flower shot but this time they are not in the garden. No, moments before this picture was taken they were in they garden and then the next they were sitting on the fireplace mantle. One of life's wonderful little things where what we grow we can also harvest and although a few cut flowers from our garden is hardly a harvest the point is we grew them and instead of buying flowers for the house each week all we have to do is go out and pick what we want and these are what I pick for the next few days.

Well that's it from me so I hope all of the flowers didn't bore you and if they did well I don't know what to tell you other than check back next time and who knows maybe I'll spend the day taking pictures of your favourite things..

Guaranteed...

... a new post that is. Yes, I can guarantee that there will be a new post besides this one coming soon. Of course I'm relying on my monthly 12 of 12 post to make this guaranteed post happen. So, wait for it patiently as you always do and a new 12 of 12 will be here before you know it. Anything after that is totally unpredictable. Until then stay safe and enjoy...

A change is in the wind....

Hello one and all, I seem to be only writing about one post every seven days, but I suppose that's better than none at all. So what's been happening since my last post? Well, we continue to heal which is a major priority. Hubby is also trying to finish his last paper and once it is submitted and when he receives his final assessment/grade, he will have finished his Masters degree in Education. He has been working so hard over the past few years. I am very proud of him, which I am anyway but even more so because he has worked so hard and done so well especially in the face of adversity. Once he has his degree he will finally be able to start applying for lecturing positions. He likes his current work in the field of medicine, specifically in the Emergency Department but after over 20 years of taking care of people and also unfortunately watching some pass away it has all taken a toll on hubby. So it's time to move on to something new and exciting.

However that is not the change I refer to in the title of this blog. No, my loyal reader (yes just the one of you and well maybe some poor fool who stumbles on to the site unawares) there is still another change that is in the works in our world. What may you ask is that change, well it is a change we are not taking lightly I will say that much. We have discussed this change over and over and have come to the conclusion that it will be the right thing. As I'm sure you've guessed by now that the change I'm referring to is one of moving.

Yes, unfortunately as much as we love our home here in Tasmania. Our lovely old home with it's 115 year old history. All of the fresh air, great wines, brilliant produce, dairy and baked goods along with amazingly talented local artisans. This is truly a wonderful place to live. However, It is not a place to make a living. Finding work down here is near impossible and with hubby changing his field of work in the next few months we will need to be open to relocating. As it stands we have made no firm commitment as to exactly where we will be moving to but all I know is that we will at least be moving back to the mainland as the islanders say. We are looking to having a new job and location sometime around February in the new year. We will keep this house and rent it out because in the end when we are ready to retire it will be a fantastic place to do just that.

So, that's all the excitement I have going on around this end of the world. We have out of town guests arriving at the end of the week. We haven't seen this friend for some time and we are very much looking forward to her arrival. So in saying that I need to get back to my housecleaning checklist. I've got a lot to do over the next 3 days. I'll check back after the visit and share all the tawdry details of her visit after all she has been known to be a bit of a party girl. I hope I remember how to do the same, party that is, not being a girl. I tried that once and not a good look trust me. Until next time take care and as always enjoy...

Well, well, well...

So, here I am back at the blog. I have been really bad at posting over the past few weeks and even months. I know that everyone says that it's my blog and I only have to post when and what I want and if I want. I take that into consideration but I still feel guilty when I haven't posted for a while. So anyway, this will be my lame attempt at a new post. Lest see what I can come up with in some random thoughts.

It's been quiet around here since we got back from Sydney. Hubby is trying to return to some sense of normalcy. He worked the other night for the first time in 8 weeks. I told him that he should ask them to not put him in resus (resuscitation) and sure enough that's where they put him. He said that he didn't ask to be changed because they were short. I still think he could have swapped with some one else but it's a moot point because the shift is over but as I feared there were several resus that evening with one women dying. The fact that she died and was also elderly did not help hubby. Luckily he only had the one shift and he is now off for another 6 days. I hope that in his next set of shifts they will think and take into consideration his recent loss and that they will not make him work in an area that carries a higher risk of losing patients.

Spring is supposed to be here and in ways it has arrived but like most spring weather it comes with warm days but also some cool/cold days as the fronts fight for dominance. The warmer fronts are getting stronger and almost all of the cold fronts are now being pushed back making way fro summer. Summer starts on December 1 here in the land down under. I know that the official start of summer isn't until the 21st December but here it is easier to track the seasons in four distinct sections with three months each. So, summer is, December, January, February, fall is March April, May, winter, June, July, August and spring September, October and November. I have slowly gotten used to everything being topsy turvy having grown up in the northern hemisphere and sometimes it still feels funny especially when it's warm/hot in December and for Christmas. I just tell myself that it's no different than it is for people in Florida or southern California and other places that are normally warm/hot at Christmas. It's just a mind thing. Although, it is really hard to see holiday decorations up with snowflakes and even fake snow on windows. I also have learned to change the traditional turkey dinner for Christmas and opt for a nice seafood buffet with lots of boiled shrimp and salads. Thankfully, all of the baked goods and candies aren't affected by the weather and that's all that really counts isn't it?

A dear friend is coming for a visit. She arrives on the 31st October and yes that is Halloween but not unlike the topsy turvy of the seasons some holidays are also changed. Halloween is not celebrated as a matter of ongoing celebrations here in Australia. So she won't be arriving into a sea of witches, goblins and monsters. Although when you think about it, the clutter of people you have to manoeuvre around at the airport are sometimes just as bad as a pack of monsters and goblins. I will say that there has been a push by certain groups and especially retailers (why am I not surprised) to have Halloween introduced and celebrated just like it is in the states. There are lots of Halloween parties already, but they call them fancy dress parties otherwise know as costume parties. I have over the most recent years actually had a few children show up for trick or treat. So, now each year I buy a couple bags of lollies (aka candy in the states) to have just in case and if they don't show up well you know the fate of the candy and if you don't well then you think about it and get back to me.

Other than those random bits. we continue to wait for springs warm weather to take hold. We continue to heal from recent events. We are also trying to find our pace again and with time we will do just that. Watch this space for new and exciting things to come. Until next time take care, stay safe, and enjoy...

(I'm sure some people wonder what I mean when I say "enjoy". All I'm saying is "enjoy" life and all the things that are around you and part of your life because many and most things are fleeting and I want you to enjoy as much as you can while you can)

12 of 12 for October 2009

So here's my 12 of 12 for October 2009. I wasn't sure if I was going to do the 12 of 12 this month due to the recent events in our life but I thought it would be a good distraction for me and it was. I stayed around the house again this time fro this months photos and lot of them are posed so I'm calling most of this months 12 of 12 October Still Life Anyway, I hope you enjoy this months photos and make sure you check out this man's site because we have him to thank for the original concept of this project. So now enjoy...

I thought we are in the middle of Spring here in the land down under but instead I woke up to a very chilly morning and ended up having to light a fire to warm up.

I know this is the second picture and it would be fair to believe that maybe this is what I had for breakfast and no it is not. however, I have become addicted to these since hubby introduced me to them and I just thought that they made for an interesting photo. anyone know what they are?

We did leave the house once to run a few errands and while out I took this picture at one of the fountain installation at the hospital where hubby works

We have amazing artisans where we live and many of them work with wood. Over the past five years since we have lived where we are now we have been slowly collecting the various wooden pieces of fruit and eventually even the wooden bowl that they sit in.

Posed but I like blue what can I say???

Posed again, but pretty no???

You read what the sign says and when I don't have it posed it sits in the kitchen for all visitors to see and any of them can at any time take me up on the offer.

Theses ware the flowers that hubby sent me over a week ago while he was in Sydney taking care of his mum. He sent them to thank me for being so understanding. He is a saint or at least I think so.

I took a picture similar to this for an earlier 12 of 12 but it was in autumn so this is what the tree looks like in full bloom and once again what I get to look at every day outside my kitchen doors.

Just a little bit of cuteness sitting on the deck in or backyard.

This is a piece of a flowering plum tree from our backyard taken against a blackening sky full of rain on it's way to us.

And last but not least, Teddy was sitting by me as I was uploading all of these pictures and I decided to exchange a picture of him for one of the photos I took earlier. He is telling me it is time to go to sleep and he is right. So I once again hope you enjoyed the photos and I'll see you next time for November's 12 of 12

On a side note, for those of you following the recent events affecting our life here in Oz; I will say that the grieving has started as has the healing. All we be okay in time. Thanks again to everyone for your kind words and support.

Peace at last...

The circle of life has finally come in Sydney. The pain has been lifted and now it is time to begin the healing process....