We love you too....

Come the light of day...

When in the fresh mornings I go into

my garden before anyone is awake,

I go for the time being into perfect happiness.

~ Cecilia Thaxter

You can only come to the morning through the shadows

~ J.R.R. Tolkien

I'll tell you how the sun rose a ribbon at a time

~ Emily Dickinson

Through the blackest night,

morning gently tiptoes,

feeling its way to dawn

~ Robert Brault

The sun is but a morning star

~ Henry David Thoreau

Whether I retire to bed early or late,

I rise with the sun

~ Thomas Jefferson

The day shall not be up so soon as I,

to try the fair adventure of tomorrow

~ William Shakespeare

Lose an hour in the morning

and you will be all day hunting for it

~ Richard Whately

Next to temperance, a quiet conscience, a cheerful mind and active habits,

I place early rising as a means of health and happiness

~ Flint

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege

it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love

~ Marcus Aurelius

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you -

Don't go back to sleep...

~ Rumi

Old gold and facades....

'Gold Diggings' Ararat - Edward Roper 1858

When on holiday in April we visited the old gold rush city of Ararat in south-western Victoria. I loved the feel of the place and took several photos of the old buildings. Our friends with us that day also loved it and are presently negotiating to buy an old mansion built in 1903.

Gold was discovered at Ararat in 1857, turning it into a gold rush boomtown. It was officially declared a city in 1950 but the population has steadily declined. Ararat got its name after Mount Ararat, 10km south-west, which was named by Horatio Wills in 1841. Wills, a pastoralist and politician, was one of Ararat's first settlers.

Barkly Street looking towards The Grampians

Image: John O'Neill

Upper Barkly Street in 1894

The Fire Brigade tower, since demolished, is the tall building in the distance,

The E.S.&A. (English, Scottish and Australian) Bank

and the drapery store are on the right.

Former Town Hall, now the Regional Ararat Art Gallery

and Ararat Performing Arts Centre

Deliverance...

"When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books.  They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind."

Michel de Montaigne (Les Essais)

One White Tree....

One White Tree

Tall ships and tall kings

Three times three.

What brought they from the foundered land

Over the flowing sea?

Seven stars and seven stones

And one white tree.

J.R.R. Tolkien

Image: Me

Melody Gardot - I love this voice....

Three days ago Mike and I were sitting

in a seafood restaurant in Launceston Tasmania,

the sun beaming through the windows onto our corner table

facing the water, boats drifting slowly by,

two flies fighting on the window pane,

the background music not at all imposing,

until I heard this voice,

which made the ambiance even more magic.

I asked the waitress who it was singing

and she kindly sourced it for me.

Do you likee?

A few days away...

"The Balconies" Grampians National Park

Image: Grampians Tourism

Last month we hit the road for a ten day holiday at Lake Fyans in the beautiful Grampians National Park, in the western district of Victoria. Unfortunately we didn't get to see The Balconies or any of the lookouts, waterfalls and touristy places as the area suffered major landslip in January after a huge storm swept through, causing damage to walking tracks and roads.  Boulders as tall as a house smashed through roads. However, we did visit Hall's Gap and got as far as Lake Bellfield by road.  

The Grampians feature a striking series of sandstone mountain ranges. The ranges were named in 1836 by Surveyor General of New South Wales Sir Thomas Mitchell after the Grampian Mountains in his native Scotland, but are also known by the name Gariwerd, from one of the local Australian Aboriginal languages, either the Jardwadjali or Djab Wurrung language.  Wikipedia

Our friends' touring home 

with boat up ahead 

The little 2-bedroom cabin we stayed in

View from cabin

Grampians in distance

Mike in his pontoon boat

Flower on the foreshore
haven't found what it is

Hall's Gap shops

- all were flooded 3 months earlier

and the picnic area washed away

View from Lake Bellfield wall

Still fishing...

Tomorrow we're heading off 'overseas' again; actually it's a bit of a joke here in Australia, we say 'OS' when flying to Tasmania, which is a little less than an hour away over Bass Strait.  We'll only be away four days; hope the weather is kind, it's a lot colder over there.  I'll bring home photos.