Well we've been having some really beautiful sunny days here for the past couple of weeks, so the weather is great! Although just a little rain would be nice occasionally. Such a difference to all the other photos that seem to be going up on the CY365 website, seeing that most of them live in the northern hemisphere. So here is our poinciana tree in full bloom - just in time for Christmas.
How's The Weather: The Temperature | The Conditions | The Layers Well we've been having some really beautiful sunny days here for the past couple of weeks, so the weather is great! Although just a little rain would be nice occasionally. Such a difference to all the other photos that seem to be going up on the CY365 website, seeing that most of them live in the northern hemisphere. So here is our poinciana tree in full bloom - just in time for Christmas. And now we're off to take our grandson to see the Christmas lights. He's already been last night and apparently just loved them so when I told my son we were off to see the street that they'd visited he asked if we wanted to take Hunter. Of course we said yes!
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Lit Up: Trees | Houses | Displays
I picked Steve up from the airport yesterday afternoon around 3:30. We were then staying in the city for a drink and dinner before heading off to see the Queensland Ballet perform Nutcracker. I knew that I wasn't going to be home until fairly late and probably wouldn't want to set up a shot for the prompt. While walking to the theatre I noticed the bright lights of the Brisbane Eye and thought it would work for Lit up. I then discovered if I moved just a little to the side I could actually get one of the four large nutcrackers standing to attention on the staircases into the shot as well. I only took two photos on the iPhone so was quite happy with how they turned out. I've cropped it just a little to removed some distracting bright lights. The ballet was very enjoyable with beautiful sets and costumes. Reindeer: Up On The Rooftop | Eight | Coursers These two little reindeer stand under this tree (that is a tree on the side) on a side table as you enter our house. These little guys, or the tree, aren't actually gold though. This is the outcome of manipulating settings in iPhoto with the aim of achieving a golden warm tone. The photo below is closer to the real colour of the reindeer and tree. It's amazing how such a simple adjustment of the temperature and tint sliders can change the overall look and feel of a photo. This is so much crisper and I'm kind of thinking I prefer to the gold version.
I am now on the right day number but still have to work backwards to work out where I lost the plot.
Holiday Projects: Crafts | Photos | Pinterest Inspired My holiday projects revolve around getting the house done up for Christmas. That involves lots of red and gold spray paint and heaps of glitter. I'm also debating making some cards, but not sure whether that will actually happen this year. I do, however, have it all good to go. Quiet: Peaceful | Not A Creature Stirring | Silent
I just went through the days left on my December list and I have a funny feeling that somewhere along the way I have lost a day. I think today really should be Day 351 … I wonder where that happened! When I have a little more time to spend in front of the computer and on the blog, I will go back, find it and correct the entries. Some days it's a struggle to come up with a photo, and I think I've mentioned before how similar I find a lot of the prompts. This prompt falls into that category. No early morning fog, and soft quiet snow drifts, didn't want to do sleeping animals, so I've gone with the setting sun. It is a quiet time of the afternoon when I'm winding down (especially at this time of year), the animals have been exercised and fed, and I'm getting ready to have dinner and then relax. I do think next year will be a challenge trying to come up with new ideas for photos to fit the prompts. I guess that's good for enhancing my creativity ... Hospitality: Generosity | Warmth | Good Cheer
Not long now until Christmas and I'm in the process of getting all of our decorations, ornaments, and dinnerware ready for Christmas day. These glasses are good to go for Christmas breakfast or brunch with some nice champagne to start the day. I've been slowly adding to my Christmas collection each year and this year have purchased new serving dishes, as well as some ornaments. When I was putting the decorations on the tree the other day, I reflected on just how old some of the pieces are. The tree is relatively new and goes back to 1999, but a lot of the trimmings are from when my children were little - some 25 or so years ago. The years go by way too quickly, and I enjoyed looking back and remembering those precious moments. What wonderful memories have been created over that time. I do hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas that will bring you many happy memories for the years to come. Tradition: A Practice | A Custom | Heritage
We haven't really had any sort of Christmas traditions in our family, but I wanted to start one of sorts that can become something special for us. We've started to buy each of our children and their partner some type of Christmas ornament to build up their personal collections and to act as a keepsake over the years. Who knows, maybe they'll be passed on down. We are also buying the grandchildren their own decoration each year so they can hang them on their Christmas tree. We'll see how it goes. I'm not sure four boys will want Christmas tree decorations as part of their gift as they get older … or perhaps it will be more of a challenge for me to find something that will appeal. These two little musical Santas were from the first Christmas we did this in 2011. These are the ornaments Steve and I got for each other. Each family was also given something along these lines. I really should have taken photos each year of what has been given as I spent far too long in the shops today trying to remember what I had bought previously. Never too late - I'll start this year and keep a record. My Christmas Wish List: All I Want | Visions | Gear
My wish list for Christmas is pretty simple: I wish for health, happiness and lots of love - for family and friends. I guess all I want at Christmas time is for our family to spend some time together, having lots of fun, enjoying each other's company and creating moments to treasure that will be remembered as we all get older. Of course there will be lots of photos taken along the way. Sometimes Christmas is at our place, other times we've travelled to our children' places. It's such a delight to watch the grandchildren open their gifts and see the excitement on their faces. It also gives me an opportunity to bake decadent things that I normally wouldn't, such as chocolate almond slivers, shortbread, rum balls and fig and mustard pudding with orange custard. And there's usually plenty leftover so I don't have to cook for a few days! I tried a gingerbread house last year, but I recall my daughter in law saying she was going to do one for this year - hmmm, must check on that. I especially love it when Christmas is at our place. I have a ton of fun decorating the tree and the house to make it all Christmassy for the kids - something I enjoy doing. For our first Christmas in Yatala I spent a lot of time being creative and making all sorts of decorations, wreaths, bonbons, sewing Christmas placemats etc. Looking back it took me absolutely ages to do, but worth it, as it was the first time in many years that we had all four children, their partners and their children together. For today's photo I've gone with visions. This is what I would like to be doing, however at the moment I'm in the middle of a pre-Christmas cleanathon. Come Christmas day and boxing day, and this is where I'll be spending some quality time. No Peeking: Don't Look | Wrapped With Care | Restraint
One of the nice things about being overseas before Christmas was being able to pick a few small gifts that hopefully can't be purchased here in Australia. I haven't yet got to wrapping anything however, so this photo is a taste of things to come. Wrapping presents is one of my favourite parts of Christmas - and I've got a whole heap of ideas. Now to find the time. And no peeking - some of the gifts are in the blurred background! Through My Window: My View | Looking In | Looking Out
This was a case of taking a photo for the prompt, so nothing exciting here. I spent quite a bit of time with the water pressure sprayer thingy, trying to clean the pavers in readiness for Christmas. It was a rather overcast and dull day and not overly inspiring for taking photos. Nevertheless, this is taken through our glass doors (which I have just cleaned) and the framework forms part of the security screen. I tried to use the framework to 'frame' the picture to make it a little more interesting and I have played around in Lightroom to try and give a bit of oomph to this shot. But, never mind, I am now back on track to taking my photos each day! |
ARCHIVE CY365 -2014
This blog started out to be about my first 365 day photography project - one photo each day - through Katrina Kennedy's Capture Your 365 challenge Blogs I followThe more I start looking at blogs the more I find that are interesting. This is not good. I can never remember where I found them. Not to mention how time consuming they can be ...
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