#59

I was determined not to finish my oneword "blessings" month without a photo of Yeti - the biggest blessing in my life - in more ways than one lol...

here he is - the hubby who does all the shopping and cooking... and drives us all to the doctor on a Saturday when we're feeling poorly!

Bless him :D

#58

I may have many complaints about this place - the rats, the dust, the lack of space to invite visitors, the weather (which only ever obeys Murphy's Law) - but despite all of those things I think living here, in a house covered by green and growing things, is one of the greatest blessings I have ever known.

#57

It's a blessing when someone drops in unexpectedly to share your morning tea, isn't it?

#56

Pretty, aren't they? These are 'Naked Ladies'.

I think flowers that only bloom for a short time once a year come in the blessing category. They are something to look forward to, a sign of renewal and constancy, a reminder that the seasons are turning and a delight when they appear at their expected time.

#55

You may not think this is a photo of a blessing - but trust me! If you had rats living in your walls, scratching and screeching all night, stinking to high heaven and dropping lice that infected your house and made everyone itch, you would definitely think it was a blessing if your cat suddenly decided to chase and catch rats instead of birds! Yay! Go Fuzzy!!!

Sorry if you are squeamish ;P

#54

The blessing of brotherly love lol

#53

A cute little frog blessing for my amphibian-deprived sister and nieces. Frogs are a blessing in more ways than one - not only are the delightful to have around, but they are such good indicators of the health of the environment around them :)

This one, sitting on a pumpkin leaf, was tiny - he would have fit comfortably on my fingernail.

#52

It's not everyone who would consider it a blessing to see a spider on their baby's pram... I guess it depends on the person - and the spider! I think this one is lovely :D

(PS. he is tiny - less than a centimeter from toe to toe)

#51

Don't you always feel blessed when you emerge from a shopping mall into the fresh air? I do!

(PS. I was admiring the spectacular cloud - I didn't even notice the pigeon until I saw the photo on the computer :P That's him on the left, between the tree and the pole.)

#50

My first drop for The Toy Society - it is more blessed to give than to receive :D

#49

A soggy froggy blessing!

#48

Still being 'blessed' by rain lol.

#47

The blessing of a moment of sunshine between rainstorms :D

(the cloud was really brilliantly lit up, although it doesn't show in the photo!)

#46

Finding beauty in unexpected places, like this wet toadstool? A blessing!

#45

I didn't manage to get a good photo of Yeti today - macro or otherwise - so that blessing will just have to keep waiting lol.

Instead, I thought I'd share the cute Valentine we made for him. The template came from DLTK. We traced it onto coloured paper before cutting out, and added our handprints layered (mine, Wombat's and Munchkin's) as wings. I was really pleased with how it turned out - and the way it looks like it wants to give you a great big HUG! Wombat helping with the gluing meant it didn't look much like an owl anymore - looks more like a vulture, actually - but Yeti didn't care. Inside, we wrote "Whooooo loves you? We do! That's whoooooo"

It's a blessing to be able to spend time at home with the boys so we can do crafty things like this whenever we feel like it!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

#44

"I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains. One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness." ~Adeline Knapp

#43

Continuing with the abstract macro blessings :)


"There are three kinds of death in this world. There's heart death, there's brain death, and there's being off the network." ~Guy Almes

#42

More important to me than it probably should be...

"A user and his leisure time are soon parted." ~Author Unknown

#41

The greatest blessing about my camera? The macro setting! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Very much! lol

The Shutter Sisters are having an "abstract" superhero photo challenge this week, so I will be looking more closely at the more miniscule blessings in my life.
I might even be asking you to guess what they are (though this one is pretty obvious)!

#40

You've probably realised by now, but I consider my camera a great blessing! It has released a creative side of me that I never knew existed :D (I mean, obviously, I knew I had a creative side - I don't think I've got a non-creative side lol - I just didn't realise how much I'd love taking photos!)

In case anyone is wondering what I use, it's a Nikon Coolpix 7900, which Yeti bought for me when Wombat was born. The photos I post here are generally straight from the camera (except for a quick resize, of course). I never have time to spend photoshopping, so the most you might get is a brightness/contrast fix if it's really dark.

(The mirror used to take this pic is a little scratched-plastic flower with fabric petals that both the boys love playing with.)

#39

My dad is a botanist, and my mum has a strong interest in entymology. This has been a great blessing in my life. I can't imagine what it would be like to think plants were boring, or to run screaming from a bug! I hope I can pass the same feelings of fascination on to my boys - though at the moment I am having trouble convincing Wombat not to pick all these baby pomegranates before they have a chance to become fruit. At least I seem to have finally gotten the "don't squish the little critters" message through to him, though. (Click on the photo to really see the insect - he's a cutey!)

#38

We were blessed to have a pet brushtail possum when we were kids, so I feel quite blessed to have this fat, friendly fellow raiding our compost bucket. It's not the best photo, but when I attempted a repeat he "scampered" up the tree (as Wombat would say).

#37

I bet you were wondering when I'd get to this little blessing! The happiest, most patient, darlingest bundle of huggles a mummy could want.

(I suspect he is growing up to be a very independent and opinionated little boy. He is already VERY determined about doing certain things his way. What an adventure this will be :D)

#36

Our sunburnt country is really living up to its name at the moment - every day the temperatures are soaring to 35 degrees celsius and higher. Most of the time I keep the boys inside with the airconditioning on, but it was a cloudy, sultry day and Yeti turned the pumps on (to water the gardens from the dam), so I let Wombat loose to play!

We are drinking it, washing in it and playing with it, so lets give thanks for that indispensible blessing - water!

#35

Here are Munchkin and J having their playdate :)
J (in the blue) is a week older than Munchkin, but you wouldn't think it to look at them lol. It is great fun (and a blessing!) to watch them interact now they are getting old enough to notice each other. When we meet again next month, both boys will be crawling - then the fun will really start :P

#34

One of my favourite blessings - our monthly playdate with a neighbouring family. Here are Wombat and L playing together on the 'dirt mountain'.

This blessing will stretch over two days - have you ever tried to get two nearly 3-year-olds and two 6-month-olds into the same photo???

#245

Plum petal "snow".

#33

When counting my blessings, there is one very obvious place to start - the source of endless amusement, challenges and a constant spur to my creativity. It's Wombat, of course! Here he is, platypus hunting (or should that be hunting platypi?)

This photo is just so appropriate because he is turning into the sort of little boy who is almost always in motion - in those rare moments when the feet aren't going, the mind is churning like a windmill. It is such a precious journey watching him develop. Thank you God, for blessing me with my Wombat.

(Of course, platypuses are very shy creatures, and should there be one - by some miracle - residing in our dam, it would vanish instantly at the mere thought of this romping stomper!)

#32

When I was thinking about my first post for "blessings", this is not what I had in mind! But isn't that what you love about blessings? How they take you by surprise and turn your day upside down? Wombat and I were taking Munchkin for an early morning stroll near the dam when we spotted a flash of white in the water - a very rare (for us) waterlily!

One Word

The Shutter Sisters have announced their "one word project" and I am looking forward to joining in. For February, we are invited to choose our own word to inspire all our photographs for that month.

After a lot of thought, I have finally chosen my focus word. It is

BLESSINGS

I've got a lot of them - and this February, I am going to 'count' them lol. Stay tuned for more :)

#31

"Talk to the gnome!"

LOL