Here's comes the month of rain...

Okay, so that's a little melodramatic. But at the moment it feels like we've had nothing but rain for the first few days of this week, and today heralds in the new month, February.

To mark the beginning of the month I've taken a photo that demonstrates how I feel. Looking, constantly, up at grey skies. And it's taken using a mirror, which you may or may not realise. It was just a mirror that was out beside the road, waiting to be cleared away.

Enjoy.

Grey skies are here to stay, it looks like...

All we can say, down here in Sydney, is thank goodness it's not raining like it is up in Queensland and in northern New South Wales. Hope you guys make it out without getting too wet or flooded.

Review: A self-reflecting piece...

So, the first month of the year is pretty much over. That means that the first month of the challenge is pretty much complete. But how have I rated?

The uploading of photos has been alright. But...there haven't been photos for every day. That's the failure so far. That means more getting out there and making sure they are taken. But sometimes you just want to come home and sit and chill, not go out and find something. That doesn't mean that you can't take photos wherever you work, play, or go after work, or anything like that. The key to this challenge is just being prepared to take a photo whenever one is inspired to.

Here's hoping for more photos - one for every day - from here on in.

By the way: no, I haven't checked how many photos I have taken (more than 31, I realise, for this month), but I know there isn't one for every day. I think I'm missing about 10. Homework failure there.

Well done, Mum!

We had a barbecue that hardly ever got used. We have another barbecue - a newer one - but it's not going in the same tray that the old barbecue sat in. Not sure why...might be due to the size of it, or something like that. Anyway! Instead of just getting rid of the old tray table the old barbecue sat in Mum decided to turn it into a full table to be used for holding things when having a barbecue or salads, etc. To do that, she had to put five new slats in the top to match the other ones that were already there. This is the result she has achieved, before she paints it roughly the same green as the back fence.

(And it's the photo for today in the challenge.)

Mum's great job at fixing up the old barbecue tray table

This isn't another flash photo, but she's done a great job, considering she hadn't used a chisel to get grooves at a certain depth before. I contributed only slightly by nailing in some of the old timbers at one end, and demonstrating how to chisel out the grooves.

Well done, Mum. Great job.

Choices, Choices...

If it's one thing some women can't decide on it's who is the best hero out of certain shows. It is easily the case for two certain gentlemen who have been in several shows before and after the roles they are depicted in below. However, for fans of period drama shows, these two gentlemen (the characters, not the men) are definitely up there are the definitive hero. Who can, after all, dispute that Fitzwilliam Darcy (Colin Firth, Pride and Prejudice, 1995) and John Thornton (Richard Armitage, North and South, 2004) aren't two of the nicest guys out there?

So...if it came down to choosing, who would you pick? The quiet, brooding, well-mannered but shy...hang on...isn't that both of them? At times, definitely. Oh dear...they certainly are qualities women go for when escaping in a book.

Good luck in deciding.

As you can see, the Enchanted Serenity of Period Films created this poster, and there is a bit of a poll going on here, if you would like to participate (on Facebook).

Yesterday Afternoon

After doing the Jane McGrath Classic in the morning, I decided I'd not done enough for Australia Day, and went down the coast all the way to Wollongong, stopping off at Bald Hill, and going via the Sea Cliff Bridge. Here's some pictures from that trip out.

Enjoy!

Just a by-the-by: there were actually 14 tankers/container ships off Wollongong's coast yesterday, but I didn't get all of them in the picture.

Low cloud at Wombarra (I think it was there...)

The Sea Cliff Bridge from Bald Hill - the low cloud can be seen in the distance

Low cloud over the ocean, with the tankers/container ships just noticeable

It was enjoyable to see sun in the afternoon after a few days of rainy, wet days.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Australia Day.