Through the eyes of sisters; theme: That's different!

Ok so I chose this theme, just because life sure can be ever changing so why not look at the different in the crazy world of ours.

My pic in my opinion is ... well um ... different. Let me start by telling you that does not come from a good "that's different" but rather a sad one ... but different none the less. I am the only person in my entire family that actually likes zoo's, in fact back in SA this was a regular outing for the girls... I love the zoo! But here in the land of the long white cloud, not so much. Not because I don't like walking around the zoo under a blanket of long white cloud because NZ has more good beautiful sunny days than gloomy ones, but because the zoo's are so small and the enclosures are so small, and for a zoo lover to admit that you must know it is tiny!! Our local zoo here, the ones the Naki'ians rave about is really heartbreaking. Firstly not much except a bunch of farm animals and some monkeys, with the "highlight" being 3 white tigers and 1 lion and 2 lioness's, their enclosures are nothing short of minute in my opinion. I have been assured that the the animals have been bred in captivity so don't know any better but that is little comfort if you ask me. But what makes my pic of Lions qualify for "that's different"? well it just doesn't gel!!!! Here is a the king of the jungle, who belongs in the plains of Africa sitting in the beautiful lush green grass ... look even some pretty yellow daisies in the background ... now that is different!!

No look what happens when I take that same daisy licking lion and drain the colour to wash away the daisies and kill the grass .... he actually looks like the king again and not a domestic lap kitty!

S'true ... it is the same lion!! and enclosure!!

Pam's pic shows how people can be ... ah ... yes questionable ... I mean different ... oops did I just type that out loud?? This is sure to offend someone! LoL ... she took her challenge on the road with her to snap what she calls "the Barney House" ... it needs no further explanation!!

Bet if we drained the colour from this pic it would be a cutsie little home ...LoL ... but Pam growing up in Boksburg surely you should be used to seeing the Avo green home next to the turquoise one and the pink one and the ..... Eish!!

Ok so there was our That's Different ...

Pam the next theme is .... *insert drum roll* ...

Through the eyes of sisters; Theme: TREASURE

I am so far behind on the blog that even my behind is behind ... but hey that's how it goes. I will go on and on with excuses, life is too busy, feeling a little un-inspired .. blah blah blah ... it is just how it goes.

This theme is one Pam chose, I liked it. There was a lot happening at that time which opened me into getting something.
Pam's pic
Here is what Pam said:
I love sharing things with my children, things about the world around them, the gift of life and how precious the balance is.  I want them to know where things come from, how they are made or grown, and to value it all.  Our earth is in so much trouble, we choose not to pay attention and immerse ourselves in every day problems like bills, appointments and finding the car keys - but she needs our help and they only way she is going to get it is if we start appreciating her bountiful gifts, stop taking them for granted, and start finding a way to live more harmoniously with her.  I treasure the planet we live on, its one of a kind, and I treasure my family

In this photo is my beautiful niece April and Pam's newest treasures ... her chooks.

I have a funny story along the lines of Pam's notes on her pic, I too like to teach my children about where things come from, it started a couple of years back when Rachel had to take fruit and veg to school and decided to tell me late one afternoon on the only day ever I didn't have fresh in the fridge, so I took them on a walk to our complex's community veg garden and let them pick them out the ground ... it took a bit of convincing that veggies actually grow from soil and do not just appear in supermarket fridges. Another funny story is we were discussing where does XYZ come from, wool from sheep, meat from animals etc etc ... Leah tried to convince me milk comes from CHICKENS!!! Wonder how many chickens you need to milk for a litre ...LoL

My pic is also more about treasured moments. My pic was not initially what I had set out for, but things all hit me on one day. Leah's kindy had cornered me about her Celebration day (her last day of kindy that they celebrate her going off to school), the primary school had set dates with me for her school visits and her starting date, my oldest had just had a bday, my youngest has a pending bday ... was all too much too fast. Little over a year ago I left SA with to pre-schoolers, now I am days away from have too primary school kiddies in just over a year!!!!! Where have my babies gone??? I feel like I have been shoved into this and I am not ready to let go. My photo is my footprints and Rachel's foot prints on the beach one sunny afternoon ... a reminder that we should always treasure the moments we have when we have them, they are over too quickly and yes there will be more but they will never be the ones we had.

Now that Pam and I have sown the seeds of thoughts ... here is another treasure picture, I took this one at the festival of lights last year, a treasured memory of course, but this is a pirate ship. Ai me hearties, cast the sails and head yonder in search of treasure ... even if they they are a box filled of treasured moments on a lazy sunny afternoon :-)

and let us not forget to ....

Through eye's of sisters, Topic: A Closer Look

So I chose the topic this week, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to share this week, but life always has other plans ... you would think I would know this by now!!!! It doesn't really matter, I quite like that this topic encourages you to try and take notice of something you possibly wouldn't have. For one of the first times I actually like the topic I chose - imagine that ... LoL

I will start with Pam's piccie first, I always do because that is how I roll!!

Her pic is of a type of a fungus growing at the base of an old birch tree in her garden. I have to agree with her message to me that accompanied her pic, it also reminds me of how we used to make fairy gardens in our own gardens as young girls, and yes Pam they would make nice balconies. I also think they may make nice awnings. It is a very interesting pic with the colours, shapes and textures, stirs a real interest in it. Good pic Pam!!

The one I have submitted is this:

When we first moved into our house just short of a year ago I found the first pic ... the hairy looking thingy-ma-jig ... while gardening, I did the city girl thing and shrieked and flicked it away with the spade. As time went on I realised it was from a plant, now almost a year on I can show you how it morphs from a ugly hairy thingy-ma-jig into a beautiful flower covering the tree outside our dining room window, I mean literally covering the tree ... welcome back spring!!!!
(and see the dirty hands, those are Rachel's, city kids hand also get dirty you know ... just saying!! You know who you are that I am saying this too!...LoL)

Ok my next pic wasn't taken this week BUT was the one I was out to take this week, only better ... but I am going to make do with ones I have taken a little while ago. When we first moved to New Plymouth I couldn't understand why the clouds we so straight, it boggled me so much. After more than 3 months I not only figured it out but had my camera on me to photograph it too :-) Check it out ... her are our straight clouds ...

So how did the clouds get so straight? Here's the culprit!

Of course it is a plane ... duh!!! LoL ... I do and did feel like a bit of a dweeb for not figuring that out. Now next quest, when I have time to kill, is where the hell are the planes from?? The are far to high to be from NP airport, we figure they must be from Auckland but then why would they be flying over NP? I mean nothing or no-one enters this airspace unless coming here, we are out of the way of everything and everyone!

So that is me for this week, off to kick up my heels and chill, first weekend off and enjoying it while I can since another one wont be headed this way for a while. Will also be missing my Daddy extra extra, tomorrow is Fathers Day in NZ, Lawrence is sorted he is a father and the girls are really spoiling him, me well he is not my father, my father is some 11,856km away, and special occasions you can times that distance by a million billion trillion.

Now I am waiting for what Pam is going to have me looking for next time ...

Through the eyes of sisters, topic: Cuisine

Hi All
Yes it has been a very long time, my very sudden, unexplained leave of absent took a lot of people by surprise and without warning or apologies. Surprising to me though was just how society has become accustomed to sharing details of every aspect of our lives ... is this what we have come to? Lets face it what sells gos mags? Celeb's dirty laundry being written about and photographed, I guess it should go to reason people have a complete lack of understanding when you go through something and you don't want to discuss it or put it out there. Alright fair enough I should have just nicely asked people to please just give me space ... but then I was too busy fighting for space. Anyway enough said my sister and I are back now. Time has always been a constant gripe for the both of us, and although we are both spread even thinner I am going to promise not to mention the lack of notches on the clock, not to complain about it slipping away, we have also changed the cycle to 2 weekly in an effort to ease it up and make this a little easier for both of us, no point stressing ourselves out doing something we both want and enjoy.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight lets get it on! So we are back and thank you Pam for you persistence. Pam chose the topic this week, "CUISINE"  ... yum food my favourite ... LoL ... we both had a bit of a comfort thing going on in out pics this week.

Pam's pic is my very beautiful niece (who is getting way to big without me!!) making their favourite Sunday tradition: Waffles .. Mmmm ... not the toaster kind, not the "just and water" kind, waffles from scratch, measure, weigh, whisk, and mix kind. Sharing your kitchen with your loved ones is special, such a wonderful time to bond and talk and just be together, call it old fashioned but it is just the way it is!

As a Mom with daughters I can truly appreciate the time spent making and baking and just being together.

My pic is my comfort food. Sometimes a girl just needs her Mommy, and when you have 11856km between you it is not always easy, so when I have one of those moments I make my Mom's butternut soup, this is her favourite recipe for soup and it is yum. So this is my "I want my Mommy but this is as close as I can get" comfort food!

I also dug out some of my older success stories, while it is not "cuisine" it is edible ... LoL ...and just like the waffles and soup it was made with a whole lot of heart, mixed with soul and baked in love.

Leah's 1st birthday cupcake tower

 Rachel's 4th birthday - Princess party

Mine and Leah's birthday combined (her party cancelled due ti illness)

Nephews pirate party

Pam has started a trend of ending her blogs off with a song of the moment, and the last few have been centred around mothers and their daughters ... I have one to and I think it ties so beautifully into this blog but it also goes hand in hand with a few others that I can think of ... Charmaine, Mhairi I know you will also appreciate it xxxx
I have used the original ABBA version of this song because ABBA is one of my Dad's favourite bands, I grew up listening to them often, and you know sometimes a girl doesn't just need her Mommy, she needs and misses her Daddy too!

Through the eyes if sisters, week 11, Topic: Black and White

Well the fact that there is a blog this week, even if it is late, is in itself a miracle. This has not been the best week for either my sister or I, and I was so tempted to ask if we can please be excused from the challenge just for this week, but then we wouldn't be calling it a challenge if it wasn't challenging ... right? My poor sister has had a week to match non other with her business being inundated - which is a good thing - and computer and software problems ... I have been sick, hell busy with work, and have done everything with a sick child in tow (kept home from kindy - and oh how they are such little bundles of joy when they are under the weather).
But my sister have several things in common and one is that we are to stubborn to know when to say "we can't make it happen" ... so this weeks blog is born :-)

My sisters pic was taken of her friends horse, after I took my original pic (see further down) I had a feeling my sister would use this to photography her favourite thing ever ... and if you look at her blog you will see all of the horse, real pretty pony indeed!!!
http://live-life-as-a-play.blogspot.com/

When I chose this weeks topic I had a clear idea of the pic I wanted, our sleepy little volcano has a fresh coat of snow and if you look at it in full moon it looks amazing! just a white peak looming out of black nothingness, unfortunately sick me and sick child and heaps of rain morning noon and night prevented that picture being taken. Now truth be told I did take a pic this week and could have and should have submitted it, I only got 2 snaps and it was taken quickly from my car on the side of the road on my way to a photo viewing day for work so I was in a bit of a hurry, but I decided I wanted to play with some of my old photo's instead and turn them into black and white pics and see how it changes the mood of the pic. So the one I submitted came close (not close enough though) to the original pic I wanted to take for the week, hence I chose that one.



This picture in colour actually has clear blue skies and a beautiful sun shining day, but by altering the pic to b&w and changing tones it looks far from it :-)
Here are some of the other pics I played with:

This pic of the lion only works in b&w because it was taken at our local zoo, and even I have to admit I will not go there again, it is disgustingly cruel! These poor king of the jungles are kept in a terribly small enclosure, I was not impressed! and if you look at this pic in colour the grass in the background is very lush and green with pretty yellow daisies all around - not exactly where you would expect to see a lion.

Ok lastly is the pic I did manage to take this week, it is appropriately within the black and white theme and a scene very familiar all around NZ ... everywhere you look! I even have a very similar view in my suburban suburb :-) ... cows cows cows! It is said there are more sheep in NZ than people, I actually wonder if there are more cows than sheep!!!

Well that conclude week 11 ... am I cheating by submitting old photo's under the "edited this week" argument, yes I think I am, but every now and then I do think we can have a pardon from the general rules :-)

Through the eyes of sisters, week 10, Topic: Letters

Feel the love!! LoL ... this has been my favourite topic to date, because it was a great topic but I love what we ... especially my sister has done with it. And big ups to you sis for actually getting it done even though the universe was clearly against you ;-) You see she has been sick with a horrible flu!! Her point and shoot camera broke, and not only was the camera broken but left my sister heartbroken too, and then the usual time thing always factors into it ...not so!

Anyway ... I knew I had a monster of monster weeks ahead of me so I got my pic off to my sister early last week, could have even been Thursday (the day of our previous blog was due out) ... not important! ... so Sis decided that since our pics are always so very very different although the topic is the same she was going to do the same thing as me ... I like that for a new twist and for a change .... so here is her pic:

No this is not her way of expressing her LOVE of McD's ... just some creative interpretation. I like the way it is clearly put together.
Mine take a little more looking at ;-)

Now there really funny thing behind our pictures that had me laughing until me tea nearly came out my nose is this .... notice my sisters pic really represents city living (in my opinion anyway), and notice mine is a natural ... nature representation.
Well if I had to explain my sisters appearance (not her real one) to describe who she is .. I would tell you to picture a girl with a straw hat, checked shirt, dungaree's and gumboots. She was made for country living, and if she was not living in the country then she should be off in some wild bush place doing a documentary on how this rare flight spotted striped whatever animal is crucial to the survival of the hard shell legless insect thing that lives in a plant known for it's medicinal properties in curing freckles or something. You get the picture? Cities leave her claustrophobic (sp).
Me ... I am comfortably close to nature when watching national geographic, and even then I am too close, my idea of "roughing it" is self catering getaway ... I have a pet but only because it moved in without my consent, I didn't really have a choice, and I only have the 1 pet and I wash my hands each and every time I so much as touch it ;-) I like cities, I like buildings, I like hussle and bustle and people.
So can you please explain how it came to be I have a nature picture and my sister has a city picture?
I have the answer ;-) Because we were thinking of each other when we did our pictures. Love you sis!!

Ok ok all together now .... aaaaaahhhhhhhhh
Thank you sis for a lovely topic! Will send you next weeks shot and miss shortly ...LoL

Through the eyes of sisters week 9 Topic: LIGHT

See I told you all I make some washout topics! I really do like self torture ...LoL ... My sister is awesome, this week she was "wicked early" and I was the delay, not because of time because of my stink choice in topic ;-) But the blog is here and on time so Yay to us sisters right!

Here is my sisters pic, she is so funny!! Her pic for light was the light of her life: Dudley her cat. this is what she wrote to me:
This is Dudley our kitsy cat - he has SO much character even though he doesn't much like people.  For
instance, he is the only cat I know that LOVES baked goods i.e. muffins, cupcakes, biscotti, cookies, cake and of course, his all-time most favouritist of all: banana bread.  If I bake banana bread, I actually have to hide it in a cupboard in a Ziploc bag to keep it safe.  One of our customers gave me a packet of cookies last week and he found my stash and tried to make off with the whole packet.  Cat food is so-so, real chicken he will leave untouched on the counter but if you bake - beware!  He lights up my world, our whole little animal family does, we have a budgie who thinks he's a bull dog and takes great pleasure in antagonizing the cats at every turn (he pulls out their fur hair by hair if they get close enough to the cage) and our other little kitsy cat girl who thinks she is a princess and we are all Court Jesters here for her entertainment.   Mark and I have a saying: God makes 'em, and then they come live by us!
I like your saying Sis but I we also have our own saying "birds of a feather flock together" ... ever wondered why your pets are all a little nuts? ...LoL
That said it is such a nice photo, belongs on the cover of a nice easy read novel, just nice to gaze at ;-)

I was not so successful this week, I did try, I even went out one night and wandered around trying to find that something special, from our awesome walkway to the port and through the town, I am not happy with a single shot (all except 1 ... but later). Anyway the one I submitted to my sister is actually 2 photo's, they are of a sculpture taken from the exact same position, but look how the traffic lights and the light change the perception of the sculpture, if you can't notice it then firstly look at the colour difference from red light to orange light ... but more interestingly notice how the light changes and so does the direction of the sculpture ... just goes to show, give off a little bit of light and you could change someones perception :-)

Next is the windows of St Mary's Cathedral by night, the same church I took the memorial pics at a few weeks back for the "OLD" challenge, pic didn't come out quite as I hoped but still pretty enough to look at for a glance.

This next one is off an ship out at sea, ships are sea at night are actually not so easy to photograph as I have no discovered, who knew the move SOOOOOO much!! I have some pretty ghastly photo's and some really eery ghostly ones too, this is the best one ... new mission for me is to try and get the perfect night boat shot ;-)

Ok the one I really like but really couldn't submit ANOTHER sunrise for my pic of the week, but isn't this world we live in a beautiful one?? this picture has not been doctored in anyway, and see how it looks like a watercolour painting? Worth getting out of bed early for!!

Last one was just me turning my body 180 deg and taking a pic of the sunrise light reflecting off some clouds, just pretty that is all.

Well that is it. Sis's choice in theme next week so you will probably have some good pics again ... I think ... but then I have a real full on week again so maybe I shouldn't count my chicks before they hatch.

Through the eyes of sisters, week 8 Topic: PINK

Ok so every week we start off with how time has consumed or evaded us, this week it was time difference, you see this is a Thursday blog, and today is not Thursday is it, well actually it is still Thursday somewhere in the world so that has to count. It is tricky getting a blog out on a certain day of the week with a partner who has a 16hour time difference to me. One day I am sure we will master it ... or not ... because that is how we roll!
Maybe we should make our theme TIME one week ...LoL ...

So my sister chose this weeks theme, nice one, nice to have this one after my crappy theme last week. My sister is good at picking themes, I think she can just think of all the themes from now on. Or she can just tell me what to choose for my turn then I still chose it right?

PINK ....
My sisters picture made me cry this week, I am sure she didn't mean for it to make me cry, it was just a heart felt message sent to make me feel warm and fuzzy, and it did ... and then I cried. You see the last couple of weeks I have been missing my family and friends so much, I am starting another new chapter in my life and my family and friends know I would have been talking their ears off about it, bouncing things off them and so on, and yes I know I still can but it is not the same and sitting in a lounge sipping coffee and chatting, or just picking up the phone and chatting, no I have to either email them (so impersonal) or wait for us both to be online on skype or count the notches on the clock to figure out if they are sleeping or no ... I just want to pick up the phone and chat. So the last few weeks I have been throwing myself a bit of a pity party, and who can I talk to about it ... so I have just creeped into my shell and hod from the world and avoided everything and everyone ... pretty darn lonely place!
So then my sister sends me her pic ... thanks Pam, talk about the straw that broke the camels back. Shows the connection we share with our loved ones, even 14474km away my sister just knows what I need!
So here is my sisters tear jerking picture to me ... I love you pic sis, goes without saying, apart from all the marshmallow stuff it is a nice picture!!



Ok after last weeks dismal attempt I promised I would apply myself this week. And I think I did.When I got my theme I thought of a friend who will remain nameless and the joke we share over said friends passion for pink lipstick (sure they even have a secret pink lipstick club ... LoL) and so I decided to break out of my norm of nature shots and photograph a real live person (LoL) and so asked my neighbours daughter to be model for a day. I did her make up (huge feat for me considering my relationship to make up is ... well ... it isn't), and we played around. She was great! and such a natural which made my job that much easier. So here is my PINK pic of the week:

Here are some of my other favourite pics from the shoot we did, was a tough decision choosing my pic!

Ok then almost last one, interesting on my sisters blog she has a photo of peach blossoms, all pretty and pink, they are having Spring at the moment so colour and pink especially must be bursting all around them, but it is Autumn here and look .... pink!! :-) Cool hey!

This last pic wasn't taken this week, but it is still one my favourite photo's I have taken ... where else in this crazy world of ours do you get to see a purple volcano? Ok it isn't pink but there are shades of pink! This pic was taken from my street, I arrived home one night to be greeted with this, so I ran inside and grabbed my trusty camera to immortalise that vision of absolute beauty.

So there you have it, this was a nice week, good theme!! Let's see what next week has in store ...
And Pam ... if you think it is hard missing me ... you should try missing you!

Through the eyes of sisters, week 7 Topic: WORK

WORK .... this has the potential to be such a powerful topic. Every week I come on moaning time in not on my side, I have made peace with that. Unfortunately rain and strong winds kept me from chasing the picture I really wanted for this week, once again I found myself scrambling at the end to get something to submit (my bad). Next week the kids are back at school and I am going to use at least one of those days to get the pic I want for whatever topic my sister chooses (and now that I have put that in the open watch the weather forecast I am going to be plagued with floods and snow storms and gales ... just because Murphy lives on my doorstep).

On the bright side of the lack of time it does at least force me to think harder and out of my usual train of thought, look for idea's I wouldn't have thought of first hand, so I guess that is a good thing.

My sister's picture is simply beautiful! It symbolises work at it's hardest ... and mother and her offspring ... lets be honest there is no job tougher than kiddies of any kind. I am not going to rewrite my sisters story because she always has such a way with words. She said it like this: a couple of weeks back I wrote about the swan sitting on her nest - well, she is still at it, earning her jewellry while she hatches her cygnets.  I chose her because she has not budged since she laid the eggs, you can go past her any time night or day and she is ALWAYS there.  That's WORK if you ask me, but then, ask any mother and she will tell you that children are hard work - there is no down time, no 'off duty' sign you can put up like a cab driver (although, that's not a bad idea!).  Regardless of how tired you are, you will still get up to answer the whimpers of a sick child, or wake up early to finish a science project . . . and here is this beautiful lady, sitting on hard round eggs for WEEKS for her progeny.  Is this mother nature or a nurturing mother?  I think raising young can only be a labor of love, so the answer is nurture.

For me mine is obviously a mad scramble, having to have my pic submitted last night at 7pm I was going "ummm ..... ummmm ... ummmm" then I decided to do something symbolising my new "work" my new job that I am so excited about. Now most photographers always show themselves with a camera in front of their face and one eye peeking out, you know the sort of pic I am referring to. Well that is all good and well but then if I do that I am not taking the pic and it is kinda the point to be a photo I have taken ... not? so I did the next best thing. It is a bit cliche is you ask me, I am not happy with this weeks submission but I am doing it regardless because I have committed and if you know me you know if I commit then I do it no matter what ;-)

Before I sign off thank you for all the positive comments, it is great to hear positive words coming from others, especially others with the same passion. xxxx

Through the eyes of sisters week 6, Topic: Old

Of course Old, seems like the sensible thing to follow new :-) I am so proud of myself (my sister too for that matter) we had our pics done not only on time but early. It was so easy to get lost in this topic, a world of yesteryear, both told and untold stories.

My sister took her pic from her car while still driving and having a rather interesting conversation with her kids, one I would love for her to elborate on one day, maybe I should make it next weeks topic then she can can not only explain but she can give me an illistrated explanation ... LoL. Her pic reminds me of a movie scene, one of those set in the 50's or so (my timing could be way off of course, I am not movie or period buff).

My pic of the week has a story behind it, of that I am sure (doesn't everything in life have a story?) the difference is I wish I could tell you the story. I can give explain the picture a little but that is about as much as I can do :( When my sister mailed me this weeks topic my mind did it's usual race thinking of what I can do, of course I had lots of idea's but then decided that being new to this region I know very little about the history, so I did some research, like any other place where humans are the Taranaki history is one of war and battles and violence, so I payed a visit to St Mary's Memorial and took a walk around, head stones and memorial plaques doned the place remembering a person or a family or people who parted us and were fought a brave fight, among all these granite and marble memorabilia or days gone bay was this weathered wooden cross, standing alone, no inscription, no description, nothing! It is clearly a grave of sorts, but who lay beneath? Was this person not worthy of even a mention? Very sad!! :'( I am making it a bit of a personal quest to find out who this is ... watch this space ...

I snapped a few more memorials, and could not let this one slip on by, it is in honour of Taranaki troopers who fell in the South African war.

This one is the newest of one in St Mary's garden, it is also on the opposite side to the others, once again I am not sure why, but am keen to find out.

Finally this is not a fancy granite stone, it is a tree!St Mary's Oak tree was planted in August 1899 from an acorn sent from Halifax, Yorshire, England. Of course this tree has more history than this but you are going to have to come visit me and read it yourself ;-)

Well now I have taken you on a walk down the path of Taranaki's yesteryear, a time in history that is immortalised in a garden. My turn to pic a topic ... ummmm ..... ummm ... 

Through the eyes of sisters week 5 Topic: New

So another week gone by and I feel like I am still living in a week 2 weeks ago ... LoL, my training is nearly over and I hope that means life will bare some normality for me, probably not since then I will be out on my own!

I chose the topic for this week, with a clear vision of what I wants, as always, it didn't happen, life happened instead. I figured that "new" is an easy topic, there are new things everywhere all we need to do is point and shoot, ah but there in lies the trick .... point and shoot ... hmmm that requires firstly a camera charged and ready, a moment of time and focus. Out of those 3 boxes I have can successfully tick NONE, and I call myself a budding photographer ... LoL, maybe one day when I am big.

I will start with my sister's pic, it brings a big smile to my face, it is just oozes her all over it. She took a pic of "Sunshine" not the firely ball of light in our sky, Sunshine is her birthday present. Yes my sister gives names to all her possessions, our whole family does, we name our cars, our pot plants, and even our bicycles apparently. I like my sisters birthday present, it just so sums up her in one glance, different, quirky, definitely a little odd, and seriously eccentric! May you ride many happy miles with sunshine all around, I love and miss you madly!!!

Now my turn, I openly admit my pic was a mad scramble, but then even going to the loo has been a mad scramble for me this week ;-)

There is something very few know about me, I am a sunrise and sunset kinda girl, I don't need romantic walks to appreciate them, I gaze dreamily at them from the windows of my house. I am obviously always awake to see sunsets and I am mostly awake before sunrise, I seldom miss one. There is just something about a sunrise that really brings promise and excitement to me. I watch the sunrising while making beds or tidying up or opening curtains or making school lunches, no matter what I am up to at that moment I peep through the window and watch the pallet of colours on display for the world to see, sadly most of the world doesn't see it. I do! I appreciate it. I watch and make mental notes of what the day will have in store, my to do list!! Consisting of yesterdays to do list, which also consisted of the day before's to do list which is not on today's to do list, sunrise holds a promise that I get to ignore my to do list for another day ;-) My pic for "new" is "A New Day" ... a new day is a promise of what is yet to come!

To all you sleepy heads out there who spend you life sleeping it away while the world keeps turning I have photographed the sunrise beginning to end, show you the beauty of life you are missing out on ... show you the true magical pallet on display. These moments are far to beautiful to be spent with your eyes closed!