It's a Winner!!

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that we didn't do any good in the garden competition!

I'm looking forward to seeing the garden that won, because personally, I think ours is pretty special and the only reason we put our garden in the competition was because so many different people suggested it!

The garden that won must be a beauty!

The good news is that Adoring Husband won the photography competition with his hibiscus photo.

I predicted that he would win with this photo, but apparently they had trouble deciding which of his photos should win!  He had also submitted a frog photo that was very good, and it received a 'highly commended'.

He is feeling pretty chuffed, as well as guilty, for taking my crown from me!  I won the inaugural competition last year.

This one was even more special because the quality of the entries were of a higher standard this year, and there were also a lot more entries.

This is his first competition win, so it's a big deal.

Well done my darling :o)  I'm proud of you!

I spent a lovely morning with Vegan Chickie and Chicklet.  We went for a walk and sat in the shade near the pier with take-away coffee and fruit salad.  I also had a little butter chicken pie which was very nice.

Of course I got the obligatory Chicklet photos ...

There is cuteness in the air.

Ok so it's photo time again is it??

Oh should I smile now?

How about a giggle?  That usually gets a reaction!

I love my Mum.  Can you get her in the photo too??

I know I say this after every visit, but .... she is growing up so fast!!

I'm off now to watch the second half of a very close NRL footy match between Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors.

Adoring Husband is a winner and I hope that Melbourne Storm will be winners tonight too!

Nite all.

More Macro Magic

I spent some time experimenting with one of the Canon Photo5 briefs (foam) this afternoon and came up with a couple of interesting shots, but still not quite where I want to be, so I will continue to experiment!

After the mild disappointment of that, I decided to venture into the back garden with my macro lens and shoot away for about twenty minutes.  I came up with these ...

Fig Tree beetle - he lives on our fig tree

Dandelion

... and for good measure, here are a couple of new photos of my little Chicklet :)

Too cute for words

This one makes me smile EVERY time!  Surprise!

I get to see her tomorrow for a couple of hours.  Looking forward to that!

We also find out tomorrow if Adoring Husband has won the garden photography competition with his macro magic!  Fingers crossed!

Nite all.

A Full Day

Of course, it all started with coffee at the Seat of Knowledge!

Squirt came with me and took the opportunity to say goodbye to the boys.

I returned home with her, so that I could say goodbye to The Band Leader, and then I made my way to 'indoor bowls', where I go every Thursday morning, and left them to finish packing and make their way home.  Our goodbyes, surprisingly, did not include tears!

I left bowls early today so that I could get myself organised for a birthday lunch at the park.

After picking up a few things from the supermarket, I decided to pedal home along the river.

I came across six kids selling sea-shells and soldier crabs outside their holiday home.  They had dragged a round table from the house and set it up beside the pathway and then placed the shells around the table.

They had collected the shells from along the beach and were selling them for prices that ranged from 10c to $1.  Of course, any of us could collect similar shells for ourselves by walking along the beach, but these kids had decorated the table and made price tags and were spruiking to attract customers.

They were polite, confident and well spoken kids who became very excited when I told them that I would like to buy some of their shells.  After all, they had put so much effort into this little venture, how could I resist?

I bought two shells at $1 each and as I paid them, they proudly announced "You are officially our first paying customer!"

I started to pedal off, when I decided that I should take their photo, so I asked their Dad's permission and got them to pose around the table.

Here are the shells that I bought ...

The bargain shells!

By midday, I had prepared my lunch, tossed a couple of Cruisers in an esky bag, packed my camera and headed off to the park for Mrs Bucket's birthday lunch.

She was already there with Aussie H, Woman of Many Talents and Joyful Kiwi, still awaiting the arrival of a few others.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the tide was coming in, there were happy laughing children everywhere and families enjoying picnics.  Kids were fishing off the river bank or paddling their kayaks and canoes along the river.

Dogs were barking and bounding through the shallows.  Toddlers were building sand castles.  There were young ones on skate boards, scooters and bicycles winding their way along the paths.

It was the perfect picture of Spring!

Mrs Bucket was in fine form and happily enjoying the company of her friends.

Mrs Bucket (62 today!)

As we enjoyed lunch, another friend, "Mother" arrived and joined us.  Not long after that, yet another arrived with some delicious nibblies.

After a very pleasant four hours with good food, good wine and good friends, I packed my things into the basket of my trike and made my way home, feeling very relaxed and ready for some quiet time on the couch with Adoring Husband.

It's been a full, but most enjoyable day and now I am ready to collapse in my bed and sleep the night away!

Nite all.

It is Short and Sweet.

After the usual morning ritual ...

Squirt with two of my boys.

The Dog Whisperer who paddles past the Seat of Knowledge every morning with his 3 dogs.

... Squirt, The Band Leader and I, drove into The Bay to do some heavy duty shopping.

The first shop was a big fat failure, so we decided to generate some positive shopping energy by having a good breakfast at my favourite seaside restaurant.

Unfortunately, it's the holiday season and the tourists had filled every available space at my favourite restaurant, so we had to make do with breakfast at a less favourable restaurant across the road.  The food was much better than expected and it gave us the energy to soldier on with the shopping.

The following shop was a HUGE success and the day got progressively better.  

Surprisingly we were able to get everything that we had on our list and we all came home with a very strong sense of satisfaction.

All of this fresh air has increased the apetite of my visiting family and they have been eating every meal as though it were their last!  Gobbling up all the goodness that I lay before them.

It has also made them very tired.  The fresh air, the fishing, the walking, the shopping, the eating and the relaxing.  It's all been too much for them.

Unfortunately, they have to go home tomorrow.  They have a cat at home due to have kittens any minute and a beautiful dalmatian awaiting their return, so this time their visit is short and sweet.

There will be goodbye tears tomorrow.

Nite all.

The Best Fisherperson in the World!

It's been a good day.

This morning Squirt and I went to the bakery for take-away coffee and then headed down to the 'Seat of Knowledge'.

Last time she was here, she rode Adoring Husband's bicycle and I pedalled my trike, but the bicycle has a flat tyre at the moment, and has done for quite a few months, so today,  she walked beside me while I pedalled.

After we got home, mid morning, I prepared a lasagne for dinner.

Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet arrived around 11am for lunch.

Squirt and The Band Leader hadn't met Chicklet before so it was nice for them to see her at last.

Unfortunately little Chicklet wasn't a happy little vegemite today and it appears that she may be getting her top teeth, so they didn't stay for as long as usual.  Chicklet and I did get to sit outside and visit the chookies for a while though, which is always special.

After my little family left for home, Adoring Husband prepared four fishing rods while Squirt drove down to the shops to get bait, and then we all went fishing on the beach.

The Band Leader was the first to catch a tiny tiny tiny little fish, which was a whiting.

Whiting number two and a very happy Band Leader.

The Band Leader then caught another whiting, a bit bigger than the last.

The Band Leader was the only one of us who caught ANY fish!

Contemplating life and enjoying some fresh air.

Squirt tried hard.

Adoring Husband seemed intent on catching something too!

Adoring Husband enjoying the warm water and the cool breeze.

After dinner tonight, he and the Band Leader drove down to the boat ramp to try to catch a flathead, without success.

We had our lasagne and salad for dinner, which was quite nice, although a little too browned on top!  Still quite tasty anyway.

Now everybody is exhausted and in bed.

Tomorrow we'll have a big day in The Bay to shop for shoes and accessories to go with the Band Leader's graduation dress.

The weather will be glorious again, so it should be a nice day for shopping!

So I've spent the day with the best fisherperson in the world and tomorrow she will spend the day with me, the best shopper in the world!!

Nite all.

Brief Two

Just so you know, Brief One of the Canon EOS Photo5 competition was 'Through a Pet's Eyes' and those of us who were not entered in the competition last year, had to submit a photo for this brief to make us eligible to receive this year's competition box.

My entry was this ...

Through a pet's eyes

So now we have the theme for the next four briefs.

Brief number two is 'Foam' //macro and states - "This brief encourages you to look at everyday things by getting closer to them.  Take this ordinary soap, turn it into foam, and make it amazing.  See how it interacts with light, what shape it creates, try colouring it.  Get creative, just stay close."

I haven't received the box in the mail yet, but I can begin experimenting and practising and planning my photo now.

There is only a month to submit all 5 briefs.

I'm a bit excited and have lots of ideas jumping through my head!

But that can wait for now because ... my sister Squirt is in town!  She and her youngest daughter, The Band Leader, arrived this afternoon to surprise me, and are staying for a few days.

It's been eighteen months since I saw them.  They came down for our wedding in April last year.  It's good to see them :o)

So I hope to have a nice few days spending some quality time with my little sis.

This morning I stopped at a friend's garden and took a few photos of her flowers.  This is one of them.

I might try to recruit Squirt and The Band Leader to help me come up with ideas for Brief Two.  Along with Adoring Husband, some brain storming may be in order!  Surely we can come up with some brilliance!  

Nite all.

Canon Competition

"To me, photography is an art of observation.  It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place ... I've found it has little to do with the things you see, and everything to do with the way you see them." - Elliott Erwitt

I found that quote on the Canon facebook page today.  Very profound and very true.

Tomorrow is the big day!

The Canon EOS Photo5 Competition begins.  This is how it works.

EOS Photo5 is Canon's annual creative photography competition that begins with a little brown box.  Inside there are 5 individual photographic briefs to challenge your creativity.  There are only a limited number of boxes available.

There is a prize for the winner of each brief and then there is the portfolio prize which goes to the person with the best set of 5 photographs.

The winner of each individual brief wins a camera (just like mine) plus a three day photography workshop in Queenstown, New Zealand.  Flights and accommodation all taken care of.

The winner of the portfolio competition wins a PIXMA Pro printer and a fisheye lens.

So Adoring Husband, Vegan Chickie and I will be obsessing over our cameras and our photographs for the next little while ... but that's nothing different really is it?!

One photo for this post.  Another Chicklet beauty taken by Vegan Chickie, who always takes the best Chicklet photos!!

My little sweetie possum :)

Nite all.