Wouldn't you know it. . .

We have had fantastic weather.  Cool nights and mild to warm days without a cloud in sight.  The trouble is that for a great sunset you really need some clouds - not too many or you can't see anything.  I've been watching the sky like a seasoned sailor waiting for the right conditions to get the perfect sunset photo.  This afternoon looked very promising so at about 5.15 I set off with the camera up to "the point".  The point is where the river meets the sea a couple of hundred metres up the road from home.

Everything was shaping up beautifully until my second photo.  I was planning a longer exposure to see what the effect would be on the water and I was hoping for a nice, golden blur.  Nothing.  Flat battery.  Annoyingly, I had charged up the spare battery only a few hours earlier, but I left it at home.

So this is it folks.  Out of a grand total of two photos, this was the best.  I am pretty happy with it and there will be other opportunities.

Remember I promised to keep you posted about our neighbours, a pair of brahminy kites?  I think they might be expectant parents.  This is what I saw this morning.

My interest in her was not appreciated.  When a bird of prey glares at you, you know you've been glared at.

I'll be keeping a close eye on them and keep you posted.

In Lieu of New Header

A new header for my blog is a fairly time consuming thing.  It's not that I'm time poor. It's just a matter of priority.  I will produce a new header in the not too distant future (I hope).  In the mean time you need to know that one of the grandchildren is missing from my header.  She is nearly a year old.  That's how slack I've been.  So here is one of the latest photos of our little Ladybug with her mummy, Juliette.   You can visit their blog here.

All of our family have bloggy nom de plumes for security and it is always a BIG decision when we have to decide on a new one for a new grandchild.  After all, it has to reflect some of their character and be positive.  None of them will ever be a "Spider" if I have my way.  Our Ladybug is soooo cute and colourful - like her namesake.

Of course since the last header update the other five have grown too.  So you were wondering if I have any recent photos of them too.  I'm so glad you asked.  Here is Little Bear looking gorgeous as usual, but sort of quiet, even pensive, definitely NOT as usual.  Don't be fooled by the photo!  Little Bear is the most impulsive and overactive energetic of all of the grandchildren.  She can be giggly, teary, cranky, haughty, sweet, charming, cuddly - and all within the space of a minute. 

Here is Monkey in a pose that I often see, but will never take for granted - running towards me with outstretched arms, usually yelling "Mammar!" as loud as he can at the same time.  How can you not love that?  That's Mr Sunshine and Dragon in the background.

Here are Monkey's big brothers with their cousin Little Bear.  That is Dragon in the middle and Lion on the end.  Lion is a bit like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz in that he often has that serious, slightly worried expression.  He can be very serious for a little fellow, but he also has the most adorable loving and cuddly nature with a great sense of humour.  Dragon is always ready for fun and it is much more rare to catch him with a worried look.

That only leaves Cheetah - the oldest - our first grandchild.  Cheetah was an OG (only grandchild) for 5 years before Lion came along.  I'll leave him out for now because soon he will be having a little holiday with us and I will make sure I feature him then.
Maybe with some fresh photos I'll find the time to update the header.  Maybe.

Meet the neighbours

Not all of the neighbours.  We do have quite a few very interesting neighbours, but these are two of my favourites.  They are Brahminy Kites, otherwise known as Fish Eagles or Red-backed Sea Eagles.  They are the most intense chestnut colour with a pure white head.  I think they are really gorgeous and I hope to get much better photos of them in the future.  As Mr Sunshine and I went for our beach walks, I sometimes spotted one of them in a certain tree - the tallest tree in that part of the neighbourhood.  Then one day as I was photographing him.  His mate flew in to join him. That was even better.

On the way back I was checking to see if they were still there.  They weren't, but then I glanced over at a slightly smaller tree nearby and saw their nest.  How I had missed it before I don't know. It is several feet across and very high. No wonder they look at me in a very suspicious manner when I stop to take their photo.  They have a lot at stake with a home to protect.

 

Needles to say, I will be watching this for further developments.  I'll keep you posted if there is anything to report.

Monkey Meets THE STIG

 

What do you mean it's not the real Stig?  Of course it is. Just look at Monkey's expression.  Would he look that impressed if it wasn't the real Stig?

Mind you, the Stig was feeling a little flat that day.  He was standing at the back of a Townsville bookshop mostly on his own until Monkey came along.  I'm sure we brightened up his day.  It made Monkey's day.

As we left, the Stig was really cool.  He didn't move a muscle or wave, just stood there.  But he still looked a little flat.  Maybe he needs to be a little less rigid at times.

Beach Crowd

Mr Sunshine is such a funny man.  He was having some fun with my camera and said, "You'll have to put this picture on your blog because the beach is so crowded today".  That's the crowd in the photo.  We do usually have more room to ourselves it's true, but really we don't mind sharing the beach with crowds like this.

We had Lion and Dragon with us for an overnight stay.  Too short really.  Dragon got into the spirit of a beach holiday with this lei he found among the toys.

Both boys enjoyed crushing aluminium cans with Mr Sunshine's "bommy-knockers".  Is that a real word?  I hope it's not rude. We collect them for the Leprosy Mission (cans, not bommy-knockers) and they sell them to metal merchants to raise money.  If the cans are crushed they don't take up so much storage space and little boys just love hammering the living daylights out of anything as Lion's grin proves.  I swear these boys keep getting more handsome.

They didn't spend all of their time doing hard yakka. Some of the time was spent playing at the beach.  We built a race track in the sand for the toy grader and dump truck to whiz around.

Obviously, the crowd had thinned out a bit by this time.