f365: Day 091

We were not visited by the Easter Bunny this year, but a friendly cockatoo paid us a visit while we were having breakfast this morning at our friend's place. His curious and bold nature made me realise he was a suitable subject for today's photo.

He is a regular apparently and was keen to check out what was on our plates!

f365: Day 090

We were back at Nudgee Beach again, for the second time in three days. We caught up with our friends Rob, Andrea, their two children Lawrence and Gemma plus their young dog "Ruff".

It was amazingly calm when we arrived with hardly a breath of wind plus the light was excellent. A lot of guys go down there just to fish and this shot captures some of them.

Note we also saw a pod of dolphins later on, but I was too busy looking after Bruce (or maybe it was Cookie) to get any decent shots of them.

f365: Day 089

Loving this Easter weekend so far. We're getting stuff done around home, plus have been out exploring as well. And the Queensland weather has been terrific (apart from those huge rain events, it is like a 6 month summer here).

My photo today is a hand held self portrait complete with goofy expression of myself enjoying a beer on our veranda.

It was my turn to cook tonight - I am not much of a cook but have one recipe which involves grilling chicken coated in pesto sauce, then melting Bocconcini cheese on top and serving between two pieces of toasted Turkish bread with cherry tomatoes, rocket and balsamic vinegar. It tastes even better when alcohol is added to the mix which might partly explains the blissed out expression.

Here's to food, alcohol and Easter :-)

f365: Day 088

It was a beautiful Good Friday even though Jenn and I spent all morning and early afternoon gardening.

For the first time, we took both dogs on an outing - to Nudgee Beach. We timed it for the low tide as the expanse is huge and ample room for the dogs to run around.

I've put up four shots from today as it was difficult (and restricting) to just put one up. The last shot was taken on the drive home - both were very tired at this point!

Happy Easter everyone!

f365: Day 087

I indulged in some post work retail therapy, namely bought some work clothes. I passed through King George Sq afterwards - there is usually plenty going on around here.

Tonight I took a shot of the coloured lights which were flashing and alternating colours. With the town hall in the background it made for an interesting shot, even though I shot hand held.

f365: Day 086

Wednesday night is normally out take out night but we decided to see a movie. Prior to this, we went and had sushi at a sushi train place (near Palace Cinema Complex in Paddington).

Jenn and I love this - we come here often and never tire of the selection.

Taken using my Vignette app on my Android phone - an over saturation filter has been applied.

f365: Day 085

Today (or tonight for that matter) I bought the big camera out to play. I'd forgotten all about my daily photo until I arrived home, by which time it was dark.

A full moon was casting some nice shadows across the veranda, but looking eastwards from our property, the silhouette of the treeline and the moon (plus clouds) provided an opportunity.

I shot this with my Canon 5d Mkii on an 8 second time exposure (with tripod and cable release). The blurriness of the clouds is not camera shake, but rather I've captured the movement of the clouds.

f365: Day 084

I popped into the city today for an accessory for my new Android phone. It was hot and muggy and more suited to the beach than the workplace!

There are plenty of photographic opportunities in the city - this is a wall collage in the Queen St Mall.

I'll try and head in more often and take more shots!

f365: Day 083

I'm back in Brisbane now after a short visit. It was a fun trip back to Sydney and the weather was perfect. I was down in my old neighbourhood this morning (quite early) and took a few shots of Cooper Park, where we used to go sometimes. It offers excellent views out towards the city plus you can see Bondi Junction Shopping Centre.

Also in 2009, after a period of heavy rain, part of the road I was standing on when taking this shot collapsed (the soil underneath was saturated, made worse by a burst water main). A car was dragged down and a mini landslide ensued (it made national news at the time).

Here is a view looking down onto the park.

f365: Day 082

Today shot is a selection from my short trip to Sydney. It was a beautiful warm day here. About to head to Bronte for a swim!

f365: Day 081

Today's photo was taken at Central Station in Sydney. I'm down here this weekend for a friends 40th birthday. Looking forward to catching up with friends and seeing some of the old haunts again!

f365: Day 080

I've had a dodgy tummy all week and unfortunately it was pretty bad last night so I took the day off work to try and recover.

So the day was spent at home. The dogs never slow down, except at feeding time. Bruce gets 3 large meals/day (each individual meal would be more than I would eat at dinnertime!).

Here is a ground level shot of Bruce waiting patiently for his dinner.

Puppy Photo Shoot - Mar13

Bruce is now over three months old and still growing at an alarming rate.

These photos were taken last weekend when we were both trying to have a lie in. The puppies were as playful as ever!

f365: Day 079

Ugly. That is how we see our kitchen at the moment. Impractical, pokey and dated. Anyway, we're going to knock it all down mid year, take a wall out and put a new kitchen in.

Today's shot will be a reminder to get this job done soon. Otherwise we'll be stuck with these nasty cupboards and 50s benchtop.

f365: Day 078

I'd never noticed this time capsule at work before. I had a chunky piece of SAS code running so thought I'd pop out for a walk around the "Village Green", the small communal area between all the buildings at Virgin HQ here in Brisbane.

Anyway, the light was fading and I snapped this one of the time capsule. It was buried in May 2010 so no idea when it'll be opened and what will be found inside....

f365: Day 077

Sometimes I wander around Newstead Park at lunchtime. It is a historic park in the city and houses Newstead House as well as an Australian-American war memorial. The views from the park are excellent and it is a nice place to unwind and have lunch.

Today was quite cloudy and a sepia tone seemed appropriate.

f365: Day 076

Today was a day of loafing about at home. It was very warm today - up around 33C.

However around 5pm the weather changed and we had gusty winds running right through our house.

Jenn was out toileting the dogs when - SLAM, crash, tinkle, tinkle. Our front door slammed shut breaking the upper pane in the door. Jenn had been harbouring thoughts of getting a new door anyway, and given the price of window panes, could be a better option.

Anyway, today's image is the aftermath.

f365: Day 075

I had a busy day today. I went for a 19km run at 5.30am, we then had friends over for breakfast (they bought their two beagles so it was a doggie party!), plus I got a few things down at home.

I also Skyped both my parents and James, a great friend of mine who lives in the US.

As Skype was a dominant theme of today, my shot was taken during my Skype call with James. It is a fantastic way to keep in touch and it is delightful my parents have taken the technology on board.

f365: Day 074

Another one of those "views I have most days". I commute into Bowen Hills railway station. It is a major hub for the northern part of the city network. It is also quick to get to the airport from here.

This sort of shot works well in sepia I think. Anyway, enjoy today's shot.

f365: Day 073

Ok, ok, another puppy shot. But they are very cute and with Bruce's rate of growth, he is changing all the time. Besides which, I've been manically busy at work lately so haven't been out with the camera much.

Cookie and Bruce shared a rare quiet moment on the bed this morning so quickly took this one before they darted off again.

f365: Day 072

Today was a very special day for Jenn and I as we met exactly 10 years ago today! We met through mutual friends at a pub in Wellington.

To celebrate, we went to an excellent Thai restaurant in South Bank, Brisbane. Afterwards we took a walk through South Bank. The Brisbane "Eye" was not operating tonight (repair work) but it was lit up spectacularly. I got this shot as we were about to head home.

f365: Day 071

I'm showcasing Jenn's work today. She has been working on this for awhile. It is a mixed media landscape of NZ made from envelope linings. It is not quite finished yet, just needs a matt medium to encase the exterior.

f365: Day 070

After all this showery weather, it is nice to see some colour in the sky. Still waiting for a decent thunderstorm though (apparently we have had one of the worst storm seasons on record) but there was plenty of colour around when I left work.

Taken overlooking the Brisbane Strikers football club, near work.

f365: Day 069

More on Melbourne's street art. I could have easily taken photos of the skyline, the Yarra River etc but I've decided to focus the last couple of days on the street art. This one was more hidden away, but a typical example of stencil art. Very cool :-)

f365: Day 068

Today's photo captures one aspect of Melbourne I enjoy - the street graffiti. Wandering around the inner city it is everywhere. Some of the best art is buried away in a side alley whereas other forms of expression are big and bold.

f365: Day 067

Quite late adding my daily photo (am in Melbourne - spur of the moment thing). Anyway, there is an urban wasteland car park near work which I'd been meaning to photograph. With all the rain, it has become very overgrown lately.

f365: Day 066

I was at the quarterly SAS forum tonight after work. While always interesting, it was a great chance to catch up with workmates, past and present.

I took this shot on the way out, of the Treasury & Casino building. Night time exposures are always tricky and I hand held this, but managed to minimise blur.

f365: Day 065

I was starving after work so Jenn and I took Bruce out for a walk and got Grill'd for dinner. Although a simple meal of burgers and chips, their burgers are to die for.

While not technically a good foodie shot, this was my dinner tonight - a Queenslander burger crammed with beef, tomato, lettuce, cheese, an egg and crispy bacon with a delicious serving of seasoned chips. Yum!

f365: Day 064

There were plenty of clouds and colour in the sky after work. In between rain showers I pointed my camera skywards and captured this one.

I also managed to get soaked on the way to work, but luckily avoided the rain after work!

f365: Day 063

We had a nice day today with abundant sunshine. Brisbane is pretty saturated after weeks of rain so hopefully at least some of the top layers will dry out.

Went for a walk near work at lunchtime - this view is of the Enoggera Creek, a tributary of the Brisbane Rover. Virgin HQ is on the upper right of the image. Note how brown the water is at the moment!

f365: Day 062

The big wet continues. When it rains here in summer, it just doesn't stop and I think we are all over it now. It is kind of like an English winter with the dreariness, but with warmth (having experienced 8 English winters!).

There was a slight break in the weather where it didn't rain for a couple of hours. Tim and I were down at Southbank and checked out Streets Beach. I am still playing around with my Android phone and took this with the HDR feature checked.

f365: Day 061

Bruce needed his 12 week vaccination shot today so we took him back to Christine's place (Bruce's original owner). He got to see many of his brothers and sisters again - they've all grown considerably in just four weeks.

All this relentless wet weather we've had means his toilet training has gone backwards (it is easier in his mind to use our house as a toilet rather than go outside on the wet grass ;-)) so that has been a challenge, in addition to cultivating webbed feet in preparation for the biblical flooding about to happen here.

So today's shot is of two of this sisters in Christine & Ashley's backyard with Bruce in the background.

f365: Day 060

I picked my friend Tim up from the airport this morning and we spent the day at the Gold Coast and the "Wet 'n Wild" theme park. We were basically a couple of big kids and had a terrific time.

No cameras were allowed inside so I was unable to take a shot of the crazy rides.

Therefore on a more subdued note, my travel books have been sitting on our bookshelf for a long time now and are now fading. As I generally buy books for my Kindle now, seeing paperbacks stacked together is becoming less and less common.