August, 2021
Would you look at that, managed to miss quite a few months… Time seems to be flying by.
Or, perhaps it’s because, since June, we have been hopping in and out of lockdowns. One in June, another in July, then we were out for eight whole days before we went into lockdown 6.0 for Metro Melbourne. In fact, someone shared the other day that Metro Melbourne [we’re considered a part of this area on the Mornington Peninsula], has spent over 200 days in lockdown since the pandemic started. Oy vey.
No matter what, we are certainly doing our best to make the most of this time at home — practicing our cinnamon bun-making skills, watching old 90’s action movies, cleaning areas of the house that have been neglected [our space is feeling great!], daily walks, bird watching from the back yard, and so on! I’m not always very good at keeping up with it, but I have shared a few very funny moments with my partner on my personal Instagram [@arihanakorini, which is what my partner calls me, it’s Allison Colleen in Māori] if you want to check that out. She is hilarious, I can’t imagine doing 6 lockdowns with anyone else!
A few things to report on from the last few months, so grab a cuppa, and let’s dive right into this…
The IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report was released…
I feel incredibly passionate about our planet and doing my part to ensure I’m leaving as small an impact as possible. Sometimes I am better at this than other times, but it’s been a lot more prevalent in the back of my mind since the IPCC report was released. After reading through it, I felt so strongly that I needed to sit down and write it out. So I did exactly that. Sat down and wrote a blog post about what it is, what it’s predicting, and what you can do [right now] to start helping. You can check out that post here if you’re interested in reading it.
Previous to that, I wrote about a beautiful solo road trip I was able to take down the Great Ocean Road, where my only focus was on photography. If you didn’t have a chance, you can read it here. Certainly dreaming of a road trip right now…
Some personal news, Lou has graduated from recruits!
You heard that right, she graduated mid — June and is officially a firefighter, already out there experiencing station life! Graduation was a little different from what we had expected. A week before they were meant to hop on a plane, her family found out they would not be able to come over from New Zealand [the border bubble was closing]. Then a few days before the ceremony, we headed into lockdown. Therefore no one was able to attend in person, but incredibly, they put things together so that we were all able to watch from the comforts of our own homes. Certainly grateful for that! Very exciting times in this house, and I could not be more proud of what Lou has accomplished.
2022 calendars are nearly available for pre-order!
I am so proud to bring you my 2022 wildlife + nature calendar. While I had grand plans of getting photos from Canada and New Zealand to include this year, coronavirus kept things closer to home. I spent time carefully curating a beautiful collection of images from around Victoria, Australia to share with you this year. Pre-orders will open on September 1st and remain open until October 10th at 10am [AEST]. It will take a couple of weeks for me to receive the final printed product, then I will be straight onto carefully packing and shipping your goodies — expected to happen mid-November at the latest.
These calendars have been carefully designed with love, I truly hope they bring a pop of colour and joy to your homes!
Want to be notified when calendar pre-orders open? You can either subscribe to my newsletter [below, in the footer] or follow along on social media — Instagram or Facebook.
A new passion, creating images with wildlife…
It is my greatest pleasure to continue to offer you new, beautiful, fine art print options. Just before lockdown [6.0], I was really starting to find my footing as a wildlife photographer. It’s a subject I had dabbled in occasionally, but lately, I feel that trying to find these beautiful creatures, to create images with them, has sparked something deep within me. I can hear my mind shouting at me — “YES, Allison, this is it!”
I have no idea where it will take me, but I can say, with confidence, that I have not been this excited to learn about a new subject in a while, and it feels wonderful. Even if it takes me nowhere, that simply doesn’t matter. For now, it’s waiting [as patiently as possible] for this lockdown to come to an end so I can get my tush back out there…
Let’s wrap things up here, and cheers to another great month ahead.
Wherever you are, I hope life is treating you kind!
