Royal Melbourne Show 2008

Today Mel and I decided to visit the Royal Melbourne Show with our friend Jennifer.  This was to be Jennifer’s first Show (she is American studying in Australia) and our second show in two years.  Last year however, Mel and I both were sorely disappointed by the lack of sheep memories and also, last year our show experience was spoilt a little by the outbreak and subsequent containment of the horse flu meaning no ponies at the Show last year.

So this year we had two main aims; see sheep and see ponies.  Jennifer is a chicken fan so her aim was to see chickens.  Well … BOY did we see sheep and ponies and chickens - and then some.  Here are the photos that I took.  Some are blurry, some are crap but some are keepers.

The best part for me was the petting zoo.  Ideally designed for children under the age of 5, Mel, Jennifer and I all got into the spirit and petted, cuddled and photographed some of the cutest baby animals around (especially the sheep).  It was tough getting photos of the animals without having other kids in the frame and harder still to stop my hands from wobbling and stopping the blurry shots.  But on the whole we came out with some lovely photos and even more wonderful memories.

Keep your eyes out for the mule, the baby goats and the absolute joy you can see in Mel’s face when cuddling with a lamb.  I love her so.

If you are also interested you can see the two videos that I took here.  One is of crazy baby emu’s just learning how to run and the other is of the lamb who refused to move.  Through all the hustle and bustle of the petting zoo he stood completely still just gazing around at all the silly pigs playing tag.

Mel’s photos start here.

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A Floral Tour

Looking out the window this morning, I saw a flower that I had never seen before.  It had clearly been there for quite some time but I hadn’t noticed it until it’s blooms caught my eye.  They were beautiful.  So I took some pictures of them with Mel’s new camera and they turned out far better than I ever could have imagined.  Mel and I also decided to explore our spring-time garden to see what other surprises we could find.  We were both sweetly surprised, I think, to finish up with such a lovely collection of flowers.

I love spring.

Two Little Love Birds

Spring is most definitely here.  Yesterday, outside the study window, two blue wrens were ‘playing’ together practically all day.  Their behaviour was quite repetative so that made it easier to catch on film, although they also insisted (as little birds often do) on hopping around erratically, making it hard to get a nice shot.  Below are the photos I took that turned out okay.  Mel and Jess also took some photos and I should get the nice ones up here too.

What was interesting was how the female (the ‘plain’ brown one) would perch on a flower stem and call out to her mate.  I have never been so close to a bird when it has been calling and it was absolutely beautiful.  I should try to record the call for you - they are back today!

Watching the male was interesting too although he was harder to get on camera.  See, while the female would sit and call, he would try and creep up on her so he was moving almost constantly.  Of course the male never caught up to the female and they continued to chase each other round the garden.  Interestingly, they seemed to always come back to the spot just outside the window.

I love spring.

Engagement Party Photos

Here are some photos from our party. More will be added when I get them. These photos aren’t my camera work so some are blurry and not worth looking at. Others are best viewed as thumbnails only and others are just great photos. If you have some photos to share, please email me.

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