Myriad Me

Little duck feet

We live one street away from a lake which although close for us, is quite a walk for little duck feet.

So we were somewhat surprised to find a fluffy little family resting on our front lawn one morning.

And the next morning, and the next, and the next...

We enjoyed their company for over a week and would often see them traipsing along the street enroute to our shaded cool lawn.

Until one day they came no more.

How wonderful it was that for a brief time, our 'everyday' included sitting on a green lawn with a Mama duck and five peeping balls of fluff dozing at arm's length away from us.

A recipe for sunflowers

Take 5 sunflower seeds. Plant and water them well. Wait 6 days for them to sprout.

Pull up 6 paving slabs, remove half of the sand underneath and dig in compost and veggie scraps to enrich the earth.Transplant the little seedlings and tend them daily.

Watch as they grow from spindly, inch-high seedlings until they are the same height as your child.

Feed, water and love them until they are the same height as you, and are promising you an enormous sunny flower.

Keep feeding and watering them, harvest several courgettes from the plants next to them, keep watching them grow until you have to look up to see their just-opened blooms.

Study the wildlife that are drawn to the sturdy stems and flowers, for a nibble and a rest.

Watch the honey bees smother themselves in pollen, seemingly unable to resist burying their heads deep into the stamens and drenching themselves with tiny yellow specks.

Remember that you grew these from a seed. That with the right conditions, tender attention and care, and a touch of luck you can create beauty. Step back, and enjoy,

The Full Lunar Eclipse from Perth

In case you missed it, there was a full lunar eclipse last night and there won't be another one until 2014.

I've never taken night photos before and after a few false starts and some googling, I managed to (mostly) get the right settings:

I don't look skywards at night-time anywhere near often enough. There is an enormous velvety sky up there set with twinkling diamonds, and it is beautiful.

On the next clear night wherever you are, go outside and look up.

It's simply magnificent.

The Peacock

As males of the species go, the peacock is a standout. The peahen? Phht. Boring yawning brown. The peacock?

Well, I think he knows precisely how good he looks. Haughty and confident in his magnificence.

From his fluffy, mottled and rust coloured britches which he shimmies while he fans his tail, to his countless elegant eyed feathers which he hauls behind him...

He sings it loud.

I am the peacock.

No I don't think you heard me.

I AM the peacock.

Join me for a Moment in Time?

Goodness. It's been more than 12 months since the last Moment in Time. How did that happen?? To be fair I've had a little bit on my mind but still, over a year? I think it's definitely time for another one!

All you have to do is take a photo on Saturday November 5th and email it to me (click on 'Contact' for my email address if you don't have it). Use your camera phone, DSLR, SLR, pen and ink, I'll accept all formats and I'll put the photos together into a mosaic with details of the location and photographer.

If you'd like to take part please let me know so I can include your image in the mosaic. Look inside, outside, up, down, under, behind, on, in, everywhere for inspiration! Pop that reminder into your calendar now...

Koalas at Caversham

There are countless jokes I could make about how much cuteness can you bear?

How baby koalas are so beary beary cute, and sleeping koalas, well, I can bearly take any more of their snoozing gorgeousness...

So instead I'll just let these pictures speak for themselves.

These incredible little bears are at Caversham Wildlife Park and I felt incredibly lucky to be able to stand inches away from them.

Access to the enclosure where the babies are is restricted to 30 minutes a day and thanks to my sister-in-law doing her homework we were there for pretty much most of that time. It was utterly enchanting, almost meditative observing their slow movements and long dozes. I could have stayed and watched them all day long.

We were allowed to stroke one of the mums with the back of our hand over her downy soft fur, and I so wished I could have held one for a cuddle.

It was magical being so near to them with no fence between us, no telephoto lense needed, having them right there to appreciate and coo over.

And to have one look right back at me, well, that was just exquisite. A perfect moment, one to tuck into my pocket of happy memories.

26 in 2011 - Sky

One thing I will say about Australia is that it is a land underneath vast blue skies on an epic scale. I think it might be time to finally invest in that wide angle lense, after I have the shattered LCD screen on my camera repaired (or upgraded, I still haven't decided!).

Unless you are in the CBD, most buildings across the city are single or double storey so there is nothing between you and the cloud-dotted blue above.

And being the third windiest city on the planet the skies above Perth are perfect for flying kites (does that cloud above look a little bit like the UK?) ~ and kite surfing ~

The seabreeze, or, as the Tourism Commission likes to call it - the Fremantle Doctor - is brisk by late afternoon and stretches the pretty cottonwool puffed clouds into streaks drifting at pace across the sky ~

When it rains here, and yes it does happen occasionally, it usually rains hard in a monsoonal, torrential downpour. But the brisk winds clear the cloud cover quickly, revealing blue, blue, and more sweeping stunningly beautiful blue. It is the perfect canvas.

(Thank you Fiona for the above pic).

Being flooded with light and blue sky daily is something I notice, and appreciate. For however brief a moment I turn my face skywards, inhale and let the vastness wash over me.

She flies

She starts by standing and peering over the edge, judging the distance and her landing zone. Backing up several metres she then begins her run and without so much as a moment's hesitation, she leaps ~

She soars, savouring the thrill of the moment ~

She flings out her arms and tucks up her knees, fearless, laughing with the sheer joy of flying through the air and landing in the soft sand ~

 ~ and then she goes again ~

~ and again ~

Can you remember what it was like to fly?

26 in 2011 - Water

I've realised that I might not get through the remaining topics for my 26 in 2011 photo assignments. And that's ok.

There won't be the time to devise and shoot all of the pictures that I had in mind for each one. And that, too, is ok.

I will do what I can, and love what I do.

In this coastal town there is water in abundance. In lakes and rivers, streams and oceans. It is integral to the lives of the thousands of people who choose to live nearby and play in, on or under it.

We are drawn to the water. To the lakes near our home, and to the coastline, the picture perfect beaches, to the 180 degrees of blue ocean which reflects, foams, churns, rests, swirls, froths, ebbs and flows in and around some of the happiest moments of our lives here so far.

London was a city lived largely in the interior - in all of those wonderful museums and galleries and churches and restaurants and built up urban areas; in Perth we live our life more outside and near to water so that we can be on, in and under it.

As lifestyle choices go, this one is turning out to be pretty darn good.

Photos by a 4 year old

On an early morning sojourn to the markets I need caffeine so we order and sit down.

Sophia knows I carry my iPhone with me. Everywhere.

'Mum'

(she has started to call me 'Mum' more and 'Mummy' less. She keeps growing, this little/big girl. Slow it on down baby)

'Yes babes'

(she sometimes calls me 'babes'. I can't think where she gets this from)

'Can I play with your phone?'

'Yep' I say as I hand it over. It's not like it's the first time.

With a few quick swipes and taps she's into Hipstamatic. She's IT savvy this one.

'Mum hold this'

I barely pause mid-conversation to take the coin and keep talking while she shoots.

My chipped nails are electric blue, a paint-job by my 7 year old niece. My hair is almost black thanks to a recent home-dye job.

'Mum hold this one up now'

She is lining shots up. I start to pay more attention. She is moving the phone around trying to get the placement she wants. That's my girl.

'Mum, look at me'

I strike a pose because I know it will make her giggle. And that's something always worth hearing.

She snorts.

'Muuuuum!'

I look at my girl.

My incredible, bold, sensitive, funny, sweet, shy, kind, creative, bright little love of my life.

And she takes my picture.