It's a Winner!!

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that we didn't do any good in the garden competition!

I'm looking forward to seeing the garden that won, because personally, I think ours is pretty special and the only reason we put our garden in the competition was because so many different people suggested it!

The garden that won must be a beauty!

The good news is that Adoring Husband won the photography competition with his hibiscus photo.

I predicted that he would win with this photo, but apparently they had trouble deciding which of his photos should win!  He had also submitted a frog photo that was very good, and it received a 'highly commended'.

He is feeling pretty chuffed, as well as guilty, for taking my crown from me!  I won the inaugural competition last year.

This one was even more special because the quality of the entries were of a higher standard this year, and there were also a lot more entries.

This is his first competition win, so it's a big deal.

Well done my darling :o)  I'm proud of you!

I spent a lovely morning with Vegan Chickie and Chicklet.  We went for a walk and sat in the shade near the pier with take-away coffee and fruit salad.  I also had a little butter chicken pie which was very nice.

Of course I got the obligatory Chicklet photos ...

There is cuteness in the air.

Ok so it's photo time again is it??

Oh should I smile now?

How about a giggle?  That usually gets a reaction!

I love my Mum.  Can you get her in the photo too??

I know I say this after every visit, but .... she is growing up so fast!!

I'm off now to watch the second half of a very close NRL footy match between Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors.

Adoring Husband is a winner and I hope that Melbourne Storm will be winners tonight too!

Nite all.

More Macro Magic

I spent some time experimenting with one of the Canon Photo5 briefs (foam) this afternoon and came up with a couple of interesting shots, but still not quite where I want to be, so I will continue to experiment!

After the mild disappointment of that, I decided to venture into the back garden with my macro lens and shoot away for about twenty minutes.  I came up with these ...

Fig Tree beetle - he lives on our fig tree

Dandelion

... and for good measure, here are a couple of new photos of my little Chicklet :)

Too cute for words

This one makes me smile EVERY time!  Surprise!

I get to see her tomorrow for a couple of hours.  Looking forward to that!

We also find out tomorrow if Adoring Husband has won the garden photography competition with his macro magic!  Fingers crossed!

Nite all.

A Full Day

Of course, it all started with coffee at the Seat of Knowledge!

Squirt came with me and took the opportunity to say goodbye to the boys.

I returned home with her, so that I could say goodbye to The Band Leader, and then I made my way to 'indoor bowls', where I go every Thursday morning, and left them to finish packing and make their way home.  Our goodbyes, surprisingly, did not include tears!

I left bowls early today so that I could get myself organised for a birthday lunch at the park.

After picking up a few things from the supermarket, I decided to pedal home along the river.

I came across six kids selling sea-shells and soldier crabs outside their holiday home.  They had dragged a round table from the house and set it up beside the pathway and then placed the shells around the table.

They had collected the shells from along the beach and were selling them for prices that ranged from 10c to $1.  Of course, any of us could collect similar shells for ourselves by walking along the beach, but these kids had decorated the table and made price tags and were spruiking to attract customers.

They were polite, confident and well spoken kids who became very excited when I told them that I would like to buy some of their shells.  After all, they had put so much effort into this little venture, how could I resist?

I bought two shells at $1 each and as I paid them, they proudly announced "You are officially our first paying customer!"

I started to pedal off, when I decided that I should take their photo, so I asked their Dad's permission and got them to pose around the table.

Here are the shells that I bought ...

The bargain shells!

By midday, I had prepared my lunch, tossed a couple of Cruisers in an esky bag, packed my camera and headed off to the park for Mrs Bucket's birthday lunch.

She was already there with Aussie H, Woman of Many Talents and Joyful Kiwi, still awaiting the arrival of a few others.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the tide was coming in, there were happy laughing children everywhere and families enjoying picnics.  Kids were fishing off the river bank or paddling their kayaks and canoes along the river.

Dogs were barking and bounding through the shallows.  Toddlers were building sand castles.  There were young ones on skate boards, scooters and bicycles winding their way along the paths.

It was the perfect picture of Spring!

Mrs Bucket was in fine form and happily enjoying the company of her friends.

Mrs Bucket (62 today!)

As we enjoyed lunch, another friend, "Mother" arrived and joined us.  Not long after that, yet another arrived with some delicious nibblies.

After a very pleasant four hours with good food, good wine and good friends, I packed my things into the basket of my trike and made my way home, feeling very relaxed and ready for some quiet time on the couch with Adoring Husband.

It's been a full, but most enjoyable day and now I am ready to collapse in my bed and sleep the night away!

Nite all.

It is Short and Sweet.

After the usual morning ritual ...

Squirt with two of my boys.

The Dog Whisperer who paddles past the Seat of Knowledge every morning with his 3 dogs.

... Squirt, The Band Leader and I, drove into The Bay to do some heavy duty shopping.

The first shop was a big fat failure, so we decided to generate some positive shopping energy by having a good breakfast at my favourite seaside restaurant.

Unfortunately, it's the holiday season and the tourists had filled every available space at my favourite restaurant, so we had to make do with breakfast at a less favourable restaurant across the road.  The food was much better than expected and it gave us the energy to soldier on with the shopping.

The following shop was a HUGE success and the day got progressively better.  

Surprisingly we were able to get everything that we had on our list and we all came home with a very strong sense of satisfaction.

All of this fresh air has increased the apetite of my visiting family and they have been eating every meal as though it were their last!  Gobbling up all the goodness that I lay before them.

It has also made them very tired.  The fresh air, the fishing, the walking, the shopping, the eating and the relaxing.  It's all been too much for them.

Unfortunately, they have to go home tomorrow.  They have a cat at home due to have kittens any minute and a beautiful dalmatian awaiting their return, so this time their visit is short and sweet.

There will be goodbye tears tomorrow.

Nite all.

The Best Fisherperson in the World!

It's been a good day.

This morning Squirt and I went to the bakery for take-away coffee and then headed down to the 'Seat of Knowledge'.

Last time she was here, she rode Adoring Husband's bicycle and I pedalled my trike, but the bicycle has a flat tyre at the moment, and has done for quite a few months, so today,  she walked beside me while I pedalled.

After we got home, mid morning, I prepared a lasagne for dinner.

Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet arrived around 11am for lunch.

Squirt and The Band Leader hadn't met Chicklet before so it was nice for them to see her at last.

Unfortunately little Chicklet wasn't a happy little vegemite today and it appears that she may be getting her top teeth, so they didn't stay for as long as usual.  Chicklet and I did get to sit outside and visit the chookies for a while though, which is always special.

After my little family left for home, Adoring Husband prepared four fishing rods while Squirt drove down to the shops to get bait, and then we all went fishing on the beach.

The Band Leader was the first to catch a tiny tiny tiny little fish, which was a whiting.

Whiting number two and a very happy Band Leader.

The Band Leader then caught another whiting, a bit bigger than the last.

The Band Leader was the only one of us who caught ANY fish!

Contemplating life and enjoying some fresh air.

Squirt tried hard.

Adoring Husband seemed intent on catching something too!

Adoring Husband enjoying the warm water and the cool breeze.

After dinner tonight, he and the Band Leader drove down to the boat ramp to try to catch a flathead, without success.

We had our lasagne and salad for dinner, which was quite nice, although a little too browned on top!  Still quite tasty anyway.

Now everybody is exhausted and in bed.

Tomorrow we'll have a big day in The Bay to shop for shoes and accessories to go with the Band Leader's graduation dress.

The weather will be glorious again, so it should be a nice day for shopping!

So I've spent the day with the best fisherperson in the world and tomorrow she will spend the day with me, the best shopper in the world!!

Nite all.

Brief Two

Just so you know, Brief One of the Canon EOS Photo5 competition was 'Through a Pet's Eyes' and those of us who were not entered in the competition last year, had to submit a photo for this brief to make us eligible to receive this year's competition box.

My entry was this ...

Through a pet's eyes

So now we have the theme for the next four briefs.

Brief number two is 'Foam' //macro and states - "This brief encourages you to look at everyday things by getting closer to them.  Take this ordinary soap, turn it into foam, and make it amazing.  See how it interacts with light, what shape it creates, try colouring it.  Get creative, just stay close."

I haven't received the box in the mail yet, but I can begin experimenting and practising and planning my photo now.

There is only a month to submit all 5 briefs.

I'm a bit excited and have lots of ideas jumping through my head!

But that can wait for now because ... my sister Squirt is in town!  She and her youngest daughter, The Band Leader, arrived this afternoon to surprise me, and are staying for a few days.

It's been eighteen months since I saw them.  They came down for our wedding in April last year.  It's good to see them :o)

So I hope to have a nice few days spending some quality time with my little sis.

This morning I stopped at a friend's garden and took a few photos of her flowers.  This is one of them.

I might try to recruit Squirt and The Band Leader to help me come up with ideas for Brief Two.  Along with Adoring Husband, some brain storming may be in order!  Surely we can come up with some brilliance!  

Nite all.

Canon Competition

"To me, photography is an art of observation.  It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place ... I've found it has little to do with the things you see, and everything to do with the way you see them." - Elliott Erwitt

I found that quote on the Canon facebook page today.  Very profound and very true.

Tomorrow is the big day!

The Canon EOS Photo5 Competition begins.  This is how it works.

EOS Photo5 is Canon's annual creative photography competition that begins with a little brown box.  Inside there are 5 individual photographic briefs to challenge your creativity.  There are only a limited number of boxes available.

There is a prize for the winner of each brief and then there is the portfolio prize which goes to the person with the best set of 5 photographs.

The winner of each individual brief wins a camera (just like mine) plus a three day photography workshop in Queenstown, New Zealand.  Flights and accommodation all taken care of.

The winner of the portfolio competition wins a PIXMA Pro printer and a fisheye lens.

So Adoring Husband, Vegan Chickie and I will be obsessing over our cameras and our photographs for the next little while ... but that's nothing different really is it?!

One photo for this post.  Another Chicklet beauty taken by Vegan Chickie, who always takes the best Chicklet photos!!

My little sweetie possum :)

Nite all.

The Ideas Girl

I got an email from BGWLBH yesterday.

She had some fabulous ideas for both my photography group challenge, and the garden photography competition.

Unfortunately, it was too late for the garden photography competition because it closed that day.

Unfortunately, it was too late for the challenge because the people I needed for her idea, won't be here again until Tuesday, which is the day after the challenge closing date!

There was one line in her email, however, that attracted my imagination, and that was "gardens are for people to be in and have fun in".

I thought about inviting lots of people over for afternoon drinks and setting some tables and chairs and stools about to create a party atmosphere, but it seemed like a lot of trouble for everybody else to go to, just for me to create a photo for a challenge that doesn't even have a prize!

So I wandered around my garden, looking and thinking, thinking and looking, when I had a spark of an idea.

I have so many garden ornaments, frogs in particular, that I thought perhaps they could have a tea party in the back yard.

I began setting up for a tea party.

Then halfway through the setting up process, I thought to myself 'after a tough day in the garden, the beverage that my frogs would most enjoy, would probably be an alcoholic beverage!'

Change of plan!

I found a small round hat box, placed it below my "GardeN" sign and covered it with a cloth napkin for a table cloth.

We had a little box of coloured shot glasses (from the 70s era) so I placed them around the table.

Two piccolo bottles of wine, one placed in the centre of the table and one placed in a wine cooler on the ground next to the table.

Six frog garden ornaments placed strategically around the table.

I tried taking the photo in the middle of the day, but the light was way too harsh, so I waited until late afternoon when the sun had gone behind the fence and left nice muted shadows across the yard.

I took a dozen photos from different angles, selected the one that most appealed to me and then used an editing tool to create something a little different.

Here is the result.

A photo taken in my front or back yard

There are still two days left til the challenge ends, so there are probably lots of photos to come yet, but at least I don't have to worry about it or think about it any more!

Yesterday, Adoring Husband and I submitted our photos for the garden photography competition.

My tip is that Adoring Husband will win the competition this year.  His photos are very very good.

Anyway 'Thank You' to my 'Ideas Girl' who inspired my entry into the challenge.

Nite all.

 

Oops!

I turned off my computer, took the dogs outside to pee before putting them to bed, locked the doors, tidied up a little, filled the water bottles and stacked them in the fridge, went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and was just about to open the bedroom door to go to bed ... oops!

Forgot to do a blog post!

So this will be short and sweet because it's almost 1am.

Lots of photos of Chicklet which I took today during my visit.  I hope you enjoy.

That's all for now :o)

Nite all.

A Challenging Challenge

"A photo taken in my front or back yard"

Andrew thought he was giving us an easy challenge this month, but really, is any challenge easy??  

When you are competitive and you want to do something special and different that stands out from everyone else, every challenge is tough!

This afternoon, in the warm afternoon light, I took 47 photos of various things in our yard - both front and back.

I looked at each photo on the computer screen and one by one, deleted 46 of them.  

Here is the 47th ...

... but I am far from happy with it.

I have one more idea that I'm going to try this weekend.  I've got til Monday.

Adoring Husband is struggling for ideas too, so I am not alone.

Vegan Chickie emailed me this lovely photo of Chicklet in her new overalls today.

It's an amazing photo.  Chicklet is very photogenic, like her parents, both of whom take a great photo.

Just look at those beautiful eyes :o)

I get to spend a few hours with Vegan Chickie and Chicklet tomorrow.  I'm a bit excited.  Camera will be in hand of course, although I can't seem to capture Chicklet in a photo the way her Mum can.  

While I'm with them, Adoring Husband will be submitting my photos for the Burrum District Garden Club Photographic Competition.  The theme is 'Around The Garden'. 

I've submitted 'Avocado Flower', 'Pink Petunia', 'Bee Happy', 'Waiting Spider' and 'Confucius Frog'.  

I've posted all of those photos here, over recent months.

I won this competition last year, unexpectedly.  I don't expect to win it this year, but I might come a place!  Fingers crossed.

We are also entering our front garden in the garden competition.

Adoring Husband has selected three of the categories to enter:

1. New Garden established less than three years.
2. Frontal Effect, which is judged from the opposite side of the street.
3. 'My own favourite garden feature'

Adoring Husband has put a lot of back breaking work into our front garden and it looks pretty special, so I think we are in with a good chance of taking a prize this year.

It's all happening!   But now that we have that sorted, it's time to focus on the challenging challenge.

Nite all.

Nature's AWOL

This morning, I decided to take my time riding around town with my camera in the trike basket, looking for some wildlife to photograph.

I followed some different paths that circle a nature reserve, which is home to a protected tree and into which, people are not allowed to venture.

I expected to at least see some different birdlife through the foliage, or a lizard, a butterfly, some interesting insects or wildflowers.

Nothing!

I heard a couple of birds way off in the distance, but there were none to be seen anywhere.

I pedalled as slowly as possible so that I could observe closely and see the smallest movement, if it happened.

Nothing!

I found my way to the park, where I was told there was an owl in the corner tree.  I've taken photos of this owl before, but I thought I would have a look anyway.

No owl.  He'd flown the (pardon the pun) coop!

Beside the tree, were a couple of shrubs and in the middle of the shrubs were a couple of spider webs and one of them had a beautiful spider sitting in the centre ...

... and that was the best I could do for ninety minutes of pedalling and searching.

I went to the community hall grounds which is abundant with bottle brush trees.  They are always full of lorikeets and bush parrots.

Last Saturday at the markets when I was manning my stall, I was disappointed not to have my camera because there were so many bush parrots feeding in the trees.

Not today!

No bush parrots and only a few lorikeets that flew off whenever I got close, which is unusual for lorikeets because they don't really scare that easily.

So much for Spring!

I guess I'll have to give nature a couple of weeks to realise that it is actually Spring now and that they should all be out playing and mating and singing and creating a stir!

All of nature is AWOL except that little mouse who is still scuttling around in my lounge room!!  Ugh!

Nite all.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

Had the family over for lunch today.

I can't believe how much Chicklet can change in a week!

She is growing up so fast and changing and developing daily.  I never noticed it so much with my kids when they were babies because I was so busy doing the motherly and wifely stuff.

Life happens and you go with the flow.

With Chicklet, I just get to watch and observe, and it is SO noticeable!

I should have taken photos today, but I get caught up in the moment with her and I can't take my eyes off her, watching her every move and listening to her every sound.  It's difficult to even have a conversation with anybody because my head is full of Chicklet.

I'm a hopeless case... but I know I'm not alone because I've had many conversations with other grandparents who all make the same observations with their own grandchildren.

I believe that grandchildren should come with warning labels.

I get to have more Chicklet joy on Friday :o)

Yesterday, I mentioned that I got some nice sunset shots, and here they are.

We got to the park and waited 30 minutes for the sky to change from that first photo.  Not even the slightest change happened, in face, the colour almost all went away.

Adoring Husband gave up and began wandering around taking photos of other things.

I was JUST about to give up myself, when I saw a slight change in the clouds and then watched it all unfold into this beautiful crimson sky that turned the river into the colour of malten red lava.

This lasted for ten glorious minutes and I couldn't stop pressing the shutter button.  It was an amazing natural spectacle.

Everybody loves a good sunset!

So I'm sitting here watching a little mouse scuttle around my lounge room floor.

One of our lounges has been taken away for repairs and I think the mouse is a little disoriented!

I'm not amused and I don't like mice and I don't have any traps and I can hear his little feet hitting he carpet as he runs.  Ugh!

I've known we've had mice for a while and we've plugged in the electronic sensors that are supposed to keep mice away ... I think we all know how effective THAT has been.

At the same time, I can hear the Willy Wagtails singing outside.  I love Willy Wagtails :o) but I find it strange that they sing at all hours of the day and night.  Sometimes I wake at 3 am to the sound of their song.  When do they sleep?

I know when I sleep ... right now, while Chicklet is growing faster than a speeding bullet.

Nite all.

Whale Day

Well, this is the 7th year we've been whale watching, and on the same boat, with pretty much the same crew, except there was a new Captain this year.

This year, I am sad to say, was the least enjoyable.

There were less whales.  The whales were sluggish.  The boat was full with 49 passengers.  The people were inconsiderate, pushy and rude.  The new Captain was a little disappointing, but then, he has big shoes to fill.

I didn't have the opportunity to take many photos because I am short and couldn't see over or through the crowd, but here are my best two shots.

The weather was glorious and the rest of the crew were friendly and happy, so it was beautiful out on the water.

When we arrived home, we had enough time to download our photos and clear our cameras ready for a spectacular sunset down at the river.

Those photos will have to wait until tomorrow, because for now, it's bed time.  It's been a long, tiring day.

Nite all.

Twi-hards

My sister informed me tonight, via facebook, that there are 68 days til the movie 'Breaking Dawn' is released!  The countdown has begun!

I only spent an hour at the 'Seat of Knowledge' this morning, then I rushed to the supermarket to get vegetables for lunch and quickly pedalled home so that I could watch Samantha Stosur play her semi-final tennis match.

She won!  She now plays Serena Williams in the final tomorrow!  Woot! Woot!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to have lunch with my little Chicklet today and now we've rescheduled to Tuesday.

Adoring Husband and I had roast lamb and veggies for lunch anyway.  It was delicious!

While he was in the garden this afternoon, doing all the outside jobs, like mowing the lawn, whipper snipping the edges, weeding and watering, he found a lovely green frog and called me out with my camera.

I got these great shots of the most beautiful and delicious frog ever!

He posed for us for about fifteen minutes and then we put him back in his safe spot.

I love frogs!

We've watched my NRL football team win their first finals game this weekend too.  Go Broncos!

Tomorrow is the big whale watching day for us.  Cameras are ready and we must be up bright and early!  I'm a bit excited!

Of course, you know that you should be prepared for a LOT of photos over the coming week!

For now, I am going to watch the end of the Twilight movie which is being shown on telly tonight, as I am sure my Twi-hard sister is also doing, and then I'll be off to bed.

Nite all.