I’m baaaack…

…Well, at least for a short post.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 or so weeks since I last posted on my blog. It has been a very busy term and I’ve had a lot of other things happening in my life. It’s the first day of the term 3 holidays and I had to head into work today. Tomorrow I will be delivering photos to the Kidman Art Show, where I am entering three photographs in the “Through My Lens” section. I am back at work again on Wednesday; on Thursday I am going to a bookshop and on the weekend I’m going camping.

I have a lot less planned for next week but I want to try to take it easy in preparation for term 4, which is sure to be a busy, busy term.

I have a new camera – a Canon 1000D SLR, which I am still learning to use. It is a big step up from the previous cameras that I’ve had but I have managed to get a few good shots already, including the banner picture above.

Here are some photos from the last ten weeks:

Tasmania – Day 6

Tasmania – Day 5

Today was our first full day in Hobart. We left our accommodation and drove to the Cadbury Factory but decided that we didn’t want to pay the $7.50 entrance fee just to enter the shop (we didn’t have time to stick around and do the tour). After that we drove to Mount Wellington, which was shrouded in cloud. We drove to the summit and spent a few minutes up in the clouds – very cold and wet… we didn’t see much, either  

Our next stop was the Cascade Brewery and I spent a while walking around the gardens. Some of the flowers they had were quite beautiful – the honey bees here are huge and much fatter than the ones at home. I want to plant some of the plants in my garden at home… the colours were stunning.

After the Brewery, we drove to Hobart and into the commercial district for lunch at Constitution Dock. I don’t eat fish, so I ate plain potato wedges with sour cream. We separated after that; Dad went to take photos, my sister went shopping on her own and mum and I went together.

Tonight we went out to dinner at the Casino. We went to a buffet restaurant. It was nice – very small but the food was lovely and the service was quite good too. Now we are back watching the football – go Port Adelaide!

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Quick Update + Photos

We’ve just finished the assessment period for term 1 and are in the midst of report writing. Hopefully I will be online more after that! My birthday on Friday was great. On Saturday, Mum and I went out and took some photos at the wetlands at Salisbury and then of the horses up in the hills that I visit. Saturday night I went out for dinner with my family, my sister’s boyfriend and my friend K. On Sunday, I relaxed. I did a little bit of shopping and processed some of my photos.

I have opened up a shop at Cafepress.com to sell my photos and some of my graphic designs on clothing, homewares and the like – the link is on the right hand side. I am planning on uploading more images soon.

I still haven’t made much time from writing although my head has felt in a fog since the weekend – too much staying up late, I think. We have two and a bit weeks until the holidays and I am looking forward to the break… I just have to get through marking and reports first :p

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Photos

I was having withdrawals from my camera, so I walked around the yard taking some photos yesterday. There wasn’t much out in the way of flowers, so I was forced to be a little more creative and the pictures came out far better than I imagined they would. I have taken several photos of the first picture here – the nut, bolt and washer. I saw it in the yard a few days ago and have snapped it several times from both sides. The last photo that I have included here (the clothes peg) was an interesting one. Originally the peg was backlit and too dark, so I used Photoshop to create a contrast mask to lighten it a bit. This is the first time I have used layers in any meaningful way.

Photos at Flickr

Photos

Holidays are here! After I got home from work tonight, I put the dogs in the car and went for a drive through the hills. There was low cloud, which was quite beautiful (and very wet) and I managed to see some kangaroos and some horses. We have had a LOT of rain the past couple of days, so the paddocks may green up just in time for me to take some photos these holidays. I also managed to get some nice photos of the flowers in our garden.

NaNoWriMo, Day 12 & New Photos

11408 words. Today is the hardest day for me to write because I have to watch Criminal Minds – it is the only show that I watch every week on TV without fail. Yesterday I wrote 1216 words, which was less than I had planned to write but I also let myself sleep in. I was up early this morning to get some more done and have my laptop set up so that I can work on my novel during the ads. So far today, I have written 678 words.I am looking forward to working hard over the weekend.

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Updates & Photos

Finally the end of a very busy week. I stayed up late last night uploading photos to Flickr and the weather has been quite warm today, so tonight I am tired. The weather tomorrow is meant to be 38C (100F). I plan on having the air-conditioner running, my glass topped up with Coke or Orange Juice all day and do as little as possible.I may work on one of my stories, or maybe on my outline for NaNoWriMo.

Photos at my Flickr

Photos, Photo Album

I’ve created a Photo Album page where you can view Thumbnails of some of my best photos. Clicking on a thumbnail will bring up a larger photo at my Flickr account. I haven’t included all of my photos, just the ones that really stood out to me when I went through my photostream.

I also have a few new photos up on my Flickr account since yesterday – flowers, again from our garden. It is mid-spring here in Australia and the weather is warming up quite rapidly. My flower garden is coming along nicely and I have been making sure that it has plenty of water and fertilizer to keep it growing.

Today is the last day of my holidays. Term starts again tomorrow. We are back for 9 weeks before the long summer break over the Christmas holidays. I have enjoyed myself and although part of me still yearns to be on holidays, another part can’t wait to get back to work. I am fortunate in that I love my job. By the time I am on holidays next, the paddocks will be dry and scorched from the summer heat and the days will be warm.

Photos

Yesterday I went with my friend K on a drive. We had originally intended to go to the Adelaide Botanic Garden but it was busier than I thought and I went past the last few parking spaces available, so after a second try, we changed our minds and headed for the hills. Because of the recent rains, the hills are lovely and green; yesterday was also a much better day than our drive last Friday – the skies were beautifully blue with a sprinkling of clouds and there was very little wind.

We ended up driving along the River Torrens, up to Mount Pleasant, where we enjoyed lunch in the hotel and then came back through Williamstown and the South Para Reservoir. We also met a friendly horse, saw emus and lots of pretty spring flowers.

Photos on my Flickr