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!

Some new layouts and a photo

Amy has just released a wonderful new kit which was perfect for my garden photos. (Found here: http://www.ndisb.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=65)

We have about 5 watermelons on the vine and I am really having difficulty trying to find out if they are ripe. I picked one earlier and was so disappointed after cutting it when I found it was white inside. So now I think I will wait until........



I love this photo of Sonia at the snow with her feet in my gloves. Her gumboots had filled with snow and feet were cold so here she is resting. This was the stage of shyness where you do not look at the camera.

And here is my photo for yesterday. I can't bear these brush turkeys as they are so ugly and chase you during nesting. OK I have only been chased once, but that was up my driveway.

Have a great day!

Dogs Dogs and More Dogs

Well for the last few days, the dogs have been in the limelight. They are perfect material for photography in that they are active and won't look at the camera except when tricked. And if you use a flash, you get yellow eyes. So you are forced to work with camera settings.

Poor old Cheetah, our old lady at 13 years is on daily medication that we are trying to regulate.

This was last nights sunset. I was cooking dinner but as soon as I saw the colour out the kitchen window I rushed out with my camera. The colours lasted less than a few minutes but were spectacular.
Cheetah again. Don't you just love her eyes. She is bossy, demanding and noisy but very loving.

And after a dog photo session in the study, I decided to put the best shots into a layout. The girls both want copies printed.

Have a good day!

Photo a Day

Well I have decided to join in the Photo a Day challenge where you take at least one photo a day. Apart from the fun of actually playing with my camera each day, I think it should spur me on to really start working with the settings. I'll be posting as I download.

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January Guild Kit

Happy New Year!