Two Out of Three Ain't Bad!

I was talking to Bubbles on the phone this afternoon, discussing her planned, but now scrapped, visit next month.

Her employer has sprung her annual leave on her for next week and for only six days, so her trip to visit us is now a distant dream.

He SUX!  (But don't get me started)

Bubbles had her 27th birthday last week and her boyfriend's sister arranged this fabulous cake for her.

What a lovely gesture!  The photo on the cake is of Bubbles at the age of about two.

She was just the cutest little baby and toddler and child.

And she grew into a lovely young woman.

Found her Knight in Shining Armour ...

... and was promoted to Assistant Manager where she works, just recently.  She has worked incredibly hard for this employer, who does not appreciate her value as an employee or as a person.

The experience that she has gained through this position will be invaluable and will help her gain a more worthy position when SHE realises her true value!

So CONGRATULATIONS to my little Bubbles for your promotion!  You worked hard for it.  You earned it.  You deserve it!  That and more.

I call her my 'little' Bubbles, but she is about a foot taller than me ... however, she is my baby, so she will always be my 'little' Bubbles.

One of her birthday gifts was a camera.

She has been keen to take up photography (just like her Mum and Sis) and her new point and shoot digital camera is an excellent place to start.

This was one of the first photos that she took on a little trek through some botanical gardens in Sydney just recently.  I think she has a good eye!

Practise.  Practise.  Practise.

So we had a lovely chat on the phone today.  I miss her.  I was really looking forward to seeing her and getting a thousand photos of her with little Chicklet, but alas, this will not be so.

I know that she reads this blog quite regularly, so I hope that she knows, after reading this, how disappointed we all are that she can't make it up here.

Even the whales are wailing with sadness :o(

I'm happy that she had such a great birthday weekend.  I'm happy that she got the well-deserved promotion.  I'm sad that she's not coming to visit me.  Two out of three ain't bad!

Nite all.

 

One Down!

Jumping up and down, doing backward somersaults, cartwheels, forward flips and kicking my heels up!!!

WAHOO!!

I finally, after two whole months, found the time to complete and submit Module 1 of my Diploma in Professional Photography!!

I didn't get to the park because the weather came over cloudy and windy and threatened to rain, so the lounge room was my study room of choice.

I submitted the assignment just after 4pm today and then had to go out for the evening, but when I arrived home and logged into the laptop, my results were waiting for me!

So I've passed the first module and now there are eleven to go!

Still reassessing this blog, but for the moment, I am posting a photo that I took this morning on my ride home from the boat ramp.

Even though the sun was shining, there was a very cold and quite strong breeze blowing, so the seagulls were huddled on the sand, most of them with their heads tucked under a wing, trying to keep warm I think.

Huddling Seagulls

That's all for today.

Adoring Husband doesn't know about my results because he went to bed as soon as we got home tonight.

He will read about it here in the morning, because the first thing he does when he arrives home from work, is read my blog.

Yay for me!!  One down, eleven to go!!

Nite all.

Chicklet Update

Just a brief photographic update on little Chicklet today.

Getting some vitamin D

Wearing her very cool hat.

Such a big girl!

Here she is in one of her new little jumpsuits.  She looks good in red, don't you think?

My plan for tomorrow is to pedal down to the park with my laptop and spend a couple of hours studying.

I can't seem to find my focus here at home.

Adoring Husband seems a bit disturbed that my blog has turned into a photo album, instead of the 'story telling' journal that it first began as, so I might spend some time re-thinking my blog future!

Nite all.

Bird Show

More glorious Winter weather today and some birds that put on a great show for me this morning!

The Seagulls were telling the Ibis, in no uncertain terms, not to touch the food!

This is NOT usually Ibis territory.

Mine!  Mine!  Mine!

The Indian Miner bird got much closer than I expected ... right in my face ... and even posed for the camera!

I'm a boring Miner Bird, but photograph me anyway!

The Heron was the unexpected star.  Riding past the flood-formed lake and there he was.  He didn't even attempt to fly away as I got closer with the camera.

OK .. maybe the REAL star of the show, as always, was Chicklet, with her bright smiling eyes as she sat in the morning sunshine with her lovely Mum, Vegan Chickie.

Yes!  I'm still just as cute today as I was yesterday!

Adoring Husband is sitting beside me (I wish I could say quietly) with his brand new Lamborghini laptop attempting to set it up and transfer files from his old laptop.

You all know that I love Adoring Husband, but his frustrations are eating away at my patience and tolerance and it's possible that I could use tomorrow's blog post to set up an auction where the highest bidder will get to take him and his laptop to their lounge room for approximately 1 - 2 weeks.

The other alternative is that I pay SOMEBODY OUT THERE to take him and his laptop off my hands for a short period of time :o)

I also know that he will be cranky with me for making comment about his frustrations here. **sigh**

Well, I've had a good week of birds and I think the only one left to photograph now is the Kookaburra, who I know is sitting out there laughing at me as I cringe in the presence of my frustrated Adoring Husband.

The week has provided a great bird show for me, but if I'm not careful, I think Adoring Husband might be giving me 'the bird' from his spot on the couch beside me!

Nite all.

The Cruisy Life

What a glorious day!

Blue skies, sunshine, birds singing, soft breeze, coffee in the morning with friends, walking in the afternoon with Vegan Chickie and Chicklet.

Delightful.

I got some great photos in the morning by the boat ramp, of three pelicans on the water.

Triple Trouble

After coffee, I stopped at the lake and spotted a pair of cormorants building a nest.  The male appeared to be protecting his mate and the nest from my view.

Cormorant and partner

Late this afternoon, Adoring Husband and I drove down to the river to try and catch a great sunset.  There was a little smokey haze in the air from cane burning and some light cloud, so we expected something spectacular.

Sunset

It was a little less than spectacular, but still quite pretty.

I think that if I hit the lake very early, perhaps at dawn, there may be more animal life to photograph.

The light would also be better for photographs at that time of day too.

Life is pretty cruisy for me and I'm lovin' it!

Nite all.

Rain Check on the Lake

I didn't get to the lake as planned today but ...

We received our new macro lens in the mail today!

Adoring Husband was not at home when I picked up the package from the post office, so I opened  it and got to test out the lens before he even knew it was here!

Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet wandered around the garden pointing out bugs and water droplets and flowers so that I could practise, and here are a couple of the results...

Regular garden variety spider

Pink flower (no idea of it's name!)

Let's attempt the lake tomorrow!

Adoring Husband is champing at the bit to have a turn with the macro lens, so he has big plans tomorrow.

I am looking forward to taking some portraits with it.  How adorable is this one of my cherished Chicklet?

Cherished Chicklet

We had fun shopping for a stroller, high chair and bouncer for her today.  We think she might be teething again **sad face**

But now she can come for walks with me!!

Anyway ... watch this space!!  Walking around the lake tomorrow!!

Nite all.

Around the Lake

There is a lake, about a five minute walk from my house, that apparently is abundant with flora and fauna.

Tomorrow, I am going to walk there with Bob (the camera) and see what photographic opportunities I can find.

Everybody loves the moon!

This photo of the moon was taken about a week ago, on my first day out after being quarantined for a week.

I'm looking forward to the full moon next month.  I hope to get something a little more spectacular now that I have the new, more powerful lens.

But who owns the boat?

The boat was another photo taken on the beach trek the other day.

It's after midnight and the dogs are looking at me through the gate to the lounge room and I'm sure they are thinking to themselves ... why aren't we all in bed yet?

So this is another short post, which sometimes, is a good thing!

Tomorrow I hope to have an interesting tale about my walk around the lake.

I also hope to have been for a walk with Vegan Chickie and Juniper with the new stroller.

Photos to follow ... of course!

Nite all.