The Autumn Garden

I should be packing. I don't seem to have the energy nor the inclination to, at the moment. There is no choice , it has to be done-its one of those necessities you have to attend to if you want to travel with clothes.

The important things are in my carry on- to be sorted at a later time- Passport, currency from the last time & camera....I may have thrown a book in as well.

There is a pile on the landing, here at the top of the stairs, of 'stuff,' to go down to my suitcase (which has been returned to me, fixed, after I jumped up & down & said it had to be returned, fixed or not, as I was going away again).

There are no clothes in this pile of "stuff", but, rather gifts & items I've been asked to bring with me- Tim tams (that was so wicked of me to introduce all my Ya Ya friends to these little decadent morsels & to teach them how to suck up through a Tim tam, coffee laced with Baileys-2 bad habits I have given the American & Canadian girls!). Darrell Lea licorice which all my friends have requested-I must admit it is very good-shame I can longer eat it, or the TT's due to my Coeliac disease. Hopefully I will pick up some Cadbury's chocolates tomorrow to complete the care package!

I have packing down to a fine art after all the trips we've done- I'm a very light packer-especially when I'm on my own & I'm the one dragging luggage off carousels & through airports to get connections-its much easier when MOTH can do the heavy lugging for me! (Men have to be good for something!)

Mostly I can travel with about 4 changes of clothes-inside to outside-layering & swapping them around to give a slightly different look- I'm not looking to be trend setter or a fashion plate & needing 30 changes of clothes to achieve this-if I need something desperately & I didn't pack it, then I'll go buy it, is my motto.

I'll take a lightweight jacket as I know the weather in the USA at this time of the year in the Northern states can still be a bit chilly for me. By the time we leave in July it should be quite hot-so this is where those layers come in handy.

I'm not one of these women that needs a hair dryer, straightener, 6 types of shampoos, a full range of skin care products & a separate bag for the makeup-I've even learnt to par this down to the bare essentials as well- mostly I can fit all of this into a small bag-only taking the few items that I prefer to use everyday.

Even down to my shoes is bare essentials only- I pack a pair of joggers or walking shoes as extra shoes to the ones I wear-even these are carefully chosen to be the type I can slide on & off easily on the plane & through all those security check points in the USA ,which drive me nuts, but it is a necessity these days.

There is another reason I pack light- its so I have room for all my purchases-especially when I go quilt & fabric shopping with friends- there has to be room for all the important things I will be bringing home with me- no matter that I have not sewn up one bit of the fabric I bought last year when we stayed here! (well hidden now so MOTH has no idea of how much fabric I do have stashed!) There are always more colours & designs to buy-they call when you look at them, so I just have to take them home with me. (Only those that sew know the secret call of fabric)

This week has been very wet- not much good for taking pics- maybe OK if I owned wet weather gear for the camera, but I don't, so I've not had that much opportunity to get outdoors.

Also work has been hectic & I've not really had the time to get the camera out other than to take some shots of a patients leg ulcer-not the type of pic I'd put on my blog-YUK!

I love dead flowers in the garden-they make wonderful subjects to photograph-spider webs spun & draped around the dying flower head , the withered petals drooping down-the stamens still sitting proudly upright in a naked stalk....sunlight highlighting their beauty-it doesn't always have to be the perfect new bloom that gives nature its beauty.

Happy Crafting
Oz-tralien