I was like a little child myself as the location was Emerald Lake  and a chance to re live some of my child hood memories.

I was more excited than Jake who I felt was a little over awed by the whole experience. I think the photo shows just a little of that apprehension.
You can click on the image to show a slightly larger version.

I feel that this is one of Victoria’s premier attractions.  Any one visiting the state of Victoria should be directed towards Puffing Billy and make a day of it by having a picnic at Emerald Lake before returning to Belgrave.

Some times that’s how I feel with having  RAD (Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease).
People look at you and say “you look all right”.
Why thank you one might reply.
Little do they know that with RAD,  depression can be part and parcel with the disease.

Fatigue is another that accompanies this disease where one has to fight very hard to get things done. With me the fatigue can come on very suddenly and I just have to stop what I am doing and take a breather. On other occasions fatigue can hang around for days on end, if not weeks. The longer fatigue hangs around the more likely depression can set in as well.

On top of all that you have those aches and pains to deal with.
I’m lucky in that my medications have things pretty well under control.
I feel for those that are still searching for the right combination of  medications.

When I took this image I was feeling a bit down and decided to try and capture an image of how I was feeling. The following image that has been worked in Painter is the result.

Keep your chin up ………

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Rod Knight formally from Mildura is establishing his base at Somerville with partner Joan Clark.   Rod wanted to get a flight under his belt on the Mornington Peninsula, I also think that he wanted to get my partner Julie into the air.
Julie missed out on the pilot training week at Lake Cullulleraine in July of 2010.
Video of Pilot Training Week, Lake Cullulleraine.

Because of the prevailing winds the flight was of a  short duration (30 mins) as Rod did not want to end up in the Bay.

Pilot and owner Rodney Knight, crew Joan Clark, Julie Cutting and Stephen Issell.

Here are a few images of the event.

Preparation.
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Set for take off.Larger Version

Final Checks.
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Away they go.
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BYE, Bye
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This image was thought up after I had restocked the little pill containers for the next fortnight.

What I was left with was a plate full of empty pill bottles and the like.

You know, ……………………. some days I just get so sick of having to take these little pills just so that one can maintain a certain amount of function.
Take this pill for X, now take this other pill to counter act for the pill you just took. The list of medications just stretches off into the distance.

Some days you just get so tied up with the aches and pains that you fail to see the sun that is shining from behind.
All that you see is the darkness of what lies in front of you and the realization that this is it for the rest of your life.
The blues just seem to sneak up on you.

Still, this is today, tomorrow the sun will shine. YES it will.

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100% crop from 20inch x 12inch @300 DPI. Suitable for Canvas Printing.

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100% crop from image to show painterly affects.