We are home

And after a few days at home with Christmas it seems as if we have never been away...

I have just finished downloading photos onto my computer. I shot raw photos this time but took far less photos than planned. I was wondering why until on one of the last days of our trip when sitting in the back of an open jeep on dirt roads ravaged by monsoons (so holding on with both arms locked onto seat and railing) I realised that for a large part of this trip I had not actually been able to hold a camera with even one hand. It was the experience and memory. And there are so many memories.

Here is one photo to complement my previous post and photo from 2004.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.

Just another 10 days and we will be here....

Visit to see Co-Co (and Grandma and Grandad)

Some recent travel layouts

And here is the layout

A Day at the Beach

Favourite Photos

Work has been so busy that I have not had time to work on scanning in my colleciton of slides but looking through those that I have scanned is always a wonderful way to bring back memories. One of my favourite photos was one I took of a monk in Tibet over 20 years ago. He invited us in and allowed photos. The room (which was his bedroom and kitchen) was dark with sunlight streaming in the windows. The sun is so strong in Tibet in the rarefied air and always gives so much contrast in photos. I took 3 photos and they were all reasonable even though I remember leaning against a wall as I was probably shooting at less than 1/30.

Here is a double page layout of these photos.

Don't you just love the kitchen and Butter tea churner in the corner all in brass and wood.

What have I been doing today?

Counting pixels!

The blog has not had a makeover for quite a while so I thought I would quickly update the elements. The trouble was I had forgotten all about padding and margins and whether padding is on the inside or out etc etc. Anyway it is now complete and I am happy with the result.

Here is an altered art layout created from the October kit at the Artisan Guild. Amber loves it as yellow is her favourite colour.



Can you believe that today is the first of October!

Ouch

This one is for you Mum and Dad. Does this bring back memories??



Poor boy!

Catching up

The last couple of months have just slipped by with memories of too many visits to the doctors. We all caught a couple of flu viruses but are now finally getting on top of the tiredness. I have missed many days of photos but want to get back into it as I somehow reset all my settings on my camera and need to spend some time reading through the manual again.

I have completed a few layouts recently but the big exercise has been a travel book of our last trip overseas.

And as I have been stressing about all the work I need to catch up on due to days off sick, I created this layout to hang above the desk. Have a great week everyone!

Start of the Month and another Guild Kit

Recent Layouts

I just love these photos of Mum and I taken in Penang. And Mum here are some of the comments:

"That is one of the most beautiful mother with new baby photographs I've ever seen. Your mother is so lovely and what a precious baby you were. "

"Your mother could be in Vogue today and look perfect!!"
etc etc

So Dad, from now officially I take after Mum.




What a dog! Spoilt??? Of course not.

Well maybe a little....

August Guild Kit - Lyrical Romance

I especially love the colours in this months Guild kit. And Debb has outdone herself in creating the beautiful clusters which really make putting a layout together very easy. You can find details on purchasing the kit here: http://www.digitalscrapbookartisanguild.com/guild/index.shtml

These are the kit previews and my first layout:

Remember

June 4 1989 Tian An Men Square

Some photos I took a few days before the tanks moved in.

One Kit Call

Tom Boy Papers

Flood layouts...

Rain and more rain ......

Dog Wash

Flowers Quiz

From the quiz here: http://www.blogthings.com/whatdotheflowersyoupicksayaboutyouquiz/

Roses Say You're Very Affectionate

You are a classic romantic who believes in true love.You often experience deep emotions and feel warmth toward almost everyone.You are a bundle of positive feelings and sweetness.You can are easily hurt, and people should be careful with your heart. .....

Yes I definitely love roses but only where there is fragrance and beauty. They are so hard to grow in our climate that there seems no point if you cannot grow them for the vase and also cook with them.

Best friends

We have 2 dogs in our home and our old kelpie adores DD1. They share many cuddles each day. DD2 on the other hand is looked after by our little Aussie Terrier.




Credits to Vinnie Pearce with details in DST gallery.

A new week

This dragonfly actually stood still while I rushed upstairs to grab my camera then spent forever manually focusing.





I always love the shades of clouds at sunset.

This is not a good photo at all but this is the first time we have had a king parrot in the yard. There were a pair of them. This is the male with the bright orange head and green body. The female is green.

Enjoy your week everyone!

I'm back....

Another busy week...

This morning Amber and I decided to walk the dogs before the full force of the heat and humidity hit. It was wonderful down by the creek behind our home which is full of water after the last weeks rain. The weather was just so good for a couple of days. I actually slept without airconditioning! The ducks are enjoying the fresh water.


This is a typical photo of Harry waiting at the back door to come in. He is a very timid dog and always wants to be around family.

No this is not just any grass - this is my pot of lemon grass which is perfect for Thai cooking. I keep it in a pot as it needs buckets of water so the pot is placed under the overflow of my water tanks. And yes we had rain this week!!

This dove I found out is an introduced species to Australia (from Asia) but I think they are sweet. This one was picking twigs out of my gutters (what a selection) to build a nest. Yes I know I have to clean out the gutters..

This one was a last minute photo of a shelf of the bookcase behind me. I love collecting old books or more specifically old travel books. And no guessing my favourite - Sven Hedin. Now there is a man I would love to have met.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone and thanks for your comments! As to the fires in Southern Australia there are some still raging but at the moment are not a threat to property and seem to be contained.

Fires still burning ....

Our news is dominated by the fires still burning. There are over 180 people dead and the toll rises as the ruins of burnt out homes are discovered.

Looking at today's photo you could think it was Winter. But no, this is a dead tree (from the drought) and a grey sky with temperatures high and humidity close to 100%. Just to walk outside is to sweat or as Sonia says "Boys sweat but girls perspire".

Every morning I am woken pre dawn at around 4:40am by a chorus of birds. At that time it is the kookaburras and koels but later once the sun is up it is the wonderful chorus of magpies as they are here on the wires at the front of our house.Have a great week everyone!

Catch up ....

What a tragic day for Australia and especially Victoria. High temperatures (up to 49C, 120F) and high winds have caused the worst bushfires in my lifetime with many deaths. The stories are so sad... Here in Queensland temperatures are mild by comparison, thankfully...

Todays photo is of the palm which drops fronds onto my shed but looks wonderful in late afternoon sun.

As I cook dinner at night, there are always geckos on my window attracted to the insects savouring the smell. This is the view as I chop the onions at night.

The colours of the bouganvillea overhanging our fence are especially bright at dusk.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and for the Australians, I hope you and your families are safe.

Busy.......

What a week! I have managed to take a photo a day but have probably dedicated about 10 seconds each day to framing the shot hence .....

Yes some weeks are busy!!!!

Amber turned 16 on Thursday. We had a small dinner at home and these are the beautiful flowers she received from her Dad.

Morning dew on our frangipani.

Poor Harry has a sore foot. I think he was bitten by a green ant as he hobbled most of the day....

The dogs are miserable now that Summer holidays have ended and the girls are back at school. This is how they spend their afternoons - waiting at the front door. The mornings are even worse.

I love this plant which we found throughout India and Myanmar and now have in Australia.

I'll download the rest of my photos tomorrow....

Cooler ....

While the southers parts of Australia are still swealtering in a heatwave with temperatures in the mid 40's C, here the weather is cooler. I am actually sitting here typing in the study without airconditioning. I love it!

We had 3 birds playing in the palm looking for insects this morning. They were blue-faced honeyeaters but the blue is green in immature birds. I was lucky to get a few photos before our wonderful dogs scared them away.

Click on photo for larger picture. The bird is beautiful.

And here is the flower from the bud of the day before.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Just another day....

I just love it when you download photos to the computer and some come out better than you thought they would. Today's is one of those. Don't you love the ant???


Bottom right hand corner if you can't see him. (Click on photo for larger image)

Just one day to the weekend!

Back to School

Australia Day

And also Chinese New Year which we will celebrate tonight with a simple Chinese meal as it is still so humid.

This photo is of 3 chillis on my potted plant. I love hot food but have trouble growing hot chillis here as it seems you need a drier heat to bring out the hottness. These are habanero which means they are supposed to be very very hot. They are definitely the most successful I have had for a long time.

Yesterday I had taken some other photos but when I downloaded it was this photo I preferred. Poor Harry he gets attacked in fun by Cheetah everyday and being the sweetie that he is just puts up with it.... I do keep his collar very loose though.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Too Hot Too Humid......

I don't like humidity...

Our temperatures are in the low 30's C which is OK but the humidity is high and we have no energy. Too hot to move, too hot to even think. I have airconditioning in the study but worry about the bills when they arrive..

This week we are preparing to go back to school after Summer holidays. And I am starting to tackle the pile of paperwork on my desk.
You can tell Harry is an Australian dog breed (Australian terrier). It doesn't matter how hot it is he still likes some time to lay in the sun each day. Crazy dog!

Enjoy your week!

The Stranglers, Flock of Seagulls, UB40 .....

Light and Shadow .........

Thankyou everyone for your comments over the last couple of weeks. It has been greatly appreciated! What a contrast between our Summer and the Northern Winter.

I had no time to download photos from my camera yesterday so have done so today. Here is light (on a neighbours hedge):




and shadow (my silhouette on our dead lawn).

We have not been allowed to water lawns now for over 2 years.

Have a wonderful day!

Guilty!

Trying to grow strawberries here is difficult. Firstly there is the heat with watering required at least once a day, then there are the grasshoppers which eat everything in site and of course all those fungal diseases that attack leaves in this humid atmosphere. But this year I was determined to persevere and planted in a large pot which could be protected near the back door. But strawberries were still disappearing...

It seems that I had still forgotten one thing. ....... Harry.

He loves sweet strawberries.

Caught in the act as I was looking for photography inspiration after getting home late from work today.

Have a wonderful day!

A self portrait...

After looking at some of the innovative and inspiring self portraits on other blogs I thought I would have a go in one of the "traditional poses". So into the bathroom I went with camera. I managed without having to use flash but had trouble with white balance. (Maybe by the end of the year I will have a clue on how to change this setting!) So how to disguise the strange colour hue of the photo, without spending time trying to colour balance? Colourise the photo...

Thanks everyone for the inspiration!

Walking the Dog

After a year of sickness we are all trying to work at keeping well. Amber's task is to walk the dogs and I am so proud of how she is going. Today she took the dogs separately and I snapped this photo through the glass of the bedroom window as she was coming back. I can't believe she still managed to run in this humidity. Amber is so proud that she has taught Harry to walk on his own without her holding the lead. She does have to tie it up though as Harry thinks his legs are frozen if the lead drags on the ground. I am thinking he may not know he is on his own!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Sunday January 11 2009

Well Grandad and Grandma you are probably wondering where the girls are. Put it this way, teenage girls are difficult to photograph. The props have to be in place and they have to be wearing the correct clothes. And of course any skin blemish rules them out for at least a few days.... So back into the garden for me and my daily photo.

I love this plant which is also called the Lobster Claw. I have a large cluster growing behind the garbage bins and they flower despite no watering. I love the patterns in this photo but if you have never seen this beautiful flower the unclipped version is below.

Have a wonderful day!

Blog Makeover

This blog has now been in existence for 6 months and was due for a makeover, so in between dusting and vacuuming the house today we have made the changes. Sonia is my artistic director and has a much better sense of colour and style than me so this was definitely a joint effort. And the leading lady in the starring role in the header is our wonderful Kelpie, Cheetah.

After all this, I realised I had not taken a photo today but luckily the sunset was magnigicent. Two amazing sunsets in one week is a real treat and nearly cancels out the high humidity.

Good luck everyone on the photos and thanks for all the inspiration!

Still on track ...

Photographing fish in a fluroescent lit tank is definitely a skill. I tried the high ISO to be able to shoot at a reasonable speed but forgot to change the white balance. I'll try again later.

This orchid looks wonderful but with the trick of depth of field, you do not see the weed infested garden behind. With no hand watering for over 2 years, I am surprised it is still alive. Definitely an unexpected discovery.

And I decided to use one of my orchid photos to try a blended style layout. Not a bad result. I used the painted mask which was provided with this issue of the Notebook.

Have a great day everyone!