The life and times of Libby Withnall

Early morning walks where I can enjoy sunrises like this.

Some new desk accessories (from Target) and fresh flowers.

A freshly made bed with the Spring quilt, rather than the heavy Winter one.

My new jug from Whittards…and more fresh flowers.

My best friend Leanne, who managed to find me another ball of wool so I can finish this scarf.

Seeing birds and their babies (red dot just beside the Mum)

Fresh fruits….the organic strawberries have been AMAZING!!!

Making a start on tidying and re-organising the scrapbook room

The fact that it’s school holidays, the forecast is great and I’ll get to spend more time with my two girls. While it won’t compare to the last holidays (when we were in the UK) we have quite a bit planned and will hopefully make some new memories.

Yesterday I saw the perfect quote on Becky Higgins blog. It sums up EXACTLY how I feel. And Becky was nice enough to provide free pdf in a variety of colours to print out. I chose the green, added an owl and put it into a photo frame I had lying around.

I’m going to buy another frame as this white one disappears into my desk. But this makes me very happy – and all for 5 mins of my time.

As you know I’ve recently been playing with a DSLR. Which obviously means I need a way to carry it with me. I did buy a camera bag for the big trip but it was too big (Kevin ordered it online for me) which meant we didn’t use it all as it was intended and therefore didn’t actually carry to DSLR on our day trip – just using it from the motorhome. I had been eyeing the lovely (but small) range of women’s camera bags but couldn’t decide which one I wanted. Finally I made a decision last week and it arrived today. I am SOOOOO happy with it. And can’t wait to take it out.

This is what I found when I opened the box….

then upon opening the plastic…

Are you ready for the grand unveiling? Of course, part of the agony of choice was choosing a colour once I’d decided on an epiphanie bag. Funnily enough I was wearing the only red thing in my wardrobe today…

I know you’re thinking the bag is a little large for this camera . But it fits the DSLR just perfectly, with room for my wallet and other stuff.

Isn’t the purple lining just gorgeous?

As I already said I am really thrilled with the bag. So worth waiting for. It comes with a shoulder strap as well but it’s so very comfy with the standard straps. Now the bag is not cheap – this was an early Christmas present to myself – but there is currently a 15% off birthday special, which makes it a little more affordable.

Now I have to dust off my photography class notes. Good thing it’s a birthday weekend coming up….

1. Tea time, 2. The hills are alive ♫, 3. My Craft Room, 4. Blue blues, 5. finished granny stripe, 6. ch pillowcases, 7. May in Bergen, 8. Untitled, 9. Isn’t Britain Great? , 10. Untitled, 11. cherry blossoms @ greenwich park, 12. IMG_7429 japanese azalea and bridge singleton park 1-4 700, 13. GUAYACÁN CIELO Y VERDE, 14. Desktop Wallpaper, 15. new bag, 16. Tropical

Slowly getting back into the rhythm that is normal life! I’ve finally got everything sorted and put away and thought I’d share with you what I bought for myself. I think I was very restrained. I saw so many things I’d love to have bought – some were too big, some too heavy .

You might have noticed the new necklace I bought in Sweden.

I also bought this Matt Jonasson glass etching. I’ve already got some wolves and bears. Little did I know how much I’d love the reindeer we saw in Scotland.

These cute handmade wooden flowers and vase were bought at Covent Garden in London. And they match my kitchen perfectly.

My beautiful set at Matruska dolls.

Gorgeous linen cushion covers from Tallinn, Estonia.

Of course I had to buy a highland cow – to replace the one that Amy lost as a child.

Some bunting. It’s everywhere in the UK and I just love it. Have it hanging in the scrapbook room.

Cute paper serviettes. I don’t normally paper ones but these were too cute to leave (and light as well )

Calender, pen set and a Celtic Rock CD.

Some Christmas decorations.

Purse and cheese knife.

And, of course, some food essentials! Galaxy Minstrels for me, Magic Stars for the girls. And those ginger crunch biscuits are to die for!

There were also some teas, a tea caddy and a new mug. Plus I  got two pairs of fingerless gloves and those mismatched socks. And a lovely apron.

I’m so happy with everything that I got and it certainly makes me smile and remember some very good times when I see these things around me home.

Now, normal blogging can resume .

Kevin must have really missed me these last two weeks. Not only did he have the house all tidy for when we got back, he’d bought milk and bread and 2 HUGE bunches of flowers. And I could not tell you the last time he bought me any flowers. These are just gorgeous – probably the nicest flowers I have ever gotten.

Look at all those beautiful flowers…

I left one bunch whole and split the other bunch into four vases. One for the coffee table…

One for the kitchen table…

One for the entry…

And one for the bathroom…

I feel totally spoilt and very loved. And it’s make up for the lack of flowers outside – they are everywhere in the UK and I’m already missing it. Finally here’s a couple of close-ups….

It was time for the dogs and I to head out our on Thursday adventure walk. After dropping the girls at school we headed to a different part of Lake Illawarra.

I took the DSLR so it was a bit of a stop and start walk but we were out for about an hour and half.

Many of the homes in the area are ex housing commission – with exceptional views

At the half way mark I let the dogs of their leads for a run and play. Mind you I forgot whether I was supposed to have a high or low shutter speed for movement – I just took both and hoped for the best .

Time to head back. It was rather cold and breezy down by the water so I was all bundled up.

It’s such a pretty area as you can see but I know it won’t compare to what we’ll see in the UK. Time to get out of the cold!

with these gorgeous Icelandic horses. I saw them on a history show over the weekend – they were apparently used for travel back in medieval times. I had never heard/seen them before. I WANT ONE! I figure if I start nagging talking about them now, when we get a farm in around 10 years maybe Kevin will let me have one .

After doing yesterday required jobs I decided to take the camera out to play at the  Nan Tien Temple (which is just a 15min drive away). Had fun taking more photos. I thought it would be a good place as there are building, landscapes, flowers, etc – similar to what I’ll be photographing overseas.  Unfortunately I find it hard to check photos in the screen so I don’t REALLY know what I’ve got until I get home. Here are some of my favourites.

Love this guy doing this stretches.

I’ve never been to the temple in Autumn/Winter before and was pleased to see all the beautiful trees.

Unfortunately the lotus pond was rather dead.

I was still playing with aperature priority.

Before heading home I treated myself to a yummy lunch – love that everything is vegetarian . You can tell I’m NOT used to shooting food with this camera!

Okay, I warn you now I’ll be sharing lots of PHOTOS over the next few weeks (then even more once we go overseas) as I’m on a VERY steep learning curve with my DSLR. Yesterday I took the dogs and headed down to the lake to work on aparerature priority photos.

Of course, since I had the dogs with me I managed to get quite a few photos of them as well.

This one is my favourite.

Just when I was getting ready to photograph the ducks the dogs took off into the pond. Poor Bailey had his first proper swim as he was attached to Rosie.