Autumn

Mirrored reflection stares
At her crowning glory.
A light dusting of frost
Dulls the morning shine.

She's losing her sparkle.

Her near replica stands above.
Searching.
The chilly evidence
Presents itself.

"Here's another."

Connection broken.
Discarded. Falls.
The evidence destroyed
For now.

Soon to be reenacted.

No longer singular,
Or isolated.
The evidence increases.
Drooping, defeated,

The fall now in showers.

© Pics 'n' Poems 2009

Baby Picture Sunday - Why I'm Thankful

Naturally I am very thankful for all my children, but at the time of Mousie's birth I was especially thankful.

Late in my pregnancy, at about 33 weeks, I developed obstetric cholestasis - a condition which has potentially fatal consequences for the baby. I was induced at 37 weeks to reduce the chances that my baby would be stillborn. It was a frightening experience, and the induction was the most intensely painful labour and delivery I have had to endure.

But in the end we were so blessed, so thankful, to hold a very healthy Mousie in our arms. She did not suffer any ill effect from the condition, and I was also thankful that the dreadful itch went away a few weeks later!Mousie's big brother, and two big sisters were very thankful to welcome her to our family (after Dragon got over his initial disappointment at not getting the baby brother he had been hoping for so desperately.)

We had cause to be thankful 6 months later when Mousie had surgery to repair a supra umbilical hernia - another potentially serious condition where her intestine could have got stuck in the hernia and strangulated. Here she is in the hospital cot prior to her operation. The surgery went very well, for which we are very thankful. This is a photo of Mousie with the huge bandage they put right around her tummy afterwards.She recovered very quickly, and only someone who knew she's had a repair can tell her belly button is not 'normal'.

Head over to Debi's blog for more thankful photos.

You Capture: Food

Food photographs are in abundance over at Beth's blog this week. You should really go have a look - just wait until you've eaten or you will certainly end up feeling more than a little bit hungry!!

This was dinner - nachos..

This was the makings of marbled cake - the batter.

The marbling.

The baked cake.

The very last piece!

I ♥ Faces - Sun Flare

I remember this summer evening in the park very clearly. Teddy was having such a lovely time exploring and experiencing the lush green grass (probably the first time she ever crawled through green grass, due to the drought.)

Baby Picture Sunday - Pretty as a Picture

Debi is hosting Baby Picture Sunday at her blog each week. This week's theme is "Pretty as a Picture."

I have so many pretty pictures of my girls, but I did my best to narrow it down to one of each. This is Kitcat, age 4 months.
Teddy wearing one of the beautiful outfits made by Nanna, age 2 months.
Mousie at Commonwealth Park by Lake Burley Griffin, age 11 months.
This is one of my favourite photos of her as a baby.
Ducky dressed as a fairy princess, eating chocolate biscuits, age 18 months.

I had to include this very recent photo of my pretty Possum.
And this is another recent photo, taken just last week before church.

Click on the button to see more pretty pictures.

You Capture: Sunset/Sunrise

Even though my little girls do their best to wake me up before the sun rises, I am in no shape to be taking photos of it. Our house is much better situated for(and my brain is much more able to cope with) sunsets.

At this time of year was are spoiled for beautiful sunsets. I took so many last weekend that I ran the camera batteries out twice! This is the first one - SOOC.This is the same sunset as above, but zoomed in a bit closer and then edited with 'auto fix'. I don't mind the lighter pink and bluey purple in the sky, but I prefer the original deep reds.

Some of my lavender flowers at sunset - taken without flash and then edited to saturate the colours a bit.

Same shot as above but with flash - SOOC .
Sunset rose buds, taken with flash on macro setting - SOOC.
Another sunset SOOC.
Same sunset, zoomed in a lot - SOOC.
And the same one again, zoomed right in on the trio of trees. Edited only to sharpen the silhouettes slightly.

** SOOC = straight out of camera

I ♥ Faces - Autumn Beauty

Love this photo of Ducky, Kitcat, Teddy and Mousie.

They enjoyed throwing the pretty autumn leaves up into the air and watching them float back down to the ground.

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

(May 2009 - Weston Park, Yarralumla, ACT, Australia.)