A SEASON ENDS
Each year as the month of November comes to an end I am always amazed to discover some significant aspect has been added to our peaceful observance of the costs of war borne not only by those who leave their homeland, but their dependants who remain and wait. As you saw in my previous post we were visited by Amanda McLeay of TVTen and that night our floral tribute to the fallen was shown wide and far across Queensland and northern New South Wales. The immediate result was that holiday makers travelling north, who had overnighted in towns like Uralla in NSW called in to photograph our Remembrance Field and to ask for a packet of Flanders poppy seed. Then I received a request from a soldier’s wife, who had seen the TV presentation, asking if her husband could be photgraphed with her and their children in the Remembrance Field prior to his departure for Afghanistan. I was told that when our men and women of the Australian Defence Forces are about to be deployed overseas the Department arranges for them to receive a selection of family photographs taken in the venue of their choice. This young soldier has already served in East Timor and Iraq. Of course I agreed to this request.
A soldier's family
These photographs were taken on the 19th November by which time time we had experienced three weeks of hot weather and the poppies were running to seed.The photographer then arranged the family in several other formal positions.
The Australian flag
At this time of year our Granite Belt countryside has much to offer a photographer and Sam Tutton of http://samtuttonphotography.com/blog/?p=721 quickly recognised this and arranged other informal photographs.
Grassland
Every November the golden correopsis bloom across the Granite Belt and Sam Tutton captured a wonderfully relaxed view of the children running through these wildflowers on our farm.
Golden wildflowers
I was away at the Glen Aplin Market the morning that these photographs were taken so I had given my camera to a nine year old boy, whose family are now living with us to assist Eberhard and I to maintain our lifestyle. He had great fun clicking away. The wonderful thing about a digital camera is that I could then edit his photography and save the photographs that captured the mood of the day.
Now the heat and dry days have ripened off the poppy seed and in the next week I will begin harvesting seed so that once more I can offer it to others for them to plant Flanders poppies for Remembrance Day next year.
Dry poppy capsules
Wildflowers, wilderness and wine
The story of how and why we established this Remembrance Field in 1996 is told in my book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine written about the years that Eberhard and I hosted Das Helwig Haus B&B on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland, Australia.
Wildflowers, wilderness and wine is available on http://www.australia-book.com.au or may be downloaded from http://lulu.com/spotlight/strictlyliterary
