One Hundred Buckaroonies

I won it.

One hundred buckaroonies.

I entered a photo in the weekly whale watching photo competition that the local newspaper, The Fraser Coast Chronicle, is holding over the whale season, and won the weekly prize, which is a $100 voucher from Harvey Norman Camera Dept.

The overall prize for the season is over $1800 worth of Olympus camera + various other assorted camera paraphernalia.

I'm in with a chance.

This is the photo that won.

Adoring Husband demanded that I enter that one.

We dropped Kiwi Gal off at the airport this morning.

The weather was wet at the time, but a storm built up and the flight was delayed by about two hours.  We were a little concerned that the flight might be cancelled because there were storm and weather warnings all the way up and down the coast, as well as inland.

But she finally left and I can only assume that she landed safely in Sydney.  I haven't heard from her since she phoned to say that she was finally sitting on the plane and about to take off.

Adoring Husband and I had a lovely brunch with Vegan Chickie and Chicklet while the storm raged around us.  Lots of lightning and thunder and enough rain to cause localised flooding in The Bay.

After we arrived home, I grabbed my camera with the macro lens and got some shots out in the garden.

The garden always seems so different after a storm.  Cleaner, fresher and the creepy crawly insects come out to play.

Tomorrow will be a lazy day enjoying the peace and tranquility of my home being my own again and wondering how I will spend my one hundred buckaroonies :o)

Nite all.

Just Around the Corner

Do you know what's just around the corner???

Christmas.

There are just eleven weeks til Christmas.

I already have three orders for bracelets, a necklace and earrings.  Everybody wants white jewellery.  It seems to be the colour of preference.  So next week, I must begin creating!

Kiwi Gal flies home tomorrow, and I must admit that I am looking forward to having my house and my life back to normal.

I think she has had a good time and had a chance to regenerate and rejuvenate, ready for her fresh new start at the end of November.  She has lots to do before her big temporary move to New Zealand and this break was meant to be her kick start to a new future.

She has worn me out and now 'I' need a holiday to recover from 'her' holiday!

We had lunch at the pub today, and then tonight we all gathered at the Club to say Bon Voyage to Woman of Many Talents before she goes jaunting across the world to Europe for a few weeks.

This weekend, another friend, Kaz, arrives home from Europe!  We all missed her very much and are excited that she is finally returning after a very LONG six weeks away.

Well, psychotic dogs are telling me that they are ready for bed, so after letting you all know that Christmas is just around the corner, I'd best gather my goods and find my way to bed too.

I hope you are all better prepared than we are for the festive season!

Nite all.  

Art Deco

Something very exciting, and at the same time, very scary, happened for me today.

An accomplished,  award winning local artist, who for now, shall remain nameless, has invited me to partner her, with my photography, and share an exhibit themed 'Art Deco' in September next year.

The exhibit will be at a new Art Gallery in a town close by, which already has a very long waiting list for exhibits.

It's a fabulous opportunity for me, if I can make the most of it.

'The Artist', of course, is not leaving me alone to struggle with this and plans on giving me all the help and advice that I need, because ultimately, this is her exhibit and she wants it to be a huge success.

The planning that she has already put into this, is amazing, and knowing how important this is to her, I feel very honoured that she has asked me, an unknown, to share this experience with her.

Her previous exhibits have been highly successful and I expect this one to be no different.

So now I have to do lots of research into 'Art Deco' in all of it's forms eg fashion, jewellery, decor, architecture, art, furniture etc etc.

I might have to take Adoring Husband on some road trips in search of art deco 'everything'.

It's going to be an adventure and a challenge and scary and exciting and different to anything I've ever done in my life.  An experience of a lifetime!

How often have I marvelled over Art Deco and wondered about the era in which it evolved ... who'da thunk that it would pop so Arty Fartily into my life this far down the track?

Art Deco and Me ... let's wait and see.

Nite all.

Whale of a Time!

Remember how disappointed I was in our whale trip a few weeks back???

This trip was absolutely amazing and we got some brilliant shots of males, females and calves.

You know that I have to share them with you!

There were about fifteen of us from our indoor bowls group, as well as Adoring Husband and Kiwi Gal, who went today on the Tasman Venture.

http://www.tasmanventure.com.au/

The crew were happy and friendly, the boat very comfortable for whale watching, as well as fast for getting to the viewing area quickly.

There were lots of whales and they were very active.  Mothers showing off their calves and males slapping the water with their tails and fins, trying to get the other whale's attention.

The males and the calves were breaching and having a wonderful time on such a glorious sunny day!  It was only at the end of our trip when the skies became grey and gloomy, but it didn't matter to us by then.

Afterwards, we all gathered at the Boat Club for a very nice lunch.

I am a very happy chappy and I had a whale of a time :o)

Nite all.
 

Family Picnic

We had a fabulous picnic at the park by the river on a glorious Spring day with the family, including my lovely little Chicklet.

Here are the photos (Come on!  You knew I would have photos!)

Three generations of US!

The lovely happy family.

...and again!

Happiness is ....

Adoring Husband had the camera.

Tomorrow, we have another whale watching trip and the weather should be even more glorious than today!  I'm very excited.

Kiwi Gal has never been whale watching.  It's always fun taking a friend on their first whale watching trip :o)

Yes, of course, there should be some MORE whale photos too!

I think I'm going to need a holiday after Kiwi Gal has finished her holiday.  I'm exhausted!

Anyway, our family picnic was a success and even though we won't do it every week, there will definitely be more of them in our future!

Nite all.

Day Trippin'

We took Kiwi Gal on a day trip to the Sunshine Coast today.

Two and a half hours drive in glorious Spring, sunshiny weather brought us to, firstly Eumundi, for morning tea and then on to Maroochydore for some heavy duty shopping!

Some camera gear, some clothes and a handbag later, we enjoyed Japanese food for lunch and then went on a search for Point Cartwright.

Point Cartwright lighthouse http://www.lighthouse.net.au/lights/qld/Point%20Cartwright/Point%20Cartwright.htm#Area

has been photographed by some of our flickr group, including our workshop tutor, many times, and we wanted the opportunity to do so as well.

The GPS decided that it didn't know where Pt C was, so Adoring Husband followed his nose, and eventually we found it way off in the distance.

We found a lookout spot that had 'far off' views of the lighthouse and snapped away with our cameras ...

Also in the distance, but in a different direction, there was a whale frolicking!  He was too far out to get a good shot, but I could see him through my camera lens and it was a real thrill for me!

Then, sadly, we had to find our way home.

The day started out a bit shaky, when Adoring Husband forgot our voucher for the camera shop that we were heading to, and we had to turn around and come home for it ... BUT then he couldn't find it, and by the time he did, we ended up leaving home almost 40 minutes later than planned.

Then ... Kiwi Gal decided to organize a prescription from her Dr in Sydney, to the Dr in Eumundi while we were having morning tea, and what should have been a 20 minute break, ended up being a whole hour!

So with more than an hour and a half gone from our day before we even arrived, this little possum was not having a happy start!

However, it ended up being a lovely day and we arrived home safe n sound n happy n tired.

A quick, throw together dinner and now Kiwi Gal is draped on the couch with the psychotic dogs, Adoring Husband is snuggled up in bed snoring gently and here I am telling you about our day trippin'.

I'm looking forward now, to a lovely lunch at the park by the river tomorrow, with Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet :o)

Nite all.

  

I believe ...

I believe ...
that two people can look at exactly the same thing and see something completely different.
I believe ...
that your life can be changed in a matter of minutes, by people who don't even know you.
I believe ...
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I believe ...
that the people you care about most in life, are taken from you too soon.
I believe ...
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had, and what you've learned from them, and less to do with how many birthdays you've had.
I believe ...
that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others.  Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I believe ...
that no matter how badly your heart is broken, the world does not stop for your grief.
I believe ...
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
I believe ...
that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean that they don't love each other and just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
I believe ...
that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I believe ...
that you should always leave loved ones with feelings of love, and a hug.  It could be the last time you see them.
I believe ...
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I believe ...
that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I believe ...
that no matter how good a friend is, they are going to hurt you once in a while and you have to forgive them for that.
I believe ...
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance.
I believe ...
that you either control your attitude, or it controls you.
I believe ...
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, that passion fades and there had better be something else to take it's place.
I believe ...
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done, when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I believe ...
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I believe ...
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and still have the best time.
I believe ...
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones who help you get back up.

Nite all