Happy New Year with Cherries on Top !

Here we go again ... another year.  Good wishes to all of us that it's a great one :D)

Lovely to be back, and I'm keen to catch up with everyone once more.

Random offerings in this post, starting with dessert:
oooh la la.... memories of a trifle that was definitely not to be trifled with!  Our Daughter's Christmas Day Delight... it had everything, and more !  We slept well that night ;D)

Now for a walk along the sandy shoreline.
Couldn't resist snapping this truly random find:

Here's a photo opp that I did set up.
I plunked the mussel shell in the water and was happy to watch it drift on its way - floating and bobbing along:

Sometimes, it's lovely to just float along.
I remember as a child, floating with only my eyes, nose and mouth out of the water, hearing nothing much at all except the underwater sounds. 

A couple of 'firsts for 2015' ... our first coffee for the new year:

I couldn't resist adding a loveheart I cut and pasted from our coffees we played around with a few years' ago

... and our first Turkish Coffee for the year.  Very strong - hits the spot!

We treated ourselves to some pretty little cups

Ha ha, I warned this post contained random offerings :D)
Here's a recycling thingy I thought up because I don't like having to clean chopping boards after cutting up raw meat... you know, how those little bits of meat (especially chicken) cling determinedly to the board.
Well, I washed and cut empty UHT milk containers and they're excellent for one-off uses as cutting surfaces.  No washing up, just throw away after use!

Finally, I'd like to end on a pretty note.
The ability to photograph white flowers seems to escape me, however, I had a lucky moment a few weeks ago:

Thanks for popping over :D)

A mixed bag today !

Hello everyone,

Well, the movie "Love Actually" was on telly last night so Christmas is definitely near!  It's one of my 3 favourites that I can watch again and again.   The others are "My Blue Heaven" and, I can just hear my darling groan  (in a painful way) when he reads this... "Out of Africa"  lol ;D)

My selection of photos come from another one of our recent walks and we were greeted firstly with the happy squeals of a toddler learning to fly his kite.  A happy little scene:

A flying fish no less !
A bit different to our paper and string kites of eons ago :D)

Gall-ing
We were walking around the bush to the left of the kite flying family and I decided to take a photo of these things that were on certain trees we pass when we walk in this area:

I wondered if they were some kind of bush fruit perhaps, so decided to take some photos and investigate.
Silly me, turns out they are galls caused by a special kind of wasp.  The tree is a coastal wattle Acacia longifolia.

Just happened to see this little fellow on one of the leaves near the galls. All in all, by the state of the Acacia,  I guess it's not feeling the brightest !

Rubbish... grrrrr
Further on, we were walking right by the water and I saw this:

... and this:

the movement in the water kind of distorts what it is but, yeah, more rubbish into the beautiful lakes system.  Takes all kinds doesn't it!


More Sweet Swans
Anyway, moving on, we turned the corner and saw a sight that put a big smile back on our faces:

Mum and Dad Swan and their little one

I could almost imagine the cygnet was playing a game of peek-a-boo:

So sweet.

My Artwork and Photos
At the suggestion of my good friend Vicki of Eucalypt Habitat I've been creating a portfolio of my artwork and photographs on one of the online sites she suggested.  I decided to give it a go and so chose Redbubble.  I remember Deb of Ramblings of a Square Peg in a Round Hole suggesting the same spot a few years' ago but I never followed her up.  Well, now I have paintings as well as pics, so why not!!

It's been a learning curve... so much to learn but lots of easy tutorials are there to help.  Lots of helpful technical advice for taking photos for specific purposes and products too.
They seem a very professional site with a good reputation and copyright matters are a high priority. While it's the first time I've ever done anything like this, I'm happy that I've started:

If you'd like to pop over sometime you'd be most welcome, here's the link to my portfolio which I add to every few days: susansometimes on redbubble

Well, that's about all for this post.  I shall pull Froggie out of the archives so that he can spread some Christmas Cheer on the header.  See you over at yours ...  :D)

Hello again

Just sliding back into my little place in the blogosphere and picking up where I left off.

I had a quick look through the blogs in my sidebar and it's beaut to see all the familiar names there.
I can see there's been a lot of travelling, birdwatching, cooking, gardening, sewing, painting and all things in between that have been going on, so it will be nice to catch up with each of you once more.

I've been painting a lot over the past few months, and we've been walking nearly every day.  Life's been quiet and peaceful and that's the way we like it.

Here's a few pics of what's been happening in our part of the world:

Our Magpie family thought it about time we became acquainted with their new addition,
so they brought baby to our yard for a feed.

It's a greedy young thing ... noisy too !

This is some of the beautiful scenery we see during our walks. 

... lots of funny little worm tubes

This year's hatch of cygnets with their protective parents

Adorable cuties aren't they !

My latest additions to my windowsill collection of plants...  truly amazing how much one
windowsill can hold !!

A page from my sketch book... such a peaceful thing to do with a pen and a few splatters of colour.
I've popped a couple of my other paintings up in my header. 

Here's my next challenge... painting the glass jar.
Fortunately, there are lots of helpful Youtube videos out there
by very generous artists.  I'll learn from them.

I'm never short of inspiration for paintings - how magnificent is this simple geranium
(pelargonium)

Well, that's me for now.  Thank you for your visits while I was absent.  I'm going to take pleasure in returning the courtesy and will see you over at yours :D)