Nature's Summer Light and Shade

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Looking down into the beautiful summer waters of Port Phillip Bay from Mount Martha, Mornington Peninsula.
The grasses, the rocks, the sea and the sky always seem bathed in "happy light" in summer!
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Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Summer light is a time when magpies sit on the grass in the shade.
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Nature Notes #41
Signs of the Season
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Summer light and shade
The beauty of sharp contrasts
Joys of heat and cool
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Jet Skis are Hot This Summer!

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Jet ski cruising in to the Martha Cove channel from Port Phillip Bay, Mornington Peninsula
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Watery Wednesday #68
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Excitement of speed
Adrenalin on water
Slows to arced fountain
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Last Glimpse of Santa

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ On Christmas Day, we had Christmas lunch at Portsea Hotel, Mornington Peninsula.
While we were outside, after a brilliant lunch, enjoying the views across Port Phillip Bay, I turned to see Santa quietly coming down the stairs!
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Ruby Tuesday meme
Haiku Bones Prompt #3 ~ Regret
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Last glimpse of Santa
A touch of old fantasy
Last glimpse of Christmas
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If there's one regret
Christmas sadly spins on by
A moth round a flame
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>

Coast Guard Boat at Martha Cove

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Coast guard boat moored at the new development of Martha Cove, Mornington Peninsula
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Mellow Yellow Monday #49
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Tiny water craft
Yellow watcher of the sea
Important business
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Boxing Day Views 2009

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ View of Port Phillip Bay from Dromana beach, Mornington Peninsula.
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SOOC Sunday meme
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Summer slowly creeps
Gingerly the crowds return
Sands slowly bristle
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Christmas Day Views 2009

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ View across Port Phillip Bay from the back of Portsea Hotel, Mornington Peninsula on Christmas Day, 2009.
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Scenic Sunday #76
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Across the waters
Dreams linger on horizons
Boats bob in waiting
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Fishy Seagull

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~
On Christmas Day 2009, we enjoyed Christmas lunch at the Portsea Hotel, overlooking Port Phillip Bay.
Seagulls were not too far away.
This particular seagull photo intrigued me AFTER I took it.
Look at the seagull’s shadow.
A fish?
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Camera Critters #90
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A common seagull
Feathered icon of the seas
Uncommon shadow
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Detail of a Stage in Waiting

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~
Folds of a curtain create interesting shadow distortions!
The window ledge suggests a stage, waiting for the curtain to open on a performance!
Maybe a New Year performance!
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Shadow Shot Sunday #84
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Subdued shaded stage
New Year waiting to happen
Hope for peace and love
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Original Portsea Hotel

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Old image of the orginal 1850's Portsea Hotel, Mornington Peninsula, hanging now in the entrance hallway.
It was just a cottage with a bar attached.
Below, the Happy New Year banner features the front of Portsea Hotel today!
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Monochrome Weekend
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Back in the old days
A lively drinking portal
Just a memory
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Twelve Cockatoos

Collage by Gemma Wiseman ~ Collage of 12 cockatoos on my verandah in the Dromana Hills, Mornington Peninsula.
(In the top photo, on the left, there is one cockatoo just visible behind the wings of another.
And there is one cockatoo in the distance on the higher railing.)
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PhotoHunt #193 ~ Twelve
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Twelve white cockatoos
Feathered personalities
Loud entertainment
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New Year in the Skies

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Yesterday, the Christmas atmosphere at Portsea Hotel, Mornington Peninsula was waiting for the joy of celebration with a little sky for reflection.
I took this photo from the outside through the giant window!
For some strange reason, just the sky reflected in the right top corner.
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Weekend Reflections #14
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Christmas is over
The tables are silent now
New Year's in the skies
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The True Meaning of Christmas

Pic by Gemma Wiseman

The true meaning of Christmas lives on
Maybe a little like a fractured fairy tale
Maybe a little commercialised
Maybe a little painful
Lonely
Lost
For some
But
Like a still small voice
Buried deep in the sham and drudgery
There is still
A beautiful heartbeat
In Christmas

The goodwill of giving
The celebration of living
The breath of Christ within

Box a little of who you are
Wrap in the ribbons of your love
Tie with the bow of closeness
This is the gift of Christmas

Share time with the lonely
Share time with family
Just share loving time
This is the celebration of life

Feel the secret of namaste
Feel the spirit of the higher self
Feel the joy of being
Close to the first breath of Christ

The true meaning of Christmas lives on
Maybe a little like a fractured fairy tale
Maybe a little commercialised
Maybe a little painful
Lonely
Lost
For some
But
Like a still small voice
Buried deep in the sham and drudgery
There is still
A beautiful heartbeat
In Christmas

Feel the secret of namaste
Feel the spirit of the higher self
Feel the joy of being
Close to the first breath of Christ
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I wrote this poem The True Meaning of Christmas for Helium
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And then it rained...

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ Until a few moments ago, I didn't have a post for Watery Wednesday!
And then it rained!
Here is rainwater tumbling from my verandah steps in the Mornington Peninsula!
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Watery Wednesday #67
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Grey skied Christmas Eve
Cool summer winds are blowing
Then the gift of rain
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Window Magic

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~ A window ajar creates some unusual effects.
Here are reflections of flowers in my garden on the open window, shadows on the curtain behind and reflections of the open window on the fixed window.
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Window Views... and Doors Too!
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Pieces of the world
Like shards of reality
Odd window magic
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Fleeting View from a Latticed Cage

Pic by Gemma Wiseman ~
The circus has arrived at Rosebud, a small coastal township on the Mornington Peninsula.
One lion rests in a large cage with an electrified fence and a ball.
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Haiku Bones ~ Prompt #2 ~ Fleeting
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Summer by the sea
Wild soul in a latticed cage
A glimpse of freedom
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