Finding balance in a busy world, is an art. And like art, highly subjective. What works for one, does not work for the other. It all comes down to knowing the what, when and where for oneself.
I get to visit some beautiful places for work and sometimes, holiday. The coastal towns of Broome, Exmouth and Esperance come to mind immediately. But even in these tourist towns, I seek solitude in the crowd. I find a quiet spot away from the people and that’s not hard to do on Cable Beach with 22 km of beach. Esperance is my second home. I know exactly where I’m happiest in this small town. I also know in Exmouth, I’m happiest near the ocean at sunrise and sunset or delighting in smooth pebbles or shells.
But away from the big name places, I look for the ordinary things. Looking at them differently generates a mind shift for me. I’m never sure what I am photographing. I just instinctively feel the need to take a picture and then months, or years later, see something special in that moment.
I’ll share some of those moments with you.
On the banks of the Fitzroy River in Willare (Kimberley region) I found these leaves along the banks. The wind had created this perfect formation. They were tightly wedged in.
At home the bees in the front garden love the roses. I love the tiger stripes and colours.
I have become addicted to the crunch of my boots in the silence of the bush. Sometimes I stop and check what’s at my feet. Often I find perfection.
I always seem to find heart shaped rocks on the beach. I now find heart shaped leaves in the bush. The universe is speaking and so I stop and listen, ear to the ground.
I love photographing surfers. They are passionate and fearless. I learn from them, it’s okay to be the same.
Surfers find balance, in balance. A hard act to follow. I’m fine tuning that.
Photography has been my lifeline. I need a few minutes every day with my camera. And, in a crazy world, that’s how I steady myself.
Until next time
As always
a dawn bird
Summer, in my 
I stood at the window and there it was. Flitting around under the patio. It feeds off the insects in the cobwebs, and flies around with ‘crumbs’ stuck to his face. I watched it practice fantail, unsuccessfully, and smiled like a parent while gazing at it with affection.
M is nearly seven. A veteran of a few surgeries and was recovering from one in this picture. She knows not to jump on me and can read my hand signal, stop. Clever girl! She is now comfortable in my home whenever they visit.
Then came Em. The Instagram star. She also found herself featured in an Ikea catalogue. Our little celebrity. Hold a mobile phone and Em will immediately get a toy and pose! She was barely a year old in this picture and is now bigger. The first thing I do on the internet each morning, is look at her latest picture. She is my morning smile.
The most recent addition to the family is Kovu, my son’s chocolate labrador. Still only a few months old he is a bundle of energy. It makes me smile when the dogs go to the beach on ‘a play date’! I nearly fell off the chair the other day when my son stated he needed to go home as his “son” was waiting for him. This from a hipster twentysomething who claims he and his fiancee are never going to have children!
I even collect recipes when I’m in a plane!
Poached egg with salmon on potato rosti with Hollandaise sauce and caper berry. Best breakfast ever enjoyed at The Pumphouse, Kununurra, far north of Perth. It is my favourite restaurant in this region that sits on the site of the old Ord Pump Station on the Ord River. The dinner with a magnificent sunset, is pretty amazing too and I’ve shared pictures of this in another post.
The most memorable breakfast I’ve ever eaten was by the banks of the King River, after sleeping under stars in outback Kimberley. Bread toasted over an open fire, the smell of eggs and bacon frying and a side of freshly caught barramundi with nothing but salt and pepper to season it. It set the bar high.
A far cry from eating out is the paleo inspired breakfast I cook for the family on a Sunday with a glass of freshly squeezed apple, celery, lime and ginger juice.
Or for lunch, one of the family’s favourite curries is a recipe from Donna Hay (Lemon Lime Coconut Chicken). A Thai inspired curry that is absolutely delicious and takes barely 15 minutes to make. 
My children have never been to India so when they were younger whatever I cooked up and presented as Indian food, got me by. They were my biggest fans, my version of a biryani being a favourite. (It’s not really a biryani, more of a pilaf!). I’m not good at cooking Indian food. I know this. I know the taste and what it should be. I never seem to get it right. Now that Perth has a proliferation of Indian restaurants serving more authentic food, I’ve noticed my children prefer to eat out when I offer to cook Indian! Hmmmm
Italian sausages cooked with capcicums, chillies and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar with crusty bread is a quick and delicious meal to take to a pot luck dinner with friends.
My go to comfort food is an Indian beef stew with vegetables and pasta, a recipe that evokes childhood, with nothing else to season it but salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamon, slow cooked, of course. I’m not sure where the recipe came from but I recall our 
Then there’s the best time of year. Christmas. Where all my dreams come true. I love to experiment. This was a little shot of peppermint candy cane milkshake I made a couple of years ago.
But I’m not as creative as others in making up recipes, like this one I found in 2016 somewhere along my travels!
A Shared Space 
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