Month in Review - January 2013

Month in Review - January 2013
Well another month has flown by, they just seem to get quicker and quicker the older you get.

I have achieved quite a bit this month and not as much as I had hoped!
Ex Cyclone Oswald has wreaked havoc right down the Queensland coast this month. It was just like a normal big wet for us, we were just flooded in for the day. The winds were 90km as it crossed here, we were fine. It was good to see all my family out west getting some much needed rain.

The worst of the tropical low hit from Rockhampton down the coast with Bundaberg being hit the worst. As the high winds, rain & tornado's were closing in on Don's Family in Cooroy and Leonii in Brisbane we were completely cut off from contact, all our phones and internet were out. It was such a stressful 24 hours for me. All I could do was watch the news and hope they wouldn't be in it!! By the time our phones were back on and everyone was accounted for I just broke down in tears, it was such a horrible feeling having no contact and feeling so helpless, I had no contact with Don either as  he was at work too.

So with all that happening plans with my online store have been delayed, I hope it will be up and running very soon!! Fingers crossed! I have started planning for my first online workshop, so I am really excited about it! I hope to have it online before the end of this month!!

 

I went live with my Face Book page for Michelle Grant desiGns this month! Was a huge scary step for me, I was blown away that I got 100 likes in 4 hours of going live!! Still working out all the cross linking with the blog etc! Such a big job and learning curve for me.

 

I designed my logo and blog banner and background this month, that was another big thing to cross off my list. I was so happy with how this canvas turned out for my banner!! I still have some tweaking to do on the logo and banner but I am getting there

 

I was a guest designer for Moulds by Mel this month too, you can see the post HERE with the projects I created for her. 

 

The coaching with Jessica Brogan has been going really well, It has helped to overcome a lot of hurdles!! Still lots of work to be done, but I am getting there.

 

I haven't been to the movies since forever and then I have been twice in the last month.
I had a day with the Tuesday Girls and we went and saw "Les Mis", the acting and singing were brilliant,  just don't go if you are feeling down it is not an uplifting movie.

Then I went with Don, we had what you could probably call our first Date Day! We had a lovely day together, first we caught up with Lisa while she was back from Townsville for the weekend where she is having her Radiation treatments. Was lovely to catch up. Then Don and I went and saw the movie "The Impossible" I had heard that it was a beautiful human spirit story even though the circumstances were so devastating, being about the boxing day tsunami. The kids who acted in this movie deserve an oscar. They were amazing. It really was a beautiful human spirit movie and was extremely well done! So hard to believe it was based on a true story. I won't give any more away, but was well worth seeing! Don and I had a lovely day, hope to make it more of a regular thing!

 

On the creating front, I feel like I havent done much this month, but when I stop to look back I have done more than I realized.  I created this canvas for Wil, this is in memory of his dog Rusty who we found had passed away when we got back from our Christmas holidays.

Something that was good that come from this was Wil finding a little creativity in him, he has shown no interest at all in what I do so was a lovely surprise when he came in and asked to do some canvas's for his room. I gave a little help and tuition but I am so proud of his final result! He even wants to do more! I am looking forward to creating more with him too!! Really fills my heart!

I have been having a go at painting faces lately, although I am happy with these they are far from perfect, I hope to learn how to do these better this year and how to balance the facial features better. I still had fun doing them, this one I actually started last year, was good to get one finished.

 This one is still in progess, I don't think she needs to much more, but I feel like its not quite finished! I am liking the one colour on here with the pencil features and impasto texture, I drew her while I was on holidays last year too. I need to find some time to do more of these!

 On the home front I managed to capture a beautiful sunset the other night, I am finally starting to work out the best settings on the SLR for capturing all the beautiful colours in sunsets.

As soon as I see that beautiful glow through the window I just have to go out and watch it! I was lucky to have the camera ready to go on this day. I don't know what it is about them, I just find them so captivating, they just have a special place in my heart!

This one even has a little leftover jet stream on the left hand side in the blue sky. I am so blessed that our views give us these gorgeous backdrops!

It has been so hot this month, with many days above 40 degrees, the humidity has been unbearable, just walking out in the heat feels like someone sitting on your chest, the air has been sooo heavy it has really played up with my asthma. 
This pic below is a storm brewing in the south, it just looked like a wall of white creeping up towards us. I think this storm ended up going around us thank goodness.

Here is Don and Tilly in front of our little home, love this time of the day with the sunsets. We are hoping to start some renovations this year, would be so nice to have an outside area that doesn't get wet every time it rains!

A rare shot of Tilly sitting with the ball beside her, only because she was already worn out from chasing it around the yard. She doesn't give up easy when it comes to her ball. We had her fixed up this month so she has been allowed inside. We couldn't leave her outside as she likes to go and sit in the trough and she couldn't get her stitches wet. So now she thinks she owns the place and has claimed Wil's room to sleep in! She is definitely a sook dog now and makes her way in and out through the cat door. Its a tight squeeze for her LOL! The cats walk past her looking at her like "who the hell let you in here" LOL

 This is the "Throw the Ball!!!!!!!" Look, she just loves it!! LOL

The cows are glad to see the rain, we so badly needed it for the grass.

 So lovely to see the paddocks green again.
Although the flys are really bad at the moment, we had a plague of horsefly's there for a bit too!

 

I think Fatso AKA "Cynder" might be fat for a reason this month, she is the only pet not fixed up yet, so she will be lined up next for a visit to the vets.

 So looking forward to this crop of passionfruit ripening! Can't wait! Yum!!

 I was treated to this site outside of my office window too, these photos were taken through the window, even the little joey in her pouch poked its head out for a photo.

I just love living out here!!
Anyway that was my month that was.

Coming up in February........

I will be starting a new monthly challenge series on my blog in February! Really looking forward to sharing that with you too!!!
I will also have an ATC give away coming up this month!
I am looking forward to going to an Art retreat in Brisbane with Tracy Verdugo in Feb but even more so that I will get to see my baby girl again too!! Been missing her heaps lately!

I hope your month went by without too many life drama's getting in the way!!
Wishing you all a fabulous February!!