2013...ALREADY??

Where has the time gone? It has been AGES since I was last here, however it seems like it was only the other day!

Life always seems to speed up around December and things, and people, get crazy! I know we succumb to the craziness that marks the end of the year as we want to get 'everything done'. But seriously, how can you get 'everything done'... What is everything? Couple that with a mercy trip to Cairns to see my Grandfather, getting gastro and then getting home, organising Christmas lunch and then preparing for visitors and the New Year party that we seem to hold every year (if we're home!) and starting medication for the next cycle of IVF. Lets just say, I feel like I am only just catching my breath!

I have been back on the medication for 17 days today. I am tired, bloated, affected by the heat and my belly looks like a pin cushion, dotted with bruises from the injections I have to have every day. I am on injectable asprin as a part of my medication regime and as it is a blood thinner, I bruise very easily. So not only do I have a black and blue belly, I have bruises all over where I have accidentally bumped into something. OH THE JOYS! It will however, be worth the pain and discomfort if we are successful!

In amongst everything else that has occurred in the past month, I have been taking photos... OF COURSE! I just love it. AND I have registered a domain name and downloaded software to build a web site. Stay tuned folks, as you will be the first know when it is up and running!

When I was in Cairns the week end before Christmas, I went to the Esplanade and took some terrific night shots of the city scape, the lagoon and the Christmas tree.

The first image is of the Cairns skyline with a plane that has taken off; the second is of the Christmas tree with a line made by a scooter that had lights in the wheels; the third is of the lagoon and the Christmas tree and the last shot is of the walkway along the Esplanade.

The photo a day challenge for Friday was water. I was in Townsville so everyone thought that I would post a pic of the ocean. I dislike predictability, so I posted this shot instead

Have a great day! My Mother-in-law and I are off for breakfast in Port Douglas.

It's probably time

It's day 22. Mr Fabulous and I have decided that its probably time to do 'the test'. That means a trip to town, which is not something we enjoy, to purchase 'the test'.

I am VERY tired, in fact I can fall asleep almost immediately once I am horizontal! I am off two of my most favourite things: coffee and eggs. I am not the slightest bit interested in an egg which is rather odd as I would normally have two eggs every day for breakfast.

Now that I am not liking the thought of eggs, I have had to come up with some other ideas for breakfast. Yesterday I made a gluten free banana and cardamon loaf! I warmed two slices of it this morning and coated it in butter and then drizzled maple syrup over. Oh my goodness- YUMMO! That will be breakfast for a few mornings!

I was the domestic goddess yesterday, cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I made the banana loaf I mentioned before, as well as chocolate and berry muffins, and a marble slice. I made all of these on rice flour, so they are as gluten free as possible. There is a slight taste difference, however it is not worth worrying over.

I like to be as prepared as possible for the up coming week. The men are fencing this week, so Mr Fabulous will pack an esky most mornings with smoko and lunch, and he will take that when he leaves the house, at around 5.30am.

As well as cooking, I did a little study and took photos over the week end. I am trying to stay on time with the December photo-a-day challenge. Yesterday's challenge item was 'someone you love'. I took a photo of a photo of my dad. It was taken when he was about 13yrs of age.

Have a great day.

I've started

WOW! I enrolled and within 24 hours I could download the first two modules and assignments. I have already completed the first assignment. HOWEVER, I am going to re-read the notes and re-do the assignment, just in case! I was a tad tired when I read the module last night.

I know I have a relatively good knowledge of grammatical and punctuation rules. I now also know that I have forgotten alot! For example, do any on you remember what a concrete noun is? No, its not 'dog' written in a freshly laid section of concrete either! Dog, is in fact a concrete noun though! A concrete noun is something tangible, it is something that our five senses can appreciate; you can touch, smell, taste, hear and see IT. So, that is one thing (among others) that I learnt last night.

I have started going through my photo library with the aim to delete anything that is unworthy of keeping. Anything that is blurry, too dark, too light, and anything that I simply don't like is being deleted. What a task!

Here is an oldie, but a goodie

I really like this shot for some reason. Perhaps the angle of the truck leading your eye to the weaner. Perhaps the size difference between weaner and truck. Perhaps... Perhaps... Either way, this is a keeper.

Today, being Friday, we are off to town for lunch. We also need to take my father-in-law to the airport as he is heading home; after being here helping out for the past week.

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday!

learning

I love learning.

I love reading.

I dislike grammatical and spelling mistakes.

So, what better way to DO SOMETHING about it, I enrolled in a professional copy editing and proof reading course! I am completing it through the same college that I did the professional photography course through, The Australian College, here is their website.

www.australiancollege.edu.au

I find their tutorials easy to read and understand and the feed back provided on the assignments is excellent. So, I must say, I am excited! And what makes this venture even more exciting, I could potentially earn money whilst sitting in my own lounge room proof reading! Sounds positively wonderful!

I also awoke with a determination to find my motivation! It has helped that it is a fair bit cooler today than recent days. I weeded, pruned and tilled my vegie gardens as well as planted out some garlic, sweet potato tubers and basil, coriander, baby spinach, silverbeet and tomatoe seeds. I then took off around the yard with secateurs in hand and pruned a few of the calistemons that were getting a bit messy.

I then grabbed the camera and caught up on ALL of the December photo-a-day challenge pics.

Here they are

This is what I was doing at 8 o'clock- gardening!

Where I am at peace!

something that I held whilst ticking of the photos I have done

One of my groovy black and white coffee cups

One of our Border Collie, Ollie, looking up at the water from the hose that Mr Fabulous was playing with him with

AND....

Day six is 'from where you live/ your country'

Well its time for lunch. Chat tomorrow!

waiting again...

Well today marks the day that I am 17 days overdue- naturally! Neither of us are saying too much about it and neither of us are in a great rush for me to do 'the test'. One thing IVF has taught us, don't get over excited about things. SO, we're not. Yet. We are just biding our time, however I have stopped drinking- just in case!

It has been hideously hot here. I know it has been hot everywhere, it is Summer afterall. However, its been reaching 45+ deg, topped with high humidity and very strong northerly winds. I must admit, I am suffering more with the heat so far this year than in years past. What's worse is that Summer has only just begun! I seem to have lost all motivation for just about everything. It is just too darned hot to do anything except edit photos and sleep!

I am very grateful however for our new outdoor kitchen (aka BBQ with sink!) Since setting it up, two weeks ago, we have cooked inside 3 times. It is quite incredible how much cooler the house is staying without the added cooking heat.

Oh well, its time to organise lunch for the men. Chat tomorrow

Commitment!

When we were on holidays I made a commitment to myself that I would write daily! What an epic failure that has been, thus far! Today, I revived that commitment. I will write daily!

Our first morning home was the morning of the eclipse. Here is my favourite image of the morning, where just a bite has been taken out of the sun

I have been out and about with the new camera, getting used to it. I went and sat at 'The Lagoon', a semi-permanent waterhole on our property for over an hour last week. This year we had such an extended wet season, that there is still plenty of water and I am amazed at the rich bird life. There were flocks of Spoonbill, Cockatiel, Budgie and Corella. Here are some of pics of them

We had a party here on Saturday night. We had a lovely time with family and friends. I didn't take any pics, however I think my mother-in-law did, so you can see pics on her next blog. I also hosted Photography group meeting here on Sunday and we took some photos of my bird, Costa. Here is a shot of him

Time for lunch. Chat tomorrow

Cherished Memories

We've been on holidays. We were invited to a wedding in Kingscliffe so we decided to make a road trip holiday of it. We love road trips!

We love road trips as you get to see different parts of the country side and you can catch up with wonderful friends and family along the way. So far this trip we've been to Blackwater, Burrum Heads, Maroochydore, Brisbane, Kingscliffe, Biloela, Moranbah and now we are relaxing in Bowen for a couple of days before heading to Townsville.

We saw some lovely countryside and then we saw some countryside pitted with coal mines- BIG coal mines. It was incredible to see the size of the 'dump' piles of dirt. They are man-made mountains. One can only imagine how deep the pits are when looking at these 'mountains'

The best part of this holiday, for me, was seeing cousins whom I haven't seen for years. It has been approximately 10 years since I have seen Blackwater Cousin. It was terrific to see her, her youngest daughter (who just bought her very first, brand new car, at the age of 18)and her partner. Even though it has been so long since we've seen each other, it was as if we've been in contact ALL the time. We just picked up where we left it, 10 yrs ago.

Seeing Burrum Heads Cousin and her Adoring Husband was just the same. The last time I saw her was 2 yrs ago at my wedding, when she gave me away. We have more contact as we are both passionate about photography and we are in some of the same photography groups on Facebook.

The bond that you have with cousins is subtle yet strong. I love spending time with them as I feel 'connected' and a part of a 'bigger' picture. My fathers family is quite large and I do not know all of my cousins which saddens me somewhat, however I am forever grateful to know those whom I do. I am an only child, so having a connection with cousins is very important to me. So much so, I have made a pledge to keep in touch more often with them.

Whilst in Brisbane we caught up with two Uncles and an Aunt. It was lovely to see them too. One uncle I have not seen for a very long time, I saw my Aunt two years ago and my other Uncle and his Wife I was lucky enough to see last year. I love seeing them as they remind me of my father, who is deceased. Not only do they remind me of him, they tell me many stories of what life was like growing up in the 30's and 40's and what my dad was like as a child. I cherish the times I have with these lovely people.

I will post photos when I get home.

We are off to have a lovely dinner on the water front.

Enjoy your evening