Finding joy in the everyday

ARTIST: John William Waterhouse April 1849 — 10 February 1917 English Pre-Raphaelite painter (born in Rome where his father was a painter), best known for his female characters from Greek and Arthurian mythology. Waterhouse was one of the final Pre-Raphaelite artists, being most productive in the latter decades of the 19th century and early decades of the 20th, long after the era of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Because of this, he has been referred to as "the modern Prue-Rafaelita", and incorporated techniques borrowed from the French Impressionists into his work. Very little is known of Waterhouse's private life - only a few letters have survived and thus, for many years, the identity of his models has been a mystery. One letter that has survived indicates that Mary Lloyd, the model for Lord Leighton's masterpiece Flaming June, posed for Waterhouse. Despite suffering from increasing frailty during the final decade of his life, Waterhouse continu...

“ Inspired by the Black Friday counter-movement Buy Nothing Day, I (Michelle McGagh) want to see if I can go a whole 12 months without spending on anything but bills and food. . . Black Friday is looming and while most people are gearing up to flex the plastic in the shopping bonanza, I’m facing a year of buying nothing – a whole 12-month shopping ban.  This means no meals out, no cinema trips, no holidays, no gigs unless they’re free, no rounds down the pub, no new clothes, no coffee – you get the idea. It also means I won’t be able to buy train tickets or bus fares so my trusty bicycle will be relied on to get from A to B. And I won’t be able to rely on friends and family to pay for me either – it’s a year of no spending, not scrounging. . . . Totalling up my spending on coffee over the past year left me with palpitations (not the ones induced by caffeine either) – I’ve spent more than £400 on takeaway coffee alone. Random trips to the supermarkets for top-up shops and lunc...

Do we need to ban certain food because people do not know how to consume in moderation? When I was a child we had fizzy drinks and lollies on special occasions -- Christmas and birthdays were two of those occasions.  Now everyone consumers fizzy drinks all the time, quite often in large quantities. An entire aisle at my local supermarket is dedicated to fizzy drinks and chips (another aisle is dedicated to lollies and a third aisle to alcohol) -- it shows how much we buy. I work with a man (yes, a health fanatic) who drinks bottles of diet coke every day (2-4 litres per day .500/1 gallon) and sees nothing wrong with it.   New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg bans big soda ban. He believes that banning the bubbles will combat obesity, diabetes, and other health problems plaguing the people of the Big Apple. ( link ) It appears, considering the obesity epidemic we are currently witnessing, that people cannot eat or drink in moderation.  On top of all ...

Is it just me or has the news become less news and more entertainment (slipping towards the gutter at a fast speed).  I don’t know about you, but I watch the news on TV to watch "news".  What is happening locally, nationally and internationally.  I do not want to hear about the latest love nest between an ex cricket player (Shane Warne) and a B grade actor/model (Liz Hurley).   All last week on the news  one of the lead stories was about Hurley — who spent a romantic week with her lover.  The fact that both have children, that Hurley has only recently separated from her husband and Warne is divorced doesn’t seem to matter. No one seem to see anything wrong with this story at all. For me it demonstrates how far we have slipped in society towards such a sinful way of life, that a very public affair — a lustful fling — is considered newsworthy and acceptable.  Children watch the news (more so older children) and what message are we giv...

Dress size . . . there was a time that I could walk into a dress shop and buy something off the rack without trying it on.  I knew it would fit.  Not anymore and it is very frustrating.   I was looking at skirt sizes on eBay last night (these were for new skirts) and I noticed that waist bands for a size 16 can range from 80cm to 100cm (the brand name clothes tended to be the smaller measurements).  That is a 20cm differences.  However if I looked at a size 12 I could find waist bands that ranged from 70cm to 85cm and size 14 can overlap both the smaller and larger size.  It would be like buying a litre of milk and never knowing quite how much milk I would get.  That is why we have standard measures, expect for clothing.   Australia has been without a uniform standard for adult clothing sizes since 2007 (I didn’t know that! ) when the most recent standard were withdrawn because it was considered no longer relevant. (a nd no one thought abou...

Tonight I thought I would share some of my favourite photographers - Ansel Adams, born in 1902 and died in 1984.  I love black and white photography and I think that Adams is one of the best.  Aren't these just beautiful examples of his work - I particularly like Oak Tree-Sunset City, California. (Oak Tree Snowstorm, Yosemite National Park 1948 Evening McDonald Lake Glacier National Park, 1942)   (Tenaya Creek, 1941)   (Oak Tree-Sunset City, California, 1932)

Driving home the other night after picking up Caius we stopped off and I took these photos.  It was a very beautiful sunset over the mountain rangers.             This last one is my youngest son waiting patiently for me to finish. 

  Tonight's group of photos are flowers from my garden.  With summer two months in, plants are beginning to look rather sad - desperate for a good shower of rain - we may get something on Thursday or Friday as a result of Cyclone Olga up north - otherwise I will keep on watering and they will hold on until the heat reduces and Autumn rains arrive. Rain would be very welcome to us humans to - we haven't see much this summer and everything is looking very dry and dusty. The top photo is of the hydrangea which has just finished flowering - they hate the heat and need to be watered every night - but considering all that this particular shrub flowered very well.  The next 2 photos are of a Cosmos flower - in full bloom and at the end of its life.  Even in death it still has some beauty.   This last flower is from the agapanthu - all my agapanthu have done very well this year with heaps of bloom - last year they hardly flowered for some reason.  This was taken ...

Yesterday evening (Sunday) my husband and I went for a walk (7:30pm) to the suburb next to us. By the time we had finished the walk the sun was setting and there was a beautiful cool breeze.  I am a big fan of summer walks at dusk, I love watching the sunset and drive my husband mad as I take the long way just so I am at the top of the hill by the time the sun is setting over the mountain range.  Last night was quite good - but some nights the sun creates the most magical orange and yellows and it is just magnificent. I have invested in a smaller Canon (fits in my pocket) as my large SLR Canon is just too big to take on walks.  I think these photos turned out ok.     This is a new suburb (above) with lots of houses cramped into small spaces with tiny gardens - I wouldn't like to live in any of them. Each household lives almost on top of the next household - horrible, I like my space - it isn't like we are short on space. My husband didn't want me to tak...

The theme this Monday is " Lake Views " - these photos where taken at Lake Burley Griffin in the  heart of the National Capital of Australia - Canberra. Canberra is a designed city (by the American architect Walter Burley Griffin) and the home of the Australian Parliament (which can be seen in the distances of the photo below).  This lake is man-made and is the heart of his design.  Being a designed city - some say it is cold with no character, - but that is usually from people who do not live here - but after 90 years I think it has improved greatly and is a beautiful place to live.  For more information check this link out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra   In the photo above you can see new buildings rising in the city of Canberra.  It isn't like other cities (it's quite small) and part of the design was no tall buildings so it doesn't have the usual high rises seen in other places. I know these last 2 photos aren't about lakes - the fir...

I have decided to make Mondays my photography day (or Monday Musings) - it will be the day I will share some of the photos I have taken during the week, however I have set myself a challenge to make it a little more interesting.  I am going to try (and may not always succeed) to have themes = groups of photos of a similar nature.  They can only be photos I have taken therefore some themes may be a little tricky and I may need to be creative!!! This week, considering that many of my readers are currently snowed in and feeling the cold, the theme is my interpretation of SUMMER.     Please feel free to suggest ideas and I will see what I can do?!?!?