A Year of Wedded Bliss

This month, Adoring Husband and I will be celebrating our first year of marriage - and as I type this, he is poking his tongue at me across the room.  I have another nickname for him.  Sheldon.   In honour of the 'Big Bang Theory' character who is a genius with Asperger Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

We rarely watch that show on television, so it's not like he developed these traits from regular viewing.  It's quite possible that the character was modelled on Adoring Husband!  This nickname is mostly used as a term of endearment .. and sometimes, a term of frustration hehehe.

So I've decided, considering the limited time available to me today, as I check off my 'packing' and 'to do' lists, to show you some photos taken over the last year.

Early morning sun peeping through the clouds at Surfers Paradise.

Just before sunrise - the view from our motel room at Surfers

Spectacular sunrise from the motel room at Surfers

"Hullo!" from Cairns.

What a handsome specimen - from the bird park in Cairns

Sleeping koala in the wildlife park in Cairns

A happy Willy Wagtail splashing around in the bird bath in our back garden

A Kiwi duck (New Zealand)

A beautiful frog hanging out in the peach tree in our side garden

A mushroom growing under the clothes line 

Sleepy wombat at the wildlife park in Cairns

It occurs to me, as I type this, that I have had such a busy year!  It started in Surfers Paradise for a week with my best friend, to our fabulous wedding here on the river,  to Sydney where we moved Nellie the wonderful mother-in-law into a nursing home (where she is doing very nicely), to Cairns, where I walked The Best Cousin in the World down the aisle on her wedding day, to New Zealand where I witnessed the birth of my little sweetie possum, Chicklet and will end with a week in Maleny and the Sunshine Coast!

I can't believe that we fit so much into a year!  Our first year of wedded bliss :o)  Time flies when you're having fun!

    

Procrastinator or Photographer?

I'm off to Maleny this weekend for a two day photography course.

My goal is to learn a lot more about my new camera and to get some fabulous shots around this beautiful area.  The mornings will be spent in the classroom and the afternoons will be spent outdoors practising what we learnt in the morning!

I'm excited that it's in Maleny, especially after all the rain that we've had.  It should be lush and green and very tropical, with lots to inspire fifteen students all looking to become brilliant in an instant, and all looking to find that perfect shot!

This is a great opportunity to meet some different people and learn something new ... and there is always something new to learn about photography!

Imagine having unlimited funds and spending a whole year doing photography workshops all around Australia!  All around the world!  There are so many workshops and courses available and so many talented and experienced professional photographers willing to share their expertise.

The possibilities are endless!

Anyway, I have a lot to do before I leave, so I should stop procrastinating and get my act together.  It's time to write my mandatory packing list and a 'to do' list so that my house is in reasonable order and I don't forget to pack anything important.

It's the only way to stop my brain from scrambling, because I leave it all until the last minute and even though I do my best work under pressure, a list definitely helps!  I have just over twenty four hours to get everything done, because we are busy tomorrow night and I leave at 6am Saturday morning.

So much to do, so little time!  Procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate.  Magic wand where art thou?

I must admit ... I am a talented and gifted procrastinator.  The photographer in me still needs some work!

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I wonder if I could commit to completing a Diploma in Photography????

I've done a little research (as has Adoring Husband).  The Best Cousin in the World is also researching at the moment and is keen to do some kind of course to help her start a business.

Adoring Husband has been dropping hints about me applying for an ABN and starting my own business - perhaps I should follow Vegan Chickie's advice and start thinking of all the reasons why I SHOULD do it, instead of all the reasons why I SHOULDN'T!!

I believe that I will take this week to seriously consider my future in photography.  A weekend in Maleny doing this photography course and then a week at the Sunshine Coast should be enough to clear my head and let me look at it objectively.

Hmmmm thinking ... thinking ... thinking.

A Morning Journey

My day started at 'The Seat of Knowledge' with my boys, which is my favourite way to start the day.  Laughing and joking and constantly making fun of each other.  The youngest one here is 68 yrs of age.

While we were all having a laugh, a friend of mine poked his nose in to say hello, and I must say he was looking decidedly handsome today!  I LIKE TURTLES :O)

I decided to pedal around town to look for photographic opportunities.  I stopped at this beautiful flowering tree and while I was snapping away, a little visitor popped in the frame!  What a pleasant surprise!

I stopped and talked to some tourists for a little while and the gentleman who was the same age as my Dad would have been, had he lived, had also spent time in New Guinea at the same time that Dad was there.  We didn't find a connection but had an interesting chat!

I pedalled past the tree where the Tawny Frog Mouths often sit and there were three little ones on a branch.  They aren't the same ones I photographed last year because they are too small, but one of them opened his eyes and looked down at me while I was snapping away.

Beneath the tree,  gleaming in the sunlight was a beautiful spider web and if you look closely, you can see the spider sitting in the centre.

There, hanging in the tree amid the green foliage was a perfect golden heart!  Lots of love from Mother Nature :o)

I then bumped into the lovely Aussie H and invited her to dinner tonight.

This afternoon I've been invited to a friend's house for drinks, which suits me fine while Adoring Husband is obsessively building the back shed.

It's been a most satisfying morning journey and there is still another half of the day to enjoy!

Where do I start?

In exactly eighteen days, I will turn 51 years of age.

I've decided to make a list of 52 things that I would like to do before I turn 52.  That will require checking one thing off the list every week, until my 52nd birthday!

They don't need to be 'awe inspiring' things, in fact, they will probably be fairly simple things, because I'm not the adventurous or inquisitive type.  I'm more the arty, farty creative type.

So, over the next couple of weeks, I will make my list,  then post it here and check off each item as I do it.  I already have half of my list complete.

One important item on my list, which I won't be able to do until later in the year when the competition actually opens, is enter the Canon EOS Photo 5 competition.  This idea was inspired by Vegan Chickie, who entered it last year and had so much fun being creative.

Another idea is to invite five people from outside my usual circle of friends for a morning tea at my house and do all the baking myself.

I would also like to invite couples to have free photo shoots, so that I can get some practise with portrait photography, both indoors and outdoors.

I think I need to have on that list ... 'get to bed early a couple of nights in the week' because I am feeling decidedly tired tonight and quite uninspired!

So!  Enough of this frivolity!  I need to sleep and I can hear the pillow calling my name.  I'm sure that after a solid seven hours of sleep, my mind will, once again, find it's creativity and I will know exactly where to start and where to finish my fabulous list!

Two Days With Bob

Saturday morning I awoke to greet my eleventh day without a camera (but who was counting??).  Honestly, it was like being without one of my limbs.  My camera is a part of me.  I photograph everything that happens in my life and in this town.  I use my camera every single day!

Parties, functions, picnics, barbecues, gatherings, boats, the river, the beach, wildlife, flora, Psychotic Dogs, morning teas, dinner parties, anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, Easters, Australia Days, ANZAC days, festivals, babies and children, gardens, sunrises, sunsets, storm clouds, markets, tourists, locals, wineries, sea shells, marine life, insects and happy hour just to name a few.

People even come to me and ask if I have photos of events that they were involved in two years ago or more.  I've only lived here for two and a half years, so people know that I probably have a photographic record of whatever they are looking for.    

So being without a camera was a real struggle for me and on Saturday, I was praying that my new camera would arrive on Monday morning and put me out my misery.

Well, Saturday 2nd April, turned out to be my lucky day, because we received a phone call from Karl, to let us know that the dream camera (+ accessories) was waiting to be picked up 'at our convenience'.

Stoic 'me' found it difficult to contain my excitement and Adoring Husband even commented about the size of the smile on my face when I knew that my new camera would soon be in my hot little hands!

I didn't go into The Bay with Adoring Husband to collect the camera.  I knew that I would open the box and have everything strewn all over the car and with the movement of the car, be feeling nauseas while trying to read all the paperwork.

So, I patiently sat at home, counting the minutes, calculating how long he should reasonably take and waiting for his phone call to advise that he was on his way home.

Finally, I heard him pull into the driveway.  It was here!!  Wahoo!!  Wahoo!!

He came rushing through the door, his arms laden with boxes and bags and plonked them down in front of me.  "There you are Darling!  One new camera!"

It was like Christmas!  No, it was BETTER than Christmas!  It was heaven!

It took a good hour to open,  assemble and attach everything.  Another couple of hours to charge the batteries, load all the information from the discs onto the computer and read the very basic instructions.

The instruction manual for the camera is 270 pages long **groan** and then the flash has a 56 page manual.  I fall asleep after reading five pages, so it's going to take a very long time for me to read everything.

The camera itself, weighs over 2 kgs.  My camera bag with everything loaded into it, weighs 4.8 kgs!  Add the weight of the tripod and I'm carrying over 7 kgs.  There surely needs to be a health and fitness requirement for photographers!

Anyway, here are a few of my efforts so far, with little knowledge of my genius camera, which, from here on in, will be known as 'BOB' - because he cost a bob or two (which probably only means something to people over 50 years of age haha)

A new leaf unfurling on our Fern Tree

Our beautiful Hibiscus after the rain

Helen, the hen-pecked chook!

Glass boat of shells

Hopefully, you will see a marked improvement as time goes on, but I'm pretty happy with my efforts after two days and I do believe that Bob and I are going to be very happy together!  :o)

New Bestie

Helen, the hen-pecked chook has been shunned by her two house-mates and is now living alone in her own little pen and in a separate part of the garden.

Adoring Husband has decided to punish and torture the other hens by allowing Helen to roam the garden for extra hours in the day, while they watch from behind the closed gate.

He goes out every day and has long conversations with Helen while he feeds and waters her, collects her egg and cleans her sleeping area.  Then he lets her out and she follows him around the garden while he continues to chat with her.

This relationship is perfect for Adoring Husband, because some days, he really loves to hear the sound of his own voice, and of course, Helen makes the appropriate quiet 'clucking' sounds in response. While he works in the shed, Helen wanders around his feet and looks up at him with love and admiration.

I do find this relationship entertaining and amusing, but now I think Helen is taking it one step too far!

We have large sliding doors opening on to our alfresco area, from our house,  which we leave open just wide enough for the dogs to get through if they need to get outside to do their doggy 'business'.

Helen has now discovered this opening and has decided that she wants to be with Adoring Husband INSIDE as well as OUT!

Three times in the last two days, I have looked up to discover Helen quietly sneaking across the family room floor, while the Psychotic Dogs all stand together looking at her,  at each other and at me, trying to figure out if they should be chasing her outside, calling me for help or welcoming her with open paws.

The first time was amusing, and even the second time got a giggle, but I am no longer amused and have told Adoring Husband that if he can't keep her out of the house, then HE will be spending all of his time outside in the garden with his new bestie!

If I wasn't a vegetarian I might even suggest roast chook for next Sunday's dinner!

I know that Adoring Husband is reading this and feeling genuine shock in his heart, not only at the thought of Helen sitting on our dinner plate, but also at the thought that I would ever suggest such a thing, especially in a blog post for all the world to read!!

***Evil Wicked Witch Laugh***