God's Gift

Another great Saturday!

I awoke feeling excited that I was going to be seeing Vegan Chickie and Chicklet today!

After Adoring Husband left for golf, I again had time to ride down to the bakery for coffee and then spend a little time with the boys at the Seat of Knowledge before pedalling home and heading to the bus stop.

Rocket Rod was my bus driver so we drove, faster than a speeding bullet, into The Bay.  The advantage to that trip was that I caught the early connection to Chicklet's place :D  Funnily enough, the next bus driver asked how my trip was with Rocket Rod!  So I told him!

When the bus dropped me off, I walked down to the pier first to get a couple of shots for my 104 challenge.

Graffiti - Photo 20 of 104

Under the Jetty - Photo 21 of 104

It didn't take me very long and then I walked up to see my cheeky baby.

She did lots of cheeky things today.  She giggled a lot.  She talked a lot.  She played a lot.  She stood by herself!  She tangled up my necklace, which I untangled while she had a nap.  She smiled and giggled for the camera.

God's Gift - Photo 22 of 104

Cute as a Button!

Then Adoring Husband brought lunch and we sat on the grass near the beach and ate it.  We took Chicklet for a walk on the grass, Adoring Husband on one side holding her hand and me on the other, holding her other hand.

Talk about a kodak moment, without a kodak available!

We didn't stay for as long as usual because we couldn't get a shady spot and I was worried about Chicklet getting sunburnt.

We said our goodbyes and got our Chicklet cuddles and kisses before leaving.

We came home and had a relaxing afternoon together, before I realised that I had forgotten to put dinner in the slow cooker this morning, so we had nothing for dinner!  Woops!  Chinese from the Bowls Club.

Tonight we watched the first NRL match of the season between the Indigenous All Stars and the NRL All Stars.  I was barracking for the Indigenous team and they lost.  I blame Wayne Bennett, who was coaching the NRL All Stars.  He is just too good as a coach!!

So that was my day.  Another Saturday with God's Gift.  Didn't think I was going to get this one.  Thought they would have moved and this Saturday would be a sad day for me ... what a lucky day instead!

At last count 149 photos on the facebook challenge group page!

Nite all.

A Few Best Men

If there is one movie you should avoid this season, it's the Australian comedy "A Few Best Men".

When I go to see an Australian movie at the cinemas, I go with low expectations.  That way, it doesn't take much to surprise me, and I often end up enjoying the movie much more than expected.  'Red Dog' is a perfect example of that.

So today, there were only two movies that I was willing to see.  One was 'Descendants' with George Clooney and the other was 'A Few Best Men' because Adoring Husband had seen an interview about it and said he'd laughed all the way through it.

I was embarrassed by Olivia Newton John and in my opinion, Rebel Wilson was the only passable female in the entire movie and I'm really stretching it to give her that compliment.

Kris Marshall was great in his role as Tom (I also thought he was great in 'Love Actually' as Colin Frissell).

Xavier Samuel was 'average' and I kept waiting for the 'Twilight' cast to appear (he played a new vampire in 'Eclipse', which is the third movie in the Twilight series).

The most memorable character was Ramsy the ram.  He stole the show.

So the next movie I see will be 'The Descendants' with George Clooney.  I've been trying to get to that one for about a month now.  Monday might be the day to do it.

After we left the cinema, we went to the jewellers in Stocklands to have the battery replaced in my watch.

It was going to take thirty minutes, so Adoring Husband and I decided to grab some lunch and a coffee from Jamaica Blue.

Adoring Husband ordered a tandoori chicken sandwich and I ordered zucchini and bacon fritters.  They toasted his sandwich, which was full of lettuce, so he ended up with a soggy mess.  My fritters tasted like clag glue.  I literally spat the first mouthful out and didn't eat any more of my meal.

I took a pen out of my handbag and wrote a little message on my napkin, which I placed, face up, on top of my plate.  I wrote '$29 for lunch and this tasted like glue'.

Adoring Husband was horrified and he skulled his coffee so that we wouldn't be sitting at the table when they came to clear it!

You may think that I should have just complained to the manager or asked for my money back, but the manager of this place is so scary that two of their machinery servicemen that I know are scared of her and call her nasty names behind her back.

She is certainly not approachable, nor does she display friendly or happy customer service skills!

We won't eat there again.  It's not the first time the food has been substandard, but at least it has been edible before today.

So, as you can tell, the day has not been a huge success.  Not that I care THAT much.  I'd be very happy if days like today were the worst days I ever had to deal with!

I did get to have a short ride this morning before we went out.

Clouds - Photo 19 of 104

Another shot for my 104 challenge.  It may be replaced at a later date by more spectacular clouds because I'm not entirely happy with this one.

Adoring Husband is very excited because his NRL team, Cronulla Sharks, defeated Manly in the pre-season warm up game tonight.  If he's happy, I'm happy :D

We are currently watching Australia V India 20/20 cricket match.  It's not looking good for Australia at this stage, but you just never know!

I think they need my support, so I'd best go give it to them.

Nite all.

 

A Nice Place to Visit

On my way for coffee this morning, I found some stripes ...

Stripes - Photo 17 of 104

Once upon a time, not that long ago, Thursdays were my favourite day of the week.

Indoor bowls at the local hall, 9am every Thursday.

When we first arrived in town, we joined the Amateur Fishing Club and met a lot of other 'new' locals. Not as new as us, but new, just the same.

It was very successful for us and we found a wonderful group of friends with whom we now socialise regularly.  It was the perfect way to introduce ourselves to the new area.

Not long after that, during my morning walk, I met the boys at the Seat of Knowledge, and one of them invited me to Indoor Bowls.

It took me a while to gather my courage, but eventually I decided it was time to be strong and just do it!

It was one of those horrible, nerve wracking experiences!  As I got closer to the hall, the noise from the crowd within got louder and I really had to push myself to walk in the door.

One of the ladies looked up as I entered and immediately walked over to me and introduced herself.  She introduced me to some other people there and when I told her that I'd never bowled before, she gave me a quick run down of the rules and showed me how to bowl along the indoor mats.

I had a couple of practise shots before the games began and by the time we all started bowling, I felt very comfortable and very welcome.

Most of the people in the hall, were locals who had lived in town for anywhere between ten and fifty years and the majority of them had lived in the general area, within a fifty kilometre radius for their whole lives.

They all had so many stories to tell and they were warm caring people who welcomed new comers with open arms.

For the first couple of years, I planned my whole week around Thursdays and only very special circumstances could make me miss bowls!  That's how nice the people of this town are!

Just recently, there have been lots of new people and tourists attending, so that it's very crowded.  This makes the hall very noisy and very hot.  It takes much longer to finish the games and it's difficult to have conversations with so much noise and kerfuffle.

Even though the same old locals are still there, it's lost it's appeal for me, because the newcomers have almost taken over.  It just doesn't feel as intimate.

Anyway, today I decided to drop in and say hi and while I was there, took a few shots of the layout.

A Sporting Event - Photo 18 of 104

This then became my 'Sporting Event' photo for my 104 challenge!   It's still a very nice place to visit and the local ladies are still just gorgeous :D

Once again, it was too hot for pedalling around town, so after a short ride I found my way home to our empty house - Adoring Husband was at golf in Maryborough - and I had a nice relaxing morning at home.

I've been spending a lot of time in the facebook group that I started for the '104 Things to Photograph in 404 days' challenge.

As of this moment, 107 photos have been posted on the group wall!  I love the enthusiasm that everyone is showing, especially Bubbles and some other family members, but I'm most excited about my brother joining in.

I know that he's been doing it tough in the last few months and I love that he wants to be a part of this group with me.  I hope that he is enjoying it as much as I am and that it's giving him something to look forward to each day.

I look forward to seeing the photos that he is taking with his phone and I wish that he had a DSLR camera because I remember the wonderful shots that he used to take years ago.  Hopefully, one day soon, that will happen!

So that's it for another day with me.  I think I will actually get an early night tonight!  Wonders will never cease!

Nite all.  

Something Red

As you know, I have already submitted my photo of 'Something Red' for the challenge.  I received a submission via email from Vegan Chickie today.

Chicklet's first Art Class

Every day, she will add a little more to this piece of art, and it will end up on my fridge door!!

If there were prizes being issued, of course, this one would win the prize for 'Something Red'  :D  The only thing is,  there will be other colours added to it, so it may win the 'rainbow' prize instead!  I'm very excited to be receiving my first piece of fridge art!

We had a very warm day today, so I was home and out of the sun before 10am and turned the air conditioner on!

During my ride, I stopped and aimed my camera at a baby magpie, thinking about whether he was interesting enough to take a photo of, when through the view finder I watched him pull a worm out of the ground!

It was so unexpected!  I was at the right place at the right time for that one!

Earlier, at the Seat of Knowledge, I got my challenge shot of 'Feathers'.

Feathers - Photo 16 of 104

Unfortunately, I missed his tail as he flew above me.  This shot was unexpected.  He looked like he was flying out to sea, when he took a sharp turn and flew directly over my head!

Just a quiet day today, and it was most enjoyable.  Very calming and relaxing.

Enjoying the cricket season, especially the T20 matches between India and Australia, which started tonight.  Australia won a very exciting match tonight in front of a record crowd.

Gearing up for the NRL football season which starts soon!  Finally!  We are at the exciting part of the sporting year again!

Again, I sign off thinking of chocolate.  Luckily, I don't buy it, otherwise I'd be eating it right before bed every night!

Nite all.

Happy Tuesday

After a good night of sleep, I woke up bright and early today and had time to buy my morning coffee and then spend an hour with my boys at the Seat of Knowledge, before meeting the girls at our usual place for morning tea.

There were seven of us, including Kaz's daughter, who is visiting briefly from London, where she has been living and working for some time.  She's a lovely young lady (calling her that, makes me sound like an old lady!) and it was nice chatting with her today.

Of course, Kaz is glowing with happiness, having her girl home for a while, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy :D

When morning tea was over, Aussie H and I took a long trike ride around the new estate and the man-made lake at the new end of town.  We haven't spent time together for a while and it was really good to catch up with her.

It was quite late in the morning when we parted.  I'm usually indoors by 10am, so I had an extra hour in the sun and this evening I noticed that I have a touch of sunburn.  tsk tsk tsk

I came home to find Adoring Husband still feeling a little under the weather.  We think he may have side effects from some new medication that he started a few days ago, so he has stopped taking it for now, to see if he feels any better over the next couple of days.

I didn't take any photos this morning while I was out, but I took a couple around the house this afternoon to match two of the items on my challenge list.

Shadows - Photo 14 of 104

Garden Gnome - Photo 15 of 104

There are already sixty four photos on the facebook challenge page, posted by some of the people invited by me, and five new people have been added to the group since it started.  Loving that!

This afternoon we bought fish and chips and met Kaz, Lady Lynne, Aussie H and 'Associates' at the Lions Park for drinks, nibblies and dinner.

The weather, for a change, was very kind to us and even though it had been a hot day, there was a lovely cool breeze blowing that made for a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

Such a happy and relaxed group of people who are a real pleasure to be around.

'Kazrenwin'

Three generations from Kaz's family.  I love this photo because they are all so happy.  The most beautiful smiles on all three of them!  Beautiful girls.

I wandered down to the beach hoping to capture some nice sunset photos, but just as it was looking promising, the big grey clouds came scudding across and snuffed the sun out before the beauty could begin.

Adoring Husband and I took an early leave and came home for a fruit and juice ice block each.

He was early to bed, and I am about to follow.

It has, indeed, been a very happy Tuesday - if only I had some chocolate to top the day off :D

Nite all.

A Very Late Night

Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam final last night, by defeating Rafael Nadal in five sets.  The match took five hours and fifty three minutes!!!  I watched all of it and as predicted, it was a long night!

It was a great match.  Now we have to wait til the end of May for the French Open.

So I had a late start to the day because I didn't get to bed til 1am.  I missed my boys at the Seat of Knowledge, but I didn't miss my coffee!

I took lots of photos and because the battery in my watch is flat, and I left my phone at home, I had no idea what the time it was all morning and I didn't return home until 11am!

Adoring Husband said that he was just about to phone the police to issue a missing persons report!

Letter Box - Photo 10 of 104

Lattice Work - Photo 11 of 104

Something Yellow - Photo 12 of 104

Something Blue - Photo 13 of 104

One more for good measure, that doesn't belong with the challenge photos.

A Tall Mushroom - a result of the recent wet weather! 

It's a change to not have bird photos everywhere, but I must confess that I spent a LONG time searching for the birds that were making the pretty noises in the bushes this morning.  The only reason I gave up was because the clouds parted and the stinging sun was so hot and uncomfortable, I just had to get home to cool down!

Anyway, enough of this frivolity.  I don't want to go to bed at 1am again, and Adoring Husband went to bed super early tonight because he wasn't feeling well, so I need to go check on him again and then climb into bed myself.

Nite all.

But Wait! There's More!

My morning with the camera was quite disappointing today.

The weather was looking ominous and the low dark clouds were scuttling by, threatening to dump their contents, but only leaving a few scattered droplets before disappearing from sight and making way for new storm clouds.

There were some beautiful black Storm Birds (aka Common Koels) flying around in the giant fig trees that line the river near the caravan park, but it was difficult to get a clear shot.

I love their amazing red eyes.

This is the male.  The female is speckled black and white with stripes and spots.  I may have posted a photo of a female on here a few weeks ago.

After that, I found a spot where I could hear all sorts of birds in the bushes.  There were the usual Wattle Birds making a racket and Lorikeets high in the trees, Noisy Miners that are a dime a dozen and Peewees whistling loudly, as well as two different types of doves trying to coo louder than the other birds.

Through all of that noise, I could just make out a soft unfamiliar whistle.  The other birds were making so much noise, it was impossible for me to make out which direction the whistle was coming from and although I stayed there for more than thirty minutes, I couldn't find the bird that was making that new noise.

I left there feeling very frustrated!  But I will return over the next few days and hopefully have some success.

In the distance, I saw Adoring Husband leaving town towing his golf buggy behind him (He played golf at a very soggy Howard Golf Course today), so I knew I had some time to play with my camera some more.

I found lots of puddles all over town for my challenge photo 'reflections in puddles' and even though I took a lot of photos of puddles and reflections, none of them were very interesting so I ended up deleting them.

There was no active bird life at my lagoon and even the lilies were all facing away from me as they faced the direction of the sun.

So I returned home feeling somewhat dejected and after going through all of my photos for the day, felt very disappointed when I had to delete almost all of them.

I decided, instead, to play with yesterday's photos to see what I could come up with.

This little guy worked really hard to turn himself upside-down to sleep.

Just one tree holding quite a few Flying Foxes from the colony

And finally, the photo that completely brightened my day and made me forget about all the bad photos before it ...

Baby Smiles - Photo 9 of 104

I love this one and included it in my challenge photos :D  Isn't she glorious?

Time for me to go watch the end of the Australian Open Final.  Djokovic V Nadal.  It could be a long night!

Nite all.

  

The Challenge has Begun!

... and I'm not talking about the photography challenge!

It's possible that Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet will be moving 3 hours away before the end of the week.  

If it's not the end of the week, it will be very soon AND it could be further away still!

So THAT is my challenge ... to successfully deal with them leaving.  Find the positives!  Be happy about their new life adventure!  Feel excited about their new horizons!  Be glad that we will have a new holiday destination!

Ugh!

Adoring Husband dropped me off to visit Chicklet this morning and then returned two hours later with fish and chips for lunch.  We sat on Vegan Chickie's balcony to eat.    

My little Sweetie Possum played happily and practised walking backward and forward between Vegan Chickie and I.  She's growing up so fast!  Ugh!  I'm going to miss them.

When it was time for Chicklet to have her nap, Adoring Husband and I left for home.  

Along the way, we passed the swamp area where the giant colony of flying foxes reside, and decided to stop to take some photos.

Five Things Together - Photo 8 of 104

They became my next challenge photo!

I'd been told that they stink, so I expected the worst, but I didn't notice any smell at all.  There were hundreds of them and every so often they made a lot of noise, not unlike the flocks of lorikeets that screech overhead in the late afternoons.

They were very cute, but our way was blocked by an eight foot high mesh fence, so we couldn't get too close, unfortunately.

I'm happy to report that my '104 Things to Photograph in 404 days' facebook group has started really well and aside from my own two photos, there have been five photos posted today by other members!

They are thinking outside the square and being very clever, which brings a big smile to my face!

For example, my daughter, Bubbles, posted this one ... 

for her version of 'A Rainbow'.  Very clever, I thought!   So this challenge is going to fun!

Now, for that other challenge :(  I'm off to cry myself to sleep.

Nite all.

PS Vegan Chickie - for now, I am exaggerating, so stop worrying about me - I'll let you know when I'm falling apart ;p  I love you.