Not feeling very much like cooking tonight, so it might be takeout ...
Finally, some much needed rain! This was taken with my iPhone yesterday afternoon during our drenching downpour. Lots of surface water and lots of runoff downhill. It was a challenge trying to take photos with two dogs under my feet, no matter which way I turned. They had to be right beside me because there was thunder. I cannot begin to understand why it was better to follow me around than to stay in the dry safety of the house, but that's what they did. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the water to dissipate once it stopped raining. You can see the new enclosure we built for Houdini. There is no way Bella can climb this fence. The side door to the art studio opens onto this area so they have an outside and a safe inside spot as well. Both of them are getting used to this new arrangement and at least we know they are safe and secure when we go out. Hopefully this means no more calls from strangers letting me know they have picked up my dog in the middle of the road at night! Just a photo of my cottage garden attempt - it is enjoying the good soaking it's getting, and I'm enjoying not having to water constantly. Not that I mind watering, but I was conscious of how low the water tanks were getting. This rain has been great for topping all the rain water tanks up. I think we're in for a few more days of rain which will be nice.
Not feeling very much like cooking tonight, so it might be takeout ...
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Exercise | Journey | Act This prompt is part of the 'Thankful for' series. Unfortunately any meaningful exercise is out for me at the moment while I wait for two partial tears in my hamstring to heal. I had a PRP injection last Friday and am hoping that it does the job and I can get back into doing some exercise again, and soon. I'm taking it really easy though at the moment, and not even taking the dogs for their morning walk - which I am missing big time. My early morning walks are one of my favourite parts of the day. I'm so looking forward to getting back to running, weights and my ballet classes. Zimi absolutely loves chasing the water out of the hose, which often makes watering the plants a challenge. I'm trying to get him to differentiate between the 'shower' setting which is for when I am watering and he has to leave it alone, and the 'jet' setting which is when he can play. Not terribly successful so far, and worse if he hasn't had his morning exercise as he has all this pent-up energy to use. I've been watering to try to keep a small amount of grass around the patio area alive, mainly to stop it from going back to dirt and then blowing in through the house. Of course Zimi thought this was great fun, so I roped Steve into playing with Zimi so I could get some action shots; just a bit difficult to do solo. However Zimi wasn't playing as well with Steve (or maybe Steve wasn't playing well with Zimi) so I didn't get to take very many. The top two photos show Zimi in the process of leaping up to catch the water and all legs are in the air in the second photo - which according to the daily CY365 email is the ideal shot. Steve took over camera duties so that I could encourage Zimi to play more (which he did). I'm not quite sure exactly why Zimi likes this but he seems to derive great pleasure out having the hose on his face and in his mouth. Misty, our previous German Shepherd also loved chasing the water coming out of the hose, but Bella shows no interest whatsoever.
Gourd | Pumpkin Patch | Home Grown I was so excited the other day to see the tiniest little butternut pumpkin on one of my pumpkin vines. I haven't tried to grow pumpkins before, so I have no idea how they will fare here, but it was worth having a go. I've planted two types - butternut and a little round one whose name I can't remember and I can't find my book where I recorded it. Hopefully with eight plants a few will grow and actually produce something we can eat. The prompt I guess was really in preparation for Halloween in the Northern Hemisphere, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to record the beginnings of my pumpkins, and it does fit in with the sub-heading of home grown. My first little one. A couple of the other type just getting started. Promises of a lot more to come ...
First | Leading | AheadThe prompt for this was about selective focus and how the eye is immediately drawn to what is in focus first (strange that!). Otherwise known as the camera technique of Depth of Field. This is achieved in three main ways: aperture, focal length and the distance between the camera and subject. We were in Mount Tamborine yesterday picking up a wine barrel from Witches Falls Winery to turn into a table. While in the car yard I spotted an old cart and thought of the earlier prompt of Discarded, which I haven't yet done. However, I also took some close up shots - all with the iPhone. These two photos work quite nicely for the prompt of In The Front however I didn't have to actually use any technique as the iPhone camera did it quite nicely with depth of field and bokeh as a bonus. And the one on top is our wine barrel. We now have to work out where we want it to be placed in the yard! Routine | Duty | ResponsibilityToday's prompt was the recurring self-portrait one, the one I don't particularly like doing, but I thought I could use it to record the new cottage garden we've been creating around the patio. Well, really, it's been mainly me doing all the planting, but Steve and I did the heavier work of putting down weed mat, pavers, mulch and pebbles before the plants went in. I know the prompt was A Household Chore, but I don't really see being and working in the garden as a chore. I really enjoy watching a garden grow and flourish and change over the years. Somehow I don't get the same sense of satisfaction when it comes to many of the repetitive chores one does in a house. Getting these new plants established has become part of my routine, just watering them in and checking how they're doing. I have no idea how they're going to handle summer as I have no experience with most of the plants I've put in, but it will be fun to see what happens. The little wire basket around the plant in the front is a rather poor attempt to protect the plants from the dogs. To be fair, Bella and Zimi have actually been pretty good, and I do smile when I see Zimi following the path through the garden. It all comes undone, however, if they hear something of interest - anywhere - and they take off full speed ahead with no care what they run through or over. Yes, definitely only hardy plants will survive here! I went to Bunnings this afternoon. I wanted to get some pastel coloured spray paint to paint some old tins and then I plan to put some plants in them. Not sure where I'll put them once they're potted, but I'll find a space. I did come home with quite a few new plants to put in. Probably not a good idea to let me loose in the gardening section at the moment. I know, I wasn't smiling. It's always quite a challenge to work out the focus and exactly where to stand when setting up a self portrait. I had a bit of fun playing in Lighroom and also in Perfect Effects 8. Every day brings something beautiful
If we are just willing to look up and see it Marjorie Pay Hinckley Growth | Colour | ProduceIt is so good to be finally able to spend time in the garden after the upheaval of the past several months, although at times it felt like the refurbishments had been going on forever. I've got the veggie beds that I've used for the past couple of years weed free, plants into them and sugar cane mulch spread - another bag and that should cover the bed completely. The new herb bed up by the house is complete - Steve built it for me, we bought dirt and wheelbarrowed it across, I've stained the timber and have now planted it with herbs. Even though the garden isn't yet producing a whole lot, I thought I'd get a few shots for this prompt, as well as for my own records. This is the new herb bed planted out and so far, no Zimi paw prints to be seen! The lettuce is doing well down in the old garden bed. I did transplant some to the herb garden, just so that I could simply walk outside and grab a few leaves if I wanted for salads. Not sure yet whether they're going to survive the move. The rosemary, parsley and thyme (first pic) is growing well in the old garden bed. I had planned to "simply" transplant these to the new bed. However, I didn't realise just how thick a stalk parsley had until I went to transplant it. Because I just take cuttings from the sides of the plants when I need some parsley the main stalk has just kept on growing. It looks incredibly healthy. And the rosemary seems to like this spot as well, as does the thyme. I just hope the new garden does as well. Last year my daughter-in-law decided she was going to give the whole veggie garden thing a go, but she went the whole way - she started from seeds. The middle plants are two of the eggplant bushes she gave to me. They produced quite well last year, and as you can see, already starting to produce for this season. This is the mulberry bush planted earlier this year. A couple of months ago some caterpillar (or something) had a wonderful feast and demolished all the leaves on the bush. It doesn't seem to have affected it long term as it is covered in leaves and mulberries. We didn't have much luck this year with our mandarin or orange trees - I think it was just too hot and dry for them. Small fruit would form but didn't grow to full size or ripen. Hoping for better luck this time round seeing that both trees are covered in blossoms. Flower from the mandarin tree - so tiny and delicate. Looking forward to January/February next year: the mango tree is in full bloom. Love the shaped bokeh, but no idea how it happened. Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead of you. Mine will see me in the garden for most of the time. I'll have to stop buying plants. Night all!
Stance | View | From AboveSeriously, what more could I ask for? The landscape extravaganza is definitely coming to a close, with all the heavy work finally done (I think). Basically we're now at the stage of planting out the new garden beds and getting the grass back again. Soon it will be warm enough to spend time around the pool and soak in our new surroundings. And finally, after three years of hiding in the shed, the hammock is up and in use. So yesterday, after a day in the garden, the animals fed and the plants watered, it was time to while away a little time in the hammock with a glass of wine. Not too bad a view to relax with. Won't be long and I'll have the time to spend down there with a good book (or iPad). This is yet another iPhone photo. It was tricky I must admit getting into the hammock while holding the wine and then trying to take a photo with one hand and without spilling the wine or dropping the glass. Processed in Snapseed. We're getting some much needed rain at the moment - great for the plants, not so great for the spraying that Steve did this afternoon to get rid of the weeds that are all through the grass and edges of the garden beds. Hopefully it was down long enough so that the rain doesn't affect it, otherwise we'll be doing the spraying when Steve is next home.
The end of the weekend and a new week ahead of us. Have a great week! I was out taking photos of the flowers on our callistemon bushes that we planted earlier - I'm trying to remember now whether we planted all those trees and bushes late last year, or early this year. Time has gone by in such a blur I've lost track. I do remember spending a lot of time spreading mulch over the back garden area, and having no mulch for the front garden until a couple of months ago. But nonetheless this is their first spring and first flowering. When I went down the other day I noticed just how gorgeous the colour the flowers on this Callistemon are and simply had to get some photos - as you do. I wasn't the only one attracted to the flowers and there was a bee busy doing what bees do. Glad we're helping to keep the bee population alive. Not easy to capture a bee flying, but I'll keep on trying!
Transformation | Adjustment | ModifyThis prompt has a Northern Hemisphere influence in that they mention the changes that are occurring to plants as fall approaches. Over here we have the wonderful experience of the change of season with the blossoming and new growth on the plants in our garden; buds developing, beautiful colours in the tips of young leaves. This prompt was about playing with the shadows created by the changing flowers: "The simple shapes of flowers, seed heads, and leaves make interesting designs. Look for patterns, leading lines, curves, and framing". As usual Steve and I have spent part of today working in the garden, mainly moving the remainder of the pebbles, laying weed mat and moving mulch around. While I was watering the new plants I noticed some shadows I thought would be good for this particular prompt. Of course by the time I went to take some photos the sun had disappeared. As soon as it came out again I grabbed the phone and took a few shots. While the prompt is about shadows and lines and so forth, the other suggestions are about transformation, modification and adjustment. So I had a play with the photos in Snapseed, Distressed FX and then in iPhoto - well I can't let a chance go by. Of course, while I was taking photos of shadows on the ground I had my trusty companion with me - and he isn't always good at getting out of the way when I'm trying to shoot shadows especially. So here is another shot - me and my shadow :-) I was trying to take some shots of the shadow of the grasses, but Zimi kept getting his shadow in the way. I gave up with a smile on my face.
Individual | Lone | IsolatedI must admit to loving spring at the moment. I came home from my walk this morning and looked at all the newly budding plants and shrubs around the yard. Of course that meant I needed to get the camera out to take photos. Because Steve is at work, there was no urgency to get back into doing some planting straight after breakfast so I had a lovely time taking some macro shots. The orange hibiscus I planted recently have been flowering really well, and I noticed this flower just starting to open up. Usually they are fully open a bit earlier in the day but this one was still in the process of unfolding, while the others were already fully opened. Along with the prompt of Single, the other aspect of the prompt was about focal planes. This is from the daily email: Subjects on different focal planes is a key step to blurring the background. If you imagine slicing a photo into different layers as they meet the “front” of the image, you can imagine focal planes. A slight turn of a head puts one eye on a different plane than the other, causing it to be out of focus. You can see how the focal plane in these photos is really quite narrow with only the small section in the front of the image in focus. In these shots the tips or edges of the petals and the top of the stamen are in focus with the rest of the image becoming increasingly more blurred into the background. I love all the delicate drops of dew remaining on the edges of the flower. They don't take long to go once the sun warms up the day. |
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