Good morning from the Goldfields

Good morning from the cold Goldfields of Western Australia. Winter is finally coming! We've had weather cold enough to warrant lighting the fire, frost, fog, and rain. So excited! Been hot for far too long. The bed has warm sheets, a blanket, and a feather doona. Pretty soon, I'll be adding another blanket, then we'll be snug as bugs in a rug.

Hubby and I have continued on our morning walks. Not long after we started, we increased the walk to include the whole east side of our rural little town. East and west parts of this town are separated - by about 5 km in between both sides. The supermarket (if you could call it that - I call it a corner store because there's nothing 'super' about it - way too small, so corner store is about all it's good for), chemist (pharmacist), post office, shire offices, local swimming pool, and a few lunch bars are all over in West - 'cause, you know, 'west is best' - even though it floods in that part of town because it's all flat - the area of town we live (east) is made up of hills and rocky outcrops, so it's a challenging walk every morning up and down all the hills, all the way around. We have recently missed a couple of mornings due to illness, though. I take photos on our walks, every day. I've been pretty slack in posting them, so I'm putting up a medley of photos taken from our walks over the past few weeks.

I've also been busy editing - for a couple of authors - Emily Foxx has a new one coming out this month, so keep an eye out for that one - the title is Never Too Late and it's pretty good. I really like the story. There are also a couple out now by Ashleigh Morgan, so if you haven't checked her out, yet, I suggest you give her a try.

There have been a few birthdays in our family, lately. First, our eldest son, Kyle (31), on the 21st of February (I still can't get over the fact that I have a 31-year-old son) - then, hubby's daughter, Natalie, (my step-daughter - yes, we have an extended blended family and I'm not posting how old she is - there are only about 15 years between her and I) on the 10th of March, then our daughter-in-law, Hayley (27), on the 14th of March, then finally, our daughter, Cassandra (26), on the 24th of April. Wow, the first half of the year is pretty busy!

And yes, because I haven't posted any for a while, I'll be attaching a couple of photos of our cheeky little bean (our grandson). He's getting big now - he'll be two in September. How in the hell did that happen? Before I know it, he'll be driving a freaking car!

I've also made a few things for my online jewellery store (handmadejewellery.net.au). I'll be posting a photo of one item - there are 6 altogether, so I'll post one item, plus morning photos from our walks, each day (until day 7 - then there won't be any jewellery items - unless I make some more).

I'm still fumbling my way through learning photoshop, too. I'll post a couple of images of what I've done recently. At the moment, I'm building up a library of images on transparent backgrounds to use to make up composites (like the one I've posted with the rundown farmhouse - they're called composites - and that bloody farmhouse took forever to cut out). First - the composite of the derelict farmhouse that I've named 'Haunted House', then a comparison photo - the original is on the left - re-touched image is on the right, and I can change the color of a dress (it was white - now apricot).

I have not done any writing at all. I've just been way too busy, but now that things have settled down for a bit, I can get back into that. I'm hoping to have at least 2 releases this year - I did want around 4, but with everything else I do, I can't seem to find the time to sit and write like I used to. His Word...Depraved (book 3 of The Shattered Series) will be one of them, with William (book 2 in Lucifer's Play Ground Series) being the other one.

Well, I better get my ass into gear and get some things done.

I hope everyone stays safe and well. Take care.