September 9 - 15, 2011

Didgeridoo Player having fun yelling into the piece of tubing which was working like a didgeridoo.

A family photo We stepped out our back gate to go for a bush walk. Mum, Dad and Joey all froze and looked at us. As soon as we moved they took off.

The Brewery On our bush walk we came across the ruins of the old brewery. Kids often hang out here. I can't work out what the bit of graffiti says. Maybe it's just the initials of the artist, it looks like GY_

Statice

Rose Bud

The drop of life This droplet is on a purple plant called Tradescantia pallida. It's a ground cover with tiny little purple flowers.

Flower Spider I found this cute little fellow on these tiny daisy-like flowers.

September 2 - 8, 2011

A cracker?! Give me cold hard cash! This little guy took the trip out from Townsville today to help install stone benches in a kitchen for us. He was so cute and spent most of the time doing quality control from his mate's shoulder.

Rainbow waterfall Strand Ephemera is an 11 day festival of contemporary art. This is one of the beautiful pieces of art. It's one huge curtain made from plastic bottle tops.

Blowing a gale Today on the Strand we had to hold on to our hats. The sea was probably as rough as we ever see it... well apart from when cyclones hit. The waves break out on the Barrier Reef so we only get small waves on the beach.

Strand Ephemera collage More artwork from the Strand. There was some really creative pieces amongst the many exhibits. Bottom right is made from ironing boards.

Hibiscus in the spotlight

Birthday Wishes

Marigold

August 26 - September 1, 2011

Twisted Ever have a day like this... you feel like you're going round and round and getting nowhere?

It's the little things...
We are privileged to have my son, DIL and their three little ones staying with us for a little while. We get to see the adorable little things that we wouldn't if we didn't have such close contact. D sits with his hand hanging over the back of the couch, the little one always comes along, grabs it and gives a little giggle. I've attempted to capture this a few times now and eventually did today.

Jingle Bells

Outdoor furniture
Cyclone Yasi felled many huge trees in Anderson Gardens in Townsville. Someone got creative and made some outdoor furniture for visitors to enjoy. D and I tried them out.

Scribbles

The road less travelled
Sometimes it's the road less travelled that leads you home. It's not always the easiest journey but can be the most rewarding.

All in pink
I returned to the waterlilies in Anderson Gardens. We were early enough this time to catch them open. Happy 1st day of Spring.

August 19 - 25, 2011

Mama Roo
Doing a little house keeping while joey is out of the pouch. Joey is immitating mama I think. The roos love the rocks, they get up on them to have a vantage point to keep an eye out in case of danger. Every now and then a dog will chase them but I have never seen a dog catch one, they are always too fast. We watched as two dogs thought they had one cornered one day, he was a big old muscley fellow that stood his ground and didn't bother trying to outrun the dogs. The two dogs eventually tucked their tails between their legs and ran off in horror.

Geisha Girl Duranta

Contemplation

Flowers

Monet A friend of mine is doing a class where you purposely blur the flowers for a Monet effect. It's quite hard to get a slow enough shutter speed in the middle of the day, even with f22. I don't think I achieved the desired effect, lol. But I only took one photo today and then my battery died...

 

Unfurling

A new frond from a tree fern

My oldest granddaughter sang in the Eisteddfod today. She did a great job xx

August 12 - 18, 2011

Foggy

How much is that doggy in the window? She was really nervous but did a great job and looked very cute.

Selfie No 2

Anderson Gardens, Townsville We were there too late for the waterlilies to be open. They are such a pretty pink.

Is someone trying to tell me something?



Choppers A convoy went through town today and accompanying them were ten helicoptors. There is nine in this shot. It was a political protest but since I never discuss politics... 'nuff said. It was pretty neat to see all the choppers though.

August 5 - 11, 2011

Orange... Kleinia semperviva, that is quite a mouthful.

All soft and fuzzy Another plant from my mum's garden. This is possibly a fuzzy Kalenchoe, I'm not sure though.

Just 'laxin' totally enthralled by "Madagascar"

Blue winged Kookaburra I saw this fellow land in the tree just outside my yard. He sat there and waited while I got my camera, changed my lens and took a few shots... very obliging. I don't have a very good telephoto lens, that's another thing on my wish list.

Wheee! The little man was having a great time on the slippery slide.

Papa Roo Each day we watch the roos while we eat breakfast. This last week the same dad, mum and baby has been there. This is the dad flexing his muscles for the camera.

Orange II (Kleinia semperviva)

July 30 - August 4, 2011

Let it all hang out I took this earlier this month. We were on The Strand in Townsville and it looks like these guys thought it was ok to air their dirty (or clean) washing in public. If you enlarge the shot you can see the licence plate on their car reads OKINOZ, lol. 

Mount Stuart We went for a drive up to Mount Stuart in Townsville. It has been burnt just recently and there is still a few fires around making everything really hazy. Not great for taking photos. The grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) have all been burnt but will look better than ever very soon. This one could be about 100 years old, they are really slow growing.

Golden candle (Pachystachys lutea)

Can you see me? This little gecko was trying to blend in with the bromeliad he was hiding in. He was doing a pretty good job too, I nearly didn't see him.

Fireworks Our local show was on today. I tried to get some decent shots. It was all rather hit and miss. This was one of the better shots.

Bubbles I love the delight on the face of my little great-niece. I love her shirt too, it says "gone to the naughty corner, back in 5 minutes" 

 

Wanna play... huh? Do ya? Lily (the cat) walks past Maddie (great dane) every day. Maddie would love her to come and play but Lily wants no part of it. It's always quite funny to watch.

July 23 - 29, 2011

Free for all 204 / 365 The bees and butterflies were all feasting on the nectar and pollen from this flowering grass tree (xanthorrhoea). I also got some nice shots of the bees covered in pollen.

Fully loaded 205 / 365 I tried to get a sharper shot of the bees today but getting them super sharp while in flight is really hard so this one from yesterday is it. If you look closely you can see that he has pollen all over him.
 

Sunny side up

Steamy cuppa

Spider on bokeh

Pink Flower (Justicia brandegeana or red shrimp plant)