Summer Blessings

Wishing you the very brightest Summer Blessings and Happy New Year! It's such a great time of year, isn't it? Here in Hobart the warm weather has settled in, other than the odd rainy day we are sitting around 25 degrees most days which is perfectly fine by me! The best thing about Summer, I think, are the beautiful warm mornings, before the sun is at full strength and one can walk around the garden in short sleeves and bare feet, not a shiver in sight! It sure is perfect weather for appreciating the beauty of Tasmania. 

For me, it's also a time of summer tradition and celebration - celebrating with friends and family, letting people you care about know with thoughtful gifts, and the new year is a great time for reflection, being grateful, and honouring the sun.

I hope you had time to spend with loved ones, have a break from work, and do some of the stuff you love!

I'd also like to say a thank you for everyone who has taken the time to read my blog. I appreciate your support! :)

Through the Lens...

A long, long, loooong time ago I purchased a DSLR Nikon camera. And I kinda thought that simply by having an expensive camera, my pictures were going to start turning out great (silly, I know!) and of course I was very, very wrong!!

So I started reading my manual, and looking through guides on photography, and although I understood what I was reading about shutter speed and aperture, I just couldn't seem to get my head around how to actually apply them! So like a big silly, I put my camera away and continued relying on my phone and instagram to record my life. 

At the start of every year, I sit down and write out a goal list of what I want to achieve in the next 12 months. It's not a serious list - previous years have included "read more books", "make hollandaise sauce from scratch" and "don't stress out if you don't complete everything on this list". Among other things, "learn to use my DSLR camera" has been a constant item on the list, being transferred year to year and never getting crossed off.

I was looking at my list the other day, and realised, this year I have done everything on my list!

I've visited Mount Field National Park...

Admiring the view from the top of the mountain

...I've read more novels...

I'm a late bloomer when it comes to Terry Pratchett, loving the Disc World stories!

...and I have replaced the garden along the front of my home with plants that I like, and that are edible!

I hated these square (!) bushes and boring ground covers!

This is an old photo. The Bay at the front is going really well and the Thyme just along a bit is huge!

Okay, so I might not have gotten any better at jogging. But I have jogged, so technically I haven't gotten any worse. So that counts, right?!

So, how could I possibly finish the year with that one thing left outstanding?! Well, I couldn't. I so I signed up for a course and learnt a thing or twenty.

Making sure an object is straight before snapping away is a good practice...

The results aren't perfect

But I like to think I know a little of what I'm doing

My Turkish Van cat Luna tolerates the camera for a short moment

And I'm fairly sure that practice will make all the difference!

Do you set yourself goals every year? New Years Resolutions? How do you go with completing them?