a little bit of garden DIY...

I spent hours in the courtyard last weekend. Hours. This appears to be a necessary evil when you have neglected it for the entire winter!  There's still quite a bit to go but I managed to do some rearranging, put in some new sprinkler thingies, pull out a mass of weeds (don't talk to me about honeysuckle!), toss some very large concrete pavers over the wall (don't ask, you don't want to know!) and plant some flowers and veggies.
I also did a very simple little DIY involving a mirror, a pot and a new little space in the courtyard where the rickety old bench used to be...voila!

This little spot under the growing maple tree lets me see the sky (reflected in the mirror) while reading a book, having a drink and without straining my neck!

and as a bonus...the pot is a place to put a bit of gardening paraphernalia...just whip off the mirror and put it back on when done. Clever huh!

As as for that bench where Buffy used to sit...

...I'm using it to grow a herb garden! 

Poor vampire slayer...

all photos by me taken on the iPhone 4S

to the sea...

I love Canberra. I have a very happy life here. But then I go to the sea and wonder why I'm not living somewhere else...like by the water.

With a job like mine there are times when (with the wonders of the interweb) I can work from pretty well anywhere.  Last week I was lucky enough to be able to work by the sea. Firstly with a colleague who has relocated to Nelson Bay (sea change or what!) and then for a few more days with my parents in Newcastle.

No-one believes me when I say I got a whole heap of work done...but it's true. Yes, really. Having said that, there were coastal compensations.

Here's a lovely picture of mum and dad at the Newcastle Ocean Baths. 

They're doing ok but frailer each time I see them; and let's not talk about the memory loss!! But no matter what, school prawns with my dad is a long, long tradition...I'm a much speedier peeler than him these days though :)

How about you? Do you prefer coast or country? Or if you're really lucky, do you have both?
all images: kerry martin flickr

way out west...

In the middle of last month the fella and I went on a four day road trip to Walgett. Where you ask?? Walgett. No, I didn't know where it was either. But it's the place where Richard was born. And as far as I could tell that's its only attraction! I shouldn't be rude, but I have to confess it's not a place I could ever live.  Still, we had a great time at his Year 10 school reunion and it was lovely to see people who hadn't seen each other for 35 years having a fine old time :)
I took the opportunity to put the trip to another purpose, taking photos for the latest assignment on the photography course I'm doing. We had to choose a theme: so mine was rural NSW | people, places and things!  Here's a selection of my favourites...

There's been a squillion canola field pics on instagram in the last month or so, but gee...I never tire of them.  And I can't tell you how chuffed I was to work out how to do the slow moving water thing too...although I won't tell you how many attempts I had before it worked!

When we were in Walgett there was an aboriginal rugby competition on with teams from all over the place. I am pleased to report (as a born and bred Novacastrian) that the Newcastle team won! There were kids galore having a fabulous time...

And on our way back to Canberra we just had to stop in and stay with Julienne...I was allowed to take photos of her stuff...and what a rich source of stuff there was!

Coat stand in the longest hallway in the world! And here's the woman herself giving Richard a tour of the homestead :)

Had the best time, loved experimenting with the camera and even better, got to meet new people as well as see dear friends.

I had been scheduled to go to Shanghai with work but my participation got cancelled at the last minute...so I got to go to Walgett instead...

...the Shanghai of the west!! Oh well, there's always next year.

If you would like to see a few more images head on over to my Flickr account.

all images by Kerry Martin