Thats Graphic

Very creative photos

I recently stumbled across the flickr set of Souvenir images by photographer Michael Hughes and was amazed at his very creative photos. He buys souvenirs and then goes and puts the souvenirs at the very spot where the image of the landmark was taken and then takes a shot of that souvenir in it's rightful place. Sounds confusing I know but you'll get the idea when you see a sample of his images below.

You can view heaps more of his work here.

I wonder if I could take a few of those shots when we are on holidays?

...annette

A couple of brochures

Each year the Loxton Visitor Information Centre and the Hotel work together to compile a brochure that gets sent out to all the Coach companies throughout Australia, highlighting Loxton and the surrounding region. I've been fortunate to design this for them over the past few years. I have just completed the design for this year. Here are some shots of it. It's an A3 folded to A4 and printed with a gloss finish.



I have also just re-designed the Loxton Historical Village's brochure. A few of the photos I converted to sepia and then kept an object in the original colour to give it a point of difference. Here are some of the photos with those highlights.



And here is a shot of the inside of the brochure that include a couple of the above shots.

Holidays for Paul and I are getting close and I'm starting to do the countdown...here is one of the places where we will be chilling out.

...annette

Citrus...from the grower direct to you

Another website I have just completed is for an innovative Loxton family who grow a variety of citrus products are now offering their oranges, mandarins and lemons for sale by the box through their website, Fresh Citrus Direct. They pick the fruit for your order so you know you are receiving the freshest possible product.

The Arnold family, Barry and Bernice and their three sons, Ryan, Michael and Tim, purchased the rundown property back in 2002. Through hard work and new production methods, it has been restored to good health and productivity.

Their fruit is naturally coloured (not gassed to enhance colour), hand picked (not machine graded which can damage the fruit), delivered straight to you (not stored for extensive periods) and free of wax and fungicide treatments.

By purchasing from Fresh Citrus Direct you are cutting out the middle man and dealing direct with the Arnold family. So not only do you get the freshest fruit but you are supporting the farmers who grow it.

There's nothing quite like freshly squeezed orange juice.

While developing the site I was wanting to have an image on the front page of someone eating an orange. I searched all my usual stock library sites and then came across Benjamin Newton's flickr site. He had just the image I was looking for, so after contacting Ben we came to an arrangement and I was able to use the image. Take a look at Ben's flickr site, he is an amateur photographer and has some great shots.
This is part of the image I used. You will see the full shot on the front page of the website.

So why not order a few boxes with your friends or family, community or sporting groups and you could be enjoying some delicious Riverland citrus! The service is only available to a few Australian states.

You can visit the site at www.freshcitrusdirect.com.au

...annette

A cottage, houseboats, micro brewery and more...

One of my projects over the past few months has been developing a website for Above Renmark Houseboats. Tom and his partner Sarah have taken over the running of this long running business from Tom's parents. The property (Wilkadene) is on a picturesque part of the Murray River above Paringa in the Riverland of South Australia. There is still plenty of water in these stretches of river.

Above Renmark Houseboats not only has a fleet of quality houseboats for hire but a self contained cottage, set within the lush and peaceful gardens of the homestead, and a spacious 5th wheeler.

Tom and Sarah are in the process of developing a micro brewery on the banks of their riverfront. This will be a place where river travellers will be able to pull up and spend some time, relaxing on the deck with a beverage or two. They are also producing their own beer which you will be able to purchase from there.

Their commitment to the environment has them researching a solar farm for their property. They envisage this to produce enough energy to run their houseboats, brewery, cottage and homestead. This is in the process and you can find out more on their website.

The Wilderness Houseboat comes with a karaoke setup for a lot of sing-a-long fun!

Aahh, sitting beside a campfire on a calm winter's night

Soak in the beautiful sunsets...

Lots of activities for all ages to partake in while onboard the houseboats.

You can visit Above Renmark Houseboats here. They have also just started a blog , so go over and say hello, they'd love to have a comment from you.

Teaser....Ever wanted fresh Riverland oranges, lemons or mandarins delivered straight to your door? Check back here next week to find out more.

...annette

Anne with an 'E'

Last weekend I watched the 1985 movie of 'Anne of Green Gables', it was a story that I had wanted to see or read for many years, but never got around to it. It didn't disappoint. It was just delightful.
For those of you who don't know the story, it is basically about Mathew and Marilla who are in their 60's, never had children and are very set in their ways and Anne who has had a very disturbed upbringing as an orphan. Mathew and Marilla decided to take on an orphan boy to help with the farm as Mathew was getting on in years, instead they received an orphan girl, Anne.  After much deliberation they decided to keep her. As the story progresses they come to adore the spirited red haired girl who has a wild imagination and gets herself in many a sticky situation. I love the relationship that develops between Mathew and Anne right from their first encounter.

I've compiled some of Anne's quotes which exposes some of her personality

Someone summed up her personality quite well with these descriptive words.

I now have the sequel to the movie, so maybe this afternoon, I might curl up in my recliner and be transported to another place in time!

...annette

Mums 80th and some shopping!

My dear Mum turned 80 last Thursday and for her special day all of us girls (my 5 sisters), a couple of aunties and Dad and Mum had lunch at 'The Duck Inn' at Coromandel Valley in the Adelaide Hills.
It was a lovely time and beat going to work for a day! On Sunday we had a proper party for her at Victor Harbor with all the family and special friends. She had a wonderful time and it was great catching up with lots of old family friends and relatives that we hadn't seen for a long time.
In the lead up to her 80th each of us girls compiled scrapbook pages of our families. It was great on the day to put our pages into the album and give it to Mum. We also gave her a digital photo frame which we had setup on the day with over 250 photos loaded into it!
Here is a photo of all my sisters and Mum and Dad outside the Duck Inn.

That's me on the right of Mum.
Here is my Mum.

As I'm from a regional area I travelled down on Wednesday afternoon and stayed at one of my sisters for the night. We went into the city Thursday morning and managed to do a bit of shopping!
I had heard about 'Fireflies' a gift shop in City Cross, so had to check it out.


From 'Fireflies' I bought Mum her Mother's Day present. It is a little book called 'My Mum - her stories - her words' and it's like an autograph book, but on each page are questions to spark memories  of her life. I'm going to encourage Mum to fill out one side of the page and Dad the other, so we gather a record of their lives.

As our parents become older, it is becoming important to gather as much information as we can of their lives so we don't loose the history.
I'd love to hear how you have created special memories of your family.

...annette

Holiday Villas with a quilter's touch

If you have been following my blog, you will remember a couple of months back I featured a website I had completed for Pyap Palms Holiday Home. Well the owners of this home, Tricia and Mark deCaux from Almond Grove Craft fame have now added to their accommodation portfolio with 2 new delightful Holiday Villas, called Pyap Street Holiday Villas. These villas are a mix of modern and country decor with all beds and many of the walls adorned with quality quilts created by Tricia. These Villas would make a perfect quilters or craft retreat and being just one street back from the main shopping precinct of Loxton, it is close to all facilities. Visit the website here.



In Australia we are in Autumn and experiencing the first rains and colder weather in a long time. I've lost count of how many of these Golden pancakes I've had over the past few days. Very delicious popped into the toaster, allowed to cool slightly, smeared with butter and drizzled with Golden Syrup. Delish!!

...annette

Quilters retreat and calling exhibitors

I am in the process of developing a website and brochures for 2 new holiday villas in Loxton. These villas are just delightful, and very suited to quilters retreats. I will do another post once I have the website up and running, but I took the photos last week so had to give you a sneak peak of what awaits those who book the accommodation.


On another subject, I have recently completed the website for the Riverland Field Days. Doesn't sound real exciting does it? BUT, these Field Days aren't just for the farmers and blockies. They attract people from far and wide and cater for everyone. Sure there are the tractors, machinery and big boys toys but there is also lots of craft, clothing, nick nacs, produce stalls, displays, competitions etc.  So if you are planning a trip to the Riverland during this time, put it on your itinerary, or if you are a interested in having a stall to sell your ware, click onto their website and you can find out more about the event and can submit your site application online. They run over 2 days, on Wednesday September 16 and Thursday September 17.

A few of photos from last years event.

...annette

History of Aprons!

Remember making aprons in Home Economics?

I recently received an email that gave the 'history of aprons'.  I don't know how authentic it is but it certainly brought back memories of my Mum, mother-in-law and nanna who would always wear their aprons around home, they don't tend to too much now-a-days. Viewing blogs though there does seem to be a resurgance of these quite practical items of clothing!

Here was the contents of the email....

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Remember...Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.
Today we set ours on the window sill to thaw!!

I hope that brought back some fond memories for you.

...Annette

Speaking of cupcakes!

After my post yesterday on cupcakes, it jogged my memory of some photos I took a few years back when we had a couple of our nephews staying. Yes, we made cupcakes and they were my helpers.
Here are some shots of the fun they had.

 

...annette