It's EYE CANDY time!

This evening's gorgeous sunset.

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I enjoy sport.  I especially love rugby and tennis ... particularly the Mens Tennis.  Let’s be more specific.  I especially enjoy watching Rafa Nadal play tennis. 

This is what the moon looked like from the street.

I share this addictive and obsessive behaviour with my good friend Carol, only I’m not quite as verbose as her when it comes to dissing the opposition.  In tennis the player she loves to hate the most is Djokovich ... especially when he’s playing one of her favourites.

It was even fully visible at the view site as the sun started to rise.

.... and a close up of it.

This time of year there’s an abundance of sport tournaments that we enjoy. Not only do we have Super Rugby to watch but It’s French Open time too.  That’s one of our favourite Grand Slams ... that and Wimbledon.  My bucket list includes going to ALL of the Grand Slams and preferably one of these first. How anyone EVER does EVERYTHING on their bucket list though is beyond me.  

Mine keeps getting longer, not shorter.

I’ve ticked off a few memorable ones ... flying on the Concorde to New York, scuba diving with sharks and jumping out of an aeroplane at 12000 feet.  I’ve visited several of the places in the world I’ve always wanted to visit but I’ve yet to attend ANY of the Grand Slams, and that’s been an item on my bucket list for a very long time.

She found a rather large log ... or should that be tree branch ... 

I digress though.  Back to the tennis and rugby. The problem with both our favourite tennis tournaments is that they’re played in the Northern Hemisphere.  

I’m generally sleeping when all that eye candy is performing.  I have to record it.

..... that she really wanted to bring with us.

It makes for good viewing though, ESPECIALLY as it’s recorded.  

I can replay the most pertinent parts over and over again.  

My eye candy fix can go on indefinitely.

No matter how much she huffed and puffed, it was TOO big to move.

The final is scheduled to be played on Sunday afternoon .... that’s 2am my Monday morning.  Eeeeek!!  I’ll be recording it but I’ll ALSO be watching live as it’s impossible nowadays to avoid hearing the results of tournaments like this. 

SomeHOW, someWHERE, someONE is bound to let it slip.

Joined by the sparrows again ...

I think I might need matchsticks on Monday morning.

I think the hound might have to forego her early morning ramble.

I haven’t told her this yet.  It’s been difficult enough trying to explain that Sam the Man won’t be back until next Tuesday.  She gazes expectantly up and down the beach each morning WILLING him to appear.  Every other hound is given the once over to ensure it’s not Sam the Man in disguise .... or in drag.

This log .... branch ..... was nearly 3m long!

She got really confused when Zac the Golden Lab arrived on the beach.  From a distance he looks so much like Sam but up close you can see he’s older and more solid.  She went haring up the beach, tail wagging as fast as her legs were running, only to come back looking very dejected. 

It WASN’T Sam the Man.

I’ve just had a sudden thought.

Maybe it’s NOT Sam the Man she’s looking for but that darn CHIEFS rugby ball!!

She's yelling at us to come and help her carry it.

Use your smile to change your world ....

My manic hound .... digging in the sand does this to her!

How upsetting is this!! I set my alarm for 1am my Monday morning so I can watch the French Open Men’s Final live. I stay watching through two rain delays until 5am and then the match is postponed until tomorrow!  These all-nighters are catching up with me ... between rugby and tennis I’m not getting a lot of shut-eye. Cranky Carol is in town ... or would be .... if it wasn’t for all the caffeine I drink!

Rainbows in my world .... and then it rained ...

The hound was a tad confused  ... it’s Monday and it’s 6.30 and I’m still in bed .... something’s wrong. Gav wouldn’t let her in to disturb me either so by the time I woke and had washed and dressed, she was sitting outside the bedroom door ..... waiting .... IMpatiently!

We headed for the waves and she couldn’t get there quick enough. It’s bad enough I’d slept in ... now I was dawdling .... well at least that’s what she seemed to think. Bella and Suzanne were on their way OFF the beach. Bella was as confused as my hound, she’s the one racing onto the beach to meet us normally, not the other way around.

We met the most beautiful Old English Sheepdog on the sand ... at least that’s what I think he was ... he had a cropped tail and his coat was shorn but he still looked amazing. His name was Nelson .... like the seagull .... and he was VERY clean! Hmmmm ... don’t think he’d have stayed that way had the hound had her way with him. She wanted him to come play in the waves but he wasn’t allowed to.

Denise and Abby were also on the beach today so Denise joined me in a second caffeine fix ..... yep, it’s to counter-act all that late-night tennis and rugby viewing that’s playing havoc with my sleep cycle. We got our coffee and went  to sit on the bench as it was after 10 and the hound’s not allowed on the beach off-leash after 10. Abby’s so cute though ... she jumped up between Denise and I on the bench and, when I got up to take a photo of her, thought she’d have my coffee! 

I’m looking for a new camera at the moment. I’ve had a small payout from a wound-up benevolent fund I was a member of when I was still single. I’ve decided to invest in a new camera, and keep my existing one as a backup. My existing one needs a service and a few adjustments and I’ve been reluctant to send it in as I use it every day. 

Phew .... so much choice though! There are so many cameras out there that fill the criteria of what I need/want - so I’m narrowing it down to those DSLR’s or MILC’s that have the shortest shutter-lag. I want to capture more accurately those manic moments with the hound on the sand and the evil antics of the seagulls! The other ‘must have’ feature I’m looking for is an ability to work well in low light. Those are in addition to the features I feel are essential in a camera for me. I’m not even being that fussy about brand as, at the end of the day, the camera is purely a tool ... it’s what I do WITH it that matters.

The hound got an unexpected second walk this evening. We participated in the inaugural Moretons Miles event - a weekly 5km fun run/walk to Mission Bay and back. Entry was $5 and, completion of the fun run, entitled you to a free beer or cider. I’m not sure the hound found it as much fun as I did ... this wasn’t a “walk and smell the roses” kind of walk like our morning one’s are.

USE your SMILE to change the world. DON’T LET THE WORLD change your smile!

"I look at what I write so I can see what I think"

I love this pic!

This is one of my favourite times of the year .... from a sports perspective, that is. Not only have I got rugby to watch most weekends but it’s French Open time and Wimbledon coming up ... Yay!! I might be spending a little more time sleeping on the couch over the next 6 or 7 weeks ... something to do with living at the arse end of the world and starting our day before everyone else.

YAYNESS levels were at an all-time high this weekend as the Sharks pulled out all the stops to beat the Stormers in a nail-biting match - it made getting up early on a Sunday so worthwhile! Even Gav got up to watch and he DOESN’T always join me for my early morning vigils.

This one looks EVIL!

We woke this morning to rain .... loads of it! As I listened to the steady drum of it on the roof I wondered if I’d have a walking partner. Sure enough, not 10 minutes later, a text comes through ... walking the hounds in the heavy rain did NOT appeal to Julia. I couldn’t blame her and snuggled back down under the duvet for a little longer .... no time constraints now so I could afford to leave later on my ramble.

The hound was impatience personified when I did eventually leave ... no steady ramble down the hill for her. She wanted to be on the beach ... in the waves .... and she wanted to be there NOW!

I wanted to take pics of the reflections in the puddles and the gorgeous autumn leaves all over the path. Every time I stopped and put down the lead she  just carried on down the road, hoping I wouldn’t notice. There’s something quite distinctive though about a large chocolate Labrador dragging a bright pink lead along behind her.

Our time on the beach was briefly curtailed by me spotting Denise on the road ... I haven’t seen her for ages and she was on her way to work. We caught up on each others news as we walked to the Co-op where Pete, having seen us coming, was filling up the water bowl. He rather cheekily told my hound to stay away from him as she was quite wet. He shouldn’t have said that ... it’s like a red rag to a bull. I encouraged her to shake ALL the water off ..... after all, if he was going to get wet, he might as well get VERY wet. Good job he has fast reactions.

..... and then the rain came down .... again!

He did give me SOME good news on the weather front ... apparently our weather’s going to be fine and settled for the next 10 days. Let’s see how accurate Pete’s forecast is.

Gorgeous reflections in the windows!

The Rosea were SO noisy today

Someone else who’s not fond of rambling in the rain is Suzanne. Her and Bella had arrived on the beach as I returned with my caffeine fix. The hounds were having a great time chasing logs and the ball in the waves until the storm clouds threatened once again .... and Suzanne headed home.

 I zip up my raincoat, pull up the hood and continue on along the sand. The hound doesn’t even notice the rain as she’s so wet already. 


The camera does notice the rain however and for some reason, doesn’t work too well when it gets wet .... I need to remember this.

I asked here where Indy is and this is the look I got.

I’ve just been reading a few articles on a blog titled “Perambulations” by a chap called Gerry Ellis who rambles all around the world “clicking away at all things amazing and alarming” .... his words not mine 
.... though so applicable to me too. 

This quotation from WH Auber, a poet, came up on his most recent blog. I’ve seen it before but never really given it much credence. Now that I’m writing regularly though it makes so much sense! 
“I look at what I write so I can see what I think”.  
That’s exactly what I do when I write ... what I write is what I see in my mind and what I see through my lens everyday ... it’s an epic quotation .... so thought provoking!