Dear Me ...

I was reading a women's magazine at the hairdressers yesterday and it had a regular feature where a famous person had the opportunity to write a letter to their teenage 'self' to offer advice, warnings and insights.

I thought this was an interesting concept and tried to imagine what I might tell my own teenage self in a letter.

My initial thought, and most important advice was ... "Get psychiatric help.  NOW!"

But seriously ...  here goes ...

Dear Me ...

Be brave enough to make your own decisions and thereby your own possible mistakes.  You will learn from them, and will have the satisfaction of knowing that you tried.

Don't let other people convince you that anything is a bad idea.  Do your own research and trust your own instincts and judgement.

Be brave enough to take that first scary step when you want to try something new.   Learn how to talk yourself 'into' something instead of talking yourself 'out' of it.

Being successful is not 'showing off'.  Don't be afraid to be great.

You are special and will be loved for who you really are, so don't waste your life being who you think others want you to be.

Your parents are 'people' just like everyone else.  They have flaws and issues, and have raised you the best way they could with the limited knowledge and experience that was available to them.  This means that their way was not necessarily the right way.  Create your own 'right way'.

Love and sex are two completely different things ... learn the difference.

You are a good person, with the intelligence, common sense and potential to create your own wonderful life.  Love yourself enough to take your own path and not be dragged along other people's paths.

Work your way through the bad times, they will pass, and you will be stronger for them.

Appreciate the good times and feel every moment of the happiness that comes your way.  Find joy in the smallest pleasures and try to find the positive in what may appear to be a negative.

Take control of your own health.  Don't wait til the age of 40 to decide that your health is important, because the damage will already be done.

Everything happens for a reason.  The people who come into your life will be there for an important reason.  Learn from them.

Be a good listener.

It's ok to be alone.  Really!

If you follow all of that advice, your life will be very different, and you probably won't end up where I am now ... but ... you need to know, that your children will turn out much better than you ever imagined AND the love that you feel for your first grandchild (and probably all the others who follow) will overwhelm you with it's intensity.

Lotsaluvmexx

I'm sure, if I really thought about it, I could find plenty more to say ... but really ... would a teenager focus long enough to even read it?

Would teenage ME read it without rolling her eyes and thinking "Yeh.  Whatever."

I got to spend some time with my little Chicklet today ...

**sigh**

Dear Me ... disregard everything I said above.  If you follow my advice, 'you' won't end up where 'I' am now and THIS is where you want to be now :o)

Nite all

Uncontrollable Yawning

That's what I am doing on the couch right now ... yawning uncontrollably!

After the usual start to the day, I pedalled around town for an hour (which is ALSO becoming the usual) taking photos, while Kiwi Gal pedalled down to the beach, had a swim and then lay in the sunshine for a while.

Just before I got home, I almost literally bumped into Aussie H at the final corner.  We chatted for a while and then she offered me some lettuce and capsicum from her garden so I followed her to her garden and picked some veggies.

I came home and played with my photos, as I do ...

Heron in Flight

Three kids building sand castles with serious moats.  The sand was flying!

After lunch, I needed a nap!  I'm getting old!  But then, I WAS woken in the night by the sound of Adoring Husband cursing because he woke up at 2.30am for the fifth night in a row!  Ugh!

I got a little pampering this afternoon when I went to the hairdresser for a couple of hours.  A change of colour in my foils, and a trim, makes the world of difference!  I feel like a new woman!

Arrived home just in time to get dressed,  hop on the courtesy bus and head to the bowls club for the raffles and badge draw.

No luck at all tonight for Adoring Husband, or I, but Kiwi Gal won some money on the Keno and four drinks.

We had dinner at the club tonight with some friends and I drank two glasses of wine!  Very unusual.

It was a very nice evening.

So, all of that is what has caused me to yawn uncontrollably on the couch.  I get to visit my little Chicklet tomorrow.  I have an early start,  so I'm going to stop yawning and head off to bed.

Nite all.

Jewellery Order

It's nice to know that people haven't forgotten that I make jewellery :o) even though 'I' had forgotten!

While at indoor bowls this morning, one of the new ladies asked me if I would take an order for a bracelet and matching earrings!  I'm so pleased, and now that Christmas is just around the corner, I might get more orders.

I think I will carry the jewellery box to bowls each Thursday, and see if I can sell some for Christmas.

It appears to be quite still at the moment, but we have had gale force winds most of the day, which made it difficult to lurk around town for the usual photographic opportunities on my trike.

Instead, I took the macro lens into the back garden to satisfy my overwhelming desire to use my camera today, and under difficult conditions, took 'heaps' of photos.

The results were surprisingly satisfying!

I have no idea what this is, but considering the state of our veggie garden, I figure it can't be good!

You would never know, looking at this, that conditions were cyclonic!

These Wattlebirds have, for the second year running, built a nest in our alfresco area in a pot plant.

Kiwi Gal has settled in nicely and has found her favourite place on the couch in the family room with the dogs.  She is more than happy to do nothing, after leaving Sydney and her very stressful work and family life behind her for ten days.  She has turned off her mobile phone and is quietly de-stressing.

We've planned a whale watching trip next week and we might all drive down to the Sunshine Coast on another day.  Tuesday has just got to be movie day!  We both have hair appointments tomorrow.  Not too much happening, but just enough to make it a holiday.

Just so long as I have enough spare time to design and create my jewellery order.  After all, business is business.

Nite all.

Good start ... lousy finish.

It all started with some flashes of luck with the camera and the local birdlife this morning!

Baby Plover looking a little the worse for wear in the wet grass.

A young Butcher Bird.

Green Parrot.

Adult Plover.

Dolphin - which I was sure was a Kookaburra, but obviously I was wrong!

Luckily, for me, I have an Adoring Husband who thinks logically, when I can't!

Three occasions in a row, I went out with my camera and the 400mm lens taking photos.  I probably took more than 200 photos each time, but when I got home and looked at them on the computer screen, they were all blurry and I had to delete them all.

I got so cranky!!

I swore and told him that we had to return the stupid lens because it wasn't working properly!

So he tried it with and without the tripod and had the same problem.

Then he wondered if it was the filter on the lens and tried to remove it.  It was stuck fast and we both tried to unscrew it without luck.

After about twenty minutes, Adoring Husband walked into the lounge room and had successfully removed the lens filter.

He cleaned the lens AND the lens filter and tried it again.

SUCCESS!!

So the lens and filter obviously has so much crap on them, that the camera was focussing on THAT instead of the subject that I wanted to photograph!

**rolls eyes**

Adoring Husband seems to find his secret drawer of common sense when I can't find my usually abundant supply!  Thank goodness for that!

We picked up Kiwi Gal from the airport today and on the way home, we stopped at Toogoom and had lunch at Goodies restaurant on the water.

Kiwi Gal and I shared a bottle of bubbly and the food was good.  It was a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Psychotic Dogs were very happy to see her and have been getting lots of cuddles since she walked in the door.

Late this afternoon, Adoring Husband and I rushed down to the river for what looked like being a fabulous sunset.

Unfortunately it fizzled out to nothing.

I took an incredibly under-exposed photo which captured the red sun beautifully, but that's all it captured.

Red Sun

None of the correctly exposed photos had a sun like this!

Maybe next time :o)

Photographically speaking, it was a good start to the day, but a lousy finish.

Nite all.

Early to Rise

It was a bright and early start to the day!

As I heard the garage roller door open and Adoring Husband drive out, I looked across at the clock and saw that it was 5.15am.  I had set my alarm for 5.30, so I turned it off before it rang out and jumped out of bed ready to start the day.

Because it was 'family lunch' day, we had to leave bright and early for Maryborough so that we'd be home before lunch.

There is a lake behind the golf course in Maryborough that is home to many different types of birds including ibis, ducks, geese, swans, lorikeets, bush parrots etc etc.

Adoring Husband noticed all of this birdlife when he played golf nearby a couple of months ago.

Unfortunately, some of the birds must have gone into hibernation, because we didn't see a lot, other than ibis, ducks and lorikeets, however we did get some good shots.

The water lilies were lovely 

I have no idea what these birds are.  I looked up and there they were!

I think I shall name it 'Ibis Island'

After we left, Adoring Husband suggested that we stop in at Lenthalls Dam

http://www.widebaywater.qld.gov.au/quicklinks/lakelenthall

A great camping and picnic area with a boat ramp for boating and fishing.  Beautifully landscaped and quite a large area.

The drive in, wasn't too much fun, because the dirt road had obviously been damaged during the floods earlier in the year and there were still some large muddy puddles that we had to drive around, but it was still drivable without a 4WD.

Photographically speaking, there was not a lot going for it, although, as Adoring Husband suggested, it would be a great sunset location, given the water and tree-lined banks.

The gates close at 8pm so we could get a sunset or two in before Summer.

We had a lovely family lunch.

Tomorrow will be a trip into the airport to pick up Kiwi Gal, who will be with us for ten days, so I'd best get to bed so that I can be ready for another early rise tomorrow!

Nite all.

PS  I promised to show you Adoring Husband's third place photo for the group challenge and here it is

Nite again.

photo5 Box

It's here!  It's here!  My photo5 box arrived in the mail today!

I've been popping into the website a few times a day to look at the new submissions and there are very few unique ideas.

I seem to be looking at repeat photos.  Same composition, different colours.

This seems strange to me.  If we can all go to the website to see the entries so far, why would we submit photos exactly the same as the ones that are on there?

Yes I know how difficult it is to think of something new and different, but we still have three weeks to work on it!

I may end up submitting something similar myself, but I certainly plan on thinking long and hard about it and practising different ideas leading up the closing dates.

Anyway, in the mean time, I have a couple of macro shots to share.

Star Bee

Star Flower (Hoya)

Tomorrow morning, Adoring Husband and I are driving to Maryborough, on a photographic mission, so hopefully, I will have more to share in my next update.

Adoring Husband came third in our group challenge this month with a photo that I am unable to show you in this post, but I hope to tomorrow!  He is on a roll!

These things happen in threes, so I wonder what brilliance he will come up with next!

Sadly, he has decided to not enter the photo5 competition.  I think he should.  I can still talk him into it between now and the closing date.

Finally, our Chicklet photo update ...

Perfectly gorgeous.

I will take a photo of my photo5 box and it's contents to post here tomorrow.

Nite all.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I can't believe that I have no photos to show for it, but we attended the Pier Festival in The Bay today!

After starting the day in the usual manner, at the 'Seat of Knowledge', then having a short ride on the trike with Aussie H,  then chatting with her while sitting on our trikes in the middle of the road outside my house, I finally came inside and Adoring Husband suggested that we go into The Bay and check out the Pier Festival.

I did, however, take a photo of Ross Street Trader sitting on my trike this morning.

77 years of age last birthday

They call him the Ross Street Trader, because he buys used lawn mowers, boats/trailers, cars and other various tools and vehicles, does them up and then parks them on his front lawn and sells them.  He has a pretty good reputation in town for selling good quality stuff... but I'm pretty sure I've told you that before, in another post.

He was checking my trike out to see if he could bend his knee enough to pedal one.  He couldn't.

So Adoring Husband and I drove into The Bay and wandered around the festival, sampled the coconut prawns, bought some home-made dog biscuits, enjoyed a coffee, walked part way along the pier in gale force conditions, decided that there were no stalls selling anything else that we were interested in and then we made the decision to leave.

As we got closer to the car, we decided to have some lunch at the resort where Vegan Chickie is living, so I sent her a text to let her know where we were.

Chicklet was napping, but as soon as she woke up, they came downstairs and joined us.

I had a lovely couple of hours cuddling with Chicklet, while Adoring Husband wandered across the road and began photographing some kite surfers who were taking advantage of the wind.  He got a couple of good shots too!

Lunch was delicious and the Chicklet time was great ... I could watch her for hours ... my conversation skills go right out the window when she is around.

It was a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Let's do it again some time!

Nite all.

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.