Day 249 in a Year of my Life

Before the family left for the big sports carnival this morning, I took a quick couple of snaps of Sporty Spice with her cockatiel and then had a play with the editing ...

The final product turned out much better than I expected and it printed beautifully.  I used it for the July Photo a Day for day 5 ... Love.

Another colourful sunset this afternoon and the misty rain stopped for the occasion!

After the sunset, I dropped the print off to the girl whose photo I took yesterday.  She was so excited, she came bounding to the front door and all three girls told me that they had been looking out for me all day and they had to go out in the morning, but checked the letterbox just in case I'd left it there.

They were all very grateful and thanked me profusely ... along with their grandparents who were very bemused.

It was a nice feeling.

I arrived home just before dark and was in the middle of preparing dinner when the family arrived home from their first day of competition touch footy.  They were very wet and tired.

A nice easy meal of home made hamburgers that everybody put together themselves, a glass or two of vino and then a big bowl of ice cream kept the masses happy!

I ordered a new camera bag today which should arrive next week.  I'm very excited about it.  I got Nellie Noo to unpack her camera bag so that I could pack all of my gear into it and take photos, to show the Nikonian, who is also considering buying one.

Everything fits beautifully with room to spare.

Well, I'm off to catch a bit of Wimbledon action before I head off to bed.

Today I am grateful for fun family giggles that come from a silly sense of humour that only family can truly understand.

Nite all.  

Day 248 in a Year of my Life

I pedalled over to the lagoon this afternoon, because the sunset was looking promising.

Once again the cloud banked over at the very last minute and blocked the beautiful colour that was trying desperately to spread across the sky.

There were three young girls playing in the park beside the lagoon and one of them climbed up onto a sign beside the water.

Just as I decided to give up on the sunset, she called out to me "Take my photo!"

So I swivelled the camera around on the tripod and took a quick shot through the almost darkness.  I didn't even change the settings on the camera, so when I looked at the image 'in camera', I could barely see her through the darkness.

Thank goodness for Photoshop!!

These girls obviously weren't afraid of 'stranger danger' because when I asked which house they were in so that I could bring the photo around to them tomorrow, they happily gave me their address lol.

I might even ask them if they want to participate in a photoshoot for me tomorrow, so that I can get some practise doing portrait shots.

I'll see how my day pans out.

Our three psychotic dogs are exhausted from chasing the kids around all day.

The men are exhausted from putting together a big garden swing, that converts to a day bed with flyscreens all around it.

The kids are exhausted from playing football in the back yard for most of the day.

I haven't done much except catch up with all the family news and organize a quick lunch today, so I might even try to catch some Wimbledon tonight.

Today I'm grateful for low maintenance visitors that just seem to fit right in.

Nite all.

Day 247 in a Year of my Life

I have family here for the next 4-5 days, so my posts will probably be short and posted late, which, come to think of it, is no different to how my posts have been for a while now!

It's really lovely to have them here anyway :)

I can't believe that the time is already after 12.30am.  I have to be awake reasonably early in the morning and there will be no watching Wimbledon tonight!

For day 3 of the July Photo a Day challenge, the theme is 'Cold' ...

Tomorrow's theme is Red, White OR Blue.  Hmmm nothing jumps into my head straight away.  Might have to sleep on that one.

Today I am grateful for happy, energetic extended family who breeze into my life every so often and help me feel the love.

Nite all.

Day 246 in a Year of my Life

I would like to start by first thanking Grannymus for my email hug this morning.  It was a lovely way to start the day.

Second of all, thanks to my friend, The Nikonian, for providing a pretty neat quote today, that eased my anxiety over some questionable exchanges I've had with people recently...

I think Vegan Chickie hit the nail on the head the other day on the phone, when she reminded me that the trauma of the tornado is just beginning to make it's mark on me.

In highly emotional situations, I  tend to stay reasonably strong for everybody else and then when it's all done and dusted and everything is fixed and people are back to normal, that's when I fall apart.

So I think I might be a little emotionally unstable at the moment.  Small things affect me quite badly, and big things knock the wind out of me and when you put them all together in a small period of time, I teeter precariously on the brink of a break down.

Sounds dramatic doesn't it!

Day Two of July Photo a Day ... Shoes

I was disappointed last night, (or should I say this morning) when the last Aussie, Bernard Tomic, was knocked out of Wimbledon.  I sat up til 6am to watch him lose!

At least now, I'll be able to get some more solid sleep, and considering that it's almost midnight, I think I will sign off now and head in the direction of my pillow.

Today, I am grateful for the loving people in my life who are helping me to heal.  Slowly but surely, this too shall pass.

Nite all.

Day 245 in a Year of my Life

Day One.

Happiness is ...

I confess, I forgot that it was the first of the month and didn't think of taking a photo for the challenge until about 4pm, which kind of limited me with time and location.

Also, my brain doesn't work so well after 2pm, so this will do for now.

I've eaten my Wimbledon tradition of strawberries and cream and am now waiting up for Bernard Tomic's match.

I don't think he'll be playing til about 3am our time, so once again, it's going to be a long night!

Adoring Husband and I drove to the plant nursery in Torbanlea this afternoon.

We got some plants for the hanging baskets in our outdoor area (the others got blown away in the tornado) and we also got male and female kiwi fruit plants.  I've never had kiwi fruit fresh from the plant and I can't wait to see how they taste!  Everything tastes better straight from the plant :)

A friend, 'Phar Lap', (that is also his nickname outside of this blog, because of his big heart) visited us this afternoon and asked me to create a community page in facebook for his remote control boating group.

So I spent the evening doing just that, and when it was all done, I got a private message from a woman, whose husband is also part of this boating group, abusing me because as far as she was concerned SHE was supposed to be in charge of creating the page on facebook.  (she had created the wrong type of page and had been reluctant to to change it, which is why I was asked to do this.)

I apologised and explained how it had come about and promised her that we didn't intend to upset her, but she kept telling me off and eventually said that she refused to upload any more photos or videos for the group and would no longer maintain the account.

My last message told her that I was happy to hand this account over to her, that I had only created it as a favour and that I was a lover not a fighter!  I put a big smiley face there, so that she would know I wasn't feeding off her anger.

So far, she has ignored my final message.

There are many members of the human race who have disappointed me in the last month and I'm feeling just a little disillusioned.  Sometimes people suck!

I think it's time to hibernate for a while.

Today I am grateful for the horrible people in my life ... because they make my lovely friends seem so much lovelier.  I love you all!  You know who you are!

Nite all.

Day 244 in a Year of my Life

We've got some crap weather forecast over the next few days.

A low has formed over Fraser Island, which means heavy rain and gale force winds.

I must admit I'm feeling a little nervous.

I'm ok with wind, until I see a warning by the weather bureau.  That always makes my heart skip a beat, and then I stalk the Bureau of Meteorology website, Willy Weather website, Elders Weather website and any other website I can find!

So, to take my mind off the weather, I've decided to focus on a July Photo a Day challenge.

The weather hasn't been too conducive to outside photography, so I hope this will give me new inspiration.

Today I am grateful to have photography as therapy!

Nite all.

Day 243 in a Year of my Life

It's well after midnight and I'm watching Wimbledon.

The Australian, Bernard Tomic, is playing the Frenchman, Richard Gasquet.

They are one set each and five games each.  I think I'm in for a long night!

When this match is over, the Australian, Samantha Stosur plays her match.

Pretty sure I'll be having a nap fairly soon.  Pretty sure it's going to happen without me even knowing it :)

Having sorted through three days worth of photographs, I was disappointed with most of them and really only have this one to share ... and I'm even reluctant to share it.

I think I need some inspiration!

Or I think I need to create some opportunities for myself.

A lady, who is a regular holiday maker here, stopped me today and asked "have you ever done classes?"

I thought she was asking if I'd ever attended photography classes, so I began telling her my education history with photography.

She was giving me a strange look when I realised she was actually asking me if I ever 'conduct' classes here in town!

Then she proceeded to tell me that she had been to my exhibit last year and absolutely loved my photography and that she would love to be my first student, if I ran a class!

Well it's a thought!

She said she'll be back in 11 weeks, so that should be plenty of time to get a class organised.  That made me LOL.

Highly unlikely that I can be organised enough or motivated enough to make this happen, but it's nice to know that somebody out there thinks I'm good enough to do that.

A little later on, I had another slight boost to the ego, when a local lady told me "You really have the WOW factor with your dress sense.  When there is an occasion, I look for you, to see what you're wearing.  I really love your style."

Nobody has ever said that to me before, so I was a bit surprised and bemused.

Today I am grateful, for the times that I'm not feeling on top of my game, and people step forward with interesting questions and statements, to slightly change the ebb and flow of my life and raise my awareness.  So, today, I am more aware that I'm ok.  Really!

Nite all

Day 243 in a Year of my Life

Totally involved in the tennis, which means my brain is not functioning for posting tonight.

Instead, I thought I would share this photo and no, I didn't take this one ...

His head looks too big and heavy to hold up on that long skinny neck!  I hope it's not cold where he lives!

Today I am grateful to have more than 100 people watching my facebook photography page.  It's pretty good considering I'm not selling anything or doing any networking.  That's pretty cool.

Nite all.

Day 242 in a Year of my Life

Facebook share time again ...

... and my sister, Squirt, posted this with a panicked request wanting to know what sort of snake it was ....

Luckily it was just a harmless python and everybody convinced her to set it free.

She doesn't cope well with snakes, and those of you who know us, know why.

Today, I am grateful for my kids.  I spent most of my day on a Skype call with one, a phone call with another and multiple text messaging with the other.  It was a good day.

On a final note ...

Nite all.

Day 241 in a Year of my Life

You've just got to check this out.  Mother Nature at her finest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=REP4S0uqEOc

How I would love to trek through the New Guinea jungles to capture some fabulous photos of those little gems!

YAY FOR QUEENSLAND!!  We won the second State of Origin game tonight!!  One game each, which means the decider will be a ripper on 17th July!!

The bad news is that Lleyton Hewitt lost his second round tennis match at Wimbledon tonight.  Very disappointing for me ... even more so for him (as I glance over my laptop screen and see his press conference on the tv).

Today, I made a delicious Cauliflower, potato and leek soup with crunchy dry roasted walnuts sprinkled on top.

Adoring Husband doesn't like it ... which is great!  All the more for me!!

I've been feeling a little run down as if my body is trying to fight off a cold/flu/virus, so I want to make lots of different soups full of vitamins and minerals and goodness to help strengthen my immune system and fight off the germs.

I already have chicken and roast vegetable soup in the freezer.  I might make a tomato, basil and roasted red capsicum soup next.

So I think I might head off to bed and see if I can wake up early enough to accompany Adoring Husband into The Bay tomorrow.  The car is booked in for some further repairs which will take a bit of time.

We may even go to the movies.

Today, I am grateful for discovering the very few delicious foods that Adoring Husband won't eat ... all the more for me!!

Nite all.

Day 240 in a Year of my Life

My tears are flowing for the loss of a very special lady tonight.  My heart is aching for her family, Brian, Charlie and Matilda,  her sister Christine, and for all who love her.  I know that there are so many of you, especially BGWLBH ...

RIP Liza Simpson.  

Day 239 in a Year of my Life

My "good authority"on the full moon being spectacular this morning, wasn't so good after all.

Pitiful really.

I pedalled in the dark with my head and tail lights flashing, trying to find the best spot to watch the giant moon sink behind the horizon, but it wasn't giant at all.

I was lucky enough to stumble across a live video tutorial this morning, on a site called 'Creative Live' and I watched an expert edit a whole stack of wedding photos and create an album.

He was amazing and this was day three of a three day tutorial, so I just had to buy the first two days .. because I learned so much from day three!

His name is Yervant and this is his website ...

http://www.yervantphotography.com/

He has won many photography awards and is very famous in the photography world, although, I must admit, I had never heard of him until today!  Not that that means anything .. I am a very lazy photographer with little knowledge of others in the field.

I would like to change that.

I can't wait to watch the other two days of tutorial!

Meanwhile .. have I shared this before?  I know I've seen it before, but I can't remember if I posted it here.  Oh well, it's worth sharing again.

Today, I am grateful for my favourite sporting time of year!  Wimbledon.  State of Origin football.  The Ashes (soon).

Nite all.

Day 238 in a Year of my Life

I got a super rainbow this morning ...

Fancy that!  A full rainbow across the same lagoon twice in one month!

As for tonight's super moon ... what a fizzer that turned out to be!

There was cloud cover across the horizon (so much for the weather bureau predicting clear skies!) and the moon had to fight for an hour to get above it .. by which time, it no longer looked like a super moon.

So I plan on getting out of bed at about 5am tomorrow to watch it set.  I have it on good authority that it will be just as super as it sets behind the horizon.

Therefore, this is a short post, so that I can get some sleep.

Today, I am grateful for Adoring Husband's home made vanilla, choc chip ice cream.  He gave me a full (almost overflowing) sundae glass of it last night.  It was hard work, but I swallowd every last mouthful!  Delicious!

Nite all.

Days 236 and 237 in a Year of my Life

Did you miss me?

My apologies for not posting yesterday.

I've had a bad week, with a couple of crappy things happening, and I was ready for my usual few Friday wines.

Yesterday, after I'd had breakfast, I didn't eat all day, so I went to the club with a very empty stomach and then proceeded to drink 4 glasses of wine.

Bad move.

It DID help me sleep though!  I fell unconscious onto the couch until Adoring Husband physically assisted me to bed, where I climbed, fully clothed under the doona and slept like a baby until 7am.

Almost 12 hours sleep!

I woke up feeling fine this morning, so no hangover to speak of.

Today was a perfect sunshiny Winter's day and I spent about 90 minutes enjoying it on my trike and on the beach.

I missed a good shot of a really big White Bellied Eagle, but he flew so close to me, the image is burned in my memory forever.

Today, I decided to start a series of self portraits.  It'll be good practise for portrait shots and lighting and using the remote shutter release.

A girl in one of my photography groups has started doing something similar, which gave me the idea.  There aren't too many photos of me around, so maybe one or two of them along the way will be worth sharing in printed form, with some special people.

Today's was a lazy one with very little effort put in for the lighting .. just natural light from the window.  No make-up.  No photoshopping my face.  Warts and all me.  Learning to love all of my lines and freckles.

The 'smile' sign to remind me, after such a crappy week, to lighten up and get back to being happy.

Today I am grateful to other photographers for ideas that I hope will improve my photography.  I'm also grateful to you, my guinea pigs, who have to view the practise shots!

Nite all.

Day 236 in a Year of my Life

It is definitely more difficult to get out of bed on these coolish Winter mornings.

It was 7.30am when I climbed out of bed and well after 8am when I got my coffee.

I pedalled to the beach to drink my coffee alone and spotted two Brahminy Kites about 100 metres apart, just standing on the beach.

I chose the one to the right and as I approached, it jumped up and flew over to a mudcrab that was lying dead on the beach ...

Then I got a bit too close and it flew off ...

to be with it's mate ...

I spent about an hour walking backwards and forwards on the wet sand at low tide.  My shoes were wet and sandy.  My track pants were wet and sandy up past my ankles.

But it was worth it.

It was a nice way to spend the morning and then it was even nicer going through all the photos that I had taken.

I hope that tomorrow is worth another walk on the beach .. I think I'll wear shorts and take my shoes off this time.  Might be a bit chilly on the toes, but much less mess to clean up when I get home!

I sorted through some bags of paperwork and photos today and came across a photo from my first wedding, at the ripe old age of 18.

My brother wasn't quite 15yrs of age and my little sister, who was my flower girl, was 5yrs old.  My parents were both aged 38 yrs, and both no longer with us.

I also found my mother's school reports and dance examinations - she dreamed of being a ballerina.

There was also her old bible.  It was already very old when it was handed down from an Aunty in 1947, with it's cover missing, an old bookmark in the pages and a couple of flower petals pressed and dried between the pages.

I wonder what the petals were from?  A flower that she had found as a child?  A flower from a boyfriend?  I guess we will never know now.

Such a long time ago.

Today, I am grateful for small treasures that are packed away and every few years, opened up and viewed and touched.

Reminders of the things that the people we love have experienced in the past.  Reminders that they were here, and were once a part of our lives.  A reminder that we didn't ask enough questions when we had the opportunity.

That's being just a little melancholy, but really, it made me feel warm and fuzzy.

Nite all.

 

Day 235 in a Year of my Life

Yesterday's visit to the beach at low tide...

Today I'm grateful for dvds.  Old favourites.  Dvds to watch while eating fresh strawberries and cream.

Nite all.

Day 234 of a Year of my Life.

It's sharing day today.

Check this out ... I don't know anyone this age, capable of such awesomeness!  86 Years Old!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjljqReu1I

I can't even do it now, let alone in another 30+ years!

Now for a few little facebook gems ...

Today, I am grateful to Adoring Husband who woke me at 'stupid' o'clock, and dragged me, half asleep, out into the cold for a sunrise that was over before it began.

I could see, as we approached the beach, the final seconds of a fluorescent pink morning reflecting in the wet sand, but sadly it was gone in a few blinks of an eye.

I did get to return, for a brief time, to my warm bed, to reflect on what could have been ... thank you AH for thinking of me ... maybe next time!

Nite all.

Day 233 in a Year of my Life

A couple of shots from the boat racing yesterday ...

One thing of significance happened today, we had a special morning tea to acknowledge one year since our lovely Win passed away ...

... because we love her!

Today, I am grateful to be finishing this blog post before midnight and I hope that I can be climbing into my warm bed inside the next ten minutes.

Wish me luck!

Nite all.

Day 232 in a Year of my Life

We spent the morning out at the lake at the other side of Burrum Heads, taking photos of remote control model boats racing on the water.

I wasn't all that keen to go out there, but the enthusiasm and excitement shown by the guys, was kind of infectious and I quite enjoyed the two hours I spent with them.

I'll post some photos on here tomorrow.

After we arrived home, I was feeling motivated and creative, and for the first time in a year, I made a couple of bracelets.

It was nice working in my new workspace and there was lots of room and good light.  I enjoyed it.

Then, as luck would have it, the sky was looking particularly nice, so I tested my luck and pedalled down to the river for the sunset.

My lucky day!

So, it's been a busy and productive day for both Adoring Husband and I.  Adoring Husband spent a few hours in the garden, working in the Winter sunshine.

What a great way to spend a sunny Sunday.  That's what I am grateful for today.  Free sunny Sundays that we are able to fill doing whatever we feel like!

It's already after midnight, so I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Day 231 in a Year of my Life

I apologise for another very short post.

I had a bad day today, feeling pretty miserable, but I worked my way through it and ended up having an excellent evening with friends.

The local club ran a trivia night, to raise money for the Hervey Bay animal shelter.

A group of ten of us formed a trivia team (even though the teams should have been only 6 people), but unfortunately, we came fourth for the night overall.

 Last year we came 2nd by just one point, but we didn't fare so well tonight.

There was just one low point, when we received a text message from someone, who last year, chose to play trivia with another group of people, but who, this year,  expected us to invite her to our table.

She attempted to make us feel guilty about the fact that we didn't.  That upset us greatly, and we feel that she may be burning bridges that cannot be repaired.  Toxic relationships have no place in our lives.

Enough is enough.

I'm pretty sure that I have mentioned before, I will only allow nurturing relationships in my life.

I want to feel the love.

Not guilt.

Not anger.

Not remorse.

I will no longer make excuses or allowances for the behaviour of others, especially behaviour that is not acceptable to me.

None of my genuine friends EVER make me feel guilty about any decision I make in my life.

None of my genuine friends EVER talk negatively about me behind my back.

I am responsible for my happiness.  Mine and mine alone.

If you have expectations of me, then tell me to my face.  Don't assume that I know what you want from me.

There is so much more that I want to say, but I feel that I have already said more than I should in here.

HERE is generally my happy place, where I share mostly the joyful things that happen in my life, unless there is trauma, like a tornado, and I share that with you as part of my therapy.

I have one photo to share today ...

Today I am grateful for supportive friends who nurture me and share the love, have no expectations, make no demands and never attempt to make me feel guilty or unhappy about anything I have or have not done.

Nite all.