In Memory of Hannah

Day 153 : Pink Balloon, Blue Sky
Originally uploaded by MonkeyBandit

An important topic and one that is very close to my heart.

Hannah Isabella Alyson Grace Plint was taken tragically at approx 2.15pm on the Forth Day of October 2007, by the pool in her families back yard as her mother change her younger brother's nappy. Hannah took a plastic chair the the gate and opened it, before silently slipping under the water and out of this life forever.

Hannahs parents, Katherine and Andrew have worked tirelessly over the last 2 years to raise awareness and provide support to other families who have lost children to drowning via the foundation they created - "Hannah's Foundation".

This Sunday the 4th of October 2009 is the second anniversary of Hannah's death and to honour Hannah and spread the word about why Drowning Prevention is so important Hannah's family would like as may people around the world to release pink or purple ballons at sunrise and sunset and photograph them. These photo's can then be sent to 2nd@hannahsfoundation.org.au an online album will be created to share the images with every one.

I would appreciate your support to make this event a success for Hannah's Foundation and pay tribute the the memory of a beautiful little girl who was taken to soon.

Hannah - you are seen, you are known, you are loved.

a girl and a cat

I can't believe it , my little girl is growing up so fast, Miss Lilli was 4 on sunday and we celebrated with a little bbq with our family, G's folks, my folks and my bro and his girlfriend and a family friend J.

so to mak emy little princesses day she recieved, some princess dolls, some new earings and a cat !!!! Ginger as he has been christened has fallen into a routine with our family already and it's like he's been here for years :)

Lilli's Cake - Thanks to Hank's Bakery and some creative decorating my mummy

Lilli with her Nanny's !!

Lilli with Ginger the cat !!!

it's been a while

long time no blog.

been very busy in the last 2 weeks in particular helping my dear sweet friend Rebecca plan for her big day:)

here are some of the shots i snapped while also keeping busy with bridesmaid duties yesterday

Dress: Detail

JJ preparing her flower girl basket

Liz and the Mother of the bride ( Standing on the bed) to her B get into her dress

It was a long drive to the farm for the ceremony and a girls gotta keep her energy up, so a stop at the maccas drive thru was essential

mmmmm look at that dust storm haze in the backgroud !!!

PS. my comments are still not active, if you would like to make a comment you can email me at gnlmcphee@yahoo.com.au

Sydney, NDS Forum and Ghosts

I have spent the last 3 days in Sydney for work, at the NDS Employment Forum and Workability International Conference.

I had a most enjoyable time with Mark ( My Boss) on Sunday Night we enjoyed Cocktails and canapes at the Waterfront Restaurant, absolutely beautiful, followed but drinks at Star City.

After a day of information overload on Monday Mark and I headed down the Cadman's Cottage, not discouraged by the rain that was hammering down, to go on our ghost tour !!!

What an amazing and educational experience, i really enjoyed my time trekking around in tiny alley ways, back lanes and cobble stoned streets, Ghost Host Jennifer shared with us the gruesome and horrific stories of early settlement in Sydney.

Now i am a believer, albeit somewhat sceptical of the photo's you often see of "ghosts", it's the photographer in me i guess, there is always a logical explanation for the orbs and lights in photo's, well i am here to say i am a sceptic no more, i snapped many pictures on my little adventure, but i would like to share two notable experiences 1) In one area where i felt there was a strong presence i was unable to take a photograph, my camera would literally NOT take a photo, i changed settings, i tried with flash without flash, but to no avail, we walked up the road 20 mtrs and my camera was fully operational again ???? bizarre???. This was a former boarding house that had seen many tragedies in it's time and is now un-rentable, people move in they stay a matter of days and they move out again, when we concluded the tour we actually walk back past the front of the building and i snapped a quick pic, camera worked but it wasn;t until i looked at the photo on my computer screen this morning and realised, there is a light on in the upstairs window, second from the right ?? this building is empty no one lives there and there definitely was no light on when i took the picture !!!!!

2) in the last location on our tour, as we entered the small and confined former house ( which is now located underneath residential apartments) i could feel and smell a presence, the air was thick and warm, as i descended the stairs in the dark i could feel myself being drawn to a corner of the room, i spent a long time there, in this corner was a "sink" and adjacent was a fire place, it was a kitchen. as i walked around and explored the room and the rest of the house i kept feeling drawn to the corner, i took a photo of the corner from across the room and captured this image:

the large light on the right is my flash light, you can see in the corner the sink, the bright streak across the centre?? unexplainable, is it a ghost? i don't know but i think it is a sign from another realm, strangely after i captured this image i felt more at peace in the house, like i was now welcome.