Goin' to a Show

We are out this evening for dinner and a show "Rock Revolution" which is Jon English's new show.

I saw his last show twice and obviously, it was excellent!  So I'm expecting to have an enjoyable night.

Needless to say, I will be home too late to update here and that's why I am here now.

Drove into town with Kaz this morning.  It's a really nice opportunity to catch up because we never get time together with just the two of us.  This is the 3rd time I've driven into town with her on a Saturday morning and it really makes for a great day, to start like that, instead of on the dreaded speeding bus!

Thanks Kaz :D

Of course, the best part of the day was seeing my little Chicklet, who ran to greet me when I arrived this morning.

She was very happy all day and I discovered that she is just like her Mama, in that when she gets tired, it doesn't take much to get her giggling.  Actually, that's a bit like me too.

I read "Are You My Mother?" to her (the shortened, more fun, version), three times.

There was lots of giggling and lots of new words.

She knows how old she is and holds one finger up as she announces "ONE!"

She is a climber.  She climbs on her little table, the chair, the lounge, the coffee table.  A bit scary for poor old grandmothers.

I forgot to take photos!!  Again!!  I think I can get one more Saturday visit in before things get too busy for both the Chicklet family AND for me.

Soon they are off on their overseas holiday and when they return, they may be living somewhere else.  There's a chance they could leave even before that!

Takes my breath away just thinking about it.  Ugh.  However, we will worry about that when it happens and not before!

Anyway, that's most of my day ... now I have to go and make myself beautiful for Jon English.  I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Nite all.

Caravans and Campers

The Maryborough caravan and camping expo is on this weekend and it opened today.  Adoring Husband and I were there bright and early, got a park directly across the road from the entrance gate and walked through those gates at approximately 9.03am lol.

It was a beautiful day and my nose took me directly to the closest coffee bar where I got a skinny latte to help start my day.

Next I tried an amazing vibration machine that got all the muscles working in my body and the blood well and truly circulating through my veins.  Straight after that, I bought a fabulous military style cap with a diamonte 'peace' sign, which came with a free pair of diamonte polarised sunglasses.

Four hours later, we had walked through almost every caravan and campervan there, chatted with half of our community who had decided to attend today too, found some gluten free wood fired pizza and gluten free ice cream, bought some bamboo socks and some accessories for our campervan and had the ingredients to go home and cook my famous roast chicken and veggie soup.

It took me all afternoon to make the soup, which could be my best effort yet!  Adoring Husband ate four bowls of it for dinner!  Delicious.

I'm very unhappy that my football team lost their game by one point tonight and I'm pretty sure that Number One Son will be equally unhappy with his team who also lost by one point tonight!  Ugh!

Tomorrow is Chicklet family day, so I'm off to bed (yet another after midnight bed time!).

Nite all.

Ball of Panic

In relation to the impending exhibit, I have my good days and my bad days.

I think I've had a lot of good days lately, because my progress has been coming along quite nicely and I have felt 'on top' of things.

Today, however, I've felt the little ball of panic in the pit of my stomach.  Every hour or so, it gives a little rumble and a tremble.  Enough to send some adrenalin surging through my veins.

I think that I should probably make a new 'to-do' list.  That will either calm my nerves OR get that adrenalin well and truly pumping!

So, in response to this negative physical reaction, my brain has responded with a nice strong defensive ramble, which I have already shared with BGWLBH, and which I will now share with you!

Begin Manic Rant

I have had a DSLR camera for almost 4 years.  

I learned how to use a DSLR camera in manual mode, 16 months ago, in a two day workshop (admittedly, with an EXCELLENT teacher, who doesn't know I have this blog, so I'm not sucking up lol), and where I also learned how to compose my shots.  

The flickr group, photographers who have completed the same workshop, have also provided VALUABLE advice, critique and feedback over the same 16 month period.

I challenge anyone with such limited experience, to find 100 quality photos in their collection, that are good enough to print enlarged, (ranging from 8"x12" to poster size) and display them in a public exhibit.

Seriously, this is not an easy task.  It is especially more difficult, when the theme of the exhibit is FAR REMOVED from what you class as your 'forte', which in my case, is birds and wildlife.

Not to mention the 'photoshop' issues.

I'm not sure if I'm trying to convince you or me here ... but I reckon I have done a pretty amazing job just to get to this point.

End Manic Rant

So there is a good reason for me to have a little ball of panic in the pit of my stomach right about now.  I hope it doesn't hang around too long.  

I expect it to be there on opening night, but I'd really like it to make rare appearances between now and then.

I'm doing ok.  

I have my boys at the Seat of Knowledge, helping me start my day in a happy and relaxed manner.

I have Adoring Husband cooking dinner every night and being the perfect house husband in support of my endeavours, while leaving me alone to focus on the task at hand.

I also have my online photography friends who have been wonderfully supportive along the way and who prop me up whenever I begin to wallow in negativity.

My lovely kids who are proud of me and my even lovelier granddaughter who makes my heart race every time I see her and makes me want to be a 'Boz' to be proud of.

I'm doing something that I absolutely love and I have this opportunity to share it with my world, small as it may be.

I'm doing ok indeed.  Life is pretty darned good.

BE GONE this ball of panic!!

Nite all.     

Puberty Blues

I read the book.  I watched the movie.

Tonight I watched the first episode of the TV series Puberty Blues.

It was like being a fly on the wall and watching myself as a teenager.

Everything is so accurate.  The fashions.  The attitudes.  The language.  The roles of females.  The arrogance of males.

Not once, during that episode, did I disagree with even one line of the dialogue.  So spot on.

It's quite frightening to watch and I wonder if it's the same for teenagers now.

I can still see the same attitudes in my generation of married couples that I know today.

I hope things are different for the current younger generation.

My brain is mush from six hours of learning how to use photoshop, so this is another short but sweet post.

Instead of posting photos, I am giving you a link to check out some beautiful photos by somebody else.  Somebody who is most proficient in photoshop!

http://www.joelsantos.net/Joel_Santos_-_Photography/Home.html

Nite all.

Canon EOS Photo5

Yes!  It's that exciting time of year again!

EOS Photo5 is the competition that inspires everybody to create amazing photography. And while the inspiration is just 5 simple items in a little brown box, there’s no end to what you can create.

https://www.canon.com.au/en-au/worldofeos/photo5/Enter

Vegan Chickie introduced me to this competition a couple of years ago, but last year I made my first submission and I entered four of the five briefs.

With thousands of people entering every brief, it's very difficult to think of something new and original.

As I was once told "Everything has been photographed.  It's all been done.  So it's about how you can do it in a unique and beautiful way."

That is where I struggle.  I'm certain that I have an imagination lurking in the recesses of my brain somewhere.  I just haven't found it yet.

So, because I missed the final brief last year, I have to apply for the little brown box, by entering the Open Brief which is 'WIND' and the entry date is 23rd August.

Time to get my thinking cap on and time to start prodding for at least a glimmer of my imagination.

I did want to start with a good night's sleep, but it's already after 12.30am so I guess that idea is out the window.  We'll try for that tomorrow night.

Nite all

Pelican Party

The usual - a day in front of the computer screen playing with photos.

This afternoon, I went for a ride.  I had to visit the 'Shell Man' briefly and then I rode down to the beach.  There was a lady there feeding some pelicans.  She had some carcasses of the fish that she had caught earlier in the day.

It was the highlight of my day ... until I discovered that the Brahminy Kite chick in the nest is still being cared for!

Last week, one of the older Brahminy Kites fell dead out of the nest, onto the road.  The man who lives in the house under the tree had told me that there was a chick in the nest and I was sure that it would die without the older bird to care for it.

This afternoon, I watched a Brahminy Kite in the tree opposite the nest as he ate some food and then flew over to the nest.  I could hear the chick making noises!  Such a relief :)

So all is right in my Brahminy world again :)

Nite all

Boz is a beautiful word.

It was too windy to ride around town this morning, so after I left the boys, I did one quick ride along the river path and then I came straight home.

I cooked a hearty, sausage, eggs and tomato breakfast and then sat down at my desk all day.

Played a bit with photoshop and learnt some more about it.  I still don't like it.

I am easily distracted.  Gekko's birthday party is a perfect example.  I spent some time on the photos from his party today.

I need to focus on the job at hand!!

Oh and I also played with photos of my baby.

She's got such a cheeky little face sometimes.

I had a good visit with my Chicklet family and my favourite word in the whole universe is "Boz".

Off to bed for me.

Nite all.

Happy 60th

Just a quickie before I climb into bed.

We attended a 60th birthday party tonight.

Gekko - in the red and black stripes

Most people were leaving for home at around 10pm.  Gekko hasn't been well, and then on top of that, had a motorcycle accident recently ... so we are grateful to be celebrating his 60th birthday.

He was surrounded by a good crowd of family and friends tonight and he was a happy man.

Happy 60th birthday Gekko :D

Nite all.