Natural Inspiration

When the minutiae of every day life threatens to overwhelm me, I have always turned to natural beauty for solace. I find my soul refreshed as I gaze in wonder at the world around me. On a recent afternoon country drive we took a walk and I was blown away by the sweeping vistas across the harbour and islands.

These images seem to sum up these little islands of paradise I live on... the clear sky, the deep blue ocean, a deserted pathway, and of course, sheep.

What ordinary magic inspires you in your every day life?

European Holiday Snaps

Here are the promised photos from our recent European adventure. We took over 5,000 shots, so I've just pulled a few out to give you a taste.

Beginning with travelling down the Romantic Road...

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Landsberg am Lech

Neuschwanstein Castle

Zugspitze, the top of Germany

Then skiing in the Dolomites...

Selva di Val Gardena

Alpe di Siusi

Then touring through Italy.

Bellagio, Lake Como

Varenna, Lake Como

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan

Portofino

Views from the Via dell'Amore, Cinque Terre

Replica of The David at Piazzale Michelangelo, Florence 

Up the top of the Duomo, Florence

Views over Tuscany from San Gimignano

Duomo, Siena

Amalfi Coast

Marina Grande, Capri
(our wedding anniversary)

The Faraglioni of Capri

Grotto, Capri

The Colosseum

St Peter's Basilica ,Rome
(note the light hitting the cross in the centre)

The Dome of St Peters

The Vatican

And then we flew home! Hope you liked the photos :-)

A Turning Point

I took a walk this afternoon at the far end of the neighbourhood and I took these shots.

It's funny, looking at them now, it almost seems like a totally different day - look at those heavy clouds as against the beautiful blue sky. But all I did was turn less than 180 degrees.

I'm at a turning point with my writing too. Totally I sent off the last query for my women's fiction MS. I am satisfied that I have queried widely enough, and I'm ready to move on.

So, what to move on to? I have a couple of dozen story ideas or scenes saved, which span many genres. There's about five that are clammering for my attention, and then one that's sticking in my head the most at the moment is the historical romance I was toying with over a year ago before I committed to the now-completed one. There are a couple of scenes I just loved, and I'd already outlined several chapters (but no way near enough to constitute a full novel). Moments between the hero and heroine keep overtaking my head. Like while I was walking, I had to keep stopping to jot down ideas on my phone.

I love this part. The dreaming and drafting. The "OMG I HAVE TO WRITE THIS SCENE DOWN NOW OR I WILL DIE!" feeling. While there's so much possibility, and I can take the story anywhere I want, and I don't have to worry about filling in the gaps. What's your favourite part of the writing process?

The other turn I'm making is (obviously) changing from contemporary to historical. Several years ago I would not have considered doing anything BUT historical. I was fully immersed in that world. Now I've been reading contemporary fiction, consuming author blogs, etc etc. It's going to be a major mind-shift to get back into historical (probably Georgian or Regency) mode. I've been sort of pushing all of that to the side, purely due to time constraints. And while it's daunting to consider catching up, I'm excited to get back to my first love.

Another thought as sort of a foot-note... stop to notice the world around you. As I was furiously taking notes on my iPhone while I strolled back along here...

... I almost missed the first ducklings of the season:

I do love me some ducklings... well any baby animals really! This was a lovely way to finish the afternoon.

Sunshine Snapshots

Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post so I wanted to pop in with some evidence of our lovely holiday in the Sunshine Coast last week. I was sick again for the first 3 days or so, but it was still amazing being in balmy climes and enjoying a beachfront apartment. All too soon we were back to reality.

Kings Beach, Caloundra

Rays from Heaven

Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin at Australia Zoo

Seeing Beyond Satisfaction

It’s time to prune the roses again. Some of them have indeed lost all of their leaves, with no sign of new buds. A few plants, however, continue to defy the season. One in particular, a yellow rose named Serendipity, keeps reaching skyward with glossy leaves, big buds and bright blooms. It was the same last year: I felt guilty cutting the stems right back when it was still proudly putting on a show. It’s tempting to leave it alone; see how high it’ll grow. But I know that if I don’t trim it, I’m denying it the chance to grow vigorously next year. Left alone until the next season, the old wood’s growth would slow and become spindly, with perhaps half as many flowers. I’d get to keep this year’s shape, but lose the potential vibrancy of unknown beauty.

Here’s where the metaphor kicks in. Sometimes we keep living the same life because it looks pretty good on the outside. But maybe on the inside we’re turning into old wood. We get a bit too comfortable... we move past satisfied. Perhaps we once had a dream that was long since stifled. If we don’t stop to think about it, we assume everything’s okay. But maybe we’re not living up to our full potential. If we don’t step outside the box, we might never know who we’re truly meant to become.

It’s like they say: if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. It takes courage to chop off the dead wood and start again. If something new is nagging at you, don’t ignore it for fear of destroying a satisfactory pattern. Get out those pruning shears, then fertilise your ideas. It might take a while, but the chances are that they’ll bloom into something beautiful.

Out and About

I thought it was about time for another post, and I don't have anything writing- or even general life-related to wax lyrical about... so here are some photos of our day trip to Port Waikato yesterday. This is where is mighty Waikato River pours into the Tasman Sea. We took a stroll along Sunset Beach, which is comprised of rocky outcrops, dense black iron sands, and grassy banks of dunes.

It was a crisp winter's day, with a cool southerly wind whipping the tops off the waves.

We discovered this crater in the dunes about half way down the beach. From the top you can see the river winding around to the coast.

As you get closer to the mouth of the river, the beach is peppered with driftwood. What's unique about this particular driftwood is the shells hanging off it, clinging to strands of seaweed. The wind blowing through the shells made them clang together like a natural windchime.

Once we'd returned home and showered to remove layers of sand, the fresh air and exercise resulted in an accidental nap before dinner :-) Gotta love Saturdays.