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.

A Productive Day

'To do' list for Wednesday

Bathroom cleaned
Spare bedroom walls washed
Oven cleaned
Inside of all windows cleaned

Small steps ... we are getting there.

As a reward for so much hard work today, we are going to the movies in the morning to see 'The Avengers'.

We are actually doing that because we have run out of milk, so we'll have breakfast in town - at Maccas, and I have found a list of Maccas food that are gluten free, which includes their scrambled eggs, sausage patty, breakfast steak and bacon, but I really love McCafe coffee :D

I have been incredibly strict with my diet for a month now and **oh my goodness** the wonderful difference being free from gluten has made in my life!

Just for a test, I tried a tiny bit of vegemite on some gluten free bread - that was a whoopsy!  Won't be doing that again!

It's so nice to feel normal again.  It's been more than 9 months since my body began to violently reject 'something' in my diet.  Now my body feels calm again.

I haven't taken any photos for two days now, so here are a couple from Sandra's garden on Sunday ...

I'd love to see her garden in Spring.

A sunset shot that has nothing special about it except for the colours - untouched by human hands.

I'm quite exhausted after my productive day and my body is seizing up with old age, so it's time to rest my weary bones.

Nite all.

A Touch of Winter

BRRRRRRrrrrrrr

It is currently 11C and the wind is blowing and the rain is falling.  The wind rips right through your body, settles in your bones and seizes up!  Ugh!

It was cold BEFORE we went to the movies tonight, but after the movie when we stepped outside, it had been raining and even 'I' put my coat on.

We saw 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' with Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith.

Excellent movie with great actors and being based in India, a visual feast for the eyes.  Loved it.

After we did some shopping this morning, I worked on some photos from Saturday night.

I wish I'd taken more photos.  But these will be great reminders of my birthday dinner.

It was my old friend and boss, Di's, birthday today.  She would have been forty eight years of age.  Far out, she was so young.

One of her sons posted this on her RIP facebook wall today ...

There was magic in mum's touch,
And sunshine in her smile.
There was love in everything she did
To make our lives worthwhile.
We can find both hope and courage
When looking in her eyes.
Her laughter was a source of joy,
Her words were warm and wise.
There was a kindness and compassion
To be found in her embrace,
And we see the light of heaven
Shining from mum's face.

Happy Birthday Mum

I miss her ... especially while I am here.  We always did lunch together whenever I came to town and she was always so excited to hear my news.  She told me that she lived vicariously through me and that I gave her hope for finding Mr Right in her future.

Di Beer 24/04/64 - 13/11/11

Well, now that we have a taste of Winter, it might be time for me to climb into bed under my doona and blankets, between my fleecy sheets and get all toasty and warm for sleeping.  

I need to prepare myself for a 4C morning and a cool, cloudy day.  Cleaning and packing should keep us warm!

Nite all.

Change a'comin!

I'm snuggled up in bed as I write this, listening to rain on the roof top.  Unexpected rain!

The weather bureau told us that the temperature was going to drop to 4C overnight and that our maximum would only reach 18C tomorrow!

My suitcase of clothes does not make allowances for that kind of weather, so I may have to stay in pyjamas all day!

The weather was glorious today and BGWLBH, knowing that I was missing Adoring Husband and my little family, made my birthday very special.

Breakfast was made and awaiting my arrival at the dining table this morning, along with a few choice gifts beautifully gift wrapped.

Wilbur the Turtle, a beautiful moonstone ring, a chunky gold and black cross with shiny sparkly dangly things on it
and a necklace to pull apart and use the bits for other jewellery that I make.

I was not allowed to clean up after breakfast and was made to sit down and relax, so I sat with my camera and laptop all morning playing with photos and chatting in facebook.

She then made my lunch, attempted to do my ironing (but I put my foot down on that one), took me into town for a lovely afternoon tea with the fellow teachers and then made dinner tonight.

The Girls & Co

It has been a lovely day, but I have missed home and my family a lot today.  Tomorrow will be difficult because it is our second wedding anniversary and I won't be there to share it with my Adoring Husband.

I'll just have to keep myself busy packing and cleaning so that I don't have time to think about it!

Packing and cleaning should also keep me warm if that cold change is a'comin!

Nite all.

Lazy Sunday

I didn't even surface from my bedroom til after 11am.  I was awake from about 8am, but chose to have a lazy morning.

I wasn't hung over, because I'd only had two alcoholic beverages at my birthday dinner and then a cup of peppermint tea!  But I was tired from sitting up til 2.30am and I needed to regenerate.

When I finally went looking for BGWLBH, she too was sitting up in bed reading the paper and I said to her "Don't you love lazy Sundays in bed?"  She agreed that they were great and then offered me the paper to read.

I asked her which paper it was and she replied that it was todays.  I then asked her where she got it and she said "At the shops after I came out from church".  I exclaimed "You've been to church and I didn't even know you'd left the house!?"

Unbelievable!

After a very late breakfast, we made a list of all the things that we still needed to do around the house before we move out ... and then, instead of doing any of the things on the list, we played trivia :D

We made spinach tarts for lunch, played some more trivia and then drove out to Lake Wyangan again to visit Sandra's house.

She had invited us out to see the hedge, which, she said was now vibrant red .. I wondered how it could be any redder than when I had been there a few days ago .. and it wasn't.  She must not have seen it that day because she was so busy preparing lunch for us all.

Then I decided to try to get a 'silhouette' shot for the next monthly flickr group challenge.

Sandra has the lovely little jetty over the water in her back yard, which I thought would be the ideal location for a silhouette in the late afternoon.

I was wrong.

Absolutely no hope of a silhouette, however, I got some fabulous shots of BGWLBH.  I picked twelve that I really liked, but she, being very self critical, only liked two.  My compromise is three ...

It is a floating plastic head of a crocodile ... so don't be alarmed lol.

Such a nice spot for photos.  Apparently, Sandra often allows weddings in her garden and it's easy to see why.

Well, it's after midnight, which means I am now 52 years of age.  Happy birthday to me!

Nite all.

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, ok, it's not actually my birthday yet, but what a great birthday dinner I had tonight!

There were nine of us.  Old friends from way back.  First time gathered together for about five years and my friendships with them spans twenty five years.

Some of them have been friends for much longer than that.

I couldn't believe it when everybody who I invited turned up, and what's even more amazing, is that every single one of them turned up on time!!  THAT has never happened in twenty five years!!

So many good belly laughs.  So many memories.  It was just like old times and like no time had passed at all.

I felt the love and I felt grateful and I felt lucky.

The Gang

It was such a lot of fun.

After dinner at the club, we all drove around to Miss Iconic Eighties's new home, where she provided tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages while we all discussed everything from nostalgia, to current local events, world economy etc etc etc.

Sometimes there was language flying, sometimes the music got too loud, sometimes the laughter bellowed and sometimes the debate got heated.  None of it mattered.  It was like our own little safe area where we could air our views and share our news without judgement.

Life has so radically changed for us all in the last ten years.  Some of us have lost family and friends, some of us have married, had children, moved in together, built up businesses, led protests, fought for justice, built homes, travelled the world, changed careers and developed addictions.

But tonight, all of that was forgotten and we were a bunch of friends mucking around just as we did in our twenties.

The only way it could have been a better night, is if Adoring Husband had been by my side.  That would have made it perfect.

Nite all.

Mother Nature Rocks!

We drove out to the lake this afternoon, hoping for another good sunset.

Mother Nature answered our request.

Firstly we went lakeside, and to the sound of deer mating - yes you heard correctly (there was a male with great big antlers, snorting and grunting while chasing a little white deer around the enclosure), we took out our cameras and snapped away.

As the colour began to fade on the lake, we could see up the hill to the West, where the sun was disappearing, the colour was more intense, so we drove to the top of the rise and this is what I found...

A funny thing happened before we got to the lake.

We were driving along a dirt road behind the lake when I noticed this in a tree alongside the road!  Last thing I expected to see!

So today was filled with some shopping in the morning, some cleaning and repairing this afternoon and then we looked at the outside of a couple of rental houses that have come available.

Even though BGWLBH has a house to move to, she is going to look at these houses anyway, just in case.

Anyway, tomorrow night is my birthday dinner, so I'm having an early night tonight, just in case tomorrow turns into a big one - I doubt it since we are all older and less inclined to party, but ... just in case ... I don't want to be the party pooper ... being the birthday girl and all!

Nite all.

Sunrise/Sunset

I was woken by BGWLBH at the crack of dawn today.

The rains had passed from last night and clouds were parting and it was shaping up to be a wonderful sunrise.

So I literally dragged myself out of bed, changed out of my nice warm jammies, gathered my camera gear in the back pack and off we went in search of the perfect sunrise.

It took a while for the colour to appear, but in the end it was quite special, even if it was only briefly.

We got home about ten minutes before a small storm broke right above the house.  Lightning and thunder and very heavy rain for about five minutes, which produced this!

At the time, the rainbow did not appear to be in our back yard, but this photo shows clearly that it was!

Then a nice little farm related pic...

... and finally sunset.

We walked for a long time hoping for something more spectacular this afternoon.

It was tough going because there is a lot of slippery mud about after the rains and I spent more time skating on it that walking on it.

My body is feeling it tonight.   I must have used a lot of muscles, that I don't normally use, trying to stay upright!

I'm really hoping that tomorrow sees either a cloudless sky or is completely overcast, so that I can sleep in.

Not that I'm complaining!  I love a good sunrise probably more than the next person, and if it was up to me to get up on my own to photograph it, it probably wouldn't happen, so I need BGWLBH to get me moving at the right time of the day.

It means that I am extra tired tonight.  We played bingo today and BGWLBH won three prizes and I won nothing.  We'll try again next week :D

For now, I've completed the sunrise/sunset challenge that BGWLBH set for me and I am getting a reasonably early night to bed.

Nite all.

It's Raining Again

We watched the storm build up this afternoon.

What started out looking like a pretty sunset, was soon swamped by dark clouds, strong winds and patches of heavy rain.

That's the storm building in the distance.

I think there is rain forecast for three days now.

We visited an old friend this morning and caught up over a cuppa.  It was a nice way to start the day.

Then we visited our mate at the Recycling Centre and got some boxes so that we can continue to pack and clean.

He contacted a removalist mate of his for us and organised a date, because apparently there is a long waiting list for removalists after the floods last month.

He and his wife are helping to organise my birthday dinner for Saturday night.  We are going to the Leagues Club.

I doubt if all of the old gang will turn up because their lives are all so different now running businesses, work, family and other commitments.  I know that two of them will and it will be nice to catch up with them.

On Monday, my actual birthday, we are having an afternoon tea with BGWLBH's teacher friends, so that should be fun.

Another Autumn shot from a street in town ...

Tomorrow should be a busy day of cleaning and packing so I should sign off and get some sleep.

Nite all.