Thoughts And Recollections Of A Tree Spirit

Project 365

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

On Tuesday, as I wasn’t working in the office, I went for a brisk early morning constitutional down to the beach. Of course I took my camera with me and after getting some interesting shots of an Ibis on the walking track to North Avalon I decided today would be a good day to start my Project 365.

What is Project 365? Well, if you are frequentor of Flickr.com you may be familiar with it as it is very popular among photographers. It’s basically a commitment that one makes to take a photograph for every day of the year (and then upload it to Flickr if that’s your choice of platform). I think if you are doing it seriously then there are other rules but I’m just going to do it for me so that’s as far as I’m going.

My main aim is to improve my composition and eye for an interesting photo by regular practice. As I only have a basic point and shoot I’m not expecting brilliant photography but I figure the science behind it is something I can learn at a later date when I get a manual SLR or the like. There is no point in being able to take a physically brilliant photo if my composition is shit. A good photo is a piece of art, in my opinion anyway.

So, you can find my photostream here for now and with any luck I will be able to add a Flickr feed to this blog later so that any new photos appear in the sidebar. Shown below are my photos for Tuesday, Wednesday and today:

Grafitti Ibis

The Ibis regards the somewhat jaded grafitti and is of the definite opinion that it is in need of an overhaul.

The first photo is already explained. Yesterday’s shows my brother’s amazing and wonderfully colourful piece of grafitti art that he did for Mat and I on his visit. I wasn’t sure whether to do a closeup or include all the surrounding rubbish. I opted for including some of the rubbish as I figured it depicted our “Life” which goes with the word “Life” on the art board.

This morning, as I was finishing tidying the kitchen I heard next door’s dog, Sparky, barking in the garden. I grabbed my camera and took the opportunity to snap some pics through the chain link fence and amazingly this one came out okay. He is the cutest little terrier (not sure what type) with the biggest sticky up ears I have ever seen :-)

Life grafitti

Our life surrounding Life

Sparky the terrier

Come and play with me, please please please...

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13.05.2010 Australian Flora & Fauna, Moggies & Doggies, Personal, Photography, Pictures 2 Comments

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

Kittling Training Coming Along Nicely

Thursday, July 12th, 2007

Since I have been back from Kazakhstan my two cats, Mungbean and Sweep have been so affectionate. I half expected either one or both of them to have the sulks with me for abandoning them for a whole fortnight, however it has been the complete opposite. They have been very cute and clingy. The best thing was when I woke up the first morning after being home and opened my eyes to find Mungbean curled up on the pillow next to me only a couple of inches from my face with one paw on my head and Sweep curled up on my other side under my arm. My little babies – I don’t know what I would do without them.

You are probably wondering where the training comes in… Well, at the moment I am renting a room at my aunty and uncle’s house and since I moved in I have been very paranoid about them going missing. They have a cat flap downstairs and I recently got one fitted in my bedroom door as well so I can keep it shut but they can still get out. The problem is I have been feeding them in my bedroom for the last six months and because of this they see no reason to venture downstairs for anything, least of all get to know my aunty and uncle.

Until now this hasn’t really been a problem as to go outside they have been using the window in my ensuite bathroom which I have been leaving open for them. This opens out onto a little roof which slopes conveniently down to a fence which they have no problem negotiating when they so require. However, as my aunty pointed out when I got back from holiday, when the winter arrives I am not going to relish the thought of the window being permanently open. Good point I thought, so what to do about it? (more…)

12.07.2007 Moggies & Doggies, Personal, Pictures 4 Comments