Days 353 to 362/366

We are getting near the end of our challenge and I have obviously lost count of which day is which.  I think I have the correct days now... better late than never.

Day 353

My home baked Christmas gifts of Almond Shortbread and Mini Christmas cakes.

Day 354

Here I am at the office of one of my clients with my basket of goodies.

Day 355

This was an unusual sight this afternoon.  The hang glider was soaring above the ocean on the right, but then swung inland and flew above me with a cheery wave.

Day 356

My craft group had it's Christmas night out last night and we swapped our Secret Santa gifts.  I was lucky enough to receive this little gnome and his garden,  made by my talented, creative and very dear friend, Mary.

Day 357

This is the best crop of tomatoes we have ever had.  My daughter made a delicious pasta sauce with a few kilos and we still have lots more on the bushes to pick.  Soon we will have an abundance of cucumbers....I think we will be giving a lot away.

Day 358

Coco took a much more mature approach to the Christmas tree this year.  Last year she raced up and down the tree, creating havoc, this year she decided to sleep in it.  As you can see, she was not impressed to be woken up with the camera flash.

Day 359

I bought this ornament last year in honour of my daughter's performances the Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker.

 Day 360

Merry Christmas everyone.  I wish you peace and happiness.

Day 361

A much cooler day and perfect to do some quilting on the baby's quilt.  The baby arrived on day 358, a few days early, so I really want to get the quilt finished.

Day 362

In the mail today - photos and letters from the children we sponsor through the KCC Slum Project.  My step daughter spent 3 months working with the project in Kenya, during her gap year in 2009.

Days 340-353/366

Its not called the silly season for nothing! I have been taking photos whenever I can ,but have not had time to sit down at the computer for long enough to upload them.   Here are a couple of week's worth of photos  :)

Day 340

It was a beautiful morning's walk down to the sea today.
Hmmm which way would you rather travel on the sea?  Paddling or riding in a comfy boat.

Day 341

Received one of my favourite magazines in the mail today!

Day 342

I had to alter a costume for my daughter for her final ballet performance with her dance school.  Can you tell who she will be?  Here's a clue - she lives with 7 Dwarfs ;)

Day 343

 

I had forgotten I had made these last year.

Day 344

I love the fan shapes of these grass seed heads.

Day 345

My daughter was dancing the role of Snow White (yes you guessed correctly!)  in her last ballet concert.  I had planned on taking a shot of her on pointe before the concert, but to be honest I was feeling a bit down about it all coming to an end.  Anyway, after the concert and a few tears from both of us, I asked her to put her shoes on at home out on the back steps.  I did a bit of fiddling with the photo for fun, but I can't remember exactly how I produced this result...silly me :)

Day 346

After an early start to the day courtesy of the cat (grrr), I managed to do a little bit of piecing of the baby quilt before I set of to work (yay!). Here it is laid out on the floor.  Thank you Coco the cat for a bit of extra creative time.

Day 347

Day 348

Day 349

All in a day's work.  I was taking photos to post to my client's facebook page (he sells showbags).  I just couldn't get either Scooby to look at the camera :))

Day 352

I have had this big idea to make my clients mini christmas cakes and biscuits,now I have just got to put the idea into practise.  Here is the dried fruit I am preparing.

Day 353

Breakfast time and I am feeding one of our blue tongue lizards some banana :)  I am just about to embark on a day of baking cakes and biscuits.  I will show you the results next post and in the meantime I hope to get on the ipad tonight whilst everyone is watching TV and visit all your blogs.

Days 332- 339/366

It's getting harder and harder to take a photo everyday, I carry my camera around everywhere, but haven't seen anything new to capture for a while.  I will just have to keep looking!

Day 334

We have been waiting and waiting for our Hoya plant produce a flower, it has had buds for months and something is finally happening.  There are about 25 buds that are starting to wake up.

Day 336

Wow! It has been worth the wait, isn't this magnificent?

Day 337

Nearly finished...

Day 338

Fabric to make a little quilt for a baby.

Day 339

Finished!

Days 319 to 331/366

I am sorry that I have been offline for the past couple of weeks.  We have had a lot of family things happening,  good and bad.  Some days I didn't get the opportunity to take a photo, but here's what I did take;

Day 321

This is the flower of the Cunjevoi plant that grows prolifically in our neighborhood as we have an area of rainforest nearby that runs down to the beach.  They produce these yellow flowers and the spike then develops red berries that the birds love.

Days 323 to 325

We took a trip to Sydney for family reasons and to have a really big treat of seeing Cirque du Soleil perform Ovo.  The show was fabulous!  We did attempt to visit Taronga Zoo as well and got as far as the front gates, but realised we didn't have enough time when we saw the queue for tickets...my husband has never been, so we will have to keep it on our list of things to do when in Sydney.
Here are a few photos from our visit;

 

A tiny busker, drumming away in Chinatown - you can just see his neck under the music stand. 

The entrance to Taronga Zoo - the only bit we saw!

The Cirque du Soleil Big Top

Inside the Big Top - ( this is what I really look like Robyn, not that odd looking photo on Facebook - not sure what my hairdresser was thinking that day!)

 

 

Beautiful Sydney Harbour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 326/366

My daughter's Year 12 Formal. We had a shaky start to the day and I thought we just might not make it, but it all turned out lovely.  She was chauffeured in a Mercedes Benz by one of my lovely clients and walked the red carpet on her father's arm.  She bought her dress online and then sequinned it herself.

Day 327/366

Spotted this lovely Buddleia or Buddleja on my morning walk

Day 328/366

I picked up a computer from the repairer's house this morning and as I looked to the right when reversing out the driveway I found myself face-to-face with this cute bundle!

Day 329/366

Not to be outdone by our other cactus, this one has decided to flower as well.  First time ever!

Day 330/366

Day 331/366

I gave this a "Monet-esque" type of feel with a hazy border.


I will try and visit your blogs over the next few days to catch up on all that I have missed.

Days 309 to 318/366

Day 309

A bit of editing using the blurring tool.  This Chinese Indigo plant grows all over our garden, flowering in the warmer months.  . I am leaning over the edge of the pool to get this shot - lucky I didn't fall in :)

Day 310

Tried a bit of foundation piecing for a Secret Santa gift

Day 311

Work in progress

Day 312

I was so excited to watch these dolphins playing in the surf this morning.  My little camera doesn't really do action shots, but I am very happy to have captured a little bit of this wonderful sight.

Day 313

A little visitor to my office.

Day 314

These Giant White Spider Lilies grow along the beaches near home.

Day 315

Spotted this little jewelled bug in the greenery.

Day 316

My favourite flower is starting to come into bloom :)

Day 317

Day 318