Thoughts And Recollections Of A Tree Spirit

Beach Fishing at North Avalon

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Last month we fancied doing something fun on our Friday night that also involved beer for the boys (obviously) and Kat suggested beach fishing.

Mat jumped at the chance as he has done limited fishing since we moved here and was keen for Nick to give him some tips so we gathered together the beer esky and other essentials and then all piled down to North Avalon to set up.

Fishing at North Avalon Me & Kat Fishing

Not a lot happened for the first half of the evening. Davo and Guinness joined us and it was a good excuse for the boys to do something practicle together and me and Kat to have a girly catch up.

I've found a sand fish, he's down there somewhere, I can smell 'im!

I've found a sand fish, he's down there somewhere, I can smell 'im!

A bit later on Nick finlly got a bite and spent the next half an hour to an hour battling with whatever was on the end trying to get it in. We were all a bit sceptical for ages as to whether it was just a large clump of seaweed getting sucked around by the waves but finally whatever it was got close enough that we could make out a shape and a lot of splashing. Apparently it was pretty big (I didn’t get close enough to see properly) as Mat was wading in and trying to bring it closer. However, we will never know as after all the hard work the line snapped and it escaped.

In an attempt to cheer Nick up and because we were all hungry we ordered pizza (explaining to the Pizza guy that we were the first group of fishermen down from North Av carpark). In betwen ordering and the pizza arriving Nick got another bite and this time managed to land the fish.

Nick's Fish Nick's Fish 2 Nick returning fish to sea

We weren’t exactly sure what it was but Nick suggested a gummy shark. As it was only small I took a few quick pictures before Nick was keen to throw it straight back. After googling various things if I have to hazard a guess I’d say Nick was right and it was a gummy, however this is by no means definitely correct and any comments from more knowledgable people are welcome!

At least we had some excitement, even if we didn’t end up with a nice fresh fish for supper. Our pizza finally arrived too, after having to chase them a few times; I suspect they were a bit dubious about the beach location for delivery, even though The Sheriff used to tell us he ordered pizzas at the beach all the time.

26.11.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Moggies & Doggies, Personal, Pictures 3 Comments

A Welcome Visitor

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

On our first evening at our new house, after we’d finished unloading and having a well earned rest we were visited by a random dog that trotted in like he owned the place. After inspecting his collar we identified him as Dozer from two doors up.

He must be one of those intelliegent dogs that takes himself for walks because his owners never seem to shut him in and since we moved here he pays us regular visits at least every other day. Sometimes he tries to get us to play stick with him and other days he’ll stop by for a quick bottom scratch, a sniff round the house to check it’s all in order, and then be on his way.

He really is a lovely dog, part Staffie and something else I’m not quite sure of. Here are some photos of him trying to coax me into a game with a stick, which Mat has advised me not to throw for him. Apparently there is the danger of the stick getting stuck in the ground facing the oncoming dog like a spear and impaling him by accident; a very valid risk that I had never considered before.

He reminds me a lot of my brother’s dog, Bryn who I used to walk regularly back in the UK. I miss my walks with Bryn and my aunty’s dog, Rosie, heaps. For me, taking a dog out gives a walk purpose and makes it ten times more enjoyable. I have been thinking about going and asking Dozer’s owners if they would mind me taking him for a walk once in a while but I haven’t quite plucked up the courage yet. I’m worried about what they might think which is daft really as the worst that can happen is they say no isn’t it?

18.11.2009 Moggies & Doggies, Personal, Pictures 2 Comments

Photo Opportunities Abound At The Beach

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Mat was working all last weekend so on Saturday morning I decided I would go for a walk so that I didn’t end up getting cabin fever and feel like I had just sat in front of the computer all day, which was becoming increasingly likely.

I wanted to go into the village and thought I start by walking in the opposite direction, head towards the north of Avalon Beach, then walk down the beach, cross the road and end up in the village that way.

On my way to North Av I found a wicked little footpath following a creek and all along the side was colourful graffiti. I assume it was legal as a lot of it seemed to be divided into sections so different artists could have their own canvas, so to speak.

North Av Graf 1 North Av Graf 2

It’s not the best graffiti in the world but I like it. I have developed a strong appreciation for the sometimes controversial art medium since my brother started to nurture his artistic flare in this field a year or so ago.

So much for a bracing walk. When I reached the beach my camera came straight out again and I spent a good half hour sitting on the rocks clicking away, trying to improve my eye for a good composition.

North Avalon Beach North Avalon Beach & Rocks

Once I’d finished with photographing the seascape I retrieved my bag from a nearby rock and proceeded along the beach only to get stopped by another photo opportunity. There were lots of Bluebottles washed up on the beach – a common type of jellyfish that has an inflatable balloon thing that it uses to catch the wind and drift along the sea along with long stinging tentacles. I’ve never been stung by them but it’s very common and it doesn’t hurt too much by all accounts, just itches a bit and leaves you with (more…)

10.11.2009 Australian Flora & Fauna, Personal, Photography No Comments

Adobe Illustrator Rocks

Friday, November 6th, 2009

I’m addicted to computer courses at the moment. It’s the first time I’ve done courses for my own real interest and so far I’ve done a short course on Adobe Photoshop, Aboriginal art (not computer related), HTML for beginners, Adobe Dreamweaver and I started Adobe Illustrator on Monday.

It all started when Manly Warringah Community College put a prospectus in the local paper and I thought it would be nice to do something for fun. I started with Photoshop for photographers because I’m interested in photography and wanted to learn how to improve and edit the pictures I take. I’ve gone on from there and decided to learn a bit more about web design, originally to improve my blog but I like the idea of being able to build basic websites and my goal is to design Mat’s dad one for his mobile sawmill business.

This led me to my current course as he had a logo designed for embroidering onto his work shirts but it isn’t in a format I can use for the website or for letterhead etc. After messing about in Photoshop trying to improve it I gave up and decided Illustrator would be the tool for the job and would be a useful skill to have for future logo design. Illustrator uses vector graphics instead of pixels so is a format preferred by printers and advertisers etc. because the image can be increased in size without compromising the quality.

As with all my previous courses I enjoyed the first lesson immensely and am really looking forward to learning more. It was especially fun because it requires artistic flare and this is a side of me that I am really trying to concentrate on at present. Our teacher has her own graphic design partnership, The National Grid, which is just round the corner from my new work so I must pop in some time as they have a contemporary art gallery there as well which sounds really inspiring.

I spent the whole evening buzzing with creative energy and hope I can unlock some of the potential that I know is buried inside myself somewhere. It’s clamouring to get out and gets all excited at the smell of freedom but then along come the inhibitions that close the door again. I am determined that with my new home and new job comes a new start, starting with letting the artistic flare come out and play!

Anyway, very basic I know but here is the little green monster that I achieved in drawing in the first lesson:

Little Green Monster

06.11.2009 Personal, Pictures, Techie Stuff No Comments