Yes! It CAN get wetter!

It's been teeming rain for about three or four hours now and the temperature has dropped by about five degrees.  The wind is strong and gusty and I can hear the thunder in the distance.  It's been raining for most of the day - great hermit weather.

Not great photography weather!

I DID manage to get out early this morning and get my coffee from the bakery before heading down to the Seat of Knowledge with the boys.

I enjoyed about an hour of pedalling, with my camera in hand, before the first nasty storm hit.  I JUST made it to a friend's caravan in the Council Park about two minutes before the skies opened up.

It didn't last very long, so I checked our Post Office Box, and started on my way, expecting to get another hour of time to play, but suddenly, out of nowhere, the dark and stormy weather descended and I was stranded quite a way from home!

Luckily, I had a big plastic rain poncho in my basket, so I put my camera in my camera bag, opened the poncho and wrapped it around the bag for extra protection and pedalled as fast as my little wet legs would take me!

I arrived home just a teensy bit wet :D

Still, I was happy to get another shot from my list.

Something Red - Photo 7 of 104

Having posted seven of my list shots on flickr and facebook, I was asked by four friends, if I'd started a facebook page so that they and others could join me in the challenge!

I'm not sure if I've done it correctly, but I started a group called '104 Things to Photograph in 404 days' and invited 20 people, who I know enjoy photography, to join me.

There is also one person in my flickr group who doesn't have a facebook account, so I sent her the link to the blog post where I added the list, and I think she might do some of the challenge through flickr.

I don't think anybody will be quite as dedicated to it as I am, but there are no rules here, and some will be more motivated than others.  Even just to see one or two shots from somebody will give me a buzz.

Lovely new shots of the wonderful Chicklet sent from Vegan Chickie today ...

Melting my heart still ... and how fast is she growing!?

I get to visit her tomorrow :D

I love my baby.

Nite all.

Australia Day 2012

It was a quiet affair.

The weather held off, but it still looked threatening for most of the day.  The ground at the local park was too wet to be comfortable, so our Australia Day barbecue was transferred to Mrs Bucket's house.

The gathering was much smaller than usual, but it was a very pleasant day and it was really nice to catch up with Woman of Many Talents and Aussie H.  I met a new resident of the town and spent time with a couple of other ladies who are always friendly and good value at a party.

We were home again by 3.30pm.

This morning on my early morning ride, I was able to get three shots from my list of 104 things.

Frog - Photo 4 of 104

Power Lines - Photo 5 of 104

Blossoms on a Path - Photo 6 of 104

I was very excited when I got home, to sit at my laptop and play with these.  I was almost an hour late to the barbecue so that I could get them finished.

While pedalling around town today, I was thinking about how much I love my photography and how I see everything around me, in a whole new light.

I notice the smallest of things.  For example, I was sitting at the Seat of Knowledge talking to the boys when I caught the slightest movement out the corner of my eye.  When I turned to take a look, I saw the little frog, about 6 metres away, climbing up the rail of a set of steps that lead down to the beach.

The rail was in the shade of a massive fig tree on a dark cloudy day, so there was very little light.  It was just the smallest movement because the frog is only about 6 cms long, if that.

I pedal the same route around town every day and so I have become familiar with every tree, every bush, every rock and I can pedal looking up into the trees, knowing exactly where I am going.

Because I am so familiar with everything around me, I notice the smallest changes - even the silhouette of a different bird in the trees, attracts my attention, and I am always listening to the sounds of nature, and I can hear the softest chirps, whistles, tweets and flutters as I ride past the thick scrub.

I instinctively know when something is different and I go investigating.

Often I am too heavy footed or too fast across the ground and I frighten off whatever bird or critter I am in pursuit of and it will go scuttling off into the bush or fly high across the trees out of sight.

I am an opportunistic photographer and rely on the element of surprise to capture most of my photographs.

Sometimes, I will plan what I want to photograph and go to a specific spot to lie in wait, knowing, for example, that a certain type of bird likes that particular territory.

But that is rare, because I am not a very patient person.

Every morning when I wake up, I feel excited about what possible photographic opportunities are going to come my way, and I can't wait to get out the door and on my way with my camera in my trike basket.

I still have so much to learn about my camera, taking photographs and editing but I have enjoyed every second, so far, and am absolutely loving every bit of the learning process.  It's a thrill that I hope never wanes for me.

The other thrill I get, is sharing my shots with friends and family who are also talented in this area, and meeting new like-minded people through our flickr group.

It all started when Adoring Husband bought me my first good quality camera - the little Sony 200a and Vegan Chickie, who is a talented photographer, suggesting we have 'photo of the day'.

That planted the seed and I haven't looked back.

When I post my shots onto facebook, flickr and here, I am constantly thrilled with the positive comments that I receive and to get that kind of feedback for something that I love so much gives me the biggest buzz.

So, to finish off for tonight, my friend Rupert the Tawny Frogmouth came back for a visit today ...

Rupert

Just look at those amazing eyes.  I talked to him for about five minutes before I started to feel a bit self conscious and said goodbye before the 'men in white coats' could turn up and carry me away!

Today has been a good day.  Tonight there is thunder rolling in the distance and there have been storm warnings all afternoon and evening, so I hope it's not too eventful in the storm department!

Nite all.

Can it get any wetter??

We've had seventy mls of rain in two days.

The days are dark and gloomy with heavy clouds hanging low over our heads and thunder rumbling quietly in the distance.  The rain comes and goes, sometimes teeming and sometimes lightly floating.

Compared to a lot of places in Queensland, we've been lucky.  Towns in the outback and others down south have had between 100 - 200 ml of rain and there has been a lot of flooding and damage.  Luckily, not as devastating as last year, but still terrible for some people.

Needless to say, my routine was severely hampered this morning.  I had enough time to get my coffee from the bakery and spend about fifteen minutes with my boys at the Seat of Knowledge before the heavens opened up AGAIN.

I pedalled home in the rain and I was pretty damp by the time I pulled into our driveway!

We spent a little time doing some housework early today ... and I mean a little, because we only do the bare essentials lol.

On the plus side ... we've had the Australian Open Tennis AND the India v Australia Test Cricket being televised live on free-to-air tv, so we've switched between channels watching both all day.

There was a short break in the rain, so I was able to go outside with my camera and get a shot for my 104 Things to Photograph in 404 days challenge.

Rusty Chain - Photo 3 of 104

With all this rain, there is one item on my list that should be easy to capture and thats 'Reflections in a Puddle'!  Let's see if I can catch a break in the rain tomorrow and get that one.

A couple of other shots from our Reptile Park experience ...

A couple of shots of my little Sweetie Possum sent to me by Vegan Chickie ...

"Today's sensory exercise - a bowl full of flour, rice, pasta and lentils." - Vegan Chickie.

What a lovely mess ... that I don't have to clean up, but how gorgeous is that!  Having a wonderful time!  I think we need to find a big rubber sheet for her to have her messy play on ... just makes it easier to clean up afterwards and lots of fun can still be had!

Back to the tennis for me now.

Nite all.


  

Electric Blue

Shot number two selected from the top 18 on my list.

Electric Blue - Photo 2 of 104

Not very imaginative, but I was out for most of the day and it has been pouring rain all afternoon.  The control panel on my free-standing column fan glows at me day and night.  I find the colour very calming actually!

Today, Adoring Husband and I watched the movie 'We Bought a Zoo' at the cinema.  A most enjoyable movie with some good giggles and a couple of teary moments.  I think I'll buy this one on dvd when it hits the stores.

Afterwards, we did some shopping, had some lunch and then headed home.

The weather has been very wet, but further south has had so much more rain than us.  We've had 50 ml (2 inches in the old scale) since Monday morning.  The forecast is for more heavy rain for the next four days at least!

We would like to groom our dogs tomorrow.  Haircuts, nails clipped and a bath, but I don't think the weather will be conducive to dog washing!

Right now, it's definitely time for bed!

Nite all.

Stripes

From my list, but not from the first eighteen.  We were out today, but the heavens opened up and we had to make an early return home.  Very heavy rain all the way home.

Stripes - (on a Red Bellied Black Snake - beautiful!)  Photo 1 of 104

As planned, we visited the Reptile Park at Childers.

We were having a lovely time.  We were given a brief talk about a couple of the big crocodiles in the park and then we got a close look at some small salt water crocs, before the first snake show was presented.

A lovely lady showed us five snakes including the Red Bellied Black Snake.  It was an enjoyable show and I got some nice shots.  Unfortunately, none of them are very natural looking because the snakes were either wrapped around the snake handler or sliding across green carpet in the enclosure.

After that, Adoring Husband and I wandered around the park ourselves and found the lizard enclosures, where we got a few good shots and then strolled through the 'vivarium' which is an enclosure for frogs and smaller lizards.

Further on was the snake area which housed all kinds of snakes from Carpet snakes to deadly Taipans and Brown Snakes, all of which, were inside sealed and heated glass enclosures.

The light was very low in there and the glass made it virtually impossible to get decent shots and completely impossible to get natural shots.

So all was going along fine.  I was feeling happy and enjoying the day.  I was pleasantly surprised by how well kept the park was and how friendly and helpful the staff were.  The weather was getting a little steamy, but it was bearable and there were plenty of shady areas to sit.

Then we gathered around the pit for the Venomous Snake show.

Quite a few others had entered the park by now, and although it wasn't too crowded, we still all stood shoulder to shoulder around the pit, including some children who I would guess to be around 8 yrs of age.

The male snake handler appeared with his five red bags, each of which contained one of the top five venomous snakes in the world, which of course, were also Australian snakes.

Before he had even pulled the first snake out of the bag,  a member of the audience asked if he had ever been bitten.  He replied that he was embarrassed to admit that he had indeed been bitten by his own snakes and that it was because of his own carelessness.

So that set the mood for me.

If he is careless enough to get bitten himself, then what are the chances that we might also be in danger due to his carelessness?

There they were, the little children on tiptoes, looking over the edge of the pit, while the angry, brand new to the park, King Brown snake was trying to climb the wall to reach them.

My heart skipped a beat a few times and I thought to myself how terrible that my father accidentally stepped on an Eastern Brown and died ... yet this man is voluntarily standing in a pit with the five deadliest snakes in the world, watching children lean over the wall while he tells everyone how deadly the snakes are.

Memories of my father, combined with the fear that the children or the snake handler might be bitten, overwhelmed me.  I took a step back from the pit and I could feel the tears welling.  I knew that I had to  remove myself from the area.

As I went to step past Adoring Husband, he gave me a worried look, so I told him that I was going to sit in the park area for a bit.  Of course, he was right behind me and left the snake pit too.

We sat down and he asked if I was ok, but I wasn't and I shed a little tear on his shoulder.

I was very surprised by my emotional reaction because since my father's death, snakes have never been an issue for me.  The Gladstone Hospital, where they gave him the incorrect treatment, has been a problem for me, but not snakes.

The next show was going to be the croc feeding, but as the heavens opened, we decided to drive into Childers and find somewhere for lunch instead.  We had watched crocs feeding up near Rockhampton a few months ago, so we weren't concerned about missing it.

We went to one of the pubs on the main street of Childers where we enjoyed a delicious, prompt and inexpensive lunch and then drove home in pelting rain.  It was too wet to even consider going anywhere or doing anything else for the day.

Tomorrow, Adoring Husband and I are going to the movies to see 'We Bought a Zoo'.  Kind of appropriate after visiting something akin to a zoo today :D  Wish I could take photographs at tomorrow's zoo!

Nite all.

 

The List is Complete!

104 Things to Photograph in 404 Days - commencing 23rd January 2012

Feather/s    Puddle Reflection    God's Gift     Rusty Chain     Telegraph or Power Lines     Under a Jetty    Roofs and Chimney Pots      Latticework     Garden Gnome or Gargoyle     Crab or Crayfish Pots      Denim & Lace      Anchor, oars or bollards      Something Electric Blue      Post or Letter Box   Hopelessness     Campfire     Combination of 3 Textures     Leaves or blossoms on a Path     Chicklet smiles     Home-made Dessert     Nude Human     Three Children Playing     Celebrity     Newborn Baby     Dragonfly Hovering     Koala in the Wild     Frog     Biker with his Bike     Something Blue     Sunset     Sunrise     Rainbow       Bird Bathing in a Bird Bath     Eagle Swooping on Prey     Five Things     Skaters at a Skate Park     Graffiti     Spider Web     Local Woman     Local Man     Cockatoo     Self Portrait     Four Generations Together     Bald Head     Irish Backpacker     Something Red     Snail     Something Dead     Clouds     Still Life    A Bird's Nest     A Sporting Event     Dirty Feet     Lightning     Something Yellow     Beautiful Flower Garden     A Couple Who've Been Married 50 yrs+     Waterfall     Stripes     Person in Uniform     Bride     Colourful Market Stall     Parade     Playground     Statue     Something Purple     Somebody Blowing Out Candles     Wind     Shadows     Night Lights     Heart     Droplet     Happy     Landscape     Seascape     Aeroplane      My Brother     An Island     Snow     Cityscape     Animal with it's Baby     Art Deco     Cemetery/Headstones     Busker     Fireworks     Platypus      Hummingbird     Old Stone Church     Famous Sportsperson     Steam Train     Wildflowers    Politician     First Day at School     Lollipop Person     Ice Cream Van     Member of the Police Force     Town Clock     Musician     Stained Glass Window     Devonshire Tea     Roadside Stall     Bungie Jump     Monument                          

This challenge is taken from another, called Day Zero Project, where you list 101 things to do/achieve  in 1001 days.

I think you need 1001 days when you are trying to achieve set goals, because they require a lot more time,  planning, money and effort than taking photographs does.  

When you are as obsessed as I am, I believe that 404 days will be more than enough!

Thank you to my Arty Farty Friend for providing me with twenty ideas for my list.  I was struggling with the last twenty eight, so that was very helpful!

The first eighteen on the list are from my Arty Farty Friend (2 from her list were already on mine), so they are also my challenge for the month and I'll do them first.  The rest, I'll do in no particular order.

Some photos from this morning's ride.

Tomorrow, Adoring Husband and I are off to the Reptile Park.  Hopefully, we don't get rained out again.  We have an early start, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.