Thursday 31 December 2015

Reflecting ... and Happy New Year!



On the last day of 2015, I thought it only fitting to head to the Barron Falls. A river and waterfall that have carved their own way through the landscape just as we all carve out our own journey through life.
Actually that sounds pretty good, very thought provoking. Really, I went just because I wanted to.
With all the rain around the falls are putting on quite a show to impress as the water tumbles and crashes down the rocks to the gorge below.

 Obviously this post is going to get a little bit deep and meaningful .... and reflective, as per the title.



So many of the people I have talked to are excited for the new year and wishing the old away, saying "2016 is my year". I'm on the fence, I am actually sad to see another year pass but I also look forward to the next. Another chapter in my life's book yet with none of the others erased because they were needed to get the story to where it is. Just like that at midnight the page will turn and it will be 2016. Wishing away the year that has been won't change it.



Yes ,we have plans and dreams for the coming year, together ones and our own ones, but I don't want to write off 2015. Actually I wouldn't have minded if it had hung around a little longer, this year has gone way too fast. There have been ups and downs, good times and blah times. The good times wouldn't shine so brightly in my memory without the not so good to counter them. This blog has been written through the good days and not so good days which are often a result of missing family. I'm happy at the moment and reflective, as this time of year often is.



So 2015 hasn't been anything particularly spectacular but there were memories made, places visited and people loved that filled it to the brim. There were times with family and times without, there was a new niece welcomed to the family that came with the growth of my sister's family, there was the growing up, moving and achieving of my youngest sister, there was Mr Sparky by my side, there was travels and exploring, there were lovely moments and weekends together with family and friends, there was trying new things, there was the end of a job, there was the excitement of Mr Sparky becoming a proper sparky, there was the happiness of the long awaited wedding of my Aunt, there were card card games with my brother and there was laughter and tears and everything in between along with so, so, so much more. I never know what a year will look like (does anyone) but it is always lovely to look back at what has happened in a mere 12 months, to look at the photos, to recall memories, the see the changes and to see what shape the year took in the end. Every year is different. There are always new experiences to have.



Mr Sparky asked me if I had any resolutions for 2016. I'm not really one for New Years resolutions, who keeps them anyway, but I do have hopes and wishes for the next year. 
I would like to share some of these hopes with you, some hopes for you and for me. 
May you laugh, cry and do everything in between. 
May you live your life by doing things you enjoy.
May you love and let those you love know they are loved.
May you work towards achieving hopes and dreams.
May you care for yourself just as you care for others.

May you enjoy the little moments, along with the big.
May you make memories.
 May you be open to whatever 2016 brings you.

Something I want to do in particular is look after myself better. I need that. That, however, is more of a lifetime commitment. Mr Sparky wants to clean our home (meaning sorting his electrical and tool bits and bobs out).

Here is a brief look at my 2015.
All the photos are linked back to their respective posts.
Looking back has made me realise how much I have seen and done this year even though the year seems to have sped by in the blink of an eye.

January

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/standing-on-water.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/a-palm-cove-afternoon.html

February

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/last-night-at-farm.html

 http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/stepping-back-in-time.html

March

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/the-first-day-of-autumn.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/the-beach-and-more-very-disjointed-post.html

April

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/catching-sun.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/waterfall-wading.html

May

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/chillagoe-and-bit-of-history-lesson.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/sheets-and-sugar.html

June

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/that-news-that-sweet-pink-news.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/snap-frozen.html

July

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/josephine-falls.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/warning-achtung.html

August

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/there-and-back.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/sexy-tractors.html

September

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/the-end-of-working-chapter.html

 http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/dirt-roads-creeks-and-flowers.html

October

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/goose-goose-goose-jacana.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/red-reflections.html

November

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/smatterings-of-purple.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/hazy-mountains.html

December

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/1st-of-december.html

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/twinkles-and-sparkles.html

And just because I felt the need to make sure the Great Barrier Reef was in there to go with the rainforest, waterfalls, mountains and beaches.

http://gritandgiggles.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/up-high-again.html

And so with that, I wish you a Happy New Year. 
May it be filled with love and happiness and be all that you wish for.

Wednesday 30 December 2015

Cloud Topped Mountains and a City by the Sea

To say things are a little damp here in the Far North is probably a bit of an understatement.
My backyard has turned into a water overloaded sponge and the creek overflow or wetland out the back is starting to fill. We are up to 4 or 5 days straight of rain. The Bureau of Meteorology says we have had about 72mm of rain in Cairns in the last 24 hours and it is raining more today. It does however very much depends exactly where you live how much rain there has been.

The best part about this weather system that spreads across the Northern Territory and Queensland, slowly working south, is that it is getting some areas that very much need rain in drought declared areas. Some are watching dams fill that have been empty for months and rivers flow that have been dry for longer than anyone wants to remember. Others are still waiting their turn.

The Station, where I used to work on finally got rain. They watched their house dam fill in a day meaning the job of carting water to use in the house, that has been a necessity for 2mths+, doesn't need to be done for a while now. I can only imagine the excitement and relief that this rain has brought with it. I recall that feeling from when I first moved there and rain arrived just as we were on last reserves at the beginning of my first full year. It is just the beginning of what is needed and hopefully of what is to come.

Because of this I am not complaining about our days and days on end of rain and grey skies. A sunny day would be nice though, it will come.


Yesterday morning I went for a bit of a drive. It wasn't raining and I wanted to get photos of the low clouds on the mountains. It is still something that amazes me.



The clouds were trying to clear so I kept heading around to what I've decided to name First Beach. I wanted to see more clouds on top of mountains, to see the city from the other side and to enjoy a quiet moment outdoors while it wasn't raining.



I got everything I wanted with clouds, a clear view to the city and blue coming through.




Nothing stops for the weather or holidays when it comes to tourism, and this is a city that very much runs on tourism. The boats were still heading out to the reef.




We've had a few mornings where the weather has briefly tried to clear and this was the closest yet. The sun when it was out was hot and burn-ey and the weather competition was heating up the humidity. The rain won out again eventually with is starting to pour yesterday afternoon and raining pretty much non stop since then.


I wasn't the only one out on the beach with a man trying his luck with his net.


Wandering the small beach and taking photos made me feel it was really holiday time, Summer holidays. I backed up that feeling with an afternoon movie while it rained outside. Unfortunately that bubble was busted when I had to go to work that evening. Pity about the need for money for food and such.



It was interesting watching the changing sky while on the beach. I do love the look of showers coming in over the mountains.


It was also pretty cool how clearly I could see Yorkeys Knob, houses and all, poking out into the sea with Double Island a bit off the end.


What a way to relax.


Over the last few days Mr Sparky and I have been talking about and dreaming up plans for the future. It has been so nice to have that time over the long weekend. Some plans are definite and some need to be decided on.


Some things we might just leave to go with the flow though and see what happens. Planning out every detail of life doesn't seem to work that well but sometimes that ship needs a bit of steering.


Have you been thinking on the next year to come?


I find quiet times like this, help me to think on things and to reflect and dream.


Once I thought I'd been in the sun long enough I headed back home but not before stopping for some more roadside photos of the city.


Also stopping for the lines in the sugar cane.


I believe the harvest is finished, they really got a move on for the end.


So even though paddocks of cane are at varying heights, it is all for next year's harvest. It will all start again in less than 12 months.


I find it interesting watching the paddocks change through the season. Also the lines in the cane fields are always something that draws my eye.


 I'm loving this post Christmas quietness while we look to the start of another year.
I am hoping to see the New Years Eve fireworks but am wondering whether they will even be on. New Years Day, well night, I have to work and Mr Sparky is on call so there won't be anything too exciting happening here. 
Do you have any New Years plans?
Are you amazed that the end of the year is nearly here already, like I am?



My Memory Art