To Paint ... or not to paint.

Quite a productive day today.

BGWLBH tried to spot paint some marks on the wall last week, but used paint that we mismatched quite badly.

We matched all the other paints beautifully, but somehow, we messed this one up ... twice!

After choosing paint that was too dark the first time and too light the second time, and after much deliberation, we decided to paint the whole room!

It took us about two hours and it was finished and looking pretty darn good.   I reckon we were more proud of our efforts than Michelangelo was when he completed the Sistine Chapel!!

What a team!

BGWLBH then pressure cleaned the concrete outside the back door.

I washed the lounge room windows, then pulled the screen off the bedroom window so that it and the outside glass could be cleaned ... let me tell you what a job it was getting the screen back in ... I'm sure you can all relate to that experience!

A few little spot cleaning jobs around the house and we were exhausted and in need of rest.  I cooked a nice stir fry for dinner with lots of vegetables ... we need sustenance to continue the moving process tomorrow ... and then we watched The Voice.

BGWLBH, who is now sleeping in the lounge room on a mattress while the paint finishes drying in her bedroom, fell asleep long before the show finished.

So I've spent a little time playing with some photos from the birthday party and the horses.

BGWLBH & her Goddaughter Lu

Deputy Daws

Mrs Doodle Doo (due to her boisterous laughter)

I wasn't very happy with these shots, but The Horse Whisperer was over the moon with them and has been raving about them to anyone who'll listen!

This boy is the show off

This one is very old

This is her favourite shot.

I really need sleep ... tomorrow morning, I expect there may be some sore muscles in places that I haven't used for quite some time.

To paint or not to paint??  I choose NOT to paint :o)  Not any more.  Please?

Nite all.

Full Moon Birthday

Well I think the birthday girl had a nice day today.

Her rules were

1. No presents
2. No singing
3. No cake

So, most people brought a gift.

Some people sang as they walked through the door.

One person brought a cake ... but it wasn't a birthday cake and it had no candles.

The hostess, Deputy Daws, had cooked a banquet and covered everybody's dietary requirements.  We were so full by the end of the day, we could barely move!

She started with nibbles.  Fruits, cheeses, olives, various crackers, crisp breads, greek meatballs with dips and sauces.  Then we moved outside and she provided spinach & cheese pastries, vegetarian pizza, garlic and herb breads, gluten free pasta dish and a layered salad.

For dessert there was tiramisu and that delicious chocolate pavlova with cream and berries.

Champagne and wine for drinkies.  Coffee and tea for 'after'.

So we did lots of talking and laughing and rigorous gossiping, a little singing and dancing, a few group photos (but none with me in them).

They were all in fine form and honestly, there really wasn't that much alcohol passing lips.  They are silly like this ... naturally!

Then we all said our goodbyes and the birthday girl and I scooted home in time to catch the full moon rising over the horizon.

I'm sure there will be some spectacular shots posted on facebook and flickr tomorrow because the moon was pretty darned amazing!

So I am definitely all worn out from so much partying and trekking across the farm to get a good vantage point for the moonrise.

I will sleep well tonight.

Happy birthday BGWLBH ... if you read this, your birthday is not over ... there is still the ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP ... and a few weeks after you return home, there will be another present!!  But that one is a big secret and you don't even get a hint!

Nite all.

Big One Tomorrow!

BGWLBH turns 50 tomorrow!

Nobody is allowed to mention numbers, but this is my blog and I make the rules :o)

A mini working bee was had today.  Three cars altogether and a horse float, to take all of the boxes and bags and some furniture away from the house.

We looked at another house and it has been offered to BGWLBH if she wants it, so she will contact the owner when she returns home.

She now has two possibilities, but neither are ready just yet, so that works out fine for road trips and holidays to fit in between.

There will be a birthday lunch at Deputy Daws' house tomorrow and everybody will bring some food, so that no one person has to do a lot of work.

We are looking forward to it... well ... speaking for myself ... I am looking forward to it.

We drove to the lake for the moon rise this afternoon, but because it rose at 4.40pm, there were clouds on the horizon AND the sun was still high in the sky ... it was less than spectacular.

We jumped in the car and drove to Scenic Lookout for a better view, but there was a wedding being photographed, so we had a limited area to use for photographs.

Funnily enough, we ran into Ms Nudey and her son, who was there with the same idea.  We both took candid shots of each other, which turned out quite good.

Ms Nudey's shot of me pretending to be paparazzi.

My pic of Ms Nudey taking a pic of the moon.

Ms Nudey and her cheesy grin.  She is lovely :)
I call her Ms Nudey, because she is the only person in our
104 group who has been able to get a shot of a nude human, other
than a baby.  Very tastefully done too!

Tomorrow night is full moon and it should be amazing, so we'll see what we can get.

The new challenge for the flickr group is 'Frozen in Mid-air', so I've got to come up with something a bit spectacular for that one.  I'm sure we'll find something on our ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP that will make an excellent entry.

Time to sleep.  I hope to have lots of photos of the party to share tomorrow.

Nite all.

Excited Mini Post

Well, my Rock Star Road Trip chant worked!

We are moving BGWLBH's belongings to her parent's house, then we have a few fix-ups to do here in this house and THEN we are on the move!!

By this time next week, we should be well and truly into our road trip :o)

By the time BGWLBH comes home in June/July, there will be a farm house out of town available for her (pending unforeseen circumstances of course), so she can move in before she goes back to work.

Anyway, we won't get TOO excited just yet ... but right now, things are looking up.

Tonight we went to dinner at a farm in Yenda and I found these little guys right on dusk, behind the house.

Blue Breasted Fairy Wren (male in front, female behind)

That's all for now.  I am exhausted after a big day and not much sleep last night.

Catch ya tomorrow.

Once more for good measure ... ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP   ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP   ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP

Nite all.

What was that about a road trip?

It has been a day of ups and downs.

A good news, bad news kind of day, but mostly 'nothing' news that leads us nowhere ... especially not to our road trip.  We are teetering on the brink of crazy insane frustration!!

We just need 'something' to fall into place ... one piece of the puzzle, so that everything else can fall where it should and we can move on with our long awaited holiday plan.

But the waiting continues ...

So, this morning while waiting for a 'rock star' phone call (rock star is what we call out when we want something great eg 'rock star car park'!  'rock star phone call'!) I played with a couple of shots from the weekend...

The lavender bush seems to be playground to a few different insects.  There was a beautiful butterfly resting on a flower today, but I couldn't get my camera quickly enough and he flew off before I could capture him in frame.

Two more photos from Scenic Lookout yesterday (or was it the day before?)

See the pigeon - top left??  He's the king of the world :)

We've been invited to dinner by one of BGWLBH's work colleagues tomorrow night.  She has horses and I said that I would attempt to take some good shots of her with them, so we will get there before the sun disappears and hopefully will have some shots to share on here tomorrow night.

I do know that we are having Roast Pumpkin Risotto for dinner and Tapioca Pudding with Golden Syrup for dessert.  She is vegetarian, I am gluten free and BGWLBH is allergic to seafood and nuts, so that makes for very limited choices!  How nice of her to go to so much trouble for us!

May Photo a Day Challenge - 3. Something that I wore today

I think we are having a breakfast or morning tea or lunch or something for BGWLBH's birthday on Sunday.  We were supposed to be on our road trip for her birthday, but now that we are still here, her friends and colleagues want to do 'something'.

What was that about a road trip???   Ah, the imaginary road trip.  In our heads, it was such a great road trip!  I think I'll go to bed and dream about a road trip.  If we say it out loud ... I know!!!  ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP!  ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP!  ROCK STAR ROAD TRIP!

Nite all.

Clouds Birds Turtles and Battleships

If you are a teenage boy - and I'm pretty sure that there are no teenage boys who read this blog - or if you are a male who likes 1.  Science Fiction  2.  Crap movies where American bad boys come good and save the world, and 3.  Crazy special effects and violence - then the movie 'Battleship' is for you!

It is definitely no 'Armageddon' (doesn't EVERYBODY love that movie???).

The science dude (who looked like he stepped out of The Big Bang Theory) was a shining beacon of reality and provided us with some light relief.

I guess you can tell that I am not a fan of this movie.  Glad I saw it, just to see what the hype was about, but wouldn't recommend it.

This morning, we were woken at around 5.30 - ish by thunder and lightning and heavy rain on the tin roof.  It was brief but it was loud!

The ground here is still sodden from the floods in March, so any rain that we get, lies over the ground in large puddles beside the roads for days.  This morning's storm has done just that.

So the clouds were forming over the city all day.  They would build up in dark grey clusters looking like a huge storm cell about to dump on us, but would then disappear just as quickly without a drop falling from the sky.

We decided to drive up to Scenic Hill again and try for some cloud shots from up high.

I also used this one for day 2 of the May Photo a day challenge  'Skyline'

A tree growing out of a rock!

It was nice up there, but too wet to be climbing over the rocks looking for Hermit's Cave (which I would have liked to do, because I never actually got to see it when I lived here).

Afterwards, we went to BGWLBH's parent's house and took them for a drive out to Tabitta, hoping we could find a way in to Barren Box Swamp from that end.  No such luck.

What we did see, on the way, was a number of Whistling Kites flying around high in the sky - and by 'a number', I mean 50 or 60 in about a one square kilometre area.

At first we thought they were over the garbage tip, but we turned up that road and the kites were not that far up the road.

So we stopped and I tried to get some photos.  They were very high in the sky, so the only lens that could capture them was the long 400mm and I couldn't open the lens wide enough to get more than four kites in one shot at a time.

It really was a spectacle to behold and I was disappointed that I couldn't capture it in camera.

So we drove on.  BGWLBH came to a sudden stop because there was a turtle in the middle of the road.  (I LIKE TURTLES!)  So we pulled over to the side of the road and rescued him.  We made sure to put him on the side of the road that he was heading toward and I got a photo (of course).

He was lookin' at me, but he wasn't comin' out!

Not much further up the road there was a Black Shouldered Kite hovering in the sky looking for food, so we stopped again.

I got out of the car and aimed my camera toward him and he suddenly turned and flew straight towards me!  He hovered above me briefly.  Long enough for me to get a few quick shots in and then he flew away!

As you can see, he was beautiful!  I've never seen these in Queensland where I live, so I'm going to take every opportunity for photos that I can.

That's about all I have to share for today.  We've been out for most of the day, so I haven't had much opportunity to play with my photos yet.  Perhaps I'll have a chance tomorrow.

A day filled with clouds, birds, turtles and battleships ... and now sleep.

Nite all.

We Avengered!

Finally, after all of my announcements that we would go to the movies to see 'The Avengers', we did it today!  And it was GREAT!

We saw it in 3D and the special effects were amazing and the famous names who played the superhero roles, outstanding.  I especially loved Tom Hiddleston playing the role of Loki (the bad guy).

Robert Downey Jr, who of course, played Ironman, absolutely 'made' the movie, but I could be biased because I have loved him for many many years now.

It was certainly chocka block full of eye candy for anyone with a pulse!

It was a long movie, but I enjoyed every second of it and will definitely buy it on dvd when it's released.  It ended, of course, with a hint of a sequel, so we can all look forward to that :D

Didn't do much else today, except play around with some photos that have been sitting here waiting to be actioned.

I'm also attempting to do the May Photo a Day challenge, because I fell very short in the April challenge.

Splash landing in the main canal.

Waiting ... 

Anyone for golf?

Sunset over a rare little farmhouse - most of them are mansions now!

For the May Photo a Day challenge - May 1 'Peace'

I watched BGWLBH do some repair work around the house and we watched 'The Voice' on TV tonight, which we are both completely addicted to, and have even started filling out the program from the newspaper, with the winning names as they go into the next round.

How sad are we?  We really need to do a road trip ... and soon!

I think tomorrow we are going to have a go at Geocaching.  Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet have been enjoying this pastime for over a week now and are really enjoying it.

Tomorrow, I will explain what it is and how you can try it too, so stay tuned!

Nite all.    

It's a Girl!!

Adoring Husband is currently floating on cloud nine somewhere on the Gold Coast celebrating the fact that he is now a grandfather to a new baby girl.  She was a hefty 8lb 2oz and Mum and Bub are both doing well.

I wish I could be there to give him a hug.  I know that he will be feeling very emotional but he'll also be very happy to share this exciting life event with his son.  A new baby in the family always brings happiness.

I am now waiting patiently for him to email me the first photos of the little bundle of joy.

In the meantime, let me show you the results of today's photographic journey.

BGWLBH and I were up before the crack of dawn and made our way to Scenic Lookout in time to watch the sun rise over the mountains to the west.

While the light was just right, we were able to put together a silhouette shot for this months flickr group challenge.

April challenge - 'Person in Silhouette'

Then while the morning light was highlighting all the colours in the rocks, I got a few more good shots.

We stopped at Maccas for coffee and brekky, then drove uptown, dropped the car off for it's service and then walked along Willow Park and the main canal.

For the 104 challenge - A Cockatoo
Photo 81 of 104

For the 104 challenge - A Lollipop Person
Photo 82 of 104

We walked to Deputy Daw's house for a quick cuppa before she dropped us off near the skate park.  It was very wishful thinking that we expected kids to be skating there on a school day!!  Ah well, no luck there.

BGWLBH decided to ride the wild pony.

Then a quick walk down the main street of town before we got the early phone call to collect the car!

Last of the Arty Farty shots.

So a busy day with the camera, a LOT of walking around town, a trip to the tyre bloke to get a big screw taken out of the back tyre, a few houses from the real estate to drive by, a lunch date with Deputy Daws and a bit of grocery shopping.

That filled our day and wore us both out, so BGWLBH napped while I sorted through my photos and then I cooked a deliciously healthful stir fry for dinner.

It seems you will all have to wait until tomorrow to see a photo of the new bundle of joy, because it's almost 12.30 am and it hasn't arrived in my inbox yet ... I'll wait five more minutes.

Introducing to you, our new little bundle of joy

Drum roll please ........

Straight from Poppy's phone to us!

Well, I think that's enough excitement for one day!  Time to rest and recuperate in preparation for the next big instalment!!

Nite all.

Maggie's House

This is Maggie ...

We had afternoon tea at her house today.  Her house is positively swishing and swirling with so much love, it is filled to the brim and overflowing!!

This is her family ...

They love each other too.

What a beautiful home they have on a lovely big block and landscaped with gorgeous pink, white and yellow roses, along with some gorgeous rustic little nooks and crannies scattered around the place.

Just lovely to wander around with the camera in the afternoon light.  I will post some photos later this week.

Unfortunately, by the time Dad got home, the light had almost gone, so our photos didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped.  I think I need to get a little more creative!

Tomorrow morning, we are leaving here before sunrise, so that we can be at the top of the hill near Pioneer and catch the sun rising from up high.  I am praying for some scattered cloud to bring a bit of colour to the occasion.

We then have to be at the other end of town by 8am to drop the car off for a service.  So we have a whole day to fill ... somehow.

The number one rule is ... wear comfortable shoes!!

Nite all.

Barren Box no-go

BGWLBH worked hard today, at the top of a ladder, cleaning the top part of the walls and inside the top shelving of her built-in wardrobe.

I did very little today, besides taking photos around the garden and then sitting at my laptop editing them.

A moment in the garden.

It could be a Willy Wagtail nest or a Wren or a Finch nest.
They seem to be the most prolific around the house.

Late in the afternoon, we decided to drive out to Barren Box Swamp.

If we had researched adequately before we left, perhaps we might not have gone, because apparently there is no public access to the area unless you get permission from Murrumbidgee Irrigation, who own the area.

http://www.mfn.org.au/barrenBox.html

So even though it was disappointing that we couldn't get close to the swamp, there were some little treasures along the way and we will definitely drive out to the area again, just for the bird life along the way.

I don't know what this bird is yet.

Grey kangaroos - two with a joey in the pouch!
I love the colours in this one - real Aussie colours.

I think this is the male Nankeen Kestrel.
He was being chased by a Willy Wagtail.

These beautiful hawks and kestrels just sit quietly on the posts along the road, but we didn't notice them til we were so close that we scared them off.  We missed about five opportunities along the way ... we are slow learners lol.

I saw some Herons and Kites and Parrots too, but Barren Box information site lists many many more birds in the area.  Oh how I would LOVE to get in there and capture just a few of those birds with my camera!

So we might just contact Murrumbidgee Irrigation and find out how difficult it is to get in there .. perhaps we can park at the gate and hike our way in!

We need to check out Hermit's Cave up on the hill - I think it would be nice there just on, or after sunrise.

Anyway, it's time for me to sleep .. just a bit earlier than usual :D

Nite all.

Wouldn't it be nice?

Wouldn't it be nice if everything just fell into place beautifully?

Wouldn't it be nice if the Real Estate Agent correctly predicted time frames so that our plans could move as smoothly as we'd hoped?

Wouldn't it be nice if one of the houses that is available immediately, was perfect for BGWLBH, and we could move in on Monday?

Wouldn't it be nice if we could be on our road trip before the end of next week?

Wouldn't it be nice if life was that simple?

Of course, the painters are taking longer than expected to paint the house and then the carpet cleaners have to come in after that, so days are now being added to the end date that we were looking at and the moving drama continues.

Today, we again went to the movies.  This time we saw "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close".  It was heart wrenching and exhausting to watch.  I knew that it would be sad, but I thought it would be sad in 'parts' ... not for the entire movie!

We left the cinema with a heavy heart and couldn't even have a conversation in the car on the way home.

We did manage to have a bit of fun before the movie ...

... and there were others that were not quite as successful as we'd hoped, so we have some ideas for the next time we go there, and I will show you those results at a later date.

I am missing my Adoring Husband and Vegan Chickie and my lovely little Chicklet, who is growing up fast while I am away.

Today is my sad day ... tomorrow will be better :o)

Wouldn't it be nice if I had some chocolate - that would help!

Nite all.

Win Win

As we left this morning, BGWLBH noticed a Hawk sitting on the water tank, so we stopped and I climbed out of the car with my camera and tried to get a couple of shots.

The original Hawk flew off before I could get a good shot, but BGWLBH noticed the other one perched at the base of the tank near the rusted hole.

Apparently they nest inside this tank.  I wish I could climb up there to see if there is a nest inside.  I imagine that there might be because these two hawks are constantly hunting out in the open fields beside the farm.

We started with brekky at Maccas.

We played bingo and I won twice!  I took a photo of the two ladies with whom we sit.  'A' and 'F'.

They gave us a detailed description of the habits and traits of quite a few of the people who play bingo regularly as well as the bingo caller.  Clearly, they don't like the current bingo caller.  They liked the old bingo caller better.

'F' is a very nice lady whose 11 year old son was murdered in 1984 - the year we came to live in this town.  She talks openly about it and she struggles every day with the memories.

Thankfully, the guilty man was caught, so she has some closure, but my heart aches for her and I can't imagine having to live with those kind of memories.

She is now a very proud Great Grandmother and also brags about her other grown son who has a successful career in the Army.

So, these days, she has much joy in her life with a close and loving family.  What a blessing.

She always gives me the longest, warmest hug when I come to town.  It's nice :D

After we left bingo, we went to the movies.

At the last minute, we changed our mind and decided to watch 'The Hunger Games'.

Excellent movie.  As Vegan Chickie rightly states ... "It's so nice to have a strong female character in the lead role for a change."

There are a few movies that we would like to see over the coming days.

'The Avengers'
'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'
'Battleship'
'The Lucky One'

and coming soon ...

'Dark Shadows'
'The Five Year Engagement'
'Men in Black III'
'Snow White and the Hunstman'
'The Dark Knight Rises'

Anyway, it's been a Win Win kind of day today.  Got a couple of good photos.  Won a couple of prizes.  Watched a good movie.  Cooked a delicious dinner.

Time for bed.

Nite all.