Family Day Out

Today, when it was suggested that we all go into The Bay for a shopping day, we realised that The Bare-chested Chef had gone to work with the baby car seat still in the back of the car.

Vegan Chickie volunteered to stay at home while Adoring Husband, Bubbles and I went shopping, but we all agreed that we didn't like that idea.

Adoring Husband then decided to drive into The Bay to where The Bare-chested Chef was working, to get the car seat, and then drive all the way back home to pick us up, and take us BACK into The Bay for our lunch and shopping day.

THAT is why I named him 'Adoring Husband'.  In the interest of everybody's happiness, he sometimes performs tricks that most other husbands wouldn't!

'Salt', on The Esplanade, was our place of choice for lunch.  It's a lovely restaurant on the waterfront.  I had the duck while the others had fish, and for a beverage, we all selected various flavours of thick shakes.

It was quite delicious and the atmosphere was very nice.  It was a late lunch and we were lucky enough to be joined near the end by The Bare-chested Chef who had finished work early today.

Little Chicklet was as cute as a button, as always.  She started out in a gorgeous purple dress that we had bought her at the Childers Festival last weekend, but decided to throw up on it just before we left.  So a quick change saw her in everybody's favourite black and white striped tights and a t-shirt.

I think she had a lovely time out with everyone... especially with Aunty Bubbles, who is trying to teach her how to 'baby high five', and hopes to have succeeded by the time she leaves on Monday.

There are no big plans for tomorrow, but we will be together, and that's what counts.

Nite all.

Psychotically Happy

We had a lovely drive down to the Sunshine Coast to pick up Bubbles from the airport.

The weather was a bit erratic as we drove through sun showers, heavy downpours, overcast skies and periods of bright sunshine, but that just made the trip a little more interesting.

This afternoon we drove down to the river to try and catch a pretty sunset, but most of the clouds cleared except for one big one that covered the sun, barely giving it a chance to glow at all!

Here is my effort with the camera ...

A regular dog walker enjoying the sandy beach.

Bubbles, practising with her new camera.

Thank you to the Sea Eagle who was kind enough to fly into my shot.

Just a touch of colour in the sunset.

One thing is for sure, the psychotic dogs are psychotically happy to see Bubbles again and right now, she is draped along the couch in the family room with all three of them laying on top of her.

I'm all worn out from my big day out, so I'm off to bed, but before I go, I would just like to say ...

... we are psychotically happy to see you again too Bubbles!

Nite all.

Poosplosions!

Just a brief post tonight because I have to get some sleep.

We need to arise early and drive for over two hours to pick up Bubbles from the airport tomorrow.

Tonight, I had Chicklet on my lap in the lounge room while Vegan Chickie and The Bare-chested Chef ate their dinner.

I had one hand behind her, on the back of her nappy, and the other hand was rubbing her feet.

All of a sudden I felt this explosion burst out of her rear end!

It was so powerful that it gave me a shock and I gasped and pulled my hand away!!

It felt and sounded ominous!

There were four or five more of these ominous explosions and then when she began squirming on my lap, I decided to find out who was on nappy duty... just in the nick of time!!

That's one of the great joys of being a grandparent ... nappies are for on-duty parents :o) heheheh.

Feel the love

I had heard stories about these poosplosions in the past, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined such power!

Lucky she wasn't sitting in the bathtub!  She would have propelled herself from one end to the other!

There was a lot of effort involved and I felt it important to document it here, so that perhaps this story can be read out loud at a significant birthday in the future!

Sorry my little Sweetie Possum, but this is what grandparents are for!  To embarrass you with poosplosion stories told with love and fondest affection :o)

Nite all.  

Little Drummer Girl

If there is one thing in this world that irks me, it's bigoted, negative, small minded people who don't approve of anyone who lives a lifestyle different to themselves and who make derogatory comments under their breath loud enough to purposely offend others.

I have decided to rearrange my life so that I don't have to deal with such evil, toxic behaviour anymore!

If there is one thing in this world that I love, it's my little drummer girl, Chicklet (and her surrounding family).

I've got rhythm!

I've got the music in me!

My loving, pacifist, hippie family who don't judge people,  never purposely try to hurt anybody and who are simply trying to create a warm, loving and happy environment in which their daughter can feel safe, secure and empowered.

I want to surround myself with warm, positive people who like to nurture their friendships and build happy relationships with those around them.

Life is very very short and I am not going to waste time with anyone who enjoys making others feel bad.

My positive affirmation for today is ...

"I am unfolding in fulfilling ways and only good can come to me"

I am happy.  I am feeling the love.  

The bluebird of happiness is wrapping it's loving wings around my life as we speak and I can feel the balance and harmony readjusting as I bring this post to a close.

All is right with my world :o)

Nite all.             

So Much to Learn

We subscribe to the 'Australian Photography' magazine.

I also watch the Canon facebook page and their website.  I follow the Canon EOS chains and their EOS 1 Wall and sometimes submit entries on both.

I follow half a dozen professional photographer's sites via RSS feeds, both local and international, which  provide some great information on cameras, all forms of photography and sometimes offer short training videos on these subjects.

I have a Flickr profile and am a member of a photography group, where I can post my photos and be critiqued by both professionals and amateurs and where I have already learned a lot in a few short months.

I have a 500px profile, which I don't go into very often because the photographers there are amazingly talented and use a lot of editing software like photoshop to manipulate their photographs into extraordinary pieces of art.

I have used my camera every day for more than two years and now with my new camera, practise with different lenses in different light conditions and at different times of the day as often as possible.

I play with the iphoto editing tool on my laptop to enhance the shots that I take and I have photoshop, which I haven't used yet, but am looking at it with more of an open mind to learn a few tricks like framing my photos and adding my signature.

I did a ten day photography course last year in February, which taught a little about photography and too much on photoshop.

I attended a weekend photography workshop in Maleny which taught me more in two days than I learnt for the entire ten days in the previous course.

Adoring Husband has a sponge for a brain and has studied everything 'Canon' for the last six months and passed on lots of information to me in that time (even though I mostly hear blah blah blah lol).  Every day, I learn something new from him.

I am currently doing a Photography Diploma online.

Every day, with all of this experience and knowledge, I still feel like a beginner.

It doesn't matter how much I learn, there is always still so much more!

For every new piece of information I find, it creates a whole new section of information to learn!

I always thought that photography was just about having a good camera, learning how to compose a photograph and being in the right place at the right time for that 'special' shot.

Once you start looking beyond your own little world, where your friends and family tell you how fabulous you are and create a wonderful bubble of security for you, there is so much more to it than you could ever imagine!!

Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming, but mostly it feels like an exciting challenge.

Even if it takes 500 shots to capture that ONE MAGIC MOMENT ... it is SOOOOO worth it!

She's the apple of my eye!

Every moment with Chicklet is magic!

So I still have so much to learn and one day I want to be able to combine technical perfection with creative beauty and present an awe inspiring photograph that captures the world's imagination.

Wish me luck!

Nite all. 

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.