Another portrait and a walk in the park

yesterday (sunday) afternoon, i decided to do another portrait for the julia kay portrait party
i'm quite pleased with how these have turned out so far considering i don't normally draw people

drawn free-hand using graphite pencils in my moleskine sketchbook

reference image here used with permission

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on saturday, beau, aaron, michelle, alex and i went over to the park where they will be getting married so beau could do some test photos.  he is quite nervous about being photographer for michelle's wedding but i'm sure he will do just fine.  we also took the CD player so we could time the wedding song for us getting from the limo to the rotunda where the ceremony will be performed. i will be walking michelle down the aisle....HOW EXCITING!  we had a lot of fun and laughs practising.

we saw this new family swimming in the small lagoon while we were there.
aren't those ducklings too cute?!!  
there were more of them but, they move so fast in the water, they were out of the shot before i realised it.

we walked a little ways down to the wetlands where michelle and alex will be getting more wedding photos taken on the day.  it was beautiful looking out over the water.

it was like 'duck central station' there!
this was only a small portion of them
not a great pic as the glare from the sun completely washed out the details of the white ducks

on leaving the wetlands, we noticed a sign on a tree which had us wondering.....who has a garage sale and gives away Free Bees???

then we realised it was meant to mean 'freebies' or one word....lol

i'm still popping pain pills and donning heat-packs continually so the afternoon out at the park was a great distraction.

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i hope you all enjoyed a beautiful and relaxing or fun weekend

~ love, light and peace ~

I've joined a Portrait Party

hi everyone,

thank you all so much for all the well wishes you have sent me over this past week. it has meant so much to me. the CT scan of my brain came back clear which was a huge relief for us and the doctor now feels the pain may be radiating from my neck.  maybe i cricked my neck somehow while sleeping, not sure?? so, this past week, i have been popping pain pills and applying heat-packs pretty much on a continual basis and today, for the first time in two weeks, i've actually felt signs of improvement.  i'm still in pain....just not as bad as it has been so now i'm thinking acupuncture may be the next step towards a full recovery.  it worked wonders for Michelle when she had her whiplash injury and our symptoms are almost identical.

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a couple of days ago, i signed up to Julia Kay's Portrait Party.

 it's a Flickr group where the members basically draw/sketch/paint portraits of other members in the group.

this was my first contribution

i used graphite pencils in my moleskine sketchbook
reference image here used with permission.

for now, i can only sit at the computer for short periods of time but i hope to be back on a more regular basis as my condition keeps improving.

i wish you all a wonderful weekend.  

~ love, light and peace ~

Head Pain SUCKS!!!

if it's not one thing, it's another around here of late.

since tuesday, i have been dealing with extreme head pain (not like migraine or headache) on the back, left side of my head which ended up radiating down through my neck and shoulders. my head felt like a ten ton weight that my neck was struggling to support. i nearly passed out twice and the pain was overwhelming to the point where i couldn't think straight. anti-inflammatory and panadol medication didn't help at all but, since being to a second doctor today, he put me on an asprin/codeine mix that i do believe has helped ease the pain a little. i have a CT scan of the brain scheduled for monday morning.

during the better periods, i've been trying to get a few things done where i can, such as working on a 'wedding tie' box for michelle and alex's wedding.  they will be having a hand-fasting ceremony where several coloured ribbons will be bound around their joined hands and then tied together, removed, and formed into a special knot. the wedding knot will be stored in the box as a keepsake and reminder of their special vows. i am painting the box to match the colours and design of the wedding invitations and, on the top of the lid, i will be painting a celtic knot.

i finished the baby shawl i was crocheting and also made a pair of bootees to match. i can hardly believe it only took me a month to crochet the shawl.  i'm now working on the little matching jacket.   baby is due in the midst of our summer so won't have need for knitted garments until winter so i'm making them to fit the six months age group.  too cute, huh?

the fallen trees are being turned into mulch now.....it breaks my heart.

i took the picture below from my ensuite window overlooking the neighbour's back fence

i have seen these two kookaburras, on and off, sitting on the small sapling branch near where the trees once stood behind our back fence. i'm sure they are the same two that made their home in the termite nest on one of the trees that fell.  they are no doubt wondering what the heck happened to their home, poor things.

on this particular occasion, a rainbow lorikeet sat above them probably wondering the same thing.

so that's my news for this week....some good, some bad,

but i guess that's just the way life flows sometimes.

i hope your week has been better than mine

~ love, light and peace ~

more journal pages

it's been another busy week here

and quite cold too with the westerly winds making their usual appearance for this time of year.

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

for some reason the images appear blurry in smaller format

last sunday, aaron and i sat outside under the pergola and sketched some potted plants in our new moleskine journals.  this sketch is of my aeonium saucer plant.  i didn't think this plant was ever going to progress as it stayed small for so long until, one day, aaron re-potted it into a larger pot and within a few weeks it trebled in size. now i know why they call it a saucer plant....it's HUGE!

during the week, i did the following sketch to commemorate reece bringing home another trophy in a Fight World Cup 6 bout!
HE WON!!!

the ref called it in just 46 seconds into the first round

and, as yesterday was friday 13th, i decided to play with a 'dark' theme in my journal.

 the day was quite uneventful however we did watch 'What Lies Beneath' on DVD last night (13th) to mark the occasion.

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BABY NEWS!

michelle went for her 20 weeks scan and, according to the scan, she is having a baby click this link to find out!

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UPDATE ON BRAD
brad's symptoms persist and we recently found out that his aunt was admitted to hospital this past week with upper body neurological symptoms.......her eyelids refuse to open, she is suffering extreme head pain intermittently and she is having difficulty swallowing on an intermittent basis because messages from the brain don't seem to be getting through.....scary stuff, huh?  the common factor that we have noted is that brad and his aunt both started having neurological symptoms about a week to two weeks after having the flu shot (which includes the H1N1 swine flu). from what i have since found out, some neurological disorders have been linked to the swine flu vaccine.  the scary part is that brad's aunt had her flu shot back in april and her mild symptoms gradually worsened over the past four months. we're hoping that nothing further develops with brad being that he only had the flu shot a month ago.

the MADDENING part is that specialists are trying to insinuate that brad's aunt is suffering depression, hence all these symptoms she is having.  this is ridiculous!  naturally, brad's aunt is frightened and upset at what is happening to her but, normally, she would be no more depressed than me.  she has an MRI scheduled for monday so, hopefully, it will uncover the real cause behind the symptoms.

will keep you posted

~ love, light and peace ~

you will be missed

since saturday, there has been a lot of destruction going on behind our back fence and i'm feeling very sad about it. the tract of bushland behind us is in the process of being demolished to make way for a residential development.

Pigma micron pen & watercolour in 11½" x 8" Moleskine journal

click to enlarge any pic

there will be no more observations of the kookaburras and other birds nesting in the termite nest set high up in the tree behind our fence

no more picnics in the backyard whilst enjoying the chatter and activity of the birds in the overhanging branches above us

yesterday, the machines came for you, the last tree standing behind our backyard fence

they roped you, pulled you and sawed away at your base

the birds protested and i cried as....

...you fell

and you were no more

....a feeling of emptiness now prevails

there you lay behind our fence....broken and doomed

...while the carnage continues

my heart is sad

and i will miss you

~ love, light and peace ~

Day-trippin'

Sunday was a beautiful day so we decided to drive out to one of our favourite spots - Burgess Park.  Michelle and Alex came too.  It was soooooooo relaxing and we enjoyed a yummy picnic lunch. 

Michelle and Alex

Aaron wading in the creek....the water was cold!

 

Beau practised cracking the whip but we only have video footage so no pic to post. I did get a pic of Michelle's growing baby bump. She is 19 weeks and 5days in the pic below.
Tomorrow, we find out what sex the baby is.....so excited!

I managed some sketching on location - YAY!

My sketch was going well of the Queensland Bottle Tree until more day-trippers turned up and parked their car right in front of my subject blocking my view of the tree base.  Ah well, luckily I had done the main outline.  I also got to use my compact travel watercolour set for the first time.....LOVED IT!

The end result below.  Bottle trees are my favourite tree.

Thanks to all my wonderful and caring blogger friends for your concern and well wishes for Brad.  The symptoms are still happening and we will be seeing the Neurologist this week.  I'll keep you posted.

~ Love, light and peace ~