Calendar Capers

Everyone seems busy. We are no exception and I have not been around in 'blog land' for a while now. My calendar has been fluttering with the comings and goings and my camera shutter has too...


we had rain...



and chased some storms




Master B took part in an Asia Day at school




Miss B made her first communion

 

We met the Indian Pacific Christmas train very early one morning to sing with Adam Thompson again




here comes the train




hello Adam!




Santa was there too!




there was a Christmas night for families where I work

 

we took part in the Broken Hill Christmas Pageant with the Girl Guides

and the Scouts

My daughter and I donned our Girl Guide shirts for the last time
this year and helped to sell candles at Carols by Candlelight



and we have ALL enjoyed catching up with friends

Once I threw in report writing, presentation nights, Christmas parties, morning teas, Primary school graduations, family birthdays and just plain old everyday life, it has certainly been a full couple of months.

Merry Christmas to you all and may your calendars be filled with friends, family, fun and photo opportunities into 2016

Kate xx

Linking with Wordless Wednesday over at My Little Drummer Boys

and One Mother Hen at Open Slather

 

Last week...

I have been playing the Fat Mum Slim Photo-a-Day game on Instagram for some time now and I love it. My love of photography is part of this and, while I really enjoy it ,I don't profess to be a 'real photographer'. Many of my pictures are taken with my phone and often my DSLR camera is on auto! It's about seeing things around me and the process rather than the mastery for me.

Another part of the enjoyment of this 'game' is that no matter what  my day is like, I have a reason to take time to look at my family, home, work or life in general a little differently. I consciously appreciate the beautiful and the interesting around me.

Last week the FMS prompts were colours and I set myself an extra challenge to find something to photograph that is part of my outback mining town home to share...

 

The Big Red Chair
Red

there are tones of orange everywhere in the outback
This picture was chosen as last week's favourite Pic of the Week by my local ABC as part of the ABC Open Pic of the Week project



Yep, it's a mining town!
Yellow



I love this little church! It makes me want to know its stories!
Green

 

Keep looking up. That's the secret of life - Snoopy
Blue

 

the wildflowers are out, Silverton, NSW
Pink



an artist's car -John Dynon Gallery, Silverton, NSW
Rainbow

 While I love to go and explore new and beautiful places, my place is beautiful too, don't you think?

 

Kate xx

 

 

Linking with Trish over at Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 



Night at the Museum

Have you ever felt like you were being watched while you were eating dinner?

I have!

I was lucky enough to be part of a special birthday party recently that was held in the World Mammals gallery of the South Australian Museum. We ate under the gaze of
animals from the regions of Eurasia, Tropical Asia, Africa and the Americas including Miss Siam, an Indian elephant who is over 100 years old. She lived at the Adelaide Zoo and died in 1904.

 It is something really special to be taken on a torch lit guided tour of part of the museum and to then mingle with family and some very old world mammals to enjoy drinks and dinner.


a guided tour by a man with a torch and a tam o' shanter!

dinner under the watchful eye of Mr Rhino...



if you watch very carefully you might see his tail flick!

all sorts of silliness prevailed

time to go home

It was certainly a night to remember.

Have you eaten somewhere unexpected or unique? It should certainly be on the bucket list if you haven't.

Kate xx

Linking with Trish for Wordless Wednesday 

Wintery Wonders

Winter. Love it or hate it, there is an undeniable beauty about it and all that comes with it.

I love it and it often sees me out and about with my camera or my phone in my pocket capturing the beautiful light or my cosy creations.

I hope that you are keeping warm if it's winter at your house!

Kate x

Flour and Fire

I have challenged myself to do some study  so I can use my camera on some manual settings this year, and start to better understand the multitude of buttons and settings it has. I have managed to take some good pictures in the last few years with very little knowledge so imagine how dangerous I could be...



The Shady Baker, Jane at work

An invitation arrived from the lovely and talented Jane from The Shady Baker to attend her annual Flour and Fire at her home. On offer was the chance to learn the basics of sourdough and hands on bread making as well as making beeswax candles with Zara from Zaranne Handmade.



ready for some baking and making action

A perfect photo taking opportunity as well as lots of fun and new friends...



beautiful homemade happiness by Zara



The swap table.We all contributed something home grown or homemade
then got to take treasures home



beautiful morning tea that greeted us on our arrival



me hard at work creating sourdough bread

Summa from one of my favourite haunts, The Caff, working on her day off to create pasta



this was our goal...these beautiful loaves of crusty goodness

it was like an Insta-meet or a bloggers convention, maybe both! Poised ready for bread action Zara, Sophie, @shell_mcclure (and me!) plus partners and friends who have not heard the call of social media!

lunch...it was good!



making beeswax candles. So much fun




What a wonderful day with great food, new friends and skills, goodies from the swap table and lots of photographic practise under my belt.

Do you wrangle with the manual settings? Do you use your phone? Hands up who remembers the days of film and dodgy school excursion photos when you recorded every detail in wonderful blurry glory!

Kate xx

Linking with Trish for Wordless Wednesday