...countdown

The countdown to Rachael & Dale's special day has begun...

photoshoot...

engaged...

Symmons Plains Raceway

V8 Supercars...
The weather was kind to us at the Saturday session of the V8 Supercars at Symmons Plains raceway this year - sunny skies - a bit too sunny, though, as I got sunburnt for the first time this year...



The trucks rolled into town early in the week. The media truck and the Disney Cars truck were popular with everyone.

The weather cleared on Saturday into a hot, sunny day - perfect for the crowds to enjoy a great day of motor racing.

The superbikes were out on the track early for a practice session before their main race began.

Then it was time to see the cars roar into action...

Corner one is very tight so we saw a few cars end up in the gravel during qualifying and the main race.

Jamie Whincup drove a great race to win on Saturday and then he repeated his success with another win on Sunday afternoon.

It was great having the big screen at corner one - we could check out the action on other section of the track!

Robert was enjoying himself taking shots of the action on corner one...

During the afternoon I took a walk around to pit lane and took a few photos along the way...Check out the camera lenses these guys were using!

Painting Project...

Lounge Room renovation...

During the recent September school holidays the girls decided that it might be a great idea to re-paint the lounge room!! A great idea, but who would be doing all the work, I wonder??



We agreed that it was time to get rid of the 1990's colour scheme and bring the room into the 21st century. The hard work began with most of the furniture/books/dvds/miscellaneous paraphenalia finding temporary homes all over the house. The walls were stripped of their friezes, ceiling swept, walls washed, and lots of patching needing to be done. Hannah & I washed walls and then waited for Robert to complete the huge task of repairing the cracks in the lathe & plaster - not a fun job at all!!


The new colour scheme was chosen from the Dulux white collection. White (ceiling magic) on the ceiling, "Fair Bianca" on the walls, 1/2 strength Hog Bristle on the skirtings & picture rail and full strength Hog Bristle on the fireplace wall.

The painting marathon began on Thursday and wasn't completed until the following Tuesday. At some point or other during the process everyone found themselves with a paintbrush or roller in hand - even Jared who arrived from Hobart on Friday evening!!

The room has a 10 foot ceiling so a lot of time was spent going up and down the ladder -
wouldn't I love $1 for everytime I did that over the 5 days it took to paint the room!!!

Of course, we had a slight paint mishap during the project - ever tried to get almost 1 litre of paint out of carpet??? LOL - that's what happens when you're trying to get a job done late into the evening and the concentration lapses for just a moment! :) Thankfully the paint splashes missed the furniture, just catching both Robert and I, the ladder and the carpet in front of the fireplace. Needless to say, the carpet has now been steam cleaned and has come up a treat!

It took 3 coats of paint to cover the green walls. All the work was worth the effort, though, because we now have a light, bright room that looks fantastic. the light colours have made the furniture and pictures just "pop" and look like new again!!!

Here is the result of 10 days of hard work:

Concert Memories

Osmonds 50th Anniversary concert in Perth, Western Australia

3 years ago my friend, Gail, and I flew to Perth to meet the Osmonds and sit in the front row at their only Australian concert on the world tour. During the concert I took this video of Marie and Merrill singing one of Marie's big country hits "Meet Me in Montana". I posted this clip to Youtube and am amazed that more than 50,000 people have now viewed it!

Here it is:

Macro...

After a long wait we finally added a new lens to our Nikon lens collection.


Both Robert and I use Nikon cameras so this is a shared lens. Robert shoots with a Nikon D700 and I'm currently using a Nikon D90.

I thought I'd share some of the photos I've taken recently, some of which have been taken with the new lens.

Rainforest at Lemonthyme Lodge

Seaside Daisy

Moss cover rock on the forest floor at Lemonthyme


Delicate growth


Champagne Falls


Painted Gull


Spider's Handiwork

Forest Stream, Cradle Mountain

Ash Cloud at Sunset

This week the ash cloud from a volcano in Chile has been creating havoc across southern Australia. I took these photos earlier in the week as the sun was setting. The colours were amazing!

Dramatic Skies...

Dramatic Skies...

I drive past this lovely spot every day on my way to work and the scenery is always changing. I finally took the time to stop yesterday afternoon to catch this dramatic sky and the river in flood.

On my travels recently...

Fogbank across the eastern suburbs of Launceston

Autumn...

These are just a few of the photos I've taken recently on my travels around the north of the State.

Reflections taken at 41 deg South - Salmon & Ginseng Farm

Garden Colour...

Fresh Tassie Salmon...

Waterbirds on the North Esk River on a cool Autumn morning...













Baby Kitty keeping her toes warm...