Sunday - colour

I have such a backlog of these to catch up on :) lots of photos and no time to play... oh well, I am now WRITING MY CONCLUSION!!! wooohoooo - so to celebrate, here is some proof that spring is on the way - the frogs are back in my garden!

I thought this was very cute (keep in mind these frogs are tiny, about the size of the first joint of my thumb. I've never been able to photograph them before! I do so love the macro setting on my new camera!!!)

Sitting on the deck with bubby, I looked down and noticed a green frog on a brown leaf. How colourful, I thought to myself, and grabbed the camera.



Then looking up, I suddenly found myself looking at a brown frog on a green leaf...



Aren't they gorgeous?

A big welcome to the newest member of the Bordello, 'BeautifulBrownEyes' :) I hope you enjoy it here!

Steff says she has been having trouble with Blogger posting lately. Everything seems to be working tonight so fingers crossed it is back to normal.

I also notice Photo Friday's theme is 'Anger' which is going to be a tough one to photograph ;P I wonder if anyone else has some ideas?

Pherrets - Leaves

The Leaves on my snow pea - Soon I shall have enough snow peas to make a very very small stir fry

Boobiethon

Boobiethon - now theres a photo challenge and a half!!!

Occupation

I'm sure Steff must be feeling lonely here all by herself lately but she is bravely keeping up the amusement :) We had a huge storm on Sunday which knocked out the power for two days (for us that means no water as well) and the phone was out for three days... fun fun fun... anyway that means I am still struggling to finish my thesis first draft - it is now over a month late :( so NO time for procrastination, unfortunately - not even a quick weekly update! However, since I don't want Steff to give up on me entirely... here's a quick 'occupation' shot - you've all heard more than enough about my 'study occupation' so here's something I spend quite a bit of time dealing with every day...

Macro Sunday - Colour

An arty shot - Something different for me - I was playing with food dye trying t get it to bead on the plate - It wouldnt work so i went to wash it down the sink and discovered I loved the patterns produced from the intermingling of the dye as they washed off the plate down the sink.

Thursdays Challenge - occupation

There are enough Pics of me being a "home maker" and mummy so here is my past occupation - taken from the work newsletter of the time

TWO

Photo Challenge = TWO
Two little feet dabbling in the grass

Tuesday's Challenge

Red - A very Early picture of Kaelyn ;) My thats ALLOT of Red :)

Fridays Photo challenges

I missed last fridays - been light on the ground with visitors but here was my bright - It is blury unfortunatly because i had to turn off the flash to show the torch - this is Kaelyns normal facination with the torch she loves watching "tinkerbell" on the ceiling and just playing with the light in general



And this weeks is girl - this is "my little punk rocker with flowers in her hair" I can never tell if i like this one with more background or less - what do you think?

Home

Oh, and Steff, you were right about the wheelbarrow shot ;D this is my favourite - just enough barrow to catch the eye, and a good reflection! Unfortunately the petals were getting a bit soggy by then...

The fabled fridge

Hi folks,

well I survived the presentation... did you know that a 30 minute speech equals 3750 words? I was impressed... had to stay up till 5am writing it, didn't fall asleep until 5:30, and then David woke up full of beans & wanting to play at 6am... *wobble* I think I did surprisingly well under the circumstances! Anyway, I am just here to post my promised fridge picture, then I'm going to rattle off the quickest update ever, and finally, I'm going to try and race through the final two chapters I have to write before my long-suffering supervisor gives up on me altogether! (He was very nice on the phone today... it is very disconcerting talking for 30 minutes into a phone and not hearing ANYTHING from the other end, hoping that 15 people are sitting there hanging on your every word...)

the fridge...



we actually use two fridges next to each other - this is the one that stores the milk, chocolate, and cat food. I have two clear pictures of both fridges, but if I showed them, I'd have to spend hours ranting about how I disagree with MIL's fridge-packing technique... and since I don't have time... this is the first pic I took, when I had the camera on the wrong setting... I kinda like it :) It gives the impression of what a fridge looks like at 4am when you've been studying all night :P welcome to my world!

Thursdays Photo

Theme HOME

(we're on the edge)

Boredom strikes again as i do more of these things

in an evil attemt to distract my sister for a millisecond mwahahaha - Thats my job you know - as little sister - to get you to pay attention to me :) "I can't stand this any longer. Somebody please pay attention to me! Hello, pay attention to me! Look at me! I'm Bart, I'm Bart! Look at me, look at me, look at me!" lol

ANYWHO....
3x Thursday: Things You Look Forward To

1. While living your day-to-day life, what are 3 things you look forward to throughout the week?
a) Photo blogging (its true not a suck)
b) Warwick coming home from work
c) Watching neighbours (thats sad isn't it)

2. Thinking into the future, what are 3 things you look forward to achieving?
a) moving back to Sydney
b) my second child
c) Travel to Paris

3. Do you look forward to weekends? Why?
Oh Desperatly - though I love Kaelyn to bits - thats my relax time when i can sleep in or just bum a bit - but mostly i like them cause i like spending time with both warwick and kaelyn together

Bonus Question for Comments: Got anything special coming up that you're looking foward to? What is it?
A Trip to Porepunka - Ive never been there its out near mount buffalo its a great caravan park on the river - but mostly i ma looking forward to it because it will be our first holiday for ages - lately every bit of time off waz gets we head up to sydney - and its not that relaxing - inlaws and stuff - I am really looking forward to just having a holiday with our little family

"My" fridge!

I'm taking part in this one challenge just because I think it'll be pretty interesting...in my case. I've mentioned before that I'm not at my house, I'm at my brother's, because the internet thingy is now here. However, my brother and I still have meals at my 'official' house... so this fridge isn't exactly packed.

So there you have it: My brother's Gatorade/Powerade/Whatever bottles (that are all pretty and colorful), apples and a stray banana. ^_^;

Hungry for food

Both Wednes day challenge words can be summed up quite nicely in a photo i already had taken just a few days ago...and since posting i have just realised I have 2 full jars of mayonase open...so here is a challenge for you - what does the inside of your fridge look like?

shhh I'm not really here...

4000 words done, only 11000 to go... my lecturers are busy trying to arrange for me to give my presentation by video or telephone, so that's a massive bonus (can't remember if I told you that yet or not...)

David's been VERY actively teething and hardly sleeping today so I am functioning on about 4 hours sleep myself (anyone got some matchsticks to keep my eyelids open?)

just thought I'd pop in during a quick study break and post the pics Steff mentioned for you... save you going to my site :)

Moody Monday - ABSENT



(and to prove I didn't just throw a stone into the dam...)


Tuesday - STONE

Steff posted a bunny, so of course, I had to find a stone lion (if you know us, that will make perfect sense)... this was 2001, my graduation at Sydney University... I wonder if UNE will have a stone lion for me to be photographed with next year? I do hope so...

Moody Monday - Absent

In a vein similar to my sister's idea - I was going to do Kaelyn's cot when she wasn't in it but the more I thought about it the more spooked I became - thoughts of cot death (though she is way past that) or any other reason her little cot would be permenantly absent was just scary - I suppose it could be a lovely artistic shot that would capture that feeling of "absent" after losing a baby but I just didnt want to do it - something about making your fears too real. I would probebly have done it in a sepia tone
So here is my absent pic...



And the one who is absent home again

Way Back Wednesday

Way back Wednesday - Amusement Parks: roller coasters, games, carnies, what could be more fun? If you don't have an amusment park shot how about a fair or festival picture?



Ok this is the best I could come up with on a minature train...And yes I have a perm - one of the biggest mistakes of my life it looked dreadful lots of really tiny afro like curls - My sister of course looks glamerous and cool (for the late 80's) as always

Tuesdays Challenge - Stone

A stone Bunny Nestled in my garden

Manic Monday and Miss Elaine

Basic Comfort
Do you have a favorite comfort food? If so, what is it?
White bread - i Love fresh white bread - with peanutbutter about 1cm thick - or ham and cheese and tomato on fresh white bread - or anything on it yum yum

Where do you go when you need to re-charge or get away from it all?
bed with a book

Is there a certain item of clothing that always makes you feel better or more comfortable when you wear it?
My Corset - for two reasons - 1. because its sliming :) and 2. because my boobs are "lifted up where they belong" and no other item of clothing can do this - it is soooo comfie - i wasnt to go back in time to when they wore corsets all day long - oh bliss

The Cat’s out of the Bag!
1. I have always been fascinated with - Animals
2. My secret crush is- ooh i am at a loss for this one
3. I have a secret desire to- have massive amounts of liposuction
4. My family irritates me when- I am caught in the middle
5. I can keep a secret only if - Its about me

Macro Car

Can't decide which one i like most

Macro Sunday

I am going to have to put my head down and concentrate at full speed for the next week, with no excuses... so you won't be seeing me again for a while... wish me luck!!!

before I go, this Sunday's Macroday challenge is 'car'... my haiku is:

Old Holden Kingswood
parked in a paddock, rusting
and gathering moss.

(or, alternative last line)

and growing lichen.

I just can't decide which photo to use, so I'm putting it to a vote - I snapped these when David and I went for a walk during a break in the rain today - which one do you like best?

one:


two:


three:


four:


five:


They look better in a larger size with more detail, but this will have to do for now :)

pxite saturday

In case you're wondering, the photoblog for challenges on my website is so I can talk to Yeti about them :) while not mentioning this place, which is my (and hopefully your) little escape :P

lol... sorry for all the explanations about it... I think Steff's got me feeling guilty... methinks perhaps I'm procrastinating too much!

For 'reflection' I posted there the 'dam' photo you've already seen a few updates ago... but here I can post pics that I personally like, but which didn't quite turn out how I wanted them too...

Here's another 'reflectoporn' for Steff :P There's actually a naked baby botty somewhere in those mirrors, but I couldn't quite get the angle - this is my favourite attempt...



and this is the wheelbarrow full of rainwater and apricot blossom petals, reflecting the apricot tree... a good idea in theory, but it didn't turn out quite as nice as I imagined!



further to the argument saga... just wanted to share a verse from a song I heard the other day which seemed to help :) it's to the tune of 'Lord of the Dance'

When true simplicity is gained,
to bend and bow we shall not be ashamed;
to turn and to turn shall be our delight,
'til by turning, turning, we turn 'round right...

Thursday Photo Challenge - School

This is my first school photo:



Writing haiku to go with the photo challenges I'm posting on my website seems to have momentarily kick-started my muse. I surprised myself last week with my first new poem in over three years! Since it goes with the photo above, I thought I'd bore you with it...

Latham, ACT, 1979.

Six years old,
walking solitary to school,
I swept clean the sand
under trailing limbs of wattle
and bottle-brush.

Returning hours later,
I tried to read
what the trees
had written.

Writer's Digest ctd

And now... what you've all been waiting for... you can stop holding your breath... the time has come to find out... WHAT was in the wardrobe??? Hope you're not disappointed :P

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I must admit I squeezed my eyes tight shut at the moment of truth. If I was going to have my throat ripped out by the feral dustbunnies of doom (my current theory as to what was making the noise) then really, I would prefer not to see it coming!

After several seconds passed in total silence with no severed jugular, I risked a peek. It took some searching, but finally, behind my shoe rack, I spied a little man, no bigger than my hand. In the feeble glow from my torch, I could just make out a shock of untidy red hair and a long bushy beard to match. He was dressed all in green, from his pointy hat to the toes of his pointy little shoes. The back of his coat appeared to be snagged on a protruding nail.

"Don't just stand there gawping like a great ox. A little help, if you please?" he squawked, in a broad Irish brogue.

"Are you an elf?" I inquired, incredulously.

"An elf? An ELF?" he spluttered, struggling to free himself from the nail that held him fast. "No I'm not an elf, you blithering idiot. I'm a... err... um... yes. Yes, I am an elf. I've come to mend your shoes. That's me. A shoe-mending elf. So, if you could just set me free and close the door, I'll get back to work. Tippy tap. Tippy tap." He said, pretending to hammer on a nearby heel.

I was getting tired of standing bent over, talking to a deep dark corner of my wardrobe, so I gently disentangled him, being sure to keep a firm grip around his waist. Holding him in front of me, I shone the torch on him for a better view.

"'Ere! Get that blanky light out of me eyes," he growled in his squeaky little voice.

I had seen all I needed. The buckle on his belt was a miniature shamrock. My suspicions were confirmed.

"You're a leprechaun!" I exclaimed.

"Begorrah, you're a smart one," he replied with a sneer. "Figure that out all by yourself, did you? Yup. You've found me out. Now be a good lassie and let me get about me business."

"Not bloody likely," I said, gripping him tighter as he squirmed. "I know the stories. You've got to give me your pot of gold!"

"That old myth? Look at the size of me, girly. You think I can lug a lumping great pot of gold around with me?"

"Magic?" I queried hopefully. After all, he was pretty puny.

"Ha! If I had any magic, do you think I would have spent the last hour stuck behind your smelly shoes?"

I guessed not. Just then the torch flickered and threatened to die. I momentarily loosened my grasp and before I knew it, the leprechaun had wiggled free. He darted back into the wardrobe, banging the door shut behind him.

I was about to lunge after him when the last ray of light faded from the torch. The banging door must have woken my husband, because a sleepy voice inquired 'what was going on'? I could hardly tell him that I wanted to turn on the light at 3:30am so I could chase a leprechaun in my wardrobe, so I sighed, said "nothing", and crawled back into bed, hoping that would be the end of my adventures for the night.

The next morning, as soon as I had the room to myself, I pulled everything out of the bottom of the wardrobe. I could find no cracks or holes, no way of knowing how or why the leprechaun got in there or where he escaped to, but in the back corner, right underneath the bent nail, I swept up a few tiny specks of glittering gold.

Stuff Portrait Friday

Well, my folder of unread journal articles is finally empty... I can start actually writing my thesis now... so to celebrate... a 'thinking' STUFF PORTRAIT FRIDAY woohoo!

1. Your Freedom

I thought about this for a while and realised that the freedom I enjoy most lies in my pen... my creativity... my writing... where I can create whole worlds to escape into, ordered just the way I want them to be! The books are two of the exercise books I use to archive my poems - I covered them in the prettiest paper I could find.

2. Your Hope

Yup, not for a while yet, but maybe next year, I definitely hope to have more children - a pair of little sisters for David would be ideal, but I won't be fussy. I just hope they are as healthy and happy as he is!

3. Your Wish

This is a bit more abstract - the painting was done by Nana - Dad's mum - of a beach where we once all went for a holiday. The shells I inherited from Grandma - Mum's mum - who was given them during the war by an American sailor. My wish? Much as I love our bush lifestyle, I wish we lived by the sea. It surprised me but the more I thought about it, I realised that I wish this more than anything else in the world. I wish we lived by the sea!

Would I abandon you???

just because I'm posting on my site doesn't mean I don't intend to be here too... just a little distracted at the moment... and I'm sure the others will jump in when they feel inspired :)

Friday photo challenge = boy

That's an easy one :P
here you go - and it's not what you're expecting!!!

This is a picture my Dad sent me yesterday, to show how much my little laddie looks like him! Gee, I do hope that doesn't mean bubbykins will grow up to look like this:

Boy eating friiday feast

My big boofy boy - I miss him...everyday I question if i did the right thing sending my bunnies to a new home - I will always feel I abandoned them.

I'm starting to wonder - Michelle is posting most of her photo challenges to her website and i seem to be the only one posting here - have i taken it over?

FRIDAY FEAST
Appetizer
Name 3 things that you are wearing today.
Black Striped Pants, Pink hooded zipper top, christmas earings

Soup
Who was the last person you hugged?
Kaelyn of course

Salad
What do you like to order from your favorite fast food place?
Strip sub

Main Course
What time of day do you usually feel most energized?
Morning after aerobics

Dessert
Using the letters in your first name, write a sentence. (Example: Sweet unusual spaniels are nice.)
So The Evening Passes Here Apathetically Now Internet Encumbered

"Half-Nekkid Thursday!"

My belly button looks so sad - but this was actually a pic of my lovely stretch marks - aren't they cute :)

Thursdays Photo Challenge-School

This is my first school photo - taken in kindergarten...There are so many things about this photo I love - I love the backdrop of brown paper, my Blue Skivy and red knit jumper - I used to never understand why my mother always dressed me in skivvies and now i find myself doing it all the time to kaelyn. And lastly my hair - I hated short hair - i felt it made me look like a boy but most of all what is happenning with my fringe - I must have cut it myself - either that or mum was into the vodka lol

Way Back wednesday

A photo of your clothing from the early 90's - Arent we Sexy

SPRUNG!!

Myth has been doing photo challenges behid our backs!! I just saw her entry on the "time" challenge for last tuesday!!
:O

TIME - the clock I look at the most is my kitchen clock - bunnykins of course - given to me by myth (incidentally the photo she did of time was a watch i gave her :) I love it however if i look to closely at it...well it does look like they are taking a trip in a dildo rocket to the moon - it could just be me...

occasional amusement

Well she said "I am relying on you guys to provide me with some occasional amusement!!!" and finally I have the internet up and working after almost a week with only being able to get on it for 5 min every 6hrs or not at all - gasp gasp - sweet sweet friend - (kisses laptop passionately and then notices you all looking at me in a strange and slightly uncomfortable way) ahem well anyway - CHALLENGES YAHH

Let me catch up last fridays photo challenge was SILVER - my most precious silver item is this charm


On the front it says "he who holds the key holds the key to me heart" and on the back "Warwick holds the key" and he does - if you look carefully he wears a tiny key around his neck ...has done for nigh on 13 years now. I bought the pendant 3 weeks after we started going out - hey I was 17 break pendants were all the rage...unfortunatly I lost it on a dirty weekend in dapto so then searched high and low and rebought it for one of our wedding aniversaries.

Moving right along...

Thanks for letting me vent, guys - I love you for your support :D

and to prove it, here's my latest obsession... I got tired of floating bottles over the sea... and I rediscovered music!

You can find me here, revelling in my own personal free radio station... bopping away while working away on my thesis...

http://www.last.fm/user/FractalMyth/

Download it here: http://www.last.fm/tools/downloads/

If you join, add me as your friend ;D

Not a challenge

or perhaps the greatest challenge of all.

See what it says up the top there about "in the end you're only screwing yourself"? I should have realised I was being prophetic when I found that quote. I didn't really believe it.

My marriage is collapsing around my ears. I have never seen my husband more furious with me. He feels like I have been treating him like shit. He has said he wants nothing more to do with me.

"I do love you. I'm sorry I haven't shown it lately."

"Lately? I've been putting up with this from you for ten years. You wouldn't know love if you fell over it."

He's probably right. In fact, I'm sure of it.

Every now and then he smiles and makes a joke to me. There's a slim hope left and I'm clinging to it with everything I've got. But it's not going to be easy... or enjoyable.

This is my last chance. Change or life will change around me. And not for the better.

The funny thing is... I thought I was doing ok... that everything was fine. I couldn't understand why he was so upset. Then I started to think, and to notice all the little ways I was cutting into him, making demands and giving nothing in return. So it must be true - screwing yourself does make you go blind.

The rollercoaster's going to need an awful lot of faith to pull it up this hill. I'm scared. I don't think I can. I don't think I can. I don't think I can. But staying in a marriage that's going... no, gone sour and trying to make it sweet again takes more courage than giving up and running away. I have had many many chances to run and I insisted that this was what I wanted and that I was going to make it work no matter what. I know it takes two. I have been the absent one, here in body but not spirit.

No, I don't want to talk about it any further. That won't help.

God help me to change. God help us.

"You've made your bed, now you have to lie in it." That's what my mother told me after our wedding.

I have work to do.

At least when we stop yelling at each other, we're still talking.

friday photo challenge - silver

lol... silver and a self portrait... well, kinda... I bought this teapot from a flea market years ago... the silver is all worn, spotty and tarnished, no matter how I try to polish it, so it's not very good quality - but I couldn't resist those flowery legs ;D

There's a milk jug and sugar bowl in the set as well... I sometimes use the sugar bowl as a vase.