Mother Nature Rocks!

We drove out to the lake this afternoon, hoping for another good sunset.

Mother Nature answered our request.

Firstly we went lakeside, and to the sound of deer mating - yes you heard correctly (there was a male with great big antlers, snorting and grunting while chasing a little white deer around the enclosure), we took out our cameras and snapped away.

As the colour began to fade on the lake, we could see up the hill to the West, where the sun was disappearing, the colour was more intense, so we drove to the top of the rise and this is what I found...

A funny thing happened before we got to the lake.

We were driving along a dirt road behind the lake when I noticed this in a tree alongside the road!  Last thing I expected to see!

So today was filled with some shopping in the morning, some cleaning and repairing this afternoon and then we looked at the outside of a couple of rental houses that have come available.

Even though BGWLBH has a house to move to, she is going to look at these houses anyway, just in case.

Anyway, tomorrow night is my birthday dinner, so I'm having an early night tonight, just in case tomorrow turns into a big one - I doubt it since we are all older and less inclined to party, but ... just in case ... I don't want to be the party pooper ... being the birthday girl and all!

Nite all.

Sunrise/Sunset

I was woken by BGWLBH at the crack of dawn today.

The rains had passed from last night and clouds were parting and it was shaping up to be a wonderful sunrise.

So I literally dragged myself out of bed, changed out of my nice warm jammies, gathered my camera gear in the back pack and off we went in search of the perfect sunrise.

It took a while for the colour to appear, but in the end it was quite special, even if it was only briefly.

We got home about ten minutes before a small storm broke right above the house.  Lightning and thunder and very heavy rain for about five minutes, which produced this!

At the time, the rainbow did not appear to be in our back yard, but this photo shows clearly that it was!

Then a nice little farm related pic...

... and finally sunset.

We walked for a long time hoping for something more spectacular this afternoon.

It was tough going because there is a lot of slippery mud about after the rains and I spent more time skating on it that walking on it.

My body is feeling it tonight.   I must have used a lot of muscles, that I don't normally use, trying to stay upright!

I'm really hoping that tomorrow sees either a cloudless sky or is completely overcast, so that I can sleep in.

Not that I'm complaining!  I love a good sunrise probably more than the next person, and if it was up to me to get up on my own to photograph it, it probably wouldn't happen, so I need BGWLBH to get me moving at the right time of the day.

It means that I am extra tired tonight.  We played bingo today and BGWLBH won three prizes and I won nothing.  We'll try again next week :D

For now, I've completed the sunrise/sunset challenge that BGWLBH set for me and I am getting a reasonably early night to bed.

Nite all.

It's Raining Again

We watched the storm build up this afternoon.

What started out looking like a pretty sunset, was soon swamped by dark clouds, strong winds and patches of heavy rain.

That's the storm building in the distance.

I think there is rain forecast for three days now.

We visited an old friend this morning and caught up over a cuppa.  It was a nice way to start the day.

Then we visited our mate at the Recycling Centre and got some boxes so that we can continue to pack and clean.

He contacted a removalist mate of his for us and organised a date, because apparently there is a long waiting list for removalists after the floods last month.

He and his wife are helping to organise my birthday dinner for Saturday night.  We are going to the Leagues Club.

I doubt if all of the old gang will turn up because their lives are all so different now running businesses, work, family and other commitments.  I know that two of them will and it will be nice to catch up with them.

On Monday, my actual birthday, we are having an afternoon tea with BGWLBH's teacher friends, so that should be fun.

Another Autumn shot from a street in town ...

Tomorrow should be a busy day of cleaning and packing so I should sign off and get some sleep.

Nite all.

Lunch in Paradise

Happy Birthday to Dad W, who turned 72 today but sadly had to spend the day in hospital.  Still, he was in good spirits and his health is rapidly improving so he could be home in a couple of days.

After we left the hospital, we drove out to the other side of town to a beautiful home that belonged to Sandra, a lovely woman who provided the most delicious and healthful lunch to seven of us who thoroughly enjoyed her very warm hospitality.

Her home was like a little patch of paradise on acreage.  Tall ghost gums among other tall trees that created the most beautiful miniature forest on her front lawn.  It was a haven for all sorts of singing birds, and the colours of Autumn were beginning to show themselves.

The welcoming driveway.

The front garden.

More of the front garden.

The splendour of Autumn.

Inside was warm and welcoming with her kids' old school pictures framed and hanging on the walls.  Her youngest is now 21 yrs old.

A kitchen that anyone would die for, with a giant island bench, masses of storage space, a huge walk-in pantry and top quality appliances including a commercial size gas stove and oven.

Lots of windows to look out into the beautiful garden and to allow all of that glorious filtered light inside.

A very wide verandah that wrapped three quarters of the way around the house that looked out over green lawns and down to a small dam that housed a mini jetty.  So serene and so pretty.

Ye old water tank.

Dam, complete with jetty (and fake aligator head)

The gang, including Trevor, the dog.

She served a dessert of chocolate meringue pavlova with assorted berries and cream, which we took outside to enjoy on the verandah.

Sandra was a brilliant hostess and then kindly allowed me to wander around the grounds with my camera to capture some of the beauty that surrounds her.

I had a lovely time and so far, today goes on my 'top ten' list for my holiday.

How nice it is to finish this post at a reasonable hour!

After a wonderful lunch in paradise, I also get an early night to catch up on some sleep ... what a lucky day for me :D

Nite all.

So Frustrating!

I can't tell you how frustrating this evening has been, trying to get this blog post completed!!

I have had a real problem with the internet connection all day.  The signal has been fading in and out, dropping my connection for at least ten minutes at a time.  Tonight it has been two hours!

I'd get partly finished and the connection would drop.  Ten minutes later, I would regain connection and it would give me two minutes, then drop out again.  This went on for two hours.

Really, I should have given up and gone to bed - but this has now become part of my pre-sleep ritual and I don't think I could sleep soundly, knowing that I had left it not done!

For the first time in almost a week, I was preparing to climb into bed at the more reasonable hour of 10.30 pm so that I could get a solid night of sleep.

My final task for the night was to update this blog.

Oh the cursing that was had!!

I guess that's the price that residents of rural Australia have to pay!  Poor internet service.

Anyway my story for today goes a bit like this ...

So much to do that it's overwhelming!


So ... we've made a plan.  Created a time-line.  (Adoring Husband, before you get excited, the time-line is only for packing and cleaning.  It does not include when we will leave for our road trip!)

Made a 'to do' list, selected our preferred rooms and jobs and chosen the days to complete them.

Today was kitchen day.

We cleaned out the pantry and all the cupboards, packed what we could, until we ran out of storage containers and boxes and re-lined the shelves.

BGWLBH drove into town to run some important errands and while she was there, got some cleaning products for the oven and some gloves, so that we can tackle that tomorrow morning.

Small steps.  We can do it!

This afternoon on sunset, we went for a walk on the farm and the golden colours of the sunset on the horizon were quite beautiful, so I took a shot through those lovely grasses.

There was a hawk way off in the distance searching for food, but he was just that little bit too far away to capture through the lens.  So disappointing.

Tomorrow will be a big day.  We are going to the movies in the morning.  We then have a lunch date with some teachers and then we'll be visiting BGWLBH's Dad for his birthday.  Unfortunately, he will be spending it in hospital.

So finally, despite my good intentions, after such a frustrating evening, I am now off to bed - at the usual 'stupid' o'clock!!

Nite all.

My Day at School

BGWLBH had to go to work today to tidy up a few loose ends before officially starting her Long Service Leave.

So I took the opportunity to wander around and get some schoolie shots.

Those are just a few shots taken in the classroom (obviously not the bird photo) while I waited.

We visited her Mum and filled two bags full of veggies from her garden.  We tried to visit her Dad in hospital, where he was admitted this morning, but they wouldn't allow us in yet.  So we headed out to the Lake to get some sunset shots.

Pretty amazing range of colours for one sunset hey?

I really need to get to bet earlier - these 1.30 am sleep times are beginning to wear me down!

Enjoyed my day at school, saying hi to some of the other teachers who I haven't seen for a while, but it's now the end of my day.

Nite all.

Quickies

This is just a quick post after a quiet day around the house.

There are all kinds of birds fluttering about the house.  Wrens, Robins, Finches, Warblers, Willy Wag Tails, Sparrows and Honey Eaters.

Trouble is, they see me coming and fly off into hiding!

I got two shots from a distance today ...

One is a wren of some description and the other, I think, is a Warbler.  I will have to get clarification on that from one of the bird experts in our flickr group, so I'll get back to you on that.

So before I leave here, I hope to get some closer, clearer shots of these little gems and more.

Hugs from a distance to Adoring Husband :o)

That's all for now.

Nite all.

Eventful Day

I did not venture from under my warm snug blankets until 9am today!  I was awake at 6.30am but stayed cosy and toasty for more than two delicious hours.

After a bit of brekky, we made ourselves presentable and drove right across town to a morning tea with BGWLBH's work friends.

There were six of us.  BGWLBH and I drank green tea and we all chatted and laughed and had a bit of bitch session about their difficult teenage children, whinged about some work issues, giggled about our ages, our terrible memories and our reliance on technology to get through the day.

It was really lovely to catch up with the girls.  I only get to do it once a year if I'm lucky.

From there we drove back across town to 'The Sporties' where we met up with Super Sue, who I was acquainted with about 20 years ago, and we have recently found each other again through facebook. A real friendship has developed between us 'on-line'.

She has done it tough over the last few years and my little 104 challenge has brought her out of a dark place.  She tells me she has found some direction in her life and has renewed a love affair with her camera, as well as having met some new friends in the group.

It's a good feeling knowing that something I started has been so inspiring for one person who needed to be inspired.  The right place at the right time.

The other girl who we met at 'The Sporties' was RaRa.  She is actually from Toowoomba and is a part of my flickr group, as well as the 104 group.

She has been on a road trip with her son, that took her south along the coast through Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie and Sydney, then inland to Temora, which is about 90 minutes from here.

They were heading home today and decided to take a slight detour in this direction to catch up, have some lunch and meet the newest member of our 104 group, before heading off home.

So five of us had lunch together and it was very enjoyable.

Ra Ra and I (her son looking on)

Unfortunately, Super Sue left to return to work before we thought about taking a photo!  So many photographers together and we didn't think of taking a photo til it was too late!

I really enjoyed myself and BGWLBH said to me after everyone had left "you know the nicest people", which I thought was lovely.

This afternoon BGWLBH and I went for a walk around the farm and I took a couple of quick snaps.

I'm looking forward to some early morning walks and hopefully some more spectacular sunsets.

We've had a very late evening playing trivia on-line (as we do) and now it's almost 1.30am!!

Must sleep!

Nite all.

Catching Up

Having a wonderful time here.

Had my hair done by my old hairdresser today and it looks and feels wonderful.

Ran into an old workmate and we'll be having lunch together next week.

One of the girls from my flickr group just happens to be staying in a town about 2 hours from here, so she is driving here tomorrow and we are going to do lunch. It will be nice ... and weird at the same time ... because we are both from Queensland and meeting for lunch in NSW.

BGWLBH and I made a delicious and healthful dinner tonight and filled ourselves up with spinach tarts made with gluten free bread as the base, filled with spinach, onion, chilli, mushrooms, cheese and egg.

I roasted sweet potato, cauliflower, onion, chilli, pumpkin seeds, almonds and capsicum in the oven.  Then we had a salad of tomato, lettuce, mushrooms, red onion with a lemon & chilli dressing and oven cooked chicken breast done in a foil parcel with red cabbage and mandarine.

Absolutely beautiful and we worked brilliantly as a team in the kitchen.

Tonight we watched 'Titanic' in honour of the 100th anniversary of it's sinking.

Then we played on-line trivia til stupid o'clock.

Time to rest my weary eyes.

Still no photos to share, but we have plans for some shots in the coming days, so stay tuned.

There is much catching up to do!

Nite all.

Mini Post

Just a mini blog post to let you know that I arrived at my destination, safe n sound this evening.

The flight to Sydney was uneventful, until we were about to descend, and were advised by the pilot that it was raining with 60km winds at ground level!

So descending through the heavy grey clouds was a very bumpy ride indeed, however, the pilot was obviously very skilled and I experienced one of the best landings ever in Sydney.  I've landed in Sydney MANY times.

I was trying to work out how many flights I've managed to rack up and I calculated very close to, if not over 100 flights.  There would be well over fifty just in the last 10 yrs.

In the early days, I would use a good number of sick bags during the flights.  In fact, on one flight to Griffith, in a small 12 seater plane, I actually used ALL of their sick bags!

In those days, I was so nervous about flying, that I  'threw up' on a number of tarmacs as I found my way to the bottom of the stairways into the plane.

I believe that it took about 40 flights before I found a way to relax and let go of the fear ... without the use of drugs (which I used for about a dozen of the flights).

Even though I still feel uncomfortable about flying, I can easily control the fear and discomfort these days and can force myself to sleep through most flights ... I find that that makes the time go a bit faster.

So I arrived at my destination on a very clear, still and cool evening, where my BFF - BGLWBH (beautiful girl with the long blonde hair) was waiting for me with open arms.

Now I have my fleecy pyjamas on and I am between warm fleecy sheets, ready for a nice sleep.  It's been a long day and I am feeling very weary.

My mini post has ended up a bit longer than I'd planned LOL.

Nite all.

Procrastinating .. again!

I had so many things on my 'to do' list for today.

Actually, I had so many things on my 'to do' list for the whole week leading up to today.

But ... I am the champion procrastinator.  It's in my genes.  I passed it on to my children, and as time goes by, they are also becoming champion procrastinators.

Even now, there are things that I could/should be doing, but I am procrastinating by updating this blog so early in the evening.

I leave town tomorrow to start my holidays.

I haven't packed.  I have ironed.  That is all.  I do have a list to check off as I pack.  My suitcase is opened, on the floor, with a few things tossed in there.

I'm very concerned that my suitcase is going to end up very heavy.  After all, I have no idea how long I am going to be gone and the weather is so changeable that I have to pack for both warm and cool weather.

Gotta take all my camera gear and my laptop.

Think I might try to wear my heaviest clothes on the plane.  Jeans, boots and heavy-ish top, with lots of jewellery.  That should give me a bit more than a kilo to play with in my suitcase!

You know, if this is the biggest dilemma that I have to deal with this year, I will be a very lucky lady!

I tried the onion trick beside my bed last night to help cure my cold.

I did wake up with a dryer nose, but who knows if it was the onion that did it!  I'm going to cut a fresh onion tonight and try it for one more night before I leave - just in case.

I didn't take any photos today.

I know.  Difficult to believe :D

My next post will be from my holiday destination - or maybe it will be from the airport in Sydney!  I think I have a few hours to wait for my connecting flight.

So I'm signing off because I cannot procrastinate for a minute longer!  Things to do!  So let's do it!!

Nite all.

Sniffle Sniffle

My friend Kaz phoned me today and suggested an illness 'remedy' that we've both known about for a while, but haven't had the chance to try.

Half an onion in the bedroom next to the bed.

I'm going to try it tonight - I'll give you the results tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll wake up cured!

I just took the dogs outside to pee.  I opened the laundry door and the dogs went tearing outside barking like they were chasing something.

There, at eye level, draped along the top of the fence was this unhappy chappy ...

It's an Eastern Brown Tree Snake, considered venomous but not dangerous - which kind of seems a bit contradictory to me!

Psychotic dogs didn't even know it was there, although they may have smelt it and that's why they were barking as they were.

It crawled along the fence towards the clothes line (which is attached to the fence), so goodness only knows where he came from or where he went!  I hope we don't find out the hard way!

I do know that I won't be leaving the laundry door open all day and half the night, as I have in the past for the dogs' convenience!

That's the second snake I've seen on that side of the house.

They are probably eating chook eggs!  That may be why we are only getting one egg each day!

Adoring Husband is not a big fan of snakes.  I guess I'm not either, but only because I'm not confident identifying them and I wouldn't know if I'd found a deadly snake or not.  As it was, I did a google search to discover what this one was.  Thank God for the internet!!

Enough of this frivolity.  Time to get myself and my medicinal onion ready for bed.

Nite all (sniffle sniffle)

Healthful and Delicious

I've been checking my diet over the past couple of days to make sure I've been getting enough vitamins and minerals and nutrients to fight this cold off.

It's putting up a good fight to take hold, but it needs to fight harder if it wants to win this one!

Since Thursday morning, (four days) I've had lots of fresh honey and lemon.  I would have taken some good doses of Olive Leaf Extract too, but I've run out and our Pharmacy has been closed all Easter weekend... very inconsiderate I thought!

I've also dosed up on chilli, garlic and onion.  Adoring husband makes a delicious chilli and garlic paste with our abundant chillies from the garden and I use it in everything.

I mix it with the little oil that I use in cooking.  I mix it with every type of dressing that I make for the salads and rice paper wraps, as well as the dipping sauces.  I added it to a favourite lamb and tomato rice dish for the first time the other night and it was delicious!

I dab it on the veggies that I bake in the oven for a bit of zing, and to the gluten free pita wraps that I use for a pizza base on footy nights.

We love our chilli.

The rest of my diet has included green tea, lemon myrtle and macadamia nut yoghurt, avocado, tomato, shallots, carrot, red capsicum, cucumber, pineapple, mushroom, rocket, orange slices, pine nuts, walnuts, pepitas, almonds, cashews, onion, sugar cabbage, wombok cabbage, asparagus (fresh from the garden), eggs (fresh from the chooks), king tiger prawns, mud crab, lamb, lettuce, spinach, artichokes, zucchini, sweet potato, pumpkin, potato, watermelon, plums, grapes, apple, rice and a little grated cheese.

My less than healthful food has been 1 take away latte with 2 sugars each day, two rows of dark almond gluten-free chocolate each day, a 175 g packet of plain smiths chips eaten over two days and a couple of gluten free snakes/jelly babies.

Lots of water.  Probably 4 - 6 x 600ml bottles each day.

Oh and freshly blended orange, apple and plum with an equal portion of water = two large glasses.

I should be bouncing off the walls with energy and vitality!!  Not fighting off a stoopid cold/flu/virus!!

To catch up on the April Photo a Day photos...

5. Tiny

6. Lunch

7. Shadow (that's me!)

I think that I will go pop some Vitamin C and make another honey and lemon drink before bed.

Tomorrow, I will be even more healthful and delicious and make myself some chicken and vegetable soup - it cures EVERYTHING!

Nite all.

Full House

From midday Easter Saturday and Sunday, the Easter Fishing Classic run raffles for four hours.  Tickets are $2 each and the prizes are big fishing eskies, crab pots and other assorted fishing paraphernalia.

Also, when you register for the fishing competition, you are issued with a numbered tag, which you wear around your neck on a lanyard.  Those numbers are announced throughout the afternoon and other prizes are issued.

The Lions Park fills quickly and it becomes quite festive as portable gazebos are erected, picnic blankets are laid out, barbecues are fired up, eskies are iced up and filled with refreshments and folding chairs are arranged in social circles.

The announcer with the microphone entertains the crowd as if some big TV producer or Entertainment Manager is in the crowd ready to give him his big break!

The club members all scurry around in their official uniforms, selling tickets, issuing prizes, cooking hamburgers and making cups of tea and coffee.  Handing out free stubby holders, hats and t-shirts.  Weighing the fish as the contestants bring their catches in with hopeful anticipation.

So many people, so many kids, so much noise and activity.

I spent 2 hours in the midst of it all at lunch time today.  Not many of the local crowd turned up, so it was an intimate little group and Adoring Husband met us down there after he finished golf.

It was good to be out in the fresh air and sunshine.  It was also good to catch up with a couple of friends who we haven't seen since New Years Eve.

My cold seems to be trying to take a strong hold ... but I am fighting it with every ounce of my being!

I did manage to get another photo for my 104 list, which now leaves just 24 photos to complete the list.

Ice Cream Van - Photo 80 of 104

It's taken me 3 months instead of 404 days ... but it really is time to focus fully on the Art Deco project.

Two games of football tonight and Adoring Husband's team had a strong win.  It's shaping up to be a good year for the Cronulla Sharks, which in turn makes for a very happy husband.

Time for me to hit the hot lemon and honey and climb into bed.

If I thought it was busy today, it will definitely be a full house tomorrow when they announce the winners of the fishing comp categories and then draw the big raffle prizes, which include a boat!

I reckon I'll be avoiding that part of town and tending to my own health in a big way.

Nite all.  

A Pretty Good Friday

I woke before the sun this morning.  I also slept poorly because, in the back of my mind, I knew I needed to wake up early ... you know that feeling.

So Adoring Husband drove me out to Serenia Beach and then, because it was still dark, he walked me down to the beach.  There are a lot of strangers in town, so for safety reasons, he stayed with me until it got a bit lighter and I felt safer.

The sky was completely clear except for a small bank of cloud right on the horizon.

In case you don't know, there needs to be cloud or dust or fog or smog or smoke or 'something' for a sunrise/sunset to be colourful.

My sunrise was less than spectacular, but there was a moment when a tiny patch of colour appeared way off on the horizon.

I made the most of it, but even though the sunrise was disappointing, the morning was glorious and it was lovely to watch the light changing, the tide coming in and smelling the fresh clean air.

We drove home and before I rode off on my trike, I squeezed some lemon juice into a glass of water and drank it.  Adoring Husband asked me if I was ok and wondered if I had a sore throat (because that's usually the only time I drink lemon juice).  I told him that I was fine.

I was lucky enough to get a couple of photos for my 104 list this morning and I was surprised that the crowds weren't bigger at the park.

A Person in Uniform - Photo 78 of 104 (Ambulance Officer)

Kids at a Skate Park - Photo 79 of 104

Apparently there were record 'pre'- registrations for the fishing competition this year and there has even been talk of 10,000 visitors coming to town this weekend!!

Well, they hadn't arrived by 9am this morning.

I found my way home by 9am because I was beginning to feel unwell ... believe it or not, my throat was beginning to feel scratchy and my joints were aching somewhat!  Had I experienced some intuition about my body?

So I had some honey and went to bed for two hours.

Now I'm sneezing, have a leaky nose and my throat is still a bit funny ... so I won't be visiting my Chicklet tomorrow :(  Don't want to be passing nasty germs onto her ... although it's possible that by drinking the 'baby backwashed' bottle of water that she shared with me on Tuesday, SHE may have passed the germs on to ME!

It feels weird to be sick.  I was quite sick with a bad dose of the flu last year in July.  Let's hope I can ward this off before it sets in.  Especially because I am leaving for my holiday on Tuesday!

So Good Friday has been pretty good.  I didn't get to photograph the moon rising, but I can try for that tomorrow, if I'm feeling ok.

I think I can find my way to bed early tonight and sleep the bad germs away.

Nite all.

The Therapist

The Sex Therapist lived in this town when Adoring Husband and I moved here.  She and I used to walk together one morning a week, ride one morning a week and then do water aerobics in her plunge pool two or three afternoons each week.

She got her nickname after a dinner party at Mrs Bucket's house.  We all had a lot of wine and beer and she began asking questions about our sexual experiences which all turned into an hilarious and somewhat embarrassing night of uncontrollable laughing and shrieking.

At the end of the night, Adoring Husband, who was probably the most embarrassed of everyone, named her The Sex Therapist.

She and her husband moved to Tasmania about two years ago, not long after our wedding.  We have kept in touch with emails, the occasional phone call and a skype call or two.

In the short time that we knew each other, I grew to value her friendship very much and when she left town, I missed her a lot.

This afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from The Sex Therapist and we chatted for about half an hour.

Her husband has a applied for work in this area, and they may be moving back!  If he is successful, they will be living in The Bay, so our exercise routine won't be recommencing, but we'll be able to do lunch and a movie every so often.  That'll be nice :D

Anyway, it was lovely chatting with her today and catching up on the news.

Tonight, we caught the courtesy bus to the Bowls Club for the first time in a long time.  We were only there for two hours, but it was an enjoyable two hours and the girls were all in fine form.  Lots of laughing and talking.

Things have been quiet on the photo front the last couple of days, but tomorrow morning, I hope to be up before the sun and catch the sunrise out at Serenia Beach while Adoring Husband works.

Which means that I should go climb into bed, or I'll be too tired to get up!  I'll also spend a couple of hours along the river because the crowds should be growing rapidly by morning for Easter Fishing Classic.

I hope there will be a few 'characters' about who will smile for the camera.

At the end of the day, the moon should be rising late afternoon over the river, so that's on my 'to do' list as well.

Nite all.

Early to Bed

Early to Bed
Early to Rise
Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.       Really????   Why????

Just another saying from my childhood that makes little sense to me.  I can understand the 'healthy' part because sleep allows your body to heal itself, and your mind too ... but wealthy and wise??  How?

Anyway, the reason I say this is because I plan on being in bed before 10.30pm.

We are going out tomorrow night and it's the beginning of a big Easter weekend in town.

The Easter Classic Fishing Competition is on and the crowds are already filling the caravan parks and the holiday rental homes.

I think I'll spend a bit more time out and about with my camera.  There should be lots of opportunities for some portrait shots and even action shots with kids catching fish and casting nets and lots of boats in the water.

The river bank is usually lined with people sitting in folding chairs and holding fishing rods and the park is full of happy energy with families having picnics and barbecues.

Kids on bikes and skateboards, dogs on leashes, lots of colourful floating devices with kids jumping and swimming and laughing, building sand castles, splashing each other, pumping for bait, chasing each other over the sand.

It's a happy novelty for the first day or two, but then I start to feel claustrophobic and like my town isn't my own any more.

I was going to list all the things that annoy me about the weekend, but that's a bit too negative, so I'll just say that by Easter Monday, when the tourists start to trickle out of town, I breathe a sigh of relief that things are getting back to normal.

Two shots from today.  The April challenge ...

4. Someone who makes me happy (two for one)

and some random kids I watched playing with their dog in the sand this morning.  Their Mum and sister were sitting nearby watching them play.

That's all for today.  Short and sweet.  I'm yawning as I type and keep looking at those three words ... "early to bed".  I can feel my eyelids closing and I've just remembered that there are fresh sheets on the bed tonight ... and we all know how wonderful it is to slide in between fresh clean crisp sheets :o)

Nite all.

Finally!!

I'm a winner!  Finally!

I won the flickr group monthly challenge with this photo ...

I can't seem to find anyone who wants to celebrate with me, so I hope somebody out there is as excited as I am :D

Woot!  Woot!

Today I enjoyed a one hour pedicure.  Vegan Chickie and fam gave me a voucher for the pedicure for Christmas and today I finally got to enjoy it.

It was bliss .. well, it was a little bit painful sometimes, like when she was sticking that wooden stick under my toenails to clean them and then when she massaged my calves ... you know those nasty little knots that you get in your muscles sometimes, that only require minuscule pressure to cause intense pain???  Hmm.

No.  Really, it was pretty darn good.  Why is it that when something feels that good, an hour passes in a flash, but when you're at the dentist, an hour feels like three hours??

Afterwards, I met Vegan Chickie and Chicklet outside the spa and then we all walked to the cafe where we met Adoring Husband for coffee.

I had Chicklet on my lap for a long time!  She usually gets restless and wants to be on the move, but she sat with me for about an hour.  It was so nice!

How precious is this??  

We eventually had to make a move, although I could easily have enjoyed Chicklet for another hour, but Psychotic dogs needed to be fed and we had dinner cooking in the slow cooker.  **sigh**

April Photo a Day challenge ...

3. Mail
My Canon lens travel coffee mug!  Got it on ebay.

I've already used it twice and it holds the coffee well ... I'm very fussy with my coffee cups ... mostly I prefer a take-away coffee.  I will almost always ask for a take-away cup when I go to a cafe for coffee.

In some cups, coffee doesn't taste good.  It tastes good in this cup.

Well, after finally winning a challenge, wahoo, I am off to watch some more Greys before bed.

Nite all.

Addicted to Greys

I have just watched two episodes of Grey's Anatomy and I HAVE to watch the next episode.  I will never be able to sleep tonight if I don't see what happens next!!

As a token gesture, I am posting the first two photos of the April Photo a Day challenge and another photo that I took this morning on my ride.

1. My Reflection
(I look evil enough that I expect horns to poke through my hair!)

2. Colour

I found these on one of the picnic tables at the park this morning.  They were highlighted so beautifully by the morning sun, I couldn't resist taking the photo.  One of my photographer friends from the course that I did in Toowoomba in 2010 has a fetish for taking photos of random shoes - so I thought of her when I took this :D

Now if you will excuse me ... my Grey's addiction needs to be satisfied!!

Nite all

Blog Spot - The Little Gnome

I asked the birthday boy some questions, telling him that he would be the star of my blog post tonight.

I think he was a bit chuffed, until we got part way through the questions and he realised that he had to put his thinking cap on and it wasn't going to be as easy as he thought!

So The Little Gnome turned 78 years of age today.

Here are the answers to his questions:

Q.  Where were you born?
A.  Cecil Plains QLD (45 kms south of Dalby) in 1934

Q. What was your main occupation?
A.  Rodent Control Operator (Rat Catcher)

Q.  When did you move to Burrum Heads?
A.  2006

Q.  Favourite food?
A.  Roast Pork - especially the crackling.

Q.  Favourite music?
A.  Country and Western.

Q.  Favourite movie?
A.  Australia

Q.  What was the last book that you read?
A.  I don't read books.  I read the newspaper every day.

Q.  What are you most afraid of?
A.  snakes, frogs and toads.

Q.  What are you really good at?
A.  Wheeling and dealing.  I buy used machinery like lawn mowers, fix them up and sell them.

Q.  What do you do for fun?
A.  Come down to the Seat of Knowledge every morning.

Q.  Not counting your children, what is your greatest achievement?
A.  My charity work.   (The Little Gnome has received two awards for charity work)

Q.  If you were going to get a tattoo, what would you get and where would you get it?
A.  I already have wolves all over my body.  I guess I'd get another wolf on one of my butt cheeks  because that's the only spot left!

Q.  What country would you most like to visit?
A.  New Zealand.

Q.  What famous person, dead or alive, would you most like to meet?
A.  Drew Barrymore.

Q.  You're having a dinner party for ten.  Five family or friends and five famous people.  Who would you invite?
A.  Friends - Roz, Hilda, Robyn, Ray and Merv.  Famous - Drew Barrymore, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Alfie Langer and Wally Lewis.

Q.  If you had the power, what one thing would you do to try to save the planet?
A.  Stop destroying rainforests.

Q.  Who do you most admire and why?
A.  My Grandson, for his achievements.  Rising above his background, getting a good education and working his way up through the ranks.

Q.  Scrunch or Fold?
A.  Fold

The Little Gnome struggles with his literacy skills, so I wrote his answers out for him and I gave him no warning about my little questionnaire, so sitting in front of all of his friends and having to answer twenty questions off the top of his head, was a big stretch for him.

I've warned my other boys that they are next, so they'd best get their thinking caps on!

Today, Adoring Husband was working in the yard and cleaning up behind the shed.

He found some eggs and all but one of them was broken ...

I posted it onto the flickr group and one of the girls thought it was a gecko egg.  It's very cute :D

I did go for a ride this morning and it really was a glorious day.  The sun was shining, the sky was a vivid blue, there was a nice cool breeze and there were lots of bird sounds everywhere.

The tide was out, so I walked out along the sand flats and spent about 40 minutes exploring the rock pools, following the oyster catchers and chasing soldier crabs.

I took quite a few photos, but none of them were really worth sharing.  The light just was too bright!

Still, it was a most pleasurable morning and sunshiny days have been rare so far this year, so I soaked it up.

Bed time for me.

Nite all.