Torbanlea Races

Here are a few photos from today's race day ...

I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

Nite all.

Little Swift

Here are some photos of our campervan!

Yes that's right!  Adoring Husband's current obsession!

Tomorrow is Torbanlea Race Day

http://www.queenslandholidays.com.au/things-to-see-and-do/torbanlea-picnic-races/index.cfm

... and I intend to spend the day wandering around and capturing 'moments'.  I've never walked around or explored at these races before.  I usually sit under our gazebo and there I stay for the whole day.  This year will be different!

Watch this space!

Nite all

Big Day In

It's been a big day.  Nothing exciting, just full on and I think I only sat down for about 30 minutes all up, today.

So I am exhausted and am struggling to stay awake as I write this.

This evening at about 5pm, we grabbed some wine, cheese, strawberries, dips and crackers AND our cameras and we all ... and by 'all', I mean Little Brother, Charlie Chuckles, Adoring Husband and myself, drove down to the Lions Park and watched the sun set.

It was a most pleasant 90 minutes and we only came home because Charlie Chuckles and Adoring Husband were cold.

I had put dinner in the oven before we went out, so it was ready when we came home.

Here is tonight's sunset shot.

Nothing spectacular, but still very pleasant to the eye.

Now we are ALL heading off to bed, including me!!

Nite all.

The Waiting Game

Tonight I am sitting up waiting for my brother and his girl to arrive.  They are staying for a couple of days, but they won't arrive til late tonight.

Today, Adoring Husband ordered the new car.  A Suzuki Vitara.  We won't get it til the end of the month-ish, so it will be here by the time we go on our holiday.  For now, we wait.

I'm 99.9% certain that Adoring Husband still hasn't read my blog for quite some time, as his obsessions with the camper van and the car continue.  I say that because he hasn't made any comments about my digs over the past few days :D  So I wait.

Bit of a waiting game happening around here.

Waiting for Saturday when we are attending the annual Torbanlea Races.  We've been twice before, but this time I plan on using it for photography.  I'm not going to dress up for 'fashions in the field'.  I'm going to wear jeans and comfortable shoes and my cowboy hat and I am going to spend the day wandering around and getting some interesting photos.

I'm actually pretty excited about it!

Anyway little brother is arriving any minute - gotta go!

Nite all.

Pumpkin Time

It's already after midnight!  So this will be short.

I really loved the light in this photo that I took yesterday afternoon at the lagoon.  I was hoping to get a shot for the other flickr challenge "Natural Light/Sunflare".  This isn't good enough for the challenge but I still like it.

We had some neighbours over for a barbecue dinner tonight so that they could have a look at the new campervan.  It has been a very pleasant evening, even though they left early because it's a school night and they have a young school age daughter.

Oh and Adoring Husband reports that the bed in the campervan is very comfortable :D

I can report that the kingsize bed in our bedroom is very very comfortable for one person!  That's where I'm headed right now.

Nite all.

He's home.

Adoring Husband arrived home much earlier today than I expected, but I don't think he rushed home to see me.

I believe that he rushed home to see the new campervan!

He arrived home and after a short obligatory conversation with me regarding our separate weekends as grandparents, he made his way outside and began to play with is new toy.

The campervan is now set up in the back yard, complete with cutlery in drawers, crockery in cupboards, tv installed, beds made, water connected and Adoring Husband all curled up snug in the bed!

I think they call that 'Quality Control'  :D

His suitcase is still packed and takes pride of place inside the family room door with the camera bag sitting proudly beside it.

If I hadn't mentioned it here tonight, they would probably stay there for a week, but if Adoring Husband reads this in the morning, they will be removed and unpacked ... however ... he may be so obsessed with the campervan, that he just may not even read this blog for a few days!

Watch this space :)

In the meantime, I have completed all five briefs for the Photo5 competition.

Little People/Scale

Tissue Paper/Strong Colour 

Wind

Fishing Wire/Black&White

Spaghetti/Portrait

I had a different idea for the fishing wire brief but my plans fell through, so I've used the back up photo.

On that note, I'm off to climb into my big king-sized bed, all alone, to sleep soundly for the third night in a row.

Nite all.

Early night

Even though I jokingly harassed Vegan Chickie about having more kids, I would like to announce that I don't think I would have the energy for two Chicklets!

Vegan Chickie will be snorting in her tea right now and thinking to herself "how does she think I feel dealing with this little ball of energy 24/7??"

Well I absolutely adored having them here for just under 48 hours and I loved spending time with my precious little Chicklet.

You have no idea how controlled I am - I could rave on and on and on about how amazing that child is ... probably worse than the average grandparent, but I know how annoying some grandparents can be when it comes to their grandkids, so I control myself.

You're welcome :D

Instead I will pummel you with photos ...

Adoring Husband will be home tomorrow, hopefully with a gozillion photos of his own little granddaughter with whom he spent the weekend, learning how to be a 'poppy'.

I hope I get to share some photos of her here tomorrow.

For now, I am taking my exhausted little self to bed.

Nite all.

Apologies

I apologise in advance because this is going to be the shortest post on record.

All I want to say is

My crazy little Chicklet is the most precious little piece of heaven and this weekend has already been amazing.  I still have tomorrow morning before they head south and I just can't soak up enough of her!

Photos tomorrow :)

Nite all

It's here!

Gratefully, I didn't have to endure the long drive to Bundaberg with Adoring Husband to pick up the camper van today.

I got to spend some precious peaceful hours at home alone and then some even more precious hours with my little Chicklet and Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef.

By the sounds of it, the drive home was less than enjoyable for Adoring Husband and the borrowed car did not handle the drive well with the strong winds and a camper van behind.

I'm pleased that I missed that particular experience!

However, they (and by 'they', I mean Adoring Husband AND said camper van) arrived home in one piece and while the rest of us sat around waiting impatiently, Adoring Husband took approximately fifteen minutes to set the van up so that we could make the inspection.

It's neat and compact, light and airy, with plenty of room for three psychotic dogs, laptops, cameras and 'US'.

Now Adoring Husband has his heart set on a new car - a Suzuki something or other, so that will be the next step to ensure our safe travelling in the future.

No photos today, but I will definitely have some to share tomorrow night!

Nite all.

Spaghetti - CHECK!

I was inspired by my 'Self Portrait' shot last month, for which I came third.

I decided to incorporate that lovely mask in the 'Spaghetti/Portrait' shot for the photo5 competition.

Here is the result...

Now I have an idea for the 'Tissue Paper/Strong Colour' brief.

I will have to wait til Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet are here, because I'll need two or three people to make it work.

After that, I'll only have 'Fishing Wire/Black and White' to contend with!

A couple of lazy shots from this morning.

We've had gale force conditions here today and huge storms this afternoon.  The light after a storm is always beautiful, but when the sun is setting after the storm, it creates a pretty special picture.

Unfortunately, I saw it too late to get to the river for something better than this, but I really wanted to share the colour.

Big day tomorrow.  Driving to Bundaberg to collect the camper van and I'll be seeing my baby Chicklet toooooooo!  Oh and Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef as well :D

Nite all.

Couple a pics

Down on the beach today...

Things are pretty quiet now.

The caravan parks are emptying out.  The school kids have all packed up and gone home.

I expect that Mother Nature will come out to play any minute now!

I cooked up a big batch of spaghetti for the photo5 competition today.  Tried a couple of ideas and failed miserably, so now I have a big bowl of cooked spaghetti that I can't eat, because it's not gluten free!

I think I might spend 30 minutes playing with it before I go to bed.  See if I can't come up with something miraculous.

Wish me luck!

Nite all.

Fun TV

Tuesday night is currently my favourite TV night.

I enjoy watching Big Brother, X-Factor, Big Bang Theory, Winners and Losers and Greys Anatomy.  Trouble is, they are all on different channels and on at staggered times, so it's tricky to record them and keep up with them!

My problem tonight, is that I am so tired, I don't know if I can even stay up for my shows.

If that is my biggest problem for the day, then I am doing ok aren't I?  (I can imagine my kids rolling their eyes at that comment)

I didn't sleep well last night because I was so worried about Chicklet being sick on their flight home from Bali. (In case you are wondering, she is doing well now.  The Bare-chested Chef is not doing so well, so send your good wishes in his direction.)

Then a one hour walk this afternoon in cyclonic winds.

I am plum tuckered out!

Just one photo to share for the day.

He doesn't look half as windswept as I did by the time I walked off the beach!

Even Adoring Husband's delicious dinner tonight, of fish and salad hasn't given me enough energy to get through my shows!!

I really must not let Adoring Husband distract me from my studies tomorrow.  After some necessary housework in the morning, study is on the agenda for the afternoon.  (Are you listening Adoring Husband?)

Enough of this frivolity!

Nite all.

A La Vampire

When time doesn't move fast enough and you need to take your mind off things, the result can be ...

... after all, Halloween is just around the corner!

This reminds me of a horrible experience that I had in Griffith once.

Back in the 90s when I was still a smoker,  I smoked outside the house, and one night around midnight, I was sitting on the step outside, puffing away,  when I saw a girl running down the middle of the main highway that went past my place and out of town.

I watched her running and then suddenly she stopped and lay down in the middle of the road, on the centre white line.

I slowly walked toward her, hoping that, she would get up and keep moving and hoping that a car would not come along and run her over before my very eyes.

It seemed to take forever to reach her, and when I did, I stood over her and looked at her face.  Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving.  I said "Hey are you ok?"

With that, her eyes suddenly snapped open and they looked just like my eyes in that photo above. The were bright red in the glow of the street light.

I swear my heart skipped a beat.

She simply said "I'm tired.  I need to rest."

It took a little while, but I finally convinced her that the middle of the road wasn't the place to rest.  I helped her off the road and she lay down on the footpath on the grass.

Soon a taxi came by and I flagged it down and helped her into the back seat.  I knew the driver and he promised that if he could get her address out of her, he'd take her home or if not, he'd take her to the hospital because she appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

I saw him a few days later and he informed me that he had taken her home and that she didn't live very far from me.

My brain replayed the moment that she snapped her glowing red eyes open, over and over, during the weeks that followed that incident.  It was like watching replays of a horror movie.

Anyway, I never saw her again, but she certainly left her memory indelibly printed on my brain!

Nite all.

Good news. Bad news.

I thought I only had 3 weeks left to complete nine modules of study, but the good news is , I actually have 7 weeks left to complete it!

My first thought?  It's 'DO-ABLE'.

Now for the bad news.

After only 4 hours, I AM OVER IT!

Only a male could write modules with so much mumbo jumbo and ridiculous jargon and with step by step instructions that make you fall flat on your face with every step that you take.

Even Adoring Husband got confused, and he's the 'brains' in this partnership!

(In case you are wondering ... I am the 'common sense' in the partnership ... OH!  And the beauty!)

So I've de-cluttered my work area and made a nice study space to work in.  Opened all the doors to let lots of air and light in.  This makes me happy to sit here and begin my studies.

Until I have to lug, into the back yard, my camera, tripod, grey scale, computer, stool, pen and paper.

I begin the step by step instructions and spend 30 minutes outside trying to figure out what is expected of me.

I now possess one new frown line upon my forehead.

I begin to whinge and wine and swear and then I throw my hands in the air and shout "I CAN'T DO IT!!"

Adoring Husband comes to the rescue.

Three hours later and I am still no further advanced than I was when I asked for his help.

He, however, is now ready to submit this module himself!!

Mentally drained.  Spent so much time helping him, that by the time I got to do it myself, the light had gone and now I have to wait until tomorrow to complete just the first part of the module.

Males!!  The bane of my existence!!

bane: n  the source of persistent annoyance or exasperation

Through facebook, I have discovered two other people completing the same course and both at the same point that I am at, so there is support there.

They, however, have a lot more time than me, so their pressure is not so intense.

One has offered to race me to the finish.  Might take him on.  We all know how competitive I am and that's the one thing that might make me get a 'wriggle on'!!

Nite all.

Brief 2 complete

Here is my submission for the 'Little People/Scale' brief in the Photo5 competition.

Two down, and three to go!

My mind is completely blank tonight.  I've got nothing.  I've been sitting here with the blank blog screen in front of me for 3 hours.

So that's it from me.

Bed and sleep is my only other option, and after last night's outing, and a nana nap this afternoon, I'm still in need of recovery sleep.

Perhaps my brain will function well enough tomorrow night, to make up for tonight.

Nite all.

Mini Post

We've been out tonight to the Bowls Club to see a show called 'Davo'.  He was hilarious and had a beautiful singing voice.  I had such a good time!

Just came in to post a photo of my mini gallery.

Check out those colours!  Yellow and purple ... not colours you see on a bakery wall every day!

Nite all.

Mini Gallery

I've hung 5 photos on the wall of the local bakery.

There are only three days left of the holidays, so, due to my knack for procrastination, I've kind of missed my opportunity for the September/October holidays.

However, I now have my own mini gallery, in the busiest shop in town!

Oh!  I sold a print of the three Tawny Frogmouths too!!  A lady came to me today and told me she was waiting for the exhibit to finish so that we didn't have to pay commission to the gallery.  I like the way she thinks :)

I also sold a copy of the B&W clock photo, to the man who owns the clock.

That's a pretty successful day come to think of it!

Here are some photos that I worked on today too.

I've had a really nice relaxing day and feel quite rejuvenated for it.

We also received our ordered copy of the last series of the The Big Bang Theory - so we've had a couple of hours watching that.  A good giggle never goes a stray.

That's all for today.

Nite all.

A Little Job

Just a quick one tonight.

Adoring Husband spent the afternoon mounting five photos in some cheap frames so that I can display them on the bakery wall here in town.

He did a great job.

While he did that, I was doing another photo restoration.

Before ...

After ...

It took more than an hour to do this one.  I can understand why they charge so much to restore photos!  It's not easy and it's time consuming.

At least I'm getting paid for this one ... a token price ... but that's ok :)

Nite all.

Random Acts of Kindness

I was reading somebody else's blog today, in which she talked about random acts of kindness.

http://fatmumslim.com.au/random-acts-of-kindness/

The reason her post attracted my attention, is because the lady I told you about, whose husband just had brain surgery on a tumour, told me yesterday that I had a heart of gold.

All I did was drop in some chicken soup to her and make a couple of phone calls about some help and support from community organisations.  Such a small thing.  So small, that I felt guilty and selfish for not doing more ... there is so much more that could be done and needs to be done.

While Adoring Husband and I were in Maryborough pulling down the photography exhibit today, we called into the hospital on the way home to visit her husband.  He has been admitted and will soon commence rehabilitation to repair the damage caused by the stroke and the surgery.

She was there too and showed such gratitude that we made the effort to visit.

Again, such a small thing.

When fatmumslim talks in her blog about the 'Friends' episode where Phoebe wants to do acts of kindness that make others feel better, without feeling good about herself, but finds it impossible because she gets so much joy from those acts.

I rarely feel any joy from doing acts of kindness.  As I mentioned above, I feel guilt that I'm not doing more, and guilt that I'm not prepared to go out of my way to do more.  I know that I SHOULD do more, but I'm too selfish to step up and do it.

I make a mean chicken soup and when my friends fall ill with the flu, I'll deliver a few containers of my chicken soup.  I feel guilty and believe that I should be walking through their door and doing their housework, getting their groceries, collecting their mail, watering their plants, feeding the dog ... but I'm too selfish.

An acquaintance was going to Canberra for a week, in the middle of Winter, and didn't have a warm coat, so I lent her a red leather 3/4 length coat and a woollen scarf to take with her.

While she was away, I decided that because I now lived in Queensland and didn't need my 6 warm coats, I would offer for her to keep it.

She loved the coat and agreed to keep it, which made me feel good.  The following week, she handed me a sealed envelope.  Inside was a thank you card with $40 inside.  She wrote "This probably doesn't come close to what you paid for it, but please accept this as my way of saying thank you".

Even though I didn't want to accept it, I knew that she (being a pensioner) felt good to be able to offer that money.  It was about her pride and self respect and her generation not wanting to accept charity.

I felt that me accepting that $40 was a bigger act of kindness than giving her the coat in the first place.

Making a phone call, sending a text, sending an email just to acknowledge somebody's sadness or excitement is an act of kindness that people appreciate.  It just takes a second, but I know how warm and fuzzy it makes me feel when somebody does that for me and I know that someone is thinking about me and sharing just a little of my sadness or good fortune.

If someone you know is having a lonely, quiet birthday, buy a little cupcake, stick a candle in the middle of it and visit them singing happy birthday, then share it over a cuppa.  It's a small thing, but meaningful.

So if such a small thing means so much to me, I should understand that my small things mean the same to others.

Gosh I beat myself up over a lot of things don't I?  I've really gotta get over myself!!

Ok, on a lighter note, I've got some cute dog photos to share with you.

The October flickr challenges were set to day.  I will share them with you tomorrow.

Nite all.

Magic and Thoughts

Two things that grabbed my attention on facebook this week.

That is all.

Nite all.

Repeat: Funny how life happens

On the 20th July this year, some of you may remember that I posted about a man I met.  To trigger your memory ...

http://agechallengedrqqzy.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/funny-how-life-happens.html

He phoned me last night.  He told me, in slightly blurred speech, that he'd had a stroke on 8th September and when hospitalised, they'd found a brain tumour.  He seemed a little vague and our conversations ended abruptly, which was unusual for him, so as I hung up, I promised to visit him this morning.

I was shocked to see the state he was in.  One side of his face was drooping, his walk was a slow shuffle, he had no strength in either of his hands and his speech was much worse today than it had been on the phone last night.  He had to drink his coffee with a straw.

He had no co-ordination and was unable to judge where the tissue was to grab it out of the box.  He tried to pick up a plastic lid but his fingers were aiming about 2 inches to the side.  He was dribbling.  His eyes would glaze over every so often as if he wasn't with us.

He was a mess.

His head had been shaved and he had a large semi circle scar across the front of his head with 34 staples.  The tumour was 35 mm across and only 65% of it could be removed.  Between the 8th Sept when he had the scan and the 18th Sept when he had the surgery, the tumour had grown.  It was wedge shaped and it is, apparently, growing in the part of the brain that causes aggression.

His prognosis is 6 - 18 months.  His wife's prognosis was the same ... 4 yrs ago.  His attitude leads his wife to believe that he won't last until his next Drs appointment in a month.  She says his condition is deteriorating rapidly, along with his attitude.

Understandably, she is concerned.  For him and for herself.

She is barely able to care for herself, yet she was valiantly attempting to care for him as well.  He was wandering off and she had to watch him every minute.

They have no family and few friends in town.

When they left the hospital, they were given no instructions and no help or advice.

So, I did some research today and found some phone numbers for various departments who could provide financial help, help with caring, help with cleaning, help with food etc.

Not one of those departments were available today to help.  Even the emergency number could not help.  The best advice that lady could give me was to call an ambulance to take him back into hospital for care until other help could be provided.

Luckily, another male friend had arrived as I was leaving this morning and he was calling the ambulance as I left, to ask for advice.

I went back to see his wife this afternoon, taking with me some of my famous chicken soup, and she was alone at home.  The ambulance had taken him into The Bay, but she hadn't heard yet, how long he would be in hospital.

She looked relieved and relaxed - still worried, but much less stressed.

The photo I took of him within 2 minutes of meeting him - giving me cheek out the window.

It's the only photo I have of him, but then I've only known him since July.  He had asked me to get a photo of he and his wife together and I agreed to do it after September because it was going to be busy month for me.

Not so funny how life happens.