A Multi-cultural Day

Today, we attended the Childers Multi-cultural Festival!

http://bundaberg.qld.gov.au/discover/events/childers-festival

Every year, the last weekend in July, is set aside for this festival.

Adoring Husband and I have now been to three out of the last four festivals and have really enjoyed ourselves each time.

The food didn't seem as good or as varied as the last few years, but there were lots of market stalls and we were able to buy Chicklet lots of lovely baby hippie clothes.

We even got a couple of little dresses!  A lovely deep purple coloured dress and a little shift with a bright red apple pattern.

After a couple of hours walking, we stopped to rest and listen to some music.

There was lots of musical entertainment and we sat down to listen to 'Twine' for about half an hour.

Twine.

There were lots of people sitting down listening to the music and couple of adults and a few kids were up dancing at different times.

Enjoying the atmosphere.

The 'Brass Monkeys' played after them, but we only heard a little of them as we walked around some more.

This interesting character was selling bongo drums and other interesting instruments as well as having his photo taken with almost everybody who walked by.

Vegan Chickie has a while to go before her dreadlocks are as long as this character's!

We didn't have a program, so most of our day was spent wandering through the market stalls and spending our money.

Little Chicklet had a lovely time in her new stroller and even had a little nap.  She also spent some time in her baby carrier (I think it's an Ergo Baby Carrier?).  She was very happy all day long, smiling and talking and checking out the people.

She's so lovely.

I believe she was probably the happiest little cutie pitootie there!

After four hours, we still hadn't seen everything, but we were done.  We packed all of our goods into the cars and found our way home.

Next year, I think we will print a copy of the program and perhaps plan our day, so that we get to see more of the entertainment.

I'm glad we got to share it with the Bare-chested Chef, Vegan Chickie and Chicklet.  It was a lovely day!

Nite all.

PS  Bubbles is coming to visit after all!  She will be here from Thursday to Monday next week and we are all very excited!

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.

Daddy's Little Angel

This morning I went mud walking (well I kind of walked around the edge of the mud really).

I was amazed at how many birds were enjoying the mud!  There were Ibis, Collared Kingfisher, Shags and some long legged birds that looked a bit like Herons.

Collared Kingfisher

See the little wet marks where his feet were on the stick?

The Kingfishers are so pretty and colourful ... almost as pretty as the Bee Eaters.

But the Ibis!!!  OH MY GOODNESS!!  Has anyone seen them bury their heads in the mud???

They were plodding around in the mud, and at first I saw them just putting their beaks into the mud, but then I watched them for a while and they were putting their whole heads into the mud!!

Ibis burying his head in the mud!

It was disgusting!  When they lifted their heads out of the mud, they had a thick brown coating of sludge glistening in the sunlight.  EW! But I didn't get a photo of the muddy face.

Little Chicklet was a happy little vegemite again today.

Happy Little Vegemite

Bare-chested Chef being a wonderful Daddy.

She loves her Daddy :o)  and she's his little angel.

Nite all.

Signs of Spring

Saw my first Bee Eater of the season today!

Eating a very precious bee!

They are truly beautiful birds, but the problem is,  they eat all of the bees in the garden.  Any good gardener knows that bees are very important in your garden ... especially your vegetable garden.

Question is ... how do you keep the balance?

It was a perfectly glorious day today and the tide was out this morning, which left lots of sand for people and their dogs to run on.

I think I'll wear my old 'mud slopping' shoes tomorrow morning so that I can go for a walk out on the sand banks and explore.  You never know what kind of marine wonders you might find at low tide!

My beautiful little Chicklet was in such a happy and chatty mood today.  She must love her Daddy because she spent most of the day singing  Dadadadadadada!  She is so cute :o)  and so happy!

It's still Winter, but these last few days have felt gloriously like Spring, which is my favourite time of the year.  Tomorrow will also be glorious and will require my full and complete attention, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I spent the morning riding around town in the sunshine and catching up with a lot of locals!

So much fresh air and sunshine ... I'm surprised that I'm not already completely healed!

I took some photos of our front garden today ... for those of you who saw the photos of the new garden on facebook last year, here is an update.

Actually, I will show the before and after shots here as well.

From this ...

to this ...

and now it's this ...

We are considering entering it into the Howard Garden Festival for gardens under the age of three.

The hedge along the front is going to look pretty spectacular in a month or two because they will be in full flower.  Purple and white flowers.

I'll take photos again in Spring.  The Geisha Girl will also be in full flower, along with the two Frangipani Trees and the Kangaroo Paw.

It will look and smell wonderful!!

Ok now I am free to go to sleep!

Nite all.

My Last Day of Quarantine

I am making today my last day of quarantine!

Tomorrow morning I am going to get out of bed, dress immediately and go out on my trike to greet the day!

I will have my trusty camera (Bob) with me and I will get my coffee and find my way to the boat ramp and my boys!

I'm a bit excited about being back in the land of the living!

By The Sea

Fly Away

A couple of photos that I haven't shared with you yet.

Tomorrow, I hope to have some new, fresh photos to share.  I may even be brave enough to get up at dawn, if it's cloudy enough, and catch some sunrise shots.

Adoring Husband cooked me another delicious dinner tonight and is now sleeping silently beside me in our king sized bed ... which is a bit of a worry, because he is not generally a 'silent' sleeper, but he IS breathing and that is always a good sign :o)

Time to get some beauty sleep in preparation for my big day out tomorrow ... unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to cuddle Chicklet ... there may be some residual germs to shake off yet, but the fresh air and sunshine will fix that in a few days.

I noticed on the news tonight, that they discussed a higher number of flu cases in Queensland than usual, so I guess I am just one of many others.

I reckon my immune system will now be strengthened up for at least the next three years, so I should be healthy as an ox for a while!

Joy to the world!  Quarantine is over!  Let me at 'em!  Wahoo!

Nite all.

Up and About!

This morning, I woke up feeling like my health had taken a step backwards and I was feeling very sorry for myself.

By about 10am, I was feeling good enough to get out of bed, have a shower, get dressed (in actual clothes instead of pyjamas!) put on a little make up and find my way outside to enjoy some sunshine!

This afternoon, when my lovely visitors arrived, I was able to greet them at the door (eventually) and have a little social time with them in our outdoor area.

The wonderful men of the house, Adoring Husband and The Bare-chested Chef, cooked us all a delicious dinner of salmon with a tantalising variety of vegetables and salads to choose from.

So today has been a huge improvement on the last four and that makes me extremely happy!

The lovely Quilting Queen and Little Genius have now retired to their motel because they are heading home early tomorrow morning.

Thank goodness I at least got a few hours of time in with them before they left!

Next time, when Quilting Queen brings her husband, Monty Python Fan, with her, I plan on being incredibly strong and fit and healthy.

The other thing I did today was take a photo to submit in our photographer's group challenge.

I think I mentioned yesterday that the theme was 'glass'.

There have been a lot of photos posted for it and everyone has had some great ideas.

There are no prizes.  Just a boost to our self esteem and the closing date is tomorrow.

Anyway, it's good to be up and about!

Nite all

A Little Ray of Sunshine

This morning I snuck out to the back yard and sat in the sunshine for twenty minutes.

Some Vitamin D can't go astray to aid my healing process.

My photography group on the Flickr website has been issued a photographic challenge entitled 'Glass' and the closing date is 20th July.  I have my thinking cap on and there are a couple of ideas floating around in my head.

Tomorrow, I hope to find the energy to set up my idea and take a couple of photos to enter into the challenge.

Tomorrow is also our visitors' last day here.  The Quilting Queen and her Genius Daughter are on a road trip and have got to spend some quality time with Vegan Chickie, The Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet while I have been quarantined.

I hope to be able to spend a little time outside in the sunshine with them tomorrow, but I am definitely not well enough to go anywhere, and I don't want to spread my germs.

There are so many things that I should be doing by now.

Seeing my boys at the boat ramp on the weekend, Christmas in July on Saturday night, golf yesterday, swimming tomorrow, followed by morning tea with the ladies, and most importantly, cuddling my Chicklet!!

Things that made me smile today ...

How cute!  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!

Isn't this adorable?!

Vegan Chickie was my Mother's 'Little Ray of Sunshine'.  Chicklet is my 'Little Ray of Sunshine'.  There is a song by Brian Cadd, and sung by the 1970s band 'Axiom' ...

This is the song that my mother dedicated to Vegan Chickie when she was a baby and now I think of it when I look at Chicklet.

Just thought I would share a Little Ray of Sunshine :o)

Nite all

I'm Home but still Missing my Family!

I have quarantined myself in the bedroom and Adoring Husband is waiting on me and providing me with sustenance so that I don't share my germs with little Chicklet.

My symptoms are, a very raw throat, headaches, aching joints, increasing congestion, coughing, sneezing and lethargy.

These are not symptoms that I would like to share with anyone, let alone a five month old baby.

This is the first time that I've been sick since moving here three years ago and the last time I fell ill, was when I visited BGWLBH the time before last.

I caught that virus at the airport though, because I had seven hours there between flights.

I am generally very healthy and I can nurse Adoring Husband through flus and colds without falling ill myself.

This is really annoying.

I've been home for three days and haven't been able to cuddle my little Chicklet once.  I miss my family and I am willing myself well with every ounce of my being!!

I am even missing out on spending time with our visitors from down south, who have come to town for a few days.

Just another day or two (please?!) for me to be well again.

I promise not to whinge about being sick anymore ... just had to vent one more time.

Thank you for listening!!

Nite all