Today...

This is what I looked like yesterday at 6:45 am.








And this is what I look like today after my excision of BCC & full thickness skin graft.



I'll be staying hidden for a few days.


And because I won't be showing my face in public without a burka I slipped in to the back of junior school assembly this morning to see Erin get her school colours. A big deal for her & a proud moment for me. I normally would be at work on a Wednesday morning so in the scheme of things a stitched on dressing, not being allowed to wet my face or wash my hair allowed me to see her achievement.

And its Remembrance Day, a day to pause & reflect on how lucky we are today because of events of the past.

Today I remember & am thankful. Lest we forget.

Tie dye...

Erin has wanted a tie dye T-shirt for ages & I haven't been able to find one. So today we got a white T, some rubber bands & torquoise dye & made our own.

We were very pleased with the results of our first effort.

Then we whipped up some chocolate chip cookies.

And now the house has been invaded by 3 big boys. They seem to take up a lot of space around the computer as they record the vocals onto the tracks Cal has recorded. Not my choice of music but they are happy with the way it is coming together.

One of their songs will be called 'Pulmonary oedema' !!!! Not sure if they even know what that is, maybe its better that way.

Hats...

I promised you a giggle.

A fond look at the past, when our father took pictures with his SLR camera & had the images preserved on slides. I remember slide shows of the many family holidays we had, mostly of scenery, but now & again a few gems like these.








And I can bet you that each of these hats adorning our heads would have been made with love & care by our mothers' own hands.

I told you it was a giggle.

The garage sale...

I popped in on a friend after work yesterday & she was showing me the bits & pieces she has collected together for her upcoming garage sale.

'Have a look through' she says 'to see if there is anything you want before I put it out'

Have a look I did & found about 6 school books she had 'borrowed' off me!!!

A quiet Sunday...

We've had some really sultry weather the past couple of days. Warm days with high humidity then a thunder storm rolls in with lots of thunder & lightning & a pelting of rain.

I tried to capture that great lightning shot but with the point & shoot this was the best I could do.



Hayley tried as well, it was very difficult to get the timing right, we wanted that perfect fork of lighting.
We might get another opportunity tonight, we're going to look on the internet for some photography tips.

One year forward...

I missed my blog-anniversary! Since the 23rd of October last year I have been blogging.

257 posts, lots of visitors & lots of fun.

It constantly amazes me...the connections with people I've never met, the people I have met & the variety of far flung place that pop up on my visitors list. How does someone from Brazil read my little blog & yet some from my own family haven't cottoned on yet?

Here's to another good year.

Surf's up...

Erin set off this morning to a 3 day surf camp with school. Hopefully she will have good weather & a chance to learn how to surf.

We will miss her & she said she will miss us too.

The house seems too quiet already.

Take 2..

I'm ready for pink ribbon day tomorrow at work.

A fresh batch of cakes to support the cause

I'm sure it will be a bit of fun to brighten up our day.

We survived...

Callum's 18th celebration.

I had told Cal he wasn't having a party for his 18th, concerns about drunken gatecrashers overtook me. So instead he asked if he could have a couple of mates over. Sure I said, so long as it is not a party.
Ended up with 12 friends, some drinking & consuming of pizza & some loud music until midnight. No trouble thank goodness.
I think he will feel as though he celebrated & there wasn't too much cleaning up to do.

I'll ask him later when he gets up how he feels it all went.

Margaret...

On this day five years ago our Mother passed away.

I miss her. I miss her company & her knowledge. I still want to ask her questions. I want my children to be able to have that generational input. The 7 grandchildren will remember her because we will remind them.

Yesterday my older sister gave me a copy of the hundreds of slides that she had laboriously scanned onto her computer just before Mum died (& some after).

I was browsing through these slides last night & got a real sense of the person she was as a young woman. These are from a time I don't remember, but know of because of the stories that surround them.

Like this one, from a wedding she attended.

Or this one posing with a baby nephew before she had children of her own.

This profile shot taken in Cairns at her Grandmother's home

And this one taken on her honeymoon

There are loads of slides of us at beaches...Qld beaches like this one & others at NSW & Vic beaches that I will share later.

I like this one because she looks like she is having fun with her first born daughter, posing for her husband & his wonky photography skills.

The scanned slides have a nostalgic look about them, not only are they from 40 - 50 years ago, they have a lovely quality to them that is not perfect but very special.
When I showed Hayley she was delighted with the 'retro-ness' of them, something that can be recreated with Photoshop nowadays.

The pics are a giggle for sure...to see the fashions of the 60's & 70's not quite reflected in the home made clothing we wore. I will be sharing a large chunk of these pics in a post titled 'Hats'... you will fall off your chair laughing.