PHOTO MONDAY - Self Portrait

This week our theme was based on a self-portrait.  

Last year I set myself a personal challenge to post a self portrait photo weekly.......I got as far as number 21 which, I guess, wasn't too bad considering I hate having my photo taken.

This morning, I snapped the pic below just before I left to go with Michelle for her first antenatal appointment. All is going really well on that score and Michelle is now officially 15 weeks preggers! Note my little furry companion lying at my feet....he is never far from my side.

I took the two pics below yesterday and had a little play with some effects in my graphics program.

I liked how the Buddha made a subtle appearance in the background,
bathed in light

I'm looking forward to seeing the self-portraits from our other photo group members.

~ Love, light and peace ~

A tough winter here in South East Queensland.....

.....or maybe not

We are in the midst of our winter here but many of my northern hemisphere friends would chuckle and say, "That's not a winter!".  I can certainly see where they would have that view after experiencing a 'real' winter in Wyoming in the States some years back.  By comparison I would liken our winters more to a Wyoming fall.  As last Sunday was such a glorious winter's day, Michelle and Alex decided to take an impromptu drive out to Wellington Point at our bay-side and invited us along too.  How could Aaron or I refuse?!  Beau stayed home as he had things to do.  Brad stayed home because the rocky shoreline at the bay-side is too difficult for him to negotiate due to his blindness....and Reece and Sarina were off doing their own thing for the day.

I LOVE being near the sea!

It had been over two years since I last visited the bay so my parched soul just drank in all the beauty and felt so refreshed.  The smell of the salty, sea air was amazing and invigorating!

Normally we would go for a lengthy walk across that sand-bar (pictured below) but, as you may notice from the pic, the tide was already coming in when we arrived so we couldn't take our usual walk.  When the tide is out, the sand-bar is quite wide and it makes for a leisurely walk way out to a teeny island called, King Island.

We had a delicious lunch of fish and chips....one of my favourite things to do when visiting the bay or the beach.  These guys (Ibis) were patrolling the picnic area looking for hand-outs.

A common sight at the bay....people fishing from the jetty

Sadly, with the bay having a rocky shoreline, it makes for a lot of snagged fishing lines etc. so, as we walked the rocky shore, we collected snagged fishing lines, hooks and broken glass to put in the bin.  It upsets me to see it all knowing that it puts the sea-life and bird-life at risk but, hopefully, we kept a few of them safe by our actions.

close up of a small crab we found....sadly, not alive

another jetty pic.....what is that sitting on top of the light pole?

A pelican, of course...how cute he was too!

Pelicans are one of my top three favourite birds.

I loved the play of light on the water

Thanks for a beautiful day out, Michelle and Alex (pictured below with Aaron)!

~ Love, light and peace ~

Shame, Labor, Shame!

a very quick pencil free sketch in A5 sketchbook

I normally keep politics off my blog but I am so upset over what happened on Thursday morning that I just had to voice my thoughts on the matter.  After all, that's what journals are for, online or otherwise. So....love him or hate him, I believe our Prime Minister DID NOT deserve the backstabbing treatment he received from his own party on Thursday morning.  I was SO outraged that Kevin Rudd was ousted in such a fast, cruel and callous way.  I could get into all the nitty-gritty of who I believe is really running this country but I won't as I just wanted to state how disgusted I am at the Labor Party for how they treated one of their own.  It was nothing short of brutal and I can say with surety that, after being a loyal Labor supporter for the past 32 years, they have now lost my vote. SHAME, LABOR, SHAME!