You can't stop the waves......

Life is a series of waves, up and down, up and down.  

One of those 'downs' found my elderly Aunty unexpectedly taken into hospital.

Off I went some 3 hours south to the beach side town of Port Macquarie to visit her.

I arrived in the evening and as visiting hours were not until 10am

 I thought I would catch a beach sunrise the next day.  

Ha! Well, 6 am found me sitting in the car park staring through the rain spattered windscreen,

surrounded by VW campers and panel vans

 with their occupants still hidden from sight in sleeping bags.

 The sun crept tentatively into view, 

and unbeknownst to me so did the surfies .

But it wasn't long before there was a pitter patter and out came the umbrella.  

Those surfers had sneaked past me while I was engrossed in taking photos

 and there they were catching a wave in the rain!

Out popped the sun and for a while things looked up.

Clouds still hung threateningly on the horizon.

You never know what's around the corner.  

There was just time for me to grab a quick coffee and a bite of breakfast 

before heading into the hospital where Aunty was so happy to see me.

She told me how wonderful the ambulance officers had been

and we laughed when I recounted my beach adventures.

"You can't stop the waves  ~   but you can learn to surf."

Quote by John Kabat-Zinn 

Tears falling

 I shed tears.

This was the day we sold our bull.  

He's been with us for 7 years, he was 2 when he came.

  Our grand daughter fed him fallen oranges from our tree ~ he loved them and bellowed for more!  

But now he's gone....this is the hard part of being a farmer.

 The day started out with a muted glow

 the mist rose

 leaves sparkled

 sunlight bathed the hills one by one

we herded the cattle

the mist is hanging around reluctant to leave

tear drops of rain are all around me

 an eastern rosella catches my eye

 and I caught hers ~ does she know?

Good bye old fella ~ we miss you.

A baby wren graces my garden

How delightful it was today to watch a family of Superb Fairy Wrens flit amongst the flowers in my garden. By the time I raced for my camera and returned the only one left was this little fluffy baby, perhaps a little too scared to take off from his safe place.  So vulnerable and at the same time so resilient. My bird book describes their call as 'thin zizzing musical trills' and confirms that they do indeed inhabit open forest, swamps, coastal areas, rain forest and yes...gardens. 

The day started out fine then a misty rain crept up the valley towards us.

  By late afternoon it had cleared to a wispy duvet of cloud hovering over the farmland.

  A sliver of moon was visible in the soft pink evening sky.

I'll see if I can catch the colourful adult male in my camera for you next week.  He's a stunner!

The day brought rain ~ of course it did!

Harbingers of rain, two yellow tailed black cockatoos flew over at sun up,

 and the day was decided.  There would be rain.

Mist followed and a stunning sunset,

 but nothing can beat the call and the flight of the black cockatoo.

 It's like no other and always inspires me to fly just that little bit higher!

~ ~ ~

What motivates you to keep going when you'd really rather not?

Walk in the bush on a rainy day.

No need for words today. I went for a walk and it was raining and that's all there is to say.  Come and join me as we meander down the bush track in the rain, but wait, the sun comes out for a second and then just as quickly disappears. Never mind, it'll be out again in a minute!

Hope you didn't get wet!  I did a bit, but somehow it didn't matter much.....

Glad we could share our walk in the bush and look forward to the next one:))

I'm thinking you probably have a favourite place for a quiet walk.. would love to hear about it.  See you again soon, Janexx