Nice to see you!

Three major events occurred for me last year (2010), all in the space of about 2 weeks. I turned 50. The following day I got married. Two weeks later, my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild.

Most middle-aged people will tell you that in their minds, they still feel 20 something. It's the same for me.

Wasn't it only yesterday that I was planning a night out with guys from the surf club? That gorgeous new perm. Flaired, cuffed denims and the red t-shirt with the off-the-shoulder frill. Corked platform wedgies. **sigh**

Suddenly I'm looking in the mirror and wondering how 30 years can flash by so damned quickly!

So here I am in cyberspace, sharing my genuine shock and horror with anyone who'll listen and maybe I'll even meet some other over 50s who find themselves in the same predicament!

Welcome to my dilemna!!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

January Chicklet Update

It's been a while since I put some up-to-date photos of Chicklet on here.






She's growing up so fast and getting cuter by the day!  I love her so much!

I'm still working on my 101 list - the last 30 are tough going.

These are the things on tomorrow's 'to-do' list ...

  1. Pull down the Christmas tree and pack it away (Yes!  It's 7th January and our tree is still up!).
  2. Take down the Christmas decorations and pack them away. 
  3. Drink coffee.
  4. Take photos.
  5. Eat food.
It'll be a tough Sunday hey :D

I hope you enjoyed the Chicklet update.

Nite all.

Summer is here.

I headed off earlier than usual this morning, because the weather forecast was for a hot day, and I wanted to get home before the heat  

The lagoon was calling my name and I was hoping to catch the early morning happenings of the local birdlife.

I got a nice shot of a blue faced dove, just before the midges began eating me alive, so I high-tailed it out of there as fast as my legs could pedal!

Blue faced dove (Adoring Husband told me the real name, but I forgot it)
Even the Seat of Knowledge didn't hold my attention for long, but it seems that the hot weather has scared off all the interesting birdlife around town.

Pretty butterflies fluttering and dancing.
This one looked like a mating ritual!
I did find three beautiful butterflies fluttering about.  It was unusual to see three together and their colours were also unusual.

Red dragonfly at the nature reserve.
Finally, as I triked my way around the nature reserve, I came across some dragonflies.   I haven't seen these red ones around here before.

Adoring Husband and I have been working our way through series one - seven of 'Grey's Anatomy' on dvd.  After that, we have the complete boxed set of 'ER' to watch!  Talk about couch potatoes!

I'm still working on my 101 list too.

Now that Summer is well and truly here, I am going to have to change my routine I think.  It's too hot for pedalling after 9am.  Perhaps late afternoon outings will work for a while.

Nite all.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

101 Things I Want to Photograph in 1001 Days

Now that my thirty day challenge is complete, Vegan Chickie gave me a suggestion to consider.

There is a challenge called the 'Day Zero Project' where you set yourself 101 tasks to complete in 1001 days.  A bucket list, if you will.  There is a website dedicated to it.

http://dayzeroproject.com/about/

So Vegan Chickie suggested that I set myself a photography challenge of 101 things that I want to photograph in 1001 days.

I think it's a fabulous idea!  The hardest part will be thinking of 101 things to photograph!  I have sixty on a list already, but I really struggled with the last 20 and I might need some help with the final 40 ... so if anybody out there has any ideas ... feel free to toss them my way!

The Canadians left this morning.

Ken (with the beard) and Larry (in blue)
They were headed to Bundaberg to take a tour of the Bundaberg Rum Distillery and then possibly head to Townsville.

Same post, different day ... could be the same bird.
The Bee-eaters were back.

It's going to be a hot day tomorrow, so I hope to leave the house early to get some photos, before I go to the Seat of Knowledge and then pedal home before the heat sets in for the day.

It'll be a good day to do the washing.

Nite all.

Day Thirty - Self Portrait

Day Thirty - Self Portrait


Well, today was a little out of the ordinary.  The story goes a bit like this...

In our photography group, one of the ladies has a brother visiting her from Canada.  He has been in Australia since September and will be here until March.

Two weeks ago, another member of their family, a cousin, arrived for a one month holiday here too.

The two Canadians are now on a slow trip north from Toowoomba, (where our photography friend lives) and they reached our little patch of paradise this afternoon.

We invited them to stay here for the night (possibly more than one night) on their way north.

So we've had a very pleasant afternoon, the boys drinking some cold beers and chatting about stuff.

Larry, the cousin, has worked for the Railway in Canada for almost as long as Adoring Husband worked for the Railway in NSW, so they've had lots in common to chat about.

Ken, the brother, is a 'get me away from the ratrace' kind of guy and middle-aged hippie, so we've had some beliefs in common to chat about too.

They shouted us Chinese take-away for dinner tonight, which was a lovely gesture and they are now tucked in bed getting a good nights sleep.

They have a small-ish tinny boat with them and they plan on going up river tomorrow to do some fishing and crabbing.

Surprisingly, I have enjoyed the afternoon and evening chatting with them.  I say 'surprisingly', because I don't usually like my routine being interrupted.  Especially by strangers.

They have been a real pleasure and I think Adoring Husband has enjoyed entertaining them as well.

We even got the laptop out and looked up Google Earth to see where, in Canada, they live and work, which was amazing!

I have an early date tomorrow with the girls for coffee and then I have indoor bowls, so I'd best get some beauty sleep.

Nite all.    

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Day Twenty-nine - Black and White

Day Twenty-nine  -  Black and White


Today, G'Gma sent me a link to this short video, which I played over and over because I loved it so much.

It brought tears to my eyes, firstly, because I have always loved this song and secondly, because I have such a soft spot for all things in nature.

http://www.flixxy.com/wonderful-world-david-attenborough.htm

Also, who doesn't love and respect the great David Attenborough??

Thank you G'Gma for sharing that with me, so that I can share it with everyone else who cares.

I had no luck with the camera today.  Nature seemed to have taken a holiday.

I say that because I did not see one Rainbow Bee-eater bird anywhere today!  Very unusual because there are three spots around town where I have been guaranteed a sighting for the last three months.

The Tawny Frogmouths had disappeared again.   No Honey Eaters fluttering about.  There was a Whistling Kite, but he was so high in the tree that even my 400mm lens couldn't get a clear shot.

I think I will take the 500mm lens tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

It's tennis season in Australia right now.  The Hopman Cup is being played in Perth, Western Australia.  The Brisbane International is in (obviously) Brisbane.  The APIA International starts in Sydney on 8th Janurary.  There is one each in Adelaide and Hobart too I think and then the Australian Open begins in two weeks, on 16th January in Melbourne.

It's my favourite time of the year.  Cricket and Tennis and then when both of those sports finish up, the NRL season begins!!  Yay!!

Enough for now.

Nite all.  

Monday, January 2, 2012

Day Twenty-eight - Flowers

Day Twenty-eight  -  Flowers

A grevillea flower from the Botanical Gardens
It had been more than a week since we saw Vegan Chickie, the Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet, so today, we drove into The Bay to have coffee and catch up.

I think Chicklet thought she was supposed to dance on the table!
Adoring Husband amused Chicklet while I drank my coffee.

We had about an hour enjoying their company.  They are going to Melbourne for a few days, so I had to get my Chicklet 'fix' before they left.

After we parted company with them, Adoring Husband asked where I wanted to go and I told him that I wanted to take photos somewhere.

He drove us to River Heads where we had lunch at a little place with lovely tree-lined water views.

A man walking his dog along the river bank.
A Butcher Bird and it's baby joined us for lunch.

A little piece of prawn cutlet for lunch.
We followed lunch with a drive through the new housing estates with river views.  We looked at the houses and gardens and the view that each enjoyed.

They were quite nice, but none of them made us want to move there!

We drove back to The Bay and did a little shopping before driving home, plonking ourselves on the couch and spending the afternoon watching 'The Big Bang Theory'.   It makes me laugh!!

Tomorrow is morning tea with the girls.  I always look forward to that :D

Only two more days of my photography challenge.  I've enjoyed it so much, I might need to find a new challenge for 2012!

Nite all.

The Theory of Happiness

Day Twenty-seven  -  From a Distance


I mentioned yesterday, that I have a theory about happiness.

Happiness comes in ebbs and flows.  As long as the ebbing and flowing remains even, everything goes smoothly.

If you feel overwhelming happiness for too long, the wave of happiness grows bigger and bigger, until eventually, it has to crash, as all waves do.

When it crashes, you get dumped, big time.

It means that something devastating will happen to cause you untold sadness ... to make up for the overwhelming happiness that you had for too long.

I have many personal examples which I can't share on here and which require detailed explanations, but the two examples that I can share are:

2005 - After a year of riding the wondrous wave of happiness while forming my relationship with Adoring Husband and then moving to Sydney to live with him and feeling like I was the luckiest person on the planet,  my mother died suddenly and unexpectedly.

Absolutely knocked the wind out of me and stole a great big chunk of that happiness right away from me.

2011 - Having ridden the wondrous wave of happiness after moving to my perfect patch of paradise three years ago with Adoring Husband,  meeting a host of wonderful people and forming a fun social circle, and then getting married and experiencing the best wedding ever.  On top of that, the birth of my perfect little Chicklet.

The one person who, above all others,  genuinely shared my happiness, was always excited to hear about my new life, had a twinkle in her eye and a grin from ear to ear knowing how happy I was.  The one person who never questioned my decisions and was never ever critical of my new life ... died suddenly and unexpectedly.

Absolutely knocked the wind out of me and stole a great big chunk of happiness right away from me.

After many experiences like this in my life.  There is now a 'thought' that I know, when it crosses my mind, I need to be very, very wary.

The thought is this "My life is perfect and I can't imagine being happier than I am right now."

With that very thought, my heart skips a beat and I begin to feel anxious.

The same goes for the deep sadnesses in my life.

When I am feeling at my lowest and I am wondering how I am ever going to dig myself out of this pit of despair, a 'thought' hits me.

The thought is this "This has been tough going, but I am now due for some happiness, so the only way from here is up."

With that very thought, my heart skips a beat and I begin looking forward to and planning a positive future.

We humans are a strange bunch aren't we?  We all deal with life's highs and lows in different ways.

Some focus on the bad and sad, spending their lives feeling sorry for themselves and looking for sympathy from their peers.

Some pick themselves up, brush themselves down and just get on with it.

Some want to talk about their problems with anyone who'll listen.

Some withdraw and need to work it all out internally.

There is no right or wrong way.

I think we have to let people deal with their 'situations' however they need to do so, and give them the space to do it.  No pressure.  No demands.  No guilt.

As hard as I try, I will never understand life.

I analyse and I ponder and I contemplate and I reflect.  I never come close to understanding what life is all about.  Why are we here?  What is our purpose?

Yes, I know, the meaning of life is 42.

That makes more sense than anything I can come up with.

The reason I'm telling you about my theory of happiness is because I shared it with my brother after he lost his 'soul mate' and just yesterday he reminded me of it by saying he was going to monitor his happiness so that he didn't get too much of it (I can't remember his exact words).

In case anyone is interested, my entry in the Windows challenge came third (because The Master thought the window sill was too high and made Win look uncomfortable and 'set up').  Ah well, I strive to do better next time.  Thanks Win :D for being an easy and co-operative model.  I may call on you again!


Nite all.  

Sunday, January 1, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Day Twenty-six  -  Close Up


I have a theory about happiness.

Many people have scoffed at my theory, but I am going to share it with you anyway... tomorrow :o)

Nite all.