There's only 15 Mondays until Christmas!

8 September 2022

I had every intention of being punctual with this blog post... and then life happened. Never mind, I'm here now.

I spent most of the weekend photographing Working Dog Trials at Comet, so now I have another 2500 photos to sort, edit and upload. I feel like I may never catch up. (I'm exaggerating of course. I will catch up. Have no fear. Your photos will be available on the website as soon as I can manage it.)

It was Father's Day on Sunday, so I gave The Gulf Grey a call, and he was heading out bush. I'll get his present to him in a couple of weeks. I'm getting him a new camp oven lid lifter from the awesome people at Cooking With Heavy Metal who were running a camp oven cooking competition at Comet on Saturday. Dad isn't really into competitions, but he does do a bit of camp oven catering. Dad won't know himself... no ash in the oven! I suspect he might throw a bit in anyway for authenticity sake. I bought him a Meater Bluetooth meat thermometer last Christmas, and now I might be all out of gift ideas.

Speaking of being out of gift ideas... it was Mum's birthday last month. Lucky me, I have Mother's Day and Dad's birthday close together (occasionally on the same day) and Father's Day and Mum's birthday a couple of weeks apart - always trying to find two gifts! I am now officially all out of gift ideas for Mum. I put a facebook post up last Christmas asking for ideas. (The privacy was set so you can't see it, Mum, so you can stop wondering why you know nothing about it.) 140 comments and I managed to arrange something... and I'm hoping now that it's appropriate to replace outdoor furniture every 12 months.

We've had a few people in the shop this week searching for the 'perfect' gift for a friend or relative, and it got me thinking (panicking) about Christmas. What on Earth am I going to do?!? I'd love to buy my parents a new house, or at least renovate the bathroom, but that's currently waaaaaay out of my budget. I could probably manage a bath mat and a new frilly curtain for the bathroom window... Actually, there's probably several of those in the linen cupboard.

One of the gift suggestions was a cleaner to do the "yuck" jobs (all housework jobs are yuck jobs in my opinion, but anyway). Knowing that no one would be allowed in the house to see the "yuck", much less actually clean it, that idea was out. It dawned on me that I could possibly be the "cleaner" if I can manage enough days at home over the Christmas break. Surely nothing says "I love you" quite like willingly doing jobs you distain. I ruthlessly cleaned out the kitchen pantry on a visit home once, and found some of the things I had culled back in there the next day. It would be more productive to clean/cull while no one else is at home. I feel sure that the bathroom cupboard contains products that were put there when I was a baby. Something will have to be done about that bathroom time capsule when we eventually get them a new vanity unit anyway. What's the bet I find bottles of Mercurochrome and scented powders from gift packs that Mum has never opened, and the remnants of her days as an "Avon Lady"? I'll be disappointed if there's not a bear shaped soap and an after shave bottle shaped like a chess piece in there somewhere. If I do come across them there will be photos!

This week for 52Frames I have the topic "Golden Hour". It's doubtful that I will photograph during the Golden Hour in the morning, so another afternoon shot it will have to be. Now to find an interesting subject to shoot during Golden Hour. A portrait is the obvious choice. I wonder if I can coerce Cody into coming to the Dam and being a pensive figure looking over the water towards the setting sun? Last time I got him out there was to play with fire. I might have to pack the sparklers and steel wool as well.

He was helpful with last week's topic, which was "Edited by Someone Else". What Jacqui and I were planning didn't come together in time, so I asked Cody to edit a photo for me on his phone. I took the photo with the camera on a tripod and the cable release connected. I chose myself as the subject because the Extra Challenge was "Self-Portrait", and that saved me having to think of a subject.

It's Formal Week in Blackwater, so we've been up to our eyeballs in corsages. I can't wait to share some photos after the big night. Here's a little something from last week, inspired by Game of Thrones. If you squint you can see the Iron Throne (kind of). Can you guess that I started watching House of the Dragon?

Also, I forgot to include this photo in last week's post of the wreaths I made for Vietnam Memorial Day, which incidentally is Mum's birthday (that's how Dad remembers the day).