line of colours

This is what I see on my clothesline on Sundays these days.  (unless its raining)  :)

Bit different to the black and whites ;)  but we are LOVIN it.

MIss C for Crows

I had a quick catch up with this little ball of fun. I just love to spend time with her Mum, but somehow the camera always comes out ;)    There's not much choice in her home. It Adelaide Crows or nothing. I secretly hope she'll rebel and barrack for Port Power.

(the red is not this awful in the full res file. Its blobbed in the hat when it was resized)

more of Miss C since she was born here at Tiff Firth Photography

no hoof, no horse

There's an old saying: "no hoof, no horse"

Over the last 6 weeks or so I've been struggling with my right foot. While at the Doctors for a bunch of other things (it was a long list of woe) I mentioned about my foot.

In the mornings it feels like a club. It feels like I can't stretch out the toes or the arch to walk properly. I keep wanting to massage the underside of my foot.  It feels kind of numb and just not right. By the arvo my toes are numb and my foot is on fire.  It's not actually hot to the touch but it feels like fire. (hard to explain unless you've had it)

An ultra sound confirmed Bursal Neuroma Complexes in two spots between my toes on the top of my foot. Basically the sheaths around the nerves are inflamed and swollen, thus constricting the nerve within the sheath. This explains the numbness, the fire and the club feeling.

One of my options was to see a Podiatrist, which I have done so. He recommended for me go up a size in the kids Asics Gel Sole Runners that I wear ( I have a small but wide foot) so now the shoes are basically too long, but wide enough. As there are no 1/2 sizes in kids runners, I've had to go up a whole size. I'm either a ladies 4 or now a kids 6 in runners. Try finding a ladies 4!!!!

This is step one. If I have no relief then I'm looking at orthotics. I have had them before as a kid and wore them until they were so thin they snapped.

I had the new runners for a week and was getting along really well with them. No fire, no numbness, no problems. Until Wednesday. I wore them to golf as I had worn them in for the week prior. By the time I putted the third hole, I ripped my shoes off. I've never felt my foot on fire like that. I paddled in the creek to cool the heat. I continued to play bare foot to finish the first nine holes.

Red hot fire. I couldn't get my mind on the game at all, and I was playing terribly. When my partner for the day asked if I wanted to stop and not play on after the first nine, I had to take a deep breath and say yes. Then I burst into tears. I felt so friggin weak. I don't give up easy and I always try my damnedest to keep going. I felt like I was putting her off her game as I was playing so shit. Her kindness took me off guard. If she hadn't suggested it, I wouldn't have stopped. Being too bloody minded.

A group of three golfers came up behind us broke into pairs with my partner, and off they went on to finish their second nine. I walked in the creek to cool my foot and searched for golf balls. Usually a ball in the creek stays there as you don't want to get wet shoes going in after it. (wet socks and walking 5kms or more isn't a good idea). And generally you don't have the time to get shoes and socks off and on to go in after it.

I was afraid that if I stubbornly pushed on, then I wouldn't be able to walk at all the next day. As it turned out, two days later and it hasn't settled overly much at all. Right now its on fire. I wore my Rossi Boots yesterday to see if a different pair of shoes would help. Nup. Even bare feet doesn't offer relief.

I guess I'm looking at step two now. Orthotics.

Right now my foot consumes my thoughts. I can't pretend to ignore it as it won't let me. I 'clump' around the house and catch myself continually trying to massage the numbness. And its on fire.

I don't mean this to be a pity post at all. It's more of a record for me to refer back to from a scrapbooking point of view. My blog is my virtual diary and I do refer back to it over and over again.

I hope no one that I know ever gets this. I feel so hamstrung, as I am normally have such a busy life. Right now I'm a ball of frustration.

shmee

My last article for Scrapbooking Memories is about 'letting go'. Let the camera go into someone else's hands and letting go of inhibitions so you can be in front of the lens.

While I have tons of photos of the kids, I have precious few of me, or me with the kids. And that's really all my fault. I don't like being front of the camera so I haven't let it happen. 

Both Sean and Annie are showing an interest in the camera so they like to fire off a few shots when we are out and about. If I didn't let go of the camera, and trust them with it (it is bloody big and heavy in their hands), and let go of inhibitions, then I would never have this all time favourite photo of me taken by Sean.

runaways

I'm really enjoying the 'hint of gold' trend at the moment. I repurposed the gold ribbon from a gift and thought it perfect to work with this LO. I must admit, the ribbon gives the whole LO a bit more than 'a hint' of gold, but I still love it.

The gold self adhesive glitter paper went through the Silhouette like butter. I googled around a bit and learnt to make sure that the glitter does not rub off the paper with a finger rub test. I didn't want glitter to contaminate my machine. I also learnt to to flip whatever it is I'm cutting and cut it on the back of the glitter paper. I don't know why, but it worked a treat, so I'm sticking with that tip.

believed in myself

I've taken a leap of faith, believed in myself and invested in a marketing tool to promote my business and to keep up with technology. Clients of Tiff Firth Photography will now have their set of images delivered on an 8GB USB. Purple of course 

port lincoln comp results

Gosh the Cummins boys shone. Each one of the boys had their own personal challenge with an apparatus while training. I can so proudly say that they met that challenge and conquered it.

I'm thinking of one boy who had found it difficult doing his back hip circle unless I spotted him. He nailed without me having to assist at all. Whooo hoooo.       And for another boy to move from the back hip circle with control into his underswing without letting go on the forward of the swing. He nailed it.         Another boy who found the pommel a challenge he finished it without his body collapsing due to bent elbows. His arms were ramrod straight.

One of the Mum's made me sook a bit as she was sooooo happy to see her son achieve when we spoke after.

I had our boys go to each judge after their rotations had finished to thank them. We were the only club that did that. I was a bit shocked at that, and pleased to see how chuffed the judges were to be acknowledged.  Manners cost nothing, but I bet those judges will remember the Cummins Club for being polite.  A bit sad to think this is an exception rather than the rule.

I've been really blessed to have started this coaching gig with 6 boys who really, really want to do their best. They burn to train. They burn to achieve and achieve they did. Both with personal goals and within their levels.

But the main thing I've taken away from this competition is the sense of fun the boys had. There was one club there and their boys were robots, didn't seem to be enjoying the experience, never smiled. Little machines. That's fine for them, but that's not my ethos. I want our boys to work hard but enjoy their day.  Their parent's had big smiles because their boy's smiles were so big. Win/Win.

I'm really chuffed how Sean went.  He's improved a lot on his vault as that has always been his weak point.  Overall he came 8th out of 11 so we are still in full training for the Adelaide comp at the end of this month.  Full training is 3 times a week.

As I was on the floor coaching, I didn't take my camera. But I do have photos coming at some point from other people.

inspired by John Sands Valentine's card

I couldn't sleep last night for quite a while, thinking about the Gym Comp today. So instead of thrashing around for ages, I got up and scrapped.  And this is what happened.  Praps I should sleep deprive myself more often lol.

Simple, understated, elegant.

Gym Comp details tomorrow. I'm fried after today. 

coaching - my thoughts so far...

One more sleep. Just one more sleep and the big Lincoln Gym Comp day has arrived. And I'm so very excited.

Being the Cummins MAG (Mens Artistic Gymnast) coach is my first ever gig as a coach in my own right. I've studied, trained, been mentored and generally tried to soak up as much information as I could to help the 6 boys fly.

And fly they are. In fact last Sunday morning one of the boys rang me up to ask if we could do gym that day. He really, really made me feel pretty damn happy to hear him so keen and so want to be the best he can, and that he'd asked for extra training to get him there.  (of course I said yes). And yesterday (Friday),  I had a non compulsory training for those who wanted to come or choose to have a rest day. Four of the six trained. Man I was chuffed with them.

I was a bit out of my depth at the beginning of our 2014 gym season, and I made no bones about that. I've been to the Lincoln club as an assistant coach on the floor to watch, learn, ask my million questions, learn how to spot and mold the boys shape while on apparatus. I can't thank the Lincoln Club enough for their generosity and their help for the good of our sport.

Its been a very rewarding learning curve and I really didn't expect to feel so intensely how I'm feeling now. The boys have come such a long way and I'm just so hugely proud of them.  (insert very proud coach moment)

So tomorrow is the first comp with me as their coach. I can't wait.  And in 3 weeks I have four of the six boys in Adelaide at the Country Championships. That weekend will be huge for all of us. And I'm excited to be responsible for that.

Goooooooo Cummins.

happy valentines

I got down and messy the other night, and I'm more than thrilled with the result. The photo was taken back in 2010 and the whole shoot was inspired by a John Sands greeting card.

Even though the date is not Valentine's Day, it's the emotion I wanted to portray.  (the kids actually air kissed as they didn't want to mix girl and boy germs together hehehehe)

runaways

I repurposed the lace from a garment when I was collecting the chocolate brown sequins.  Perfect vintage touch for the fictional story of 'the runaways'

Layout created for Scrapbooking Memories Photography Brief Volume 16, number 10.  The article was about 'Dress Ups'

h2o

This was such a fun LO to create. 

There's a bit of a story behind the mother of pearl sequins. I was just starting my love affair for sequins, and at this point I had very few. I went to the local Op Shop to look for garments that had sequins that I could reuse. I hadn't been to Port Lincoln for some time to collect the beginning of my stash of them.

This Layout was used for the Scrapbooking Memories Photography brief, where I described the tricks I had learnt with underwater photography. Volume 16, Number 9.

treasure these moments

Great Grandparents are very special and very wonderful people. And we really treasure these moments when we can get together. Distance means those hugs only happen only a couple times a year.

oh yeah

This Layout was a collaboration project between Lou Nelson and myself which featured in Scrapbooking Memories Vol 16 number 8.  The Layout demonstrated Aperture and supported the article that I wrote for the magazine.

Many thanks Lou.  x