she hath done what she could

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 March 2024].}<

Often, when I'm perusing my catalogue of unedited photos to share, one will pop out at me, and I just know it's right to share at this moment in time.

It may not always be the most eye-catching or aesthetically pleasing photograph.

But it captures where my mind or heart is right now.

Or it depicts a place, an object, a plant, etc., that - when I research it further - is relevant to something in my life at that moment and clicks.

This photograph I took in Cornubia Lutheran Cemetery, also known as Carbrook Lutheran Cemetery, did that for me today.

post-floral

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 February 2024].}

View fullsize

untitled #17 [redland bay, queensland, australia, 2009]

View fullsize

untitled #15 [redland bay, queensland, australia, 2009]

blood red

Two of my self-portraits - one from my wallflowers series, the other from my plush series - are included in Issue #123: Color 2024 of F-Stop Magazine, and both feature floral motifs: the wallpaper in one and my dress in the other.

This photograph, which I took in my parents' garden in Redland Bay in 2009, of a Cordyline fruticosa (commonly known as a ti plant) doesn't include a floral motif. But the leaves are so vibrant with the backlighting that they fit the colour theme I submitted to.

Since I've already shared the two photographs included in F-Stop Magazine, I thought I'd share this one alongside the news.

glass house mountains

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 29 March 2023].}

The same day Mum, Dad and I visited Peachester Cemetery, we travelled along a road giving us a view of the Glass House Mountains.

View fullsize

untitled #91 [glass house mountains, queensland, australia, 2009]

It wasn't the best weather that day, but the view was still impressive.

After an extensive discussion with Dad, we believe all but the second photograph is Mount Coonowrin, but taken from various directions (some of the photos were taken 20 minutes apart).

View fullsize

untitled #98 [glass house mountains, queensland, australia, 2009]

I'm unsure which of the Glass House Mountains the second photograph is, so if you know, please feel free to weigh in.

View fullsize

untitled #93 [glass house mountains, queensland, australia, 2009]

As with many natural formations in Australia, the First Nations Australians have a legend about the mountains. Wikipedia tells me they are located in the traditional lands of the Jinibara and Gubbi Gubbi people.

View fullsize

untitled #97 [glass house mountains, queensland, australia, 2009]

I don't recall visiting them in my childhood or teens. But I would be surprised if we didn't at least drive through the area and admire them while I lived in Brisbane or when visiting Queensland after we moved away.

death in reserve

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 March 2023].}

As with many of my friends and lovers, my parents reached a point where they not only accommodated my obsession with visiting and photographing cemeteries, graveyards, churchyards and other final resting places. But they facilitated it.

Sometimes I wonder if it was because they felt they owed me for all the times my brothers and I were left to our own devices in winery car parks in our childhood and teens. While they tasted and purchased wine, muscat and/or port, whether on a day out or on a road trip.

I spent most of those times reading the books I was absorbed by, and I came to enjoy wine in my early 20s. My brothers didn't. Maybe they "owed" my brothers more than me.

View fullsize

untitled #10 [peachester cemetery, crohamhurst, queensland, australia, 2009]

Sometimes, it was because the cemetery was near where they or their relatives lived at some point.

I vaguely remember Mum mentioning that one of her relatives was buried in Peachester Cemetery. Dad confirmed it was one of her cousins.

View fullsize

untitled #11 [peachester cemetery, crohamhurst, queensland, australia, 2009]

Whatever the initial reasoning, my parents seemed to find them interesting the more they lurked in them with me.

And with Crohamhurst Ecological Reserve on its borders, Peachester Cemetery was one of the more scenic cemeteries I've photographed, although the graves were simple.

coronary

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 2 October 2022].}

until the day dawns

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 20 September 2022].}

the sacred heart of balmoral

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 September 2022].}

View fullsize

untitled #65 [balmoral cemetery, morningside, queensland, australia, 2007]

road to lamington

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 May 2022].}

View fullsize

untitled #47 [lamington park road, lamington national park, queensland, australia, 2009]

ochna serrulata

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 May 2022].}

Technically, these are the fruitlets and sepals of the Ochna serrulata, not the flower, but sepals are part of the flowers, so I'mma let this one pass through because they're damned purty.

Taken during a photo walk around Redland Bay in Queensland back in 2009.

They're designated as an invasive species in Australia despite their attractive appearance.

View fullsize

untitled #64 [redland bay, queensland, australia, 2009]

god will link the broken chain

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 11 April 2022].}

silky oak

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 14 January 2022].}

I thought this year I'd change things up a bit and share some of my vast quantity of floral images on Fridays, with the odd fungi image making an appearance.

The change is driven by my supply of fungi images running low for now. Many of my fungi photos were taken on my iPhone and shared on social media soon after.

But also because I want to share the many beautiful images of flowers I have taken over the decades. And they don't really quite fit into the travel category (though often taken while travelling), and, unlike my late bloomers series, these flowers are real.

View fullsize

untitled #57 [redland bay, queensland, australia, 2009]

So, I'm kicking off my new series of #FloralFriday posts with two photos I took back in 2009 of the striking yellow-gold flowers of a silky oak tree in Redland Bay, Queensland.

During my childhood, my parents and my grandfather tracked down various items of furniture made from the silky oak tree.

They sanded them back, varnished them and furnished our homes with them. Two sideboards and a dining table and chairs I grew up with were lovingly restored, among other items. And more furniture in my grandparents' home in Canberra.

Growing up, I never realised these flowers grew on the same trees the furniture I was surrounded by during my childhood were fashioned from.

I've decided to call this curated series a floral tribute.

gone fishin'

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 December 2021].}

burleigh heads

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 August 2021].}

Today was a stressful one, and there was a "doze, not quite a nap" this afternoon when I pushed through for too long without eating.

But I got important life admin sorted, and I booked an appointment for my second dose of the vaccine, so there's that.

View fullsize

dogs prohibited beyond this point [burleigh heads, queensland, australia, 2009]

Today I felt the urge to share a little photo essay of photographs I took at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast in Queensland back in 2009.

At the time, I was visiting for my birthday. But later in the year, for various reasons, I moved to live with my parents in Redland Bay at the other end of the Pacific Highway.

View fullsize

untitled #240 [burleigh heads, queensland, australia, 2009]

In 2002, when I'd returned from the UK, I'd lived with them in the Gold Coast hinterland. In Bonogin. My then-partner and I would drive to Burleigh Heads most days to walk along this stretch of the Gold Coast.

It was a beautiful spot to be and provided a stark contrast to the Gold Coast tourist drag of Surfers Paradise. I was more familiar with that part of the Gold Coast from my primary school years when I lived in Brisbane.

View fullsize

untitled #241 [burleigh heads, queensland, australia, 2009]

I feel a postcard from another's life related to my relationship with the Gold Coast coming in time. It was an annual pilgrimage for our family in my early years, punctuated by fluorescent beachwear and putt-putt golf.

Later, while at college, it was a place of cultural cringe for me.

View fullsize

untitled #242 [burleigh heads, queensland, australia, 2009]

In 2002 and 2009, I could see the beauty again in areas outside of the tourist traps. I hope this is what I shared with a partner in 2019, though I still hold a love for the kitsch 1980s Surfers Paradise in my heart to this day.

It's complicated.

Isn't it always?

emergence

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 23 July 2021].}

Hello, my lovelies!

I'm so sorry for the radio silence, but today has been my first good day since my update on Monday. Conversely, yesterday was probably tied for worst since I started experiencing Covid-19 symptoms on Wednesday, 14 July.

It's been a long week punctuated by the most intense headaches I've ever experienced. As well as dizzy spells, wobbliness, checking blood oxygen levels, fevers, odd aches and pains, fatigue, dehydration, head sweats and an almost complete loss of appetite.

I managed to go all the way until yesterday without crying. But the headache I'd had since at least 23:30 on Tuesday finally broke me, then it broke me further an hour or two later.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon wanting to gouge my left eye and about three inches behind it out with a grapefruit spoon. When I gave up on the lounge and watching even short YouTube videos and went back to bed, I remember wondering whether, if I called 111, they would send me out a drip.

I've always had empathy for those with conditions that cause chronic fatigue due to the fatigue and lethargy that often accompanies my depression. But it has increased tenfold after spending so much time this week exhausted by the most basic activities.

My sense of smell returned on Wednesday after being MIA since probably Friday (I didn't realise until Saturday afternoon). Though, I'm not sure it's back to 100% yet.

Since late yesterday evening, I've had a clear head with only the need for one dose of painkillers today. Ironically, I don't think it was a Covid-related headache.

I've managed to complete some life admin I'd hoped to do on Monday before being told by the GP to stop. I had a 1.5 hour Skype call with my Dad. I still rested when I needed to and resisted the urge to overdo things and anger the Covid gods again.

Barring any unforeseen relapse, I'll try to do more tomorrow, including starting to de-Covidify my bed and flat.

On the positive side: my week was also full of friends and family calling, messaging, commenting and cheering from the sidelines for me to get better, and I am so incredibly grateful for every single one of them.

Apart from Sunday evening, which I posted about here, I haven't had time to feel isolated or alone since, because of all of my lovely friends and family.

In the process, I learned that by catching Covid between doses of the vaccine, I may develop much greater immunity. And I've lost 3.1kg since 14 July.

Please note: I do not endorse this method of gaining hybrid immunity against Covid-19 or weight loss. I would rate the experience -5/10. Would not do again.

I'm hoping to be back to (near) daily posting again from now on.

I hope your week has been better than mine xx

wrinkled

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 9 July 2021].}

If I recall correctly - and the metadata would seem to support my belief - these fun guys were growing on the edge of Cornubia Lutheran Cemetery. Also known as Carbrook Lutheran Cemetery, it's a private cemetery.

There were three different types of fungi growing there that I photographed. I also have photos of some developing fungi, but I'd need to confirm which mushrooms they're the babes of.

These were taken the day after my birthday in 2009. My parents and I took a drive together to explore what ended up being three different cemeteries in the area around where they lived at the time.

Those closest to me know me well and indulge my photographic obsessions. I'm thankful those people have included my parents. Even if they, like others, have rolled their eyes from time to time. Or chosen not to look at photographs I've taken of roadkill or other disturbing subjects I've captured.

Yesterday evening ended up being less productive than planned.

Against my better judgment, I let myself engage with anti-vaxxers on Nextdoor for the first time in a while. I shouldn't have.

After doing some chores around the flat ahead of tomorrow's viewing, I also let myself watch some US right-wing media indulging in bullshit talking points. Call it masochism, but I tend to do it to ensure that I'm seeing this stuff in context and not automatically taking the left-wing media's side of the story. Every single time, watching the entire piece is more damning than any left-wing analysis of soundbites from it.

Every. Single. Time.

I'm constantly amazed by what people will believe. How gullible and lacking in critical thinking they must be to not question what they're being sold. How blatant the bullshit is. It's gobsmacking, and I regularly want to shake these presenters, "journalists", whatever you want to call them. ("Shaking" is the least violent action I can think of. And I'm not a violent person, but many of these people incite violent responses in me).

Related: last night, I watched the penultimate episode of Can't Get You Out of My Head: An Emotional History of the Modern World, a six-part BBC documentary created by British filmmaker Adam Curtis.

I'm generally not a fan of libertarianism (at least not the way it's been co-opted by the right-wing). And that seems to be how Curtis most closely identifies himself, though he doesn't really identify himself as anything politically. But I've learned a lot/been inspired to learn more through watching the series. And the first four episodes inspired much deeper discussions about the content and narrative when I wasn't watching them alone.

Having not yet watched the final episode, I don't exactly know where Curtis is leading. And from past experience, he's very good at identifying issues but not providing any solutions and making the viewer feel even more helpless and demoralised than before viewing (see: Hypernormalisation). But episode five definitely seemed to endorse a more critical review of what Brits and Americans - and by extension, Australians - have been taught about the mythological history of their countries. Which is especially relevant right now, in my opinion.

PS: This took me far longer than it should have to edit and post because of the regular excessive noise from my neighbours over my back fence. It should have been shared an hour ago. Please remind me why I'm signing up for a new 12-month lease soon..?

amongst the mangroves

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 July 2021].}

It was a busy day today once I surfaced.

Plenty of photo editing. Some client work. Exchanges with a potential new flatmate.

I had hoped to post this around midnight then binge the last three episodes of season one of 'Vikings'. But I was slightly sidelined at the last minute, and now I'm too tired for TV.

I took this at Redland Bay in 2009. My parents lived a short walk from here, and I had moved to stay with them not too long before.

I took it during a photo walk with another local photographer I met through RedBubble (whose name I don't actually recall now!). Earlier on the same day that I'd met Mel Brackstone to visit the abandoned house in Eight Mile Plains, where I took 'van life', which I shared with you last week.

Mangroves and their pneumatophores (or "breathing tubes") really are bizarre but quite clever.

glistening waters

^{[I originally posted this image as early access for my Patreon patrons on 4 May 2021].}

untitled #149

^{[I originally posted this image as early access for my Patreon patrons on 2 May 2021].}

it’s time to light the lights

^{[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 19 December 2020].}

I took these photos of a house in the Redlands area of Queensland, just outside Brisbane, on my Dad's birthday in 2007.

View fullsize

untitled #10 [redlands, queensland, australia, 2007]

My parents and I went for a drive around the local area to see the houses lit up for Christmas while I was staying with them over the holidays.

View fullsize

untitled #9 [redlands, queensland, australia, 2007]

I'm not a particularly Christmassy person, but I finally edited these a week ago.

It feels like a good time to share them with the world, or else I fear they'll never make it online.

Merry Christmas, if that’s your thing x