Still Vibrant

It's 32C/90F at 6:30pm as I hear thunder rumbling rumours of a distant storm. Like our teenagers who played competition cricket all afternoon, these flowers have boldly withstood today's afternoon heat of 42C/107F and are still vibrant!

Sharing at I Heart Macro.

First Night in a Big Girl Bed

Earlier in the week we bought another set of bunk beds, this time for Miss V and Miss O. Now there is room for Miss E (4) to have a "big girl bed" instead of sleeping on her cot mattress on the floor. We are all happy!

Looking for Shwogs?!?!

While some children have imaginary friends, Miss E (4) has an imaginary species of animal - SHWOGS! Now let me tell you a little about this elusive species. Shwogs live in the ocean and our salt water pool, they are usually about 50cm/18" long, although last November there was a report of one almost as big as a blue whale while baby shwogs are as small as jelly fish. All shwogs have small ears and sharp teeth. Mummy shwogs are light blue and dark blue, daddy shwogs are red and yellow while baby shwogs are colourful all over. They are mostly friendly, especially the mummy shwogs and baby shwogs, and have the ability to become invisible while people are looking for them. Is it any wonder no one but Miss E has ever seen one????

We have known about shwogs at least since we stumbled upon a Wobbegong just over 12 months ago. Don't laugh, there really is such an Australian animal as a Wobbegong, also known as carpet sharks. You can see my photos of the one we almost trod on here. Every now and then we here reports of sightings and adventures of shwogs, long may they last!

Let me share some photos of less elusive animals from the last week or so.......

A beautiful sea snail - I had never seen one of these before. In the top photo the sea snail is moving over a sea cucumber.

Here is another rather large sea cucumber, about 50cm/18" long - about the size of a shwog!

A very colourful star fish.

Some sort of sea animal in another rock pool.

This was the largest creature I found in a rock pool!

PLEASE hop out of there!! The tide is coming in!!!

Back on dry ground, my parents in law front yard. This is a Scaly Breasted Lorikeet, an Australian bird, feeding on a Little John Bottlebrush.

In their backyard a resident skink became stranded in our washing basket......

Once home, a resident Green Tree Frog wanted to spend the night atop of Master T's drink bottle!

He was eventually persuaded to move on, but not before I took this photo!

Quite  few creatures, thankfully most are not as shy as shwogs!


Sharing at Wild Bird Wednesday, Sneak Peek Friday, Camera Critters, Weekly Top Shot.

Special Events

While away we celebrated Miss V's 9th birthday. Small gifts from her siblings, bakery treats, swimming at the beach, bought pizzas, a sunset walk by the sea and a birthday cake made the day very special. Her main gift was one she had to wait for until after our holiday - a new bike!

Having very much outgrown her old one, she had been asking for months for a new bike. Our first morning home from holidays my husband and Master T took her shopping and returned with a big box....

As Miss V eagerly watched the bike was soon assembled and ready to ride.

She is one satisfied not-so-little-anymore girl!

Along with Miss V's birthday, a highlight of our holiday was a visit to some some special friends on New Year's Day. Just like us, they are a Christian homeschooling family with 8 children - 6 girls and 2 boys! We had a wonderfully full and refreshing day at their amazing big, very bright and very beautiful home. The day was especially thrilling for Miss E (4) whose New Year resolution was to visit this family - she was also delighted to hold a baby for the first time and to see a horse up close.

We were treated to the most delicious and beautiful cup cakes also. I didn't think to take photos before they were eaten....but you can see them here. "Mama Bear" has a great blog with many wonderful photos of her cupcakes and her gorgeous family. Their eldest daughter, Alice, is 15 and corresponds with our twins, also 15. Alice writes beautifully and seals her envelopes with a monogrammed wax seal - very exciting to receive! As well as being a wonderful person, Alice sews amazingly well. You can take a peak at her world and sewing at Alice's Place.

It was one of those days which keeps giving back as we ponder their refreshing attitude to life and view our own little world in a larger way, being more aware of the possibilities, two of which I have acted on already.....but that's another story.

A Few Firsts

A very warm welcome to 2013! Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments and thoughts over the last few days. We are now home and enjoying the comforts thereof.

Let me share a little of our Aussie summer holiday with you. These photos were taken on our first day away, December 28. Miss E "caught" her first ever fish, although she protests she didn't really catch it as Miss N handed her the rod with a fish already on the end - but Miss E was the one to reel it in. Miss E was undecided about this little bream which was carefully released back into the bay after the event was caught in photos.

The little village where my parents-in-love retired to is only one hours drive from home. Filled with tourist, fishermen and retirees, it's mostly a quiet and relaxing place to visit - Christmas/New Year is peak season. These Cassia Fistula(or Golden Shower) trees took my eye as I walked home from the Newsagent. They are native to South Asia yet thrive in Australia also.

Lots of Corellas could be heard and seen flying around, just as they were during our holiday 12 months ago. I spotted this one just two doors from home on our walk back from the bakery.

Late in the afternoon we headed to Main Beach. Some of our older children had ridden their bikes down earlier to go beach fishing.

Here you can see some of them returning. More than half the people on this expansive beach are our family.

While the older ones fished, rode or beach walked, Miss E enjoyed playing around on the sand. I delighted in snapping away.....

Back home by the bay in time to catch the sunset. Most of the photos above, including this sunset shot (but not Miss E at the beach), were taken with my new little pocket camera. My very favourite photo from this beautifully still evening I took with my DSLR and shared that night.

 Just yesterday we packed away our Christmas tree and decorations, we are still catching up on a few odd jobs at home. Three of our teenagers are off playing competition cricket again this afternoon, the fourth teenager has gone to watch and support them. Life continues on. I trust you have had a pleasant start to the year.