july scavenger hunt

Gosh, I'm actually on the ball with this post!! Right on time in fact considering all the goings on here!
June was a busy month and July has been the same and I'm really hoping for a calmer August - thats not too much to ask surely? Mind you, I tend to always find more things to add to my day and eventually there's too much on my to do list and I just let it all lapse and dont do any of it. Then I relax a bit until the cycle starts again! But thats ok, I'm aware of the busy/rest/busy/rest nature of my life now so it doesn't bother me overly anymore. 

This month I've had little chance to take photos. In fact, I hardly picked up my camera and only took a bare minimum on my phone. Therefore all the photos for the July Scavenger Hunt are ones from my Photo Bank - the vast collection on my laptop that should really be culled, collated and added to an external hard drive. Maybe next year ;) 

1. Something purple: This prompt is really no hardship since purple is one of my most favourite-ist colours and I have a plethora of purple tinged pics!! I picked this one to share since I'm pleased as punch with the recover I did of my sisters couch. Sister Mimi has grand plans for her new business venture which focuses on holistic funerals and end of life care and to that end she purchased an old church and hall. We spent 6 months having a most fabulous time decorating the hall with all manner of lush furniture and decadent designs! This second hand couch was a grey blue and definitely needed a make over so I made slip covers for all the various parts in a gorgeous purple stretch velvet.....oooh it was yummy! I'm quite pleased with the result - with the right cushions and a painting up on that turquoise wall, it looks stunning! 

 2. Shades of green: As I was scrolling through my pics I found lots of outdoorsy types of shots with many greens but none that really stood out. Then up popped this one that I'd painted during an online painting class I took. I was mixing a couple of greens with other colours to see what happened and it was a great way to learn that although I might only have two green paints in my set, there are actually a whole lot of other ones to be made! It's such a fascinating pastime and I love the simplicity of this activity - makes me feel like an alchemist creating potions!!

3. Starts with F: The most important F word for me - FAMILY! This pic was from two Christmas's ago (I think) and as usual there were extras as well, who just sort of slot in with all the rest! Six of the young ones are mine, plus the blonde granddaughter at this end. The rest are in-laws and some friends that spent a lot of time with us as they were growing up. And of course, there is the Best Man there on the right as well - I couldn't have done it without him ;)

You may be wondering why we are all wearing white? Yes, well.....many years ago when we moved a long way from my family, I decided that we needed some new traditions that denoted our newly emerging little family, and the white clothing was conceived. Every year we wore our best white frocks and shirts and since some of my children (and I) like Tradition, every year we continue to do so. The newly arriving potential sons and daughters in law have (wo)manfully accepted this peculiarity and so it continues to prevail. I do have to remind the offspring every year though because some have threatened to wear...shock....horror...colours!!! Here's a teeny bit on why we celebrate Christmas on Xmas Eve.

4. Still Life: I snapped this one in recent months and have been wanting to share it ever since. It was taken on a sunny morning not long after we'd moved into this cottage and these few green objects were all sitting close by on the bench as the morning sun came streaming through the window. I did move them around into a pleasing arrangement and I rather like the effect. One day I'd love to do a photography course because I can see that it's not too clear and the lighting is off -  but finding time to do courses might be for another year!

5. Snapped at this moment: Yep, literally snapped at this moment for this post! This is the view I see as I'm sitting here at the desk - lots of green bush and blue sky outside and a messy desk inside.  I'll let you into a little secret - I have been busy writing and filming a little online course that I hope to have finished soon. Thats whats been keeping me busy this month and I suspect it will be the same next month ;) The sticky notes on the window are to remind myself that it's ok to put myself on video, that I can do it and that I can be bigger than my fear. Not sure how well the wise words are working but I am slowly getting it done.

6. My own choice: This autumn just gone (southern hemisphere here, remember...so April) we were still living in the bus in the empty paddock next door to our daughter. Sadly it has since been totally covered in a housing development but while we were there we harvested a lot of yarrow for winter use. I've been harvesting it for a number of years now and it's an amazing little herb that can be used in the prevention of colds and fevers amongst other uses. Here's a link to some botanical information and another one with an interesting recipe that I'd like to try next Spring.

I like to use just the flowers for tea since they have the nicest flavour but I believe all parts of the plant can be used. In the photo above, the granddaughters are harvesting the flower heads, which we later snipped off quite closely to the flowers themselves and dried on a tray. The sun streaming in through the bus windows did a great job of drying them! I snapped lots of pics that afternoon and all of them had this beautiful subtle lighting - it must have been the sun and cloud combo - so I couldn't resist using one as the My Choice pic!

I am feeling a bit slack just posting old pics but in a way its lovely to share some that just haven't made it onto here! If you are interested in more Scavenger Hunt photos then do pop over to visit at I live, I love, I craft, I am me and take at peek at all the other people and places!