good fences make good neighbours

good fences make good neighbours, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

wed aug 27
085/365

i seem to be in some kind of crazy philosophical mode atm, too much alcohol? maybe not enough?

when i took this photo it made me think of what i imagined the stone wall to be like in robert frost’s poem “mending wall”, and reminded me of the famous line from that poem, “good fences make good neighbours”.

we all build walls around ourselves. i guess they offer us some kind of protection. no one likes to be hurt.

some of those walls are so sturdy and rigid. we don’t get to know the real person inside, only ever seeing the veneer , their exterior.

others open up their hearts and minds and let us in. how wonderful that is, to share a deep bond and a special intimacy with such treasured friends.

happy birthday to my dear friend karen, you amaze me with your ability to take so much so graciously. enjoy your day and your shiny new dslr.

song “near to you” a fine frenzy

bff

bff, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

tues aug 26
084/365

these two are so funny. they used a phone at school today, georgia to ring me, anna to ring louise. i still haven’t gotten to the bottom of the story but it would appear they concocted a story in an attempt to get georgia out of her gymnastics class this afternoon, and anna out of her tennis class, so that they could play together instead. very funny seeing as though they never see each other outside of school…NOT! the ironic part is that georgia ended up quite unwell and was unable to do anything after school except sleep.

song “reckless” australian crawl

shim&swiz

shim&swiz, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

mon aug 25
083/365

shim and swiz…my little blonde companions. i am so lucky to spend so much time with these two.

the adorable shimmi. so gorgeous with the cutest little voice, especially when he calls me “lissa” – he makes me melt. the youngest of 4, he is very clever and well educated, and gets taught lots of fun ‘tricks’ (mostly by his dad) that he will perform on cue! he is already a great story teller and is very entertaining. we have great conversations!

the beautiful swiz. such an old soul, she just seems to ‘get’ things. swiz is usually surrounded by her posse of big kids. i will never forget taking her to a swimming lesson one day. the poor teacher was overwhelmed by the number of spectators that had come to watch her swim, and figured she couldn’t have that many siblings, so why were they all there? swizzi has 2 older sisters and counts their friends as her own. everyone loves swiz. her hearty laugh is contagious.

song bernard fanning “watch over me”

old and rusty

old and rusty, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

sun aug 24
082/365

today was lovely. paul took the skater dudes across town for a bit of skateboarding, meaning things were very peaceful for a while at home. georgia and i took a walk around our local streets and i took this photo at grow, a landscaping business not far away.

song john lennon “imagine”

slow down. stop and smell the roses now and then.

slow down, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

sat aug 23
081/365

life is so busy. it seems to be a mantra these days…whenever you ask someone how they have been, they invariably answer with one word “busy”.
i know i am guilty of it.
today was one of those typically busy days. we had lots of commitments, most at the same time, and the hours just seemed to pass in a blur. lots of quick trips in the car…picking someone up here, dropping someone else off there. i used to stress about how i would manage the logistics of it all. now i am much more relaxed and have such great support from my wonderful friends. and i only plan 12 hours ahead, so don’t ask me anything further in advance than that cos it wont have hit my radar yet.
when i saw this beautiful rose this afternoon, it reminded me of that famous adage,“take time to stop and smell the roses” because really, what is life if we live it in a haze of commitments and obligations?

song “into my arms” nick cave

go aussie go

go aussie go, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

fri aug 22
080/365

go aussie go was the theme for tonight’s school ball. after a crazy but fun day of setting up city hall, then running around organising last minute costume bits n pieces, it was time to get ready. the house was awash with people, costumes, coloured hairspray, face paint, tattoos and wigs.
as usual, the ball was great. everyone looked fantastic in their costumes…and we managed to live through cam & eamon’s peeling face paint issues, and zach’s hair issues too.
the highlight of the evening though had to be the car trip to and from the ball. we made the kids endure the hardship of listening to friday night love song dedications on am radio. we came very close to a mutiny when paul and i sang (at the top of our lungs) along to such songs as “woman in love” & “hopelessly devoted to you”. we were absolutely sensational but i am afraid our children just don’t recognise such obvious talent.

song “my people” the presets cos the year 7’s did such a great job of their ‘farewell ej ball’ dance to this song

randomness

randomness, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

thurs aug 21
079/365

more ball tickets to deal with this morning. it’s actually been quite nice to be up at the school the last couple of days. i used to spend so much time up there, but not so much anymore.
afterward louise and i snuck away for a quick lunch (yummy pide) and a visit to borders and gloria jeans.

song the communards “don’t leave me this way”

the staffroom!

the staffroom, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

wed aug 20
078/365

this morning louise, cath, kate and i spent a few hours in the staffroom at school doing the ticketing for the school ball. we waded through hundreds of ticket orders, and lotsa money marking names off various lists as we went.
then i headed off to work, and was amazed to find we were fully staffed for the afternoon.

song “laid” james

tuesday is hair day!

tuesday is hair day!, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

tues aug 19
077/365

this is a picture of my good friend jo, she also happens to be my hairdresser. jo has been cutting and colouring my hair for about 10 years. every six weeks or so she comes over and a group of us get together for a “hair day”. friends come and go all day to get their hair cut/coloured/straightened. it’s great fun. not only do we all end up looking glamorous, we also get to eat lots of good food (today was sushi), share a drink, and catch up on all the latest goss.

song “dreaming with a broken heart” john mayer

blue tongue

blue tongue, originally uploaded by lovethehalls.

mon aug 18
076/365

argh show bags
even though we didn’t go the the ekka the kids still managed to get lots of show bags. and that means lots of sticky lollies.

song “violet hill” coldplay