Week 42 of 365 Challenge Landscape Week

This weeks images were all taken from close to home as the weather all week has been lousy. Lots of thunder storms and much as I love listening to them at night I'm not so keen on them spoiling my plans during the day. There was even a small tornado that ripped through some nearby farmland one night. It destroyed 125 gum trees, a barn and a wool shed and strong winds threw a lot of family trampolines around, but thankfully no one was injured and damage to houses seems minimal. 

These images were all taken between rain showers in local parks, except for the two mountain images. I hunted around town a bit trying to find a high spot with a view of each of them. In the first mountain image you can barely see any of it for clouds but I did catch a tiny bit of rainbow.

On the second mountain image more of the mountain is showing in spite of the clouds. It's not actually a cone shape like it looks though. It's actually a range of peaks leading off behind but they're not visible from this angle.

Next weeks theme is Tools. Now this brings to mind hammers and spanners etc but I've been thinking a bit about what other tools we use around the house so hopefully I'll be thinking outside the toolbox as it were :)

Have a great week!

Week 41 of 365 Challenge Lights/Light Fittings

I'm not sure what I was imagining when I picked this theme but I found that interesting light fittings were a bit tough to find in the wild, especially as the weather's been so bad, so I ended up in and out of a couple of lighting shops for most of the week. 

I have a couple of ideas for using the white lampshade in the top picture. It's shape reminds me of a flower and I'd like to see how it would look on a floor standing angled lamp. Not sure how it will turn out but it's worth a try. We could do with some extra reading lights in our lounge at night and I don't see why it has to look utilitarian and regular.

Next week is landscape week. I hope the weather improves because this week has been terrible.

Have a great week!

Week 40 of 365 Challenge Book Week

I love books!

I don't own as many physical books as I used to but my husband and children still have lots.

The famous five were my favorite when I was growing up and my daughter has come to enjoy them too.

Harry Potter is also a household favorite. I think we've all read them at least once.

The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border by Sir Walter Scott is the oldest book I've ever owned. Printed in 1802 it's in really bad shape but the fact that it's even around after 214 years proves that good books last and I'm sure I won't look as good at that age.

The next pic shows a very small section of my husbands woodworking books. He likes making wooden toys so most of the books are various toy making books. He does have a lot of other woodworking books too though.

A Child's History of England is the next book. I've discovered through family research that I'm directly related to Edward Longshanks (Edward the first) and as I come from a long line of Scots I know that some of them fought on the other side with William Wallace. That's what I like about history, you can see the rifts and wars between supposed different peoples that would never agree that they had common ground between them and yet here I am years later my genes a mixture of both parties. The lines between the differences blurred out. It just reinforces for me that we are all one, regardless of how separate we think we all are.

My bedside table with my current reading material. I just started using this lamp for reading at night and love it. It's much taller than my last lamp and combined with a brighter bulb, reading at night is much less of a strain on my eyes.

A book on my dining room table with the early morning light shining in.

Next week is lights and light fittings. 

Have a great week :)

Week 39 of 365 Challenge Water Week

Water week started off with rainy weather and I thought I might end up shooting puddles all week. Luckily it cleared and I got out more. The first shot was taken through the car window while I was a passenger. All the rest are a mixture of the local pond and lake. 

The lake is lovely. My daughter and I decided to walk around it as we hadn't done that before. We'd only been there with the Girl Guides when they were learning how to fly fish and cast the flies they had made. There were loads of people walking their dogs and joggers running around, it's obviously a popular spot. They must also sail on the lake from time to time as the yacht club has buildings there.

The walkway around is 5.73 km (3.56 miles) and is mostly flat graveled track with board walks over the wetter areas. The only downside is that I forgot it was duck shooting season. So when we were part way around we were startled by a load shot gun blast nearby. Hearts pounding and a few giggles later we found a little side track that must have led to the shooter's Mai mai, (hut/hide) though we couldn't see it among the bull rushes and scrub at the lake edge. It was a fun walk anyway.

Next week is Book week.

Have a great week :)

Week 38 of 365 Challenge Carvings Week

Carvings week was surprisingly easy. I had thought I'd have trouble finding enough carvings locally but between the carved items I have at home and the few larger pieces around town I had enough for the week.

This week fell during the kid's school holidays so I didn't really spend that much time thinking about what I shot. I just squeezed shots in around other activities.

Next week is Water week. 

Have a great week :)