New Zealand Day 6 7.8.2013

The weather forecast wasn't the greatest for today, but once again the weather man got it totally wrong. Instead of wind and rain, the breeze died away and it snowed at The Remarkables in the afternoon.

The kids had their ski lesson this morning and they both were deemed good enough to go up the chair lift for their end of the lesson.

I’m so gosh darn proud of them. They came down in each of their groups with the biggest smile on their faces. Even though it was breezy and that definitely had a wind chill factor involved, they both just beamed. Rosy pink cheeks chin and tip of their noses. I ducked into the ski shop and found a neck gaiter each to cover their neck, ears, chin, cheeks and nose. It looks like a thick fleecy headband that slips over the head and sits on the neck. It can be pulled up to cover whatever you want. Even Kym thought they were a good idea.

While the kids were doing their thing I strapped the GoPro to Kym’s head to record his skiing of the slopes from the Sugar Bowl down to the Alta Chair lift. And as it so happened he had a stack. It’s been his only one and it’s all there film for the kids to see. Teeheeee.

So while we were having lunch it started to snow. The kids just had to go out and catch snowflakes, stick their tongues out to taste them and just generally get in amongst it. As well as click on their skis and run amok in it. Oh and it was 0 degrees.

Now the kids were up to using the chair lift there is a tunnel on the slope they zoom through for a bit of fun. I asked one of the Ski Patrol boys if they were able to kindly run me up the slope in their snowmobile so I could photograph the kids coming through it. It was a bit of a hike otherwise and my hiking boots aren't that waterproof. They were only too happy to zoom me up there. On the way we passed one coming down with a passenger with his arm in a sling. It didn't look that good.

It was still snowing in earnest and I was able to get myself with my back to the incoming flurries and keep the camera under my unzipped jacket to keep it reasonably dry. Fortunately the Slingshot bag comes with a weather cover so I was able to protect the bag and its contents with that. I guess I waited about 10 mins before the kids let me know they were about to come through.

And I stayed on the spot for their second run to film them ripping through it. 30 minutes later my beanie was crunchy with frozen snow and my back was pretty well covered. And my shoes were wet and I had cold feet. But it was worth it. While I was waiting I took a shot of the chairlift disappearing into the snow to get an idea of the snow.

I walked back down to the bottom which was a bit of a trick in itself. I've had my ice cleats on every day as soon as I get to The Remarkables and they help immensely. But nothing can stop the glasses from fogging up and there was no way I was taking them off while walking into the snow. Snow and eyes don’t mix. Near the bottom I just couldn't see the ground and I mistimed a step and down on my bum I went. I reckon I slid a couple of meters before coming to a stop. I laughed so hard. It would have been funny to watch from the ski chair perspective as they were moving over head.

The next few shots show some of the skiers as they came in and how crusted with snow they were. The four blokes in their Cookie Monster onsies tuffed it out. 

Annie came in on her own. She took that field solo without Kym and Sean. I'm glad she told me that after and not before.  Her plait was frozen with crusted snow and a smile so wide.

Even Bob got in the action amongst the snow.

Annie wanted to come in and warm up a bit so I took her upstairs to the café for her first ever hot chocolate. The boys found us up there and Sean had his first one too. I reckon the melted marshmallows at the last swallow are the best bit of all.

It was nearly time to pick up our backpacks from storage so the three skiers clicked on their ski and had one last run and then headed to the bus to meet me there. It was still snowing up there, but not far down the road from the ski field it had turned to rain.

We checked the skis and boots into the drying room and I brought the kids into the apartment for hot baths. Kym went down the street for a few supplies. It was so good to get the two pairs of thermal socks off that were fairly wet by the end of the day and have a hot shower.

We've had a sloth evening in readiness for our last day of skiing tomorrow. I think the kids want to do more but we do have other plans for them.

Over the last couple of days Annie had developed the same snotty cold as Sean but I think she has managed to kick it. Sean is now on the back end of his. Thank goodness. It hasn't stopped them one bit though. Little tuff nuts.

New Zealand Day 5 6.8.2013

6am alarm bell this morning to catch our bus to Milford Sound. I had heard about the switchbacks heading to the Sound so the kids and I had our Quells tablets with breakfast this morning. I think it was a combination of the tabs, the early morning starts and the late night’s blogging that puffed me out.  I slept on the bus for the first couple of hours. Both kids did too.

After stopping at Te Anau for the coffee/loo stop we had several photographic stops from there onwards. Eglinton Valley, Mirror Lakes, Homer Tunnel, Fiordland National Park, Knobs Flat for another quick loo stop and Chrisite’s Falls before arriving at Milford Sound.

Low clouds hugged the tops of the mountains adding to the mysterious aura of the Fiord. We went on the cruise ship and had our sumptuous hot lunch while working our way to the mouth of the Sound. We had the obligatory drenching under the waterfalls, watched misty rain fall, and watched the dolphins, penguins and New Zealand Fur Seals all play. Mitre Peak stands as the centrepiece of the glacier carved valley with her top closely shrouded by cloud.

Sean spent some time on the bridge with the Captain, Annie had her camera out shooting with me and Kym made his way around the three decks.

Annie eventually plucked up the courage to stand with me at the very tip of the ship to get a thorough experience of the waterfalls, its thundering noise and the spray. She won’t be forgetting that in a hurry. She and I have taken a heap of photos which I've just dumped on the hard drives as I just don’t have the energy to go through them now.

We all had an opportunity to take the helicopter back to Queenstown via a landing on the Glacier that carved Milford Sound. (for a hefty price tag). Kym just looked at me and said go. So I did.

What an thrilling chance to take up. I took a few shots and filmed the landing and the take-off from the Glacier. The snow was pure and flawless. Not a single impression of anyone being there before us. (At least for that day.) The wind chill made it feel much colder than it was. I tried to roll up a snowball with my bare hands only to find the snow too dry to stay as a ball. But by hands were immediately turning pink with cold due to the breeze. As I walked on the snow my feet crunched down about a foot. It was so dry and powdery looking. Much more like crunchy icing sugar. I should have done a snow angel there in hindsight as it was so dry.

Take off was exhilarating because you just fly above the crest of the glacier and the world just dropped away on the other side. It just plunged straight down. I had more of an exciting sensation of it today than I did at the Grand Canyon when I choppered off the South Rim into the air above the Canyon.

So a half an hour flight and a 20 minute taxi ride (part of the deal) saved me a 3.5 hour trip back via coach. Kym brought the kids back on the coach and they were all rather shattered by the time they got back here about 7.45pm. I had tea cooked but they were beyond hungry by then. Just showered, nibbled a bit of tea to be polite and straight to bed.

We are back on the ski slope at Remarkables tomorrow. The weather looks like it might be taking a turn for the worse. We have had 2 sensational days of sunshine on the slopes so far, and the overcast day which was perfect for capturing Milford Sound with all her mystery, so we have been truly spoilt.

cya

New Zealand Day 4 5.8.2013

Our second day on the ski slopes. As soon as we hit the top of the magic carpet (people mover on the rise from the carpark up to the Lodge and the beginner slopes) Sean clicked on his skis and he was off down the slope without a single care in the world. He looks so damn confident and pretty darn cute.

The kids had graduated up level 2 ski school after yesterday so today was a whole lot of new learning. Turning, weight bearing on the outside leg to turn in the opposite direction, bigger slope and more speed. Sean ate it up, Annie not quite so much. But they both passed level 2 to be a high 2a. They both need to have passed level 3 before they can go up the chair lift with Kym to ski on some of the slopes up the mountain. Sean is chomping on the bit. Annie not quite so much.

Kym was up on the slopes while the kids were learning their thing this morning. I stood off on the sides to photograph and video the kids.

Once they finished their lessons, Sean and Kym were back on the beginner slope while Annie made a snowman and a snow boob. Funny thing.  When Sean had a spell from skiing they both got stuck into making a mutant snowball. We brought Bob the Doll out on the slopes today to get into the action. So Bob took pride of place on the snowball.

I booked the kids into Tubing this afternoon. They ‘loved’ it. They both had the GoPro on their heads shooting vision of what its like from their POV.  Bob went for a ride too.

By the time their hour was up it was time to collect our gear from storage and head to the bus.

Kym and I made the decision yesterday to break up our 4 days on the slopes to 2 days on, a day off and then 2 more days on. Tomorrow we are heading to Milford Sound by bus which we catch by 7.15am. We get back about 7.30pm tomorrow night so it will be a long day, but a day the kids can rest their legs.

Early night for me.  I’m bushed.

New Zealand - day 3. 4.8.2013

What a day. What a totally tremendous day.

Alarm clock at 7am local time. Dressed in all the layers with skis, backpacks of jumpers, rubber boots, cameras (mine and a selection of lenses, the GoPro), ski lift passes and what not. We hopped on the bus and off we went up The Remarkables. According to the driver and listening to those in the bus who have skied the last few days, The Remarkables is the best slope for snow by far at the moment. Lucky for us J

It’s a very pretty drive up the mountain. A number of switchbacks made the heart stop as the bus went round them. We sat in the back seat and it felt like the front of the bus had made the turn before the back of the bus started to catch up. It’s an optical illusion but it had the kids entranced.

The view across the car park to the horizon opposite The Remarkables is devastatingly beautiful. The play of light and the clouds that moved across the vista was so mesmerizing.

We moved up the ‘magic carpet’ to the Ski Lodge to get the kids readied for the Kia Ski School.  

Annie and Sean were part of a group of 5 beginners with JJ, their patient instructor. The throwing of snowballs was very quickly dampened and she had the kids’ full attention. I'm amazed at how much they have picked up already. So is Kym. He watched for the first bit to make sure they had settled in and then he took off up the ski lift for his skiing. He has skied in Sweden and here years ago and is reasonably proficient at it. He didn't crash and burn once today, and by golly he does look like he knows what he’s doing. He was back in time to watch their last bit to see where they were up to with their skiing.

I brought over the ice cleats that I purchased on the Grand Canyon trip and boy I am glad I did. I can tramp anywhere over the snow and the ice at the entrances of the lodge without being afraid of a slip. I put up without them for about half an hour but just thought it not worth the risk of a fall. And I had two pairs of thermal socks on as I knew my hiking boots would get wet by the end of the day. It wasn't until the last hour of the day before I started feeling my feet getting wet and a bit chilled. Nothing uncomfortable, just noticeable.

Sean was a little bit crotchety by the end of his lesson. A combination of not enough fuel in the tank and feeling a bit puffed out after 2 hours of lessons. I jammed a few Malteasers in him to get him through to the end of the lesson. I gave the instructor a few as well to keep her sweet with the kids.

Side note: Sean wore his Adelaide Crows scarf and he was rather devastated to learn that none of the kids (other than Annie)in the group had heard of them. Crows who??  Poor chap.

Lunch was next up. $60 bucks later. Sheesh.  Kym seemed to think that wasn't too bad, but I thought that was damn rich. We will bring up a few extra nibbles tomorrow so lunch is not so big a bill.

After lunch Kym headed up the slope so the kids could watch him come down. They were so excited to see him do his thing and that really motivated them to get the hang of their skis quicker. The kids and I had a snowball fight while Kym had his second run down. He joined in and then it was all onto him. Luckily I was on camera videoing it all so I wasn't bombed too much.   J

Kym and Sean had some time on the beginner slope to get Sean moving along with his skis while Annie made a snowman and snow angels. Annie’s turn with Kym while Sean blasted her snowman with snowballs. Typical boy.

All of a sudden it was time to pick up our bits and pieces from storage, and head back to the bus. Sean snoozed on the way down, 

 while I took a few shots through the window of the bus. Not the best way to photograph landscapes but it’s the best I can do for now.

The dirt road we travelled up and down to The Remarkables.

The beautiful mountains the overlook Queenstown and its lake. This is the back of some of them.

The river of snowmelt that feeds into the lake that Queenstown is built around. Its so blue as its rich in minerals.

The weather was just perfect to be on the slope today. 6 degrees, warm sun and amazing skies. We ended up with jumpers off, scarves off, beanies off. Tomorrow we will all just have the thermal leggings and thermal tops, a long sleeved shirt with the ski jacket and ski pants. We don’t need the extra layer of jeans/trackie daks. We will take up the jumpers and put them on if needed, but I doubt we will. The kids will be that much more active on the skis as their confidence grows and that will keep them plenty warm.

Kym and Annie walked into town for supplies for tea, and to change Kym’s boots for a size bigger. And also to find out if we could break up our 4 days on the ski slope to 2 days on, day off, and 2 days on. It all depends if we could with the ski/clothing hire, the lift passes and the bus transfers. We originally planned to head to Milford Sound on our 5^th day, but we both feel the kids could do with a break between day 2 and day 3 to rest their legs and to keep them keen. At this stage all is good to can bump day 3 and 4 and we just need to find out if we can move our booking with Milford Sound coach tour. If we can’t it doesn't really matter as we can insert one of our 2 days around Queenstown doing things in that time slot instead.

I've made a bit of adjustment with my thoughts of what I want to do since I can’t go up the ski lifts.      L L L . I'm focusing much more on the kids and videoing their experiences rather than shooting stills. So while the kids are on the beginner slope right below the lodge I'm recording as much as I can and shooting a lot less. The kids are RAPT to watch themselves in the action so far. It also gives Kym much more opportunity to hit the slopes. He’s got a goal he wants to achieve but he needs the time on the slopes first to get himself to that level of skiing. Go him. He’s also said he is totally fine if I take off for a day when we have the hire car to go shoot the landscape. He knows I’m disappointed about not being able to access the slopes via the ski lifts as we had been previously reassured that we could, so this is his idea of me still being able to achieve something different. Bless his socks.

Hot baths for the kids, warm pyjamas and steak for tea to finish our day. It’s been such fantastic first day.

New Zealand - Day 2 3.8.2013

20130803 New Zealand  Day2

4am alarm clock this morning to slip out the door and catch the taxi to Adelaide airport at 4.30am for our Melbourne leg of the trip.

I ended up sleeping the flight away and had to be woken for landing. Sean has developed a cold and is quite a bit of sinus atm so he has found climbing and descending challenging for his inner ear pressure. A kind gentleman gave him a chewie to munch on to help it pop. It didn’t but it was a lovely gesture.

We had a little flap in Melbourne as our bags didn’t appear on the carousel.  I had been told that the bags would be checked through and not told by other service staff the bags would need to be collected and rechecked into Jetstar International.  So after a short delay and a couple phone calls by yet a different service staff, that yes indeed, our bags had been checked through. Pheww.

A chemist stop for Sean to dose up on decongestants and we were into Passport Control. Customs and Immigration was very efficient. Much more so than my experience from last year at LA X. And we were greeted with smiles. Tourist Refund Scheme was a total opposite.  I lined up for over 45 minutes to claim back the GST component on the iPad. There were four staff servicing over 60 people in the line up and it was certainly not a speedy process. Fortunately I saw the only man and he was quite pleasant and I was done quickly. Kym had taken the kids on to our gate and to find something to eat before boarding. I arrived at the gate only a couple of minutes before boarding. Pheww again.

Sean pretty much went straight to sleep and stayed that way for but the last part of the flight. Kym was his cushion. 

Annie was bright eyed and bushy tailed. The lady next to me swapped with her husband to talk cameras/astrophotography and stuff. And blow me down, we both know Lester Barnes. What is the chance of that on an International Flight?? Needless to say my flight went fairly quick.

It was with great excitement when approaching Queenstown when Annie could see the mountains and the snow. We had been travelling in cloud for some time and she wanted to be the one to spot something first. 

Sean was awake by this time too. It was 3pm local time when we touched down. About 3 hours forward from time at home.

After getting our Rossi work boots cleaned in Quarantine we boarded the shuttle to Blue Peak Apartments. Talk about lush. We have the mountain view of the Gondola going up to Bob’s Peak. We dumped the bags and walked into Central Queenstown which took us a maximum of 5 minutes. It’s so very convenient for us. We gathered our ski gear, our jackets and pants, traded in our voucher for the lift passes and grabbed some tea. The skis were delivered to the apartment.

While picking up our lift passes we found that as of this season that unless I have skis or board strapped to my feet, I am unable to have access to the ski lift. There have been too many incidents of broken legs from foot traffic jumping off the lift at the top of the run and not being able to clear the chair in time as they sink into the snow. The result has been broken legs. So while I am feeling a little devastated about not being able to access the mountain, a possibility of a  broken leg is much more the worse case scenario. One of the shots I dearly wanted to get was of all of us at the very top of the Black Diamond Run with the view of the Landscape all around us. I have to bin that thought now L

By this time I was getting a very tired headache, Annie was starting to get very weary and Sean was due his next dose of decongestant. The kids and I walked back up to our apartment while Kym shopped for breakfast and immediate supplies. On our way back I found a Starbucks and had my first ice coffee for the day. Funny how that headache backed off a bit.

I have got all the clothes and thermals and camera/GoPro gear laid out ready for tomorrow as we board the bus to The Remarkables at 8.20am. The kids are just wriggling with excitement to be out on and in the snow tomorrow. It’s going to be such a huge sensory experience for them. They’ve got ski lessons first up. Kym’s skied in his younger days so he reckons he’ll pick it up after falling over a couple of times. Hope I have the camera on him when he does.

I was in bed by 10pm local time (about 7pm home) and I’ve woken about 12.30am. Bugga it. So I might as well blog and work on some pics.

Cya.

New Zealand - day 1 2.8.2013

We started the day as we would any other Friday. Up in time for the kids to catch the bus for school.  I was trying to keep the kids in as much routine as I could so they wouldn't bounce off the walls.

I was getting a bit of a stress headache a few days ago about what to pack and what not to pack. In the end I went and had a good look at the apartment we will be staying in to see exactly what facilities I will have on hand. To discover that it’s completely self-contained was a breath of relief.  So I stared packing with the principle of 3 in mind. Wear one, wash one, dry one. That saved me from packing so much crap.

Each of our rollie suitcases came in under 12 kilos.  Pretty damn chuffed with that, considering there are heavy weight clothes in there.

I've also swapped over to a slingshot camera bag for this trip. This bag makes it possible to slip it from my back to my front to retrieve a camera/lens without having to put the bag down in the snow. I took a big breath and only put three lenses in the slingshot too. And the Speed-light, filters, batteries, spare cards and cleaning kit. The bag feels so light compared to my full pack. But I did slip a couple of other lenses into my suitcase. I've also left the big Bertha tripod home and popped in the skanky lightweight one that I started with a few years ago. It will serve itself well on this trip being lighter and more compact.

This trip is a family trip and not so much a photography trip for me. So with that in mind, I spent some time with Emma Pedler of ABC Eyre Peninsula, to get some advice and knowledge of shooting bite size pieces of video and sound to edit into a home movie after we get back. Between my camera, the iPhone, and the GoPro we will have plenty of 5 second bites to pull together.

As an intro for our trip I had all of us show our excitement just before we left. One take and it was done. This is in it's Raw state, unedited and in need of a bit of polish but its the excitement for the kids that's important. 

I nearly stuffed up the whole trip from the beginning by thinking we needed to be at the airport an hour later than we should have been there. Luckily Kym figure that one out and we were off in time and with time to spare.

(horrid iphone pic on the run) but it has recorded a moment.

We are staying in Adelaide tonight to catch the 6am flight to Melbourne before clearing customs on our way to Queenstown. We walked down to the Watermark Bistro in Glenelg for tea.

Sarah and Doobie took the trouble to call in to see us, wish us an awesome trip and to share their snow goggles with us. It’s those little things that make me truly thankful for the wonderful people in our lives.

I better hit the sack as the alarm is set for 4am to be at the airport by 5am.

x

aerotech

Had a play with planes the other day. I had full permission from the staff and pilot to be where I was. I can't really express how much your heart thumps when that plane roars over your head with very little space between it and the wheels of the aircraft. Really made me feel alive.

Take off. What a blast.

This image is taken from an ant's perspective. 

port lincoln gym competition 2010

I had the chance to scrap a bit over the weekend. I've been looking forward to this one. The water colouring so worked well for it. No embellishing other than the medals, the WAG 1 level badge and the Competitor Ribbon.

he plays!

Today was a milestone for Sean. He had his first ever game of footy. United Yeelanna were a few players short so he was able to fill in for them. 

I can tell you he was so nervous. He was thinking he was going to get hurt and didn't really know what to expect out there on the oval. Footy practise is a bit different than the real thing.

So much swelling of my heart and butterflies churning in his and my tummies, he ran out with the team. 

And he surprised me. He surprised me a lot. He was either on the ball, under the pack of kids on the ground or chasing the player with the ball as fast as he could. He wasn't tentative at all. And when the ball wasn't down his way, he was mucking around with a couple of his mates who were also filling in the blue and yellow guernseys for the day.

I have an absolute cracker of a shot with him and the football, but you do see other players, so I won't show it here. But I did catch this one of him on the oval.

His persistence to get involved with the ball didn't go unnoticed by our coach and Sean was awarded the Mars Bar incentive. He inhaled that within a minute.  He ended up with the compulsory muddy knees and a few bruises to show his Dad. We are so very proud of him today.

mud larking

Surely there is nothing more exciting for a kid to be *allowed* to go play in the mud. Encouraged in fact. Each year when winter is here I let the kids just go for it for the sake of a few photos.

Their laughter is gold and the pics make it so worth while.  Sometimes I put the camera down and jump right in there with them.  Kids grow up far too fast so I relish being a kid with them.

cut file idea from Amy Fourer and Silhouette America.

happy birthday dad

Each year the kids make Kym and I hand made birthday cards, which I then keep to put in the albums next to the layout about it. I love preserving the history of their handwriting, their spelling boo boos and their sentiments.

lolly pops, laughs and little girls

I had a family visit me over the school holidays for a fun photoshoot.  Included in the shoot was a pram, umbrellas, lolly pops, balloons, sour sobs, wild oats, a path into an enchanted forest :)  and puddles. Basically it was more fun than you could poke a stick at.

a few more here at Tiff Firth Photography on Facebook.

conceptual photography

I'm not long home from a Full Spectrum weekend workshop in Port Lincoln on Conceptual Photography. It was organized by Arts SA with two lecturers from Adelaide.

To give a definition of Conceptual Photography this is what was given to the 19 participants: Conceptual Photography intends to convey an idea or concept to the viewer, rejecting the creation and/or appreciation of traditional objects.

To me it meant the license to bastardise what would normally be a traditional view in a photograph. It was also shown as a way to create a self portrait in a way that you would have not normally thought of.  We had an overnight assignment to shoot a conceptual image and bring it back for soft critique.

I latched onto the idea of a self portrait so with limited resources as I was in Lincoln overnight, this is what I finished with.

My necklace represents all the important people in my life. They are clear and crisp, giving them priority in the image therefore in my life. The camera being out of focus lends itself to my other passion, but is of a secondary nature.  The bright bold background represents my personality. Happy, positive, bright, glass half full kind of girl.

The workshop was a bit on the arty farty side for me. I found it a bit of fluff and nonsense, but it did get me thinking a bit about being bit more random in my shots. More about giving myself artistic license to not being a sheep and one of the mob. IYKWIM

Laura and I stayed at the YHA in Lincoln just for a lark. I've always wanted to go in for a sticky beak but have been gutless to do it on my own. So as we both stayed in Lincoln we stayed there together.

What a most impressive place. They can sleep up to 70 people. We had a room with reverse cycle air conditioning, and believe me, with this weekend being only 10-12 degrees, it was on the heat cycle. We had our own bathroom too. Much cheaper than a hotel!!  Everything is spotless, and clean clean clean. The people who run the hostel, own the hostel. She is often referred to as Mum, and she really revels in it.  They both have great fresh new ideas for the future too.

 I would have absolutely zero qualms about staying there again. In fact there was a family of 6 staying there atm.

So with Laura's and my conceptual ideas in the bag we started playing with Bruce.

Lots of laughing was to be had.

always

Dug out of the stash a very much older Making Memories metal word for this layout. The journaling came about because of that word and the photo that shows Annie standing above me.

there's no such thing as too much chocolate

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm really into the watercolours atm. 

This layout is the third press from the pooled colours I used. I end up with zero product left on the sheet and I've been using all the cardstock with the watercolour effects on them. 

I'm using very little as far as patterned paper goes. Maybe just as the backing colour or matting. I'm using scrap pieces for embellishments and of them that's few. I just don't want to cover too much of the patterns created.

I'm loving the scrappy groove atm as not so long ago I had absolutely bottomed out of it. 

I'm still seeking a balance between scrapping and photography, but when I have clients waiting for their set of images, of course that takes priority.

Keep warm and safe today. We have bunkered down out of the elements and it feels awesome to have all 4 of us home. That doesn't happen too often on a workday.

fetish

Layout number 8 from WWWW.

I had zero planning/organising done before this weekend away. I just had crazy times happening and it was all I could do to clear my desk of photography commitments, before even thinking about scrappy stuff.

So, I was a bit amazed that I actually achieved as many layouts as I did. And I love them all. Usually on weekends away scrapping, some layouts I feel a bit so so about. Don't absolutely love them, but its done - move on. 

For this particular weekend I took up our newly acquired multifunction centre so I could print out my journaling. It meant that the home office had to do without a fax machine for a day, but meh, I 'needed' it.  hehehehehe.  I don't think Kym even noticed it not being on the office table. 

Having the ability to print right there, right then, as I needed it, was awesome.

cummins air show (his)

Layout number 7 from the Wild Women's Weekend in Wudinna. Still have a few more up my sleeve for reveal later on.

When the photo(s) deem it, I do a his and her LO for each of their albums. I seem to do them differently more often than not, rather than do a carbon copy (even tho that would be so much quicker lol)

Have had a top first week of school holidays. Relaxing pj mornings, personal gym competition training for Sean, Annie had a friend here for a couple of nights stay, Sean had a friend here for a play day, movies (Despicable Me 2 and Epic), Scrap night in Lincoln with Annie, taking the kids for 3 holes of golf (took us 4 hours, and they played their own balls the whole time), netball on Saturday, puddle photo shoot (that was a hoot), hair models for a children's book photo shoot, a bit of scrapping, a lot of EOFY (end of financial year) paperwork done, shopping, visiting. And that's just the first week.  I've had a family visit for their photo shoot and I'm currently working my way on post production of that.

Today Sean had another gym comp training session (comp in four weeks) and a quick photo shoot in the wild oats.  I think they have more fun judging by how much they laugh in our time on location.

This weekend I'm going to a Full Spectrum Photography Workshop and staying at the Youth Hostel with Laura in Lincoln. I've heard lots of rave about this place and have always wanted to check it out, so what better way than staying there. I wouldn't do it on my own, lol, but with Laura pretty keen on the idea too, we thought we both stay and get the feel of the place. Looking forward to it.

Not sure what the next few days will bring..... depends on the weather......

till then Cia.

cummins air show (hers)

LO. number 6 from the WWWW weekend away. I'm noticing a definite tendency to the watercolours. It just seems to work with most colour blends. Bliss in my book.  Thanks Gina for the little birdie veneer. x