Ir(relevant) Profoundities

Irrelevant Profoundities has moved!

2014-07-20T19:08:00.000+10:00

Dear readers~!

It is with delight and excitement that I announce the arrival of my new and updated (and also regularly posted upon) blog!
With the new season of my life here, it's time for a new blogging experience.

Please, come join me at the new place:

www.irrelevantprofoundities.weebly.com

Enjoy!

~Anna

A Reference Photo - Hungarian Vizsla

2014-02-26T21:59:00.001+11:00

This image belongs to my one of many dog books. It depicts some beautiful points of the Vizsla's profile.

Schleich Red Fox - A Walk Around

2014-02-23T22:08:00.000+11:00

Warm Chocolate Pudding - Dairy, Wheat, Egg, Nut and Sugar Free

2014-02-23T21:46:00.000+11:00

It's not often I do the whole chocolate thing. Aside from only being able to tolerate cocoa in small amounts, it just generally doesn't agree with my system. I sometimes find that when, occasionally, I come across a food that isn't an allergen (i.e. actually stays down and doesn't come up immediately) it can have sad (other) effects. Cocoa, well, it simply spikes my body functions if I have it daily, so I rarely have it.
That aside, somedays I do want a sniff of cocoa powder. And to eat it.
Mmmm.
I invented this recipe ages ago but recently tweaked it to include lots of protein and other goodies. Don't shy away from the ingredients, it tastes amazing.
Eat warm with cream (if you can eat it), or honey, and set in the fridge to enjoy cold as thick, chocolate-y pudding - even better!

Warm Chocolate Pudding - Dairy Free, Egg Free, Wheat Free, Sugar Free

This version of my regular chocolate Porridge Pudding invloves some more protein and makes you fuller for longer! The taste is fantastic so, forget you are getting your serve of veges too!

For this recipe, ingredients include:

.1/3 Red lentils, uncooked
. 2/3 Oats, rolled
. water 1-2 cups

Add lentils, oats, and water.
Cook all ingredients on low heat, stirring and making sure it doesn't burn - basically like making porridge. Once cooked into porridge consistency add 1-3 tablespoons of cocoa and stevia to taste. Add as much as desired.
Stir through, adding small amounts of water to stop sticking.
Cook on low heat, making sure lentils are no longer lumpy. Believe me - at this point you won't taste them.

Serve, allow to cool. Eat warm, or refrigerated.

The Simplest Profoundities - My Ditzy Darling

2014-02-16T09:27:00.000+11:00

Ah, my darling. My Ditzy.

So much more than simply a cute face. She is my baby, yes, but most of all, she is my best friend.

How can a dog be my best friend? Well, she is. She has always been there for me when no one else was.

She has always listened. That's something I needed so badly when I had depression. A lot of people do. I know most dogs will sit with you and 'listen', but this one is something else. We have always connected, and she has always understood my emotional needs. It's like she was made for me.

She has always been there for me. She has always loved me. No matter the struggles of my life, no matter the struggles of my self, she always saw who I truly was - not who I saw. She loved me, for me, and nothing has changed to her. She has loved me, and I have grown to adore her way of loving.

Unconditional love. Sometimes I think God has shown me glimpses of His love through this dog. Of this unending love, which cannot be taken back because of wrongs, or deeds, or thoughts. It continues, on and on.
Many times, this dog has been prepared to give her life for me. To give all she has, all she is - for my safety, and for that, I am grateful. How much more has Christ done for us.

Another side of God through this dog is how she loves me. This dog adores me, as though I am her all. When I leave, she pines, and awaits my return below my bedroom, when I am with her, she is happy to sit and simply be. Yet it is a state of adoration - of worship, if you will - which displays how she loves. I believe God has shown me this is yet another lesson - this is how we should love Him. Forever trusting, unafraid when He is near, adoring, looking only at Him, and being completely content. This is love.

Sheer joy. Of happiness when I am with you, and thinking of you always. That is what I love about this dog. Not because she takes the place of God - no, never - but because she brings me to a deeper understanding of God - and life itself.

Lessons on Love. Perhaps we need these lessons far more than we realise.

Love is a Choice

2014-02-10T14:05:00.000+11:00

Love is a Choice.

That's all I have to say for now. Ponder on that.

Apparently... Life Goes on whether we are with it or behind it... Flowing, Going, and Being.. and Other such things

2014-02-09T20:52:00.000+11:00

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the backlog of life, and blogs then will suffer.
As mine is, and has, for rather a long, long time now.
There's a lot of things which shall remain unblogged, daresay, for a very long time. But no matter. What better time than the present, and, why feel bad about being behind? (Unless of course it causes you to miss a bus..)

The only thing I have had time to blog about has been the latest projects, and for that I apologise. Photos without text are simly easier to upload, and appear to be updating this place. Hehe.
But, projects aside, life has been very busy for me lately.
Add to the normal chaos the prospect of finding a job and moving home, and, well, it all turns into a flurry of mess, business, and sanity squeezed in the middle somewhere.
Or, rather, the act of maintaining it. (Or finding it? I'm not sure which.)

Of course life involves a lot of art.
As I mentioned before, I am creating a website, which I hope will be my advertising venue for all my forms of art - repaints, Sculptures, and prohetic art sculptures. That's kept me pretty busy, as well as the work which I will be selling on it - getting that all ready, buying supplies, painting, lots and lots of painting.

I have also been collecting, putting together a huge file system of mine for reference photos to use with repaint and sculpting ideas, especially horses and rare animal species and colours. That's actually taking a lot longer than it otherwise might.

Especially when that involves some incredible photography which I must admire.

Add to that the constant need to find something green to give everyone hope in this terrible drought...
(Do not be fooled by the green in this photo, it is all we have left. This whole area has become a desert and livestock - not to mention farmer's livelihoods - are dying - fast. All prayers for rain, feed and God's answers are hugely appreciated.)

Photography is still, of course, a huge part of my life. Recent photographing jobs have led me to this: a bookshelf of challenges which my mum has chosen to read in this year to come. It is part of her and my sister's new website, an inspirational and exciting twist of direction for them both.

http://www.glimpsesofglory.com.au/

Take a look - you may be very surprised!

And, of course, my website also. This one has been slow yet steady, and will be available soon. Very soon.
I am very excited with its progress!

All this aside my other life jobs have been unrelated to photos, so I can't post photos of them... so to speak. Add to that list the usual farm chores, babysitting, making resumes, job searching, painting, writing, more writing, remembering to eat... the list goes on and on.
Praise God I have Him in the middle - and despite the fact I haven't put much up about Him lately, He is, of course, the very air I breathe and part of my daily existance.
Hopefully I shall be more updated and organised, but we'll go how we go.

That's life.

The Purpose of Life...

2014-02-01T19:12:00.001+11:00

The Stages of Letting Go - Denial

2014-01-29T15:15:00.001+11:00

The Process of letting go - because it is just that - a process.

Sometimes letting go can appear a simple thing - sometimes it is. Sometimes letting go can be instant, a moment of no return.
It is that, too.

But I am finding the process of letting go can be likened to the process of grieving.

It has stages.

These stages may all occur at once, or slowly, and,like the stages of grief, follow their course - although,not always in a particular order.

Despite the natural course of grief which ends in resolution, someones a stage can repeat, and that person may not get beyond that stage.

This is seen a lot and can be identified with an unwillingness to even remember or move on. Moving on, also called resolution in the stages of grief, is part of the grieving process and this is where healthy grief heads - the ability to grieve the loss but also remember the good times.

In the same way, we can be when we do not let go.

While we may not be grieving a person, I think there are similar stages which inhibit and affect how wedeal with things, and our ability to let go.

I think denial is huge. Denial can be seen in many forms:

Denial of anything to let go of, of the pain of the past, of feelings, emotions, thoughts - even if we thought we shouldn't have had them. We still cannot deny what is true.

Denial is the first stage of grief. While I am not suggesting letting go of things is or isn't a grieving process (it may well be) I am comparing similarities.

In the same way people clarify and ask for a second opinion when they hear of a loved one's death, in life we also discredit problems and pain which bubbles away under the surface.

We may consider the problem insignificant, or, be very aware of its existence, and know dredging it up will be painful beyond belief - so for own own sakes, we keep it hidden. I, too, am guilty of that.

The trouble here is that while denial eases the present pain, it only bandaids a seeping wound which grows deeper and more painful, as it hides, unexposed to light.

What I mean here is that in order to let go of something, we have to recognise that there is something to let go of.
To forgive, you have to see the unforgiveness, to heal a wound you have to know it is there.

To start healing and cleaning.

To heal a wound you must know it is there.

Often the pain warns us, but we can numb the pain with denial like an aspirin.

But aspirin doesn't heal the wound, or open it up, or clean it out. Rather, it helps us to forget. Sometimes only momentarily, but yes,we have forgotten! Until it wears off and we are back to where the pain started. In the same way, denial lies, alters the truth and minimises what is really wrong.

A huge step to healing is accepting and recognising the wound. Then comes the difficult part - omce the aspirin has worn off, and the pain has become unbearable, the wound must be treated, cleaned out, and left to heal.

but sometimes the pain is too great - and we fear - or the fear is to great, and we refuse to allow the healing process to begin. We are terrified of what we might find underneath our bandaid, so we keep swigging asprin in the hopes it will go away by itself. Don't get me wrong here, but, like too much aspirin, denial eventually becomes dangerous, and causes us serious (and less-deniable) problems.

The wound finally reaches the point where it is painful beyond the work of aspirin, and beginning to debilitate, immobilse, and seep. Now everyone knows it is there.

What's worse, you now have no choice but to open it up and let it be treated - or else.

Unfortunately for us, our denial keeps these wounds hidden, leaving them to rot and get deeper.

God has always wanted to help us heal them.

Denial hasn't. Denial has prevented the healing while it was still a small cut, surface level and easily cleaned. Denial and fear have let it rot, have let it become deadly. Because denial is deadly. Hiding, lying, denying the truth - will eventually catch up. Like invisible bacteria infecting a wound, denial works deeper than we know.

The good news is that the master physician is the healer, and He does heal. No stage of sickness, no intense pain, and no problem is too big for Him.

But like an unwilling hospital patient, he cannot help or heal us if we will not admit that we need healing.

If we think we can fix it ourselves.
If its not as bad as that.
If its not there at all.
Denial is dangerous.

Truth is life.
Truth is painful.
Truth is opening up the wound, dressing it, prodding it, cleaning it.
Making it bleed.
Truth and them love.

Love is the cleansing, as care is given.

Then comes the healing.

But healing cannot be given to a hardened heart.

I think you know what I mean.

Don't let denial keep you in pain.

No pain is too great, no wound too deep.

He will heal you.

Let Him.

Papo Boxer - A Walk Around

2014-01-29T14:12:00.000+11:00

Photography Portfolio - Old Photography Files #3 - Assortment of Images

2014-01-28T18:42:00.000+11:00

Schleich Horses - the Tail End of It

2014-01-25T14:11:00.002+11:00

Model Animal Repaints - Some Before and After Shots

2014-01-24T18:39:00.000+11:00

Website in Progress - a Sneak Peek

2014-01-23T19:30:00.000+11:00

Without explaining all my plans, I can reveal that I am working on something big.

This is only the tip of it though - a new website!

This is all I can reveal so far:

But stick around - it's moving along nicely, and will be published very soon - with regular updates on here!

Walk arounds, All brands!

2014-01-22T20:25:00.000+11:00

Because they are wonderful!

Actually, I really enjoy the ability to see what I'm buying before I buy it.

And I don't just mean those standard on-white photos you see in Schleich catalogues! No, it's actually unbelievably frustrating to find that there aren't very many 'real photos' - by collectors - of particular figures on google without a lot of searching.

That's something I intend to fix - especially with dogs and horses, albeit there are enough of those.

Dogs are a rarity though.

Walkarounds - for the potential buyer and admirerer.

There will be!

Life, Life, and happiness!

2014-01-22T20:22:00.001+11:00

It seems whenever I have something that I want to write, life gets in the way and prevents it. Haha, actually, no, it simply gets written on scraps of paper and forgotten, and doesn't seem to make its way here.

That's okay, but then, I think perhaps it makes things on here fairly photo heavy.
That's okay, too - but with a bit of variety.

I'd love to be able to blog more often. I think a lot of it has to do with not owning a laptop - and the exhausting amount of effort it takes to only use at night (only free time!) a noisy, clunky and bright (ow the eyes) computer.

Well, that aside, I do intend on buying a laptop. It's my hope that will make the difference.

But life has been so busy!

I've been planning, creating, sculpting, painting, making a new website, and loads of babysitting!

There's a lot I haven't put on here, because sometimes it feels like a lot of effort.

I will try, in future, to make my posts more regular and less boring (for some) as possible, with as much variety as possible.

This (may) include some of my recent super allergen friendly recipes! (Not by choice, but they aren't that bad!)

In other news...

Yes! I have finally scored my hard earned Certificate! 4 years later, and plenty of hard work and lots of expense, my love of animals has at last met its qualifications.

That's been a long time in coming.

Hooray times a lot!

I think that part's pretty self-explanatory.

Happy day.

Schleich Shire Foal - Walkaround

2014-01-20T18:05:00.000+11:00

Frozen - Letting Go

2014-01-16T15:42:00.002+11:00

Yesterday was an apparently normal day.
In town, getting away from the havoc of home, babysitting, and endless family/farm life.

My sister and I went to watch the movie, 'Frozen' for an afternoon out.

There's a lot more to that movie than I thought. What's more, there was a lot more to yesterday than I thought.

Needless to say, God got me - right where He wanted to.

I recommend watching that movie. It's good. But I appreciated it more than most, probably, simply in the way God revealed to me through it.

Watching the inner turmoil of Elsa, the fear and constant pain of internalising everything, holding it all in, of not feeling.

That has been my life. There was one point where I nearly walked out because it represented for me a place so unbearable and terrifying - of not being able to control, of being ruled by fear, and of the inner turmoil and constant storm inside.

That hasn't just been the last year for me, that has been my life.

But the most powerful part of the movie, for me, was where Elsa ran off after the people discovered her secret - when she couldn't hide it anymore.

Running away, up that mountain, she didn't recoil in fear,but finally let it all out.

Let it go. Everything.

Everything that had ever kept her locked away, captive to fear.

At that moment I felt God touch me, almost physically, and I knew.

Tears streaming down my face, even in a public cinema, God revealed to me that was exactly where I was now, and had been recently.

Finally, at that place, where you can no longer hold it in, no longer lie, no longer hide.

Finally, fear has no hold.

Letting go.

I have now reached that place - the place of letting go, of being who I was made to be.

That sounds like a simple explanation but it is not.

I know.

And I have let it go.

Now let it be beautiful -

Me

I will be beautiful. Who I was made to be.

Wow.

This is Who I Am.

Let it Go.

Out in 2014 - the CollectA Australian Cattle Dog

2014-01-16T15:19:00.000+11:00

New in 2014 - The Australian Cattle Dog by CollectA!

I, for one, will be looking forward to this new release. However, I will not know exactly what it is like until I own it, and that is probably a good thing for now.
There are things I am for, and against, about this figure.
(Please note: I love my 1:12 scale dogs to all resemble real life dog breeds and breed standards, and this is what I compare my models too. I do not intend to be picky of a sculptor's work, for, indeed, I would be (and am) picky of my own dog breed sculptures. All my comparisons are to real life dogs.)

Pros:
Yay, a brandmakes an Australian Dog breed!
Colour - not bad, although could use more white.
Head - very accurate.

Cons:
Narrow, sloping back, weak hind legs. Hind paw at a poor angle.
Erect tail - ACDs should not carry their tails erect, unless alert with head up, or showing agression
Body - too thin, ACDs are solidly built and shorter

A show ACD. Working ACDs may be lighter in build and taller, but still resemble this dog.

Another ACD. Somehow I think the CollectA figure's head may be out of proportion.

But nonetheless, I will be very interested to purchase this figure once it is released!

I will certainly include a detailed description and walkaround photos when i hold this model in my hands.

CollectA Hanoverian Repaint - Dapple Grey Stallion

2014-01-12T21:32:00.000+11:00

Models, Trying to Get Something Done, and Canine - Interruptions

2014-01-11T12:24:00.002+11:00

It all began with a simple task - take photographs for the heading of my new website.
It didn't end that simply.

Miss. Nosey had to investegate.

Its not even as though she were a curious puppy. She's not. She's plain and simply jealous.

Anything that takes my hands or my time away from her is deserving of punishment.

'Don't look at me. I don't know what happened."

"Besides, I was sitting here first."

"Evil Laugh? Who, ME?"

"I won't harm him, so long as you talk to me....."

"Yes, to ME."

"And the desired result - it is no longer in your camera, I am."

Sorting Through the Past - Facing It

2014-01-09T12:14:00.000+11:00

How long can we avoid things too painful to bring to light again?
As long as we want to, for sure.
But that doesn't stop it being there.

I dealt with a lot while I was sick. But that didn't mean that I dealt with being sick.
A lot has changed - I have found my identity, God has freed me from depression and an eating disorder and fear - but there are always scars. I suppose my scars are scars of scars.

And God has been showing me it is time to heal them too.

To look back at the past 12 months

To see the pain - and the healing of old wounds

And accept what has happened - be grateful for it,

And move on.

It's that moving on which I find the hardest. That looking back to move forwards.

I know where I have come from.

I know where I have been.

It's a terrifying place.

But I also know the promise of tomorrow.

I could live only for tomorrow, but God won't let me. He doesn't want me to be forever scarred by my past, in fear or denial of the worst of the worst places. It is those places which I have to acknowledge the healing of in order to move forward.

I suppose one might say that you have to see the worst in order to understand the best.

To see the hurt in order to accept the healing.

God has healed me of these things. I will never be the same.

I guess the hardest part now is realising how bad they were.

How sick I was.

How much needed healing.

How much pain there was.

And how it will never be like that again.

I don't like looking through photos of me in hospital.
It reminds me of so much, and it is all so fresh.

Most of all, it reminds me of dealing with the pain that had been there for so long.

Sometimes, though, it is being reminded that pushes us forward onto the path of life - that path which God ordained and directed me towards, despite everything.

So I challenge you - as God has challenged me - to face up to the past.

Let Him show you what He wants to, what He needs to.

He wants your healing.

He wants you whole.

Sure, looking at my photos is heart wrenching, and makes me cry, and wish it hadn't been as hard.
But then I remember I would not be who I am now if not for that.

If not for pain.

If not for enduring.

If not for My God, and His great love.

If not for Him.

If there is something He is prompting you to face, then do it.

Surely pain of facing it has got to be better than carrying inward pain around like a wounded, dying animal?

Let Him heal you.

As I will let Him heal me.

I will face up to these fears - this fear of how terrible, and dark, and deep, and deadly that place was.

I will remember.

And I will know who My God is and what exactly it is He has done for me.

He has taken me out of that place.

And I can never go back.

That alone gives me strength to go on.

Photography Portfolio - Old photography files #2 - Zacky and the Handmade Dog Bed

2014-01-09T11:57:00.001+11:00

'No. It's mine. And don't even think about joining me.'

What comfort, what style! Here Zacky enjoys a fantastic. newly-made bed (by me) in the year 2012. It seems as though it is perfectly comfortable and cosy, just the way he likes it. And no, sharing is not an option!

And... one of Ditzy for good measure.

CollectA Hanoverian Stallion Custom - Dapple Grey Thoroughbred Stallion

2014-01-05T15:32:00.000+11:00

Glorious Ruins

2014-01-05T14:30:00.002+11:00

Recently God has been showing me there is still more to heal.
That hasn't come as a surprise to me, I suppose I simply hoped the purification had stopped for just a little while. It seemed not to be.
Yet that is a good thing.

This morning I listened to a sermon by Brian Housten. What spoke to me about this message was not simply the content, but the way God directed it at me.

Recently I have been drudging up more mess thanks to Him, and we have been working on the same topic a while now.
Another step forward, this message (and song) inspired me to believe in the impossible.

That the ruins of life, love and relationships can again become glorious - as they were made to be.

There is that hope - and a God who fulfills it.

Glorious Ruins

VERSE
When the mountains fall
And the tempest roars You are with me
When creation folds
Still my soul will soar on Your mercy

PRE-CHORUS
I'll walk through the fire
With my head lifted high
And my spirit revived in Your story
And I'll look to the cross
As my failure is lost
In the light of Your glorious grace

CHORUS
Let the ruins come to life
In the beauty of Your Name
Rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign

And my soul will find refuge
In the shadow of Your wings
I will love You forever
And forever I'll sing

VERSE
When the world caves in
Still my hope will cling to Your promise
Where my courage ends
Let my heart find strength in Your presence